Tech use by people over 50 “skyrocketed” during the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to continue, AARP reported Tuesday. This year, they spent an average $821 on tech, vs. $394 in 2019. Smartphones and accessories, plus Bluetooth headsets, topped purchases. A third of older adults ordered food online from a restaurant and one in four listened to a podcast in the past two years. Seniors subscribe on average to three streaming video platforms; four in 10 feel technology isn't designed with them in mind.
Fitness equipment company Peloton wants the FCC to grant it an 18-month waiver from some video accessibility requirements for new software it plans to launch on its bikes, treadmills and consoles, said a petition posted in docket 12-108 Tuesday. Though Peloton remains "fully committed to extending the functionality" of its products to blind or vision-impaired users, it needs additional time "to analyze, develop, and implement accessibility plans,” it said. “Designing and successfully integrating assistive technology into Peloton’s platform is more complex than a simple software update.”
AMC Theatres rode the “opening weekend strength” of Spider-Man: No Way Home to sell more than 7 million tickets globally Thursday-Sunday, including 5 million in the U.S., said the theater chain Monday. More than 2 million people watched a movie at an AMC location around the world on Saturday, the most tickets it sold in a single day since Christmas Day 2019, it said. Imax reported separately Monday that it took in $36.2 million in Spider-Man revenue on 834 screens across 77 markets globally, including $22 million in North America. It was its sixth biggest global opening weekend ever, it said. Spider-Man overall took in $334.2 million in its debut weekend, smashing expectations of $160 million-$170 million, Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Monday. Despite the "raging coronavirus," the U.K. was the film's strongest market with a $41.4 million box office, making it the fourth highest opening of all time, Frankel said.
Disney channels returned to YouTube TV's lineup, the streamer said Sunday, after Friday's expiration of their licensing agreement. YouTube TV said monthly pricing remains $64.99. During the blackout, YouTube TV cut prices $15.
Streaming services Cinedigm and Shout Factory signed a deal to provide film and TV series content to one another, Cinedigm said Monday.
“Strict enforcement” of accessibility deadlines for user interfaces on some digital devices wouldn’t be “the most constructive approach” due to supply chain woes, said CTA and the Information Technology Industry Council in a call with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday, per a filing in docket 21-140. Disruptions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, including to semiconductor availability, could make it hard for some entities to meet a Dec. 20 accessibility deadline for “limited capability digital apparatus,” said the filing: “CTA members facing these constraints are working diligently to come into compliance as soon as possible given circumstances largely outside their control.” Earlier this month, the American Council of the Blind said the requirements have been pending for eight years and should take effect “without delay.”
KRDK-TV Valley City, North Dakota, qualifies for carriage as a local TV station on the Otter Com and Arvig cable systems in the Fargo area, the FCC Media Bureau ordered Friday in response to Parker Broadcasting must-carry complaints against the systems. MB said Parker met its obligation by pledging to buy and install any equipment needed to deliver an adequate signal to the cable headend. The two have 60 days from when KRDK provides a good quality signal to their headend to initiate carriage. Otter is happy to carry KRDK, but the broadcaster hasn't provided its signal or any information about how it intends to do so, said Business Operations Manager Eric Engler. Arvig didn't comment.
Subscribers to SiriusXM’s $35-monthly Platinum VIP plan can activate 12 months of Apple Music for free in a cross-service promotion, said SiriusXM Thursday. Early next year, SiriusXM plans to launch a separate special offer for up to six months of Apple Music free with the purchase of a qualifying SiriusXM sub.
Tegna-owned stations in Washington, D.C., and four other markets might go dark on Verizon Fios' video channel lineup Dec. 31, when the current retransmission consent agreement expires, Verizon warned subscribers Wednesday, saying the broadcaster proposed "unreasonable price demands." Tegna said it's "working hard to reach a fair, market-based agreement with Verizon based on the competitive terms we’ve used to reach deals with other major providers.” Other markets involved are Buffalo; York, Pennsylvania; Hampton, Virginia; and Hartford, Verizon said.
SiriusXM and its Stitcher and Pandora podcasting properties not providing transcripts for most podcasts they stream violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law, the National Association of the Deaf said Tuesday in a complaint in U.S. District Court in Manhattan (docket 21-cv-10542). Not providing transcripts, even when they're available from third-party podcast producers, denies deaf and hard-of-hearing people access to the benefits hearing users are offered, said plaintiffs NAD and five of its members. Sirius XM didn't comment.