Digital

Viacom has closed its $340 million acquisition of free, ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV. The acquisition, which raised eyebrows for its pricetag when it was announced in January, advances Viacom’s plan to focus on advertising as it invests in streaming. That’s the opposite approach from media peers like Disney, CBS and WarnerMedia.

Ned Segal, Twitter CFO, told investors at a Morgan Stanley Technology Conference that the company has become “much more clear with advertisers [as to] why they should use Twitter,” he said, adding that the company is missing some ad offerings that it is working to change.

Jon Steinberg is CEO and founder of Cheddar, a two-year-old OTT business news service. “He has vital lessons to share with the industry, from branding and content decisions resonating with younger viewers to monetization strategies, including OTT bundles, essential for survival in the OTT space,” says TVNewsCheck Publisher Kathy Haley. The first OTT News Summit in New York on June 11 will explore all elements of the OTT value chain for news organizations.

Dish’s Sling TV tripled its ad revenue in 2018, largely thanks to its dynamic ad insertion (DAI) business, the company says. The company did not give any specific revenue numbers around its ad sales, so it’s unclear how significant that tripling is in terms of overall revenue.

Disney wants to get even more control over Hulu: The company is in active discussions with AT&T to acquire the 10% stake that WarnerMedia owns in the streaming joint venture.

Streaming feels like the future, while CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox evoke a time when you needed to get off the couch to switch channels, and maybe adjust the rabbit ears for better reception. Even with ratings a fraction of what they were in the glory days of monopoly, the broadcast networks say their chief advantage is the opportunity to offer creators a large audience. Networks are still the only distribution system capable of delivering a perfect picture to virtually every home in America, said John Landgraf, FX Networks chief.

In a long-running legal battle over profits from the David Boreanaz-Emily Deschanel hit, an arbitrator’s stunning decision calls out top executives Peter Rice, Dana Walden and Gary Newman and could alter the economics of hit shows in the streaming era.

The stations will deliver real-time traffic and road updates to audiences in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday announced that it would be launching a new task force dedicated to “free and fair competition” in the world of tech. The 17-lawyer team will investigate anticompetitive behavior in the tech sphere, according to the regulator, and will review tech mergers past and present.

The British public broadcaster and commercial network have set a strategic partnership to launch BritBox streaming service in the second half of 2019. It will be a mix of library shows from the BBC and ITV and will also include new commissions from British production companies.

Facebook is showing a greater willingness to ax news programming that’s not working on Facebook Watch. In recent months, Facebook has been telling news publishers that it will only renew about a third of the existing news shows that it has funded for Facebook Watch.

Hulu has hired Emmy-winning casting director Barbara Fiorentino to serve as head of talent and casting, marking the first time that the streamer has hired an in-house head of casting. In this role, Fiorentino will oversee the casting of all Hulu Originals projects and work closely with external creative partners on key talent searches for upcoming and current original series.

Cox Television Jacksonville, Fla., is looking for a research director. WHDH News 7 Boston has an opening for new media manager. Nexstar’s WIVB Buffalo is searching for an integrated digital specialist and an account executive. To post a job on TVNewsCheck, click here.

Netflix didn’t end up winning a best picture Oscar last night for Roma, but the service can take solace in knowing that its originals are a hit with consumers. According to new figures from the American Consumer Satisfaction Index, as of Feb. 7, 2019, Netflix earned an ACSI score of 81 (out of 100) for its original content. The group said that Netflix’s ACSI score is up 2.5% since May 2018.

A lot of people doing “journalism” or calling themselves “journalists” these days are no longer working in traditional journalism jobs for traditional digital or print newsrooms.

Nexstar’s Bay Area MNT affiliate debuted KRON-ON, a new 24/7 digital news subscription service for mobile, desktop, tablet and OTT platforms, including Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

Podcasting, once viewed as a niche industry that catered to public radio fans, got a major boost this month when Swedish streaming giant Spotify agreed to pay around $230 million for Gimlet Media, the New York producer of such audio dramas as Homecoming and the documentary series Crimetown.