Nexstar made multiple retransmission offers to HolstonConnect and provided explanations for why it turned down the Tennessee MVPD's counteroffers, and it was HolstonConnect that ignored Nexstar communications for months. That's according to Nexstar's FCC docket 19-60 posting Tuesday in opposition to HolstonConnect's good-faith negotiations complaint filed last month. Nexstar said the rates it seeks "are not abusive" and that it and Holston's inability to reach an agreement doesn't mean there was a good-faith negotiations rules violation -- though if there were, it was HolstonConnect's. The electric co-op's outside counsel didn't comment. HolstonConnect asked the FCC to require Nexstar to provide WATE-TV Knoxville and WJHL-TV Johnson City, Tennessee, programming at "reasonable rates."

The FCC lacks authority to expand video description requirements to IP-delivered video and should be cautious about expanding the markets in which it's required, NAB commented, posted in docket 11-43 Tuesday. Comments are intended to inform an Oct. 8 report to Congress required of the agency by the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Expanding requirements beyond the top 60 markets could be burdensome for broadcasters since revenue in such markets is lower, NAB said. “If the Internet is used to carry live terrestrial broadcast television, the Commission should have jurisdiction under the CVAA to regulate such program delivery systems,” the American Council for the Blind said. The FCC should establish a clear stance toward accessibility requirements as video and broadcast technologies evolve, the ACB said. It said the FCC should work with industry groups to create a centralized list of described programming. “Such a centralized list will also greatly assist in assuring that covered networks under the CVAA are meeting their required mandate of 87.5 quarterly hours of described content,” ACB said. ACB and NCTA raised concern over technical limitations of providing audio description over the secondary audio program channel, where it sometimes conflicts with foreign-language translations on legacy content. “Industry is aware of the interest in facilitating greater and easier access to video described programming to avoid conflicts with foreign language programming that may occupy this same audio stream, and is working to achieve that end,” NCTA said. “Cable operators are offering more than two audio streams where it is feasible.” The FCC should consider that proposed changes to kidvid rules could affect availability of described content, programmer Litton Entertainment said. Litton opposed FCC-proposed relaxation of kidvid requirements.

8K Association founding members AU Optronics, Hisense, Panasonic, Samsung and TCL approved 8KA’s bylaws March 20. That, plus defining 8KA’s three membership classes, were the group’s self-identified prerequisites for seeking new enrollees (see 1903260002). Monday, it released details on joining. The group plans to form technical, promotion and certification and compliance working groups, said the bylaws. 8KA and its members “may choose to comply with the National Cooperative Research and Production Act,” it said. With proper notifications to DOJ and the FTC, the 1993 statute extends antitrust protections to members of industry groups (see 1703270055).

Advertising-supported VOD service Tubi launched on Cox Contour, it said Friday. The deal with Cox is its second MVPD partnership, following one with Comcast Xfinity X1 announced in November. In January, Tubi announced it received $25 million in funding from Silicon Valley Bank to be used for content acquisition and marketing. In February, it said a deal with NBCUniversal would add nearly 400 TV episodes and movies.

Viewers 18-44 years old make up 71 percent of U.S. adults with a livestreaming vMVPD pay-TV service, reported Leichtman Research Group Thursday. Sixteen percent of adults 18-44 have a vMVPD service vs. 6 percent of those 45 and older. Forty-three percent of vMVPD subscribers switched from a traditional pay-TV service, 25 percent also have traditional service, 17 percent switched from another vMVPD offering and 15 percent didn’t subscribe to any pay-TV service. Though 73 percent of vMVPD subscribers are very satisfied, 20 percent are "very likely" to switch from a vMVPD service in the next six months, and 93 percent with a vMVPD service also have subscription VOD service from Netflix, Amazon Prime and/or Hulu. A quarter of respondents who didn’t have a vMVPD service were “very interested” in getting one, LRG said. The market for lower cost vMVPD services -- first introduced four years ago -- is “still growing and evolving,” said President Bruce Leichtman. “Consumers continue to experiment with the various vMVPD services, along with other traditional and streaming options, to find the best combinations of video content and cost.” Findings are based on a January online survey of 6,715 U.S. adults.

DirecTV and Dish Network objections to extending new broadcast carriage election notice procedures pitched by NAB and NCTA (see 1903190044) would make an overly confusing carriage election process, with broadcasters having a tougher time ensuring proper notice, NAB said in an FCC docket 17-317 filing posted Wednesday. The idea big companies like AT&T and Dish can't "manage one email address and one phone number" is ridiculous, NAB said. It added the proposal should take effect with the 2020 election cycle and dismissed America's Communications Association arguments for a later compliance deadline for some small cable systems as "absurd."

Spotify continued its push into the podcast market, announcing Tuesday it agreed to buy podcast studio Parcast. Parcast introduced 18 podcast series since starting in 2016, focusing on mystery, crime, science fiction and history, and plans to launch 20 this year. Crime and mystery podcasts are a top genre for Spotify users, said Dawn Ostroff, Spotify chief content officer. The acquisition is expected to close in Q2. Spotify bought two podcast-related companies last month (see 1902060010). Podcasts are the next frontier for streaming music services. On a February earnings call, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said early takeaways from the 14-podcast lineup in the company’s portfolio indicate listeners engage at twice the rate of non-podcast listeners, and users “who wouldn’t have considered Spotify otherwise are now signing up to the platform.”

Samsung’s partnership with Apple, integrating the iTunes app into 2018 and 2019 Samsung smart TVs, could give Samsung an edge, reported Strategy Analytics Monday. More than 20 percent of smart TVs sold worldwide last year were on Samsung’s Tizen platform, 12 percent on LG’s WebOS, 10 percent on Android TV and 4 percent were Roku-powered models. Some 157 million smart TVs were sold globally in 2018, or 67 percent of all TVs sold for the year, SA said. In North America, 25 percent of smart TVs sold last year were Roku-based. Despite thin hardware margins, the TV “remains a strategic priority” for technology companies due to the size of the installed base and the opportunity to sell advertising on smart TV interfaces and generate revenue from over-the-top content services, said analyst David Watkins. Smart TVs have transitioned from “clunky web browsers” to “sophisticated streaming platforms and intelligent content recommendation engines,” said analyst David Mercer. Apple said in its Monday announcement (see report, this issue) the Apple TV app will also be available on LG, Sony and Vizio TVs.

DirecTV and Viacom signed a new carriage agreement with continued carriage of the programmer's content across AT&T platforms and products, AT&T emailed us Monday. It said the deal "brings AT&T customers more choice and improved value for Viacom content" and details will be forthcoming. Viacom's keepviacom.com about the possibility of a blackout no longer existed Monday. In a note to investors, MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson said that with the AT&T talks complete, the Viacom and CBS boards likely will renew talks about combining. He said operating separately "makes zero sense" and CBS stock is trading "in nearly linked step with Viacom," indicating most investors believe a combination is a fait accompli. Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche emailed investors Monday that a big question mark is how the Viacom contract is structured for when AT&T launches a streaming service offer in Q4.

Subscription VOD service OVID.tv launched a collaboration Friday among eight U.S. independent film distributors. From Bullfrog Films, the dGenerate Films Collection, Distrib Films US, First Run Features, Grasshopper Film, Icarus Films, KimStim and Women Make Movies, its 350 titles are described as “quality” art house, documentaries and social issue films. Five new films will be added every two weeks, it said. After a seven-day free trial, subscribers pay $6.99 monthly or $69 yearly.