Nominations are open for the 2022 Hedy Lamarr Award for Innovation in Entertainment Technology, said the Digital Entertainment Group Monday. The annual award, now in its sixth year, honors a female executive “who has advanced and impacted the industry in a unique manner that drove meaningful change,” said DEG. Trimble Chief Technology Officer Poppy Crum, former chief scientist at Dolby Labs, was the 2021 honoree. Nominations close April 1 for the award to be handed out in November to coincide with the 108th anniversary of Lamarr’s birth, said DEG.
ViacomCBS and Nexstar signed a multiyear renewal of CBS affiliations in 39 markets. The new agreements, atop three affiliation agreements renewed in 2021, complete all affiliation renewals between the two, they said Friday. They said Nexstar's CBS affiliates will remain locally available to Paramount+ subscribers and widely distributed across virtual MVPD platforms.
Comcast and the Team Gleason Foundation are collaborating on the latest version of Comcast's Xfinity Adaptive Remote to give customers with disabilities control of Xfinity devices with assistive technology, they said Wednesday. The latest update adds the ability to assign custom buttons that execute an action or voice command of the customer’s choosing. They gave as examples toggling closed captions, searching for sports events and accessing the view from the connected front door camera. Team Gleason Foundation, founded by former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason after his diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, focuses on improving life for people living with ALS through technology and equipment.
The Wireless Speaker and Audio Association announced a new URL for its website, the main consumer-facing source to promote WiSA products and marketing initiatives, said parent company Summit Wireless Thursday. More than 2 million consumers visited WiSA websites last year; it projects 3 million-5 million this year as a result of the WiSA Wave marketing program. Nearly 1 million consumers visited WiSA’s websites in Q4, and about 40,000 consumers continued their shopping by linking directly to members’ websites for more product information or to WiSA resellers including B&H Photo, Beach Camera, BuyDig, Focus Camera, Walts TV, Electronic Express, Newegg, Target and Amazon, it said.
Sinclair renewed its market and digital distribution rights agreement with the NBA, the broadcaster said Thursday. This lets Sinclair subsidiary Diamond Sports Group’s Bally Sports regional networks to deliver streaming NBA content and live games in the territories of 16 NBA teams on Sinclair’s planned direct-to-consumer offering. The DTC platform is to launch in 2022 (see 2111050063). The teams involved in the agreement are the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs.
The Home Technology Specialists of America added three members for 2022: Chelsea Audio Video, Beaverton, Oregon; Integrated AV, Edmond, Oklahoma; and Opus Audio Video Control, North Haven, Connecticut, it emailed Tuesday. The buying group named Catalyzing Communications as its public relations and social media firm.
New NAB President Curtis LeGeyt took aim at tech companies in his first blog post from the top seat. “With their dominance of the online advertising marketplace and opaque use of algorithms, Big Tech giants are threatening Americans’ access to quality local journalism,” he wrote Thursday. LeGeyt said broadcasters need “a level playing field” to compete for ad dollars with tech companies and to be compensated when broadcast content is accessed through online platforms. Congress and the FCC should enact policies to preserve broadcasting as a source of more reliable journalism than “the misinformation running rampant on social media,” LeGeyt said.
Samsung won NPD Group’s CE industry Performance Award for the highest increase in North America headphone dollar share for 2021, said NPD Tuesday. LG was the top gainer in LCD TV and Logitech for PC gaming accessories, it said. Recognition for the fastest-turning brands went to Apple for computers in the U.S., Skytech Gaming for PCs in Canada and Huawei for PCs in Mexico. E-commerce dollar share gain awards went to OtterBox for mobile phone cases, Garmin for fitness trackers, JBL for sound bars, VTech for baby monitors, Victrola for turntables and Blink for security cameras.
New NAB President Curtis LeGeyt took the group's reins Monday, and former President Gordon Smith has “transitioned to an advisory and advocacy role,” said the association. Under LeGeyt, current Executive Vice President-Public Affairs Michelle Lehman will also be his chief of staff while retaining her current role, and Lesley Pena, formerly executive assistant to LeGeyt, will be deputy chief of staff. Both are newly created positions. "Chief legal officer" has also been added to the title of Rick Kaplan, who remains executive vice president-legal and regulatory affairs.
The Internet Association will close at year-end, the board announced Wednesday. “Our industry has undergone tremendous growth and change since the Internet Association was formed almost 10 years ago, and in line with this evolution, the Board has made the difficult decision to close the organization at the end of this year,” it said. “IA has made great progress on its mission to foster innovation, promote economic growth, and empower people through a free and open internet.” IA members “remain committed to advancing public policy in support of this mission and will continue to work with stakeholders,” it said. Microsoft and Uber announced in November they were leaving the association, raising questions about IA's waning influence. A Microsoft spokesperson Wednesday referenced the company's previous statement when it decided to quit IA. "We advocate for public policies that support our business goals," said the spokesperson. "As our business needs evolve, we periodically review trade association memberships to ensure alignment with our policy agenda."