Connected audio software company StreamUnlimited bowed its Stream805 module at IFA, giving audio companies a way to bring Google Cast on board quickly into product families, said the company. Stream805 combines a StrataGX Broadcom processor and Wistron hardware/BSP (board support package) development, said StreamUnlimited. Connected audio products are expected to pass 100 million units by 2020, said Dan Harding, marketing vice president of Broadcom, which supplies the BCM58300 processor for wireless multiroom and multichannel synchronization. The companies' solution enables Broadcom to deliver a turnkey connected audio system solution to end customers, he said.

CBS is starting a commercial-free version of its CBS All Access VOD subscription service at $9.99 a month, in addition to its current, $5.99 a month service featuring commercials, the company said in a news release Wednesday. It nevertheless said the commercial-free plan's live-streaming of CBS stations will have the same commercials as the broadcasts, while some on-demand shows will include promotional interruptions.

One World Sports (OWS) no longer is part of Dish Network's lineup after the two failed to negotiate renewal of their carriage agreement, they said in statements. OWS said it's no longer available on Dish and its Sling platform as of Tuesday because Dish insisted on most-favored-nation provisions "that were imbalanced relative to the network's carriage." OWS said it had been seeking carriage in a domestic sports package and in HD format rather than continuing to be packaged in an ethnic channel and in SD, and said Dish declined an extension. Dish said it "constantly evaluates the content we carry and we work to provide channels that our customers demand [and] as a result, channels are sometimes removed to address a combination of customer interests and business objectives.”

More pay-TV subscribers -- at 17.9 percent -- cut services such as premium channels or premium sports packages during Q2 than added such services (16.4 percent), Digitalsmiths reported Tuesday. Among pay-TV subscribers planning to make a change in their subscriptions over the next six months, roughly 7 percent plan to end the service -- roughly the same percentage as those who plan to switch to another provider, it said. Digitalsmiths said of those it surveyed planning to change their pay-TV subscriptions, another 3.7 percent plan to go to an online service or app and 31.8 percent are considering making some unspecified change. Digitalsmiths said about 50 percent of survey respondents planning to cut, change or switch pay-TV services in the next six months would stay if the provider added some functionality to make searches easier -- an increase of 8.8 percentage points year over year. Digitalsmiths said 77.2 percent of respondents are satisfied or very satisfied with their pay-TV service, relatively flat year over year. For those who are dissatisfied, the biggest reasons given were cost, followed at distant second and third by bad channel selection and poor service, it said. Nearly 77 percent of survey respondents said they wanted a la carte model, with the most-desired channels being Discovery, ABC, CBS, History Channel and NBC, Digitalsmiths said, saying average respondents' ideal bundles are made up of 19 channels. The average price that respondents want to pay is $3.60 per channel monthly, Digitalsmiths said. The amount of "cord cheating" -- pay-TV subscribers who seek on-demand video content from third party and over-the-top sources -- is growing, with 57.2 percent of respondents with pay-TV service going such routes, Digitalsmiths said. The biggest cord cheating option is with a subscription VOD service, it said. The survey was of 3,114 participants in the U.S. and Canada.

"Cord stackers," who subscribe to a traditional multichannel video programming distributor as well as to a streaming video service, have highest overall satisfaction of streaming video consumers, according to J.D. Power's 2016 Streaming Video Satisfaction Study, the company said in a news release Thursday. The company's first such study of satisfaction among customers who used a subscription VOD service or pay-per-view streaming within the past six months found that most streaming video customers still buy an MVPD service atop a streaming video service. J.D. Power said 60 percent of streaming customers are cord stackers, 23 percent are cord shavers, 13 percent are cord cutters and 4 percent are cord nevers. The survey said cord-cutter satisfaction is lowest. Netflix was ranked highest among streaming video brands, J.D. Power said, followed by Hulu, Vudu, Apple iTunes and Amazon Video. J.D. Power said the study was based on responses from 3,928 customers received in June and July.

Fox Sports’ Go live streaming platform launched on Apple TV Friday bringing Multiview Display for up to four streams of Fox Sports live content along with a 60-frame-per-second streaming rate, said the network in a Friday announcement. Owners of fourth-generation Apple TVs in the U.S., who receive Fox Sports TV networks as part of a pay-TV subscription, can access Fox Sports, FS1, FS2, Fox Sports Regional Networks, Fox College Sports, Fox Deportes and Fox Soccer Plus through the Fox Sports Go app on Apple TV, it said. More than 95 million U.S. users have access to Fox Sports GO through participating pay-TV providers, said Fox.

CBS’ All Access digital subscription VOD service is now available on the Xbox One, the network said in a Thursday announcement. The $5.99-per-month service includes streaming access to more than 7,500 on-demand TV episodes from current and previous seasons of classic shows, original series and CBS stations live in more than 150 markets. CBS’ subscribers spend more than half their viewing time streaming via connected devices, and three-quarters for live local feeds, said Rob Gelick, general manager-digital platforms, CBS Interactive Entertainment. Subscribers also can view CBS All Access on Android, iOS and Windows 10 devices via app and via Xbox 360, Chromecast, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Roku players and Roku TV, said CBS. More devices will be added to the list in coming months, it said.

TV Everywhere is increasingly the norm as a majority of TV watchers have viewed content on devices other than TV sets, NCTA said in a blog post Wednesday. Pointing to NCTA-commissioned poll results, it said 61 percent of respondents reported using a computer, tablet or smartphone to watch TV at least once monthly, and 46 percent said they have watched TV via an app. Thirty-four percent said they watched Netflix on a mobile device in the past year, more than any other app on a mobile device. When asked about live programming, 54 percent said news is most important to watch live, with sports following at 24 percent. NCTA also said most Americans "have access to ample broadband for streaming" video content as evidenced by 85 percent of those surveyed saying their wired internet service is adequate for streaming, downloading and other online services. NCTA said the poll, conducted earlier this month by Morning Consult, was of 2,001 registered voters.

Disney's cloud-based digital movie service platform Disney Movies Anywhere (DMA) now includes Verizon's Fios, making it the first multichannel video programming distributor there, Disney said in a news release Tuesday. Disney said its deal with Verizon lets Fios customers watch their Disney digital movies via DMA and buy content directly from Fios and supported DMA platforms. DMA accounts already can connect to such online retailers as iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV and Vudu, Disney said.

Re/Code reported Amazon is working on two music subscription services: one modeled after $10-per-month streaming offerings from Spotify and Apple Music, and a less-expensive service designed to work on the Amazon Echo. The goal for both services is a September launch but that depends on deals with music labels and publishers, said Re/Code. The Echo-only service -- estimated to run $4-$5 a month -- wouldn’t work on phones, said Monday's article. An Amazon spokeswoman told us, “We don’t have anything to share.”