Clarification: Futuresource forecasts that the global market for voice assistant-enabled headphones and wearables will top 100 million units by 2021 (see 1803080016).

NBCUniversal wants the FCC to exclude MSNBC from the list of top five national nonbroadcast networks subject to FCC video description rules, NBCU said in docket 11-43. MSNBC doesn’t broadcast a sufficient amount of prime-time programming that isn’t live or near live to be required to do so, the filing said. MSNBC will average only 42 hours of programming that isn’t live or near live in the six quarters from July 2017 to December, the filing said. Fox News Network and 21st Century Fox made a similar request for Fox News also posted Monday. Fox News also provides very little programming that isn’t live or near live, the filing said. Disney also requested such an exemption for ESPN (see 1803070052).

BT Sport showcased the world’s first live HD broadcast in HDR10 high dynamic range by sending a Union of European Football Associations Champions League soccer match telecast to a smartphone, said the British Telecom subsidiary Thursday. The “breakthrough” live trial was Wednesday at London’s Wembley Stadium, broadcasting to a beta version of the BT Sport App installed on a Samsung Galaxy S9 using the 4G mobile network of EE, the BT-owned wireless carrier, it said. In the quarterfinal UEFA Champions League match, Italian champions Juventus defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1. “Mobile viewers are an important and growing part of our audience, and we’re constantly focusing on innovating to ensure the best possible experience for our sports fans,” said Jamie Hindhaugh, BT Sport chief operating officer, in a written statement. “HDR is the future for mobile -- the technology is perfect for getting the most out of the small screen, with incredible colour and definition.” HD HDR “provides a better mobile experience and is less data intensive for both the mobile network and the user’s data consumption than 4K,” said BT Sport. U.S. broadcasters expressed many of the same sentiments, saying bandwidth constraints have many looking toward using 1080p with HDR in launching ATSC 3.0, at least as an “interim” approach (see 1705160044). BT Sport used 24 Ultra HD cameras at Wembley, including 17 that captured the match in native HDR10, the rest upconverted to HDR10, it said: “BT Sport will continue to test the new HD HDR technology along with other features in development.” BT Sport also beamed the match in 4K with HDR and Dolby Atmos sound to a private screening in London, it said.

The federal court hearing the DOJ's lawsuit seeking to block AT&T's buy of Time Warner should allow discovery to determine the existence and scope of any improper White House interference in DOJ's handling of that deal and subsequent litigation, watchdog group Protect Democracy Project (PDP) said in a proposed docket 17-cv-2511 amicus brief (in Pacer) filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. In a related motion asking for leave to file the brief in support of neither party, PDP said it's made up of nine former DOJ officials, including Preet Bharara, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John Dean, who was White House counsel to President Richard Nixon. PDP said it's concerned about White House interference in the DOJ suit, and the court has a variety of "doctrinal tools" for redress, including application of a presumption of vindictiveness that would require the DOJ justify its position by providing information about the constitutional legitimacy of its action. PDP also said the court could require the agency to reconsider the case with a different team more insulated from the White House, or dismiss the lawsuit under the unclean hands doctrine or as unlawful selective enforcement. And PDP said the court could put the burden on the DOJ to show it isn't punishing content protected by the First Amendment. DOJ didn't comment Friday. PDP also sued the DOJ seeking White House communications on AT&T/TW (see 1803060004).

Voice assistants are on course to be a major user interface, Futuresource reported. Smart speakers comprised more than half of the 49.6 million voice-assistant devices shipped worldwide last year, and the technology -- from Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft -- has expanded to media streamers, consoles, smart TVs and wearables, it said Thursday. The researcher forecasts more than 100 million voice assistant-enabled headphones and wearables shipping by 2021.

Copyright bots like YouTube's Content ID system have inherent shortcomings, like the inability to differentiate between infringement and fair use or between similar-sounding general noises, meaning such bots aren't good at protecting free speech, Electronic Frontier Foundation Policy analyst Katharine Trendacosta blogged Wednesday. She said some content companies pushed for copyright bots to be required for platforms hosting third-party content, and, beyond being a threat to speech, that requirement also would be "a huge and expensive hurdle" for new platforms. YouTube owner Google didn't comment Thursday.

A White House meeting on media violence Thursday primarily focused on videogames and didn’t stray into other types of media, said Parents Television Council Program Director Melissa Henson in an interview. The meeting was closed to the press. Henson said the proceeding was “more about fact gathering,” and President Donald Trump didn’t make any policy pronouncements or announce any conclusions. Videogame industry officials argued in the meeting that industry self-regulation is the only model that makes sense, but an effective ratings system would have to be administered by an outside party, Henson said. PTC has made similar arguments about the ratings system for TV. The Entertainment Software Association "welcomed the opportunity" to meet with Trump, the association said in a statement. ESA discussed scientific studies that argue there's no connection between video games and violence, First Amendment protections, and the video game industry rating system, ESA said. "We appreciate the President’s receptive and comprehensive approach to this discussion.” The White House didn't comment.

Some new Samsung TVs have voice control and IoT improvements allowing connections to some other home devices in what the company calls "TV intelligence." Its 2018 QLED TVs and AV products include an app, integration with Microsoft Xbox gaming and SmartThings and Bixby voice control, it said at a company event in New York Wednesday. TV intelligence is “where your TV automatically configures" all your other devices, said Pedro Freitas, senior manager-service innovation. Sarah Nelson of business development demonstrated how consumers can set up a TV wirelessly using a smartphone app that connects to it via Bluetooth Low Energy.

Global home video entertainment revenue from sales of online content, physical media and advertising reached $70.2 billion in 2017, up 72 percent from 2013, Strategy Analytics reported Tuesday. SA forecasts global revenue will increase 52 percent in the next four years, reaching $106.5 billion in 2021. Online revenue, including consumer spending and advertising, was 84 percent of the total video market in 2017, compared with 52 percent in 2013; the U.S., at 47 percent, had the largest share of global online video revenue in 2017, followed by China (10 percent) and Japan (6 percent); and physical DVDs and Blu-rays generated 16 percent of global revenue in 2017, down from 76 percent in 2010. In online video home entertainment, “Netflix and Amazon are the headline acts but many other streaming video services around the world are also gaining traction as the video market continues to expand,” said the researcher

Broadcast and MVPD interests agree on streamlining the triennial carriage election letter process, but there's no agreement on how, judging by replies in docket 17-317. That echoed what the FCC already saw in its NPRM proposing changes to its Part 76 rules to allow more use of electronic delivery of MVPD communications (see 1802160005). Any such simplification of the must-carry and retransmission consent election notification process is good, and the FCC needs to be sure to avoid simply shifting regulatory burdens to MVPDs, NCTA commented, posted Tuesday. It said broadcasters' putting their elections in their online public files would require MVPDs to search legions of such files for new election requests, and ending the broadcaster obligation to send election notifications swaps one regulation for "an even more burdensome" one. NTCA had similar objections.