Technology360

Readings for #pubmedia, New Year’s edition

I opted to spend last weekend with my kids and grandkids rather than compile this – go figure! – so here is a two-week or so compilation of selected links from my @haarsager Twitter account.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/Next-Gen TV/HbbTV

• 2018 preview: ATSC 3.0 will get closer to becoming a real TV technology.  FierceCable
• 4K for broadcast: Is it worth the expense.  Bill Hayes in TVTechnology [repeat from June]
• New single-box solution for 9+million OTA+broadband households.  nScreenMedia [this is an ATSC 1.0 device, but looks like a great, inexpensive solution later on for 3.0 conversion]

Cable/MVPD/Pay-TV/Cord-Cutting

• Most top cable nets see viewership declines in 2017.  Cablefax
• must read  How to cut the cord on cable.  New York Times

Digital Video/OTT/VOD

• DIRECTV Now suffering outages in prime time.  TV Answer Man
• must read  Consumers demanding more from streaming services.  Rapid TV News [I’m getting more regular buffering interruptions – every 20-30 minutes – on my high-end data subscription via Comcast and discovery sucks on pretty much every OTT service]
• Demand and supply revamping OTT outlook.  TVTechnology
• New single-box solution for 9+million OTA+broadband households.  nScreenMedia 
• Netflix subs gain parity with pay-TV customers in U.S.  Rapid TV News
• must read  FAANG firms to sink teeth into tenth of total U.S. TV and video revs in 2018.  Rapid TV News  …and…  Facebook’s plan to take on TV.  MediaPost
• In 2017, TV’s streaming revolution made its biggest leap forward yet.  Vulture

Public Media

• Coming next year: A Mister Rogers revival in movie theaters.  MediaPost

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• must read  Podcasting: Radio’s answer to on-demand programming.  Radio Magazine

Television

• Broadcast nets register double-digit dip in ratings.  MediaPost

Weekly readings for #pubmedia, Dec. 18, 2017

This week’s collection of selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/Next-Gen TV/HbbTV

• What is Next Gen TV and when will it launch?  TechHive

Broadband/Wireless

• Why the fight over net neutrality is far from over.  FierceWireless  …and…  FCC overturns current net neutrality rules. FierceTelecomm  …and…  FCC repeals ‘net neutrality’ rules for internet providers.  NPR
• What will the end of net neutrality do to America?  HuffPost
• TV is now clearly the wireless industry’s new battleground.  FierceWireless

Cable/MVPD/Cord-Cutting

• Cord cutting slows in Q3.  FierceCable

Digital Video/OTT/VOD

• T-Mobile promises to end the “complete bulls—t” from TV companies in 2018.  Ars Technica
• must read  OTT video ad growth triples in one year.  Rapid TV News  …and…  OTT ad spending up 18x over past 12 months.  Video Nuze  …and…  OTT now 26% of video ad spend.  MediaPost  …and…  OTT revenues to reach $120B by 2022.  FierceCable
• must read  More than 3/5ths of video plays set to be on mobile by mid-2018.  Rapid TV News
• TV is now clearly the wireless industry’s new battleground.  FierceWireless
• SVOD a daily habit for 60% of U.S. adults.  nScreenMedia
• TV networks are buying original digital series for their apps.  Digiday

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• must read  Beyond the narrative arc.  Eric Nuzum in NiemanLab
• Do podcasts have a “discoverability problem?”  Jacobs Media Strategies
• Norway becomes first country to end national radio broadcasts on FM.  The Guardian
• must read  Nielsen: The good, the bad, and the truth.  Jacobs Media Strategies  …and…  Radio listeners spend 58% of their tune-in time with their favorite station.  Nielsen  …and…  Nielsen Q2 Total Audience Report: Radio holds steady, smartphone use balloons.  Radio & Internet News
• Study: FM radio is top audio for smart speaker users.  InsideRadio

Repack/Spectrum

• must read if you’re Ch. 14  IEEE Broadcast Symposium Part 1: Repack.  Doug Lung in TV Technology

Strategy/Management

• must read  How ‘Sesame Street’ persuaded public television to act like a network.  Current

Television

• Television at a crossroads.  Forbes

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, Dec. 1, 2017

Another page falls off the calendar.  Welcome to the last month of 2017.  Here is this week’s somewhat slim collection of selected links from @haarsager on Twitter.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/Next-Gen TV/HbbTV

• ‘Next Gen TV’ could be an ad boon for local TV stations.  Wall Street Journal
• Broadband/Wireless/Net Neutrality
• Comcast hints at plan for paid fast lanes after net neutrality repeal.  Ars Technica

Cable/Pay-TV/MVPD/Cord-Cutting

• Pay TV subscribers opting for open TV platforms.  nScreenMedia
• Legacy services set for collapse as virtual MVPDs disrupt pay-TV market.  Rapid TV News

Digital Video/OTT

• More than half of U.S. homes take multiple OTT services.  Rapid TV News
• must read  The young reject DVR, embrace smartphone video; connected TV picking up the slack.  nScreenMedia

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• Amazon is now creating content for Alexa.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• Comcast integrates iHeartRadio into X1.  FierceCable

Television

• We just don’t rent movies anymore.  nScreenMedia
• The retrofitting of broadcasting.  MediaPost

Weekend reading for #pubmedia, Nov. 17, 2017

A two-week gap has elapsed since the last compendium of links from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  The FCC approval of ATSC 3.0 is the big news this time.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/Next-Gen TV

• FCC approves ATSC/Next-Gen TV for OTA broadcasting.  TVTechnology  …and…  TVNewsCheck  …and…  Variety
• must read  Harry Jessell: It’s now up to the market to make 3.0 work.  TVNewsCheck
• Sinclair announces nationwide ATSC 3.0 deployment after FCC OK.  FierceCable
• Top 4 ‘outrageous myths’ about ATSC 3.0.  TVNewsCheck
• Rep. Dingell has privacy concerns over ATSC 3.0.  Broadcasting & Cable  …and…  TVNewsCheck
• NAB and CTA team on ATSC 3.0 ‘test lab’ in Cleveland.  TVTechnology

Cable/MVPD/Pay-TV/Cord-Cutting

• Kagan: Pay-TV lost 1.2M users in Q3.  FierceCable

Digital Video/OTT/VOD

• must read  Devices streaming to TVs go mainstream in the U.S.  Rapid TV News  …and…  Streaming tech reaches one-third of universe, eroding ‘traditional TV’ viewing.  MediaPost
• must read  Research: 52% of viewers now watch their favorite show from an online source.  Video Nuze
• One size does not fit all in OTT world.  Rapid TV News
• Connected TV advertising is surging.  Video Nuze
• U.S. OTT market heats up.  Rapid TV News
• The man who gave us the DVR says Roku is the future of TV.  MarketWatch

Journalism

• must read  8 strategies for saving local newsrooms.  Columbia Journalism Review

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• With mobile, NPR is not checking off the boxes: How NPR builds great apps.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• BBC debuts interactive audio drama for Amazon Alexa.  Radio & Internet News
• The Main Studio Rule: U.S. radio’s biggest opportunity in years.  RadioInfo

Strategy/Management/Legal

• Inside the Guardian’s consumer-revenue operation.  Digiday

Television

• must read  Why have TV viewers stopped channel surfing?  MediaPost
• must read  ‘Content Connoisseurs’ dominate TV landscape.  Rapid TV News
• Rapidly abundant 4K/Ultra HD content failing to reach platforms.  Rapid TV News
• Nielsen to incorporate Comcast set-top data in local TV ratings.  MediaPost
• HDR TV shipments to soar 300% by 2021.  Rapid TV News
• CBS no longer tied to traditional TV?  nScreenMedia

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, Oct. 27, 2017

I’ve been in Scotland, taking a three-week break from aggregating these links, but not a break from posting them to my @haarsager Twitter account.  Here is a longer-than-usual catch-up.  The most recent articles are generally near the top of each category.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• Sinclair, NAB cheer FCC’s ATSC draft order.  FierceCable
• Retrans a key part of FCC’s ATSC 3.0 plan.  TVNewsCheck
• FCC to vote on ATSC 3.0 on Nov. 16.  TVNewsCheck
• CTA warns of ATSC 3.0 ‘chaos’ without modulation standard.  Broadcasting & Cable
• must read  Disparate views of the future of ATSC 3.0.  TVNewsCheck
• Internet of Everything: The IoT market is projected to expand 12x from 2017-2023.  Hackernoon

Cable/Pay-TV/Cord-Cutting

• Cord cutting hits 632k for Q3 with bulk of top platforms reporting.  FierceCable
• More than half of U.S. broadband households subscribe to pay-TV, OTT service.  Rapid TV News
• vMVPDs alone no threat to pay-TV.  nScreenMedia

Digital Video/VoD/OTT

• More than half of U.S. broadband households subscribe to pay-TV, OTT service.  Rapid TV News
• Can home Wi-Fi deliver TV reliably?  nScreenMedia
• Netflix rumbles on, but it’s still hard to discern original content’s role.  Video Nuze
• must read  Mobile surges as VOD viewing set to catch up to linear TV by 2020.  Rapid TV News
• Shift toward on-demand viewing accelerates.  nScreenMedia

Journalism

• must read  Young subscribers flock to old media.  Politico
• Scoring stories to make better recommendation engines for news.  Monday Note

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• must read  Radio can’t just check off the boxes.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• Generation X is now driving NPR’s audience growth.  Washingtonian
• Setting the record straight on FM radio in iPhones.  Sam Matheny at NAB  …and…  Everything you need to know about FM radio on your phone.  CNET
• Radio’s digital dashboard display dilemma.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• The good NEW days of radio.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• must read  Classical music’s biggest problem is that no one cares.  On An Overgrown Path
  
• Will radio get off the dime with podcasting?  Jacobs Media Strategies

Spectrum/Incentive Auction/Repack

• Internet of Everything: The IoT market is projected to expand 12x from 2017-2023.  Hackernoon
• FCC chair’s advisor: FCC can’t hold another big spectrum auction.  Multichannel News
• Broadcasters emerging as winner in FCC reauthorization process so far.  Morning Consult
• T-Mobile, Fox TV stations partner on repack.  TVTechnology  …and…  Pocket Now
• Tower deaths put repack sked in spotlight.  TVNewsCheck

Strategy/Management/Legal

• FCC to lift station modification freeze.  Broadcasting & Cable
• must read  Viewer preferences straddle generations.  TVTechnology
• Pubmedia’s commitment to local audiences must transcend lip service.  Gary Knell in Current
• must read  How to crowdfund a TV series.  Cablefax

Television

• AI is changing how you watch TV.  Venture Beat

Wireless/Broadband/IoT

• nerd alert  5G: Can we do better than OFDM? Cohere Technologies believes we can with OTFS.  FierceWireless
• FCC chair’s advisor: FCC can’t hold another big spectrum auction.  Multichannel News

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, 8/31/17

Sending this collection of selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed off a little early due to weekend travel.  That plus an apparent “vacation effect” from sources makes for a shorter-than-normal collection this week.  --Dennis

Digital Video/OTT/VOD

• How to find and keep online video subscribers.  nScreenMedia
• Hulu, other vMVPDs ramp up affiliate deal chest-thumping.  FierceCable
• No stopping North American SVOD Market.  Rapid TV News
• must read  Broadcast TV poised to play bigger role in skinny bundles’ success.  Video Nuze

Journalism

• must read  How top publishers are restoring trust on social.  MediaShift

Social Media

• Snapchat content chief expects first scripted fare this year.  Hollywood Reporter
• must read  How top publishers are restoring trust on social.  MediaShift

Repack/Spectrum

• NAB, tech industry throw down over TV white spaces.  FierceWireless

Television

• must read  Will mobile become the dog wagging TV advertising’s tail?  MediaPost
• Apple’s TV plans are still stuck in neutral.  recode

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

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

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, May 20, 2017

This week’s selected links from @haarsager on Twitter follows.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

my blog post  ATSC 3.0 boost from Tribune acquisition by Sinclair.  Technology360

Free over-the-air TV is going to get better.  Consumer Reports

must read  The three disparate visions of ATSC 3.0.  Harry Jessell in TVNewsCheck

Survey: Consumers impressed by 3.0 features.  TVNewsCheck  …and…  U.S. consumers willing to pay more for ATSC 3.0 features.  Rapid TV News

‘All’ LG 4K TVs sold in South Korea to soon feature ATSC 3.0.  TVTechnology

Cable/Pay-TV/MVPD/Cord-Cutting

Why an Amazon skinny bundle seems all but inevitable.  Will Richmond

U.S. pay-TV subs decline by more than 800,000 in Q1 2017.  Rapid TV News

Report: Majority of cord cutting occurred in last two years.  TVTechnology

Life without pay TV now a viable option for many.  nScreenMedia

must read  Broadcasters are the new bundlers.  Light Reading

Consumer Electronics

Strong 4K/Ultra HD uptake helping maintain value in challenging TV set market.  Rapid TV News

The first television with Amazon Fire TV [and Alexa] built in is just fine.  engadget

PBS Kids releases baby’s first HDMI dongle.  engadget

Digital Video/OTT

must read  Publishers’ candid thoughts on video: ‘Facebook is taking a cut of what used to be ours’.  Digiday

Journalism

must read  Research: A New Understanding: What Makes People Trust and Rely on News [pdf download].  Media Insight Project of American Press Institute

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

New AM-to-FM translator window could open as early as July.  Radio Magazine

must read  Voice commands for radio.  Jacobs Media Strategies

must read  NPR One will test in-app [station] donations with U.S., U.K. users.  Current

Social Media

Three ways social media can help broadcasters.  nScreenMedia

Spectrum/Incentive Auction/Repack

In aftermath of spectrum auction, even stations that sat out could still benefit.  Marc Hand in Current

Strategy/Management/Business/Legal

What to do with public TV’s spectrum auction ‘windfall’.  Columbia Journalism Review

Five U.S. media trends to keep an eye on.  theMediaBriefing

FCC details window for LPTV stations and TV translators displaced by incentive auction to seek new channels.  Broadcast Law Blog

Buying spree brings more local TV stations to fewer big companies.  Pew Research

Television

Broadcast TV maintains media dominance.  MediaPost

Wireless/Broadband

Analyst: Mobile revenues flatten even as data consumption ramps up in U.S.  FierceWireless

MoffettNathanson: Small cells and fiber don’t threaten tower companies.  FierceWireless