DirecTV has abandoned its proposed merger with Dish Network after EchoStar bondholders with $10.7 billion of debt in Dish and its DBS subsidiary rejected an exchange provision, dooming a deal that would have created the largest pay-TV service in the U.S. EchoStar announced it respects the decision and will continue to operate its own pay-TV brands. While DirecTV still believes the merger “would have benefitted all stakeholders,” it deemed the exchange necessary to protect its balance sheet operational flexibility, DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow explained. Continue reading DirecTV Terminates Deal to Merge with Rival EchoStar’s Dish

A digital avatar may soon join the talent lineup on ESPN’s college football show “SEC Nation.” Called FACTS, the AI-generated character was developed at the ESPN Edge Innovation Center as “a way to help foster engagement and educate fans on complex sports analytics,” according to ESPN. The avatar was unveiled last week at the 4th Annual ESPN Edge Conference. Built on Nvidia’s Omniverse platform, using the company’s ACE microservices, FACTS integrates with Azure OpenAI for natural language processing and ElevenLabs for text-to-speech integration. Continue reading ESPN Readies a Data-Filled Sports Talk Host Generated by AI

The Walt Disney Company’s revenue rose to $91.4 billion for its fiscal year 2024, which ended September 28, a 2.8 percent increase from 2023. For the fourth quarter, revenue rose 6 percent to $22.6 billion, in line with analysts’ expectations. Company-wide, net profit climbed 74 percent in Q4, to $460 million, thanks largely to the strength of the streaming and theatrical film units. Improvements in the Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ businesses marked the streaming sector’s second consecutive quarterly profit. Net profit for the year was a tick under $5 billion, up a whopping 111 percent from 2023. The results sent Disney shares up 6.2 percent on Thursday. Continue reading Disney Ends Fiscal Q4 Strong Thanks to Movies and Streaming

The Federal Trade Commission has implemented a consumer “click-to-cancel” rule that requires sellers to make it as simple to cancel subscriptions or memberships as it was to sign up. The FTC vote was 3 to 2, along party lines, in favor of implementing the rule, which makes it easier to divest of unwanted, recurring bills. “Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan. “The FTC’s rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want.” Continue reading FTC Adds Click-to-Cancel Provision to Negative Option Rule

Streaming rose to 40.3 percent in June, setting a record as it nudged past the previous single-category high point of 40.1, set by cable in June 2021. The percentage marks the highest share of TV ever reported in the three years since Nielsen debuted its monthly measurement report The Gauge. Google’s YouTube and Fox’s Tubi both claimed personal bests, respectively hitting 9.9 and 2.0 percent of TV viewing. Four streaming platforms achieved double-digit usage growth: Disney+ (+14.8 percent), Tubi (+14.7 percent), Netflix (+11.8 percent) and Max (+11.0 percent) — each with 20 percent or more of that growth attributable to younger viewers. Continue reading Nielsen: Streaming Reps 40 Percent Share of June TV Viewing

Netflix reported that its popular streaming service has added 8.05 million subscribers during Q2, a healthy gain from 5.89 million newcomers during the same period a year earlier. The streamer’s total of more than 277 million worldwide customers makes it by far the largest subscription service of its kind. Revenue climbed to $9.56 billion, a nearly 17 percent second quarter gain that outperformed its own projections. Subscriptions on the ad-supported tier grew 34 percent compared to Q1. Amidst upheaval in more traditional media environs, Netflix seems to be gliding along, closing Thursday with a market valuation of $277 billion. Continue reading Netflix Reports Q2 Subscriber Growth as Revenue Tops $9.5B

Comcast broadband and TV customers will be able to subscribe to a streaming bundle that includes Netflix, Apple TV+ and NBCUniversal’s Peacock, Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts announced this week at the 2024 MoffettNathanson Media, Internet and Communications Conference in New York. The package, called StreamSaver, will “come at a vastly reduced price to anything in the market today,” Roberts said, though he did not share pricing. Roberts’ plan comes a week after Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled plans to bundle Max, Disney+ and Hulu starting this summer, with pricing to be announced. Continue reading Comcast StreamSaver to Bundle Peacock, Netflix, Apple TV+

Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced that a new triple-play streaming bundle that includes popular services Disney+, Hulu and Max will launch this summer in the U.S. with both ad-supported and ad-free plans. “On the heels of the very successful launch of Hulu on Disney+, this new bundle with Max will offer subscribers even more choice and value,” said Joe Earley, president of direct to consumer for Disney Entertainment. While no specific pricing has been revealed, the release promises that “additional details regarding the bundle offer will be shared in the coming months.” Continue reading Disney+, Hulu, Max: Streaming Bundle Coming This Summer

The summer Olympics are coming to a theater near you, courtesy of NBCUniversal and AMC Theatres. NBC will extend daily live coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics events to 160 AMC locations nationwide, from July 27-August 11. Tickets will be available for purchase through AMC and Fandango this summer. Excluding opening and closing ceremonies, select daytime hours of the NBC network’s coverage will be telecast live to the big screens as they unfold in Paris. A 2024 Paris Olympics promotional trailer will begin running in AMC Theatres beginning March 29. Continue reading NBC Teams with AMC to Bring Live Olympics to the Big Screen

The NFL playoffs coupled with heavy streaming and the return of scripted broadcast programming sent January television viewership to a four-year high, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge, which charted a 1.4 percent viewership increase year-over-year — described as noteworthy in a month in which the NFL playoffs typically drive viewership higher. January 2024 included three of the top 10 highest-viewership TV days since The Gauge debuted in May 2021. YouTube continued its streaming dominance for the twelfth consecutive month, with 8.6 percent of January TV streaming viewership, according to The Gauge. Netflix was number two at 7.9 percent. Continue reading Nielsen: TV Viewership Hits Four-Year High Led by YouTube

FOX, Warner Bros. Discovery and The Walt Disney Company through its subsidiary ESPN are finalizing plans to form a new, multi-league sports streaming service expected to launch this fall. The direct-to-consumer offering would be made available via a new app and subscriptions could also be bundled with existing services like Disney+, Hulu and Max. The media companies launching the joint venture — who will each have one-third ownership of the new platform — have yet to announce a name or pricing model, but said content will be “from all the major professional sports leagues and college sports.” Continue reading Disney, FOX, WBD Finalizing a New Sports Streaming Venture

Netflix added 13.1 million subscribers in Q4 2023, its biggest gain in a year-end quarter, and the streamer continues to try to broaden its demographic reach by investing in new content, including a new deal for live WWE wrestling matches. The expansion into live-streaming provides an opportunity to draw regular, appointment viewers, something advertisers like. “No entertainment company has ever tried to program at this scale, and for so many tastes and cultures,” Netflix wrote in a shareholder letter that says it plans to spend up to $17 billion on content in 2024. Continue reading Netflix Adds WWE, Touts 12.5 Percent Revenue Growth in Q4

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing to eliminate penalties for early termination and other so-called junk fees from cable and direct broadcast satellite television providers. The agency will also be studying the impact of such practices on consumers, which it believes may be subject to undue hardship when penalized for things like moving, unexpected financial hardship or poor service. During its December Open Meeting last week, the FCC voted to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) to end what it appears to feel are unjustified fees that also potentially harm competition by adding costs to switching services. Continue reading FCC Votes to End Cable and Satellite Early Termination Fees

A group of Democratic senators are asking the FCC to explore applying cable and broadcast regulations to streaming outlets in order to ensure local stations are not left behind by the new platforms. In a letter to the five FCC commissioners, 20 lawmakers express “concern for the future of the media market and our constituents’ ability to access broadcasters’ unique locally-focused content on streaming platforms” such as “virtual MVPDs” — services like Sling TV, Verizon FiOS and Hulu that aggregate linear channels on the Internet. The issue has gained attention due largely to the trend toward cord-cutting. Continue reading Senators Ask FCC to Apply Retransmission Rules to VMVPDs

Xumo, a joint venture between Comcast and Charter Communications, has begun rolling out its Xumo Stream Box to Charter’s Spectrum customers, with plans to bring it to Comcast’s Xfinity homes soon. The Xumo Stream Box is powered by Comcast’s Entertainment Operating System (EOS), designed to simplify the process of finding content, regardless of where it resides. “Xumo is streaming simplified, bringing a live TV experience together with all the top apps,” Charter President of Product and Technology Rich DiGeronimo said of the new device. Xumo Stream Box can be used to find, discover and select content on-demand using voice control. Continue reading Comcast-Charter Venture Starts Shipping Xumo Stream Box