Temporary spikes in streaming activity due to lockdowns early in the COVID-19 pandemic “have turned out to be not so temporary,” said a Q2 Conviva report released last week. A tipping point spurred by the pandemic “shows no signs of reversal,” with Q2 streaming rising 13% over the “pandemic heights” of Q2 2020, it said. Most of Q2’s gains came from outside North America, where streaming had a 7% decline in April from April 2020. North America returned to double-digit growth in June at 14% year on year. There was a 4% increase in ad impressions quarter over quarter, said the report. On YouTube, mobile phones were 63% of views but just 52% of watch time, as consumers tallied nearly twice as many minutes per view when watching YouTube on a console or connected TV than they did on mobile or tablet in Q2 2021, the report said. Smart TV viewing was up 46% in the quarter and up 5% on connected TV devices, but streaming on game consoles fell 14%. Viewing on smaller screens grew across the board: 30% on smartphones, 15% on desktop PCs and 9% on tablets. Roku, maintaining 31% of big-screen viewing time, lost some share as smart TV-only devices from Samsung, LG and Vizio increased share.

Nielsen is “disappointed” the Media Rating Council responded to the company’s request for a hiatus in accreditation by voting to suspend its National TV Ratings service, as well as its Local People Meter and Set Meter Markets service, a spokesperson emailed Friday. “The suspension will not impact the usability of our data,” she said, saying Nielsen “remains the currency of choice for media companies, advertisers and agencies.” The market measurement firm is “committed to the audit process and during this pause in accreditation we will work with the MRC on resolving this suspension.” MRC’s board voted to suspend its accreditation of Nielsen’s National Television service, it said Wednesday. It also removed accreditation hiatus status designation from Nielsen’s Local People Meter and Set Meter Markets services, and voted to suspend accreditation for those markets.

Vizio added the HBO Max app to its SmartCast TVs, said the TV vendor Wednesday. Vizio will feature an HBO Max content discovery “carousel” on the SmartCast home screen, it said. The SmartCast carousel will include access to 13 HBO Originals programs, plus a rotation of new titles from the HBO Max library.

The Locast streaming service infringes on broadcasters’ copyright, ruled U.S. District Court in Manhattan Judge Louis Stanton Tuesday in an opinion and order granting summary judgment to plaintiffs that include Fox, CBS, Disney and NBCUniversal (docket 19-cv-7136, in Pacer). The payments Locast requests from users are charges rather than gifts, and exceed the amount needed to maintain and operate the service, ruled Stanton. That keeps Locast from falling under a statutory exemption from copyright rules for nonprofits, the opinion said. “It is of no consequence that a number of users employ the service without paying.” Locast operator Sports Fan Coalition “solicits, and receives, substantial amounts in charges from recipients for its uninterrupted service,” Stanton wrote. Locast had argued that it falls under the exemption because it uses excess funds only to expand the service, but Stanton said Congress could have included the word “expansion” in the statute if that was part of the law’s intent. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which represented Locast, disagreed. “This ruling that nonprofit retransmitters can’t use viewer contributions to expand access will do the opposite of what Congress intended,” EFF emailed Locast users. “Our client is in the process of evaluating the decision and formulating next steps,” said Locast attorney David Hosp, of Orrick Herrington.

Comments are due Sept. 30, replies Nov. 1, in docket 98-204 for the FCC’s proceeding on collecting broadcaster and cable equal employment opportunity data, said Tuesday’s Federal Register. Commissioners unanimously approved a Further NPRM in July (see 2107260059).

U.S. households belonging to a subscription VOD service from Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu are holding steady year over year in 2021 at 78%, reported Leichtman Research Group Tuesday. Just over 40% of adults stream a top SVOD service daily vs. 40% last year and 33% in 2019, it said, citing a survey of 2,000 households. Those using any of the services daily leveled off “after being pulled forward last year due to the coronavirus pandemic,” said President Bruce Leichtman. “While the breadth of households with a major SVOD service is similar to last year, those with multiple top SVOD services continued to expand.” About 27% of households report having five or more SVOD or direct-to-consumer services. Some 54% of adults watch video on non-TV devices; 58% of U.S. households have more than one of the top three SVOD services vs. 55% in 2020. Ages 18-34 make up 41% of adults using SVOD daily; ages 18-44 are 67%.

Memberful customers can share paid podcasts directly to the Spotify platform via private RSS feeds, Spotify said Monday. Memberful provides tools and support for monetizing content through customizable software. Artists’ audiences have to be able to access their content “on the platforms and apps they use most frequently," said Tiffany Perko, Memberful marketing head, noting Spotify’s podcast listening hours grew 30% year on year in Q2.

Comments are due Oct.19, replies Nov. 18, in docket 15-94 on an FCC Further NPRM on recommendations to improve the emergency alert system, said a public notice listed in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. The FNPRM stems from a unanimous FCC vote in June (see 2106170063).

Over-the-top video subscriptions will rise from about 230 million this year to 277 million in 2026, blogged Parks Associates Tuesday. In Q1, the average OTT subscription in U.S. broadband households was roughly 2.5 years. Subscriptions had a strong correlation with age, with younger consumers holding on to a subscription for a much shorter time. Younger consumers may subscribe to a larger number of services “but are more likely to churn through them,” said the report. “Information providers can design support services that appeal to consumers at different life stages, who prefer different channels, and adapt as their needs evolve,” said Everise President Dave Palmer.

Nexstar bought online political news publication The Hill for $130 million, the broadcaster said Friday. The news site will create “synergistic opportunities” with Nexstar’s new cable news network, NewsNation, and local news stations, the release said. The Hill, which is primarily advertising supported, had 48 million average monthly users and 2.2 billion total page views in 2020, Nexstar said. Nexstar said it's “ideally positioned to accelerate The Hill’s growth and further penetrate the massive political news market to grow audience share and drive increased content monetization.”