Of U.S. households with a livestreaming vMVPD such as AT&T TV Now, Hulu Plus Live TV, Sling TV or YouTube TV, 44% switched from traditional pay TV, while 26% also have a traditional service, said Leichtman Research Group Friday. Eighteen percent switched from another vMVPD; 12% were most recently nonsubscribers. That's similar to findings from a year ago. Overall, 18% of adults 18-44 have a vMVPD service -- vs. 9% of consumers ages 45 and above -- and they account for 65% of U.S. adults with a vMVPD. Fourteen percent of respondents are “very likely” to switch from a vMVPD in the next six months; 54% of vMVPD households have three-plus TVs; 95% with an vMVPD service also have a subscription VOD service from Amazon Prime, Hulu and/or Netflix; and 79% of all households have at least one SVOD or direct-to-consumer streaming video service; 44% have three-plus. The February survey involved 6,462 adults.
Saying Block Communications didn't demonstrate any injury stemming from the FCC order modifying the market for WHIO-TV Dayton, Ohio, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the broadcaster's market modification appeal Friday. Judges Richard Suhrheinrich, Eric Clay and Bernice Donald, in an opinion penned by Donald (docket 18-4137), said Block lacks standing because it didn't show injury. The court didn't rule on the merits of Block's arguments on the FCC order. Block outside counsel didn't comment.
FuboTV and FaceBank Group closed on their deal (see 2003230065), with the combined company led as planned by fuboTV CEO David Gandler and doing business as fuboTV, they said Thursday.
Comcast and Fox signed a long-term renewal of their distribution agreement for Fox's channels, including retransmission consent of Fox stations to Xfinity customers, Comcast said Wednesday. The deal includes streaming rights for watching through the Xfinity streaming service.
Political advertising disclosure rules could leave cable operators “subject to liability for unintentional errors,” NCTA told aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks, Jessica Rosenworcel and Mike O’Rielly, per a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-363. The FCC should “clarify that it will continue to defer to cable operators’ good faith efforts when evaluating compliance,” said the filing. The agency should also clarify that the rules only apply to non-candidate disclosures, NCTA said. An order addressing NAB's petition for reconsideration is on circulation (see 2003300046).
Antitrust agencies won't challenge what Comcast told us is a joint venture with AT&T's Warner Brothers. The FTC released early termination notices Tuesday for purchase of NewCo (see here and here). AT&T early this year announced the JV of its Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with Comcast's Universal Pictures Home Entertainment to distribute DVDs in North America for new releases, library titles and TV content.
U.S. demand for digital news and entertainment continues to increase across "several key categories" during COVID-19, said Comscore Monday. It’s tracking an “aggregate” of digital visits to 40 top news sites, and found March 16-22 was “the highest week of news visits this year, by far.” Visits were up 18% from the prior week and 68% compared with Feb. 17-23.
The FCC is considering a Media Bureau reorganization that would consolidate its Engineering Division with its Industry Analysis Division, a spokesperson said Monday. That proposed reorganization went on circulation last week.
The Movies Anywhere app is now available on LG smart TVs with webOS dating to 2017, said LG Friday. It's the first TV maker to offer the streaming app, which boasts access to 7,900 digital movies from studios including Sony Pictures, Universal, Disney and Warner. The app enables consumers to sync their accounts including Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Xfinity, Google Play and YouTube, Microsoft Movies and TV, FandangoNOW and Verizon Fios TV, it said.
TV antenna usage in U.S. broadband households rose to 25% in 2019, from 15% last year, and is expected to grow more as COVID-19 keeps consumers at home, reported Parks Associates Thursday. Households that watch over-the-air channels watch more video overall than average broadband households, it said. “Local broadcast channels are the most preferred channel types, and news is the most preferred broadcast content,” said analyst Steve Nason. Antenna usage is growing as households look to meet those needs; shelter-in-place orders are expected to boost those numbers as households “look for inexpensive content options to offset lost wages.” Some 78% of households surveyed in Q3 watch live TV channels, he said. About half of antenna users don’t subscriber to a pay-TV service, traditional or over the-top.