Univision Communications said it's partnering with AOL to provide a data-driven, self-serve module to support the Hispanic broadcaster's linear programmatic TV ad buys. The module -- called "ONE by AOL: TV" -- would "provide advertisers access to premium TV inventory, including new fall programming, at scale," Univision said Monday in a news release. Advertisers would be able to produce a media plan within the "platform that takes into account real-time audience attributes and campaign learnings beyond traditional TV buying metrics," the broadcaster said. As a result, advertisers would be able to better "plan, purchase, and measure" their investments, Univision said. “Data-driven buying lets clients tap into our engaged, exclusive audience in a more targeted way, leveraging our premium programming and new shows in each content vertical and on all platforms," said Keith Turner, Univision advertising sales and marketing president, in the release. The module will be available to advertisers in Q4, the broadcaster said.

Google Fiber supports FCC efforts to make state emergency alert system plans more electronically accessible, company executives said in a phone meeting Tuesday with Public Safety Bureau staff, according to an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 15-91. "Greater accessibility and uniformity of State EAS Plan information would ease participation by new entrants."

The FCC's new online public inspection file (OPIF) requirements take effect June 24 for cable systems with 5,000 or more subscribers, satellite carriers and commercial radio stations with more than five employees and in the top 50 markets, the agency said in a public notice Thursday. That effective date applies to new filings, but those entities have until Dec. 24 to place all their existing public file documents in the online database. Cable systems with between 1,000 and 5,000 subscribers, and the remaining commercial and noncommercial radio stations must comply with the rules by March 1, 2018, the PN said. TV broadcasters will also begin using a new filing database for their public files on June 24, the PN said. The new database “includes a number of technical improvements that should facilitate the uploading of documents and management of the online public file, most significantly the implementation of an application programming interface ('API') that can be used to connect OPIF to third-party web hosting services,” the PN said.

DOJ's competitive impact statement on Charter Communications' proposed buys of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable (see 1605110016) backs the broadcast industry's view that pay-TV consolidation is giving multichannel video programming distributors -- particularly the largest MVPDs -- sizable negotiating power over programmers, NAB said in an FCC filing Thursday in docket 15-216. Pointing to that conclusion, NAB said the commission "should summarily reject" big MVPD claims about lacking bargaining leverage and needing changes in the rules governing good-faith bargaining. "It beggars belief that AT&T/DirecTV, Verizon, DISH, the combined Charter/TWC/Bright House and others -- entities with market capitalizations up to 200 times greater than some of the biggest local TV station groups -- need FCC assistance in negotiating their retransmission consent agreements," it said.

Opponents of the FCC's set-top box proposal are making "pseudo-copyright arguments" that ignore the reality of copyright law, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a blog post Wednesday. Arguments that a contract with a copyright holder is required to do anything to content are false, EFF said, saying cloud-based DVRs can record content without a contract with the content owner, and TV manufacturers don't pay content companies for the right to show programming on their machines. The copyright arguments are intended to "thwart" the FCC's plan, EFF said. "Rather than listening to entities with no interest in changing the status quo, policy makers would be best served by listening to content creators who do not have a vested interest in keeping the set-top box market closed."

RIAA said the music industry’s official logo mark for Hi-Res MUSIC -- previously available primarily to high-quality digital download services -- will be available June 1 for adoption by music streaming services. New data packing technologies -- including MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) and MPEG 4 Audio SLS -- “support the streaming of hi-res music files to consumers in a more efficient manner,” said RIAA Wednesday, and will enable licensed services to display the Hi-Res MUSIC logo on their landing page or next to an individual album or track. If the resolution of a recording falls below the required minimum standards of the Hi-Res MUSIC definition at any time, users will be made aware of the change, it said. The announcement was made along with RIAA members Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group in cooperation with the Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing, the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), and DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. The Hi-Res MUSIC logo and accompanying definition were announced in June by the RIAA on behalf of member labels, and focused on digital files and download services that met the definition’s requirements. The program was adopted by download services offering hi-res music including Acoustic Sounds Super HiRez, Blue Coast Music, HDtracks, IsoMike Recordings, ClassicsOnline HD*LL, PonoMusic, and ProStudioMasters, it said. The technologies ensure listeners hear “music that preserves, without loss of information, recordings from sources that achieve a minimum of 48kHz/20-bit resolution,” RIAA said. RIAA Chief Technology Officer David Hughes called the extension to music streaming services “the logical next step, one embraced by music labels large and small, that will provide an optimal listening experience to this growing consumer segment.”

A letter from parents' groups urging the FCC to reform the TV content ratings system was disputed by a group of university researchers, who questioned the harmful effects of TV violence on children. The researchers "believe that reevaluation of ratings systems can be positive and there may be legitimate areas for improvement” but the evidence is "at best, mixed” that TV violence causes harm to children, the letter said. “Parents deserve to have honest, clear information about the media their children use in an easy-to-understand format. But ratings based on the potential for 'harm' inherently lack validity given unclear scientific evidence for harm,” the letter said. “We suggest caution in selecting scientific advisors for any ratings system improvement initiative, given difficulties our field too often has in representing our own data clearly and honestly.” The Parents Television Council and others sent the earlier letter to the FCC. A few dozen professors from public and private schools, from the U.S. and elsewhere, sent the latest letter.

MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) signed a long-term licensing deal with Warner Music Group, working to fit “seamlessly into their existing work flows,” MQA Marketing Director Lisa Sullivan emailed us Friday. An announcement promised music “easy to stream or download to any device.” On whether existing music playback systems can become MQA-compatible via a firmware update, Sullivan said, “This is up to the hardware partners.” An audio executive said there's a lot of confusion in the market about such requirements.

The next president needs to work with the tech sector to “advance an agenda” that “ensures Americans possess the skills and talents needed for 21st century success” and “fosters a business climate that rewards risk and promotes innovation,” said CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council and 11 other tech groups Wednesday in an open letter to the remaining presidential candidates. The next administration also should work to encourage “a fair and open global market for goods and services” and to maintain “cutting-edge U.S. infrastructure that supports entrepreneurs,” said the groups, which also included Allied for Startups, BSA|The Software Alliance, CCIA, the Internet Association, CompTIA, the Semiconductor Industry Association, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the Technology CEO Council, the Software and Information Industry Association, TIA and TechNet. Their letter included a tech sector “presidential platform” with main points including boosting skills of the U.S. workforce and promoting an economy that nurtures innovation. The next president should “welcome high-skilled immigrants” as part of the effort to boost the skills of the U.S. workforce, the platform said. Doing so will “improve the ability of companies operating in the United States to recruit and retain highly educated foreign graduates and professionals to meet hiring needs and supplement our talented U.S. workforce,” it said. In working to “propel innovation,” the next president should “encourage policies that protect expression and creativity online,” promote and ease access to new spectrum and develop an IoT “strategy,” it said. That strategy should promote policies “to encourage innovation, competition, and private investment that are essential elements for IoT technologies to thrive,” it said.

The FCC NPRM on eliminating two aspects of the online public file requirement that Chairman Tom Wheeler is circulating for a vote at the May 25 commissioner meeting (see 1605040066) came at the request of Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, Wheeler said in a blog post Wednesday evening. The NPRM would propose eliminating a requirement to retain letters from the public and a requirement that cable carriers make public the locations of their control centers, Wheeler said. O’Rielly has criticized some online public file requirements as being overly onerous, and referred to the cable requirement as a security concern. “These recommendations are consistent with our agency-wide process reform initiative to review all Commission regulations and update or repeal outdated and unnecessary rules,” Wheeler said.