Dish Network's Sling TV reconfigured its basic packages into single-stream Sling Orange and multi-stream Sling Blue and added NBC content to its lineup, it said in a news release Thursday. The $20 per month Orange package now includes BBC America, while its Blue service launched in April at $25/month has added BBC America, Bravo, NBC, NBC Sports Network, Syfy and USA. Sling said it expects to add regional sports networks to Sling Blue and content from NBC affiliates on a market-by-market basis. Sling added Fox earlier this year (see 1604130042).

Pay-TV providers and networks must abandon linear distribution and offer all programming on demand with full stacking rights, put in place better search and recommendation interfaces and start real-time targeted advertising placement aimed at viewers instead of programs in order to compete with rapidly growing over-the-top services and digital ad platforms, Moody's said in a report Wednesday on OTT Invasion. Moody's said OTT and digital ad platforms are quickly eroding contractual aggregation and bundling of content through closed-system set-top boxes as consumers embrace time-shifted, digital, mobile and subscription VOD streaming platforms. Moody's said a shift to a fully on-demand world is unlikely without content producers and distributors "lead[ing] a total overhaul [of] how the industry distributes content and advertising." But that unified approach also is unlikely, Moody's said, "meaning change will be inconsistent, stability will erode as individual network churn rises, and operating performance will come under pressure for those that stumble."

More than half of TVs shipped worldwide in Q1 were smart models, led by an uptake of internet-connected TVs in China, where four of five TVs shipped had smart functionality, said an IHS report Wednesday. In North America, 56 percent of TVs shipped were smart, it said. Analyst Paul Gray called the trend “remarkable” in China and North America, where the smart TV feature has quickly pushed into entry-level products. But shipments have stagnated in Europe and Japan in recent quarters, said IHS. Just 38 percent of sets shipped in Japan in Q1 were smart, the lowest recorded since 2011, IHS said, and European shipments have remained stable at 40-45 percent for the past two years. “It’s all about content,” said Gray. “Where the local offering is relatively weak, consumers are reluctant to pay extra for built-in internet TV services,” he said. “Good streaming content in local languages remains the key to value in smart TV.” The Android operating system was in nearly half of smart TVs shipped in Q1, though Tizen is in 43 percent of smart TVs shipped outside China, he said. North America has Roku as an additional smart TV platform, giving Chinese brands a way to elevate product value. Chinese brands are shipping between 10 percent and 20 percent of products with smart capability in Europe, compared with 90 percent for the North American market, Gray said. “Smart TV is becoming a critical factor in Chinese brands’ export development.” Gray said, and Roku TVs in North America are a way for “aggressive brands to build share with consumers confident of the value of their purchases.”

Pandora warned subscribers in an email Tuesday of a “situation that could possibly affect your Pandora account.” Pandora said there’s no evidence users’ Pandora accounts were “compromised or tampered with in any way,” but user names and passwords "that were breached from a service other than Pandora a few years ago were posted on the web recently.” Pandora security teams analyzed the data and found certain Pandora users’ names were included on the list, said the company, and it urged those users to change passwords. It didn’t say which service’s user names and passwords were breached, or how many, though a Google search for “Pandora” and “password breach” brought up an article from Gizmodo Australia dated June 22 referring to a LinkedIn breach. “Last month a data breach from 2012 saw over 100 million LinkedIn usernames and passwords accessed and released onto the internet,” it said, but the link was broken and users who clicked through found a “couldn’t find the page you’ve requested” message. Meanwhile Monday, Pandora and Uber said Pandora will be integrated within the Uber driving app, enabling drivers and passengers to “listen to the music they love.” It "can be challenging to find high quality music that both drivers and riders love -- without radio ads and interruptions to the music,” said Bob Cowherd, Uber senior product manager-music and media. The partnership extends to Pandora and Uber customers in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, said the companies. “Coming soon,” they said, riders will be able to “personalize their experience” when they're on an Uber trip. Riders registered with Pandora will have access to their favorite stations on an Uber trip “so they can easily listen through the car speakers," said the companies.

Viacom is expanding its subscription VOD footprint with the unveiling Wednesday of BET Play, which provides direct mobile access to BET's TV series, documentaries and award shows, it said in a news release. The BET Play app and content "significantly expands the brand's geographic availability by making it available direct to consumer in many markets where it has not previously had an established presence on TV,” said Michael Armstrong, general manager-International Brand Development at Viacom International Media Networks. The programmer said it now offers Viacom Play Plex mobile TV apps for each of its major international TV channel brands.

Sonos issued a software update to users Tuesday that includes higher streaming bit rates for Napster and Rhapsody users. Sonos support didn’t tell users the former or new bit rates but said the increase would translate to “vibrantly detailed sound.” The company didn’t immediately respond to questions. Also new in software version 6.3: quick control from an iOS lock screen, allowing users to control volume, pause and skip features without having to unlock the phone, good on iOS version 8.0 and higher, said Sonos. A new split-view feature for iOS lets users view content from another app while using Sonos functions. A “slide over” function that works on later model iPads lets users begin playing music and then “get back to your emails,” Sonos said. Improvements to the Trueplay feature simplify the tuning process possible with a Sonos speaker to improve sound regardless of location or positioning. Sonos addressed a “system not found” error that resulted from the previous software update: users who encounter the error message now will find it easier to fix, or they can connect directly with Sonos support for assistance, said the company. Users with a question or problem with their Sonos system can reach customer care from the main menu of a phone or tablet app through the new Help button, it said.

The Media Alliance is backing a push by over-the-top multichannel video programming distributors, broadcasters and BitTorrent for reclassification of some OTT providers as MVPDs, with a certification step for non-facilities based online video distributors that would have them subject to MVPD rules (see 1606140018). In an FCC filing Friday in docket 14-261, Media Alliance said the TV Neutrality Alliance idea "is a common-sense way to interpret the rules" that will alleviate regulatory uncertainty.

Over-the-top multichannel video programming distributors, broadcasters and BitTorrent are pushing the FCC to move again on its proposal to reclassify some OTT providers as MVPDs. "Only ... a level regulatory field -- specifically the ability to acquire MVPD status" will let online video distributors (OVD) compete with traditional MVPDs that offer broadcast station programming, the group -- calling itself the TV Neutrality Alliance (TVNA) -- said in a filing Tuesday in docket 14-261. Making up TVNA are BiggyTV, BitTorrent, Camino Real Communications, Cocola Broadcasting, Cooper Communications, Pi Omni-Media, Pluto TV, Telletopia Foundation and Ventura Broadcasting. The retransmission consent mechanism for MVPDs is the only route to the 24-hour linear streams of local broadcast programming for Internet distribution, TVNA said, and any OTT offerings that don't include broadcast station signals shouldn't be subject to MVPD regulatory burdens. TVNA pitched a modification to the FCC-suggested rule change, with a certification step whereby non-facilities-based OVDs that want to transmit local broadcast signals will need to certify to the agency that they will comply with all MVPD retrans consent rules to be able to invoke retrans consent or program access rules. That certification step would make non-facilities based OVDs subject to MVPD regulations and privileges while obviating OVDs not taking advantage of MVPD rules, and thus allay Amazon regulatory concerns (see 1511060013), TVNA said. The OTT-as-MVPD rulemaking has been seen as largely dormant following tepid OTT industry reception (see 1606060033)

T-Mobile for the sixth time expanded the lineup of networks available as part of its zero-rated Binge On service. Online gaming streams featuring League of Legends and Hearthstone and shows on PBS and PBS Kids now stream using Binge On, T-Mobile said Tuesday in a news release. “Why limit yourself when you can binge on and on and on?” said John Legere, T-Mobile CEO. “Whatever you and your family watch -- from Jon Snow to Elmo -- Binge On has everyone covered. … So go ahead, binge on entire seasons of Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead and never worry about using up your high-speed data.” Almost 90 video providers now offer programming on Binge On, the carrier said. Binge On, introduced in November, allows subscribers to stream video from a wide number of services without usage counting against a customer’s monthly data bucket (see 1511120045).

Nokia and Sprint planned to have demo'd the power of 5G at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, during the Centennial Copa America soccer tournament Friday, Nokia said. It said Sprint was to demo 4K video streaming and virtual reality at speeds of up to 2.3 Gbps, using 73 GHz spectrum. “This demonstration of 5G capabilities is one of several steps we’re taking to bring 5G capabilities into field trials,” Sprint Chief Technology Officer John Saw said in a Nokia news release. “With our deep 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings, we have significantly more 5G capable spectrum than any other carrier,” Saw said in a blog post Friday. “And we have a long history, starting all the way back in 2006, deploying multiple high spectrum bands for backhaul, including 11 GHz, 18 GHz, 23 GHz, 28 GHz and (starting in 2009) 80 GHz.”