The FCC should deny a petition for reconsideration filed by consumer groups representing the hearing impaired challenging the commission's accessibility rules for programming guides and user interfaces, CEA said in an ex parte filing posted online Friday. The consumer groups, which include the National Association for the Deaf, disagree with the FCC stance that using voice or a gesture command to activate closed captions is reasonably comparable to using a button, key or icon. A CEA-conducted poll of its TV manufacturer members received no responses indicating plans to provide access to captions only through voice or gesture commands, CEA said.
The “attention” that has ensued as new competitors such as HBO Now and Sony Vue enter the over-the-top space “is only creating a bigger ecosystem, drawing more and more people into thinking, ‘Hey I’ve got to check that out and try this Internet TV thing,'” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said Wednesday in the company’s quarterly online interview. Though “linear TV” has had an “amazing 50-year run,” Internet TV is starting to grow now, and “clearly over the next 20 years Internet TV is going to replace linear TV,” Hastings said. “And so I think everyone is scrambling to figure out how do they do great apps.” The ecosystem “will just keep getting built up and so it's a transition into figuring out the Internet,” Hastings said. “And the way people do that is to get involved with us, with our competitors, to try to start to learn what are the new patterns and modalities because Internet TV is the way that people will consume video in the future.” Netflix is “super-happy right where we are” on its pricing plans relative to the new competition, Hastings aid. “We’ve got a great mix of pricing plans and options for those who get a new 4K television and they are excited about 4K content. We are the leading service in the world for 4K and that plan is a little more expensive at $11.99. So as more 4K TV is sold, we will get people to upgrade to the $11.99 plan.” Of the company’s “total pricing structure,” Hastings said: “We couldn't be happier with the way it creates an incredible value for the consumers. It feels fair to them and it's propelling our growth.” Netflix has seen smart TVs “just continuing to grow and grow in usage and sales,” Hastings said. “Virtually every new TV sold now is a smart TV, at least at the middle and high-end, and it's natural for people to use. Now, do they also watch on tablets? Yes, and on phones. So really all those categories are experiencing absolute hours growth, but on a percentage basis, smart TV is one of our fastest-growing categories.” Netflix is “very encouraged” with the “general consumer perspective” at the FCC that “broadband access is so important that it is a utility,” Hastings said, of the commission's decision reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II service. “It is like power distribution where it's a natural monopoly in the last mile. There should be one fiber or one cable going to a home with super high speed and that's the architecture of the future. So everything around it being a utility is great for Internet companies like ourselves and it's great for consumers.”
Triton Digital, a technology provider to the auto industry, completed the annual Media Rating Council audit for its Webcast Metrics (WCM) and Webcast Metrics Local (WCML) products, the provider said in a news release Thursday. The accreditation process proves that Triton's measurement products comply with relevant industry standards and produce reliable metrics, it said. WCM is census-based and measures usage without estimates, while WCML is a market-specific measurement product, it said.
Pandora said it began offering a digital mixtape of Rolling Stones songs in the lead-up to the band’s upcoming “ZIP Code” tour, which begins May 24. The digital mixtape’s release coincided with a joint Pandora-AEG Live’s Concerts West presale Thursday of the Rolling Stones tour, four days before the Monday start of the tour’s general sale. Pandora said Thursday it will also release on Monday an interview of the Rolling Stones conducted by journalist Anthony DeCurtis. A preview of the interview is available on Pandora’s blog.
A third of sports fans report interest in watching live sports on their mobile devices, up from 20 percent in 2010, said a sports and technology report from CEA. TV remains the top consumption screen for sports, at 90 percent interest, while 40 percent of sports fans have viewed or listened to sports online using a computer, tablet or smartphone within the past 12 months, said the report. Nearly 20 percent of sports fans have consumed sports content on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, it said. Sports fans are also using CE devices for second-screen viewing, with 23 reporting using a mobile device for sports-related activities while watching TV. Some 21 percent said they’ve used a DVR to pause or rewind portions of a game, and 21 percent have used a recording method to record another game being played simultaneously, said the report. Among fans who watch sports on TV, 62 percent own TVs with a screen size of 40 inches or larger, compared with 38 percent of nonsports fans, it said.
The founding members of the UHD Alliance, the formation of which was announced at CES, issued a call Tuesday for contributing members to join the group and help “advance a new and differentiated entertainment experience for Ultra HD including high dynamic range, wide color gamut, high frame rate and advanced audio.” Founding members are DirecTV, Disney, Dolby Labs, Fox, Netflix, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Technicolor and Warner. Though LG and Sharp were listed among the founding members when the alliance was announced at CES (see 1501050023), neither was listed in Tuesday’s announcement, nor appears on the member roster at the alliance’s website. LG and Sharp representatives didn’t comment. The alliance’s goal “is to ensure these technologies, coupled with performance metrics, will deliver a premium entertainment experience throughout the Ultra HD ecosystem from content creation to consumer enjoyment,” the group said in a statement: “In addition to working discussions around technical specifications and certification details, the UHD Alliance will help develop industry-standard branding so that consumers can clearly identify certified premium UHD content and devices offered in the marketplace." Hanno Basse, chief technology officer at Fox Films, has been named the alliance’s first president, and Victor Matsuda, the Sony executive who has chaired the Blu-ray Disc Association’s global promotions committee, is its spokesman. The alliance also has formed working groups for promotions, certifications and technical specifications, its website says. “The belief at Technicolor is that no one company can build the infrastructure for future storytelling experiences alone, so an open, collaborative framework is essential to mobilizing innovation and promoting integration by the entire value chain," said Vince Pizzica, Technicolor senior executive vice president-corporate development and technology, in a statement. "Welcoming new members into the UHD Alliance is an important first step as we work across the ecosystem on open standards for the next generation of entertainment experiences that ensure the industry can move forward together.”
The FCC Media Bureau rejected a joint request from NAB and Public Knowledge and won’t delay Thursday’s deadline for comments on a proposal to make it a rebuttable presumption that cable companies face effective competition, the bureau said in an order Tuesday. Extending the comment deadlines for the proceeding would “render it impossible” for the FCC to meet a June 2 deadline imposed on the commission by the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization, it said. STELAR requires the FCC to provide relief from effective competition rules for smaller cable companies, but the proposed solution is much broader, NAB and Public Knowledge said (see 1503300062). “The Commission has determined that the most administratively efficient approach in this proceeding is to consider all issues raised in the NPRM,” the order said. NCTA and the American Cable Association submitted filings urging the bureau to reject the request from NAB and Public Knowledge. Comments are due Thursday, replies April 20.
Akamai bought Octoshape in a cash transaction, Akamai said Monday in a news release. Octoshape's services help optimize the quality of video streams for over-the-top content and enable Internet Protocol TV, the release said. The acquisition of Octoshape is expected to give Akamai valuable technology and experience in the area of streaming video optimization, it said.
The FCC should consider in its review process a New York Times article Sunday on groups that support the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, the Stop Mega Comcast Coalition said in an ex parte filing Monday. "The article reports that many of the nonprofit organizations, elected officials, and academic institutions that have spoken out in favor of the merger have previously received monetary contributions from Comcast itself or its trade association,” the filing said. The FCC should consider the article “when evaluating public comments that may appear to favor the merger,” the filing said.
CBS objected to aspects of an FCC information request connected to the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger review, in a heavily redacted response posted online Friday in docket 14-57. An FCC question asking CBS to list agreements with “announced OVD (online video distributor) services since Jan. 2011" is “vague and ambiguous,” CBS said. Other FCC questions are “vague and overly burdensome,” CBS said, such as an FCC request that CBS “describe all provisions relating to restrictions or limitations on distribution of the Company’s Video Programming.” CBS also objected to “any requirement that it produce information after the FCC reaches a decision on the applications relevant to MB Docket No. 14-57,” the filing said. The FCC didn’t comment.