Technology360

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, Nov. 4, 2017

A bit thin this week, but here is another collection of selected readings of interest from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  Have a good weekend.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/Next-Gen TV/HbbTV

• Retrans a key part of FCC’s ATSC 3.0 plan.  TVNewsCheck
• ATSC 3.0 decision draws some critics.  Broadcasting & Cable  …and…  Pay-TV, consumer groups slam ATSC 3.0 proposal.  TVTechnology

Cable/Satellite/Pay-TV/Cord-Cutting

• must read/hear  As cord-cutting accelerates, vMVPDs pick up the slack.  nScreenMedia  …and…  Video Nuze/nScreenMedia podcast: Are vMVPDs replacing pay TV?  nScreenMedia and VideoNuze

Digital Video/OTT/VOD

• Moonves: Cord cutting means increased revenue for CBS.  Broadcasting & Cable

Strategy/Management/Legal

• How the Guardian found 800,000 paying readers.  The Drum
• Injunction sought to stop sale of KCSM-TV.  Palo Alto Daily Post

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• WWJ’s automotive reporter: Five things I’ve learned about cars…and radio.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• The joy of finding truly local commercial radio.  Radio Survivor

Wireless/Broadband

• 5G might be your next home broadband service.  PCWorld

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, Sep. 24, 2017

The following selected links were posted to my @haarsager Twitter feed in the past week.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• Addressability is about to take a huge step forward.  AdExchanger
• AWARN Alliance blasts T-Mobile assertion that ATSC 3.0 emergency warning capabilities are inferior.  TVTechnology  …and…  AWARN strikes back at T-Mobile at FCC.  TVNewsCheck

Cable/MVPD/Pay-TV/Cord-Cutting

• Skinny TV could be the key to cord-cutting.  Rapid TV News
• Analyst: Pay-TV losses could soon accelerate to 5M a year.  FierceCable
• Why you should buy a TV antenna. Yes, really.  Yahoo! Finance
• Will cable’s digital efforts hit a wall?  MediaPost
• Can an entertainment-centric skinny bundle succeed?  Video Nuze
• must read  Big generational divide over pay-TV subscriptions.  Video Nuze

Digital Video/VoD/OTT

• PBS flexes its digital muscles with the Ken Burns documentary series, The Vietnam War.  Decider
• IBC 2017 reports:  No one path to OTT video business success.  nScreenMedia  …and…  Innovation is key as TV broadcasters move online.  nScreenMedia  …and…  Three ways OTT will reshape the TV market by 2027.  nScreenMedia
• Video Advertising Bureau: OTT complements, not replaces, pay-TV.  Rapid TV News

Journalism

• must read  The media have a probability problem.  FiveThirtyEight

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• Podcasts democratized radio. Now PRX wants to democratize podcasts.  Fast Company
• Radio’s streaming effort may be screwed.  Mark Ramsey Media part 1 and part 2
• Six lessons radio can learn from cable TV’s woes.  Jacobs Media Strategies

Repack/Incentive Auction/Spectrum

• Extreme weather brings uncertainty to broadcast TV signal shuffle.  Bloomberg BNA
• Incentive auction second priority filing window opens: What to know.  CommLawBlog  …and…  FCC opens second post-auction TV filing window.  Broadcasting & Cable
• FCC: First auction repack reports due Oct. 10.  Broadcasting & Cable

Television

• Why you should buy a TV antenna. Yes, really.  Yahoo! Finance
• must read  Most TV companies unprepared for advanced TV advertising.  Rapid TV News

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, Aug. 18, 2017

Rainy today, nice this weekend; so here, a little early, is your weekly compilation of selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• must read  Next-Generation TV expected to usher in new era of T-commerce.  Multichannel News

Cable/MVPD/Pay-TV/Cord-Cutting

• Cord cutting becoming pricier than keeping cable.  FierceCable
• Kagan: ‘Unprecedented’ annual decline as U.S. pay-TV loses nearly a million subs in 2nd quarter.  Rapid TV News  …and…  Cord cutting climbs to 976k users in Q2.  FierceCable  …and…  Skinny bundle gains help offset steep Q2 pay-TV video losses.  Video Nuze

Digital Video/OTT/VOD

• TV becomes go-to platform for the BBC iPlayer.  Rapid TV News
• OTT growth helped by connected TV.  MediaPost

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• must read  Lessons learned from “The Millennial Research Project.”  Jacobs Media Strategies
• must read  How to make local listeners care about your story.  NPR Training
• How public radio is using Amazon’s smart speakers.  Current

Strategy/Management/Business

• must read  Preparing to expand news, KCET refines model for digital content.  Current
• At the heart of impact measurement, listening to customers.  Stanford Social Innovation Review
• Nielsen boosts distributed video model by creating Facebook, YouTube and Hulu views.  Video Nuze

Television

• must read  The messy, confusing future of TV? It’s here.  New York Times
• Voice search, voice-first video search availability growing, usage not so much.  nScreenVideo
• The four big trends affecting the television industry today.  FierceCable

Weekend readings for #pubmedia

Here is this week’s compilation of links from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• must see  Opera TV and BBC HbbTV 2.0.1 live demonstration [video].  Vimeo
• must read  3.0 offers intriguing 4K delivery possibilities.  TVNewsCheck
• Association of smaller cable operators alleges broadcaster hypocrisy on ATSC 3.0.  TVTechnology
• Interview with Pat Butler: Next Cen TV enhances public television’s mission.  ATSC

Broadband/Wireless

• Microsoft’s misguided broadband plan endangers Americans.  The Hill  …and…  Rural groups challenge Microsoft’s spectrum push.
• Repealing net neutrality is easy.  Replacing it will be hard.  Wired
• DirecTV Now is quickly becoming pivotal to AT& T’s wireless business.  Video Nuze
• Verizon urges FCC to confirm states’ right to opt out of FirstNet.  FierceWireless

Digital Video/OTT/vMVPD/VOD

• OTT: The challenges of infrastructure.  TVTechnology
• DirecTV Now is quickly becoming pivotal to AT& T’s wireless business.  Video Nuze
• Analyst: vMVPDs are ‘shaping up to be a truly lousy business.  FierceCable
• vMVPD affiliate deals easier to execute, no less costly.  nScreenMedia

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• Radio executives, take heart – you could be working in TV.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• House bill would give radio stations some repack relief.  RadioWorld
• must read  SVOD adoption up to 64% of homes, with 29% streaming daily.  Video Nuze

Repack/Incentive Auction/Spectrum

• Senate bill would fully fund repack costs.  TVNewsCheck  …and…  House bill would give radio stations some repack relief.  RadioWorld
• Microsoft’s misguided broadband plan endangers Americans.  The Hill  …and…  Rural groups challenge Microsoft’s spectrum push.
• No magic formula for channel sharing amounts.  TVNewsCheck

Strategy/Management

• CPB convenes public TV leaders to help system innovate.  Current
• Verizon urges FCC to confirm states’ right to opt out of FirstNet.  FierceWireless

Television

• must read  Antenna TV plus broadband sweet spot for consumers.  nScreenMedia
• C3 viewership decline steepens; down double digits in Q2.  MediaPost

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, July 23, 2017

Here is the latest compilation of selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed. Lots of good stuff this week.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• Will free-to-air mobile video succeed with ATSC 3.0?  CSI
• Cooperation, compromise key to successful 3.0 transition.  TVNewsCheck
• Sinclair, Nexstar set 3.0 transition agreement.  TVNewsCheck

Broadband/Wireless

• End of net neutrality could affect broadcasters.  Radio Magazine
• Zero-rated data – is it good news for radio?  media.info

Digital Video/OTT/VOD

• Can the TV experience be fixed and compete with SVOD?  nScreenMedia
• Report: Majority of broadband households watching internet on the TV.  TVTechnology
• User experience is the new battleground for video providers.  Video Nuze
• Mobile devices to lift online video viewing by 20% in 2017.  Rapid TV News

Journalism

• must read  Local TV news fact sheet.  Pew Research Center

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• iHeartRadio’s podcasting SVP: Five podcasting predictions.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• Zero-rated data – is it good news for radio?  media.info

Repack/Spectrum/Incentive Auction

• Let’s hope reasonable FCC response to crash of its License Management System extends to repack deadline.  TVNewsCheck
• must read  NAB objects to Microsoft [unlicensed] spectrum request.  TVNewsCheck
• What’s next for TV stations repacked as a result of the incentive auction.  Broadcast Law Blog

Strategy/Management/Business

• must read  How nonprofits can drive healthy growth using social return on investment.  Stanford Social Innovation Review
• FCC deregulation threatens local broadcasting.  Tom Wheeler in Brookings
• Bezos: Six ways traditional media can save itself.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• must read  Two essays on mobile strategy:  Creation and consumption.  Benedict Evans  …and…  Content isn’t king.  Benedict Evans

Television

• must read  Iowa PTV’s Bill Hayes has a thoughtful non-tech article asking, “What are we going to do with TV?” going forward.  TVTechnology  …and…  also read an article that inspired it, “TV: An Interim Summing-Up,” from 1950.  Saturday Review of Literature reproduced at UNZ.org
• Diginets should be safe in 3.0 transition.  TVNewsCheck  …and…  Optimistic outlook on multicast prospects.  TVNewsCheck  …and…  Economics of a diginet channel.  TVNewsCheck  …and…  Pay-for-play is growing diginet strategy.  TVNewsCheck  …and…  Classic TV diginets make the old new again.  TVNewsCheck
• must read Can the TV experience be fixed and compete with SVOD?  nScreenMedia
• Nielsen’s Q1 2017 Total Audience Report.  nScreenMedia  …and…  Nielsen

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, July 15, 2017

Here is another collection of selected links from my @haarsager  Twitter feed posted in the past week.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• 21st century broadcasting, part 2 – the consumer [video interview].  nScreenMedia  …and…  here is part 1 posted last week  …and…  Keynote with NAB CTO Sam Matheny [video].  ITVT
• Could advanced TV be a $100B business?  MediaPost
• In the race for local ad dollars, are big tech plans enough?  MediaPost

Digital Video/OTT

• Roku is leading Amazon, Google and Apple in the media streamer race.  Business Insider
• must read  How to launch an OTT app.  MediaPost
• Pay-TV, streaming preferences almost even.  Rapid TV News
• must read  Connected TV just a normal part of the U.S. home.  nScreenMedia
• Nearly 3/5ths of U.S. broadband households take Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.  Rapid TV News  …and…  Netflix is in half of all U.S. broadband households.  FierceCable

Repack/Spectrum/Incentive Auction

• Broadcasters turn in $2.1B for reimbursement.  TVTechnology  …and…  Stations’ repack expenses to hit $2B.  TVNewsCheck
• Top 15 markets by incentive auction take.  TVTechnology
• FCC needs to implement ‘rocket docket’ for wireless spectrum, and fast.  The Hill
• must read  If at first you don’t succeed, you’re Microsoft pushing its magical white space broadband.  The Register   …and…  LPTV/translator organization: Microsoft’s white space plan would destroy community TV.  Broadcasting & Cable  …and…  To close digital divide, Microsoft to harness unused television channels.  New York Times
• Shared spectrum: Path to wireless expansion.  Multichannel News
• As the digital divide grows, an untapped solution languishes [EBS, née ITFS].  Wired

Television

• The future of TV metrics.  TVTechnology

This week’s readings for #pubmedia, June 19, 2017

Here is this week’s collection of selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  It’s a little thin because I’ve been a bit distracted this past week, but don’t think I missed much.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• must read  4K for broadcast: Is it worth the expense?  TVTechnology
• Apple’s blessing crowns HEVC king of video compression.  FierceCable
• ATSC 3.0: Cable uses reply comments to urge caution on broadcast standard.  CableFax
• Public TV to FCC: MVPD ATSC 3.0 approach doesn’t fly.  Broadcasting & Cable

Consumer Electronics

• Alexa TV voice control over-promises, under-delivers.  nScreenMedia

Digital Video/OTT

• 2-in-5 seniors own a smartphone.  Time for 65+ video app?  nScreenMedia
• Most OTT subscribers would pay more to keep service.  Rapid TV News
• Broadcast TV, vMVPDs and addressable TV…a cauldron of disruption.  Rapid TV News
• Cord-cutters consuming 60% more OTT content than other viewers.  Rapid TV News

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• Radio: A century head start.  Jacobs Media Strategies

Repack/Spectrum

• FCC creates LPTV, translator window.  TVNewsCheck

Television

• must read  4K for broadcast: Is it worth the expense?  TVTechnology
• Linear TV, digital video ad models come closer as premium video unification advances.  Rapid TV News
• Battle over local TV ratings gets interesting.  TVNewsCheck

This week’s readings for #pubmedia, June 4, 2017

It’s been busy, so this is a two-week compilation of selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  Because it’s been two weeks, I’ve tried to be a bit more selective than normal.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• HbbTV for TV operators.  Castoola (promo)
• South Korean broadcasters ready to launch ATSC 3.0 (actually, they did 5/31).  TVTechnology
• Univision joins Sinclair/Nexstar 3.0 group.  TVNewsCheck  …and… see my related blog post from 5/21
• Completing the ATSC 3.0 skyscraper.  ATSC
• How public broadcasters are lagging behind the innovation curve of Next Gen TV.  John Lawson in Current
• must read  ATSC examines 3.0 progress, views future.  TVTechnology
• must have pdf for your CTO  ATSC 3.0 Transition and Deployment Guide, v. 2 now available.  GatesAir, et al.
• Road to FCC 3.0 order could be bumpy.  TVNewsCheck
• Sinclair offers 1 million free ATSC 3.0 chips to phone makers.  FierceCable  …and… TVNewsCheck  …but…  ATSC 3.0 chips in the iPhone and other smartphones? Don’t hold your breath.  FierceCable (from 2/3/17)
• Next-gen TV promises immersive, personalized audio.  TVTechnology
• Fox makes HD services available via HbbTV in Hungary.  Digital TV Europe

Cable/MVPD/Cord-Cutting

• Cord-cutting explodes.  Axios
• Comcast quietly deploys 4K set-top.  FierceCable

Consumer Electronics

• Got an antenna and tuner?  You can now stream live TV to your devices with Plex.  Ars Technica
• Report: U.S. households own average of seven screens.  TVTechnology
• The disappearing computer [Walt Mossberg’s last column].  The Verge
• HDR to drive 4K TV through to 2022.  Rapid TV News
• Comcast quietly deploys 4K set-top.  FierceCable

Digital Video/OTT

• must read  Netflix to spend $6 billion on original content in 2017.  Rapid TV News
• Mobile internet to account for a quarter of media consumption.  Rapid TV News
• Research: Interest in video downloading is strong, but awareness lags.  Video Nuze
• must read  Connected TV and smartphone the focus of video usage growth.  nScreenMedia

Radio/Podcasting

• Why radio broadcasters should joint the podcast movement.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• must read  Survey: Many podcast listeners are switching away from radio.  Radio and Internet News

Social Media

• Facebook ramps up original video push with slew of deals.  Rapid TV News

Spectrum/Incentive Auction/Repack

• Harnessing the potential of ‘unlicensed [TV] spectrum to power connectivity.  New America Weekly
• WGBH, others tell FCC to allow post-auction license transferability.  Broadcasting & Cable
• FCC “incentive auction” marks progress and pitfalls towards freeing wireless spectrum.  Thomas Hazlett in Brookings
• LPTVs zero in on spectrum auction’s ‘Phase Zero.’  Broadcasting & Cable

Strategy/Management/Business

• Digital ad spend to eclipse TV this year.  Rapid TV News  …but…  Forrester says it’s end times for digital and display advertising.  The Drum
• Sinclair poised to become major syndie force.  TVNewsCheck
• must scan (& read if you can)  Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2017 report (355 pages).  Kleiner Perkins  …and…  All the slides, plus analysis.  Recode  …and… plus highlights.  Quartz
• must read  Turning membership upside-down: An experiment from a nonprofit news site.  Nonprofit Quarterly
• A broadcaster’s guide to Washington issues.  David Oxenford and David O’Connor in TVNewsCheck

Television

• must read  Nielsen: TV still dominates viewing platforms.  Rapid TV News

Wireless/Broadband

• MoffettNathanson upgrades AT&T, but still skeptical about wireless long-term.  FierceWireless
• Digital gap between rural and nonrural America persists.  Pew Research

ATSC 3.0 boost from Tribune acquisition by Sinclair

I was curious how Sinclair Broadcast Group's acquisition (if approved) of Tribune Company's stations might help complete the former's national footprint.  Sinclair is a well-known booster of ATSC 3.0 and has partnered with a third group owner, Nexstar Broadcasting Group, in an ATSC 3.0 alliance.  Tribune's stations tend to serve larger markets than Sinclair's, and Nexstar's stations tend toward smaller markets than Sinclair's, though with significant overlaps.

To map this, I dug out an auction related spreadsheet prepared for the now shut down Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition, helmed by Preston Padden.  The graph below plots DMA market on the x-axis and the FCC's estimate of station interference-free population on the y-axis.  Some of the dots cover up other dots in the same position, some of the stations have been sold in the auction, and others may be either sold or added before ATSC 3.0 launches in the U.S., but it does illustrate a pretty solid national footprint, consistent with Sinclair's public embrace of the mobile capabilities of ATSC 3.0.  

Missing are DMAs #6 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, #9 Boston-Manchester, #10 Atlanta, #13 Detroit, #18 Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, and #22 Charlotte among the top 30 DMAs.  But I'll be they're working on that.

Click for larger image.

 

--Dennis

Weekly readings for #pubmedia, 18 April 2017

Missed posting this over the weekend due to a family gathering – grandkids take precedence over blog and Twitter – so here is a bit tardy collection of selected links from my @haarsager Twitter news feed in the past 10 days.  --Dennis

Consumer Electronics

• Researcher: 90% of ‘smart’ TVs can be compromised remotely.  Techdirt  …and…  Bleeping Computer

Digital Video/VoD/OTT

• Netflix crosses 50M U.S. subscriptions.  nScreenMedia
• Lies, damn lies, and Silicon Valley statistics [video].  nScreenMedia
• SVOD market deepens, broadens in the U.S. and Europe.  nScreenMedia
• must read  Downloading continues to gain momentum.  Video Nuze
• The challenges of OTT.  TVTechnology
• must read  The immediate future of UltraHD is streaming.  nScreenMedia

Radio/Digital Audio/Podcasting

• Voices of America.  New Republic

Spectrum/Incentive Auction/Repack

• Sale of dozens of noncommercial signals in auction earns minimum of $1.9B.  Current
• Craig Moffett analysis of forward auction results: 600-MHz auction results suggest cable wireless not much of a threat.  Telecompetitor  …and…  Comcast made ‘halfhearted’ show at spectrum auction.  FierceCable & Multichannel News  …and…  Analyst weighs spectrum auction ‘winners’ and ‘losers.’  Multichannel News  …and…  Broadcast Incentive Auction: Analysis of high bidders doesn’t see them all as ‘winners.’  CED Magazine
• Why Verizon didn’t buy any 600-MHz spectrum, and what it means.  FierceWireless
• Post auction, Dish’s wireless bet now $21B.  TVNewsCheck
• Bidders in the forward auction spent vastly different amounts per license.  FierceWireless
• FCC: Almost 1,000 stations will have to move.  TVNewsCheck  …and…  Repack notice triggers time, money fears.  TVNewsCheck
• LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition vows legal problems for repack.  Broadcasting & Cable
• List of new channels for TV stations that have to move.  TVNewsCheck [pdf; note that the labels for current channel and new channel are reversed]
• Noncoms: FCC’s post-auction repack threatens debilitating disruptions.  Broadcasting & Cable  …and…  APTS/CPB/PBS joint statement.  CPB
• Smartphones can deliver vital public services.  Brookings

Strategy/Management/Business

• must read  Drawing lessons from the ‘Bezos way’.  Frederic Filloux in Monday Note

Television

• DVR dead, live TV dying among the young.  nScreenMedia
• must read  The immediate future of UltraHD is streaming.  nScreenMedia
• Researcher: 90% of ‘smart’ TVs can be compromised remotely.  Techdirt  …and…  Bleeping Computer