We hold in our hands the very last "Next Text" for Next TV, the weekly back-and-forth TMT-focused ruminations of writers Daniel Frankel and David Bloom. As Next TV, er, "evolves" into a "curated newsletter" sans original words and sentences, our "Next Text" column will migrate to the new Next TMT newsletter starting next week. Shoot an email to frankeldd@gmail if you'd like to be included on our initial blast.  

DAVID BLOOM: Greetings, O most respected and powerful Don Daniele (when north of Rome a couple of hours, do as the Romans do), from our long-running Next Text Adjunct Bureau in the sun-kissed Tuscan hills of Italy. It’s harvest time, so tractors laden with hundreds of pounds of just-collected grapes routinely roll past the bureau to a nearby winery, one of 19 within a few miles.  Yes, the resulting Sangiovese wines are very tasty, and like me, very friendly. 

Speaking of harvesting, Friends of the Next Text at MoffettNathanson gathered up a lengthy, in-depth conversation with one Dr. John Malone, former CEO of TCI and DirecTV and more recently power behind the throne at Warner Bros. Discovery, Liberty Global, and Charter Communications. Asked what he thinks about streaming, the doctor called it "a terrible business.” 

Crucial decisions made years ago make it difficult for struggling media companies to create the customized hybrid packages of on-demand and linear experiences they really want, he said. And sports spending may obliterate what’s left of the mediacos, unless they get a break on net neutrality rules that allow the tech giants free rein on rights deals. The solution/opportunity: international, where hybrid on-demand and linear packages are rolling out in some countries. I’ve watched exactly zero hours of Italian television in my sojourn here, but promise to do so in the course of this weekend’s Next Texting. I’ll let you know if I see anything besides awesome grapes and olives. 

DANIEL FRANKEL: I think the Next TMT audience might soon grow resentful of your best life, David. I myself am intrigued by the prospect of a potential DirecTV/Dish Network tie-up. Kind of a Remains of the Day situation. But adding DirecTV's 11 million remaining accounts to Dish's just over 8 million would make it the top linear pay TV company in America ... delivering all the negotiating scale that comes with it. So this deal does matter. It's not like regulators are going to just let it pass. 

Still, shouldn't the DOJ just let these two kids be happy as they get ready to embrace the video business' sweet hereafter?

BLOOM: Yes, Don Daniele, I shall endeavor to more adequately gate my pridefulness of our overseas reach. I merely hope to enlarge our discussion with an au courant international flavor, because, as you brash and broad-shouldered Americans like to say, that’s where the action is. There’s still  life in Europe’s satcaster business, as attested by the rooftop dishes, cost of wiring 800-year-old neighborhoods, and Comcast-owned Sky’s abiding existence. But Malone is probably right that there’s room for maybe one U.S. satellite TV provider, given the crazy expense of repeatedly hurling tons of technology into low-earth orbit. 

Also read: DirecTV and Dish have spent years trying to merge. It might finally happen

I’m guessing the DirecTV-Dish dialup goes through, no matter who’s president next. Maybe one approval term will require DirecDish to sell wholesale access to third-party providers, who in turn could help pay the prodigious CapEx.

Speaking of delivery platforms, this week saw the arrival of two high-end streaming devices, from Google and Roku. Admittedly, the Roku Ultra is a buffed-up version of what’s been in the market for a while, with faster response time, zones for kids and more sports, 4K, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, etc. Roku is beefing up its top model against the very interesting Google TV Streamer, which checks many of the same feature boxes and some useful Smart Home capabilities, all with Google TV’s interface. What are we to make of both Roku and Google going after the high-end market previously owned by the expensive and excellent Apple TV?

FRANKEL: As I respond to your message sent overnight from overseas, I have realized that this is the last time I'll ever post anything in Future plc's content management system. But I'm going to save the goodbyes for later. I did notice this week that Fubo launched a new multiview feature in beta on Roku devices. The Ultra class devices are the only ones that have the processing power to display four images at once vs. just two.

I think we've reached a point where the limited processing and memory power of the average streaming device and smart TV is becoming a more broadly limiting factor. As I pointed out last week, Synamedia has debuted an HDMI dongle that does the streaming app storage and processing in the cloud. There seems to be pressure from the app development community to put more horsepower in these boxes. Google's decision to go premium ($100 price tag for the new Google TV Streamer) seems to be pointing in that general direction. Separately, as I pondered major life choices last night in what is personally turning out to be a very dynamic moment, I settled into part 1 of Netflix's six-episode documentary on Vince McMahon, Mr. McMahon. I loved the part where he says he doesn't like talking about himself. 

BLOOM: This push for more puck power promises more interesting and immersive TV experiences, finally. Wouldn’t that be pleasant? Roku, as executives showcased at the valedictory Next TV Summit, has already infused its interface with bells and whistles that add value, highlight shows, and drive revenue. It’s time the rest of the sector catches up.

Services company Wurl just issued a study showing connected TV viewing is nearing COVID lockdown levels, i.e., sky high. The study did issue one warning for greedy companies hoping to cash in: every extra minute an ad break lasts carves off 4% of viewers. Keep those ad loads light and lovely, laddies and ladies! So, Dan, as we ready for Next Text’s next chapter, I already can see the future (if not Future).  In London, the 197-year-old Evening Standard daily newspaper laid off 150 people and shifted to weekly publication. Far more notably, they’re considering bringing back their notoriously acerbic art critic, Brian Sewell, who’s been dead since 2015. 

How? Sewell will now be an AI-driven online voice. I fully expect the powers behind Next TV’s demise to create an AI Daniel Frankel, equally acerbic in his assessments of media, tech and entertainment, in whatever counts as Future’s next Next TV. You and I, of course, will slag on the old-fashioned way, elsewhere, maybe Tuscany.

FRANKEL: I discovered the thrill of writing and editing in my 24th year, D Money, listening to Soul Asylum cassette tapes while putting together the sports section of The Daily Sundial in the CSUN Sierra North computer room, then racing off to cover college baseball and volleyball games. Chasing that electric feeling has led me -- and I suspect you, and many others like us -- down a wildly exciting yet exploitive, rewarding yet empty, dynamic yet disappointing career path. I had the pleasure of drinking high-end vodka Saturday night with my Coral Gables-spawned musician friend Kenny Lyon, a former Lemonhead, who still eeks it out rockin' the guitar in Russia a good portion of the year. Our chat focused on how the economic walls for "creative class" folks like us are closing in everywhere we look, partly due to artificial intelligence ... but lots of other factors, too. A lot of it just has to do with folks who peddle our work actually having, at best, apathy for what we do, and at worst,  contempt for it and us. I had a job interview last week for a Montreal-based digital media company (their very green recruiter found me on LinkedIn) . If I passed muster (and I suspect my relatively expensive salary demands did not), they would to pay me under $70,000 a year to whip productivity out of young "staff writers" making $10 a post. Alas, I'm sure they'll find someone willing to do it! Just not me. And as I type my last sentence as a Future M&E group employee -- and maybe my last as a non-independent journalist -- I will say this: In the words of Knocksville's mid-1990s sensation Superdrag, this has been my dream, playing out (this) rockin' routine. 

Roku on Tuesday released detail of its latest product upgrade to its top-of-the-line "Ultra" streaming gadget. 

The updated device features a new quad-core processor specifically built to enhance the quality of streaming, with capabilities for 4K, HDR10+, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, as well as support for WiFi 6.

Also Read: Viewers Can Now Find Roku Channels Through Google TV's Search Tools

Roku says its new Ultra operates 30% faster than its other players.

The device, the company said, is made even faster by the integration of machine learning, which predicts which app you’ll likely open next and tees it up to launch instantaneously.

Other features include a lost remote mode, wireless headphone capabilities, and customizable quick launch shortcuts.

Speaking of remotes, Roku last spring debuted the second edition of its Voice Remote Pro, which comes bundled with the Roku Ultra.

Alongside the standard features, the Voice Remote Pro has backlit buttons, USB charging, and two new buttons: quick launch and live TV guide.

As part of its broader product upgrade cycle, Roku also highlighted some key changes to its content recommendations and home page.

Roku said in a release that it will be revamping the Roku Mobile App, which previously allowed users to control their TV without the need for a physical remote.

Now, in addition to controlling their video players, the remote app will allow users to discover personalized content recommendations and read IMDb ratings without having to launch a new window.

The app also enable users to favorite their go-to sports teams, even when they’re not at home.

Roku also made slight alterations to its home screen, including the introduction of a “Kids & Family zone.”

But if that isn’t to your preference, the company also introduced the ability to like and dislike content, allowing users some degree of control over what the platform continues to recommend.

Paramount Global on Tuesday began what it called “phase two” of its plan to cut costs by eliminating 15% of its staff in the U.S.

The company is in the process of being acquired by Skydance Media, but the three-man office of the CEO has already initiated its plan to reduce expenses by $500 million. Skydance has plans for additional cost savings.

The first round of staff cuts took place in August. The CEOs, George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins, said that after this round 90% of the planned staff reductions will be complete.

On the company’s second-quarter earnings call, McCarthy said layoffs would focus on two areas: ”First, redundant functions within marketing and communications. Second, streamlining our corporate structure, reducing our head count in finance, legal, technology and other support functions.“ 

The company isn’t breaking out how many people are being impacted by each round of layoffs, but by the end of the year, the company expects to have reduced its U.S. headcount by about 2,000.

“Like the entire media industry, we are working to accelerate streaming profitability while at the same time adjusting to the evolving landscape in our traditional businesses,” the CEOs said in their memo Tuesday. “In order to set Paramount up for continued success, we are taking these actions, and after today, 90% of these reductions will be complete.

“Days like today are never easy. It is difficult to say goodbye to valued colleagues, and to those departing, we are incredibly grateful for your countless contributions,” the CEOs said. 

Comcast on Monday unveiled a virtualized network management system called Janus that aims to maximize its network efficiency and reliability.

According to Comcast, Janus does this by shifting the brunt of the company’s internet routing, switching and transport services to its edge cloud platforms.

“Data usage continues to skyrocket at unprecedented rates, primarily due to the rapid increase in streaming high-quality live sports,” Comcast chief network officer Elad Nafshi said in a memo. “Janus builds upon years of investment and innovation to maximize our network performance and will be a game-changer for our customers, our business, and the environment.”

Also Read: Comcast Advertising Names Scott Weisenthal Head of Global Marketing and Insights

Comcast said the new organization of its networks will allow the company to keep up with the massive data traffic that fluctuates around live sports events.

In addition to enhanced network performance, Janus can self-diagnose functionality issues through a real-time telemetry algorithm and offload processing onto redundant, intact network pathways.

That means that in most cases of weather or accidental damage, Janus is capable of restoring service through backup network connections.

Comcast also said that Janus would help the company achieve its goal of being carbon-neutral by 2035.

Since the initiative’s computing platforms would be switched from traditional network facilities to cloud-based platforms, their environmental impact should be significantly reduced.

Initial trials for Janus are underway at Comcast’s network hub in Atlanta, with wide-scale rollout expected in 2025.

Each Sunday, Daniel Frankel and David Bloom share thoughts, ideas and impulses related to the global technology, media and telecom industries. You can also find this weekly column on LinkedIn. Starting on Oct. 6, it will have a new platform home, Next TMT. Email frankeldd@gmail.com if you'd like to sign up for free to that new newsletter. 

DANIEL FRANKEL: Not sure if you're still in Northern Italy minding the GDP of Tuscany, Piedmont and Veneto, but I finally moved 95% of my social engagement off Twitter/X this week and onto Threads ... and it was every bit the good decision I was told it would be. My first sports-centric perusal on the platform -- a next-morning dive into the New York Jets' dominant win over New England on Thursday Night Football -- was satisfying. Plenty of good content and takes ... sans notes about what a boss Aaron Rodgers is for being a COVID denier. The Amazon Prime Video live stream of the game averaged 13.37 million viewers, the company said. 

Barring a World Series championship from the American East-leading Yankees, the Jets, Giants, Rangers, Islanders, Knicks, Nets and Mets will have exceeded more than 100 combined seasons without bringing a major sports title to the Big Apple, according to a recent Associated Press tally. Responding to Nielsen's 2025 "universe estimates," WPIX-TV research exec Eric Kabakoff posted on LinkedIn Friday morning a useful reminder of the density and impact of the New York DMA. In short, it helps everyone when these teams are winning and drawing an audience. 

DAVID BLOOM: Greetings from our new adjunct bureau on the Italian Riviera. Office hours are from Maybe Later Today to How About Next Week, except when it comes to the Next Text, the holiest writ being writ since at least the Bill of Rights, at least until we see how that whole presidential election thing plays out in the States. Speaking of prudent shifts, congrats on the almost-exit from the soul-destroying sump of an evil genius/ketamine fiend gabillionaire to a quantifiably less terrible platform owned by another gabillionaire with apparently fewer problematic intentions for the Republic. Feels like a win. I’ve been on both platforms (@DavidInLA on Threads; join me!) for a while, but generally have pulled back on social media, joining a significant slice of the populace seeking more meaningful life connections. By all accounts, the same is happening to the dating apps. I regard this as social progress. 

Your New York dude’s homer attitude is completely unsurprising, given what he does and where. It does seem that the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, not to mention the MSL, NWSL, and WNBA have managed just fine in the absence of any display of competence by Kabakoff’s Klatch of Keystone Kops franchises. At least the Knicks and Yankees have lately provided some competitive respite. Perhaps more interesting than the Championship Winter in the No. 1 market is how sports programming will displace more and more entertainment programming on broadcast and even on streaming. NBC’s piece of Comcast’s new $2.5-billion-a-year NBA deal will displace 150 hours of prime-time programming. ABC will see lesser displacement, while Amazon and Netflix aren’t spending more on entertainment programming, so their sports ventures mean fewer shows featuring clueless Americans in Paris or the Middle East. This all adds to the real winter of discontent in Hollywood, with even fewer scripted and unscripted projects being commissioned. Happy Emmys Week to you, Hollywood!

Speaking of our sports obsession, we should note the last Woj Bomb of all, the stunning decision by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski to forgo another $20 million or so in his contract as the Four-Letter Network’s crack NBA scoops machine. What will he do instead of working multiple iPhones 23.5 hours a day for every shred of fast-breaking news that he would then spill on, wait for it, X? That always seemed a bit odd, probably to his ESPN bosses too. The Woj will become general manager of the men’s basketball team of his alma mater, tiny St. Bonaventure University. GM is a new position among many college football programs these days, as they grapple with NIL, TV rights, player salaries, the depredations and opportunities of the transfer portal, and old-school high school recruiting. The University of Alabama’s football team just bent everyone’s brains by giving GM Courtney Morgan an $825,000 a year contract. That’s a lot of money, but that’s also a thankless job, especially at a pressure cooker such as ‘Bama. But lots of luck to Woj. I still think he should join Next Text's fast-growing adjunct bureau in Rapallo, which is far more temperate than the Bonnies’ upstate New York home. But the heart will do as the heart will do.

FRANKEL: I noticed that NBC won the 2023-24 broadcast TV season in total viewers, averaging 4.9 million a night, a performance charged by the 14 million viewers it averaged for the Summer Olympics. NBC also won the demo race, averaging an incredibly tiny 0.72 rating in the 18-49 demo. Two years ago, we made a big deal out of it when NBC won the year with a 1.1 demo rating average. Speaking of ratings, Scripps chimed in with more explosive WNBA audience news -- the league's audience grew 133% this past regular season on Ion. 

Also read: Ratings for WNBA Telecasts on Scripps-Owned Ion Rise 133%

What I found particularly interesting about this is that the male 25-54 Ion WNBA audience grew 181%. In the controversial words of comedian Bill Burr, the dudes are still "carrying most of the couch" when it comes to supporting the league. 

BLOOM: It’s nice to see the interest in newcomers Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese continuing through the season (though Reese’s record-breaking run has ended with an injury). Clark has been putting up lots of records of her own, and her slow-starting franchise might just make the playoffs. I hope it continues to shine a light on the good ball being played everywhere else in the league, too. But in terms of scoring big, the real long-range shooter this week was Ted Sarandos, speaking at a tech conference in New York where he called for more transparency in streaming numbers. That’s especially easy to do when you’re the industry leader, with 94 billion hours viewed in the first half of the year, and your new viewership report about to splash down. But yes, it’d be great to see what all the other players, even Apple’s TV Plus side hustle, are actually getting in terms of viewership, instead of the bank-shot metrics we get from third-party providers. 

I’m also looking forward to seeing how things play out for YouTube’s new connected TV app, which was due for some tech lovin’. Here at the Adjunct Bureau, with its erratic internet connection and dinner-plate-sized TV screen, we haven’t been actually watching much video the past couple of days. But I was interested to read the interface is designed to look more like SVOD apps, with more prominent subscribe buttons, QR codes, and widescreen trailers that YouTube calls “immersive previews.”

Also read: Surging YouTube Set To Overhaul Its Connected TV App

More intriguingly, the app is designed to encourage YouTube creators to organize their shows around episodes and seasons. Given how 10% of view time supposedly already going to YouTube, any bets whether this will further accelerate that?

FRANKEL: I myself raced back home from the bank Saturday morning to watch USC vs. Michigan in their first-ever Big Ten matchup at the Big House ... only to realize I had no way to get CBS. I let DirecTV Stream go. Sling TV doesn't have CBS. And our Paramount Plus subscription lapsed when one of our credit cards was swapped out few months ago amid our frequent fraud-alert experiences. We never gave Par the new credit card number. I resubscribed and fiddled with the app for 15 minutes, well past kickoff ... before realizing that you have to pay extra for the $13-a-month, premium "Par Plus With Showtime" to access the live feed of KCBS-TV. I know Peacock also makes you spring for a similar amount to watch your local NBC station, but I still didn't expect not to get a channel that I could obtain myself over the air. Now, I have an OTA antenna ... but it's been in a storage crate somewhere ever since I folded up my studio office and started renting the place back in June. My son, exasperated with me, ended up signing up for a free Fubo trial while I was out of the room. Another example of the fragmented video market for sports confounding semi-innocent fans! If you like football, you've got to pay at least $100 a month for TV now. You need at least a virtual MVPD that has ESPN and all the broadcast networks, and you probably need Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. As for the game, man, how does SC give up that run? What a game! But  ... so disappointing if you're an SC wonk.  

BLOOM: And here I thought watching American football in the Rapallo Adjunct Bureau was complicated! The nine-hour time zone difference means that even mid-day games in Los Angeles are starting far into the night here. Not to mention that everyone here thinks football really means futbol. I will say that OTA antennas never went away in Italy. They are everywhere, of often rather baroque design, as seen in this photo of homes near the Rapallo Adjunct Bureau that clearly have awesome views of Golfo Tigullio topped with kinda weird TV antennae alongside a couple of satellite dishes. 

At this month's Next TV Summit, I recall a speaker who blithely said frustrated TV viewers can always erect a digital antenna to get free live sports and whatever else is left of broadcast television. True enough for those with a reasonable sight line who locate the antenna in the right place, and don’t need to worry about inclement weather, birds, squirrels, or earthquakes dislodging it. Cable actually did solve some consumer problems; that was its original reason for being, as a community antenna service for remote mountain towns. It’s just all the stuff that’s come after, spawning an overpriced, oversized, abusive beast. Now, we’re busy rebuilding it all. Charter has all those streaming services available on top of its traditional cable package. That, to me, is a temporary but attractive fix that salves the transition for media companies to a streaming future. Perhaps by then the USC defense will have become more consistently reliable at wrapping up a player before a back-breaking, game-winning run. At least No. 7-ranked Mizzou eked out an overtime win over mighty Vanderbilt University, formidable in its academic if not football achievement. 

I would be remiss in not marking the passing of the great songwriter/singer J.D. Souther this past week at 78. He made much of his money and modest fame writing or co-writing huge hits for the Eagles: Best of My Love, Heartache Tonight, New Kid in Town, Victim of Love, How Long. I was enough of a music geek to know who he was back then and owned his two solo albums. Then I had a surprising indirect personal connection through Charlie Bates, an older colleague at Texas's Amarillo Globe-News. Charlie played in a band with J.D. in high school in Amarillo, mostly blues skiffles and similar Texas sounds in the early 1960s. Then the Beatles came along and blew all that up. J.D. left for Los Angeles, where his roommate was one Glenn Frey. That worked out. Souther also wrote or performed with Linda Ronstadt, Dan Fogelberg, Bonnie Raitt and other '80s stalwarts, but my favorite was one of his few hits under his own name, a 1981 duet with buddy James Taylor that has a prescient resonance with today’s vicious online gossip on X and elsewhere. Plus, those harmonies! RIP, J.D. 

The NHL's newest franchise has a new direct-to-consumer streaming app.

Billionaire Qualtronics co-founder Ryan Smith and his Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) own the expansion Utah Hockey Club, which will begin play in the upcoming 2024-25 season after relocating and transitioning from its previous iteration as the Phoenix Coyotes. The squad is teaming up with DTC tech shop Kiswe to build UtahHC+, which will run fans $69.99 a season and stream more than 75 of the team's pre- and regular-season games live. 

The platform is launching today with content including studio show Fresh Ice presented by Delta Air Lines.

Also read: ‘We’re Betting on Ourselves‘: Utah Jazz Claim More Than 20,000 Subscribers for New DTC Streaming Channel Jazz+

SEG already teamed with Kiswe last season to launch its NBA franchise, the Utah Jazz, on DTC app Jazz+. Utah sports fans can also pay $174.99 to buy an app, SEG+, that rolls up both Jazz+ and UtahHC+. 

SEG is trying to get fans in the gate now. Subscribers who order UtahHC+ by Sept. 30, for example, will receive two single-goal-view tickets to a regular-season game. 

UtahHC+ is available to customers throughout the state of Utah, as well as Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming, and parts of Nevada. Scripps-owned KUPX-TV will also broadcast games that aren't nationally televised for free. 

For its part, SEG+ will be available to customers in the region where Utah Hockey Club's broadcast territory overlaps with that of the Jazz, who broadcast their games on Sinclair-owned KJZZ-TV. 

Updated: A previous iteration of this story incorrectly described Utah Hockey Club as an expansion team. 

YouTube is set to launch a major overhaul of its connected TV app, according to a report published Monday by the Penske showbiz trades.

The platform will see new functionality and an entirely new look in what seems like an attempt to lock down its position as the top streaming platform.

Also Read: YouTube Accounts for 10.4% of All TV Viewing in July, Surpasses Disney as Top Watched Media Company

“When we launched Primetime Channels in the main app, one of the things we really wanted to make sure we delivered was, if you look for [HBO’s] House of the Dragon and you go to that channel page, you want to look by season and episode and have this really rich, immersive channel page experience which people have come to expect around episodic content,” Christian Oestlien, VP of product management at YouTube, told the Penske Media Group trades. 

“Turns out, a ton of our creators are really leaning into that format, too,” Oestlien added. “They’re doing 20- to 40-minute videos, there’s kind of a season arc to it, there’s multiple episodes in it, so we’re giving them the tooling to really create what we’re calling Creator Show Pages so that if you’re a fan of Michelle Khare, you can go to her channel page and actually just kind of go on that sort of binge episodic experience that I think the lean back TV environment really lends itself to,” Oestlien said.

As part of the change, creators can now break up their videos into different seasons and episodes that closely resemble the streaming navigation menus of many other streaming services.

When viewed on the TV, YouTube’s new UI would display full-screen episode descriptions and organize content in hierarchical order.

In addition, YouTube creators will have the ability to create “immersive previews,” which play automatically upon navigating to a user’s page.

YouTube’s AI-generated content will be watermarked and have a label indicating it was made by AI, the company said.

YouTube has yet to reveal how its new formatting will translate to devices outside of standard TV sets, but it’s likely it will roll out to desktop and mobile devices in some form.

Creators can expect access to these features later this year.

T-Mobile told the FCC that it plans to use the spectrum acquired from UScellular to expand its fixed wireless access service to rural markets. It also claims the deal will help it compete with cable operators expanding into mobile services. 

Also read: T-Mobile Pays $4.4 Billion for UScellular’s 4.5 Million Customers and 30% of Its Spectrum … But Regulatory Hurdles Await

T-Mobile is arguing that the FCC should approve its $4.4 billion transaction for UScellular, and about 30% of its licensed spectrum, which was announced in May.

“The transaction will … expand T-Mobile’s fixed wireless service offering and thereby increase competition for in-home broadband services,” T-Mobile said in a heavily redacted public interest statement to the FCC. “This will be particularly important for bringing increased competition and choice to rural areas.”

The missive added, “Cable companies’ entry into the wireless market has been particularly threatening to UScellular.”

Also Read: T-Mobile Fixed Wireless Growth Slows 27% to 406,000 Customers in Q2 as Operator Turns Its Attention to … Fiber-Fueled Convergence

The deal would see T-Mobile acquire all 4 million of UScellular’s customers. UScellular will retain its approximately 4,400 towers and enter new 15-year lease agreements with T-Mobile on about half of them, as well as extend leases on the 600 towers where T-Mobile is already a tenant.

UScellular’s reach includes 4.5 million customers across 21 states, with about 40% of the service base focused in rural areas.

T-Mobile also argued that the purchase would help drive down prices for consumers.

Unfortunately, all relevant metrics were redacted in the filing, which was first noticed by Ted Hearn's PolicyBand newsletter. 

“UScellular’s current rate plans are generally more expensive than comparable rate plans offered by T-Mobile,” T-Mobile wrote to the FCC. “Following the transaction, UScellular customers will have the opportunity to pay the same or less for higher quality service than either UScellular or T-Mobile offers today.”

DirecTV will become the first major pay TV distributor to take on the Chicago Sports Network, the new regional-sports-network home of Chicago's Bulls, Blackhawks and White Sox. 

The “wide-ranging satellite, streaming and IPTV licensing agreement” will deliver up to 300 NBA, NHL and MLB games to DirecTV satellite TV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers in "most of Illinois and Iowa, as well as parts of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, starting October 1, DirecTV said.

Also Read: Weigel’s Start TV Launches on DirecTV

“We have always prided ourselves on being a sports leader and intend to remain at the forefront,” DirecTV chief content officer Rob Thun said in a statement.

The Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) deal comes on the heels of DirecTV’s new hard-fought carriage renewal with Disney, which not only restored ESPN to the pay TV operator's programming grids, but will also deliver to the satellite company's users at no additional cost the DTC platform currently codenamed “ESPN Flagship” when it debuts next year. 

Also Read: Disney, DirecTV Reach Agreement To End Blackout 

As for the new Chicago Sports Channel, Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf's media company, Stadium, bolted a longtime agreement with Comcast to launch the network. 

“This agreement establishes an immediate foundation for CHSN and aligns us with one of the foremost innovators in sports media,” Chicago Sports Network president Jason Coyle said.

AXS TV and Charter Communications’ Spectrum brand said that the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is joining their Band Together for Music Education initiative.

The magical and mysterious bus, packed with musical and video equipment and state-of-the-art gear, will make stops at the Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center in Los Angeles, James Whitcomb Riley School 43 in Indianapolis and the N.Y.C. Lab School for Collaborative Studies.

Founded by Yoko Ono and Brian Rothschild in 1998, the Lennon bus gives young people a unique opportunity to write and record an original composition and shoot a music video, guided by the bus’s engineers.

“AXS TV’s Band Together For Music Education has left an indelible mark on young and aspiring musicians throughout America — instilling confidence and creativity, and helping cultivate invaluable skills, techniques, and habits that can last a lifetime,” AXS TV president Andy Schuon said.

“This year, we are proud to expand this initiative by partnering with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus to bring incredible music experiences to even more students,” Schuon said. “Their mission is a perfect complement to our own, as they tirelessly strive to keep the spirit of music alive for future generations via dynamic and hands-on activities, empowering students to dig into the wide breadth of creative and career opportunities that the industry and art form have to offer.”

The Band Together program was started by AXS TV in 2022 and is designed to connect with affiliates, local communities and schools nationwide to promote music education as schools are cutting budgets for music programs.

With Spectrum’s support, AXS TV’s Band Together has awarded $160,000 in grants to 24 schools across 20 cities.

"Spectrum’s partnership with AXS TV and the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus enriches the educational opportunities for students in these communities,” said Adam Falk, senior VP of state government affairs for Spectrum. “By supporting the Band Together For Music Education initiative, we are giving more students access to high-quality music programs to explore their creative potential. We look forward to seeing the positive impact this collaboration will have on students nationwide."

Each of the stops the Lennon Bus makes will be marked by fun activities for kids and appearances by local officials.

When the Lennon Bus appears in L.A. on September 19, officials on hand will include California State Senators Steven Bradford (35th District) and Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (28th District), Los Angeles Councilwoman Heather Hutt (10th District), Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (2nd District) and legendary bass player Verdine White from Earth, Wind & Fire.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine is attending the New York event on October 9.

Shares in Dish Network parent EchoStar climbed 7% in early Monday trading, following reports by Bloomberg that the satellite TV provider is discussing a merger with DirecTV.

It’s not the first time Dish Network-parent EchoStar has entered discussions with DirecTV, with EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen regularly stating for years that he believes such a tie-up is “inevitable.” 

In fact, the FCC blocked a formal proposal to merge the two once in 2002, citing antitrust concerns.

But according to MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett, the waning market power of these two struggling satellite TV businesses may actually work in their favor this time.

Also Read: Dish and Sling TV Revenue Collapses, Down a Record 10% in Q2

Back in July 2021, just before AT&T spun off DirecTV into a separate entity, the pay TV company had 15.412 million remaining subscribers.

According to a DirecTV source, that number has fallen to around 11 million.

Moffett says that, in light of such unchecked subscriber losses, “it’s hard to imagine that regulators would block a deal.”

But given that there are “no synergies” between the companies’ satellite portfolios (which operate on two different conditional access technologies), a merger would likely provide very limited benefits.

“The biggest synergy would once have been to eliminate churn,” Moffett explained. “But today they each capture so few gross additions that cutting them, potentially even in half, wouldn’t amount to much.”

While DirecTV and Dish could benefit from the merging of their ground facilities and G&A, that single sector likely won’t be enough to keep the business afloat for more than a year.

"It’s hard to argue that a merger shouldn’t happen; it clearly should. Consolidation during a period of secular decline is always to be expected,” wrote Moffett. “But it would be a mistake to overestimate its importance. Adding a year or so to the expected life of satellite TV isn’t going to change the narrative for programmers, distributors, or even for satellite TV.”

Charter Communications’ Spectrum service launched a new brand platform, Life Unlimited, as part of a new product bundling and marketing approach aimed at competing with wireless connectivity providers.

Spectrum is offering price guarantees, including a 500 Megabits-per-second internet plan starting at $30 a month when ordered with two lines of Spectrum’s fastest mobile and/or video services.

The company said speeds will increase for all of its current internet customers.

Last year, Charter introduced Spectrum One, a converged offering. Customers who don’t take advantage of new Life Unlimited bunded rates may continue to subscribe to Spectrum One, the company said.

“This new commitment to our customers goes beyond words; it is about action,” said Cliff Hagan, executive VP, customer operations for Charter, which operates the Spectrum brand.

“With approximately 100,000 employees, our customers are also our friends, family and neighbors, and we hold ourselves accountable to them,“ he said. “If we are charging for a service, it should work all the time; if it doesn’t, our customers should trust that we’ll make it right. By focusing on reliability, transparency and outstanding service, we want to exceed expectations, build lasting loyalty and address our customers’ needs with renewed energy and focus on keeping them seamlessly connected. 

“We’ve already made the investment in our people, tools and systems that will allow us to execute on these commitments and fully stand behind the great value, products and services we provide to our customers,” Hagan said.

Cable companies have been losing video customers to cord-cutting and more profitable broadband business to cheaper wireless providers.

Cable analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson noted that Life Unlimited is not a price cut.

“Today’s introduction of what Charter is calling a ‘new brand platform’ under the moniker Life Unlimited should be seen as leaning into convergence, and more, into the concept that connectivity in home and out, should be viewed as an entirely new product category, not just a pricing plan,” Moffett said.

Moffett noted that it will be difficult to tell how the new offerings affect the individual products Charter offers.

“What they will do is elevate their converged broadband/mobile offers to the center of the plate,” Moffett said. “They want to be seen as a converged connectivity provider. Their new bundled offers will deliver higher speeds — a relatively standard practice for broadband, whether in bundles or standalone — and they will have new plans targeted to lower-income consumers as they continue to respond to the sunset of ACP… but mostly this is about leaning into bundles. Or convergence, if you prefer.”

Moffett added that the new bundle elevates video as a component. This move comes with Charter having cut deals with The Walt Disney Co., Paramount Global, TelevisaUnivision and AMC Networks to include their streaming properties as part of Spectrum pay TV bundles.

“How much any of this will move the needle for broadband is unclear,” Moffett said.

“And while Charter’s video offering will indeed be differentiated — it is interesting to consider the success Verizon has had with their myPlan bundles of different DTC video services as add-ons to wireless, for example — it is hard to imagine that anything will slow the decline of linear video packages all that much,” Moffett said. “We would imagine, however, that Spectrum Mobile will get a boost, as the company leans into the fact that its broadband + mobile (ahem, converged connectivity) bundles are priced below any converged alternative. And they are available … everywhere.”

Charter is introducing Life Unlimited with a new TV ad campaign that starts Tuesday. The new brand also features new-for-charter colors and a new sound.

“Today’s launch of Spectrum’s Life Unlimited brand platform marks a milestone in our journey to redefine what a connectivity company means to its customers,”  Charter executive VP, chief marketing officer Sharon Peters said.

“This initiative is about so much more than a new look and feel for the Spectrum brand; it is a fundamental shift in how we operate, with the goal of building more trust with our customers,“ Peters said. “Life Unlimited is a platform for action that holds the customer experience at the center of everything we do. By delivering competitive, reliable products and exceptional customer service at an incredible value, we are declaring our unwavering commitment to helping our customers lead unlimited lives, anywhere and everywhere they need us.”

Every Sunday, Daniel Frankel and David Bloom ruminate on the state of technology/media/telecom in this space. You can also catch up with their weekly "Next Text" column on LinkedIn. And starting October 6, you can read it every Sunday on our new "Next TMT" platform.

DANIEL FRANKEL: Well, David, we failed to meet the, er, bar, on one of your Next TV Summit declarations this past week: to find a real “Manhattan” in Manhattan. As you explained it, the legitimacy rests in the Maraschino, which wasn’t up to snuff at our Madison Avenue establishment of choice. We still managed to get them down. And it was a surprisingly spry conference, given that it was being hosted by a bunch of sad folks about to be put out on the street by robots. As I’ve mentioned before, I don't think our conference producer has ever read this column ... or the digital publication we built together that will house it for these next few last weeks ... as Next TV gets set to be reformatted and "focused on high-impact initiatives," sans original content. And when it came to finding someone to interview our morning keynote session with esteemed Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, our producer chose to go outside of our news organization. (Maybe he'll like the robots better?) 

As for Pachter, he accused Netflix of "pulling the wool over the eyes" of the media giants. I’ll admit that his keynote session was a highlight of our multi-day "TV Week" event, but I still don’t understand the antipathy guys like Pachter have for Netflix. I mean, this is a Wall Street guy. And Netflix's Q2 top-line seems to be, at least to me, what winning looks like. But as our producer might suspect, what do I know.

DAVID BLOOM: Yes, that was a disappointing attempt by a Manhattan bar to make a credible Manhattan cocktail. Fortunately, on my last afternoon in Manhattan this week, my brilliant spouse suggested we tuck around the corner for a leisurely late lunch at Michael’s, long the watering hole for major publishing executives with access to major expense accounts. We even chatted with founder Michael McCarty about his Santa Monica outpost, mutual friends, and chef/alumna Nancy Silverton, who has a celebrated Umbrian home near our planned Italian destination. And Michael's served an authentic Manhattan, with Michter’s rye, up, topped with a perfect Luxardo cherry, not one of those Defcon-red maraschino travesties that pretenders use. 

Now, for the real cherry. The esteemed Pachter reliably tosses a few conversational grenades, deeply appreciated during a conference keynote like the Next TV Summit. But his Netflix antipathies, while well known, aren’t his alone. The share price has jumped 60% in the past year, and lots of people still suspect the company is floating ever upward on a Ponzi scheme of other companies’ content, endless price hikes, inattentive subscribers, and incompetent competitors. Morningstar rates Netflix two stars (out of five), because the analyst’s “fair value” estimate of $500 a share is nearly $200 less than Netflix’s late Friday price. Basically, Morningstar believes the market is wildly overvaluing the company, again, given the revenue it generates and its “narrow” economic moat. Then again, the second half of season 4 of Emily in Paris, with its sophisticated buy-what-you-see product placements, just debuted, so let the cash rain down like the strip joint Scores on Saturday night. 

We should dive into those competitors, though. Warner Bros. Discovery shares jumped almost 20% this week (to a still tiny $8.45 apiece) after settling Charter carriage negotiations months early.

Also read: Charter Reaches Distribution Deal With Warner Bros. Discovery That Gives Subscribers Streaming Service Max

CEO David Zaslav also told an investor conference that the company will add 6 million subscribers this quarter, thanks to its global streaming rollout. The Charter arrangement resembles last year’s Disney deal, and likely protects WBD's flank from future painful cuts it can’t really afford right now. The real fight, though, comes in several months, when grandmaster chess player Brian Roberts whacks WBD cable channels that no longer have the NBA rights package that Comcast just swiped. That’s gonna be fun. 

FRANKEL: So Brian Roberts gets to cut Zaslav's rate after poaching the NBA. That's rich. I know we were out and about up until our bedtime in NYC Tuesday, but did you happen to catch the debate? Drew a M*A*S*H-finale-esque 67 million viewers ... across all platforms, according to Nielsen. And I gotta say, it was the biggest beatdown I've witnessed since some of those early Tyson fights. Don't know how anyone -- MAGA or otherwise -- can objectively look at this and not see a whooping, regardless of your conspiratorial view on the Vice President's alleged Bluetooth earrings. And I thought ABC did a credible job of not letting anybody lie. I mean, that ridiculous "They're eating the dogs!" declaration could go down in infamy with Nixon's flop sweat in 1960 and George Bush Sr. checking his watch in '92.

BLOOM: As a former long-time political reporter, I’m always intrigued by debate post-game spin parties, which start before the on-air performance wraps up, and play out for days afterward. Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post led the way in complaining about the ABC moderators, who actually fact-checked Der Trump’s wilder conspiracy theories/internet fever dreams. I mean, whoever expected a journalism organization to do that, especially one in ABC that absolutely dominates ratings for all the network newscasts and all the 24-hour news channels, including the sort-of journalism organization that paid out $787 million for Making Stuff Up about the Orange One's election conspiracy theories/fever dreams.

But as always, remember that what we, and hundreds of millions of others, think matters little in this debate, and election. It will be decided by a thin slice of a couple of million people in seven battleground states who still can’t make up their minds. I think most of those goofballs are still waiting in line at the Golden Corral, hemming and hawing between the chicken and the pork chops. They're likely to miss the election altogether. I mean, the choices! Makes me want to get to the bottom of this Manhattan. 

The other intriguing question is whether the fact-checking causes problems for Disney entertainment exec Dana Walden, seen as the leader to succeed Bob Iger, with whom she is close and with whom she reportedly watched the debate. Walden oversees Disney’s TV operations, including ABC News. She’s also been a close friend of Kamala Harris for three decades. Thank goodness Walden made so much money for Murdoch when she ran TV at Fox, otherwise we’d be hearing a lot more about this. 

FRANKEL: While we were downing frilly cocktails and blathering on about the election, it appears DirecTV and Disney have settled their big program licensing kerfuffle. 

Also read: Disney, DirecTV Reach Agreement To End Blackout

DirecTV is claiming it got the demands it sought: The ability to create genre-based programming packages around "sports" and "kids," as well as the wherewithal to package the DTC "ESPN Flagship" when it comes out next year. A source close to DirecTV told me this week that operator has around 11 million subscribers left across its multiple linear and streaming platforms -- that's about 3.5 million fewer than when it left AT&T's womb in the summer of 2021. DirecTV CMO Vince Torres told investors this week that the company will "claw back" some of the customers it lost amid the Disney blackout over the past few weeks. I don't see how. 

BLOOM: How dare they do business on a weekend while we're off enjoying ourselves! I, personally, am outraged. But between this week’s DTV/DIS and CHTR/WBD contracts (and previous Charter deals), we’re seeing TV’s increasingly integrated future. Charter is the more committed video vendor among broadband service providers formerly known as cable companies. The result of its collection of carriage deals over the past year means it can bundle $60 a month worth of top streaming services alongside traditional packages of linear networks. That’s consumer value! Less churn for ad-supported streaming services! More revenue for stumbling media companies in transition! It might even stay some cord-cutters’ scissors. So, after you pick up a jar of Luxardo cherries, go do a video deal with your wireless carrier, also Charter. Then sit back, drink a proper Manhattan, and watch UCLA get smoked by yet another Big 10 non-power as part of college football realignment. That’s enjoyment, my friend. 

FRANKEL: After you hopped the Atlantic to snap iPhone photos like this one from Milan, my more parochial lifestyle choices placed me on the 40-yard-line Saturday for the Big Ten opener between UCLA and Indiana. In the 1980s, the Rose Bowl was the scene of UCLA's most historic upsets under the innovative offensive mind of coach Terry Donahue, with one Big Ten program after another -- from Mike White's stellar 1983 Illinois team to Hayden Fry's dominant '85 Iowa Hawkeyes -- showing up and getting smoked by the upstart Bruins on New Year's Day.

Even as a lifelong USC wonk, I took no pleasure Saturday in watching Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke carve up the helpless Bruin secondary. The once-proud UCLA program looks as forlorn as the erstwhile "Conference of Champions," which just added the middling likes of Fresno State, Colorado State, Boise State and San Diego State to replace all that it lost -- Big Ten defectors USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington; Stanford and California, now in the ACC; and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, which now all play in the Big 12. UCLA administrators seem unsure as to whether to commit themselves to a far less academically rigorous future for NIL-driven college football and basketball, hiring a rookie head coach (former star running back DeShaun Foster) to shepherd the talent-bereft program into its first season of Big 10 play. With former head coach Chip Kelly waiting until February to abandon the team, and many solid players from last season checking out via the transfer portal, UCLA is a shadow of its former self. It was embarrassing to know the program was showcased on national television Saturday.

Also read: Pac-12 ADs Spurn Apple Subscription Streaming Deal, Tragically Dismantle the 108-Year-Old 'Conference of Champions'

So much change is happening so fast to college sports. Just seeing the Big Ten logo festooned ubiquitously in the Rose Bowl for a regular season game was a shock to the system. I'm trying real hard to accept all of this and move on. 

Speaking of which, British video tech company Synamedia a few weeks back sent me a review unit for a new streaming dongle that uses a cloud-based scheme, much like the ActiveVideo cloud tech that Charter used last decade to try to extend the life of old cable TV set-tops. Retailing for around $10, Synamedia's Senza uses a small HDMI puck that doesn't actually store any streaming apps -- the software processing is all done in the cloud. We haven't gotten around to test-driving the gadget yet, but we did notice that the remote doesn't seem to include "pause" or "skip" functions. 

DirecTV and The Walt Disney Co. said they have come to a carriage agreement in principle, ending a blackout that kept subscribers from watching ESPN and other Disney-owned channels as the football season began.

After a two-week negotiating impasse, DirecTV agreed to continue to carry all of Disney’s entertainment, sports and news programming.  The channels are being restored immediately as the two sides finalize and sign a deal.

The satellite TV company said it gained the opportunity to offer multiple genre-specific options to consumers, including sports, entertainment and kids and family packages that include linear Disney networks, as well as its streaming services, Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus.

Those streaming services will be included in select DirecTV packages.

DirecTV also has the right to distribute the ESPN flagship streaming service at no additional cost to DirecTV customers when it is available.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, DirecTV and Disney are giving customers the ability to tailor their video experience through more flexible options,“ the companies said in a statement. “DirecTV and Disney have a long-standing history of connecting consumers to the best entertainment, and this agreement furthers that commitment by recognizing both the tremendous value of Disney’s content and the evolving preferences of DirecTV’s customers. 

“We’d like to thank all affected viewers for their patience and are pleased to restore Disney’s entire portfolio of networks in time for college football and the Emmy Awards this weekend,” the statement said.

During the blackout, DirecTV subscribers were deprived of the start of Monday Night Football and some college football games. There was also a dispute over carriage of the ABC News debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, although ABC made that event available to other networks.

Earlier this week, Charter Communications reached a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery that would give Charter’s Spectrum TV customers WBD’s streaming services, including Max, as part of their pay TV packages.

Charter has signed similar deals with Disney, TelevisaUnivision, Paramount Global and AMC Networks.

DirecTV Chief Marketing Officer Vince Torres told investors Thursday that the pay TV company is indeed losing "not an immaterial amount of customers" amid a program licensing dispute with Disney, which has seen ABC, ESPN and other Disney networks blacked out on DirecTV platforms since Sept. 1. 

Torres did, however, express confidence that DirecTV can "claw back" these subscriber losses over time. 

“The way we look at it is a short-term and long-term perspective," Torres said at a Goldman Sachs investor event. "In the short term, we were offering a very rich credit to customers that are impacted, and that may never be enough for someone who is annoyed that that they can’t watch their college football game over the weekend." 

The credit Torres referred to was the $30 DirecTV is offering customers to sign up for other MVPDs, virtual and otherwise, while it sorts out its beef with Disney. 

Will these customers really come back?

Back in July 2021, just before it spun DirecTV off in a deal with private equity, AT&T said that its pay TV company had 15.412 million remaining subscribers. The was the last time that subscriber numbers were publicly reported for DirecTV. 

A source close to the company told me Thursday that the company has around 11 million subscribers dispersed across DirecTV satellite TV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse. 

So a pay TV company that has averaged around 1.5 million lost customers a year can expect to re-acquire what it loses in this carriage war? 

Tough to imagine. 

DirecTV Stream and DirecTV via Internet subscribers will finally have access to customized user profiles, the pay TV operator said Wednesday.

After adding a new profile, users will gain access to a customizable TV experience, including the ability to bookmark their favorite shows and sports teams, on-demand purchases and receive customized homepage carousel recommendations.

Also Read: DirecTV Complains to the FCC: Disney Demand That It Drop All Legal Beefs Is 'Bad Faith' Negotiating

In addition to the primary account, users can make four additional profiles which (unlike the primary profile) can be changed or deleted at any time.

The new function was first teased back in June, when DirecTV said it would introduce user profiles “by the end of 2024.”

User profiles have been standard equipment in steaming for a decade, but DirecTV has finally caught up.

“The growing fragmentation of content across multiple apps and video services means it is increasingly more difficult for customers, especially with multiple at-home users, to find the shows and games they want,” said Devin Merrill, senior VP for product marketing for DirecTV, in a statement. 

User profiles, he added, "declutters the experience by providing users in the same household who stream DIRECTV with a personalized view of the entertainment or sports content they love all in one place.”

A new report by Antenna revealed that consumers are increasingly gravitating towards specialized streaming services.

According to the research company, nearly a third of SVOD customers transacted with a specialty SVOD platform by the end of the second quarter.

Specialty SVOD services include AMC+, MGM+, PBS Kids, PBS Documentaries, PBS Masterpiece, Puireflix, Sundance Now, Crunchyroll, BET+, BBC Select and many more.

Antenna found that 58% of sign-ups to those niche services were generated through Amazon Prime Video Channels, the digital store that allows customers to shop for individual titles as well as purchase new streaming subscriptions.

While other distributors, including Apple, have recently gained some footholds in the market, Amazon continues to dominate new specialty SVOD sign-ups.

According to Antenna, 30.8 million (56%) of Amazon Prime Video subscribers who have used Prime Video Channels have at some point subscribed to a specialty SVOD.

iTunes, which trails Amazon in terms of converted customers, is the only other distributor to see more than 10 million users try specialty SVOD.

That’s likely due to how easy Amazon has made it for specialty SVODs, who traditionally rely more heavily on third party distributors to secure viewership, to be discovered and purchased by new customers.

In return, Prime Video Channels saw 3.1 million specialty SVOD subscription adds, year-over-year.

That’s significantly better than the 2.6 million collective additions earned by all of Amazon’s competitors.

And despite Amazon’s higher rate of specialty SVOD additions, the churn profile on Amazon Channels is similar to that of other distributors, with a 7.7% churn rate at the end of Q2.

Though churn continues to be a problem for specialty SVOD, viewers who subscribe through Amazon’s Channels are just as likely to retain their membership.

The data shows that, compared to its streaming competitors, Prime Video excels at steering customers towards its specialty streaming partners and keeping them there.

And that’s notable, considering the growth of specialty SVOD has, in recent years, begun to outpace the growth of premium SVOD, admittedly off a smaller customer base.

In 2022, there were 24 million gross subscriber additions to SVOD platforms, followed by 32.3 million in 2023 and now 18.4 million in the first half of 2024.

According to Antenna, it’s because consumers increasingly crave a broader set of streaming options as they continue to cut the cord to traditional TV.

“As the largest premium streamers focus on profitability, they are deploying ‘fewer, bigger’ programming strategies which focus on shows that appeal to the masses,” wrote Antenna’s co-founder, Jonathan Carson. “This leaves an opening for specialty players who have a tight focus on a specific genre or audience.”

According to Antenna, the greatest challenge for specialty SVOD services will be to create committed customers, which the analytics firm suggests would be best achieved through bundling.

Antenna’s data shows that currently, two thirds of specialty SVOD subscribers have just one niche service, while only 19% have subscribed to two services, 8% have subscribed to three services and 6% have subscribed to more than four niche platforms.

AT&T announced on Monday wholesale agreements with four commercial open-access fiber broadband providers.

The deals, which will involve AT&T’s existing Gigapower JV with investing firm BlackRock, is intended to help the company grow its fiber network offerings.

The announcement comes as fellow wireless providers race to expand their own fiber networks — Verizon Communications spent $20 billion to acquire pure-play fiber provider Frontier Communications last Thursday, while T-Mobile inked a deal to buy a 50% stake in the fiber operator Lumos in April.

Also Read: Dumb in Dallas? AT&T Keeps Pushing a ‘Convergence’ Advantage It Simply Does Not Have

AT&T will now begin construction on several expansion projects in Texas, Florida and Minnesota with its new partners: Boldyn Networks, Digital Infrastructure Group, Prime Fiber and Uniquity.

“Each company AT&T is working with was selected because they provide opportunities to expand AT&T Fiber distribution to new service areas without existing fiber options,” the company wrote in its release. “As these providers add fiber locations, AT&T will evaluate where it wants to offer AT&T Fiber.”

AT&T didn’t specify the scale of its initial projects, but said it is on track to pass its goal of 30 million locations with fiber by the end of 2025.

Currently, the telecommunications giant serves more than 8.8 million fiber customers and passes 28 million total consumer and business fiber locations, according to a press release.

“In new service areas, Gigapower is ramping well,” AT&T CEO John Stankey said in a statement. “We’re targeting additional geographies for growth with the joint venture and other commercial open-access agreements. Customers tell us they want a high-performance wireless and broadband experience from a single provider, and AT&T is best positioned to serve this growing need.”

AT&T and BlackRock have so far announced plans to build in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas.

Capping a busy first week of public messaging since its pay TV carriage battle started with Disney, DirecTV took the fight to the FCC, filing a "good faith negotiating complaint" against the media conglomerate. 

DirecTV claims that at the 11th hour of negotiations, Disney threw a curveball, demanding it to drop any litigation related to the launch of the Disney/Fox/Warner joint venture Venu Sports.

Also read: Disney and ESPN Treat Us All Terribly, and It's a Problem

“Along with these anticompetitive demands, Disney has also insisted that DirecTV agree to a ‘clean slate’ provision and a covenant not to sue, both of which are intended to prevent DirecTV from taking legal action regarding Disney’s anticompetitive demands, which would include filing good faith complaints at the Commission. Not three months ago, however, the Media Bureau made clear that such a demand itself constitutes bad faith," DirecTV said in its FCC filing. 

Disney responded with this statement: “We continue to negotiate with DirecTV to restore access to our content as quickly as possible. We urge DirecTV to stop creating diversions and instead prioritize their customers by finalizing a deal that would allow their subscribers to watch our strong upcoming lineup of sports, news and entertainment programming, starting with the return of Monday Night Football.”

Disney channels including ESPN and ABC went dark on the nation's third largest pay TV distributor on Sept. 1. DirecTV has cast the negotiations as a referendum on pay TV's future, demanding that Disney move away from forced network bundling and capitulate to letting skinny bundles of genre-based networks happen.

For their part, it was exactly this kind of bundle that Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery were planning with Venu Sports, before an antitrust suit filed by Fubo -- and backed by DirecTV -- resulted in Venu receiving a preliminary injunction. 

Each weekend, writers Daniel Frankel and David Bloom engage in an SMS exchange focused on the global technology, media and telecom zeitgeist. This weekly Next Text column will have a new platform home in October. You can also find it on LinkedIn. 

DAVID BLOOM: Yo, D to the F! Getting psyched for our (almost) Broadway debut? I sure am bubbling over like a cheerleader on crack. Technically, the Next TV Summit on Tuesday will be held three blocks from Broadway, on Madison Avenue and 45th, so call it Off Broadway. But we country bumpkin Angeleno boys are lucky to just find the Big Apple on a map without wondering why it isn’t in an orchard. That said, the Summit will mark the New York stage debut of what I enthusiastically call Next Text Live!, with real human panelists forced to answer penetrating, rapid-fire questions from both (or each) of us about many aspects of this crazy streaming-media business. If we can make it there, we can make it anywhere. 

For this weekend’s non-live Next Text, I thought I’d preview topics I’ll be tossing at Summit panels, beginning with the future of bundles. While separately granting Fubo's temporary injunction blocking Venu’s launch last month, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garrett lobbed a brain grenade into the pillbox where battered media companies have holed up. Basically, she said, media companies’ decades-long insistence that cable companies and other distributors take (and show) all of their crappy channels just to get the good ones sure looks like it trashes the “illegal tying” portion of the Clayton antitrust act. Judge Garrett wrote (and I gave this passage special visual treatment because it's a possible Very Big Deal):

Ouch! This also has implications for Disney’s fraught fight with DirecTV that so understandably enraged you in last week’s NT. DirecTV says it wants to offer more limited bundles with only some Disney networks, especially themed around sports. Disney executives deny they’re opposed to such radical thinking, but we’re also not seeing a deal here, a day after the first NFL regular-season game, normally the witching hour when distributors fold, grant big fee hikes, and sign a deal that looks pretty much like what the media company wants. So, methinks Disney heiress apparent Dana Walden doth protest too much. 

LightShed’s Rich Greenfield suggested it was time the media companies consider blowing up their own bundles. That would be a huge move, given how wildly lucrative the all-or-nothing bundle has been for so long. Then again, as the judge suggests, the industry’s approach has been wildly anti-consumer (and anti-distributor, too). Now that the classic cable bundle is collapsing anyway (it’s barely half of U.S. households and falling fast), maybe we should scrap the collapsing mess  — this is weird, I know — and give consumers what they want? Is it time to allow specialized bundles for sports (and from more than just the self-serving Venu), as well as more entertainment, or more news, or even BYO bundles? 

DANIEL FRANKEL: Sensing it has the upper hand in public perception, DirecTV has been on quite the charm campaign this week, sending plaintive letters to collegiate athletic conferences, while offering credits to customers so they can switch to virtual MVPD rival Fubo to watch blacked-out football games. (Although, having it leak that you're hiking prices again amid a carriage war probably negates a lot of charm.) It's all one big performative much of a muchness after a while. My truth is, it might be worth it to sign up for Venu Sports and never have to deal with this bullsh** again. Maybe it's the post-COVID brain fog, but everything feels like a rehash today. Oasis, a band that was popular the last time the scale still led with a "1" when I stepped on it, is back at No. 1 on the U.K. music chart. I can’t find it — I’ll keep looking — but an interesting piece was aggregated by Drudge Report earlier this week about how our fixation with nostalgia is crowding out emerging art. Resonated. 

BLOOM: In an ocean of content, the stuff that people have heard of is the stuff that attracts an outsized portion of views/listens/engagement. In the coming AI-dominated era, that Power Law will only accelerate, a lot. MoffettNathanson just issued a 10,000-word (Part 1!) analysis of AI impacts on the game business, a useful analog for what’s happening in film and TV too. 

The analysis says small, expert teams will make high-quality games far more quickly and cheaply. Inexperienced teams will spew out lots more crap. Big publishers such as Take-Two and EA, with big franchises that take many years and tens of millions of dollars to produce, probably will be the big winners. They’ll save a bunch of time and money with powerful new AI art- and code-production tools, and get an outsized audience for the result. Established franchises such as the next Grand Theft Auto are likely to be even more popular, as players gravitate toward mega-titles amid all the options. You’ll feel even more like you’re living in a movie. 

FRANKEL: I'm the founding editor of a platform that's about to be "reformatted" into a "curated," perhaps AI-driven offering, as our parent company “evolves to focus on high-impact initiatives.”  Similar to the calculus more than a few game coders are rolling through their heads these days, I suspect, it's prolly time for me to move on from news. There are lots of ways to while away the last 8-10 years of a writing and editing career, although the boys at DirecTV wished me well upon my “retirement” recently (disturbing s***, if you're not ready for it). I'll move on. But man, we have no idea what we've lost already. The other day, I reached out to the prep editor of at my local paper, a guy I worked under on a sports desk 30 years ago. My kid’s former high school baseball coach, who is a lunatic, is facing yet another abuse investigation, started by current players and their families. My stoic son is in college now, but not too long ago I used to hear the bath come on at 3 in the morning as he dealt with the stress of playing on that high school team. Certainty freaks you out? I'm 100% sure there’s a story here. And besides, the guy is under an official investigation. For at least the second time. It's a chance to maybe stop a problem educator who is a proven danger to the psychological well-being of 14-18-year-old boys. It’s not even a hard story to research and write. ”So-and-so is under investigation. Here's what for. He's been investigated before. Parents say he's bad. He says he's done nothing wrong. The end.“ But my former boss seems to be running out the clock and could seemingly care less about actual acts of community journalism. He offers to kick it to his stringer, who writes for the local weekly paper in the school's neighborhood ... but the stringer has effectively served as a mouthpiece for the head coach for years. He can tweet out the score of the game, and that’s about it. In short, the last of us are not the best of us ... and it’s easy to justify replacing them with AI, I suppose. In any event, this local story about a teacher facing serious accusations from students and their families, which should be written about, will probably remain buried. No one, including the computers, wants to tell it. So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the breakdown of local journalism, in microcosm form. I got done with my very unsatisfying email exchange with the reporter and saw this tweet from David Simon:

BLOOM: Is this your way of telling me you’re quitting journalism to become a TV showrunner penning twisty tales dissecting the competing power bases in a very specific community, a la Simon’s The Wire, Treme and The Deuce? Are you unveiling a five-season story arc about L.A.’s gritty West Adams neighborhood, where gentrifying white hipsters live in uneasy proximity to striving Central American immigrant clans and long-time black residents unhappy about all the newcomers? Will occasional gang warfare erupt between Crenshaw Crips and MS-13 soldiers over drug territories? Would two gifted young baseball players, one white, one Latino, be invited to join a travel team based out of nearby Beverly Hills, bankrolled by celebrity parents and run by a tyrannical and abusive coach? Because, like, you could totally do that. Granted, the story lines might be a little more complicated and dark than the last movie about baseball-playing Los Angeles kids, but that’s premium TV for you: 

As inspiration for your career shift, watch the just-released Alex Gibney two-part documentary about another hugely influential HBO producer, David Chase, and his twisty tale dissecting the power base of a very specific community in New Jersey, The Sopranos. You'll get a sense of the show’s unlikely creation and transformative, out-of-the-blue success. You’ll feel the gut punch of watching screen tests by various (no doubt quite fine) actors essaying the Tony Soprano role before James Gandolfini absolutely frickin’ nails it to the wall. Gibney even recreates Dr. Malfi’s therapy office set to interview a cagey and reluctantly cooperative Chase. My elevator pitch above shows how easy this stuff is, right? 

As for the survival, or not, of journalism and the republic, I can counsel only hope and optimism in the face of all grim facts. It’s what we have left. More fuel for your gloom, though: Yuval Noah Harari — whose sweeping history of the human species, Sapiens, has sold 25 million copies — has a new book out, about the possible AI-fueled apocalypse. AI is, by my count, at least the third human-created thing that could end us, after nuclear weapons and severe climate change. In a review for The Atlantic, Northwestern history professor Daniel Immerwahr begins by mentioning the destructive results of another notable human creation, the printing press (for instance, tens of millions of people probably died in the Reformation’s religious wars after Gutenberg did his thang; AI-driven surveillance states will take it to a new level). Now, 7% of all U.S. journalists work for one publication, The New York Times, while the nation’s roster of newspapers is down by a third, and journalism jobs by two-thirds in less than two decades. Harari points out AI’s potential sapiens-ending fork in the road, though he soft-pedals who’s responsible: the mega-cap corporations collectively spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build, and dominate, the technology. 

Perhaps, Immerwahr modestly suggests, “Taking AI seriously might mean directly confronting the companies developing it. Activists worried about the concentration of economic power speak — with specifics — about antitrust legislation, tighter regulation, transparency, data autonomy and alternative platforms. Perhaps large corporations should be broken up, as AT&T was.” Meanwhile, one of those mega-cap AI builders, Google, agreed to a $250 million deal with the state of California that will support journalism in the state over the next five years. The paltry contribution (parent company Alphabet reported $307 BILLION in 2023 revenues, up 13% from 2022) hardly makes up for the devastation to newsroom economics that Google has wrought over the past two decades. And the deal helps Google avoid an even more expensive proposed law that would have required direct compensation. But hey, here’s the good news: the $250 million includes $70 million for AI programs in newsrooms, no doubt enabled by Google’s Gemini AI. That should work out great for newsrooms, and the republic. So listen, whatever you do in your transition to an AI-fueled TV producer/writer future, make sure you get a theme song for your show that’s as butt-kicking as Alabama 3’s Woke Up This Morning. 

With the U.S. pay TV business collectively shedding another 1.62 million customers in the second quarter, a trend seems to have emerged.

The industry's biggest remaining growth engine, YouTube TV, has become a seasonal business, expanding when the NFL season is in full swing, and retreating amid other parts of the calendar year. 

The latest MoffettNathanson quarterly Cord-Cutting Monitor report illustrates this seasonality, estimating that Google's virtual MVPD only added 50,000 subscribers in the second quarter, after for the first time ever losing customers in a quarter — an estimated 150,000 of them — back in January through March. 

This all comes after YouTube TV — freshly infused at the time with new rights to NFL Sunday Ticket — added an estimated 1 million customers in the fourth quarter of last year. (Note these figures are all MoffettNathanson estimates; Google/Alphabet rarely breaks out YouTube TV data in quarterly earnings reports.)

With Hulu Plus Live TV and Fubo also reporting customer declines in Q2, analyst Craig Moffett noted the seasonality of the vMPVD business. 

“The first quarter sees the largest number of disconnects — reflecting the end of the NFL season — and those customers generally don’t return until Q3, when the season resumes,” Moffett wrote. “That leaves the second quarter stranded in the middle, with little or no bounce back from the Q1 losses. (Recall also that the Olympics were a third-quarter event as well.) All of which is a long-winded way of saying that we’ll have to wait until Q3 to gauge the growth of the vMVPD segment.“

For rivals of DirecTV, it could be robust. DirecTV stream added around 86,000 customers in the second quarter, Moffett estimates, with DirecTV phasing out satellite and marketing its all-IP platform heavily. 

However, with ABC and ESPN currently blacked out on DirecTV because of a fee dispute with Disney, DirecTV customers are undoubtedly seeking refuge in platforms including YouTube TV to find their NFL and college football access. 

For its part, Dish’s vMVPD, Sling TV, is being understandably opportunistic on the marketing end. We received this email come-on on Tuesday:

Verizon Communications said it agreed to acquire Frontier Communications in an all-cash deal valued at $20 billion.

Frontier is a pure-play fiber internet provider. It has spent $4.1 billion over the past four years to upgrade and expand its fiber network. 

The acquisition expands Verizon’s fiber footprint by adding Frontier’s 2.2 million fiber subscribers in 25 states to Verizon’s 7.4 million Fios connections in nine states and Washington, D.C. 

“Connectivity is essential in nearly every part of our lives and work, and no one delivers better than Verizon,” Verizon chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg said. 

“Verizon offers more choice, flexibility and value, and we continuously look for ways to provide the best product and network experience to our customers as we bolster our position as the provider of choice.” Vestberg said. “The acquisition of Frontier is a strategic fit. It will build on Verizon’s two decades of leadership at the forefront of fiber and is an opportunity to become more competitive in more markets throughout the United States, enhancing our ability to deliver premium offerings to millions more customers across a combined fiber network.”

Verizon will pay $38.50 per share in cash for each Frontier share. Frontier shares rose 38% to close at $38.68 on Wednesday, when media reports about the deal started to circulate.

The Verizon and Frontier boards unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in about 18 months.

“Less than four years ago, we set out an ambitious plan to Build Gigabit America, the digital infrastructure this country needs to thrive for generations to come,” Frontier president and CEO Nick Jeffery said. “Today’s announcement is recognition of our progress building a best-in-class fiber network and delivering reliable, high-speed broadband to millions of customers across the country. It’s also a vote of confidence for the future of fiber. I am confident that this delivers a significant and certain cash premium to Frontier’s shareholders, while creating exciting new opportunities for our employees and expanding access to reliable connectivity for more Americans.” 

The percentage of consumers who say they use one or more subscription streaming service belonging to a friend or family member has declined slightly across most major platforms, a series of consumer surveys conducted by Hub Entertainment Research shows.

As this graphic reveals, the small downward trend began in the second quarter of last year, right around the time that Netflix initiated its big global crackdown of password-sharers here in the U.S. 

Venturing into seemingly dangerous terrain, Hub claims that, "Viewers who use others’ passwords are more likely to be younger, non-white and have kids."

The research company also said that password sharers tend to be TV lovers. 

"It’s a mistake to assume people who use another’s SVOD password do it because they are reluctant to pay for TV," Hub added. "When it comes to paid subscriptions, more than 4 in 10 of this segment pay for a hefty 6 or more TV services. And among MVPD and vMVPD subscribers, the password sharers are also much heavier users of premium cable channels. In fact, they are heavier users of nearly all sources of TV, both paid and free, compared to those who do not share passwords."

After suffering its worst ever cord-cutting quarter ever at the beginning of the year, the pay-TV sector lost another 1.629 million subscribers from April through June, a slight dip from the 1.732 million lost in the comparable period of 2023, according to figures compiled by equity research company MoffettNathanson.

U.S. cable took the greatest hit, losing 1.03 million subscribers in the quarter.

The full pay-TV industry ended Q2 with 68.76 million subscribers, down 6.9% from 73.83 million last year.

And when virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) aren’t factored into the equation, that rate of decline rises even higher, to 12.6% year-over-year.

“This marks the tenth consecutive quarter of double-digit declines,” wrote analysts Craig Moffett. “It is becoming increasingly clear that there is no longer any floor.”

Though the industry shed fewer customers during Q2 2024 than it did in the year-ago quarter, losses for the first six months of 2024 have already reached a “mind boggling” 4 million.

There is good news — vMVPDs added 490,000 subscribers in Q2, a notable increase from the year-ago loss of 6,000 customers.

While some had hopes that live TV streaming services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and Fubo would offset the losses from traditional cable TV subscriptions, Moffett also raises concerns about the seasonality of many vMVPDs.

“The first quarter sees the largest number of disconnects -- reflecting the end of the NFL season,” he wrote. “And those customers generally don’t return until Q3, when the season resumes. That leaves the second quarter stranded in the middle, with little or no bounce back from the Q1 losses.”

AMC Networks and Charter Communications said they reached an early agreement on a new distribution deal that will provide the AMC Plus streaming service to Charter’s Spectrum TV customers at no additional cost.

With more original and premium programming moving to direct-to-consumer streaming, Charter has been seeking to include those services in the agreements it signs with programmers. It has reached deals including streaming services with The Walt Disney Co., Paramount Global and TelevisaUnivision.

The deals provide the streaming services with additional potential viewership, which is particularly important to their ad-supported businesses.

Disney networks are currently blacked out on DirecTV. The companies are haggling over whether distributors like DirecTV will be able to offer smaller, lower-cost programming packages, including a sports-focused product.

“This agreement with AMC Networks supports our goal of enhancing the value and variety of premium entertainment content available to our customers,” Charter executive VP of programming acquisition Tom Montemagno said.

“The addition of AMC Plus at no extra cost for our TV Select customers builds on our new distribution framework, which this year alone has included the addition of Paramount Plus Essential, ViX Premium with Ads, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus,” Montemagno said. “We appreciate AMC Networks’ partnership in reaching a distribution agreement that benefits our mutual customers and helps transform the video industry.” 

Financial terms were not disclosed, but with the number of pay TV subscribers falling, traditional distribution revenue has been declining for programmers.

In addition to AMC Plus, Spectrum Video customers will continue to get AMC Networks including AMC Network, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV, IFC and WE tv.

AMC Plus provides same-day access to all original AMC series and full access to AMC’s Shudder, Sundance Now and IFC Films Unlimited subscription streaming services.

“This early, multiyear agreement between Charter and AMC Networks ensures Spectrum TV customers will continue to have access to our high-quality original programming however they prefer to watch it, including through the ad-supported version of AMC Plus,” AMC Networks chief commercial officer Kim Kelleher said. “Charter has been a long-time partner, and this agreement reflects our strong and mutually beneficial relationship and commitment to viewers.” 

Speaking to equity analysts on the first business day back after ABC, ESPN and other Disney channels suddenly went dark on his platform over the Labor Day holiday weekend, DirecTV CFO Ray Carpenter said the pay TV company will battle the media conglomerate "as long as it needs to" to secure fundamental changes in the way networks are licensed and distributed. 

“This dispute is not a run-of-the-mill dispute," Carpenter said. "This is not the kind of dispute where we’re haggling over percentage points on a rate. This is really about changing the model in a way that gives everyone confidence that this industry can survive."

Also read: Disney and ESPN Treat Us All Terribly, and It's a Problem

Just as Charter Communications a year ago drew a line in the sand, demanding that Disney give its pay TV customers access to the SVOD platforms to which the media company was diverting much of its best content, DirecTV wants to distribute what Carpenter calls "skinny, genre-based" bundles of channels. 

DirecTV has released data suggesting that the pay TV audience is somewhat segmented and niche, with less than 40% of users regularly tuning into live sports, and less than 40% of the audience regularly watching pure entertainment channels. "News" and "kids" represent other niche segments. 

Also read: DirecTV Programming Chief: The Venu Sports Guys 'Got Caught With Their Hands in The Cookie Jar in a Big Way'

Disney, along with other media conglomerates, has long resisted this distribution scheme. But the company opened Pandora's Box when it formed a joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery to distribute just its linear sports channels ... in a $43-a-month package, branded Venu Sports, that could best be described as a skinny, genre-based bundle. 

The launch of that product has been delayed, with a DirecTV-backed antitrust suit filed by rival pay TV company Fubo successfully obtaining a preliminary injunction against the JV. 

Now that Disney is negotiating in a dystopian pay TV world it created, Carpenter stressed that the blackout -- which started less than half an hour before the kickoff of the USC-vs.-LSU game on ABC Sunday -- could drag on for a while.

Oh, and he said that it was Disney's decision to pull its channels. 

"We were asking to keep the signal up, and that’s usually the case when we run into these situations," Carpenter said. "And unfortunately, Disney was not willing to entertain that. In fact, the timing of when they decided to pull the content was absolutely orchestrated to put the most pain and disruption on our customers."

Bango, the subscription technology provider that facilitates bundling for streaming companies, announced Monday a strategic agreement with Disney.

The company plans to expand its Digital Vending Machine (DVM) by adding Disney Plus to its host of partners.

Through the agreement, Disney Plus will be available in select markets to sell directly attached to mobile phone and broadband plans, as well as with other DVM partners including Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Also Read: Groundhog Day: Just Like Last Year, Disney Pay TV Blackout Imperils Football's Opening Weekend for Millions of Viewers

“After just two years, Bango's DVM now has almost 100 connected partners, including Netflix, Amazon Prime and Xbox Game Pass,” said a Bango rep via email. “The Bango DVM enables mobile operators to offer Disney Plus to their customers through promotional and a la carte offers in subscription hubs where multiple subscriptions can be paid for and managed all in one place.”

According to a press release, Bango “takes care of all technical aspects” when creating and managing subscription offers for its clients.

It’s not the first time Disney has engaged in bundling, with its Hulu and Max package that launched earlier this summer. But until now the company hasn’t tried expanding its reach through this method of indirect bundling.

A representative for Bango pointed out that this “marks a significant strategic shift [for Disney], unlocking previously untapped channels, and facilitating direct relationships with telcos and other reseller partners with ease.”

“Disney Plus is already a top entertainment choice for consumers worldwide and making the service available through Bango will provide more opportunities to reach new customers and further expand its already impressive membership base,” wrote Bango’s CMO, Anil Malhotra in a press release. “As indirect subscriptions continue to grow, Bango ensures a seamless and quick solution for market-leading products and services.”

Bango currently has agreements with several large providers including Amazon, Google, Netflix, Optus, T-Mobile and Microsoft.

Each weekend, Daniel Frankel and David Bloom conduct an SMS chat about the latest happenings in technology, media and telecom. Our weekly Next Text column will have a new platform home on October 6 -- stay tuned for more information. You can also find it on LinkedIn. 

DANIEL FRANKEL: Well, David, it's kickoff weekend for college and pro football. That means blackouts -- the pay TV world times many of its program licensing deals to end at this fateful moment on the calendar, when consumers will be more likely to notice because they suddenly can't watch their favorite team. 

Also read: Groundhog Day -- Just Like Last Year, Disney Pay TV Blackout Imperils Football's Opening Weekend for Millions of Viewers

Writing from my Friday morning vantage point, I see the following: On Sunday, Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC, could go dark in around 11 million ABC homes, taking down a huge intersectional matchup between USC and LSU, not to mention a Monday Night Football game featuring Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets facing the Super Bowl runner-up San Francisco 49ers. 

Also read: Comcast Customers Lose Big Ten Network Access to Pac-12 Refugees

Then there's a regional blackout of the Fox-co-owned Big Ten Network -- Comcast Xfinity customers don't have access to the four teams fleeing the Pac-12 for the Big Ten: USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. That will impact the openers for Oregon and Washington. It's ritual for the pay TV guys now. They do it for almost every major negotiation. But it's part of the reason why that business is fading. Consumers are sick of it. 

DAVID BLOOM: Like the swallows to San Juan Capistrano, the blackouts alight in the eaves of the fading cable industry every year at this time. You can pretty much set your clock to the blooming of the “Call (insert video provider name here) now!” websites. I’m less interested in these annual performative business jousts than I am a couple of other sports-TV related issues. One is the decision by Amazon to pull back its $115 million investment in Diamond Sports, promised last winter and now apparently no longer on the table. I always thought Amazon just wanted a peek at the books for these intensely local TV deals with the NHL, MLB and NBA. Now, Amazon has that $1.8 billion NBA deal (barring some three-quarter-court shot hitting in the Warner Bros. Discovery lawsuit), and Diamond looks like it’s actually going to have a functioning business next year. How crazy is that? 

Also of note: ESPN is launching a daily, sortable schedule of pretty much all the live sports streams available from more than 250 services across the internet. It’s insanely smart for ESPN to do this, perhaps a first step toward being the pivot point for all TV sports in the future. It wouldn’t shock me to see this move another step forward with ESPN offering easy add-on subscription access to those smaller channels for its customers, much like Amazon’s Channels, which reportedly generate a few billion dollars a year. Who needs Venu Sports when you’ve got this? 

FRANKEL: Yes, we were among the first to cover Amazon's pullback from Bally Sports. Amazon got what it wanted directly from the NBA, and through a sublicense deal with Rodgers in Canada for the NHL, and it walked away from Diamond Sports Group. Smart. What we didn't cover was The Trade Desk launching into the TVOS business -- Janko Roetgers and his Lowpass newsletter got there first. That seems like such a natural play for these big advanced advertising platform companies. Also, USC's hype videos ahead of football season notoriously induce cringe, but this one is an exceptional masterpiece. Didn't the producers know that the Trojans weren't in the horse and that they were the once who got fooled?

BLOOM:  I agree that it’s not a big lift for a tech-infused powerhouse such as The Trade Desk, which is booming right now. What I don’t understand is where an interface like that lands among all the TV hardware and software platforms out there. Is it competing with Goog-droid TV, Roku, the OEMs and whatever is left of Fire TV’s ecosystem? Is it just a virtual thing that aggregates viewership and channels online and attracts viewership there and keeps all of the vig, rather than just a share? Is it licensing to generic OEMs out of China, India and Turkey? Help me understand why this will be big for the Big Desk, and perhaps media companies with content libraries for rent. 

FRANKEL: I think you said it -- why share the vig with Roku, Amazon, Google or Samsung? Speaking of "all the vig," YES Network and Madison Square Garden have teamed up to combine all their contracted local teams into one $42-a-month streaming service. That's one destination, the Gotham Sports App, for the Yankees, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Devils, Islanders and Sabres. That's not cheap vs. a regional sports network ... but it definitely beats having to subscribe to two RSNs. Now, granted, Big Applers don't get the Mets ... and their current 19% odds of making the MLB postseason. But this seems like an enticing proposition for sports fans. 

BLOOM: Tying up most New York teams in a single TV package was smart, given the shifting sands beneath local sportscasting. I’m less excited about that premium price. It makes this service strictly for hard-core fans. No drive-by looky-loos, no building fan bases, just raking off revenues from the already converted.  And just as Venu (at almost exactly the same price) features barely half the national sports broadcasts, this offering is riddled with holes bigger than just the Mets. There’s no non-New York anything, for a price that almost certainly will rise quickly. 

Bloomberg Businessweek just profiled Chad Milman, the former ESPN the Magazine editor who founded The Action Network, a site with relentlessly practical information about sports gambling. Action features no flights of Grantland Rice-esque prose, just what bets to make, on what game. The story's bigger point is Milman’s journey is also that of sports, sports TV and sports journalism. Increasingly, they all exist mostly to deliver gamblers to gambling sites, rather than just, say, selling pizza, pickups and beer to sports fans so they can watch their favorite team. 

FRANKEL: I received a note over the weekend that DirecTV and Disney are going to stay in negotiations. Seems likely that they'll play through the weekend and not black out any football games on ESPN and ABC. Separately, this Penske showbiz trade story out of the Venice Film Festival is interesting. Experimental filmmaker Harmony Korine says Hollywood is "crumbling creatively" with its insistence not to innovate the (stale?) motion picture format. I read this just after a Korean producer scouted my duplex as a location for a new "show" being produced specifically for TikTok. I think we talked about the latter a month back or so. The foundations of video entertainment could look very different in a decade. Watching Netflix could be as big of an age marker as checking your Facebook. (I included a trailer here from Korine's Aggro Dr1ft, which is filmed in infrared. 

BLOOM: This is exactly why Netflix has spent considerable sums getting into video games, live/immersive experiences, and interactive titles such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Company investor letters can be astoundingly smug, but Netflix execs are refreshingly willing to throw all kinds of initiatives against the wall to find ones sticky enough to engage their customers. The traditional studios? Not so much. 

Does that mean Netflix will escape the granny trap snapping at Facebook, the Hollywood media companies, and major record labels? Maybe not, though given the demographics of their most loyal customers, I like their chances better than most of their competition. TikTok is indeed compelling competition, should it manage not to get banned. I consider TikTok a bigger problem for musicians trying to build long-term careers. Budding singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine had a TikTok-fueled explosion around 2022’s Five Seconds Flat. Now that she’s Older, McAlpine is purposely avoiding TikTok to promote new album Ceilings. She may not be the only one. 

Meanwhile, there’s lots of talk that Warner Bros. Discovery should consider selling chunks of itself to fix its ugly finances. One option: spin out part or all of Warner Bros. Games for a few billion very useful dollars. But as LightShed Partners' Rich Greenfield suggested to Puck this week, the best chance to do that was before this year’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Business Insider estimated the title lost $200 million, a flop on the scale of The Flash, which David Zaslav touted as the greatest superhero film ever before it became DC’s greatest film flop ever. TikTok, meanwhile, has millions of 15-second flops every day, but it’s not like you or any of its 1 billion users will ever see them.  

FRANKEL: Well, surprise, surprise, Less than 30 minutes before the USC-vs.-LSU game on ABC, I got emails from DirecTV and Disney letting me know Disney channels have been pulled off DirecTV pay TV services. This was a big event -- it drew 9.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen, even without the third largest pay TV platform in America. My son was down from Santa Barbara to watch the game with me. We even ordered Wingstop. Wingstop! How American were we? Thankfully, the five-day YouTube TV free trial was available, so I'm not out much skin, save for the extra ranch dipping sauce Reece had me buy. But jeezus, this kind of anti-consumerist stupidity happens every year ... usually involving Disney. Two seasons ago, I only had Sling TV, and Disney went to blackout with Dish Network right before a USC game against Arizona State. 

Also read: The Mother of All Pay TV Blackouts? ESPN Takedown on Dish and Sling TV Stirs Football Fan Revolt

Last year, Disney was blacked out by Charter right before college football's big Thursday-night opener on ESPN. These kinds of high-intensity live viewing events make natural points of focus in a business negotiation, but it's just awful for consumers. If you like pro and/or college football, there's not much you can do. Bob Iger has you by the short hairs. But we can stop playing both sides and blaming this on the operators 50-50. I'm told by a DirecTV source that Disney wanted them to drop all future litigation. Who would be dumb enough to sign onto that?

Now, if Disney wants us to split blame with a pay TV company that recently and shiftlessly sold a $140 satellite TV package to my dementia-impaired 80-year-old mother-in-law, be my guest. But Walt's prestige brand should be better than this. Speaking of prestige brands, as sports fans, we have all grown fond of ESPN's wit and cleverness: The mascot comedy; the smarty-pants SportsCenter anchors; the 24-7 shared enthusiasm for sports. Disney created an almost Teflon brand, immune to the responsibility of its priciness and dominant TV rights control. From college football to the NBA, ESPN is the gatekeeper of everything. But if you're going to treat me this way -- s*** on me after I look forward all week to consuming your product -- I might find other things to do on a Saturday night than watch football. Seriously. I am offended by the way this all went down. They could have waited until after Monday Night Football was over to do this. Show a little respect. 

For a second consecutive season, a major college football opener has been blacked out in millions of pay TV homes amid a huge program licensing impasse.

Just minutes before the kickoff of Sunday's game between USC and LSU, DirecTV announced that ABC, ESPN and other Disney channels have been removed from the program guides of its nearly 11 million pay TV subscribers. 

Both sides had been negotiating a new master channel licensing deal down to the wire, with the current agreement expiring Sunday.

According to a DirecTV source, Disney made a last-minute demand that the operator drop all future legal action against the media conglomerate. Currently, DirecTV is involved in Fubo's antitrust suit against Venu Sports, resulting in the Disney's joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery being hit with a preliminary injuntion. 

“The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system,” said Rob Thun, chief content officer at DirecTV, in the operator's official statement. “Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world where we believe you earn your way and must answer for your own actions. They want to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers – making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.”

Responded Disney: "DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the US Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season. While we’re open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we’ve extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs. We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve. We urge DirecTV to do what’s in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming."

Disney and Charter Communications had a fraught negotiation a year ago, which resulted in ESPN being blacked out minutes before a Thursday-night opening -season game between Florida and Utah.

In 2022, Disney was blacked out on Dish Network, resulting in Dish and Sling TV subscribers missing out out on September games. 

Amazon quietly rebranded its Freevee live FAST channels as "Amazon Prime Video Channels" on its Fire TV OS platform earlier this week, igniting rumors that the Amazon might end the Freevee brand for good soon. 

AFTV News was the first to report the change, which seemingly rolled out Wednesday on Amazon’s Fire TV smart TV's and streaming gadgets.

We reached out to Amazon to confirm this speculation, but a company representative wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Also Read: Freevee Adds 31 NBCU Fast Channels

The news comes after a February report published by AdWeek indicated that Amazon was planning to sunset the FAST brand. Amazon denied the report. Amazon converted its entire Prime Video streaming kingdom to partial ad support back in January. Streaming pundits have noted the redundancy of Freevee following this shift. 

If Amazon decides that it no longer needs a standalone FAST service, the on-demand content on Freevee would likely live as a free tier of Prime Video.

Amazon would hardly be the first company to consolidate its streaming offerings, after Disney announced plans earlier this week to jettison multiple on-demand apps for channels like ABC, Freeform and FX in an effort to push customers towards Disney Plus.

Warner Bros. Discovery also announced earlier that month that it would be shutting down its kids’ streaming service Boomerang, and transition its content to Max.

It’s likely a move to cut down on the redundant back-end costs generated by hosting a number of small apps, as streaming services struggle to turn a profit and shut down viewer churn.

Currently, all of Freevee’s channels are already available to access within the Amazon Prime Video app.

Great American Family said it is launching a premium tier of its Pure Flix faith-and-family-focused streaming service.

Pure Flix Premium costs $14.99 a month or $149 a year. 

Subscribers will get more content and access to talent in the form of live-streamed red-carpet events and question-and-answer sessions with the stars of Great American programming and the company’s senior execs including founder and CEO Bill Abbott.

“In the entertainment industry, only a few brands truly stand out,“ Abbott said. “Pure Flix is already recognized as the go-to destination for faith and family-friendly streaming content in a marketplace that is rarely family-focused. We’re excited to offer our members Pure Flix Premium, fostering an even more vibrant, like-minded community that inspires us to fulfill our mission to create uplifting and inspiring programming,”

Examples of what Pure Flix Premium subscribers will have access to include: 

• August 30, Bill Abbott joins Mr. Manhattan and Get Him Back for Christmas stars, Carlos PenaVega and Alexa PenaVega
• September 5, original series County Rescue star Julia Reilly joins Abbott in a conversation about the Season 2 renewal of the series, the co-stars, and what fans can expect when the series returns in early 2025
• September 25, film and television actress, Danica McKellar, star of Swing Into Romance, joins fans at a live virtual screening party for the premiere of the film on Pure Flix and hosts a Q&A following the movie
• October 11, actress, director, and 2024 Movieguide Epiphany Award Winner, Shari Rigby (Divine Influencer) hosts a discussion for fans on Women in Faith & Entertainment in a live virtual screening
• October 14, exclusive God’s Not Dead: Extended Cut
• November 11, actor and daytime soap series star Cameron Mathison hosts a live virtual screening for the premiere of his original Christmas movie, A Kindhearted Christmas, followed by a Q&A
• November 15, actor Jesse Hutch joins Abbott in a pre-taped zoom conversation about the making of the soon to be holiday classic, A Little Women’s Christmas
• November 21, food and baking influencer, Emily Hutchinson hosts a pre-taped zoom conversation on food & God in time for Thanksgiving.

Great American merged with Pure Flix last year in a deal with Sony that left Sony as a minority owner.

Great American Media also announced that its holiday franchise Great American Christmas will return for its fourth year before Halloween on October 17.

Between its Great American Family and Pure Flix channels, the company said Great American Christmas will feature more original Christmas content than ever before–and more than any other media company.

The films feature familiar faces such as Mario Lopez, Candace Cameron Bure and Danica McKellar.

Great American Media will host its inaugural Great American Family Christmas Festival at The Northwell Park at UBS Arena in New York from November 20 to January 5.

The event culminates with Great American Family’s live coverage of the 138th Tournament of Roses Parade.

“Great American Christmas has quickly become a highly valued holiday tradition" said Abbott.

“Our early success is owed to our incredible family of talent and a commitment to storytelling that embodies the true spirit of Christmas—the holiday as it’s meant to be celebrated. Stories about love, faith, hope, and joy set us apart from others simply making movies in holiday settings,” he said. “The extraordinary number of high-quality, original faith and family premieres this holiday season elevates Great American Christmas to a leadership position in the holiday space.”

The pay TV ecosystem has dodged, at least for the moment, the launch of Venu Sports. But let's see it stop this very formidable-seeming competitive threat. 

Almost every major New York-area professional sports team's local telecast will be available via a new direct-to-consumer streaming app launching this fall from Yes Network and MSG Networks, under the joint venture the pair formed earlier this year, “Gotham Advanced Media & Entertainment” (GAME). 

Games not nationally televised for the New York Yankees, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and Brooklyn Nets will be available in a service that's being billed as “the exclusive TV Everywhere and DTC streaming home of MSG+ and the YES App.” 

The combined offering delivers some decent savings vs. subscribing to just the individual apps, as the graphic below reveals. It will also be free to subscribers to the linear YES and MSG Networks. 

The Gotham Sports App can be downloaded by visiting www.Signup.GothamSports.com. It's supported by Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, iOS and Android TV and most web browsers. 

“With the increased fragmentation of outlets carrying fan favorite sports programming, the Gotham Sports App allows fans of our teams one easy access point for New York area sporting events from MSG Networks and the YES Network,” Andrea Greenberg, president and CEO of MSG Networks, said in a statement. 

On the evening of August 31, 2023, millions of viewers sat down to watch a competitive nationally televised opener to the college football season on ESPN, featuring defending Pac-12 champion Utah upsetting Florida. 

To the surprise of many of Charter Communications' 14.7 million pay TV customers, a blackout of ESPN, along with ABC O&Os and 24 other Disney cable networks, would begin that evening, depriving them of access to the game ... and ultimately changing the way pay TV program licensing negotiations are handled. 

It's definitely no coincidence, given the way these things are intentionally timed, but Disney is on a very similar football-disrupting path with DirecTV that very well could deprive around 11 million DirecTV viewers access to football-laden ESPN and ABC, as well as other Disney channels starting Sept. 1. 

A source close the negotiation told me the primetime ESPN matchup on Saturday between No. 7 Notre Dame and 20th-ranked Texas A&M will finish before the negotiating deadline and will be unaffected. 

But if hot blackout action does break out, Sunday's game between No. 13 LSU and 23rd-ranked USC, set to be simulcast on ESPN and ABC, wouldn't be available on DirecTV satellite, DirecTV Stream or U-Verse TV. (ESPN has a full rundown of the nearly 30 college games being presented on ESPN this weekend.)

And just like last year, when Charter customers were deprived of seeing Aaron Rodgers' ultimately short-lived debut as a New York Jet on Monday Night Football, DirecTV users could miss out on Rodgers return to the NFL field Monday night when the Jets take on the Super Bowl runner-up San Francisco 49ers. 

The negotiations between DirecTV and Disney come after the latter's joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, Venu Sports, was hit with a preliminary injunction. Virtual pay TV operator Fubo, with affidavit assistance from DirecTV, successfully argued that the JV is anti-competitive, because it gave itself flexible program distribution terms -- such as the ability to create genre-based bundles -- that pay TV operators have long sought and been rebuffed over. 

Also read: DirecTV Programming Chief: The Venu Sports Guys 'Got Caught With Their Hands in The Cookie Jar in a Big Way'

In a declaration made last week, DirecTV programming chief Rob Thun said he'll be looking for those kind of flexible network licensing terms when he negotiates with each of the Venu partners over the next 12 months. 

Disney’s president of platform distribution, Justin Connolly, told the Penske showbiz trades, “I think, or I know, that they are trying to spin and push this narrative that they want to explore more flexible, skinnier bundles, and that we refuse to engage on that, and bottom line: That is blatantly false, and we’ve been negotiating with them for weeks, and we proposed a variety of flexible options … but yet they haven’t engaged with us on the options." 

The Anaheim Ducks will broadcast their games locally in Southern California on Fox-owned KCOP Los Angeles, leaving the Bally Sports regional sports network, and its bankrupt operator, Diamond Sports Group, with just eight remaining NHL clubs under contract. 

“We want to thank Diamond Sports Group and Bally Sports, and the personnel who have been incredible partners over the last 25 years who brought Ducks hockey to our region and fans," the Ducks said in a statement Tuesday. 

The Ducks have agreed to air 65 games on KCOP. The team's games will also stream on A Parent Media's new direct-to-consumer app, Victory Plus. 

“We are so pleased to announce that fans in our entire television market, via stream or traditional television (cable or over-the-air) will see locally broadcast games free of charge,” said Ducks President Aaron Teats in a statement. “It is a significant organizational priority to connect Ducks fans with our entire market and for every fan in our region to have the opportunity to watch Ducks games without cost across multiple, accessible platforms."

Also read: Bally Sports Meltdown Accelerates: NHL’s Dallas Stars Set To Follow Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers Out of the RSN

The Ducks join the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars, who also fled Bally Sports earlier this summer to set up hybrid broadcast/DTC arrangements for the 2024-25 NHL season. 

Late last week, Diamond forged an agreement with the NHL and NBA to lower rights fees and continue carrying games locally for a handful of remaining teams. It was reported at the time that the Ducks were among those squads. 

Diamond is expected to exit Chapter 11 in the fall. 

Just last Tuesday, Netflix said that it closed the second year of its upfront with ad sales commitments up as high as 150% year-over-year.

But according to a report published Monday by Digiday, despite its progress, the streaming service’s position in the advertising market is still fraught with “underlying challenges … from competition to limited scale.”

Netflix, which recently discontinued its cheapest ad-free tier in order to push customers towards its advertising business, has historically pursued ads with a relatively conservative strategy.

Also Read: Netflix Says It Closed Upfront With 150% Increase in Sales

Until now, the platform has maintained high costs for its ads -- $65 cost per thousand impressions (CPM), compared to $45.11 CPM for competitor Disney Plus. Netflix has also limited the number of ads shown on its service and made those ads opt-in, rather than the default.

That’s compared to competitors like Amazon Prime Video, which quickly garnered the largest number of ad-supported viewers among all major U.S. streaming providers in January, by converting more than 85% of its subscriber-base to an ad-supported version.

Since then, Amazon has reported an expected OTT ad revenue of $4.72 billion this year, more than 11% of the corporate giant’s total ad revenue.

But Netflix has begun to catch on, and slashed its CPM prices from the initial $60 in 2022 to just $29, much closer to Amazon’s low $30s offering.

Even so, the streaming service’s 40 million monthly active ad-supported users cant’t yet match the marketing appeal of Amazon's 200 million users.

From the outside, it looks like Netflix is struggling to entice advertisers to its platform, all while maintaining viewer satisfaction for its global audience.

Compound that with fierce competition from streaming services like Prime Video, with larger ad-supported reach, or Hulu, which offers ads for just $23.62 CPM, and it puts Netflix in a tough situation to grow its ad business.

But the company might find some headway in the advertising economy by leveraging the remarkable impact of many of its titles.

Take, for example, the sixth season of fan-favorite dating series Love Is Blind, which spent four consecutive weeks on Nielsen’s weekly streaming top 10, and earned more than 6 billion minutes of watch time in the month of March.

“Streaming accounts for 40% of total TV time in the U.S. today, with Netflix and YouTube the clear leaders in direct to consumer entertainment,” said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in the company’s second quarterly earnings report. “So looking to the future, we believe our biggest opportunity is winning a larger share of the 80%+ of TV time that neither Netflix nor YouTube has today.”

Also Read: Netflix Solidly Beats Revenue Forecasts With 17% Growth in Q2, Adds More Than 8 Million Subscribers

However, Netflix still doesn’t have a firm handle on the tech to seamlessly integrated targeted ads during its broadcast

Just last week, Netflix announced partnerships with cloud data platform Snowflake, data broker LiveRamp and clean-room technology company InfoSum all in an effort to further grow its ad business.

Access to digital clean rooms, a relatively young privacy technology that allows advertisers to share data across platforms, would allow the streaming service to more closely monitor audience overlap and refine its ad tech, something Netflix needs if it wants to entice advertising partners.

Presumably, the partnerships will offer advertisers more tools and expand the ways in which they can reach their audiences.

Edgar Bronfman Jr. has dropped the curtain on a last-minute bid to buy Paramount Global.

Paramount Global, struggling under debt and pressure debt and shrinking profits from its cable television networks, had agreed to an $8 billion offer from Skydance Media led by David Ellison, son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison.

Skydance’s agreement with Paramount included a 45-day go-shop provision that enabled the Paramount board to consider superior bids for the company.

Bronfman emerged with a $4 billion bid that was sweetened to $6 billion. But just before the board’s deadline, Bronfman, who has used the proceeds from his family’s sale of Seagram to dabble in media, pulled out.

“Tonight, our bidding group informed the special committee that we will be exiting the go-shop process,” Bronfman said in a statement. “It was a privilege to have the opportunity to participate. We continue to believe that Paramount Global is an extraordinary company, with an unrivaled collection of marquee brands, assets and people.”

The withdrawal appears to clear the way for Skydance to consummate its acquisition of Paramount.

"Having thoroughly explored actionable opportunities for Paramount over nearly eight months, our Special Committee continues to believe that the transaction we have agreed with Skydance delivers immediate value and the potential for continued participation in value creation in a rapidly evolving industry landscape," Charles E. Phillips Jr., the chair of the special committed of independent directors charged with reviewing the offers.

Skydance had reportedly objected to the committee’s plan to extend the go-shop period to review Bronfman’s offer because Bronfman’s offer was not superior to the one made by Skydance.

Both offers included provisions for paying off Shari Redstone, the daughter of media mogul Sumner Redstone who assembled Paramount.  Ellison will pay $2.4 billion to acquire Nataional Amusements, the Redstone family holding company which owns 80% of the voting stock in Paramount.

Other holders of Paramount voting and non-voting stock have raised questions about the Skydance bid because it appears to favor Redstone above other shareholders.

Paramount reported a $5.4 billion loss in the second quarter that included a $6 billion writedown against the value of its portfolio of cable networks including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. Another struggling media company, Warner Bros. Discovery, took a $9 billion charge against the value of its linear networks as well.)

Cable networks have seen revenues decline as cord-cutting has reduced distribution and advertising revenue. Paramount reduced the losses at its streaming businesses to $26 million from $424 million in the second quarter of 2023.

Paramount’s current management announced that it aims to reduce costs by $500 million annually mainly by cutting its U.S.-based workforce by 15%.

For Skydance, closing the acquisition of Paramount is expected to take about a year because of clearing regulatory issues related to Paramount’s ownership of CBS and its local television station group.

Amazon has pulled back from a plan announced back in January to infuse $115 million in cash into bankrupt regional-sports-network operator Diamond Sports Group, Sports Business Journal reports. 

Last week, Diamond announced deals with the NBA and NHL to keep 13 and nine teams, respectively, from each league on its Bally Sports channels through the 2024-25 season. And after passing a major pay TV carriage hurdle with Comcast late last month, it appears Diamond now has what it needs to finally emerge from Chapter 11 restructuring, regardless of Amazon's decision. 

Also read: Everything You Need To Know About the Bally Sports Bankruptcy

Amazon declared its intention to invest in Diamond before it signed a $1.93 billion-per-season national TV contract with the NBA … and also prior to its signing a deal with Rogers Communications to sublicense Monday-night NHL games in Canada. 

Amazon had seen Bally Sports as an entry into both leagues. 

Meanwhile, Diamond's position with the NBA and NHL has also diminished. 

Going forward, the RSN will no longer have the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans in the fold, with both franchises refusing to take a haircut on their rights. Some NBA teams agreed to rights fee reductions of as much as 40% to keep Bally Sports and Diamond solvent.

Meanwhile, the NHL’s Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars have also recently fled their respective Bally Sports channels. 

There's trouble brewing for tier-2 cable operators.

A little over a week after downgrading Cable One for the second time this year, S&B Global revised WideOpenWest (WOW!) from “B” to “B-minus.”

“WOW! has limited liquidity and has exhausted its revolving credit facility,” the credit rating agency wrote in a note published late last week. 

“As of June 30, 2024, [WOW!] had about $21 million of cash on balance sheet but no availability under its $250 million revolving credit facility due December 2026,” S&P added. “It recorded nearly breakeven free operating cash flow (FOCF) during the second quarter of 2024, primarily due to a sizeable pull back in its expansion capex spend, which will hurt WOW!’s longer-term competitive positioning, in our view.”

The move followed another downgrade by S&P for WOW! from “B-plus” to “B” back in May.

Also in May, WOW! received a cash buyout offer from DigitalBridge Investments LLC and “various Crestview entities,” with the private-equity interests proposing to purchase all outstanding WOW! shares not already owned by Crestview for $4.80 a share. 

As Ted Hearn’s Policyband Substack noted Monday, WOW! CEO Teresa Elder hasn’t provided an update on the offer, saying only that a board committee is looking at it.

WOW!, which lost 4,700 broadband customers in the second quarter, isn't alone in its tier 2 struggles. 

On August 14, S&P downgraded Cable One from “stable” to “negative,” after the Phoenix-based cable operator lost 8,900 high-speed internet customers in Q2. 

“We believe Cable One's business prospects have deteriorated due to increasing competition from fiber-to-the home (FTTH) and fixed wireless access (FWA) providers,” S&P said. “As a result, we revised our downgrade threshold for the rating to 4x from 4.25x.”

With more marketers moving advertising dollars to streaming, BrightLine, a pioneer in interactive commercials, has produced a study to show that the new more immersive formats enabled by streaming produce positive results.

In a report outlining the study, BrightLine seeks to answer the question: “As platforms push remaining viewers toward streaming and advertisers follow, how can advertisers utilize streaming to stand out and break through?”

Spoiler alert: the answer at the end of the study is, “If you’re only going to choose one streaming ad format: choose interactive. A single impression of interactive media drives more impact than a single impression of a standard video spot.”

Brightline’s interactive ad formats have been adopted and adapted by media companies including The Walt Disney Co., NBCUniversal, Paramount Plus, Roku and Vizio.

BrightLine worked with MediaScience on the study, which was designed to compare single exposures to standard video ads with interactive video ads. The study also looked at what happens when standard ads are paired with interactive ads and how much multiple exposures to an interactive ad can move the needle.

A single exposure to an interactive ad led to brand recall scores that were 36% higher than a single exposure to a standard video ad, the study found. Aided recall got a smaller boost and message recall was about the same.

When viewers see both a standard commercial and an interactive video ad, unaided recall jumps 58%, aided recall increases 22% and message recall gains 47%.

A second exposure to the interactive video increases recall by double digits, the study found.

“When combined with standard video, the pairing adds an incremental impact and lifts memory recall even higher than either format individually,” the study concluded. “Similarly, two exposures to interactive media have an incremental impact, suggesting that the more you utilize interactive ads, the more that your brand will stay top of mind.”

The NBA has filed a motion to have Warner Bros. Discovery’s lawsuit against it dismissed, claiming the conglomerate's proposed rights package didn't match Amazon’s winning $1.8 billion bid in fundamental ways. 

According to the league’s motion filed in New York State Supreme Court, Warner’s Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) unit chose not to match NBCUniversal's $2.5 billion bid for largely linear TV rights, “which would enabled TBS to continue distributing games via its TNT linear cable network.”

Instead, the 28-page filing said, WBD and Turner targeted Amazon’s less-expensive “C package,” which required a company steeped in linear TV distribution to try to match a rights package designed around streaming. 

The NBA contends that WBD “made substantive revisions to eight of the Amazon offer’s 27 sections (including revisions to 22 different subsections), changed 11 defined terms that are collectively used roughly 100 separate times, struck nearly 300 words, and added over 270 new words, substantively altering the parties’ rights and obligations in the process.

“Even if TBS did have the right to match Amazon’s offer, it certainly did not have the right to fundamentally change the method of distribution required by Amazon’s offer, the NBA’s first ‘streaming national media rights deal,‘ ” the league said.

The NBA also said that WBD, which is $38 billion in debt, failed to match Amazon’s willingness to put the first three years of payments under the contract in an escrow account. 

Also, the league took issue with WBD’s credit rating, which currently stands below investment grade. 

WBD’s TNT Sports unit, has been a national linear TV home for the NBA for the past 17 seasons. However, the league just negotiated $76 billion worth of rights with Disney/ESPN, NBCUniversal and Amazon, leaving WBD bereft of NBA coverage after the 2024-25 season. 

WBD, however, sued the league, claiming it had incumbent’s rights to match any rival bid. 

Every Sunday -- almost, anyway --  Daniel Frankel and David Bloom look at the most exciting developments in technology, media and telecom. Our column will have a new home on Oct. 6. Stay tuned for more info.

DANIEL FRANKEL: Hello, David. Well, that seemed like a pretty successful convention for the Democrats this past week, with Candidate Harris' TV ratings soundly beating, across comparable four-day frames, the July RNC performance from a rival who takes audience size too seriously himself. 

Also read: Democrats Draw Bigger Crowd: DNC Averages Over 20 Million Viewers on First Night, Outpaces Last Month's RNC

In fact, Nielsen overnights suggested her viewership was 22% bigger than that drawn by former President's comparable Thursday-night speech last month. Of course, it's sampling in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina that matters. Nielsen's final numbers for both conventions are below:

DAVID BLOOM: Crowd sizes are indeed a, yes, “weird” thing to fixate on for a politician. It sets you up for some painfully pointed jokes on national TV that only further diminish public regard. Expect the vice president’s campaign to enjoy a hefty post-convention bump in polls. We’ll see if that sustains. It traditionally doesn’t, but Harris has had four days to sharply define herself in a high-profile and well-timed way after being thrust into the job just last month. Meanwhile,  the Trump campaign is still trying to get back on its feet after unaccountably not anticipating this new foe.  Just remember, we still have more than two months until Election Day. At least we won’t have Bobby Kennedy Jr.’s dead brain parasite to push around any more. We’ll see whether his departure makes any difference on those razor-thin swing-state margins, especially for Junior’s mostly low-propensity anti-vaxxer backers. And now, the horse race is real and truly joined. They’re off!

Speaking of shambolic horse races, this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that strategy is underway at Warner Bros. Discovery, which is looking for original “high-adrenaline” dramas for its TNT cable net, two years after killing off anything original there besides Charles Barkley and NBA games. Moderate investments like that can keep herds of Hollywood cash cows alive to be milked while streaming finally gets to a sustainable level. But getting to profitability also almost certainly means fewer streaming services and more arms dealers as traditional media companies make hard decisions. Any favorite dead TNT show you’d like to see revived or rebooted? I sort of have one: the martial-arts show Warrior. Originally on Cinemax and based on Bruce Lee’s writing and Justin Lin’s production. it's now called a Max Original and available on Netflix. Warrior is engrossing, gritty, and historically intriguing for its all-too-accurate portrayal of Gold Rush-era San Francisco and the era’s anti-Asian racism. Another smart take in that world would be a nice fit for a  post-NBA TNT.  

Also, I talked with John Harrison, EY Americas' media & entertainment growth lead. Harrison can’t talk specific companies, but as he put it, there’s “a template for profitability” as shown by the "industry leader,” which has 290 million subscribers, 25% EBITDA margins and lots of free cash flow. That’s a very nice business. Everyone Else, combined, has more subscribers and more revenue than said industry leader, but definitely not more profits. Everyone Else is figuring out a road back to profitability that includes not strip-mining their cable and broadcast outlets of any shows worth watching, while rationalizing streaming investments.

FRANKEL: (In my top-secret whispery voice): Oh, you're talking about Netflix, aren't you? I myself talked to DirecTV programming chief Rob Thun, who lined up we sock puppets this week via telephone and told us, right as he's about to march into a room to negotiate with Disney, about his new plan to revotionize pay TV licensing talks ... post Venu Sports.

Also read: DirecTV Programming Chief: The Venu Sports Guys 'Got Caught With Their Hands in The Cookie Jar in a Big Way'

Now, we talked about it last week ... but my talk with Thun made it pretty clear: The Venu Sports guys messed up. Their ill-conceived launch of a joint venture that undercut their pay TV partners resulted in a federal judge declaring their whole business model to be unfair. It's like all their leverage is gone now. They're not going to be able to turn away DirecTV, Fubo, Dish, etc. when they demand more flexibility and less forced bundling. 

BLOOM: This is what happens when Bob Iger, an executive known for his strategic prowess, instead chases the tactical win in a furious proxy battle against a smiling crocodile. That meant the co-conspirators announced Venu without a price, name or lead executive, without telling league partners, and apparently without working out the complicated legal and business implications floating just under the water’s surface right next to Smilin’ Norman Peltz himself. Disney share prices have since boomeranged down where they were before Peltz challenged Iger’s board nominees last winter. At least analysts like Friend of the Show, namely Michael Nathanson and his MoffettNathanson cohorts, asked in a recent research note if the latest earnings are “the start of a renaissance?”  You know, like Beyonce´ in 2022, with a musical quote from the sublime Donna Summer. So good indeed: 

Despite the latest share swoon, Nathanson, Robert Fishman and colleagues suggested Wall Street is overly focused on short-term hiccups  with Disney’s Parks, which is around  half the company’s revenues. The company is doubling its Parks investments to $60 billion, investing much like the tech giants sppending tens of billions of dollars on artificial intelligence infrastructure. That CapEx mightily impairs short-term profits but builds long-term market power. Same with Disney’s pivot to more sure-fire franchises (we can hope in a less extractive way this time), to deliver billion-dollar movie hits such as Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine. With more promising films headed to theaters this fall and beyond, "While we do not yet forecast a return to pre-COVID levels of profitability, we now can see upside to our Content Sales/Licensing forecasts in FY 2025 and beyond. And, most importantly, we believe that the Disney content flywheel is safe and will keep on turning," a MoffettNathanson note reads. 

FRANKEL: What do you make of Warner's decision to commit $8.5 billion to a Nevada film and TV production studio? This can't be good for Burbank and surrounding parts. 

BLOOM: I’m betting, given long experience covering public-private partnerships, that WBD’s out of-pocket costs are way below that $8.5 billion number you quote. The partnership involves a local university's new industry-training program, state production tax credits, likely give-backs on infrastructure buildout costs, and still more ways to limit Warner’s costs and risk. WBD is committing $500 million a year, a lot of money for a company with $38 billion in net debt, but a number that will mean a lot less in 15 years, given inflation. WBD already sold its “Ranch” facility in Burbank last year, on which the buyers will spend $500 million redeveloping with office space and 16 studios, while helping WBD unlock value in land it owned for decades. The Vegas deal feels of a piece with that. It’s also part of the far bigger and more unsolvable issue of runaway production that I literally have been writing about for 25 years. 

To me, the real question is whether any massive investment in physical production facilities makes sense, given the rise of AI-powered production tools, immersive video, virtual production, dirt-cheap high-res cameras, computational photography, cloud-based services, and global markets and distributors that care far less about Hollywood-hatched productions. Tyler Perry, who’s repeatedly proven he’s a lot smarter than most of Hollywood, probably had the right idea when he killed that $800 million Atlanta studio project in February after seeing OpenAI’s text-to-video service, Sora. I consulted ChatGPT, which is also owned by OpenAI, about Sora’s status, and here’s what it told me (ad agency copywriters couldn’t have done better, and, bonus!, it might even all be true): 

Back in May, top U.S. pay TV operator Charter Communications reached a broad-reaching carriage deal with Paramount Global that, in addition to the media conglomerate’s linear channels, also let the cable company deliver direct-to-consumer streaming platforms to its subscribers at no additional cost. 

On Thursday, Charter announced that the ad-supported iteration of Paramount's flagship streaming service, Paramount Plus Essentials, regularly priced at $5.99 a month, is now available to subscribers of its Spectrum TV Select and Mi Plan Latino packages at no additional cost. 

“This partnership not only enhances the viewing experience with access to top-rated original content and live sports, but it also creates new distribution opportunities for Paramount and is a significant step towards building a healthier video ecosystem that benefits both our customers and the industry as a whole," said Tom Montemagno, executive VP of programming acquisition for Charter, in a statement. 

Charter lost 393,000 pay TV customers in the second quarter, and it's questionable as to whether free Paramount Plus Essentials will spark momentum. 

Back in late July, Puck’s John Ourand reported that less than 10% of Spectrum TV users had signed up for the ad-supported iteration of Disney Plus, even though that SVOD had been available at no additional cost since January. 

More than 18% of U.S. broadband users now consume 1 terabyte or more of data each month, according to the latest quarterly report from OpenVault. 

The Hoboken, New Jersey-based broadband analytics software and service provider said that in the first quarter of 2023, 15.6% of the U.S. market achieved this 1 TB benchmark. 

The firm also said that 3.7% of the market uses 2 TB or more data, up year over year from 2.8%.

OpenVault found the fast, steady upward march of data usage kept on expanding in the second quarter, reaching an average consumption of 585.5 GB, up from 533.8 GB in the same period of 2023.

However, usage was down sequentially from 605.8 GB of average consumption in Q1. 

Also notable is the rate of growth for upstream data usage, which is now expanding faster than downstream consumption, OpenVault said.

Consumers are more likely than ever to watch video content through social media, rather than traditional TV or streaming options. And for its coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, NBCUniversal smartly realized this shift. 

Citing new data Maverix Research and Insight’s Media Identity Graph (MIDG) analysts Liz Huszarik and Alexia Raven found that social video accounted for 62.2% of watch time in 2024, compared to just 35.2% for SVODs.

That’s down from 43% for SVODs in 2022, and up from 54% for social video.

According to the research firm, recognizing these consumptions shifts and accounting for them is what made NBCUniversal’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics so successful.

During the Paris Olympic Games, NBC focused on engaging audiences through the use of platforms like TikTok, Youtube,  Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) in order to deliver real-time video content and meet what the researchers call “the modern demand for instant updates.”

Maverix said that NBC specifically targeted Gen Z and Millennials, who watch a collective average of 11.9 hours of video content each day.

They’re also far more likely to consume social media content than other age groups, with social video watch time among Millennials increasing 17% since 2022, and Gen Z showing 11% growth in the same period, all while SVOD viewing stayed flat, or even declined.

Another major part of NBC’s strategy focused on harnessing the fan appeal of Olympic athletes, in order to boost engagement for both NBC and the athletes.

The company highlighted Ilona Maher and Freddy Richard, who created exclusive behind-the-scenes content, as well as Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, and Noah Lyles, who took over NBC’s social media channels for a day to engage with fans.

Tiktok in particular was critical to NBC’s strategy, attempting to harness the massive year-over-year growth in watch time among Millennials (54%) and Gen Z (15%).

Currently, the official NBC Olympics Account has 4.3 million followers on TikTok and 2 million followers on Instagram.

According to Maverix, NBC’s use of social media demonstrated just how quickly the media landscape is shifting toward social video.

“This strategy isn’t only about capturing viewers; it’s packed with insights for brands and advertisers trying to navigate this new terrain,” wrote Huszarik and Raven. “As the media world keeps evolving, NBC's approach provides a solid blueprint for future live event coverage and content delivery that others can and should follow.”

Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans Tuesday to purchase and operate an $8.5 billion film studio in Nevada, contingent on the successful passing of a state tax credit.

The global media company said the commitment is part of a long-term collaboration with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Birtcher Development.

The 34-acre facility will be located at UNLV Harry Reid Research & Technology Park in Southeastern Las Vegas. It will feature full-service film and TV studios, and will be named “Warner Bros. Studio Nevada,” WBD said.

Also Read: Is Warner Bros. Discovery’s Financial Health Really ‘Better Than It Appears?’

Part of the planned partnership will include the Nevada Media and Technology Lab, a teaching facility that will provide opportunities for UNLV students to learn and work in the industry.

Warner Bros.’ commitment of roughly $500 million a year depends on the outcome of a proposal, initially introduced by Nevada Senator Roberta Lange during the 2023 legislative session. 

Lange unveiled the massive proposed expansion to the film tax credit program, with a $190 million proposed price tag. Under her new proposal, that number would go down to to $95 million annually over 17 years.

“Warner Bros. Studios Nevada represents a great opportunity to further expand our facilities to accommodate these productions,” Warner Bros. Studios chief operating officer Simon Robinson said in a statement. “We are confident it will be a win-win for the state of Nevada, the Las Vegas community and WBD as we look ahead to our next 100 years of exceptional storytelling.” 

It’s common for states and cities to offer similar subsidies, which are attractive to Hollywood studios as they struggle to maintain productivity amidst growing production costs.

In May, the Dallas City Council unanimously approved a request for designation as a “media production and development zone,” which would let the city offer sales and tax exemptions for projects involving media production.

The National Conference of State Legislatures has reported that at least 18 states have enacted measures to implement or expand film tax incentives since 2021.

NBCUniversal accumulated 2.8 million signups for Peacock during the recently completed Paris Summer Olympics, averaging 398,000 enlistments a day during the first week of the Games, a 5.6 times increase vs. the previous eight weeks, according to research company Antenna. 

The performance compares to the 3 million Peacock sign-ups measured by Antenna when the platform exclusively hosted an NFL AFC Wild Card playoff matchup in January between the eventual Super Bowl Champions Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins. 

Some of those customers ended up churning away quickly, with Peacock reporting a loss of around 500,000 subscribers in the second quarter. 

Also read: Peacock’s Wild Card Weekend Resulted in the Biggest ‘Measured Signup Moment’ Ever, Research Company Claims

Antenna also measured 3.4 million signups for Paramount Plus just before and during the Super Bowl in February. 

On average, Peacock has commanded 16% share of premium SVOD gross customer additions over the prior 12 months. In July 2024, Peacock drew 29% share of all gross additions in the category, Antenna said. 

Just two business days after a federal judge slapped a shocking preliminary injunction on the Venu Sports joint venture, questioning the basic ethics of traditional pay TV program licensing practices in the process, DirecTV's top programming executive, Rob Thun, has proposed some new rules for how deals are structured. 

In a memo sent to Next TV and other media outlets, headlined "Looking Toward a Brighter TV Future," Thun proposed that content owners create more flexible, "genre-based" packages -- such as bundles themed around sports and news -- that better appeal to consumers. 

He suggested that the major media conglomerates work with operators to create options for consumers with price points closer to direct-to-consumer streaming options. 

Thun also asked content companies to help DirecTV create "aggregated experiences" for consumers, combining live-linear and on-demand programming, rather than "numerous disjointed entry points while managing multiple individual subscriptions to those products."

Of course, this isn't the first time that Thun -- or other program executives for rival pay TV companies -- has proposed this kind of stuff. It's just that now, thanks to the massive miscalculation that is Venu Sports, the pay TV guys have the momentum. 

With DirecTV's deal with Disney up in September, and negotiations with the other Venu principals, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, set to occur in the next 12 months, Thun is level-setting expectations, striking while three of the biggest program network suppliers are on their heels. 

Certainly, in terms of leverage, Disney, Fox and WBD set themselves back mightily with Venu, a service that packaged the major linear sports channels from each conglomerate, but seemed not have intended to play by any of the rules long governing the principals' struggling pay TV partners. 

Venu's backers, after all, didn't require their JV to bundle minor entertainment channels. Or force minimum penetration levels of channels down its throat. 

Keenly aware of the disparity, virtual pay TV operator Fubo took the trio to court over antitrust concerns right after it was announced in February -- a move backed by DirecTV. As executives for the trio of media companies were gradually deposed, more and more issues arose that concerned the court. 

"They got caught with their hands in the cookie jar in a big way," Thun told Next TV. "The judge saw all the evidence, and it didn't really create a good picture for the venue partners."

In fact, in granting Fubo a preliminary injunction against the JV on Friday,  U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Garnett suggested that the way media companies like Disney, Fox and WBD bundle their channels is "bad for consumers." 

For his part, Thun said the internal disclosures in court of how Venu intended to do business "left a bad taste" his mouth. 

However, he said he's been pleased to see that Disney, Fox and WBD see an opportunity in a new kind of pay TV business that offers consumers far more choice. 

"The one thing we agree in is there is an ocean of opportunity," he said, 

If you can really judge the health of an election campaign based on relative crowd sizes, Presidential candidate Kamala Harris is off to a good start, with night 1 of the Democratic National Convention averaging 20.025 million viewers and 15.003 households, according to Nielsen.

Both benchmarks compared favorably to night 1 of the Republican National Convention on July 15, which averaged 18.130 viewers and 13.2 million households.

Kicking off live on  ABC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, PBS and other outlets, Monday nights DNC broadcast extended into the wee hours and culminated with what was effectively a goodbye speech for President Joseph Biden.

Night 1 of the DNC also compared favorably with the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which averaged 15.338 million viewers. (Nielsen has a fully ratings report on that viewership performance, as well as July's RNC TV ratings.

The RNC event culminated on July 18 with lengthy, rambling appearance by Republican nominee Donald Trump. It averaged 25.381 million viewers across networks. 

Ampere Analysis has quantified what we've long observed -- older seasons of Netflix series typically receive a huge catchup boost when new seasons drop. 

The British research company looked at Netflix's two massive 2023 ratings data drops, specifically examining older seasons of shows that had new episodes drop in the second half of 2023. 

On average, viewership for these shows increased by 86% in the second half of the year vs. the first half. 

French crime thriller Lupin had the biggest viewership bump, Ampere said, claiming 165 million viewing hours in H2 for seasons 1 and 2, following the Oct. 5 drop of season 3. In H1, those first two seasons of Lupin only generated 33 million viewing hours. 

For Netflix series that didn't have a fresh season drop in 2023, audience engagement dropped by 46% vs. 2022.

The phenomenon seems to apply mainly just to scripted series, with unscripted shows only receiving a 7% boost from the debut of new seasons.

“Although new releases draw the largest viewership for Netflix, continuing series also reignite interest in older content from existing and new fans," said Joe Hall, senior analyst at Ampere Analysis, in a statement. "With streaming business models increasingly focused on ad-supported tiers, viewing volumes are crucial for attracting advertisers and generating ad revenue. This makes returning series an attractive prospect to these companies, as they can help sustain engagement for older seasons long after release.”

Cox Communications has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that held the company liable for its’ subscribers' copyright infringement.

The Supreme Court’s review “is needed to restore a uniform, nationwide copyright damages regime,” the company said.

The case, which began in 2018 when Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music and other music giants sued Cox, aims to make it so internet service providers including Cox are accountable for piracy committed by their subscribers.

Also Read: Cox Moves to Overturn $1 Billion Music Suit 

The music companies argued that the privately held cable company “knowingly contributed to, and reaped substantial profits from massive copyright infringement committed by thousands of its subscribers.”

In 2019, a Virginia jury found Cox liable for a total of $1 billion in damages for its customers’ violations of over 10,000 music copyrights.

The Fourth Circuit of Appeals tossed the $1 billion in copyright damages against the company in February, ordering a new trial to determine damages.

However the court did find Cox liable for copyright infringement if it failed to terminate service for subscribers who pirate music.

The only way to avoid liability under the lower court decisions, according to Cox, would be terminate internet service for large groups of people, including public facilities like “coffee shops, hospitals and universities.”

“This ruling, should it stand, would force ISPs to terminate internet service to households or businesses based on unproven allegations of infringing activity,” Cox wrote in a statement. “The accounts that continued to rack up notices without termination were regional ISPs, universities, hotels, military housing, and other business accounts used by hundreds or thousands of individual users.”

Cox insists that it should not be liable for infringement at all, and warns that the decision might cause ISPs to increase surveillance on customers.

“This would result in a fundamental change to how ISPs must manage their networks,” wrote Cox. “Many may feel that the only way to avoid liability is to monitor the activity of their subscribers to ensure no one is engaging in potentially unlawful conduct.”

The company also stressed the potential impact to rural communities— many of whom lack access to an alternate internet offering, should they come under suspicion and have their service discontinued.

“At a time when the U.S. is spending billions of dollars to ensure that every American has access to the internet, the idea that homes could so easily lose that access goes against the goals of getting everyone connected,” wrote Cox. “Termination would leave a household with no viable access to the internet.”

Cox says that less than 1% of its subscribers were accused of music piracy during the period in question in the court trial.

Currently, the provider has approximately 6.5 million total residential and commercial customers.