Demand for connected AV experiences is opening new business opportunities for integrators and companies that can provide expert managed services across multiple platforms and locations, Elizabeth Parks, Parks Associates senior vice president, said Wednesday. The research firm plans its first Integrated Life Day as part of InfoComm, June 5, in Las Vegas, to focus on crossover opportunities and trends in the residential and commercial AV markets. Nearly 40 percent of U.S. broadband households subscribe to multiple OTT video services and consumers expect to access high quality content on any platform at any location, said Parks. The average U.S. broadband household has more than seven video access devices, including TVs, computers, tablets and smartphones, said the research firm.

Despite growth in over-the-top subscriptions services, global digital pay-TV subscriptions -- including cable, satellite and IPTV -- exceeded 1 billion for the first time in 2017, IHS Markit reported. Subscription streaming video services including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video added more than three times the number of subscriptions they did in 2016, said the researcher Tuesday. “Traditional pay TV operators have shown resilience in the face of increased competition, through continued investment in set-top functionality, exclusive content and on-demand services,” said analyst Fateha Begum. Growth in digital pay-TV came largely from Asia-Pacific, driven by IPTV uptake in China. Western Europe added eight OTT subscriptions for every pay-TV subscription. Digital pay-TV subs in North America continued to shrink, losing 3 million homes in 2017, while OTT subscriptions advanced by nearly 30 million, said Begum. “Pay TV services in North America continue to be affected by cord cutting, primarily due to higher average prices for pay TV subscriptions, compared to other global regions.”

Fraunhofer joined with nine German companies to launch an alliance for promoting OLED lighting solutions, said the supplier of R&D services in a Tuesday announcement. The OLED Licht Forum, as the group will be called, brings together members that are “united in their passion” for OLED lighting, “with all of its unique facets and application possibilities,” said Fraunhofer. “The forum unites expertise and interests of science, research and technology,” and “aims to be key partner and central contact for OLED lighting technology,” it said. The group “seeks to develop and utilize OLED for future lighting solutions” through dialogue and “expert exchange as well as through the organization of conferences, lectures and institution visits,” it said. Other forum founding members are Apeva, BASF Coatings, Emde, HEMA, Irlbacher, Merck, OLEDWorks, Osram and Walo-LT. All the founding members “make great contributions to the OLED technology in areas such as research and development, supply chain, and OLED lighting panel manufacturing,” said Fraunhofer.

The FCC shouldn’t unpause the merger shot clock for Sinclair buying Tribune and should hold an additional comment period on Sinclair’s recent amendments to its applications (see 1803070050), said the Communications Industry Association and Sports Fan Coalition in a meeting Tuesday with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, recounted a filing in docket 17-179. The groups also asked the FCC to reject the proposed deal because it let Sinclair obstruct the repacking and slow the rollout of 5G and harm localism. Sinclair didn't comment.

Charter Communications shareholders are being advised to vote down a proposal that would require the company to annually report on lobbying policies, including an itemized list of what it spends annually on direct and indirect lobbying, and its membership in and payments to any tax-exempt group that writes or endorses model legislation. It's one of four shareholder proposals on the agenda for the company's April 25 shareholder vote, it said in a proxy statement filed Thursday with the SEC. It said the proposals were made by the New York State Common Retirement Fund and New York State Local Retirement System. Advising a "no" vote, the Charter board said the lobbying information it makes publicly available "strikes the appropriate balance between transparency and excessive burden and cost." A similar shareholder proposal is also part of AT&T's proxy vote in April (see 1803130003).

No. 1 U.S. radio station owner iHeartMedia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, said court filings and a news release Wednesday. Two companies affiliated with media investor John Malone want to participate in the case. Industry officials expected a restructuring, and it was believed imminent after iHeart didn’t make an interest payment last month (see 1802050049). The “comprehensive balance sheet restructuring” is intended to reduce debt by more than $10 billion, said iHeart’s release. The company is more than $20 billion in debt, CEO Bob Pittman said. IHeart filed for the restructuring after reaching an agreement with debtholders, it said: The company “will continue operating the business in the ordinary course,” during the restructuring. It ”believes that its cash on hand, together with cash generated from ongoing operations, will be sufficient to fund and support the business during the Chapter 11 proceedings,” the broadcaster said. Filings for the bankruptcy case show attorneys representing SiriusXM and Liberty Media filed motions to appear in the case on behalf of those entities as interested parties. Liberty expressed interest in investing in iHeart's restructuring (see 1803010060).

The digital economy made up 6.5 percent or $1.2 trillion of gross domestic product in 2016, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday. It grew at an average annual rate of 5.6 percent from 2006 to 2016, outpacing overall U.S. economic growth of 1.5 percent yearly, the bureau said. In 2016, the digital economy included 5.9 million jobs in the U.S., 3.9 percent of total employment. Digital economy employees earned more than $114,000 per year on average, nearly twice the $66,500 national average.

Attempts to replace vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws with regulation -- such as in the form of antitrust exemptions or immunity -- should be met with "heavy skepticism" because of the dangers that come from government limits on competition, DOJ Antitrust Division head Makan Delrahim said Wednesday, according to remarks prepared for the division's competition and deregulation event. The roundtable, along with others set for April 26 and May 31, are aimed at helping Justice frame "effective and appropriate competition policy" and identify related regulatory burdens, Delrahim said.

The FTC seeks comments by May 14 on its proposal to do away with the “picture tube rule” for marketing TV screen sizes, said a Tuesday NPRM. The FTC in June launched a “regulatory review” of the rule it has had on the books for five decades to prevent deceptive practices in advertising TV screen sizes and to promote uniformity in screen measurement (see 1706220031). In proposing the rule’s repeal, the NPRM said that the regulation “has not kept up with changes in the marketplace” as the industry migrated to flat-panel from CRT sets and that mandatory screen measurement instructions “are no longer necessary to prevent consumer deception.” Staff found TV manufacturers “are not making deceptive screen size claims, which is consistent with the fact that the Commission has not brought any enforcement actions against marketers making such claims in more than 50 years,” it said. CTA, in Aug. 31 comments, argued for the rule’s repeal on grounds that “case-by-case enforcement ... is a much more apt tool than a general rule to address any isolated instances.”

AT&T shareholders will vote at the company's April 27 proxy meeting on a series of stockholder proposals, including one requiring it to prepare annually a report on its lobbying efforts. The company is recommending "no" votes on the stockholder proposals, according to proxy Monday at the SEC. The statement said the lobbying report would require the company to disclose its policies and procedures for lobbying; any company payments for lobbying or grassroots lobbying communications, including amounts and recipients; and membership in and payments to tax-exempt organizations that write or endorse model legislation. The board said it gives the public and shareholders "ample transparency and accountability" via reports on its websites and reports filed with the federal government. Other shareholder items to be voted on are a change in proxy access requirements, a requirement the chairman be independent, and a reduction in the amount of shares necessary for stockholders to take action by written consent. Such shareholder efforts on lobbying are common and frequently get voted down (see 1706140023).