Staffers at NBCUniversal Local’s experimental unit LX News got word Wednesday that they’d be shutting down. Some worry that it bodes darkly for news innovation that will connect with new generations of viewers.
The U.S. subscription video on demand (SVOD) business grew total revenue by 22.22% to over $8.7 billion in the first quarter, the biggest rate of quarterly expansion since the go-go streaming days of the 2020 pandemic. The data comes courtesy of Informa-owned research company Omdia, which delivers SVOD data as a third party in the Digital Entertainment Group’s quarterly “Home Entertainment Spending” reports.
Washington, Atlanta and Detroit Are Leading the summer rollout of the CTV service from the group’s 14 other stations.
The storied journalism destination enters a new genre with debut of Washington Post Television on May 6.
Meta Platforms violated prior privacy settlements, and as a result should be prohibited from monetizing minors’ data, including the use of it to fuel ad targeting or algorithms, the Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday. “Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said. “The company’s recklessness has put young users at risk, and Facebook needs to answer for its failures.”
Exclusives
NBCUniversal is winding down LX, a three-year-old network with the stated mission of delivering viewers “the stories you need with more sass and less suits.” People familiar with the decision said the nearly 40 workers affected by the move are being actively considered for new positions within NBCU.
The new agreement, NBCU says, “demonstrates the value of big media and big tech aligning to super-serve audiences the content they love and want, while providing incremental reach and scale for advertisers.”
The Season 2 finale of the ABC comedy series tallied 7 million viewers after seven days of multi-platform viewing, according to Nielsen data. That marks its best audience since the Feb. 8 Valentine’s Day episode, which scored a series-high 7.4M viewers in seven days. The seven-day audience is up about 4.2M from the 2.8M people who tuned in to the episode same-day. Among the ad-friendly 18-49 demographic, the Season 2 finale of Abbott Elementary hit a 2.47 rating in MP+7, which is up 366% compared to the episode’s 0.53 same-day rating. Just like total viewers, it’s also the highest multi-platform rating for the series since the Valentine’s Day episode managed a 2.49.
Elon Musk threatened to reassign NPR’s Twitter account to “another company,” according to the nonprofit news organization, in an ongoing spat between Musk and media groups since his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last year. “So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?” Musk wrote in one email late Tuesday to NPR reporter Bobby Allyn.
Samsung Electronics America and Conan O’Brien announced a partnership that will bring highlights of his original Emmy Award-winning show “Conan” exclusively to Samsung TV Plus, the consumer electronics giant’s free, ad-supported TV service, starting next month. Conan O’Brien TV — the comedian and host’s first FAST channel — is a free, 24-hour linear streaming channel delivering programming curated as 30-minute compilations of clips featuring the best of his latenight archives, including sketch comedy and celebrity guest appearances.
Lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a revised version of a controversial bill that would regulate how online platforms display content as well as ads to users under age 17, and would also limit how those companies harness minors’ data.
At Peacock’s NewFront presentation Tuesday, NBCUniversal rolled out new commercial formats aimed at giving sponsors more attention and a better opportunity to interact with viewers. One of the new formats enables an advertiser to be everywhere NBCU’s. Called Spotlight Plus, the advertiser’s message shows up no matter what a viewer is watching, like a cross-platform roadblock, whether it’s an original film on Peacock, a drama on a linear network or a content on a third-party digital platform.
Vice Media Group, the swashbuckling, youth-skewing digital media brand, is preparing to file for bankruptcy. The company, which was valued at $5.7 billion in 2017, is considering the move after struggling to find a buyer, according to reports.
While video streamers have been moderating their marketing spending of late, Amazon Prime Video has gone in the other direction — up almost 72% versus the previous 12-month period with estimated $285 million, over the according to iSpot.tv. Another $18.4 million in media value came from Prime Video messages from associated Amazon TV-video platforms.
Amazon said this season Thursday Night Football sponsors will be able to send different creative messages to different targeted audience groups within the same 30-second commercial position. For example, an automaker could send a sports car spot to younger viewers, an SUV ad to sports and outdoors enthusiasts, and a more general brand spot to the remaining viewers.
On Monday, Amazon announced the launch of Fire TV Channels, a free live TV service that will work similar to Pluto TV and The Roku Channel. This service will launch in the summer of 2023 and will offer 400 live channels. Amazon already has free content on the Fire TV in the free content section. Starting this summer, this new Fire TV Channels destination will roll out to Fire TV devices putting over 400 live channels in a single place on the Fire TV home screen.
Ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson is seen on newly revealed video bashing the network’s streaming service, which he produced a bevy of content for during his tenure at the company.
Netflix on Monday renewed the Keri Russell-led political drama for a second season, presumably to launch in 2024. The Diplomat‘s inaugural eight-episode season bowed just 10 days ago — on April 20 — and immediately shot to No. 1 on Netflix’s consumer-facing Top 10 list, with 57.48 million hours viewed in its first weekend.
Deal covers 122 TV stations, including MyNetworkTV affiliates and four independents. The agreement also renews carriage of the company’s NewsNation cable news network.
Trying to forecast when ESPN will go entirely online is one of the great guessing games of the media industry.
New age restrictions for minors on sites like TikTok and Pornhub could also hinder adults’ access to online services.
The drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon will debut its third season in the fall.
Walmart+, the retail giant’s paid subscription membership service, is now offering access to Paramount’s Pluto TV. Interestingly, select Pluto TV programming will be available ad-free. Starting this week, Walmart+ subscribers can use the member portal to create a free Pluto account, which will allow them to watch a lineup of curated content. According to Walmart+, members can watch up to six TV shows (one season each) ad-free.
