Apple’s expected foray into subscription VOD won’t dent Netflix or Amazon Prime Video growth, blogged Futuresource Friday. But the Apple SVOD service, the anticipated topic of the company’s Monday announcement, will be key in the evolution of the 2019 SVOD market this year, along with Disney, wrote analyst David Sidebottom, saying its 20 million Apple TV customers are a “ready-made” audience “waiting to switch on.” The service also will draw viewers via Apple’s partnership with Samsung, announced just before CES (see 1901070062), placing iTunes content on the TV maker’s 2018 and 2019 smart TVs. Sidebottom expects additional partnerships as Apple’s SVOD service ramps, including integration with pay TV. The company will need a “strong and wide content offering,” and even with exclusive or original content, SVOD subscribers will likely “be taking Apple as an additional service, rather than cannibalising their existing video subscriptions,” he wrote.

Sling TV this month is appealing to customers who didn’t get the tax refund they anticipated: The vMVPD’s “special tax” subscription offer is 40 percent off for the first three months, it said. The seasonal boost retailers typically get from tax refund season was largely a bust this year, with the number of refunds down. The most recent statistics on the IRS website show a 3.3 percent year-on-year decline in the number of refunds issued as of this March 8 vs. March 9, 2018, although the average refund added $4 year on year. Online sales generally tick upward during the NCAA’s March Madness tournament's three-week span, though not to the degree a typical Super Bowl does.

Fox Corp., on its first day as a stand-alone company (see 1903190049), took control Tuesday of the roughly 6 million Roku shares that 21st Century Fox (21CF) used to own, said a Roku SEC filing. Fox owns 7.2 percent of Roku stock, it said. Disney took over 21CF's nonbroadcast assets Wednesday, it said in an SEC filing. Ravi Ahuja, chief financial officer of 21CF’s Fox Networks Group until his recent appointment as Disney Television CFO (see the March 5 people section of this publication), remains a member of the Roku board at least until the 2019 annual meeting, when his term expires, emailed Roku spokesperson Eric Savitz Tuesday. He declined comment about whether Ahuja will seek re-election, adding nothing prevents him from doing so. Ahuja’s intentions will be known “in the coming months” when Roku releases its proxy statement for the annual meeting, said Savitz. Efforts to reach Ahuja for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

The only comment in the TV ratings proceeding arguing that the ratings system is fine (see 1903130061) “comes from those who profit from the current system,” replied the Parents Television Council, posted Wednesday in docket 19-41. PTC referenced joint comments from NAB, MPAA and NCTA that run the TV ratings oversight body. The vast majority of the 1,700-plus public comments in the proceeding “expressed at least some level of concern, consternation or dissatisfaction,” PTC said. The associations cautioned the FCC in their own reply comments that altering the system is outside FCC authority and the intent of legislative language that prompted the proceeding. “Remain focused on the specific congressional mandate, which is to provide information in the form of a report, and not to accept entreaties to exceed statutory authority or constitutional limits,” they said. National Religious Broadcasters opposes regulation of TV content, but said the trade groups’ statistics indicated parents have difficulty using the ratings system. Forty-eight percent "of parents it surveyed say they ‘understand very well’ the TV content ratings system,” NRB said, on a Hart Research report commissioned and entered into the record by NAB, MPAA and NCTA. That “seems to suggest that at the very least there are many parents who have questions about how those ratings are assigned, overseen, or best utilized by parents,” NRB said. “Unfortunately, many industry giants are either not aware of or not sufficiently attentive to this need.” PTC understands the current review is narrow in scope: “But it is unfathomable that the conclusion of this review could in any way suggest that no improvement is warranted.”

Twenty-First Century Fox's broadcast assets are now a stand-alone company, Fox Corp., trading on Nasdaq, New Fox said Tuesday. Disney's buy of the Fox nonbroadcast assets takes effect Wednesday (see 1903120006).

NAB and NCTA's proposal for new broadcast carriage election notice procedures (see 1812100051) has partial support from the American Cable Association. But DirecTV and Dish Network oppose extending those procedures to direct broadcast satellite operators. In a docket 17-317 posting Tuesday, ACA said the NAB/NCTA proposal should have a separate timeline for small cable operators using the cable operations and licensing system for making contact information available to broadcasters. ACA said if certified mail remains the route for notifying DBS providers, the FCC should let cable operators that want to keep getting notices that way opt for it as well. There's no reason to change carriage election procedures covering DBS operators, since burdens are negligible for broadcasters to mail DirecTV and Dish once every three years compared with the challenge of mailing legions of cable systems, the satellite operators said. The DBS companies said substituting email and phone calls for certified mail isn't feasible as they would have to handle calls and emails from more than 1,300 stations. They said spam filters and email address typos could be problematic.

Comcast is bundling NBCUniversal's and Sky's advertising capabilities into a joint ad initiative, AdSmart, it said Monday. It said capabilities will include targeting precise consumer segments with ads directly targeting households and contextual media planning driven by artificial intelligence. Comcast bought control of Sky in a deal related to Disney agreeing to buy much of 21st Century Fox (see 1810250046).

WarnerMedia Chairman-CEO Kevin Tsujihara is stepping down, with the company saying Monday it continues working with a third-party law firm to complete its investigation. The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month reported on allegations Tsujihara pushed for auditions for a woman with whom he was in a sexual relationship. “Kevin has contributed greatly to the studio’s success over the past 25 years and for that we thank him. Kevin acknowledges that his mistakes are inconsistent with the Company’s leadership expectations and could impact the Company’s ability to execute going forward,” said WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey in a statement Monday.

Cinedigm's buying Future Today for $45 million cash and $15 million in stock will expand its over-the-top footprint to over 7.6 million monthly active users, it said Friday. Future Today, with 2018 revenue of $23.9 million, has 700 channels with more than 60 million app installs and manages some 200,000 film, TV and digital content assets that get 85 million-plus views monthly. The acquisition gives Cinedigm a fully scaled video advertising platform, increases opportunities in China and India and strengthens its channel and content portfolio for distributors, it said.

Univision used the Powered by Napster audio platform to launch a redesigned app for its Uforia Latin music channel, it said Thursday. Features include curated playlists from a 40-million song catalog, a “geo-localized experience” and podcasts, due to launch in spring.