Fox closed on its roughly $440 million purchase of Tubi (see 2004100010), the buyer said Monday.

Fandango is buying Walmart's streaming video sales and rental operation Vudu. The deal won't affect existing customers' libraries or accounts, Vudu said Sunday. It said there will be no immediate change regarding it and Fandango's FandangoNow online video brand.

DVDVideoSoft.com launched a free MP4 video converter desktop app for Windows that converts any video for playback on smartphones, tablets and other personal devices, it said Friday: It claims to support at least two dozen of the most popular video formats and does its conversions without quality loss.

Having delayed implementation of Television Viewer Protection Act truth-in-billing requirements by six months to Dec. 20 (see 2004030029), the FCC doesn't have authority to do another, broadcast lawyer Peter Tannenwald of Fletcher Heald blogged Wednesday. Once in effect, MVPD and broadband bills should be more understandable for consumers, he said.

Since movie theaters might not reopen for weeks or months after shelter-in-place orders start to be relaxed, premium VOD -- with accelerated digital release of first-run movies at a premium price -- might have particularly long legs, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Monday.

The number of 4K TV owners watching 4K content grew from 49% last year to 56% this year, Hub Entertainment Research reported. Some 11% of TV households “claim they own an 8K TV,” said Hub. Some 9% of households plan to buy an 8K set in the next 12 months. Ownership of streaming media players is flat year on year, as TV households with a Roku smart TV grew from 18% to 22%; TVs with an Amazon Fire TV operating system increased from 14% to 15%. Roku’s penetration of TV-based streaming media devices rose five points to 35%; Amazon’s from 23% to 26%. Fifty-nine percent of smartphone households have unlimited data plans, up from 56%, with 30% of households saying they watch premium video on their phones weekly, up from 23%. TV households with voice remotes grew from 31% to 36%. Smart speaker ownership grew to 42% from 37%; growth of “any” smart home devices grew from 33% to 39%.

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument via telephone conference May 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13 in some previously postponed cases, with justices and counsel participating remotely, it said Monday. It expects to provide a live audio feed of arguments to news media. Numerous federal courts have opted for telephonic oral arguments or postponing cases in light of the pandemic (see 2003130039). The high court will hear PTO v. Booking.com (see 2002140016) in early or mid-May via teleconference, SCOTUS said. The court postponed oral argument for Google v. Oracle (see 2002200061) until the October term.

Comments and reply deadlines for the FCC communications market competitiveness report to Congress were extended about two weeks each to April 27 and May 28 because of the pandemic, the Office of Economics and Analytics said Friday. There was some but not all the time music groups requested (see 2004060067).

Modify KUSA Denver's market to include Colorado's Montezuma County because its residents can’t receive in-state COVID-19 information, the county Board of Commissioners petitioned the FCC for special relief last week. Montezuma is an “orphan county” assigned by Nielsen to the Albuquerque designated market area, so Dish Network doesn’t allow county residents to receive Colorado TV stations, the municipality told the FCC. County consumers haven't been able to receive “direct information” from Gov. Jared Polis (D) “regarding statewide and citizen directives during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the petition said. The request fulfills the requirements for market modification from the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization, and Dish certified the request is technically feasible, the petition said. The request is in docket 12-1. Dish didn't comment Friday. KUSA owner Tegna has "no position on the petition,” a spokesperson emailed us.

Master Quality Authenticated is working with Jazz re:freshed on streamed versions of live sets from the British Music Embassy Sessions. The first March 18 livestream was originally intended to remotely connect with the SXSW. Austin canceled the annual event due to the coronavirus (see 2003060047).