Playing any role in updating the International Electrotechnical Commission’s 62087 standardized test clip for measuring TV energy consumption is “not an area of specialty” for SMPTE, Bruce Devlin, the society’s vice president-standards, told participants in a Thursday webinar (see 1801250044). “The way that SMPTE tends to work is, if a bunch of proponents believe that SMPTE would be a good repository for that test clip because of the experts within the SMPTE community, a project could be started within SMPTE to do that,” said Devlin. “Nobody’s approached us. It’s not something the CTA have talked to us about in their liaisons. So we probably wouldn’t say 'no,' it’s just that nobody’s actually asked, and nobody’s started the work.” CTA started an “active project” with outside groups to update its seven-year-old CTA-2037 standard that references the TEC 62087 test clip on measuring TV power consumption, said Brian Markwalter, senior vice president-research and standards, in September (see 1709250043). How to measure TV energy use by more up-to-date standards has been a hot discussion during EPA’s extended proceeding to update the Energy Star TV specification for v8.0 (see 1703160039). Markwalter didn’t comment Friday.

The proliferation of embedded autoplay video is a bubble set to pop, said marketing consultant Simon Owens in an email newsletter Wednesday. He said embedding such videos in their content shows publishers implicitly acknowledge there's no demand and viewership numbers get artificially inflated. He said news outlets have shed text-based staff to ramp up video production, but the media industry acknowledges its pivot increasingly toward video is driven by advertiser -- not reader -- demand. Duration of that advertiser demand is questionable since the growth of streaming service original programming means a coming glut of high-quality video content. He also said browsers rolling out updates that block autoplay video "might finally force a reckoning within the industry."

Google Play rolled out audio books Tuesday, for customers to buy an audio book without a subscription, blogged Greg Hartrell, head-product management, Google Play Books. Users can share with family members through Google’s Family Library service, said Hartrell. Google Home customers can have Google Assistant read a book to them, he said.

Dish Network acted correctly in rejecting a broadcaster’s must-carry notice because it was delivered using the wrong sort of mail service, said an FCC Media Bureau order Tuesday (see 1711300033). Minority Television Project (MTP), licensee of noncommercial KMTP-TV San Francisco, sent the carriage election notice via the U.S. Postal Service’s priority express mail service, while FCC rules specifically require certified mail, the order said. “Because the rule explicitly requires election notices to be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, it is under no obligation to carry the station,” Dish argued. Though MTP argued that priority express mail didn’t exist when the rule was created, and that Dish’s response favored “form over substance,” the bureau upheld Dish’s stance. “Rejection was permissible under our rules because KMTP did not adhere to the commission’s clear and express procedural requirements,” the bureau said.

Cinedigm will distribute Chinese films in the U.S. theatrically, with the possibility of also digital home entertainment release in North America and China, including TV and short-form content and joint work in over-the-top deployment, it said Friday, announcing a deal with Chinese media company Starrise Media Holdings. Cinedigm also said the two will look at joint production of films.

Comments are due Feb. 15, replies March 2 on the NPRM FCC members adopted in December expanding the number of notifications that cable operators can email to subscribers and updating the requirement broadcasters send carriage election notices to MVPDs via certified mail (see 1712140054), said a public notice Thursday.

The advertising-supported video experience needs to be more compelling to compete with ad-free services like Netflix, with the TV industry trying out approaches such as addressability -- different TVs tuned to the same channel at the same time receiving different targeted ads -- and cross-screen ad platforms, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Monday. Change is coming fast enough to slow the shift of audiences to ad-free viewing, he said.

Wall Street increasingly sees a Viacom/CBS as likely. In an email to investors Tuesday, Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar said dynamics for such a deal differ compared with rumors in the past: the existence of other media mega-deals like Discovery/Scripps Networks Interactive, Viacom's deteriorating performance and the lack of its content on over-the-top bundles, and CBS advertising woes. He said such a deal would buy Viacom more time in its turnaround. In a separate note Tuesday, MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson said CBS CEO Les Moonves' rumored increased openness to a deal isn't surprising given comments he has made about the need for more scale to compete with the likes of Disney and Comcast. Nathanson also said a merger would mean more cash flow for CBS in upcoming NFL negotiations. CBS and Viacom didn't comment.

HDR10+ Technologies applied Jan. 2 to register the stylized logo unveiled at CES for the Fox-Panasonic-Samsung royalty-free dynamic-metadata high-dynamic-range platform (see 1708300040), Patent and Trademark Office records show. The two filings -- one for a range of possible consumer tech device applications, the other for "software as a service" uses and for videogaming and streaming-video purposes -- were filed about 36 hours before the “3C” consortium debuted the logo. PTO records show HDR Technologies is headquartered at a Beaverton, Oregon, address that is home to the VTM Group, a consulting firm that runs the Open Connectivity Foundation and helped organize or run other tech groups in which Samsung had a founding role. VTM also runs the AirFuel Alliance. Warner Home Entertainment has pledged HDR10+ content support. "Technical specifications haven't been finalized," a Fox spokesman told us. "Our plan is to begin licensing once that happens and hopefully that won't be too far off. Everyone is working to get it done as soon as possible."

Meredith Corp. said U.S. antitrust overseers won't challenge its planned takeover of Time Inc. With early termination of the merger waiting period in hand, the owner of TV stations and magazines expects to complete the deal announced Nov. 26 within 30 days. The acquirer plans Q1 completion of the $2.8 billion transaction that's getting funding from Koch Equity Development (see 1711270014). The FTC and DOJ didn't comment right away Friday.