Hulu and Disney signed a licensing agreement giving the subscription VOD service exclusive streaming rights to an array of Disney films, Hulu said in a Tuesday announcement. Hulu obtained rights to a variety of Disney TV programming and Disney Channel original movies in an agreement earlier this year, it said.

Disney|ABC Television Group will begin producing original episodic content for Shapchat starting with the first episode of Watch Party: The Bachelor debuting Jan. 3, Disney said in a news release Wednesday. The series will consist of 10 original episodes, each debuting on Tuesday morning after the Monday night episode of ABC's The Bachelor and will be on Snapchat for 24 hours, Disney said. The company said other shows will roll out on Snapchat in coming months. NBCUniversal and Turner (see 1608080036 and 1612090065) also announced Snapchat programming agreements in recent months.

Rights to most major domestic sports are locked up until early next decade, but digital distributors like Amazon and Google could enter the negotiations when they become available, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote investors Wednesday. But sports leagues still want TV's extensive reach and partners with content production abilities and skills for wide distribution, and thus "are unlikely to let their crown jewel packages go to new bidders," he said. But Amazon is seen as a likely bidder for sports rights next year, perhaps with the expiration of Twitter's NFL rights, Moffett said.

Over-the-top apps for ABC's owned-and-operated stations are now available for Amazon Fire TV, making the stations the first network station group to launch market-specific OTT video apps, Disney/ABC said in a news release Wednesday. The apps are for WLS-TV Chicago; WABC-TV New York; KABC-TV Los Angeles; WPVI-TV Philadelphia; KGO-TV San Francisco; KTRK-TV Houston; WTVD Durham, North Carolina; and KFSN-TV Fresno, the media company said. The apps deliver local news, weather and community news, it said, saying its Freeform streaming app -- which allows watching of various network programs -- also is live.

A second Cayman-Island based, U.S. citizen-controlled investor is seeking FCC permission to own about 15 percent of Pandora, said a public notice on the investor's petition for declaratory ruling filed Wednesday in docket 16-418 by Matrix Master Fund. Matrix already owns 9.877 percent and wants to increase that to 14.99 percent. In August, Cayman-based Corvex Master Fund filed a similar petition (see 1608120061), seeking to buy 9.99 percent and be pre-approved to buy up to 14.99 percent. “Team Telecom” withdrew a hold request on Corvex's still-pending petition earlier this month. Like Corvex, Matrix identifies the fund as being ultimately controlled by a U.S. citizen through “intervening entities” organized under Delaware law. Corvex was controlled by Keith Meister, and Matrix is controlled by David Goel, the petition said. Both companies needed to file the request because of a provision in an FCC declaratory ruling that allowed Pandora to buy a terrestrial radio station. The provision requires FCC approval for any foreign company seeking to buy more than 5 percent of Pandora. Comments are due on Matrix's petition Jan. 23, replies Feb. 7.

Denon is taking its Heos wireless multiroom sound system to the commercial market. The audio company said Tuesday it's partnering with Mood Media to make that company’s Mood Mix commercially licensed music streaming service available to businesses such as restaurants, retail stores and medical offices. Business owners can add or move wireless speakers as needed and control the “properly licensed music” via app, without the labor costs or disruption that can accompany commercial sound system installations, said Denon. With Mood Mix, businesses can program and customize soundtracks by mixing “hundreds of musical genres, artist-inspired playlists, and music organized by decades, tempo or mood,” said Mood Media.

Most multichannel video programming distributor stocks outperformed the market in recent years, but there's still reason to believe they're undervalued and will continue to do well in 2017, given expectations of lower taxes, less regulation and lower capital intensity, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote investors Thursday. He said Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband was, at its core, setting the stage for broadband price regulation eventually, and the reversal of reclassification under a GOP FCC and deregulatory White House "is a matter of when, not if." That reclassification reversal probably would preserve net neutrality principles while taking away Title II as the administrative means, he said. It also could open the door to bigger charges for interconnection and to usage-based pricing, he said. Moffett also said the rise of over-the-top video and app-centric video consumption will mean less capital spending on set-top boxes. Conversely, he said, the biggest MVPD challenge in 2017 is 5G, even though deployment will take years. OTT is a somewhat lesser concern, though Hulu and maybe Google likely will launch OTT offerings in 2017, Moffett said. Comcast is expected to launch its wireless service in mid-2017, but cable's entry "will be a slow gradual process," the analyst emailed investors.

Amazon added Belgium, Canada, France, India, Italy and Spain to the list of countries where Prime members can watch Prime Video at no additional cost to their membership, it announced Wednesday. It’s offering Prime Video in other new territories at an introductory price of $2.99 or 2.99 euros per month for the first six months, along with a free seven-day trial, it said. Prime Video is now available in nearly every country; China isn't on the list. Content includes Amazon originals such as Transparent, The Grand Tour and The Man in the High Castle and “hundreds” of movies from Hollywood studios and network TV, Amazon said. Members can watch Prime Video in English, with French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles, and dubbed versions are also available for many titles. Members can watch content through the Amazon Prime Video app on Android and iOS phones and tablets, Fire tablets, LG and Samsung Smart TVs or online at Primevideo.com. Members can also download movies and TV shows for offline viewing on a plane or train at no additional cost, it said.

Over-the-top network Haystack TV will carry Gray Television's local news content, Gray said in a news release Tuesday. Gray said the OTT deal is a way of reaching millennial viewers, and follows it making its CBS affiliates' content available via the CBS All Access platform (see 1504090026). “Upon accessing Haystack TV, local users will see a mix of the top news stories and other content tuned to their specific interests based on their viewing habits, preferred publishers and favorite topics,” said the broadcaster about the service focusing on millennials. Haystack “features content from traditional news broadcasters, as well as from newer niche publishers,” it said.

More Turner brands and live coverage of its premium sports events will be featured on Snapchat's Discover platform, and Snap will work with other Turner brands to develop Snapchat shows, Time Warner said in a news release announcing a Turner/Snap partnership. TW said the deal covers content, distribution and advertising for Turner's portfolio. It said Turner will work with Snapchat parent Snap to develop new shows, and Turner's Bleacher Report will start a Discover sports channel. The companies will work jointly on advertising sales, TW said.