The UHD Alliance plans a CES announcement with “some updates," but nothing that would "justify a full-blown press conference,” spokeswoman Heather Gioco emailed us. Except for an April announcement expanding its certification program to Ultra HD Blu-ray players (see 1604120017), it has been a quiet year for the alliance since last CES, where it announced its Ultra HD Premium logo program (see 1601030003). Compliance with a series of “performance metrics” on image resolution, color gamut and high dynamic range will determine which devices and content will qualify to bear Ultra HD Premium as a “consumer-facing” logo, the alliance said then. But the alliance, whose formation was announced at CES two years ago (see 1501060001), has yet to publicly release a list of certified TVs, Ultra HD Blu-ray players and content, and tabs for accessing those lists at the alliance’s website were still password-protected Friday.

The FCC should grant Honda a 20-month waiver of accessibility requirements for the rear-seat entertainment systems in some vehicles, the automaker said in a petition in docket 12-108. “Until very recently,” Honda wasn't aware that accessibility requirements for devices that display video would have an impact on automakers, it said. The accessibility rules for devices that record and play back video programming took effect Tuesday (see 1612200050). The company is requesting the waiver for Honda Odysseys and Pilots and Acura MDXs with model years 2017, 2018 and 2019. Vehicles built after the waiver period will comply with the rules, Honda said.

A second Cayman-Island based, U.S. citizen-controlled investor is seeking FCC permission to own about 15 percent of Pandora, said a public notice on the investor's petition for declaratory ruling filed Wednesday in docket 16-418 by Matrix Master Fund. Matrix already owns 9.877 percent and wants to increase that to 14.99 percent. In August, Cayman-based Corvex Master Fund filed a similar petition (see 1608120061), seeking to buy 9.99 percent and be pre-approved to buy up to 14.99 percent. “Team Telecom” withdrew a hold request on Corvex's still-pending petition earlier this month. Like Corvex, Matrix identifies the fund as being ultimately controlled by a U.S. citizen through “intervening entities” organized under Delaware law. Corvex was controlled by Keith Meister, and Matrix is controlled by David Goel, the petition said. Both companies needed to file the request because of a provision in an FCC declaratory ruling that allowed Pandora to buy a terrestrial radio station. The provision requires FCC approval for any foreign company seeking to buy more than 5 percent of Pandora. Comments are due on Matrix's petition Jan. 23, replies Feb. 7.

Guidance to help shift digital video ads to HTML5 and JavaScript formats, which are considered default media playback options in many browsers, was released Tuesday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau Technology Laboratory. “The move from Flash to HTML5 and JavaScript is vital to improving user experience in digital video advertising,” said IAB Tech Lab General Manager Alanna Gombert in a news release. “We recognize that it’s a complex transition -- one that cannot happen overnight. This guidance provides practical insights and how-to’s that simplify and facilitate the process for publishers, brands, and media agencies, as we build a stronger foundation for video marketing.” The lab also is providing one checklist for agencies and brands, and another for publishers that provide customized best practices as they make the transition over the next six months. It's recommending all video ads be in HTML5 by July. The release said tools such as a Video Ad Serving Template Validator and a JavaScript Video Player-Ad Interface Definition tester will be released in January to help with the transition.

Worldwide shipments of augmented and virtual reality headsets are expected to rise at a 108 percent compound annual growth rate through the end of the decade, reaching 76 million units in 2020, IDC said in a Thursday report. More affordable VR devices will continue to lead the market in terms of volume, but AR headsets are expected to pick up momentum as more affordable technologies and more OEMs enter the market, IDC said. It called 2016 a “defining year” for AR as “millions of consumers were introduced to Pokemon Go” and developers “finally got their hands on coveted headsets” like Microsoft's HoloLens. "AR may just be on track to create a shift in computing significant enough to rival the smartphone,” though the technology “is still in its infancy and has a long runway ahead before reaching mass adoption," said the researcher. AR “represents the larger long-term opportunity,” but VR for the near term “will capture the lion's share of shipments and media attention," it said. IDC estimates 10.1 million VR headsets were shipped globally in 2016, and unit volume will grow to 61 million in 2020, said the research firm. It sees unit shipments of AR headsets climbing to 15 million in 2020 from only 100,000 in 2016, it said.

Faced with a barrage of criticism about proliferating fake news, Facebook will focus efforts "on the worst of the worst, on the clear hoaxes spread by spammers for their own gain, and on engaging both our community and third party organizations," wrote Vice President-News Feed Adam Mosseri in a Thursday blog post (see 1611210002). The company is testing ways to make it easier for users to report a potentially fake story or hoax by clicking the upper right hand corner of a post, he wrote. Facebook also started a program to work with third-party fact-checking organizations that signed onto Poynter's international fact-checking code of principles. There are 43 international signatories, including ABC News, PolitiFact and Snopes, to Poynter's code. "We’ll use the reports from our community, along with other signals, to send stories to these organizations," wrote Mosseri. "If the fact checking organizations identify a story as fake, it will get flagged as disputed and there will be a link to the corresponding article explaining why." These stories may not be removed from Facebook's news section but would appear lower in the feed with a warning that they are disputed, he said, and the stories won't be promoted. The company said it's reducing financial incentives for spammers that masquerade as real publications by eliminating the ability to spoof domains, and will analyze publisher sites to see where enforcement may be necessary.

The FCC should grant extensions on the comment and reply deadlines for petitions for reconsideration for the elimination of the UHF discount, said Free Press, Common Cause, Media Alliance and the United Church of Christ's Office of Communication, in a motion posted in docket 13-236 Thursday. Comments are due Dec. 27 and replies Jan. 6, which both conflict with the holidays and the upcoming transition at the FCC, the motion said. The groups asked that the dates be moved to Jan. 10 and Jan. 23. A similar request was made for comments on an independent programming NPRM (see 1612140045).

Retransmission consent revenue should hit $13.5 billion by 2021, nearly double what it's expected to be this year, with network owned-and-operated stations generating $4.3 billion and the other $9.2 billion coming from affiliates, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker emailed investors Monday. Meanwhile, reverse compensation that stations pay networks likely will hit $5.5 billion by then, which would be a 138 percent increase from 2016, she said. Ryvicker said one big danger to those retrans estimates is if pay-TV subscription numbers decline and broadcast stations end up not being part of the streaming over-the-top video bundles.

The FCC Media Bureau granted La Plata County, Colorado, extensions until Wednesday to file responses to oppositions to the county's petitions for market modification filed by LIN and Hearst Television, said two Media Bureau public notices in dockets including 16-366. La Plata requested the extension because it received the opposition filings at the end of November, and the opposition filers consented to the extension, the PNs said. “The Commission does not routinely grant extensions of time, but the rights at issue in this proceeding are significant and important to a wide range of interested parties.”

The American Television Alliance is trying to make up for failures on the retransmission consent front by attempting to slow down broadcaster efforts (see 1612050048) to get ATSC 3.0 approved, said NAB Associate General Counsel Patrick McFadden in a blog post Friday. ATSC 3.0 will allow broadcasters to offer 4K TV for free, so ATVA's pay-TV members want to keep the FCC from approving the new broadcast standard, McFadden said. “Want to take advantage of your new 4K television? If ATVA can stall approval of Next Gen TV, you won’t have a free over-the-air option for ultra-high-definition programming,” McFadden said. “ATVA’s members will be the only game in town. That ought to keep the checks rolling in!” ATVA's requests for the FCC to issue a notice of inquiry instead of an NPRM are “transparently, embarrassingly anti-consumer,” NAB said. ATVA and ATSC didn't comment.