SiriusXM signed a multiyear deal with reVolver that gives the SXM Media revenue organization exclusive global ad sales rights to reVolver's podcast lineup, said SiriusXM Thursday. The agreement also gives SiriusXM’s podcast subsidiary Stitcher authorization to distribute all reVolver content across all podcast platforms, it said. SiriusXM billed reVolver as the top multicultural audio-on-demand content creator and publisher in the U.S.

Netflix has no plans to introduce an ad-supported tier as Disney+ intends to do this year in the U.S. (see 2203080004), Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann told a Morgan Stanley investment conference Tuesday. “It's not like we have religion against advertising,” said Neumann. “We think we have a great model in the subscription business." Netflix will “never say never” to an ad-supported tier, he said. “It's hard for us to kind of ignore that others are doing it, but it now doesn't make sense for us.” Netflix hopes mobile gaming will be "a big part of our business in a decade," but "it's not going to be a big part of our business in the next 12 months," said the CFO. Netflix went from "saying we wanted to get in the games business to launching a games business globally inside of 12 months and having it work on Android and iOS and around the world," he said.

Amazon launched a limited-access beta version of its Amp app for iOS users allowing creators to DJ their own radio shows, it blogged Tuesday. Users will have access to a catalog of “tens of millions” of licensed songs from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and independent music companies, it said. With Amp, users can offer “spontaneous talk,” music discovery, diverse personalities and broad programming using the latest technology “so anybody with a phone, a voice, and a love for music could make their own show,” said Amp Vice President John Ciancutti. Users will be able to create live shows alongside well-known artists participating in the limited beta including Nicki Minaj with her Queen Radio show, singer-songwriter Tinashe, electronic artist Lindsey Stirling, drummer Travis Barker, and rappers Pusha T, Lil Yachty and Big Boi. Amp, free to use, gives creators access to a song library they can use when creating their shows, and the ability to invite live callers to join their programs, with the ability to take callers, including control over who speaks and when. They can plan and schedule their shows and listen to songs in real time with their audiences, said Ciancutti. Amp is creating built-in discovery and notifications, so listeners can find and follow creators and upcoming shows. Future capabilities include Alexa integrations, social sharing and search and discovery features. Following the beta, Amp will have a public launch later this year, he said.

The Netflix “first-mover advantage” and its large subscriber base gives it a “nearly insurmountable competitive advantage” over streaming peers, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Wednesday, upgrading shares to “neutral” from “underperform.” Netflix “appears to have hit a ceiling" on subscribers in the U.S. and Canada “and is pulling new levers to lower churn,” he said, citing a new season of the Russian Doll series in Q2 and the final season of Stranger Things scheduled to straddle Q2 and Q3. Subscription price increases will likely fuel added content production and growth in other regions, Pachter said. Future subscriber growth will occur mostly in less developed regions at much lower subscription prices, while subscribers in saturated markets pay higher rates to fund new content. Wedbush expects Netflix to deliver profit growth as long as it can continue raising subscription prices, “but competition may create a price ceiling.”

Arkansas' Video Service Act (VSA) doesn't apply to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, and the U.S. District Court in Texarkana rightly threw out claims by the city of Ashdown that the streamers owe unpaid franchise fees, they told the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in docket 21-3435 appellee answering briefs Tuesday. Ashdown is appealing a lower court's dismissal of its suit seeking franchise fees from the streamers (see 2202100004). The streamers said a growing number of courts reached similar conclusions about franchise fee suits brought under statutes they said were similar to the VSA, and made a similar argument Tuesday in federal court in New Jersey as they fight similar franchise fee litigation there. Hulu told the appellate court it doesn't install or build any facilities of its own in public rights of way and thus never sought a state certificate of franchise authority. It said its service predates the Arkansas VSA by five years, but there was no mention of it or other streaming services in the VSA's legislative history, and for years no state authority attempted to apply the law's requirements to it. Hulu said the VSA doesn't authorize a municipality suing a non-franchise holder for franchise fees. Netflix said subscribers access its content library over the public Internet, and therefore it doesn't need a franchise and has no obligation to pay franchise fees under the VSA. In a docket 2:21-cv-15303 filing Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Newark, the streamers cited a February decision by Gwinnett County, Georgia, Superior Court to bolster their argument for tossing out a pending suit by Longport and Irvington, New Jersey. The streamers said the Georgia court said Netflix content doesn't constitute video programming under Georgia law "that is substantially similar ot the New Jersey Cable Television Act." The Gwinnett County decision granted a Hulu, Netflix, Disney and Dish Network motion to dismiss litigation brought by several Georgia localities. Outside counsel for the Arkansas and New Jersey communities didn't comment.

Disney’s announcement Friday that it’s adding an ad-supported Disney+ VOD service in the U.S. late this year -- and internationally in 2023 -- shows “they no longer believe they can hit their 2024 subscriber goals without an ad-supported Disney+ tier,” Lightshed analyst Richard Greenfield wrote investors Friday. Disney called the AVOD offering a “building block” in its path to achieving a long-term target of 230 million-260 million Disney+ subscribers by fiscal year 2024. It ended Q1 FY 2022, ended Jan. 1, with 196.4 million subscribers, 42.9 million domestic. “Expanding access to Disney+ to a broader audience at a lower price point is a win for everyone -- consumers, advertisers, and our storytellers,” said Kareem Daniel, chairman-Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. Details and pricing will be announced later, Disney said. Offering a lower priced subscription streaming service, supplemented with ads, can expand a subscription-based VOD service’s total addressable market, Greenfield said, but "the far larger question is whether it is the ‘right’ long-term strategic decision in the intensifying war for time and attention." Greenfield cited data from Antenna showing 32% of SVOD sign-ups last year were for ad-supported tiers, up from 19% in 2020, but he noted AVOD tiers have 50%-70% of subscriber bases for services with hybrid ad-supported tiers. “The clear implication is that if you give consumers the option to save money with a lower-cost ad-supported tier, the majority will take that option,” said the analyst. Greenfield said Disney's move could make tech platforms that don’t offer an ad-based tier -- Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ -- “that much more compelling.” Disney+ is “already low-priced” at $7.99 with a “robust” content slate coming in second-half 2022 and 2023, he said, adding, “Disney has added WAY more subscribers than anyone thought possible when it launched in 2019.”

Cinema advertising network National CineMedia generated an operating profit before depreciation and amortization for the first time in six quarters, having “successfully navigated through the unique marketplace challenges that have impacted our business for nearly two years,” said CEO Tom Lesinski on a Q4 earnings call Thursday. With a more consistent film release schedule and the record-breaking box office results of Spider-Man: No Way Home, “cinema is once again providing the broad reach our clients have been accustomed to,” said Lesinski, who worked for former Warner Home Video President Warren Lieberfarb on the 1997 introduction of the DVD. “For the first time since the start of the pandemic, we're starting the year with meaningful upfront bookings, a packed and attractive film release slate and growing consumer demand to return to the theaters as COVID infection levels plummet and mask mandates come to an end.” Most 2022 film releases “are confirmed for a 40-day exclusive theatrical window,” said the CEO. Films that opened in 2021 exclusively on streaming services or day-and-date with cinema didn't benefit from the huge marketing exposure that comes from “a broad initial theatrical launch,” he said. Though ad-supported streaming is growing, it represents only about 9% of overall video consumption, “and in any given week, it provides for far less reach and overall effectiveness than cinema,” he said.

WWE terminated its partnership with the Russian federal sports channel Match TV and shut down Russian access to the WWE Network subscription-based streaming service, effective immediately, announced the media company Thursday, without specifically mentioning Russia’s Ukraine invasion. The action “eliminates access in Russia” to all WWE programming, including all “premium live” events, it said. The company didn’t respond to questions about the financial implications of its decision.

Spotify closed its office in Russia “indefinitely,” saying Wednesday it’s “deeply shocked and saddened by the unprovoked attack on Ukraine.” Spotify’s team reviewed “thousands of pieces of content since the start of the war," the company said, and has restricted discoverability of shows owned and operated by Russian state-affiliated media. It also removed all RT and Sputnik content from Spotify in the EU and other markets and launched a guide (login required) to provide users with “trusted news” on Ukraine from digital sources including BBC World Service, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. It plans to keep its service operational in Russia “to allow for the global flow of information.” The streaming music service is providing individual support to its people in the region and its Ukrainian employees globally, it said.

Verizon announced +play Thursday, a streaming platform that allows users to centralize subscriptions across audio, gaming, fitness, music and video services at no additional cost to its customers. It has partnerships with Netflix, Peloton, Live Nation’s Veeps and offers Disney+, discovery+, A+E Networks, AMC+ and others, giving Verizon customers a “simple and efficient way to access and take advantage of exclusive deals for content services,” said the company. Trials for +play will begin at the end of March with a select group of customers and brands, with an expected consumer launch later this year, it said. It builds on content subscriptions already offered by Verizon and will add to its Mix & Match offering “by scaling choice through aggregation,” including choice of connectivity and device, said Verizon Consumer Group CEO Manon Brouillette.