AMC postponed its Tuesday annual meeting to July 29 with hours to spare to give participants “more time to cast ballots on important shareholder matters,” said the theater chain. AMC didn’t say if the rescheduled meeting would also be held physically, and the company didn't respond to questions. It’s to report Q1 results Thursday. It could take years for AMC to repay its debt after COVID-19 forced theaters to close or limit use (see 2105030032). The stock was trading 6% lower at $9.12.

Comments are due June 1, replies June 14 on a WarnerMedia petition that its TBS receive a limited waiver of the audio-described programming requirement through June 30, 2024, as long as it meets an alternative minimum of providing described programming, the FCC Media Bureau said in Friday's Daily Digest.

U.S. consumer spending on videogaming reached $14.92 billion in Q1, rising 30% from the 2020 quarter, reported NPD Thursday. It had gains across the board, from digital console and PC content to mobile and subscription services, plus hardware and accessories categories. Content spending jumped 25%, and hardware and accessories gained 81% and 42%, respectively. Videogaming engagement and spending continue to thrive from changes in consumer behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but “we are also seeing cyclical gains from the November launches of both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles,” said analyst Mat Piscatella.

Pointing to confusion in FCC rules, the Media Bureau axed language in retransmission consent rules indicating good-faith negotiating and exclusivity provisions expired Jan. 1, 2020, to make it clearer that those provisions continue indefinitely. An MB order Thursday said the change reflects the removal of that deadline language from the TV Viewer Protection Act.

The nascent overall audio streaming market will grow to $200 billion by 2030, said Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Wednesday. On the number of music services competing in live audio, Ek said he expects it to be a feature that most major platforms will have, comparing live audio to stories on platforms such as Instagram and Snap: It’s a "compelling feature set" that he believes artists will tap into. The U.S., meanwhile, joins other markets where Spotify has announced subscription price increases. The family plan is moving to $16 a month from $15 Friday. Spotify shares closed down 12% at $256.84 Wednesday following the company’s Q1 letter showing monthly average user growth “modestly below” internal expectations. Total monthly average users grew 24% year on year in Q1 to 356 million. Average revenue per user for paid subscribers was 7% lower year on year to $4.98.

TiVo’s Stream 4K was the only streaming player out of 18 devices in a recent Consumer Reports rating that didn’t encrypt data it sent out, said the organization Monday. User information -- such as SSID, city and state, and longitude and latitude coordinates that could be used to pinpoint a street address -- were exposed, said CR, which notified TiVo. The Xperi-owned company “quickly agreed to fix the problem,” it said. TiVo attributed the weakness to a third-party app’s “transmission of certain data.” CR found the TiVo Edge DVR also was sending unencrypted data, but information didn’t include user data such as IP addresses, and CR didn’t see it as a risk to consumers. The TiVo Stream 4K flaw could leave users open to security vulnerabilities such as a malicious app that has access to a user’s network, CR said: An attacker could use the information, along with other valuable data, to create “an even more invasive attack.” TiVo fixed the problem by the end of March, a company spokesperson told us Tuesday: "We take consumer privacy very seriously and acted as quickly as we could -- pushing the fixes out to the affected devices."

SiriusXM bought 99% Invisible, the podcast company owned by Roman Mars, said SiriusXM Monday. Mars and his production team will continue operating 99% Invisible podcasts as part of SiriusXM subsidiary Stitcher, it said. SiriusXM reports Q1 results Wednesday.

Roku community members blasted Roku Monday in its dispute with Google over what Roku called “unfair terms” for YouTube TV. Some users received an email from Roku warning of the possibility “that Google may take away your access to the YouTube TV channel,” saying recent negotiations “have broken down because Roku cannot accept Google’s unfair terms as we believe they could harm our users.” Roku cited Google’s “unfair and anticompetitive requirements to manipulate your search results, impact the usage of your data and ultimately cost you more.” It urged customers to “contact Google and urge them to reach an agreement.” Roku employee Mary told the community the company isn't removing the YouTube TV channel “at this time," it's "just making customers like you aware of this possibility.” Google has been “working with Roku in good faith to reach an agreement that benefits our viewers and their customers," said a Google spokesperson. "Unfortunately, Roku often engages in these types of tactics in their negotiations.” Google is “disappointed that they chose to make baseless claims while we continue our ongoing negotiations.” Google has tried to ensure a “high quality and consistent experience for our viewers” and has made “no requests to access user data or interfere with search results.” It hopes the companies can resolve the issue “for the sake of our mutual users.”

DSP Concepts launched TalkTogether, adding full-duplex voice capability to its Audio Weaver platform. It's an alternative to third-party, black-box voice solutions, allowing for customized engineering designs. TalkTogether works for near-field to far-field voice calls “in the new hybrid global workplace," said the company Friday. The technology can be applied to Zoom calls, has wind suppression and speaker tracking, and is certified for Alexa.

The FCC Media Bureau's recent request for comment on Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act compliance doesn’t propose rule changes and thus couldn’t lead to new Calm Act rules without an NPRM, blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford Wednesday. The FCC move came after a letter from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. (see 2104200001). “The speed with which this request was generated” suggests “this could be an area where the FCC could become active in enforcing the current rules,” said Oxenford.