Technology360

Weekly readings for #pubmedia, Feb. 19, 2018

Got 5 inches of snow overnight Sat./Sun., but the temperature could reach 70° on Wednesday.  We live in hope.  Here is a compilation of recent selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  --Dennis

Broadband/Wireless

Why broadband competition at faster speeds is virtually nonexistent.  Vice Motherboard

Digital Video/VOD/OTT

must read  Smartphone video, connected TV increase penetration and usage.  nScreenMedia

Management/Strategy

What makes public radio ‘very personal’ magnifies its #metoo cases.  New York Times

Trolling as a business model is making trollery the dominant form of American discussion.  Umair Haque in Medium

Trump’s budget again proposes elimination of Public TV [and radio] … funding.  Variety

A profit model for 21st century journalism.  Michael Rosenblum in Medium

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

Public radio’s public reckoning.  Village Voice

Repack

Bill to address repack shortcomings advances.  TVTechnology

FCC will open April window for auction-displaced LPTVs.  Broadcasting & Cable

Social Media

Confessions of a publishing consultant on Facebook’s news feed changes.  Digiday

Twitter begins broadcasting local TV news during breaking news events.  FierceCable

must read  TV nets missing opportunity with Instagram.  nScreenMedia

Television

Why have TV viewers stopped channel surfing?  MediaPost

Netflix has taken $3B-$6B of TV ad revenue off the table.  nScreenMedia

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, Jan. 14, 2018

Here is this week’s compilation of selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  CES is responsible for a few entries.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/Next-Gen TV/HbbTV

• Hands-on with 3.0 OTA TV at CES.  Cord Cutters News
• ATSC 3.0 standard approved, Technicolor HDR proposal expected as part of standard.  CEPro
• LG plans ATSC 3.0 4k broadcast testing in U.S. this year.  hdreport

Broadband/Wireless/Spectrum

• AT&T reined in 600-MHz bidding as it closed in on FirstNet.  FierceWireless  …and…  AT&T looks to sell remaining 600-MHz spectrum.  FierceWireless
• must read  600-MHz incentive auction ‘extravaganza’ ends with a whimper.  FierceWireless
• Was the spectrum auction necessary?  Radio Magazine

Consumer Electronics

• Hands-on with 3.0 OTA TV at CES.  Cord Cutters News
• What to know about those 8K TVs.  Hollywood Reporter

Digital Video/VOD/OTT

• TiVo: 20% of daily life spent with video.  Video Nuze
• TV sets remain as prime device for VOD viewing.  Rapid TV News

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• must read (TV, too)  How public radio’s risk-adverse culture impedes its chances for success.  Eric Nuzum in Current

Repack

• Noncoms to get brief from FCC auction/repack experts.  Broadcasting & Cable

Social Media

• The problem with Facebook.  MediaPost
• must read  Facebook tells publishers big change is coming to News Feed.  Digiday

Television

• must read  TV still claims most-favored screen status.  Rapid TV News  …and…  TV sets remain as prime device for VOD viewing.  Rapid TV News  …and… Three-quarters of U.S. consumers have a connected TV.  Rapid TV News
• TiVo: 20% of daily life spent with video.  Video Nuze

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, Nov. 26, 2017

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!  Here is my latest collection of selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/Next-Gen TV/HbbTV

• Does Next-Gen TV spell doom for over-the-air DVR?  TechHive

Broadband/Internet/Wireless

• must read  Tim Wu: Why the courts will have to save net neutrality.  New York Times
• Former FCC chairman Wheeler says Pai’s net neutrality proposal is hypocritical.  FierceTelecom
• All signs point to December vote to kill net neutrality rules.  Ars Technica

Cable/Pay-TV/Cord-Cutting

• Will internet TV streaming replace legacy pay-TV in 2018?  Nasdaq
• Lessons from the OTT revolution.  TVTechnology
• Skinny TV not yet picking up the slack for pay-TV subs drain.  Rapid TV News

Digital Video/OTT

• Will internet TV streaming replace legacy pay-TV in 2018?  Nasdaq
• Fans expect poor quality for sports live streaming.  Rapid TV News
• HD mobile video goes mainstream.  Rapid TV News  (in the video, move the screen around with your mouse)

Journalism

• Boise TV station develops 360 video strategy for YouTube.  NewsLab

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• must read  Understanding public media’s most engaged podcast users.  Knight Foundation in Medium
• At Third Coast, holding on to public radio ideals as podcasting booms.  The New Yorker

Spectrum/Repack

• FCC provides pointers on getting repack bucks.  Broadcasting & Cable

Strategy/Management/Business

• must read  Steve Brill: Newspaper bosses ‘paralyzed’ by change, clueless about paid content.  Poynter
• must read  There’s a digital media crash. But no one will say it.  Talking Points Memo

Television

• What you need to get HD channels over the air.  hdreport
• U.S. consumers spend more time watching films and TV.  Rapid TV News
• HDR mindshare: As awareness grows, so does confusion.  FierceCable

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, 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, Oct. 1, 2017

October already.  Here are selected links from my @haarsager Twitter feed in the past week.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV/Next-Gen TV

• Next-Gen TV: Will the bang match the buzz?  TVTechnology
• NAB reinforces no tuner mandates for Next Gen TV.  TVTechnology

Cable/MVPD/Pay-TV/Cord-Cutting

• Linear OTT boosts falling U.S. pay-TV.  Rapid TV News
• must read  Research: Pay-TV satisfaction is up, but price remains Achilles heel.  Video Nuze
• must read  Bad news and good advice for operators in new TiVo data.  nScreenMedia
• U.S. TV households subscribing to a pay-TV service dips below four-fifths mark.  Rapid TV News  …and…  Only 70% of U.S. homes have pay TV.  FierceCable

Digital Video/OTT/VOD

• OTT: Is it TV or digital?  MediaPost  …and…  Is OTT a broadcast or digital buy?  MediaPost
• Is Amazon’s video strategy working?  nScreenMedia
• BBC iPlayer opens up access to archive programs.  Rapid TV News
• Full extent of Millennial, Gen X video consumption not being measured.  Rapid TV News

Journalism

• Network news audiences continue to shrink.  Los Angeles Times

Radio/Podcasting/Digital Audio

• Radio’s wake-up call.  Jacobs Media Strategies
• must read  More music, less typing, replacing radios drive smart speaker adoption in new NPR/Edison research.  Part 1: Radio & Internet News and NPR, Part 2: Radio & Internet News  …and…  The full report.  National Public Media

Repack/Spectrum Auction

• my blog  The repack death toll begins.  Technology360.com
• [for engineers] Unanticipated interference after repack. Charles Rhodes in TVTechnology

Television

• Destination TV maintains its grip on American viewing.  Rapid TV News
• Wells Fargo analyst: Local TV stocks rated to outperform.  TVNewsCheck
• Network news audiences continue to shrink.  Los Angeles Times

The repack death toll begins

The FCC’s crazy-ambitious 39-month timetable for repacking the TV bands post-auction may have contributed to the deaths of three workers from Tower King II, a Texas tower contractor.  The gin pole, a standard temporary device that is installed at the top of a tower to enable the lifting into place of permanent tower sections or an antenna, failed.  The tower is shared by two Miami stations, WSVN (Fox) and WPLG (ABC).  WSVN is moving from channel 7 to channel 9 in the repack, requiring a new antenna.  The tower is eight years old and is just over 1,000 feet high, about half the maximum height that many stations use.

There is no evidence to my knowledge that the pushed nature of the repack schedule contributed to the deaths of these three men, but with the paucity of qualified high tower crews and a forced schedule that is ambitious even if everything (weather, supply, crew availability, etc.) turns out optimal, safety issues are unavoidable. 

I strongly suspect this won’t be the last of these tragic accidents.  --Dennis

Link:  ABC News

Weekend readings for #pubmedia, Sep. 16, 2017

Here are some links of interest that I’ve posted to @haarsager on Twitter this past week.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• New Public Media Venture Group will exploit potential of ATSC 3.0.  Current
• ONE Media refutes T-Mobile claims about 3.0 tuners.  TVNewsCheck  …and…  T-Mobile: No to ATSC 3.0 cellphone mandate.  TVNewsCheck

Cable/MVPD/Pay-TV/Cord-Cutting

• Cord-cutting explodes: 22M U.S. adults will have canceled cable, satellite TV by end of 2017.  Variety 
• must read  Studies point to widening age gap among pay-TV subscribers.  FierceCable  …and…  Younger viewers shun pay-TV as search difficulties lead viewers to off button.  Rapid TV News

Digital Video/OTT/VOD

• must read  Hulu is spending more than Facebook and Apple, but far less than Netflix on content.  MarketWatch
• must read  Research: Millennials continue shifting viewing online.  Video Nuze  …and…  Millennials lead online video consumption.  Rapid TV News

Repack/Incentive Auction

• must read  FCC’s repacking effort may far exceed 39 months.  FierceWireless  …and…  Failure to meet 39-month repack plan could spell trouble for FCC, carriers warn.  FierceWireless

Social Media

• Are publishers making money on Facebook? ‘Not really,’ a new report finds.  NiemanLab

Strategy/Management/Legal

• Online public file to bring new scrutiny to issues/programs lists.  CommLawBlog

Wireless

• What kind of spectrum do carriers want for 5G? ‘All of it'.  FierceWireless
• What you need to know about the FCC’s 2017 wireless competition report.  Wetmachine

Weekly readings for #pubmedia, Sep. 12, 2017

I’m a little late in getting this collection of selected recent links from my @haarsager Twitter feed compiled.  It was a busy weekend, and I didn’t even have a hurricane to blame.  --Dennis

ATSC 3.0/HbbTV

• The HDTV switch revisited: Is ATSC 3.0 déjà vu all over again?  Spectator.org
• Sinclair closes $240M Bonten Media deal, adds 14 stations.  FierceCable

Cable/MVPD/Cord-Cutting/Pay-TV

• Comcast integrates YouTube into X1 set-top boxes.  Video Nuze
• must read  Unprecedented global transformation creates a perfect storm of slowing pay-TV growth.  Rapid TV News

Digital Video/VOD/OTT

• must read  Reach, frequency and engagement continue to expand for SVOD.  nScreenMedia
• must read  Shifting demographics, premium tiers drive next wave of SVOD growth.  Rapid TV News
• Comcast integrates YouTube into X1 set-top boxes.  Video Nuze
• For Disney’s new OTT service, success is all about the price.  Video Nuze
• Roku best hope for growth not in box sales.  nScreenMedia

Journalism

• Two-thirds of Americans are now getting news from social media.  recode
• What I’ll tell my journalism students after Charlottesville.  Columbia Journalism Review

Radio/Digital Audio/Podcasting

• How broadcasters could continue to control the dash.  Radio Ink
• Report finds digital killing radio’s next gen: Broadcasters, Nielsen call foul.  MediaPost  …and…  NAB, Nielsen respond to study predicting terrestrial radio’s downfall.  Variety
• must read  Podcast popularity opens important door for radio.  MediaPost
• must read  In the war of virtual assistants, where’s radio?  Jacobs Media Strategies

Repack/Spectrum

• Tower guy to Hill: Post-auction repack should not be rushed.  Broadcasting & Cable
• Lawmakers hear that pubcasters need additional $50M for repack.  Current

Social Media

• must read  Two-thirds of Americans are now getting news from social media.  recode

Television

• must read  The battle for the TV home page.  nScreenMedia
• must read  Broadcast-only homes see big rise.  Multichannel News  …and…  Broadcast-only TV homes add younger viewers.  MediaPost  …and…  Broadcast-only TV homes up 41% in last five years.  Rapid TV News
• Five reasons Wall Street is right to be bearish on TV stocks.  nScreenMedia  …and…  Media stocks sink, Comcast warns of subscriber loss.  MediaPost
• How are TV homes growing if pay TV is shrinking?  nScreenMedia
• must read  Millennials lead in time-shifted TV usage.  Rapid TV 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