Technology360

This week’s readings for #pubmedia, July 10, 2017

Here are this week’s selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• 21st century broadcasting, part 1 [video interview].  nScreenMedia
• ATSC 3.0: A new value-added approach for emergency information.  TVTechnology

Digital Video/OTT/VOD

• Six OTT technologies to reshape the business of streaming.  nScreenMedia

Strategy/Management/Business

• Noncoms ask FCC for some content deregulation.  Broadcasting & Cable

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• must read  Here’s what happened the last time audio producers got better data.  NiemanLab  …and…  Will data make podcasts better, or will it stifle the creative process?  Jacobs Media Strategies
• Radio is not dead.  Here’s why.  Bob McCurdy in Radio Ink
• must read  Threats are real, but benchmarks point to healthy public radio system.  Mark Fuerst in Current
• Study finds 600+ FM stations could be affected by TV repack.  Radio World
• must read  The Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research.  National Public Media
• Radio seeks smart speaker home audience.  Radio World

Repack/Incentive Auction/Spectrum

• Post-repack: Key challenges and solutions.  Broadcasting & Cable
• Study finds 600+ FM stations could be affected by TV repack.  Radio World
• Don’t lose sight of SFNs in deadline push.  TVNewsCheck

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, June 10, 2017

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

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• Apple HEVC adoption is a good sign for ATSC 3.0.  TVNewsCheck
• ATSC 3.0: Retrans parleyed, scope of detail debated.  TVTechnology
• Sinclair takes aim at MVPDs over ATSC 3.o.  Multichannel News
• AT&T: IoT opportunities for carriers extend far beyond simple connected devices.  FierceWireless
• FCC schedules time at the end of June to drill down on ATSC 3.0.  Multichannel News

Cable/MVPD/Pay-TV/Cord-Cutting

• U.S. pay-TV industry making big changes.  Rapid TV News

Digital Video/OTT

• must read  Cisco: Live video to increase 15x to 13% of all video traffic by 2021.  Video Nuze  …and…  Live and Ultra HD major factors in IP video by 2021.  nScreenMedia  …and…  Cisco VNI: video to claim 82% of Web traffic by 2021.  Rapid TV News
• must read  Broadcast consolidation could help push local content onto OTT.  FierceCable
• Study: Majority of young millennials consume OTT rather than broadcast content.  MediaPost

Journalism

• must read  The case for media impact.  Columbia Journalism Review
• NPR’s Facebook Live guide.  NPR

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• When did podcasting become cool again?  MediaPost
• NPR’s Facebook Live guide.  NPR
• The New York Times’ The Daily vs. NPR’s Up First: Which morning news podcast is better at what?  NiemanLab
• Is voice-control part of radio’s future?  James Cridland in All Access Music Group

Repack/Spectrum/Incentive Auction

• T-Mobile enticing stations to repack early.  TVNewsCheck

Social Media

• Media’s rank for social media connection?  Dead last.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• NPR’s Facebook Live guide.  NPR

Strategy/Management/Business

• must read  Media distribution splinters, adaptation to win out in tomorrow’s media industry.  Rapid TV News  …and…  PwC
• Eight of the most surprising slides from Mary Meeker’s 2017 internet trends report.  the Media Briefing [see last week’s post for link to this must see report] 

Wireless/Broadband

• AT&T: IoT opportunities for carriers extend far beyond simple connected devices.  FierceWireless

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, Apr. 29, 2017

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

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• ATSC 3.0 achieves mainstream status at NAB.  TVNewsCheck
• Most U.S. TVs connected to the internet.  Rapid TV News

Cable/MVPD/Pay-TV

• Research: Over half of pay-TV subscribers used TV Everywhere in the past 6 months.  Video Nuze

Consumer Electronics

• Home to exceed theaters as the gold standard for movies.  nScreenMedia

Digital Video/OTT/VoD

• Takeaways from this year’s NAB show with Will Richmond and Colin Dixon [podcast].  Video Nuze or nScreenMedia
• Most U.S. TVs connected to the internet.  Rapid TV News
• TV Everywhere users prefer apps to operator set-top boxes.  nScreenMedia
• must read  Research: Living room OTT use soars in past 7 years.  Video Nuze
• Research: Over half of pay-TV subscribers used TV Everywhere in the past 6 months.  Video Nuze

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• must read  Local public radio: America’s last public square.  Laura Walker in Columbia Journalism Review
• Upload Radio [UK] launches – now anyone can be on the radio.  Media.info

Spectrum/Repack/Incentive Auction

• Prompted by auction sales, moves to low band VHF (ch. 2-6) bring both challenges and advantages.  Current
• Channel repack takes center stage at NAB.  TVNewsCheck

Strategy/Management/Financial

• 83% of ad buyers expect to increase online video spending in 2017.  Video Nuze
• must read  If ESPN can’t make it, who can? The age of media austerity.  Digiday
• must read  Curating cultural experiences in the digital domain.  The Log Journal [h/t David Othmer]

Television

• Takeaways from this year’s NAB show with Will Richmond and Colin Dixon [podcast].  Video Nuze or nScreenMedia
• Retransmission fees boost local TV station revenues to $28.4B.  TVTechnology

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

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, Apr. 23, 2016

A selected group of links of interest from my @haarsager Twitter feed this week.  Lots of good stuff, particularly in the journalism and ATSC (which now gets a separate category).  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0

CBS’s engineering chief gives 3.0 a lukewarm reception.  TVNewsCheck

Five things television broadcasters should know about ATSC 3.0.  Wiley on Media

ATSC 3.0 broadcast airs in Vegas: On-demand 4K shows over antenna TV.  Inverse

Wheeler said ATSC 3.0 will circulate this month  TV Technology  …and…  Wheeler on broadcaster’s 3.0 push.  TVNewsCheck  …and…  FCC to put out ATSC petition out for comment by month’s end.  Multichannel News

LG demos ATSC 3.0 Wireless Network Antenna.  TV Technology  …and…  LG Electronics demonstrates ATSC 3.0 wireless network antenna.  LG presser

TV’s ATSC 3.0 possibilities on display.  TVNewsCheck

ATSC 3.0 will bring TV to ‘inflection point.’  TVNewsCheck

must read  Pilot highlighting ATSC 3.0 Interactive Environment prototype.  TV Technology

Magid survey: UHD, ATSC 3.0 score high among consumers.  Broadcasting & Cable

Cable/Satellite/MVPD/Pay-TV

Traditional TV viewers dip, cable news helps slow decline.  MediaPost

Pay-TV gets armed by Comcast for OTT battle.  nScreenMedia

Consumer Electronics

LG Electronics demonstrates ATSC 3.0 wireless network antenna.  LG presser

VR/AR reaches ‘fever pitch’ at NAB Show.  NAB Show Daily News

Digital Video/OTT

Binge TV viewing may be slowing down.  MediaPost

Cord cutters are few, but tons of us are streaming video.  Fox News

Video streaming habits: 65% of TV OTT viewing is spent using subscription VOD.  Telecompetitor

Pay-TV gets armed by Comcast for OTT battle.  nScreenMedia

Time to admit second screening is a myth?  MediaPost

New OTT services raise TV viewership.  MediaPost

When TV Everywhere becomes what pay-TV is.  nScreenMedia

AirTV may sling around local channels.  informitv

Journalism

must read  Local journalism matters more than ever.  RTNDA

must read  An ethical quandary for nonprofit journalism – are funders calling the shots?  Poynter

must read  Rethinking the mission and purpose of local reporting.  Media Reset

Journalism has an editing crisis, but we can do something about it.  Poynter

The culture of journalism breeds disdain for…the audience.  Medium

must read    Journalism isn’t dying.  But it’s changing WAY faster than most people understand.  Washington Post

For news outlets squeezed from the middle, it’s bend or bust.  New York Times  …and…  Media websites battle faltering ad revenue and traffic.  New York Times

TV news faces a threat familiar to newspapers.  The Guardian

Tremors in the distributed content world.  Frederic Fillloux in Monday Note

must read    Producing good journalism and embracing video important for adapting to digital change.  Kinsey Wilson in Journalism in the Americas

Management/Strategy/Business

TV and radio stations, working together? It’s possible – and potentially powerful.  Current

must read  6 trends driving the future of TV.  Multichannel News, part 1  Multichannel News, part 2

must read  A broadcaster’s guide to Washington issues.  David Oxenford and David O’Connor in TVNewsCheck

Radio/Digital Audio/Podcasting

With young people trading AM/FM for streaming, will radio find a home in your next car?  NiemanLab

8 NPR One t hings I wish I had known or done while I was at a station.  NPR

Is broadcast radio doomed? [from UK]  Radio World

Can audio go viral on Facebook?  Here’s an NPR experiment.  Nieman Lab

A portrait of a Pandora listener.  Media Life Magazine

NPR’s visuals team is using an analytics bot to measure if people care about stories.  Journalism.co.uk

Spectrum/Incentive Auction/Repacking

Encouraging words for a repack summit.  TVNewsCheck

Analysts: Verizon, AT&IT should purchase Dish spectrum.  FierceWireless

Wheeler calls for strong bidding in spectrum auction.  Bloomberg BNA

must read  The broadcast spectrum auction: Preparing for a post-auction world.  Deloitte

[comments on auction, repack also]  Wheeler said ATSC 3.0 will circulate this month  TV Technology  …and…  Wheeler on broadcaster’s 3.0 push.  TVNewsCheck  …and…  FCC to put out ATSC petition out for comment by month’s end.  Multichannel News

FCC Commissioner Pai:  Rural could lead repack.  Broadcasting & Cable

Broadcast ‘daisy chain’ poses puzzle for post-auction repack.  Bloomberg BNA

must read  FCC says pre-auction expenses can be reimbursed to stations that have to be repacked after the incentive auction.  Broadcast Law Blog  …and…  Repack reimbursement clarity ripples through NAB.  TVNewsCheck  …and… the FCC Declaratory Ruling on this

Incentive auction troubles: Older cell towers may buckle under weight of new 600 MHz equipment.  FierceInstaller

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, 4/16/16

Here is another group of selected links from my twitter feed.  Don’t want to wait for the weekend?  You can visit http://www.twitter.com/haarsager for the feed.  -- Dennis

Cable/Satellite/Pay-TV

Cord cutting in rural markets has less appeal.  Telecompetitor

Digital Video/OTT

AirTV streams local OTA channels directly into Sling TV.  Zatz Not Funny!

Netflix reports lowest churn as 1/5th of U.S. broadband households cancel OTT in 2015.  Rapid TV News

Subscriptions to OTT services aside from Netflix, Amazon and Hulu remain minimal.  Video Nuze

Are digital media too big to fail?  Media Post

The digital media bloodbath: Hundreds of jobs lost.  BuzzFeed

The threat to the “golden era” of video.  nScreenMedia

Journalism

With new roadblocks for digital news sites, what happens next?  Ken Doctor in Nieman Lab

must read  Want to start a small data journalism team in your newsroom?  Here are 8 steps.  Nieman Lab

Management/Strategy/Business

The case for PBS stations in a post-TV world.  Current  …and…  The case for NPR station sin a post-radio world.  Current  [audio]

must read  Let’s make the future of media again.  Cory Bergman in Medium

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

must read  The fight fur the future of NPR.  Leon Neyfakh in Slate  …and…  Public radio story private pods: Now, forever and yesterday.  John Moe in Medium  …and…  Today’s public media fight misses the point.  Melody Kramer in Medium

must read  How big are Audible’s ambitions in changing short-form audio?  Really, really big.  Nieman Lab

Has Pandora overplayed its hand?  Jacobs Media Strategies

Spectrum/Incentive Auction/ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

Broadcast TV’s future is in Wheeler’s hands.  Harry Jessell in TVNewsCheck

DISH Network – No value in spectrum anymore?  Seeking Alpha

NAB, CTA, pubcasters ask FCC for voluntary ATSC 3.0.  TV Technology  …and…  Coalition files FCC petition for voluntary use of new broadcast TV transmission standard.  NAB presser  …and…  Broadcsasters petition FCC for ATSC 3.0 rollout.  Broadcasting & Cable

must read  Five things television broadcasters should know about ATSC 3.0.  Wiley on Media

Accenture predicts big year for ATSC 3.0, VR.  TV Technology

must read  Sinclair eager to offer next-gen TV services.  TVNewsCheck

Pearl, Pilot, Sinclair join AWARN Alliance.  TV Technology  …and… New group to tackle ATSC 3.0 emergency benefits.  Broadcasting & Cable

must read  Analysts expect incentive auction to generate between $32.8 and $43.8B.  FierceWireless  …and…  Some TV station groups would reap billions from a successful auction.  S&P Global Market Intelligence

Television

Master control to tackle IP, virtualization, 4K.  TVNewsCheck

American’s spend 80% of their watch time with TV.  Rapid TV News

DirecTV to carry MLB Network games in 4K Ultra HD.  Variety

Q&A with Mark Schubin on 4K, UHD, HDR and more.  TV Technology

High Dynamic Range TV gets a leg up – and maybe an upcharge.  Variety