Comments are due Dec. 27, replies Jan. 23, in the FCC independent programming rulemaking, said a notice in Tuesday's Federal Register. The NPRM looks at rules restricting some types of most-favored-nation and alternative distribution method provisions, and invites comments on program bundling (see 1609090043).

The $35 per month subscription price to AT&T's DirecTV Now means that over-the-top service likely won't be a money maker, since programming costs probably will be in the low $30 range, UBS analyst John Hodulik wrote investors Tuesday. It won't come with satellite, set-top box or installation costs and could reach the cord-cutter and cord-never markets, he said. Hodulik said increased OTT competition likely will mean Comcast and Charter Communications will start seeing losses of traditional video subscribers again by 2018, but cable numbers probably will be more resilient than satellite or telco video subscribers because of the quality of cable video product, broadband bundling and the potential of cable quickly offering OTT services. Hodulik said strong DirecTV Now growth "would likely sit well with regulators concerned about the OTT ecosystem." AT&T pointed to sped-up OTT innovation as a big motivator for its planned $108.7 billion takeover of Time Warner (see 1610240011). Disney Chief Communications Officer Zenia Mucha said that "a transaction of this magnitude obviously warrants very close regulatory scrutiny."

Teens and tweens from lower-income families spend more time with media than those from higher-income families, and African-American teens average in excess of 11 hours of media use a day compared with close to nine hours among Latinos and nearly 8.5 hours with white teens, said a Common Sense report Monday. Teens average about nine hours a day using media, but the type of media use can differ sizably, it said. Teens as a whole average 4 hours 36 minutes a day of screen time, but that can range from 94 minutes a day among those who identify as heavy readers vs. nearly eight hours a day among social networkers. The report is based on case studies of 11 African-American and Latino teens and tweens, focusing on their media practices. Media use encompasses watching video, listening to music, social media, playing games and reading, according to the study.

Spotify updated its privacy policy in countries outside the U.S. to consolidate all agreements under its Sweden-based parent company Spotify AB, it said in a Monday blog post. The company clarified its third-party subscription policy saying users who buy Spotify through a third-party are subject also to the terms of those companies. Users who don’t live in the U.S. will be guided by rules of arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, it clarified. It also changed, at the end of terms and conditions, the name and address of the Spotify company that provides subscribers’ service to the legal entity responsible for their data, it said. This company will now be Spotify AB everywhere but in the U.S. “to better reflect the reality of our business operations,” it said. Spotify attributed the changes to “operational efficiencies,” not tax considerations, and said the changes won't have an impact on its obligation to pay taxes in local markets as required under local tax rules.

Nielsen announced a plan to measure out-of-home viewing for national TV programs, it said in a news release Monday. The service will give subscribers audience estimates that combine in-home TV viewing with out-of-home viewing numbers based on Portable People Meter (PPM) data, the company said. It "gives us the ability to capture out-of-home viewing precisely as it happens ... while transacting on new, valuable audience segments for advertisers," said ESPN Senior Vice President-Global Research Artie Bulgrin. The service will provide “both program and commercial ratings (C3/C7) for live through live + 7 days of time-shifted viewing,” Nielsen said: The PPM device, which panelists carry with them, will allow Nielsen to measure TV viewing in places like restaurants and bars. "The out-of-home viewing will be based on data from over 75,000 PPM panelists across 44 local markets,” Nielsen said. The company expects the new service to launch in April, with data effective in January. Data going back to last month will be added shortly after the service launches, Nielsen said.

CyberPowerPC’s recent introduction of an Oculus-ready virtual-reality PC powered by an Advanced Micro Devices FX processor and Radeon GPU “brings the cost of entry for VR-ready systems down to $500 for the first time,” AMD CEO Lisa Su said on a Thursday earnings call. “This is a meaningful milestone for consumers and I am excited that AMD is enabling the ecosystem and driving broader adoption of VR by making premium experiences available at such an attractive price point.”

AV retailer Video & Audio Center has a 65 percent attach rate for Ultra HD Blu-ray players with the purchase of 4K TVs, Corporate Director Tom Campbell told us last week at a Home Technology Specialists of America event in Chicago. Campbell credited affordable pricing for Samsung’s 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player, the first to market, and “the way we demo” TVs using 4K Blu-ray rather than 4K streaming content. Video & Audio Center now is selling software to show off 4K resolution and high dynamic range “that you can’t get through streaming,” Campbell said. He noted recent synergy between the electronics industry and studios, with Twentieth Century Fox President and Digital Entertainment Group Chairman Mike Dunn also being a member of the CTA executive board and Starz Chief Strategy Officer John Penney a CTA board trustee: That's leading to a unified effort between the camps, something that hasn't always been the case. About a fifth of the marketing real estate on Ultra HD Blu-ray titles Lucy from Comcast's Universal and Fox’s The Martian is devoted to technology, said Campbell.

Spotify is now available on Samsung 2015 and 2016 smart TVs, said the music streamer in a blog post Thursday. Spotify Free and Premium users have access to the provider’s 30 million songs on Samsung TVs and can control music around the house using the Spotify Connect app on a mobile phone, tablet or desktop PC, it said.

The FCC should extend a waiver of accessibility requirements for videogame software until January 2018, the Entertainment Software Association said in a petition posted Wednesday in docket 10-213. The waiver of the advanced communication systems requirements of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act is to expire in 2016 (see 1509170006) and was granted in 2012. Without the waiver, ESA said members would have to make their products accessible to those with disabilities. Extending the waiver is in the public interest, ESA said; it would allow industry to continue to work on developing accessibility technology, ESA said.

Third-party set-top box makers should be bound only by the same privacy rules that govern multichannel video programming distributors for data that “is derived exclusively from the MVPD data stream,” said Microsoft officials in a call with aides to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Chief Technologist Scott Jordan Thursday, said an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-42. “Overbroad application of the certification requirement would interfere with the collection and use of data to support other legitimate functions of multi-use devices, including operations to maintain the security of the device.” If third-party box makers are bound by the MVPD privacy rules' notice requirement, they should be allowed to provide that notice online, since unlike MVPDs, they don't send customers monthly bills, Microsoft said. A draft set-top box order is circulating but may not be OK'd by commissioners soon (see 1610180052).