Memberful customers can share paid podcasts directly to the Spotify platform via private RSS feeds, Spotify said Monday. Memberful provides tools and support for monetizing content through customizable software. Artists’ audiences have to be able to access their content “on the platforms and apps they use most frequently," said Tiffany Perko, Memberful marketing head, noting Spotify’s podcast listening hours grew 30% year on year in Q2.
FuboTV subscribers can stream South American Qatar World Cup 2022 qualifying matches (Conmebol) beginning Thursday with interactive options. The virtual MVPD integrated FanView to allow users to monitor stats and scores that will appear next to the match under a reduced-size video player; they can play free predictive games on the same screen using their remote control. FuboTV CEO David Gandler said Monday it’s the first time a company has “integrated live streaming television, free games and live stats within the same platform, on the big screen.” The company tested the features during the Conmebol match window in June and said integration of free games and FanView into the live soccer matches increased engagement by up to 37% more minutes, depending on platform, vs. those who didn't engage. FuboTV added new features for this week’s launch: Users can see where they place on a leaderboard for each game, and they can subscribe to notifications for updates. Players who engage with Conmebol matches in September will earn points toward winning a $1,000 prize, it said. Predictive, free-to-play games will be available on Android mobile, iOS mobile, Android TV, Fire TV, Roku and the web; FanView will be available on Android TV, Fire TV, LG TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Xbox One consoles and the web.
The prerecorded CEDIA Expo keynote, “The Future of Storytelling,” with Dolby Chief Scientist Poppy Crum, will be Tuesday at noon EDT and available virtually via the CEDIA Expo Connect app, said Emerald's CE Pro publication Thursday. CEDIA’s On-Demand Training Pass for integrators is available at CEDIA Expo registration; 50 of its educational sessions will be available on demand for those not traveling to Indianapolis, said Emerald. Savant, which withdrew due to COVID-19 concerns from CEDIA Expo, due to run Wednesday-Friday at the Indianapolis Convention Center, will stream from a remote show floor during show days, saidCE Pro Friday. Savant said it will livestream and share videos to give integrators a look at the company’s entertainment, lighting, user experience and power solutions, along with previously unannounced products.
The Q4 2021 domestic box office will be about 65% of Q4 2019 -- and the full year at about 35% of 2019 -- Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter modeled in a Friday investor note after CinemaCon 2021 in Las Vegas last week. The Q4 box office could rebound if studios are willing to “hold their Q4 movie releases and not delay further,” and if Disney chooses an exclusive window for its Q4 releases, Pachter said. There’s “a lot riding on Q4,” said the analyst, “as COVID persists and as studios settle on the right theatrical windowing formula to maximize box office.” Studio executives and talent thanked attending exhibitors often via prerecorded video, he said. Themes emerging from the National Association of Theatre Owners and exhibitors included concerns about day-and-date releases, led by piracy and cannibalization, Pachter said. A repeated theme was that day-and-date releases weren’t financially viable for studios, which gave “consistent messaging” signaling a commitment to the theatrical window for a “semi-normal” state in 2020, he said. Disney didn’t make a presentation, leaving its release plans unknown. Other unknowns for the industry are whether the delta variant will lead to theater closures or reduced demand and whether studios will stick to the current release slate, said Pachter, who believes attendance will continue to be driven by content vs. virus concerns.
The Home Technology Specialists of America buying group said Friday it suspended all in-person group events for the remainder of 2021, citing health and safety reasons amid “currently evolving events.” HTSA had planned a Tommapalooza training event associated with CEDIA Expo this week in Indianapolis and a cocktail party Tuesday before the Expo’s opening Wednesday. It also canceled its fall conference scheduled for Oct. 12-14 at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel and regional member events, a spokesperson emailed. HTSA will continue its member education initiatives with announcements forthcoming, it said.
Apple is cutting the commission rate of in-app subscriptions to 15% from 30% under the News Partner Program, it said Thursday. Subscription news organizations previously had to wait a year for the commission to fall to 15%. The program is for subscription news publications that provide their content to Apple News in Apple News Format (ANF), said the company. Publishers’ apps must be available on the App Store and allow users to buy auto-renewable subscriptions through the company's in-app purchase system. To qualify for the 15% commission, the publisher’s app has to be used to deliver “original, professionally authored” news content, it said. ANF supports advertising; publishers keep 100% of the revenue from what they sell within Apple News, it said.
Some 64% of U.S. broadband households reported using a telehealth service this year, up from 15% in 2019, said Parks Associates Thursday. The COVID-19 pandemic was a “forced pilot” of digital health, driving many organizations to prioritize digital health programs, said Brian Carter, Validic chief operating officer. In the next phase, organizations are looking to create digital health management programs at scale, he said. The smart home has a role for insurers and providers, with potential to enable better proactive care and more sophisticated risk modeling, said Rob Deal, vice president, Healthcare Solutions, Everise. The executives are due to speak at Parks’ virtual Connected Health Summit Tuesday and Wednesday.
More exhibitors pulled out of CEDIA Expo this week, citing concerns over COVID-19. The show is to be Sept. 1-3 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Digital Projection put its North American trade show schedule “on hiatus” for the remainder of 2021, Kyle Greetham, marketing and communications manager, emailed industry contacts Wednesday. “Meeting face-to-face with our customers, partners, and friends is something we look forward to each year,” Greetham said, but due to risks of COVID-19, the company won't exhibit at CEDIA Expo, InfoComm, or Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference shows. “For 2022, we remain optimistic that we will return to most of the trade shows that we missed this year,” he said. Josh.ai, which held a webinar last week with Lutron (see 2108180057) announcing an integration for a light switch with its voice control technology, said Tuesday, “after much thought and consideration, Josh.ai will no longer be exhibiting at CEDIA Expo 2021.” Though the Josh.ai sales team will have a presence at the show for meetings, the company canceled in-person activities, including its booth presence, it said. Other exhibitors that pulled out of CEDIA Expo 2021 over concerns about rising COVID-19 cases include JVC, Legrand, LG, Lutron, Nortek, Samsung, Savant, Sonance, Sonos, Sony and Sound United.
Nearly a third of Americans admit succumbing to online “addiction” during the COVID-19 pandemic, reported NortonLifeLock Tuesday. The cybersecurity company hired the Harris Poll to canvass 1,000 U.S. adults May 20-June 8, finding consumers spend an average of 6.3 hours a day online outside of school or work, and two-thirds think that’s too much. The survey found a quarter bought a new connected device to “better cope with the pandemic,” and the average home owns six devices. Though more than four in 10 said the increased screen time has helped them feel more connected, 38% said it made them “less physically active,” and a fifth said it “negatively impacted their mental health,” said NortonLifeLock.
Yellowbrick, an online learning platform for student content creators, landed an undisclosed investment from the Sony Innovation Fund’s Innovation Growth Ventures, which Sony and Daiwa Capital Holdings formed two years ago to infuse cash into “mid to late-stage” tech startups in Japan, the U.S., Europe, Israel and India, said the platform Tuesday. Yellowbrick also said it acquired Animation Mentor, an online animation education platform created in 2005 by animators from Disney, Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic that enlists industry professionals to train student creators. Transaction terms weren’t released. Yellowbrick partners with Fashion Institute of Technology, the Parsons School of Design, New York University and other New York-area colleges to fill the growing demand for “educational opportunities” in content creation, it said.