CTA quietly listed Microsoft President Brad Smith as a CES 2021 keynoter on the virtual event’s schedule, but his appearance is “not part of our larger contractual agreement” with Microsoft, emailed an association spokesperson Monday. CTA previously resisted saying whether Microsoft’s “cloud platform provider” contract terms to run CES 2021 as a virtual event included an agreement for Microsoft to keynote the show (see 2010190043). Smith’s prerecorded keynote on “The Promise and Peril of the Digital Age” is scheduled to begin streaming Jan. 13 at 9 a.m. EST. Smith will examine “the dual use of technology” as an “extraordinary tool that powers economies” but also a “formidable weapon that can undermine democracy and fundamental human rights,” says a conference description.
Dish Network is blaming North Carolina's Capitol Broadcasting for three local stations going dark. In a news release Tuesday, Dish said WRAZ Raleigh, WILM-LD Wilmington and WRAL-TV Raleigh were subject of ongoing carriage negotiations, and Capitol didn't accept an extension offer. Capitol didn't comment Wednesday.
Investment firms Searchlight and ForgeLight closed on their buy of a majority of Univision, they said Tuesday. They said ForgeLight founder Wade Davis is now Univision CEO. The deal was announced in February (see 2003030059).
More than 100 Nexstar local broadcast stations in 42 states and Washington, D.C., are back on Dish Network after Dish announced a new multiyear carriage deal with the broadcaster Thursday, ending a massive blackout that started early this month (see 2012030049). Dish said Nexstar's WGN America will be available on Sling TV in early 2021 as part of an add-on package.
Some 180 Imax screens generated 7% of the $16.7 million opening weekend U.S. and Canada box office receipts from Wonder Woman 1984, Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Monday. Private watch parties and large-format screens drove ticket sales and were the most popular option among consumers, said WarnerMedia Sunday, calling private rentals an “innovative and popular way for audiences to feel comfortable watching the film in their own social bubbles.” WarnerMedia didn’t disclose how many HBO Max subscribers streamed the movie since launch Friday, saying only, “nearly half of the platform’s retail subscribers” viewed the film that day, "along with millions of wholesale subscribers who have access to HBO Max via a cable, wireless, or other partner services.” HBO Max's total viewing hours Friday more than tripled vs. a typical day in the previous month, it said. The movie is included in HBO Max subscriptions for a month in a “strategic response to the impact of the ongoing global pandemic" (see 2012170031). The movie will then leave the streaming platform, continuing theatrically in the U.S. and globally with customary distribution windows.
The FCC Media Bureau signed off on the sale of a majority of Univision to investment firms Searchlight and ForgeLight. In an order Wednesday, the bureau said the public interest wouldn't be served by barring the foreign ownership in Univision post-closing. The transaction wasn't expected to face regulatory difficulties (see 2003030059).
After weeks of retransmission consent negotiations with Frontier Communications, it became apparent the talks were "a sham" because the company acknowledged it couldn't enter an agreement on any terms, Gray Television said in a docket 12-1 good-faith negotiations complaint posted Tuesday. Gray said its WWSB Sarasota, Florida, and South Carolina's WCSC-TV Charleston and WMBF-TV Myrtle Beach stations went dark Friday with less than an hour's notice. It said Frontier decided weeks earlier it wouldn't extend its retrans agreement with Gray but "engaged in Potemkin negotiations" of making offers that it wouldn't accept for stations it already had decided to drop. It said Frontier also neglected to notify video subscribers of the pending blackouts. Gray asked the FCC to impose the maximum penalty of as much as $562,500 for the good-faith violations and a separate $187,500 forfeiture for not notifying Sarasota customers about the impending drop of the only network-affiliated station providing local Sarasota news. Frontier emailed it “disagree[s] with the assertions made by Gray and will defend ourselves at the FCC."
IAC’s announcement Tuesday it plans to spin off video software company Vimeo as an independent company next year will allow Vimeo to capitalize on “investor appetite” for software-as-a-service businesses, Cowen analyst John Blackledge wrote investors Tuesday. IAC plans a shareholder meeting in Q1 to review and approve the Vimeo proposal, with the transaction expected to happen in Q2, IAC said. IAC shareholders would receive a proportionate share of the new company. Upon completion, Vimeo will become an independent, separately traded public company, the 11th to emerge from IAC and its predecessors. The separation is expected to allow Vimeo to raise capital more effectively to invest in product, technology, enterprise sales and international expansion -- and to pursue strategic acquisitions, IAC said.
Fuse Media's program carriage complaint against AT&T (see 2012140052) illustrates how media consolidation threatens diverse media ownership, the Communication Workers of America said in a docket 20-426 posting Tuesday. It said independent programming is threatened when a vertically integrated distributor discriminates by favoring its own affiliated programming. The union said it supported AT&T's takeover of Time Warner but has since experienced "improper" AT&T conduct "inspired by the same misguided focus on Time Warner Media’s bottom line." Asked for comment, AT&T pointed us to its previous denial of the allegations.
Startup Hearo debuted Tuesday, described as the world's first desktop and mobile “co-watching party app.” It’s the brainchild of CEO Edward Lerner, who described himself as a former Sony PlayStation executive. Hearo is the only service on the market “that lets consumers watch TV and premium streaming services while talking together on phones, tablets, and PCs,” said Lerner. Available on iOS, Android, macOS and Windows, Hearo lets Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video subscribers “watch synchronized streaming movies and shows while talking to their friends,” he said.