Google's plan to end third-party tracking cookies on its Chrome browser within about two years (see report, Feb. 15, and here) drew concerns from advertisers Thursday. "It would threaten to substantially disrupt much of the infrastructure of today's Internet without providing any viable alternative," wrote Executive Vice Presidents Dan Jaffe of the Association of National Advertisers and Dick O'Brien from the American Association of Advertising Agencies. They're "deeply disappointed that Google would unilaterally declare such a major change." Their groups will "work with stakeholders and policymakers to ensure that there are effective and competitive alternatives available" and "collaborate with Google in this effort," the officials wrote. They asked the platform to "quickly commit to not imposing this moratorium on third party cookies until effective and meaningful alternatives are available." The company referred us to Tuesday's blog post. It's "pretty explicit that the needs of advertisers and publishers (as well as users) will be addressed," emailed a Google representative Thursday.

Growth of vMVPDs is slowing amid above-inflation price hikes, and new entrant Vidgo needs to add important functionality and channels without increasing prices to compete, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Tuesday: Sports-centric Vidgo lacks regional sports networks and CBS and NBCUniversal, and lack of pause and DVR functions is a problem. Vidgo CEO Shane Cannon told us its social TV component -- letting people interact virtually while watching -- and its targeting of underserved markets are competitive differentiators, and its channel lineup allows it to have a lower cost structure. He said DVR functionality is coming.

MVPDs likely lost 6.2 percent of customers on cord cutting in 2019, above the 3.9 percent 2018 decline, S&P said Wednesday. It said those losses should moderate somewhat this year, at 5.1 percent, with direct broadcast satellite losses scaling back but cable subscriber losses accelerating. The firm said the bigger-than-expected 2019 losses were likely due to AT&T's DirecTV losing more than 12 percent of its customer base as it ended promotional pricing, while Dish Network likely lost more than 8 percent due to blackouts. S&P said vMVPDs likely have 10 to 15 percent of the pay-TV subs, but growth might wane because of rising prices. It said more midsized cable operators will likely follow Cable One in not offering their own video service. The debt ratings firm said lesser cord cutting in 2020 should come due to vMVPDs being less a competitive threat and as DBS has fewer losses.

Retransmission consent revenue will continue to grow at a percentage rate in the “low- to midteens” in 2020, reported S&P Global Intelligence this week. Retrans agreement renewals from the latter half of 2019 will “spur” revenue growth in 2020, it said. The decline of pay-TV subscribers will grow to 3 percent in 2020, but direct broadcast satellite video subscriber declines will slow “since AT&T disconnects weighed on the industry in 2019 due to churn from customers who were on two-year promotional pricing packages,” the report said. Higher rates of cable disconnects as cable MVPDs de-emphasize video packages will offset slower satellite losses, the firm said. “We expect growth among virtual offerings will continue to slow due to recent price increases and more subscription video on demand (SVOD) alternatives.” TV stations will lose fewer viewers in these subscriber declines because broadcasting is included in nearly all video bundles, S&P said. Rising affiliate costs will eat into the margin of broadcaster retrans revenue, the report said. “While we expect net retransmission margins will continue to decline,” net retrans dollars will increase in 2020 as “retransmission revenue grows at a faster clip than reverse retransmission fees,” it said.

Pledging no annual contracts and more video bundle choices, Verizon announced bundles Thursday. The video packages come in bundles of 125-plus channels, 300-plus channels and 425-plus channels, with it also selling YouTube TV. The ISP is offering 100, 300, 400, 500 or 940 Mbps. Parents TV Council urged full a la carte options instead of skinnier bundles. It said Verizon "doesn’t give consumers real choice in terms of programming [and] what they’re proposing is only a distinction without a difference." If "customers are forced to pay for bundles of unwanted networks, cords will continue to be cut," said PTC. “Finally, a major cable company has gotten the message,” Consumer Reports said. "While the cost of internet and cable TV service is still expensive, Verizon customers can now pick a plan that suits their needs and budget without having to worry about getting hit with a bill loaded with hidden fees.”

Universal Electronics is adding capabilities and support across home entertainment and smart home devices via its nevo.ai virtual assistant services available in smart TVs, set-top boxes and home gateways, it said at CES in Las Vegas. Nevo.ai is an integrated white-label virtual assistant in Universal’s Nevo Butler entertainment and smart home hub, with built-in mics for far-field voice control. Nevo.ai includes a new graphical interface that provides a “friendly multi-modal experience” when integrated on devices, UEI said. QuickSet 5.0, with native support for Zigbee 3.0, includes advancements blending entertainment and smart home with built-in support for IoT device management, dashboards and analytics. Nevo.ai is built on Microsoft’s open-source and extensible Virtual Assistant.

The FCC Media Bureau dismissed Gray's must-carry denial complaint against AT&T's DirecTV on carriage of WCJB-TV Gainesville, Florida, after the broadcast company's withdrawal of the complaint, the bureau said in Tuesday's Daily Digest.

AT&T and Hearst inked a retransmission consent agreement that ends a blackout of 34 stations in 26 markets, the MVPD said Sunday. The blackout affected such markets as Baltimore, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, New Orleans and Oklahoma City. Dish Network and Mission Broadcasting are in the midst of a retrans fight with a multi-market blackout (see 2001060009).

LG TVs dating to the 2016 model year have Disney Plus backward compatibility through a firmware update, the consumer electronics manufacturer announced at CES in Las Vegas. The plan for Apple TV Plus compatibility is to be determined. The company also disclosed its U.S. ATSC 3.0 plans (see 2001060026).

Dish Network and Mission Broadcasting blamed each other for a blackout of the broadcaster's stations that began Friday in 18 markets in 16 states. Both said the other side declined a contract extension during negotiations. Mission President Dennis Thatcher said Sunday Dish "gave us no warning." Dish said Friday it's offering digital antennas free to its customers in the affected markets. AT&T and Hearst settled a retrans fight that caused blackouts in multiple markets (see 2001060003).