The FCC should grant an extension of commenting deadlines for refreshing the record on the 2018 quadrennial broadcast ownership review, said a filing in docket 18-349 from Common Cause, Free Press, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and NAB. Comments are due Aug. 2, replies Aug. 30, and the groups want the deadlines extended to Sept. 2 and Oct.1. “The proceeding raises many complex legal and economic issues that the Joint Filers will want to address through research, updates to previously filed material, and new information,” they said.

About 3.2 million consumers went to the movies Thursday-Sunday at AMC Theatres locations, setting a new “post-reopening weekend attendance record,” said the theater chain Monday. The figure included more than 2.5 million who went to AMC U.S. theaters, it said. Disney’s Black Widow grossed an estimated $80 million for its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada, breaking the previous post-reopening record set by Universal’s F9 two weekends earlier, said AMC. Black Widow debuted simultaneously as a $29.99 premier access streaming option on Disney+.

Low-power TV owner HC2 will change its name to Innovate, effective by the end of Q3, said a news release Friday. It didn’t say if this will trickle down to the HC2 Broadcasting division. The company didn’t comment.

CBS and Fox affiliates continued to argue that approval of AT&T's spinoff of its U.S. MVPD business should be conditioned on DirecTV providing local-into-local service in all 210 designated market areas (see 2105040055), in conversations with aides to FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington, said International Bureau filings (here and here) Tuesday.

Hisense is the first smart TV platform to get certification for European Telecommunication Standards Institute standard ETSI EN 303 645, said grantor TUV Rheinland. The standard regulates cybersecurity baseline requirements for consumer IoT products such as user privacy protection and primary network attacks prevention.

Netflix continues to lead living room TV viewing, Cowen wrote investors Thursday, citing a proprietary survey showing 28% of respondents named it as the best way to view video content, “well ahead of other streaming and linear services.” YouTube was second at 15%, followed by basic cable at 10%, Amazon Prime Video at 9% and Hulu, HBO Max and Disney+ all below 7%. Nearly 13% selected “other” in the increasingly crowded over-the-top video space. Cowen analyst John Blackledge expects net paid subscriber additions of 1.2 million, which is above Netflix’s guidance of 1 million, when it reports Q2 earnings July 20. Shares are down 3% since Q1 results in April and 2% for the year, after a pandemic-fueled 67% surge last year when Netflix added 37 million subscribers. Netflix is “working through the pull forward of sub adds from the pandemic” and expects a “robust” second-half content slate, said Blackledge. Netflix's broad and growing content catalog, covering various genres, is a competitive advantage, he said.

Legislation introduced in the House and Senate to create ground rules for the government in seeking confidential source information from the media “would prevent government overreach in obtaining confidential information that would expose anonymous sources and jeopardize the public’s right to know,” said the News Media Alliance in a news release Thursday. “We must do more to protect journalists from being forced to reveal confidential sources used in investigative reporting, which are often crucial to helping to shed light on important public matters,” said NMA President David Chavern in the release. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., introduced the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act in the House on Thursday. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate Monday by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Vizio certified Google and six other firms for meeting technology specifications of the Open Addressable Ready (OAR) standard and successfully enabling addressable TV advertising campaigns, said Vizio Thursday. Vizio surpassed 11.2 million U.S. addressable TVs (see 2106090024) last month and successfully launched live addressable TV ad campaigns with top TV networks, it said. “Addressable advertising is going to play an important role in the future of TV advertising, and we are working to ensure scale, standards and technology to power this future,” said Vizio Chief Innovation Officer Zeev Neumeier. OAR members include AMC Networks, Comcast NBCUniversal, Discovery Networks, Disney, E.W. Scripps, Fox, Hearst Television, Univision, ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia. Vizio is the lone TV company. Google received Project OAR certification for Google Ad Manager video and advanced TV solutions enabling programmer partners to deliver addressable ads on Vizio SmartCast TVs. Certification also allows technology partners to work more closely with OAR steering committee members including Disney’s Media Networks, WarnerMedia, Comcast NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, Discovery, Hearst Television, AMC Networks, Fox, Scripps and Univision. It also allows for working with agency advisory committee members Publicis Media, Omnicom Media, GroupM, IPG/Magna, Dentsu Aegis Network, Havas, Horizon Media and RPA, Vizio said.

Nearly half of U.S. TV viewers are already cordless, and 44% of cable subscribers “anticipate pulling back or cutting service in the coming year,” The Trade Desk reported Tuesday. The analytics company hired YouGov to canvass a nationally representative sample of 4,000 U.S. adults April 27-May 5, finding only 19% of TV viewers “are returning to their pre-pandemic sports viewing habits,” it said. Nearly half, 44%, who watch sports “are choosing a primary viewing source outside of linear TV,” it said. That number increases to 65% among adult sports viewers 34 and younger. The study found more U.S. TV viewers report watching streaming content with ads (44%) than without ads (33%). Nearly two-thirds are unwilling to spend more than $30 a month on streaming services, “making free or lower-cost ad-supported services more attractive,” it said.

Netflix’s venture into consumer products, announced several weeks ago, along with reports it may be expanding its game offerings, indicate the company is “looking to build a new profit pool or two a la Disney,” MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson wrote investors Tuesday. But consumer products or gaming won’t be enough “to change the narrative,” said the analyst, suggesting Netflix instead should add a live sports tier or advertising-based VOD offering to reach new customer segments and markets, especially in emerging regions with low average revenue per user. Since the start of 2018, Netflix has underperformed the S&P 500, rising 34% vs. 57% for the broader market, Nathanson said, saying a maturing U.S. subscriber base and an intensifying competitive environment among streaming services contributed to limited stock performance. He questioned how much growth is left in Netflix’s subscription VOD business, while “the success of AVOD businesses has been especially notable this year, and Netflix seemingly would have pole position to capture that market.” He noted Netflix “has a fundamental opposition to advertising,” but he said emerging pressure to find growth “as well as a more developed AVOD ecosystem may make Netflix more amenable to advertising on the service.” Netflix benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic with record subscribership last year, but subscriber growth slowed to below guidance in Q1 at 4 million subscription adds. The analyst expects an acceleration in signups in the second half as more content is available, but “as economies further reopen, we believe people will spend more time engaging through in-person activities rather than streaming content at home.” Netflix didn’t comment Tuesday.