The “big deals” with Amazon buying MGM and with WarnerMedia/Discovery are a “resounding affirmation” of streaming and “about the value of content” and of brands, said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer on a quarterly call Thursday. Lionsgate/Starz won’t play in streaming mergers and acquisitions because “we've got a benefit in terms of lack of disruption here at the company,” he said: “The key thing that we're going to do is keep our head down, and just keep executing on our plan.” Starz grew subscribers by 23% year over year, finishing fiscal Q4 ended March 31 with 29.5 million global accounts, said Feltheimer. Starz growth for the year took Lionsgate “past the digital inflection point of more over-the-top than linear subscribers,” he said. Lionsgate surpassed the “milestone” of 10 million U.S. streaming subs, he said. Lionsgate sees the streaming industry as “unfolding” into separate “broad-based” advertising-supported VOD and premium VOD tiers of services, said Starz CEO Jeff Hirsch. “The second tier is where we sit, which is in that premium service as a very edgy, non-ad-supported, really tailored service.”

Honda and AT&T extended their connected car relationship, offering premium WarnerMedia content at no additional charge to vehicles on unlimited data plans, they said Thursday. Hondas from model year 2018 and later are eligible, as are Acuras from 2019 on. This allows up to 10 passengers to connect devices and share content.

Promote local journalism by relaxing some broadcast regulations, said Gray Television and its counsel, former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, now with Cooley, in a presentation to Commissioner Nathan Simington Friday. Make it easier for broadcasters to make significantly viewed determinations, rule that local news doesn’t count against the 15% programming requirement for local marketing agreements, and relax restrictions for failing station waivers, asked a filing posted Wednesday in docket 20-73. Gray wants the FCC to use DirecTV’s pending license transfer to require it to deliver local stations to subscribers in all markets, to act on classifying over-the-top services as MVPDs, and to expand the currently defunct radio incubator program to TV.

Sling TV beta-launched an app Tuesday for Amazon Fire TV devices to ease content search and discovery, said the streaming company. It will continue rolling it out on compatible Sling devices this year, including Roku summer availability, it said: Sling’s engineering team developed the app “after a year of talking to customers,” it said.

AT&T and TPG Capital "simply cannot be trusted" to provide nondiscriminatory local TV service without an FCC order to provide full local service in all 210 designated market areas, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates told the FCC International Bureau Monday, renewing their push that approval of the DirecTV/U-verse spinoff be conditioned on providing local-into-local service in all 210 DMAs (see 2105040055). They responded to AT&T/TPG arguments that the cost is prohibitively high to provide local channels in the 12 markets where they aren't carried now, "due to a broken retransmission consent regime" and regulatory "loopholes" that let a broadcaster own multiple network affiliates in one market. AT&T and TPG said requiring local-into-local service would be unrelated to the transaction. The affiliates said the retrans argument is new, as AT&T and its DirecTV have always claimed in the past that the limitation was one of bandwidth. They said DirecTV has a pattern of "rais[ing] whatever excuse is convenient and in vogue at the time of the request."

FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment meets virtually June 24 at 10 a.m., says Tuesday's Federal Register. The meeting will feature reports from the committee’s working groups.

Sony Music Entertainment completed its $430 million buy of Kobalt Music Group’s distribution and neighboring rights businesses for independent artists under a definitive agreement announced Feb. 1. Sony continues cooperating with the U.K. antitrust review initiated before the transaction was closed, said the company Wednesday.

“HBO Max With Ads” is WarnerMedia's new branding for the ad-supported VOD service debuting the first week of June at $9.99 monthly, $5 lower than the ad-free HBO Max. The no-ads version launches across Latin America and the Caribbean in late June, said WarnerMedia Wednesday.

Quick pairing, virtual remote control and digital keys are among Android announcements at Google’s virtual I/O event this week through Thursday. It's working with carmakers to develop a digital car key in Android 12 for select Pixel and Samsung Galaxy smartphones to lock, unlock and start a car from their phones, blogged Android Vice President-Engineering Erik Kay Tuesday. It's also teaming with BMW and others. This operates over ultra wideband, Kay said. Cars with near-field communication can be unlocked with a tap, he noted. And Google is building TV remote-control features into Android smartphones. Google wants to create a sense of “being together” while far apart, blogged Clay Bavor, vice president-virtual and augmented reality. Video conferencing remains “a far cry from actually sitting down and talking face to face,” said Bavor: Project Starline is a “magic window” through which a user can see another person, “life-size and in three dimensions.” The company is doing demonstrations with healthcare and media companies and plans trial deployments this year.

Hi-res music costs will fall, with Amazon and Apple Monday announcements it will be available at the price of standard streaming music subscriptions. Apple Music is adding Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos to a basic subscription, said the company Monday. An individual monthly plan is $9.99, $14.99 for families. Apple Music will also make its catalog of more than 75 million songs available in lossless audio using the Apple Lossless Audio Codec. Amazon adds Amazon Music HD songs remixed in 3D audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA. It's "key to remain competitive," Futuresource analyst Alexandre Jornod told us. "Apple offering the same features but without additional cost could involve Amazon Music HD subscribers switching to Apple Music if Amazon was not matching the price." Spotify plans a hi-res service in second-half 2021.