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.
AMC Entertainment’s “liquidity gap” amid COVID-19's theater closures and low box-office attendance spurred S&P to downgrade the company to CC from CCC-, its second demotion in two months. AMC expects to burn at least $750 million of cash in 2021, “assuming attendance returns to 20% of 2019 levels in the first half of the year and increases to 85% in the second half,” said S&P Wednesday. “Attendance is unlikely to return to these levels in 2021 and we anticipate that the company may need up to $1 billion of incremental capital.” It likely will be difficult for AMC to land “this level of capital outside of a debtor-in-possession financing and thus expect further debt restructurings,” it said. AMC didn’t respond to questions Thursday.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted Dish Network-sought dismissal of an interlocutory appeal in its now-settled litigation alleging Apollo Global Management's purchases of TV stations were rigged to make Dish pay higher retransmission consent fees (see 2012150035), said an order (docket 20-2315, in Pacer) Thursday.
Revised FCC rules for resolution of program carriage disputes between video programming vendors and MVPDs, along with parallel procedural rules governing program access, open video system and good-faith retransmission consent complaints, take effect Jan. 19, says Thursday's Federal Register. Commissioners adopted the rules in November (see 2011180043).
The FCC Media Bureau won't accept paper Form 327s, and cable TV relay service station license applications or modifications must be emailed to form327@fcc.gov instead, said a public notice Wednesday. Associated application fees must be submitted through the fee filer payment system.
Consumers who rely on streaming to view video content are using seven services on average, including subscription VOD and free streaming offerings, up from five in April, reported NPD Monday. It canvassed 5,000 U.S. consumers online Oct. 14-22, finding 21% say they're “decreasing engagement or canceling subscriptions because they feel other services offer better content” versus 14% in April. Free streaming services grew to 47% of viewers in October from 39% in April, as consumers increasingly “leverage” free offerings to supplement SVOD services, said NPD. Though nearly all free streaming services experience lower churn than SVOD, since consumers don't have to subscribe to these platforms, “they also experience lower engagement rates,” it said. “Consumers want the ability to customize their viewing experience, bundling both paid and free services that provide them with the content they want, when they want it.”