MGM premium network Epix will be available via AT&T's DirecTV May 19 and also will be offered through the DirecTV Now streaming service, under a distribution agreement the two announced Wednesday.
Reflecting growing priority record labels place on high-quality listening experiences, RIAA issued its first tally of available high-resolution music titles. Data from member companies shows more than 33,500 albums, close to 400,000 tracks, are available in Studio Quality formats to stream or download in the U.S. Major labels are releasing some 1,000 albums per month in Studio Quality formats, it said Monday. Those include Hi-Res Audio (48 khz/20-bit or higher) or the studio production format of 44.1 kHz/24-bit audio. Some 77 percent of RIAA’s top 100 Gold and Platinum-certified albums are available in Studio Quality, it said.
America's Communications Association wants the FCC to caution Congress about small MVPDs' resources in the next video description report. The American Council of the Blind is urging the agency to expand video description requirements to more designated market areas. MVPDs have made progress in video-described on-demand programming availability and in their ability to pass through more than two audio tracks, but the FCC "must be realistic" about how quickly small operators can implement new technology, given their market stature and resources, ACA replied in docket 11-43, posted Thursday. ACB said there's clearly consumer demand for video described programming, and the agency should expand video description requirements beyond the current DMAs and phase them in for an additional 10 annually starting in 2020. ACB said the FCC should increase the amount of video-described programming by 75 percent, with a focus on such content as prime time and children's programming. NAB has argued against expanding the requirements beyond the top 60 markets (see 1904020059).
Comcast closed on its buy of commercial Wi-Fi network company Deep Blue Communications, it said Wednesday. It said the addition of Deep Blue's managed Wi-Fi expertise should result in new offerings targeting such industries as hospitality and entertainment.
Altice agreed to buy news company Cheddar for $200 million, it said Tuesday. The acquisition adds Cheddar’s digital-first, live business, general news and college network, focused on young professional and millennial audiences. Cheddar networks are available on most U.S. over-the-top subscription services and in some 40 million pay-TV homes and on 600 campuses, and the company has social distribution across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Snapchat. Altice’s news coverage now will span hyperlocal, national, business and international content and reach a more diverse audience on digital and linear formats, it said. The transaction is expected to close in the next two months after regulatory approval.
News could be the key to a streaming service's attracting and keeping viewers, though it comes with some potential costs, like controversy, said a study Monday from Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. While some experiment with the format, "news is still a dirty word in the streaming universe," it said. Market leader Netflix "is not all-in on news," though news has shown again and again in various media that it's "a successful hook to attract and retain audience," it said.
Spotify is experimenting with paid service terms, which could “lead us to rethink the definition of subscriptions,” said CEO Daniel Ek on a Q1 call Monday. It gravitated to shorter subscriptions in newer markets as “people come in and out quickly,” he said. Now in trials is Premium Duo designed for two people under the same roof -- in Colombia, Chile, Denmark, Ireland and Holland. The company is encouraged by early response, and believes the plan will be “accretive” to monthly average user count (MAU), and subscriptions, if it expands elsewhere. Management believes family and student plans will lead to less customer churn. Forty-two percent of Q1 gross subscriber additions were former customers, said Ek. The company had a 36 percent rejoin rate, twice gross subscriber additions, he said. The company expanded its premium user base 32 percent to 100 million, and ad-supported listeners increased 21 percent to 123 million, it reported. Revenue jumped 33 percent to $1.68 billion. It projects Q2 revenue $1.68 billion-$1.8 billion. Ek called voice speakers “a critical area of growth," and the company expects to pursue opportunities there. "We want to be on all major platforms.” He tempered enthusiasm for voice control, saying while the growth rate is impressive, it's very small compared to mobile. After course correcting, Spotify is having “strong growth” in Q2 ads, said Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy.
Imax is in discussions with key streaming services for introducing the Imax Enhanced solution it launched last year with DTS (see 1809040055), said CEO Richard Gelfond on a Q1 call. The companies cooperated on a certification and licensing program for home viewing of remastered content on high-end CE products (see 1901080039). Initial focus was on physical media, and the first Blu-ray titles, A Beautiful Planet and Journey to the South Pacific, released in December. At CES, DTS demonstrated Marvel's Spider-Man: Homecoming and Sony's Venom and Alpha on Blu-ray, and a spokesperson said the Sony titles would also be available for streaming. Also at CES, DTS, Imax Enhanced and MediaTek said they're collaborating on an SoC solution incorporating a streaming codec for 4K Imax Enhanced movies for delivery in second half. The DTS:X TV, designed for single- and dual-core TV SoC architectures, is backward-compatible with all DTS-encoded content such as DTS:X and DTS:HD Master Audio Blu-rays, they said. China-based Tencent Video, FandangoNow in the U.S. and Rakuten TV in Europe said they'll begin streaming Imax Enhanced content to certified devices this year, and Privilege 4K in the U.S. is due to begin streaming Imax Enhanced content to select Sony Bravia TVs this year. "Only digital retailers that meet the highest standards for 4K HDR streaming will be authorized to distribute Imax Enhanced content," said the companies. Though content companies' strategies for streaming services are "still developing" and are "relatively young" in development, "announcements are imminent," said Imax Entertainment President Megan Colligan on Friday's call.
Most pay-TV subscribers get 100-plus channels in their video bundles, up from 27 in 1995, with sports-related networks today accounting for about 17 of those, S&P Global Market Intelligence said Friday. It said sports channels were the most expensive of genres, averaging $1.11 per subscriber per month, with costs from $7.46 per sub per month for ESPN to 5-7 cents for Outside TV and Outdoor Channel. It said the NFL Network was the only other national sports network commanding in excess of $1 monthly a sub in 2018. It said sports programming costs as a portion cable average revenue per user was roughly 22.1 percent in 2018, up from 14.1 percent in 2009. S&P said the local sports rights market has seen numerous new entrants, like ESPN Plus, YouTube and FloSports, but their effect on values of local sports rights in the next few years "will be minimal." For regional sports networks, monthly license fees per sub averaged $2.64 in 2018, up 8 percent from 2017 and up 37 percent from 2014, it said.
Amazon and Google appear to have mended some fences. Last week, Amazon noted they announced that in coming months the YouTube app will be available on Amazon Fire TV devices and Fire TV Edition smart TVs, plus the Prime Video app for streaming to Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices. Prime Video will also be broadly available across Android TV device partners, and the YouTube TV and YouTube Kids apps will come to Fire TV later this year, Amazon said. The companies had a falling out over access to products in services in 2017 (see 1712200060).