The Disability Advisory Committee meets virtually Oct. 14 at 1:30 p.m. EDT. Among the topics are a report on enhanced electronic newsroom techniques and a working group report and recommendations on best practices for creating audio description, the FCC said Thursday.
Paid subscriptions, at $3.8 billion, were 67% of total music industry revenue, and 79% of total streaming revenue, in the first half, reported RIAA Thursday. Paid subscription growth of 14% outpaced overall streaming music revenue growth of 12%. Streaming revenue was 85% of revenue in the half, physical sales 7%, digital downloads 6% and synch 2%. Average subscriptions were 72 million, up 24% vs. the year-ago half, with more than a million net subscriptions added monthly. Ad-supported on-demand streaming music revenue slowed to 3% at $421 million because due to COVID-19. Services' Q2 ad revenue had double-digit declines. Store closures due to the coronavirus led to a 23% falloff in physical products to $376 million. Vinyl album sales grew in Q1 but reversed in Q2, resulting in a first-half net increase of 4%. At 62% of total physical revenue, vinyl outpaced CD sales for the first time since the 1980s. Vinyl generated 4% of overall industry revenue. Digital and customized radio services receipts grew 6% to $583 million. Digital downloads’ share declined from 8% to 6% at $351 million.
Dish Network signed two retransmission consent agreements for two sets of TV stations and is now complaining it's being held to the terms of those deals, Terrier Media Buyer told the U.S. District Court in Chicago Thursday in a motion to dismiss (docket 20-cv-00570, in Pacer) Dish's contractual dispute. It said Dish acknowledged Terrier bought the two station groups with the idea that one of the retrans agreements would supersede the other, but the MVPD preferred that now-gone agreement's terms. It said Dish's complaint makes sense only if the station groups were bought in a different order than what happened and what the FCC approved. Dish didn't comment. The court dropped Cox, one of the previous station group owners, from the litigation this week (see 2009080002).
LG teamed with Evil Geniuses on a four-part web series on the world of professional gamers, said the vendor Wednesday. Evil Geniuses pros separately will face off against opponents on a weekly, interactive, two-hour broadcast livestreamed on Twitch.
The global streaming devices market will expand at a 13.2% compound annual growth rate, reaching $18.97 billion by 2027, reported Allied Market Research Tuesday. Surging demand for livestreamed content will drive the growth, with bandwidth limitations impeding market expansion “to some extent,” it said. The TV segment is expected to dominate the market throughout the forecast period, rising at a 14.2% CAGR through 2027, it said. North America was 40% of the global streaming devices market in 2019 and is expected to maintain its dominant share for the next seven years.
Cox Media Group was dropped as a defendant in litigation brought by Dish Network in a retransmission consent fight, per an order Friday (docket 20-cv-00570, in Pacer) granting a Cox motion to dismiss. U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin of Chicago said Dish's complaint doesn't show any evidence Cox breached its retrans agreement with the MVPD, and said Dish's contentions all involve another defendant, Terrier Media Buyer, which bought the stations in question from Cox. Dish didn't comment Tuesday.
Though Cogeco's board rejected Altice and Rogers' bid (see here and 2009020055), the two said Thursday they "strongly believe that we presented a very attractive offer -- one that would reward all Cogeco shareholders with a significant premium -- and we stand by that offer." They "remain committed to pursuing this transaction and are open to engaging with shareholders and the boards in a constructive dialogue.”
Spotify is trying to upsell customers to its Premium service with a free Google Net Mini. Its Premium Family, Duo and Student plans have “limited eligibility.” The offer runs through Sept. 30 or while supplies last; codes expire Oct. 31.
Indiana cities suing streaming services that are seeking to force them to pay franchise fees, "are treading into dangerous legal waters" because a court ruling in favor of the streamers could also be legal ammunition for cable companies to claim they also shouldn't pay, CCG Consulting President Doug Dawson blogged Wednesday. Also problematic would be a ruling against the streamers because it would mean the cities ultimately are taxing some -- but not all -- bits moving back and forth between ISPs and customers, he said. Outside counsel for the cities didn't comment.
Samsung is the leading brand of streaming platform services in use across 27 countries, in a market that exceeded 1.1 billion devices, said Strategy Analytics Wednesday. Trailing Samsung’s 14% share are Sony (12%), LG (8%), Hisense (5%), TCL (5%) and Amazon (5%), said SA. Tizen is the leading platform in TV streaming with 11% deployed devices, followed by WebOS (7%), PlayStation (7%), Roku OS (5%), Fire OS (5%), Android TV (4%) and Xbox (4%). Over-the-top TV is a “complex and evolving landscape” vs. mobile devices where two platforms dominate, said analyst David Watkins. “Frequently updated, tactical tracking of platform deployments is a valuable tool in ensuring that services are reaching their highest potential audience.” SA expects internet streaming to dominate TV and video consumption across much of the world over the next decade, said analyst David Mercer. “As traditional television and video platforms continue to decline, TV streaming represents the future of television and video.”