The AT&T TV Now vMVPD service is effective competition to Comcast and Cox Communications in a variety of Massachusetts communities, which now are exempt from basic cable rate regulation, said a Media Bureau order Monday granting the cablers' petitions (see 1912190070). The bureau pointed to the FCC's similar effective competition order granted to Charter, also based on the vMVPD. The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable is challenging this before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2010080052). The department didn't comment now.
Ad-supported linear channels are a route to incremental revenue and new subscribers for streaming services, and expect more premium content providers to give them a shot, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Tuesday. Sling TV, VUit and Showtime are experimenting with such streaming linear channels, he said.
The latest U.S. plus streaming video service is Discovery’s, slated for a Jan. 4 debut. Pricing for discovery+ is $6.99 for the ad-free version, $4.99 with ads. Discovery is partnering with Verizon, which will “accelerate adoption” by giving six or 12 months free on select broadband and wireless plans. Verizon was a partner when Disney+ launched last year. Content will include original series across Discovery brands, with shows from HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, OWN, Travel Channel, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Discovery+ will be the streaming home of the Olympic Games in Europe, except in Russia, and Eurosport's premium sport offering.
Altice completed the sale of 49.99% of its Lightpath fiber business "for an implied enterprise value of $3.2 billion" to a Morgan Stanley investment fund, it said Tuesday. The deal was announced in July (see 2007290007).
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey (D) is contesting a U.S. District Court's summary judgment decision on behalf of Charter Communications (see 2010290039) to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said a notice of appeal (docket 20-cv-00168, in Pacer) filed Tuesday with the lower court. Charter sued regarding the state's requirement that cable operators prorate refunds of cable TV subscription cancellations. Charter outside counsel didn't comment.
Comscore will supply in-game ad platform Anzu with mobile audience measurement capability of display and video, said the companies. The gaming market is bigger than the music and film industries combined, with a worldwide audience topping 3 billion people that’s projected to spend nearly $175 billion in 2020, they said. “With this scope and potential, brand advertisers have started to consider in-game advertising as part of their multi-pronged advertising strategy, which means that third-party measurement and benchmarking is more relevant than ever.”
Video streaming specials kicked into gear this week for Black Friday sales events. Hulu brought back its annual promotion, offering new and eligible returning subscribers its ad-supported plan for $1.99 monthly for one year, savings of $48. AMC+ is trialing on streaming video platforms. Amazon is offering AMC+ with a 30-day free trial, then $8.99 a month. New subscribers on the Roku platform can get AMC+ for $4.99 for three months, redeemable on The Roku Channel Wednesday through Dec. 4, before going up to $8.99 monthly.
Starting Jan. 1, Comcast will extend its 1.2 TB monthly plan, currently in the western and central U.S., across the rest of its footprint, it told us Monday. Customers who exceed that won't be throttled or capped but can either pay overage charges of $10 for 50 GB buckets of data, at a maximum of $100 per month, or subscribe to an unlimited option of $30 a month additional for customers with their own modems, or $11 a month when bundled with lease of a Comcast modem for $14 monthly. Comcast said any January and February overage charges will be credited on customers' bills, and subscribers will get a courtesy overage month for the year. It said the purpose is to put more of the network costs on the shoulders of the heaviest data users: 5% of its users account for 20% of network usage, and median residential data usage is 308 GB.
Netflix users who most enjoy the service’s original content grew from 35% in 2017 to 49% this year, nearly flat with 2019’s 50%, reported S&P's Kagan Friday. Some 48% of users in a survey say they would subscribe to the service even if it offered only original content. Weekly Netflix streamers were more likely to select original TV programs as the content they enjoy most (35%) vs. 23% of Netflix subscribers who watch less than once per week. Four in five users watch Netflix on a TV, either directly via an internet-connected TV or via another streaming device; a third view on a smartphone; and a quarter view on a PC.
Liberty Media launched a special purpose acquisition company, Liberty Media Acquisition Corp., as an indirect subsidiary with the aim of searching for targets in digital and other media, music, communications, telecom and tech, Liberty said Thursday. It said LMAC's SEC filing is in connection with a proposed initial public offering of shares. It said LMAC will be managed by Liberty’s current management team.