In a week packed with alternative-TV announcements appealing to cord cutters -- AT&T’s DirecTV Now streaming video launch (see 1611280058) and Netflix’ announcement of a download option for offline viewing (see 1611300010) -- Amazon kept pace with its Thursday announcement of a $14.99-per-month HBO subscription available to Prime members through Amazon Channels. It also announced a $9.99-per-month Cinemax subscription on Amazon Channels, joining Starz ($8.99), Showtime ($8.99) and other a la carte pay-TV channels as an alternative to cable. Amazon’s $15-per-month HBO subscription doesn’t affect the HBO streaming perk available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers, a company spokeswoman emailed us Thursday, and “nothing has changed with the HBO content that is available for free for Prime Members.” At launch, Amazon is offering a 30-day free trial for HBO and Cinemax vs. its typical seven-day free trial period. More than 80 subscriptions are available via Amazon Channels, a platform available on more than 650 devices, said Amazon.

The FCC should revisit and roll back media ownership rules under President-elect Donald Trump, the News Media Alliance said in a white paper sent to his transition team Wednesday. “While news organizations are innovating and adapting to a vastly different media landscape, antiquated government regulations and imbalanced policies are unnecessarily hindering investment and growth at news media companies,” said CEO David Chavern in a news release. The association also seeks changes to copyright law to tighten up fair use rules and make the Copyright Office autonomous in the federal government and separate from the Library of Congress. The group said the Trump administration should preserve news-media freedoms and not base the handing out of press credentials on a media organization's news content but on “neutral” procedures. “There is value in providing a level of detail into the president's thinking,” the paper said.

The FCC Media Bureau can't approve a waiver allowing Nexstar/Media General to complete their $4.6 billion deal because it “has no delegated authority to waive spectrum auction rules,” said the American Cable Association in a letter filed in docket 16-57 Tuesday. “Rather than file their request for waiver with the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau -- which has delegated authority regarding spectrum auctions, Applicants wrongly filed their request for waiver in the docket for the Media Bureau’s review of the transfers of control of Media General’s broadcast television licenses to Nexstar,” said ACA. The cable association also objected to granting the transaction on any bureau's delegated authority, because of the uniqueness of Nexstar's request. “Given the unprecedented situation Applicants’ request presents, sound policy requires a decision to be issued by the full Commission,” ACA said. The association also filed in opposition to aspects of Nexstar/Media General itself, seeking conditions on the combination to prevent it from affecting retransmission consent negotiations (see 1611250042). Nexstar and the Media Bureau didn't comment.

The consumer tech industry's “mantra” is “all about change, and that change is good,” said Michael Petricone, CTA senior vice president-government affairs, on a TechFreedom podcast Tuesday speculating about how tech policy might look under a Donald Trump presidential administration. CTA and the tech industry want to “move forward” and “find common ground” with the new administration, “and see what we can do,” Petricone said. Trump as a candidate “ran explicitly on a jobs platform, and quite successfully tapped into a deep underlying insecurity on the part of a large number of Americans about their economic future,” he said. “If you look at the tech industry and you look at our companies, they are the companies that are driving the economy.” So Trump “has every incentive to work with us, and we have every incentive to work with him, and help him grow the economy and grow jobs,” Petricone said. CTA sees “a bunch of opportunities” emerging for the tech industry from a Trump presidency and a Republican-controlled Congress, he said. “You’re going to see a pro-business administration, you’re going to see a deregulatory administration.” Petricone thinks “we have a good chance to work together and roll back regulations that don’t make a lot of sense,” he said. Though the tech industry failed to persuade candidate Trump to publish a pre-election “technology platform” as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton did, “there’s an upside to that, too,” in that the president-elect is no "ideologue," and therefore is “not locked into anything,” Petricone said. In his career, he has been "focused on doing deals and getting things done," he said.

HP executives sidestepped questions on a Tuesday earnings call about the impact a Donald Trump presidency might have on trade and tax policy. Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak said it’s “really too early to have a strong opinion on all of the different proposals that are out there, because there are so many.” It’s also “unclear at this point in time exactly what the situation is going to be and how it might impact on HP and what actions HP might take as a result of those policy changes,” Lesjak said. CEO Dion Weisler said “we obviously support comprehensive tax reform that makes us more globally competitive.” HP also backs “multinationals having fair access to overseas markets and the flexibility to operate global supply chains,” Weisler said. “But I think Cathie is quite right, it’s the very early days.” HP operates in 170 countries, “and we want to be able to do that in the appropriate tax environment and an appropriate global environment,” he said.

The rise in interest in 4K-capable streaming media players is helping drive Ultra HD TV adoption mainstream, said a Tuesday NPD report. Some 38 percent of consumers surveyed said they’re very or somewhat likely to use a 4K TV in the future, up five percentage points since Q1, NPD said. As of Q3, 87 percent of installed 4K TVs had active internet connections, showing an interest among 4K TV owners in streaming media. Recent 4K-capable streaming media device launches from Amazon, Google and Roku will boost the transition to 4K TV adoption, it said. In Q3, 32 percent of U.S. internet homes had at least one installed streaming media player, up by 7 million homes over the past year, said NPD. But only a limited number of streaming media player owners have used a 4K streamer, said NPD. An internet connection speed of 25 Mbps or higher is recommended for 4K streaming, and currently about 5 million U.S. households have the broadband infrastructure required, it said.

AT&T, Dish Network and communications services group WPP are jointly buying TV advertising technology company Invidi Technologies, they announced Monday. The companies said Invidi will operate independently under the collective ownership, with the three parents each appointing representatives to Invidi's board. They said AT&T will hold a controlling interest.

Dish Network customers in the U.S. Virgin Islands should be able to view their PBS affiliate instead of a station from Puerto Rico, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said in a blog post Monday. “While I cannot compel carriage of WTJX as an FCC Commissioner, I do believe it is the right thing to do.” Dish carries PBS station WMTJ out of Puerto Rico in lieu of WTJX-TV Charlotte Amalie, Puerto Rico, Clyburn said. “Geographically, Puerto Rico is just over 100 miles from the Virgin Islands, but make no mistake they are very different communities, not to mention that they have a different dominate [sic] language.” Because the Virgin Islands isn't in a Nielsen designated market area, WTJX can’t use must carry or retransmission consent to get carriage on satellite providers, Clyburn said. “We owe it to the people of the Virgin Islands to ensure they have access to local public broadcasting, just as those living in the continental United States, Hawaii, and parts of Alaska have come to expect and I call on the powers that be to make it happen, now.” Dish didn’t comment.

The FCC Media Bureau rejected a complaint by a pair of Pennsylvania broadcasters that Campus Televideo (CTV) is reselling DirecTV signals without consent (see 1610040027). In a memorandum opinion and order Thursday in docket 16-246, the bureau said DirecTV -- and not CTV -- retransmits Erie's WSEE-TV and WICU-TV to nearby Edinboro University for distribution, with CTV only acting as DirecTV's sales agent. Any retransmission consent or network non-distribution rules complaint by station licensees Lilly Broadcasting of Pennsylvania License Subsidiary and SJL of Pennsylvania License Subsidiary "should be directed against DirecTV and not its sales agent," the bureau said. The broadcasters didn't comment.

TV networks are increasingly creating programming in which teenagers and children use "overtly sexualized and adult language," said a Parents Television Council news release on a PTC study. Between February and May, PTC found kids and teens on TV used bleeped expletives and sexual words such as "'erections,' 'boobs,' 'penis,' 'masturbating, 'nymphomaniac,' 'ass,' and more," the release said. PTC found that ABC had the most instances of children saying expletives and sexualized words, "with 81 instances of profanity and 42 instances of sexual dialogue." Fox had the second most, the study said. Neither network commented. “Historically, such instances of child-delivered vulgarity were few and far between," PTC President Tim Winter said. "This type of language can lead to sexual objectification of females and other undesirable outcomes.” Winter told us Monday that he wants the FCC to handle outstanding indecency complaints and review the content ratings system (see 1611140055).