Just over a third of older adult broadband households have a smart speaker or smart display, compared with 49% of all U.S. broadband homes, reported Parks Associates Tuesday. COVID-19 is contributing to the trend among seniors, said the researcher, as 26% of households 65 or older use at least one virtual health or wellness tool, and nearly 10% use a health tracker.

The FCC Media Bureau’s Video Division is “running a little behind schedule” in handling broadcast license renewals because of the pandemic, said Senior Attorney-Adviser David Roberts at an FCBA event Monday. “We are living in a COVID world” and working remotely, “so we ask you not to hold it against us,” he said. Those difficulties occasionally lead to a broadcaster's renewal not being completed by the day its license expires, he said. Stations seeking such renewals are themselves being slowed by the difficulties of the pandemic, he said. There’s “nothing magic about that day,” Roberts said. “It just means we’re working through your group.” The Video Division is “flooded” with “several significant work streams,” said Chief Barbara Kreisman, citing the license renewal season, repacking reimbursement, low-power TV stations converting to digital by this summer’s deadline, and a recent host of stations requesting channel changes. Takeovers are also “heating up,” Kreisman said. Disorganized online public files can cause a station renewal application to take longer, Roberts said. He said the agency’s shift to the license management system for the renewal process, from the consolidated database system, was a major change. “Getting used to LMS has been an adjustment,” he said. Video Division staff repeatedly said it's best for stations anticipating problems with their renewal applications -- political file violations, late filings, kidvid issues -- to be as clear as possible in their filings and contact the division to discuss the matter. “Reach out in advance,” Roberts said. “Be thoughtful on disclosures.”

A year into the pandemic, wireless networks continue to keep people connected and the U.S. is pulling ahead on 5G, CTIA President Meredith Baker blogged Monday. "It’s now clear that the U.S. is poised to be at the forefront of the 5G Economy and become home to 5G innovations that will carry us through the next decade," said Baker.

ICANN's June 14-17 in-person policy conference to have been in The Hague will instead be virtual, the group's board decided Thursday. "Barriers" to "holding and appropriately planning in-person international meetings" include "restrictions on international travel, limited flight availability, physical distancing requirements, risks posed to the local host community, and the possibility of a resurgence resulting in further lockdowns," the group said of COVID-19.

Younger metropolitan men seeking to buy economy vehicles are the “most receptive” to virtual car buying, and 80% of the public overall is "open" to an online vehicle purchase, a 50% increase from pre-pandemic acceptance, reported Acertus Thursday. The automotive analytics firm canvassed 1,000 actual and likely car buyers in December, finding consumers' inability to test drive the biggest hurdle to online adoption.

Employee enthusiasm is high for returning to the physical office, a year after work-from-home orders began, reported Eden Workplace. The startup markets a suite of software for hybrid offices. It canvassed 1,000 office workers mid-February, finding 85% want to return “in some capacity,” with most citing the desire to reengage with their co-workers as their top rationale. More than six in 10 want strict enforcement of COVID-19 health and safety protocols as a condition, and a quarter would support stiff reprimands against rule flaunters. Two-thirds oppose resuming in-person meetings without mask mandates and social distancing policies in force.

COVID-19-related timing provision adjustments are extended through May 10, the Copyright Office said Tuesday. Originally to expire May 12, 2020, adjustments previously were extended to July 10, Sept. 8, Nov. 9, Jan. 8 (see 2011090029) and March 9.

Warner Music Group sees its physical, merchandise and live performance businesses that took a hit in the COVID-19 pandemic “springing back,” WMG told an investor event. CEO Stephen Cooper sees opportunities from many areas. On whether he sees disintermediation in the music business in the way direct-to-consumer streaming services are proliferating in the over-the-top video market, Cooper said Thursday the concept is “always on our radar screen” and “doesn’t present a substantial risk.” The music model is different from the long-form video model because it requires “ubiquity,” he said. Warner’s artists “want their music to be everywhere,” he said. Cooper cited a “backlash” in the past few years when some streaming services tried exclusivity. "It just backfired because artists want their music to be accessible to everyone,” he said. The long-form video model, by contrast, is about exclusivity. Disney expanding from content to distribution and Netflix growing from distribution to content are examples of "far more vertical integration than I believe one will ever see in music.”

Live Nation Entertainment management expects concerts to return at 50%-100% capacity “across major markets” in second half given COVID-19 “vaccine distribution progress” (see 2102260028), reported Cowen Thursday. Lack of government “clarity” on “event ban reopening timelines remains a hurdle, reflecting the 90-day lead time Live Nation needs to ramp up key operating functions,” it said: The company's calendar shows 45 major artists scheduled to return there in 2022, compared with the average of 20-25. Concert fans went to two-three shows a year on average before the pandemic, and management thinks demand could increase to three or more in 2022.

The pandemic revealed that a remotely connected digital workplace "is a viable solution for companies to keep operating, and a feasible alternative to the traditional office space, at least in the short term,” reported Deloitte Wednesday. The COVID-19 global health crisis likely will have “a lasting impact on businesses and employees," it said. A U.S. census study in June found a third of workers expect to "never return" to daily commutes, it said. A Deloitte survey in the financial sector found 77% expect to work from home “regularly” post-pandemic. Connectivity is the “unsung hero of the future of work,” said Deloitte. The mass shift to "distributed working" during the pandemic "has proven the agility of existing networks and IT infrastructures to deal with increased demand.” But connectivity platforms “need to improve, and many employees still lack the digital skills to work effectively remotely," it said. Deloitte and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found 90% of respondents “believe yearly upskilling is required to enable employees to keep up,” it said. “Access to technology is unequally distributed across geographies, economic classes and education levels,” said Deloitte. “The high-speed, low-latency connectivity required to support a hybrid work environment simply isn’t available to many communities.”