Spotify is trying to upsell customers to its Premium service with a free Google Net Mini. Its Premium Family, Duo and Student plans have “limited eligibility.” The offer runs through Sept. 30 or while supplies last; codes expire Oct. 31.

Indiana cities suing streaming services that are seeking to force them to pay franchise fees, "are treading into dangerous legal waters" because a court ruling in favor of the streamers could also be legal ammunition for cable companies to claim they also shouldn't pay, CCG Consulting President Doug Dawson blogged Wednesday. Also problematic would be a ruling against the streamers because it would mean the cities ultimately are taxing some -- but not all -- bits moving back and forth between ISPs and customers, he said. Outside counsel for the cities didn't comment.

Samsung is the leading brand of streaming platform services in use across 27 countries, in a market that exceeded 1.1 billion devices, said Strategy Analytics Wednesday. Trailing Samsung’s 14% share are Sony (12%), LG (8%), Hisense (5%), TCL (5%) and Amazon (5%), said SA. Tizen is the leading platform in TV streaming with 11% deployed devices, followed by WebOS (7%), PlayStation (7%), Roku OS (5%), Fire OS (5%), Android TV (4%) and Xbox (4%). Over-the-top TV is a “complex and evolving landscape” vs. mobile devices where two platforms dominate, said analyst David Watkins. “Frequently updated, tactical tracking of platform deployments is a valuable tool in ensuring that services are reaching their highest potential audience.” SA expects internet streaming to dominate TV and video consumption across much of the world over the next decade, said analyst David Mercer. “As traditional television and video platforms continue to decline, TV streaming represents the future of television and video.”

Comments are due Oct. 1 and replies Oct. 16 on a petition for declaratory ruling by the Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association, DirecTV and Dish Network challenging Chicago's 2012 satellite dish antenna restrictions, per a docket 20-284 FCC Media Bureau public notice Tuesday. It said the Chicago rule has been in abeyance while the FCC dealt with a similar Philadelphia ordinance, which it declared invalid in 2018 (see 1804190034).

The FCC’s methodology for calculating regulatory fees is “deeply flawed” and “would not survive judicial review,” NAB said Tuesday responding to the 2020 reg payments order (see 2008310056). “However, we very much appreciate Chairman [Ajit] Pai and his staff correcting certain errors in the proposal’s original calculations to result in reduced fees for many radio broadcasters. NAB urges the Commission to convene stakeholders to take a closer look at its approach to regulatory fees to ensure they are fairly and equitably applied for all entities that utilize Commission resources.” ACA Connects praised the order for continuing to phase in higher fees for direct broadcast satellite providers. “Next year the FCC must eliminate this long-inexplicable disparity between cable/IPTV and DBS regulatory fees once and for all,” said ACA President Matt Polka. “The DBS industry is mature and its two providers, AT&T/DirecTV and DISH, are not exactly fledglings. It is time to stop treating them with kid gloves.”

“The evolution of high resolution has arrived,” reads the homepage of the 8K Association’s new Discover8K.com consumer website, launched Monday to coincide with the runup to IFA in Berlin. It lists 8KA-certified TVs from “leading brands,” currently consisting of 17 models from 8KA members Samsung and TCL. The site also gives information about “current and upcoming sources” of 8K content, and “guidance” for viewing 8K entertainment at home, including “ideal screen sizes” and seating distances. “Ultimately it will be consumers who determine how quickly 8K technology is adopted,” said Aaron Dew, TCL North America director-product development. He chairs 8KA’s marketing working group and said, “Consumers who understand the benefits of 8K ultra-sharp big-screen displays, finely-detailed 8K gaming and the power of immersive 8K video are going to speed the transition to 8K.”

AT&T would "be better off without the albatross that is DirecTV," but the likelihood of such a deal is slim due to the rapid decline in DirecTV's subscriber base -- 18% year over year -- and its earnings, which make it tough for a potential buyer to see a reasonable return, MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett emailed Monday. That followed a report that AT&T is exploring a sale. The telco didn't comment. DirecTV's combining with Dish Network and the resulting synergies between the two are of limited help, and regulatory approval would take a year or longer, Moffett said.

Some 78% of U.S. households have a subscription VOD service from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and/or Hulu, up from 69% in 2018, reported Leichtman Research Group Friday. About 55% of U.S. households have more than one SVOD service, an increase from 43% in 2018, it said. Forty percent of adults stream an SVOD service daily. The most active streamers are ages 18-44, with 63% of daily SVOD viewing. Some 30% of respondents said their Netflix subscription is shared with others outside their household, 23% for Hulu and 20% for Amazon Prime. Fifty-five percent of adults watch video on non-TV devices daily, including mobile phones, home computers and tablets; 44% watch video on a mobile phone daily, it said. The pandemic spurred an increase in SVOD and direct-to-consumer streaming video services, said principal Bruce Leichtman.

Comments are due Sept. 8 on a petition from America’s Public Television Stations and PBS urging the FCC Media Bureau to waive required baseline carriage notices for noncommercial educational translators, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 17-105. Replies are due Sept. 14. The agency requires NCE translators to email a notice to MVPDs on which they will be seeking carriage in the 2021-2023 carriage cycle, the PN says. APTS and PBS argued NCE translators are all must-carry and so don’t interact with MVPDs to obtain carriage. “NCE translators do not even know, in many cases, which MVPDs are carrying them, and no resource exists to easily determine this information,” the PN said. “Even emailing a one-time notice would impose a substantial burden, while providing no benefit to the public, to MVPDs, or to the translators themselves.”

Streaming service Tidal bought $7 million in tokens issued by Sensorium that will allow broadcasting of immersive virtual reality content to users worldwide. The relationship with the social VR platform company will allow Tidal to gain exclusive rights for its artist roster to have shows and music broadcast within Sensorium’s virtual entertainment worlds, said Lior Tibon, Tidal chief operating officer. In addition to letting fans access concerts they wouldn’t be able to attend in person, the Sensorium Galaxy alternate universe platform will allow users to interact with other virtual participants and avatars. In addition to VR headsets, Sensorium Galaxy will be available on PC, iOS and Android applications.