Most studios probably won't release new content until all theaters have reopened, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Tuesday, predicting a 48% box office drop in North America this year to $5.9 billion. Citing a "fluid" situation, Pachter said it's unclear how quarantines and stay-at-home orders will affect consumer behavior long term: "People may be eager to visit the theatres once they feel safe doing so, but it is unlikely crowds will return to any semblance of normal before a vaccine is widely distributed." Theaters and studios have some incentive to release new content before a "return to normal," as a cinema could show one film on all screens to allow for social distancing, Pachter said. Streaming services will compete to bolster their offerings in an “extremely competitive environment," facing a dearth of content later this year after the halt of productions due to stay-at-home orders. Studios "have an opportunity to release films straight to streaming for a premium rental fee," he said. Some 68 films have been moved or pulled from the release slate, worth an estimated $7.5 billion; seven of those shifted to a streaming platform, worth an estimated $358 million at the box office. Pachter predicts 15 that haven’t been rescheduled -- worth $652 million at the box office -- will be moved to streaming platforms. At home, some 53% of adults ages 18 and above in U.S. TV households are spending more time watching TV per day since the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Leichtman Research Group Tuesday. Sixty-two percent of pay-TV premium subscribers, 62% of pay-TV DVR subs, and 59% of pay-TV on-demand users spend more time watching TV per day, it said, and 43% of connected TV users use their sets more often. Satisfaction levels were lower: 39% were more satisfied with their streaming video services, a third were more satisfied with their pay-TV service and 36% were more satisfied with their home internet service during the period.

Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, led filing of a companion version of the Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act (HR-6474) Friday. The measure would allocate $2 billion more funding to the FCC’s existing $605 million Healthcare Connect Fund program (see 2004090041). HR-6474’s text was included in the House-passed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (Heroes) Act (HR-6800), which also contains substantial broadband funding (see 2005130059). “We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the demand for telehealth,” Murkowski said. “Unfortunately, as a result, [the Rural Health Care program] has already outpaced the funding it was allocated prior to the outbreak and telehealth providers are facing significant connectivity challenges in their effort to provide care.” Six senators are co-sponsors: John Boozman, R-Ark.; Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Angus King, I-Maine; Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Gary Peters, D-Mich.; and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. Incompas, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and USTelecom lauded the bill’s filing.

The Starz streaming business is “thriving” in the stay-at-home “environment,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer on a fiscal Q4 call Thursday. Lionsgate bought Starz for $4.4 billion nearly four years ago (see 1606300069). Starz finished the year ended March 31 with 6.8 million paid over-the-top U.S. subscribers, “well in excess of our projections," said Feltheimer. "It has continued its strong growth since then.” It had forecast reaching about 6 million OTT subs domestically by fiscal year-end, said Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch: “We were well past that number through the first two months of the quarter, and then it accelerated as we got into March.”

The American Bankers Association and other financial groups asked the FCC to act on their petition seeking clarity that banks, credit unions and customer-facing financial service providers can use automatic telephone dialing systems, prerecorded messages and artificial voice for calls involving the COVID-19 pandemic without violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. “Financial institutions’ calls and text messages to offer payment deferrals and other loan modifications and to warn consumers of potential fraud on the consumer’s account protect and support consumers’ financial health and safety,” the groups said in reply comments posted Friday in docket 02-278. “These calls and texts clearly fall within the Emergency Purposes Exception.” Many credit unions "closed lobbies, keeping only drive-through facilities open, and reduced hours in an effort to protect the health and safety of their employees and members,” said the CrossState Credit Union Association, which supports the petition: “As a result of these changes, credit union members need to be notified when such changes have occurred.”

An agency official and hospital executive urged applying soon for the FCC COVID-19 telehealth program. Speaking on an FCBA webinar Thursday, American Hospital Association Director-Health Information Technology Policy Samantha Burch wanted to see another round of congressional funding, saying additional demand could demonstrate need. Congress allocated $200 million (see 2004010042). Through Wednesday, the FCC had approved releasing just over $50 million. "Time is of the essence for this program," said Chas Eberle, senior counsel for the FCC Wireline Bureau's Telecommunications Access Policy Division. The program is to end when the entire $200 million fund is extinguished, which Eberle expected to occur before the emergency ends. "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" when preparing a program application, he told FCBA. Bureau staff will work with applicants and seek clarification as needed, Eberle said. "Hospitals are grateful for this iterative process," Burch said. Keep in mind the program isn't a grant program but a reimbursement program, Eberle said. Awardees need to track and submit paperwork to get funding, he said. AHA wants the FCC to include for-profit hospitals (see 2004270044). "COVID doesn't discriminate based on the tax status," she said.

The National Association of Attorneys General led a letter Thursday with 39 state AGs urging Congress to “ensure that all Americans have home internet connectivity necessary to participate in telemedicine, teleschooling, and telework” as part of future COVID-19 aid legislation. The House-passed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act includes emergency broadband funding (see 2005130059). House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., criticized HR-6800 (see 2005210049). “Unless Congress acts quickly, disparities in access to home internet connectivity will exacerbate existing gaps in educational and health outcomes,” the AGs wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other leaders. ISPs’ commitments via the FCC-led Keep Americans Connected pledge (see 2005210033) “are laudable, but they are not sustainable. Ultimately, we need a national solution to enable universal access to broadband internet.” The AGs seek increased USF funding and “flexible” money for state, territorial and local governments to expand broadband access.

BIA Advisory Services reduced its Q2 forecast for local TV advertising by about $1 billion because of COVID-19, said a news release Thursday. The new revenue estimate is $18.5 billion -- $17 billion for over-the-air and $1.5 billion for digital -- down from the $19.4 billion BIA forecast earlier in 2020. “Overall, the numbers still reflect the election year and a slight increase over 2019,” the researcher said. TV stations will have ad decreases from many businesses, but some of those losses will be offset by jumps in political commercials in battleground states, said Chief Economist Mark Fratrik. Local political ad spending will be $7.1 billion through Q4. OTA will get 45.8% of political ad spending. Continued growth in over the top and digital “will help to soften the impact of the pandemic on advertising revenue,” Fratrik said. Retransmissions will generate $10.4 billion of station revenue in 2020, BIA said: “On a market-by-market basis, retransmission fees will continue to rise.”

The FCC and the Institute of Museum and Library Services are promoting $50 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act broadband funding for libraries and tribal organizations, they announced Thursday.

Videogame console sales were hot during the pandemic, smartphones less so, and it's hard to predict the COVID-19 future, Best Buy executives said Thursday. Revenue for fiscal Q1 ended May 2 fell 6.3% to $8.6 billion from the year-ago period but gaming comparable sales jumped 9.5%. A falloff in mobile phone sales offset increases in computing sales, said Chief Financial Officer Matt Bilunas. Services revenue fell 16.1%. Strong game console results were a “bit of a surprise” because management expected the spike to hit in fall with new platform resets, said Chief Operating Officer Mike Mohan. He pegged the Q1 demand to stay-at-home trends. The company furloughed workers and shut stores (see 2004290032). There’s “still a high level of uncertainty” at micro and macro levels, said CEO Corie Barry. It's “scenario-planning” about variables including unemployment; varying and changing state restrictions on how consumers engage with local businesses; and customer and employee safety via social distancing and masks. The measures will continue into the foreseeable future, she said. During the six weeks when the retailer moved to curbside-only sales, domestic online sales surged 300% year on year, she said, with half using curbside pickup. The pandemic strengthened Best Buy’s resolve that technology should be playing a bigger role in consumer healthcare, said Mohan. Now, consumers are thinking more about what they could or should be doing at home health-wise, he said. It’s a small business for the company, though it has had increased demand for thermometers and other “smart” health gear. Barry sees the home office buildout trend continuing. Shares closed down 4.37% at $77.98.

Help incarcerated citizens stay connected with 60 days of free calls in facilities under contract to Securus, three former FCC commissioners wrote Tom Gores, founder of Platinum Equity, which controls the inmate calling services provider. "While the phone justice movement has been long advocating for rate reform, the cruel ramifications of COVID-19 are a stark reminder of how onerous the inmate calling system is and why rate relief is needed now," Democrats Mignon Clyburn, Michael Copps and Gloria Tristani wrote. Securus would be “happy to brief” commissioners “on the steps we’ve taken to keep communications tools accessible while still protecting public safety,” a spokesperson emailed us Wednesday. “Since March 13, we have provided incarcerated Americans with more than 10 million free phone calls and millions of free video connections and digital messages. We were also proud to commit to the FCC’s Keep Americans Connected Pledge.” Advocacy groups made similar requests in March (see 2003300022). Congress is considering legislation capping inmate calling service rates (see 2005130059).