Quibi didn't comment Monday on a Sunday report that it's in talks to sell its catalog to Roku. The short-form video service shut down in October after six months (see report in this publication, Oct. 23). Roku has been pushing into content with its ad-supported Roku Channel that offers movies and TV shows from others. A deal with Quibi would give Roku exclusive programming. A spokesperson emailed that Roku doesn’t comment on market speculation.
Charter Communications President-Chief Operating Officer John Bickham will transition to vice chairman sometime in the second half of next year at the request of Charter CEO Tom Rutledge, the company said Monday, announcing an amended employment agreement with Bickham. It said his employment will terminate at the end of 2022 when the agreement expires.
GCI Liberty and Liberty Broadband consummated their transaction that has GCI becoming part of a Liberty subsidiary (see 2008310050), GCI said in an FCC International Bureau notice of consummation filed Tuesday.
Stay-at-home viewing raised the profile of ad-supported VOD, a Parks Associates virtual conference was told last week. Acquisitions in AVOD including Pluto TV by ViacomCBS in 2019 (see 1903040002), Xumo by Comcast in February (see 2002250059) and Tubi by Fox in April (see 2004200070) raised the profile of the category, said Parks analyst Steve Nason. NBCUniversal further disrupted this space, launching the hybrid Peacock service first through its affiliate Comcast and with Cox customers, then broadly in July. Parks believes AVOD will continue to gain on subscription VOD services as they offer more exclusive content and other benefits. Among U.S. broadband households viewing AVOD in Q3, 9% watched Pluto TV, 8% The Roku Channel, 7% Tubi TV and 6% Peacock. Tubi got more engagement before the pandemic, said Vice President-Business Development Andrea Clarke-Hall. “The pandemic accelerated what was already happening.” Stefan Van Engen, Xumo senior vice president-content programming and partnerships, said fewer commercials and better overall user experience drive engagement. Ad targeting helps, said Henry Embleton, head-ad products and revenue at hybrid AVOD-SVOD anime streamer Crunchyroll.
The FCC's read of the Telecom Act LEC test is reasonable, and even if the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable (MDTC) interpretation was also reasonable, the court must defer to the FCC, said a 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion Friday (docket 19-2282). It rejected MDTC's appeal of the agency's finding that vMVPD service AT&T TV Now is effective competition to cable TV, ending basic rate regulation in parts of the state (see 1912230063). The FCC finding that widespread internet availability means the need to buy broadband to access AT&T TV Now isn't an impediment was also reasonable, ruled Judges Sandra Lynch and Patti Saris and written by Saris. MDTC didn't comment. Judge Juan Torruella was on the panel handling the case, but didn't take part in the decision. Oral argument was in October (see 2010080052).
Comcast's FreeWheel agreed to buy software-as-a-service advertising company Beeswax, FreeWheel said Thursday. This expands FreeWheel’s programmatic marketplace capabilities in TV and video ads, including connected TV and set-top box VOD, it said. Terms weren't disclosed. The deal is expected to close next month, pending approvals.
Seven months after launching without two of the leading streaming video platforms (see 2005270033), HBO Max is widely available from most major providers and platforms, arriving on Roku players and TVs Thursday (see 2012160064). That follows availability on PlayStation 5 consoles Wednesday and Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex devices Tuesday. Wonder Woman 1984 debuts Christmas Day. The movie -- the first on HBO Max available in 4K Ultra HD, HDR 10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos -- will be viewable to HBO Max subscribers for one month at no additional cost, said WarnerMedia. The $14.99-per-month service became available on Amazon Fire TV devices last month (see 2011160026). Existing HBO subscribers on the Roku platform will get HBO Max as an automatic update, and they can log in using existing HBO credentials. Other Roku users can download WarnerMedia’s video service from the Roku channel.
FuboTV can benefit from “cord-nevers” who prefer customizable TV bundles of streaming content to “pre-determined MVPD programming,” Wedbush's Michael Pachter wrote investors: Its “lead with sports” strategy and competitive pricing offer avid sports fans “the first comprehensive alternative to pay-TV." Sports has been the “hook” to reel in subscribers to pay TV, while news and entertainment increase viewer engagement, he noted Tuesday. Cord cutters and shavers are a 30 million addressable market, likely growing by 3 million yearly, said the analyst. The stock closed 12% higher Wednesday at $29.70.
Fuse Media's carriage complaint with the FCC against AT&T (see 2012140052) is expanding to U.S. Bankruptcy Court. In a complaint Tuesday (docket 20-51049, in Pacer) with the court in Wilmington, Delaware, Fuse accused AT&T and its DirecTV of breach of contract and tortious interference with contracts. It said its AT&T contracts are its most valuable assets and vital to its success beyond its 2019 bankruptcy reorganization. The heavily redacted complaint said AT&T and a third-party programmer swapped confidential Fuse information, costing Fuse in contract negotiations. Fuse asked for unspecified damages. AT&T emailed Wednesday that it "treat[s] all programmers fairly, including Fuse. This meritless lawsuit is nothing more than a last-ditch attempt by Fuse’s creditors to force us and our customers to pay for channels our customers don’t want or value.”
Pearl TV and its ATSC 3.0 partners in the Phoenix model market began initial testing over limited cable infrastructure through a cooperative effort with Comcast in Portland, Oregon. This “could give the industry a foundation for a ‘real world’ technical example of how to transmit ATSC 3.0 over hybrid fiber-coaxial infrastructure,” said Pearl Tuesday. Seven stations are on-air with NextGenTV in Portland, “so it makes sense to work with a major operator in the area like Comcast to determine what’s needed to distribute this new capability to cable customers,” said Pearl Managing Director Anne Schelle. The first stages will develop the technical capability to pass along 4K content and later enable HDR10, wide color gamut and advanced immersive audio, said Pearl.