Nielsen’s Gracenote launched a data service to help content discovery platforms connect consumers to programming on free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels, along with linear channels, on virtual MVPD services, it said Tuesday. Gracenote Streaming Channels will let content aggregators serve as “one-stop shops” for viewers who are increasingly turning to new free services to augment premium service content, the company said. The offering includes access to Gracenote’s database of schedules for linear streaming channels, including a Gracenote ID, and normalized channel and program metadata with imagery, descriptions and celebrity information, it said. The dataset improves content discoverability and enables personalized program recommendations across different services, the company said. FAST channels are often themed and remain available for a finite time period, Gracenote said, giving the example of a dedicated channel for TV programming resonating with Asian viewers during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month. “Based on the temporal nature of the offering, the ability to integrate the FAST channel and make its content discoverable quickly is critical,” it said. As more consumers adopt FAST channels, “easy integration and discovery options become more important than ever for aggregator platforms,” said Gracenote Chief Product Officer Simon Adams.

The New Jersey communities of Longport and Irvington don't have a private right of action against Netflix and Hulu to seek franchise fees from the streamers under the state's Cable TV Act, U.S. District Judge Stanley Chesler said in a docket 2:21-cv-15303 opinion entered Monday as he granted the defendants' motion to dismiss. Chesler said the state legislature clearly was designating the Board of Public Utilities as its local franchising authority, and letting the communities seek redress would usurp the board's authority. Outside counsel for the plaintiffs didn't comment.

Comments are due July 22, replies Aug. 22, on a petition from public interest groups calling for the agency to require licensees to collect diversity data from the companies that make their media content, including streaming services, said a public notice listed in Monday’s Daily Digest. The petition was filed earlier this month by programmer Fuse Media and public interest groups including the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Public Knowledge and Common Cause (see 2205060005), and isn’t limited to Media Bureau licensees. It also includes broadband licensees such as Alphabet and Amazon, and targets their streaming offerings YouTube and Prime.

Streaming grew 5% year on year in North America in Q1 and 9% in Europe, with big-screen TVs getting 77% of streamed minutes globally in the quarter, Conviva reported Thursday. Smart TV viewing time grew by 34% year on year in Q1, while desktop PCs and gaming consoles had a 15% decline, it said. Connected TV device viewing slipped 1%, with Roku having 31% of viewing time vs. Amazon Fire at 16%, said the report. Android TV had 78% more minutes streamed in Q1 vs. the prior-year quarter; LG, Samsung and Vizio were all up about 20%, it said. Globally, bitrate improved by 17.3% year on year, buffering was down 1% and video start failures dropped 17.6%, but video start rates grew, with the wait time consumers experienced for a video to start up in every region. Africa was at 8 seconds; Europe had the fastest start time at an average 4 seconds, it said. Ad impressions were up 18%, driven by high-profile sporting events: the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics and NCAA March Madness. Streaming on social media platforms is growing as a way for leagues to engage fans, Conviva said. TikTok grew its streaming audience share for every sports league measured, it said. The NFL had 4% viewership growth on TikTok year on year, and the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals gained over 100,000 TikTok followers during the Super Bowl weekend, it said.

U.S. consumers are viewing slightly more subscription VOD services than a year ago, with most households, especially those with kids under 18, “churning through streaming TV services less frequently than they were during the first year” of the COVID-19 pandemic, reported NPD Wednesday. The average number of SVOD services per U.S. user reached 4.6 in April, down from the “mid-pandemic” peak of 5.2 in October 2020 but up from 4.3 in April 2021, it said. SVOD cancellations and declines in viewership are less likely to be driven by switching to other services than they were in early 2021, said NPD. The top driver of churn currently is that consumers “aren’t watching as much as before, with 33% of SVOD viewers making this claim, up from 29% a year ago,” it said. “These results aren’t surprising when you consider the fact that so many of us were stuck at home during the pandemic with plenty of time on our hands to try the direct-to-consumer SVOD services that had recently launched,” said John Buffone, NPD executive director-industry analyst. “We’re still above the levels that we were seeing before the pandemic started. During the first two months of 2022, streaming volumes had settled at levels seen between 2019 and 2021. When this all pans out, we do expect to see a net positive environment for the industry.”

The major MVPDs lost about 1.96 million subscribers in Q1 -- roughly in line with the losses they had in Q1 2021 and Q1 2020, Leichtman Research Group said Tuesday. Combined they have about 74.1 million subs, LRG said. It said they lost roughly 4.74 million subs over the past year, compared with 4.82 million the previous year. It said the largest cable operators lost about 825,000 in Q1, up from a loss of about 780,000 in Q1 2021. It said the top publicly reporting virtual MVPDs lost about 505,000 subs in Q1, accelerating from a loss of about 265,000 year over year. It said DBS operators lost 528,000 in Q1, while telcos lost 95,000.

Streaming services asked the Illinois attorney general to weigh in on the constitutionality of the state's Cable and Video Competition Law, they told the U.S. District Court in East St. Louis in a notice of constitutional question Tuesday. East St. Louis sued, seeking franchise fees from the streamers under the CVCL. In the docket 3:21-cv-561 filing, the services said the city's proposed application of the CVCL violates the First Amendment by creating a prior restraint on speech and imposing an unconstitutionally excessive fee. Outside counsel for the city didn't comment.

Staggered releases of popular TV series could prop up the subscriber count at Netflix, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Monday, upgrading the stock to "outperform." The analyst believes Netflix will exceed guidance for Q2 due to the staggered release date for Ozark, and it believes the same approach for Stranger Things in Q3 could also reduce churn. “Netflix is positioned to grow,” as the subscription VOD service “gradually” raises prices and rolls out an ad-supported option, Pachter said; he doesn’t believe Netflix’s share price will approach 2021 levels “for many years.” Wedbush sees recent Netflix losses as the result of “deep saturation” in the U.S. and Canada. The company’s plans to crack down on password sharing -- which Netflix estimates at 30 million households in those two markets and 100 million globally -- will bring it a “few million new customers.” But its plan to offer an advertising-supported tier “has great potential to drive significant revenue,” he said. Raising prices in mature markets would allow Netflix to drive up its average revenue per user, and its level of profitability, allowing it to reinvest profits to continue growing in Latin America and Asia-Pacific, he said.

Reno's appeal of a lower court's rejection of its suit seeking franchise fees from Hulu and Netflix (see 2202080088) could go to oral argument in San Francisco the week of Aug. 29 or Sept. 19, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a docket 21-16560 docket notation Friday.

The Redbox Entertainment “legacy business” of 38,000 DVD-rental kiosks “still has tremendous reach and power for consumers looking for the ultimate value,” said CEO Galen Smith, appearing on Thursday’s Q1 earnings call of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment to discuss its proposed $375 million Redbox buy (see 2205110051). Redbox has been “investing heavily” in recent years to transform the company into a “multi-window multifaceted digital entertainment company,” said Smith. But COVID-19 “severely impacted” the Redbox kiosk business when it forced studios to release content on streaming platforms or delay movies “completely outright,” he said. The expected recovery has taken “longer than we expected,” and has “hampered our ability to invest in the digital transformation,” he said. “Joining forces” with CSSE will give Redbox “much needed scale,” plus access to capital, to “power” the digital transformation, “something we couldn’t do on our own,” he said.