SiriusXM’s signing of Howard Stern to a five-year contract extension, announced Tuesday, likely will stand as CEO Jim Meyer’s final high-profile action before he transitions to executive chairman Jan. 1 and relinquishes the top post to Jennifer Witz. The agreement gives SiriusXM license to the Stern audio and video catalog through 2032. A little more than three weeks before Stern’s contract was due to expire, this was a cliffhanger Meyer apparently didn’t foresee when he told investors Oct. 22 that a deal was close (see 2010220019).

Global shipments of advanced TVs are expected to rise at a 22% compound annual growth rate, reaching 32.5 million sets in 2025, reported Display Supply Chain Consultants Monday. Stay-at-home orders drove a “massive” 71% increase in Q3 advanced TV shipments, and they're expected to rise in Q4 by a “more modest” 22% from the 2019 quarter, to 4.7 million units.

With nothing new filed since 2015 regarding the mandatory carriage complaint brought by KSQA Topeka, Kansas, against DirecTV, the FCC should reject KSQA's petition for reconsideration of that docket's termination, said AT&T, DirecTV's parent company, in a docket 20-158 posting Thursday. It said KSQA's complaint became moot at the end of 2017, which was the end of the complaint's election cycle. It said a Media Bureau ruling on the complaint would be over "a stale set of facts that will have no practical effect" since KSQA at the time wasn't audio streaming in AC-3, which is why DirecTV wouldn't carry it, but now is doing so. KSQA in its recon petition said its complaint wasn't rendered moot by the end of the previous must-carry election cycle, it's still not being carried, and AT&T has never told it what equipment would be needed for audio signal conversion. It said ending an adjudicatory proceeding without notifying a party to the adjudication is an Administrative Procedure Act violation.

Warner’s decision to release 2021 blockbuster titles simultaneously in theaters and with a one-month window on its HBO Max streaming service is “a very costly one for everyone involved,” MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett wrote investors Friday. “We have a hard time believing the messaging that this is only a temporary 2021 plan,” said the analyst, “even if that might be the current plan today. Once the windows change, it will be hard to go back.” It’s “hard to find any winners here,” he said, ticking off AT&T, participants/rights holders and U.S. theater owners who will suffer “another unexpected big hit.” Despite growing consensus that coming COVID-19 vaccines should help return the U.S. to some normalcy by mid-2021, the Warner Bros. decision “puts a damper on those expectations for movie attendance,” he said. It’s unclear whether U.S. exhibitors will agree to play the upcoming Warner 2021 movie slate, “given the unattractive terms of running films that are simultaneously available for ‘free’ on HBO Max,” though given the difficult position most theater owners are in today, it will be hard for them to hold the line on an exclusive theatrical window, he said. The Warner announcement is ahead of any expected update from Disney this week “of likely plans to alter their own traditional theatrical windowing strategy,” Moffett said. While studios have been pressuring exhibitors to shrink the theatrical window for some time, WarnerMedia is the first to “blow up the model by skipping an exclusive theatrical window altogether.” The Pay 1 window -- where studios typically break even on their original investment -- is now the HBO Max release, which “no longer generates cash; instead, it merely shifts content between WarnerMedia segments,” he said. Going all in on the biggest blockbusters seems “overly aggressive vs. a simple window change.” The move will likely spur new subscriptions to HBO Max, which until now “has simply not been all that differentiated" from HBO, which has "floated at a penetration rate of 1/3 of US Pay TV homes for many, many years," he said. “But at what cost?” Warner didn’t comment Friday.

Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning will spur better-informed data gleaned from free streaming video service trials, resulting in improved user experience and content offerings, said Parks Associates analyst Steve Nason Friday. Free trials are important drivers to paid subscriptions, he said, noting 40% of U.S. broadband households trialed at least one over-the-top video service during the COVID-19 pandemic. By leveraging data on viewer activities and preferences, providers can personalize services to improve subscriber “stickiness,” he said. Some 42% of households subscribing to an OTT service during the pandemic cited a free trial as a key driver for the new subscription, Parks said. Average monthly spending on OTT video service subscriptions was $16 in Q1. Parks is holding a virtual Future of Video conference Dec. 14-16.

Warner Pictures will release its full 2021 film slate on its HBO Max service in a one-month streaming exclusive at the same time it releases the titles theatrically worldwide, said the studio Thursday. The hybrid model is a “strategic response” to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the U.S. After the one-month HBO Max access period, each film will leave the platform and continue in theaters and international territories under customary distribution windows. All films will be available in 4K Ultra HD and HDR on HBO Max. “The “one-year plan” will allow the studio to support its theater partners with “a steady pipeline of world-class films, while also giving moviegoers who may not have access to theaters or aren’t quite ready to go back to the movies” the chance to see its 2021 films, a “win-win,” said Ann Sarnoff, CEO of WarnerMedia Studios and Networks.

Dish Network and Nexstar pointed fingers at each other over a blackout of Nexstar programming on Dish's lineup affecting more than 100 markets in 42 states and Washington, D.C. Nexstar "forced the largest broadcast affiliate station blackout in TV history" and rejected Dish's request for a contract extension, the DBS operator said Wednesday. Nexstar said Dish has a "documented long-term practice of putting its paying subscribers in the middle, rather than reaching agreements with broadcasters and content providers at fair market rates."

Respondents in Cowen's November shopping survey were “somewhat negative” about holiday spending, it emailed investors Thursday. Despite the “soft macro backdrop” from COVID-19, e-commerce spending is expected to “rise significantly,” as 59% of respondents said they would bump up their online holiday shopping; 11% planned to spend less online. Survey data aligned with 44% year-on-year e-commerce growth over the Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday shopfest, as reported by the National Retail Federation (see 2012010042). Cowen estimates U.S. Amazon Prime households rose to 73 million in November: Two-thirds of those expect their online holiday shopping to rise year on year, said analyst John Blackledge, noting that Amazon kicked off holiday shopping with its delayed Prime Day event in early October. Amazon is the most popular site, said the survey, with 84% of respondents planning to shop the leading e-commerce site over the holidays, followed by 50% at retailer sites and 21% each for brand sites and eBay. Amazon’s third-party gross merchandise value grew nearly 60% year on year after Prime Day; it topped 60% over the “Cyber 5” shopping period. Some 44% of survey respondents said they planned to start shopping earlier this year, 42% the same as last year, and 14% later. The elongated season is a positive for e-commerce, said Blackledge, noting that consumers who begin buying earlier could end up spending more overall. Sixteen percent expected to spend more, 29% less, and half about the same as last year. Delivery anxiety is a logical driver behind early buying, dating back to longer delivery times early in the pandemic, said Blackledge. About 56% of respondents said they aren’t worried about delivery times, 36% were moderately worried, and 7% “very worried.” Similar percentages played out among Prime members, with 8% very worried.

Nexstar's WGN America cable network will be part of the YouTube TV channel lineup starting Jan. 19, Nexstar said Tuesday, announcing a multiyear carriage agreement with the vMVPD.

Tegna stations went dark on AT&T's DirecTV and U-verse Tuesday night, the broadcaster said Wednesday. It said it remains "hopeful that this will get resolved quickly." AT&T didn't comment. Meanwhile, Dish Network and Nexstar have blamed each other for a blackout set to happen Wednesday night, affecting 115 markets. Nexstar said Dish "has a long history of holding its subscribers hostage during negotiations with content providers." Dish said Nexstar is seeking "unreasonable rate increases while intentionally using millions of Americans as pawns in their negotiations."