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.

Showing that pirated videos being uploaded to YouTube came from the same unique computer address from which Pirate Monitor sent its takedown requests, with those acts happening at the same time, is more than enough proof to allow YouTube's counterclaims go forward. That's according to Google's YouTube in an opposition Friday (in Pacer, docket 20-cv-04423) in reply to Pirate Monitor's motion to dismiss the counterclaims (see 2011230002). YouTube in its opposition said there's no reason for the court to address Pirate Monitor's argument YouTube lacks standing for injunctive relief. Pirate Monitor and composer Maria Schneider are suing YouTube, claiming it facilitated piracy by not allowing individual artists to access its Content ID system. Plaintiffs' counsel didn't comment Monday.

Ryan Seacrest will moderate an iHeartMedia conference session at virtual CES 2021 on how technology enabled artists “to continue to create and introduce new music and immersive experiences for their fans during the pandemic,” said CTA Monday. The session, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. EST, will feature a “fireside chat” with singer-songwriter Dua Lipa and a musical performance by five-time Grammy winner Billie Eilish. The session will “explore the art of the possible and the transformation that is happening in the entertainment industry,” said CTA.

Disney emailed Hulu ad-free subscribers Friday who pay $11.99 monthly for the service with an offer they couldn’t refuse -- adding ESPN+ for only a penny more a month. An apologetic “correction” email followed 24 hours later explaining that the Friday offer “was sent in error” and was meant for “eligible subscribers who have both Hulu and Disney+, and might be interested in adding ESPN+ to upgrade to The Disney Bundle.” Hulu-only subscribers “are not eligible” for the ESPN+ upgrade offer, said the correction, inviting them to "learn more" about how they could sign on for the three-service bundle directly through their Hulu accounts. We queried Disney for comment on how many Hulu subscribers got the errant offer and whether Friday’s outreach was an attempt all along to coax Hulu-only customers to upgrade to the bundle. It didn’t respond.

AT&T and Tegna signed a multiyear retransmission consent agreement that returns 64 Tegna local stations in 51 markets to AT&T's MVPD platforms, they said Sunday. The deal ends a blackout that started earlier this month (see 2012020016).

The Arizona Cardinals-San Francisco 49ers game Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EST will be the first NFL matchup to air nationally and exclusively on Amazon Prime Video and on the company’s Twitch platform, said Amazon Monday. The game will be available to more than 150 million Prime members worldwide and in more than 240 countries and territories excluding China, the U.K., Ireland and Spain. It also will be shown in local markets over the air and on mobile nationally. Amazon is “looking forward to delivering the gift of football on Prime Video this weekend,” said Marie Donoghue, vice president-global sports video. The Prime Video event will give viewers “multiple announcers to choose from, Next Gen Stats, and on-demand replays from X-Ray,” she said. To switch between audio feeds, Prime members go to settings on their video streaming device and select the broadcast of their choice, she said. On Friday at 4:30 p.m. EST, Amazon Prime Video will show the Minnesota Vikings-New Orleans Saints game, which is also being broadcast on Fox, NFL Network, Fox Deportes digital properties and the Vikings, Saints and Yahoo Sports mobile properties. Other “shoulder” NFL programming will be available during the week on Prime Video and Twitch.

LG Electronics is adding support for the Facebook Watch TV app on its webOS smart TVs dating to 2014, LG said Friday. Available for download at the LG Content Store, it lets users view Facebook videos tailored to their interests. Facebook Watch attracts more than 1.25 billion global viewers monthly, said LG.