FuboTV added MGM's Epix network original programming and movies to its live TV streaming platform, it said Friday. FuboTV subscribers also will have access to thousands of Epix titles on demand, including select programming in 4K, in the coming weeks. The $5.99 monthly Epix package will be available to subscribers for the first 30 days after launch for $2.99 for their first three months. Also Friday, Nexstar said WGN America will join fuboTV's channel lineup in January. The multiyear carriage deal follows a similar one announced with YouTube TV (see 2012020054).
Revenue from augmented reality software and content for consumers is expected to rise by more than 100% in compound annual growth rate, reaching $20 billion in 2025, projected ABI Research Thursday. But “market elements have not aligned” to enable mainstream virtual reality adoption, it said. “Growth will be strong in 2021, but the user base will not reach levels once thought probable since VR competes for usage time with TVs, smartphones, and traditional displays.” Price and availability of “valuable” VR content remain the “primary barriers” to mainstream adoption, it said. It described the Oculus Quest 2 gaming system as “the best positioned VR device the market has seen so far,” with a $300 starting price and no other hardware required to use it. But $300 “can still be expensive for a limited use item that will be outdated by next year,” it said. “While smartphone-like upgrade cycles are possible and would spur growth overall, the lack of necessity for VR will limit that possibility.”
The average percentage of customers served by fiber to the home reached 69.9% in 2020, up 28.6 points from 2016, NTCA reported Thursday in its 2020 broadband/internet availability survey. Downstream broadband speeds for 45.1% of customers reached 1 Gbps or higher, nearly doubled from 2018, and the number of respondents' customers subscribing to speeds of 25 Mbps or higher jumped nearly 14 points from 2019 to 63.9%. NTCA members reported supply chain concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, with 27.7% of respondents citing fiber order fulfillment delays, and 42.7% reported an increase of 1%-10% of customers failing to pay voice or broadband bills since March.
Adobe fiscal Q4 revenue grew 14% year on year to $3.42 billion for the quarter ended Nov. 27, it said, citing growth in creativity, digital documents and customer experience management. The company created a Publishing and Advertising operating segment to reflect a strategic shift to cloud-based advertising. Ad cloud revenue was in the Digital Experience segment, which recorded $877 million in Q4 revenue. Digital Experience revenue was $819 million, a 10% gain. Subscriptions were $3.1 billion vs. $2.6 billion; product was $127 million vs. $167 million; and services and other totaled $182 million, down from $246 million.
AT&T agreed to sell its Crunchyroll anime business to Funimation, a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music’s Aniplex subsidiary, for $1.2 billion, said the companies Wednesday night. The Crunchyroll direct-to-consumer service has more than 3 million subscribers and 90 million registered users, offering advertising-based VOD, mobile games, manga, events merchandise and distribution.
Dolby's business has “hit the sweet spot,” Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Wednesday: “The Atmos/Vision ecosystem is gaining momentum, driving adoption across more devices, leading to the creation of more content, which, in turn, induces manufacturers to add more Dolby technologies across their product lines.” Apple’s integration of Dolby Atmos in the over-ear AirPods Max, introduced Tuesday (see report, Dec. 9), is a “full-throated embrace” of Dolby’s home entertainment technologies, he said. The device-maker has incorporated Dolby Vision and Atmos across most of its products, including Macs, iPhones, Apple TV and iPad Pro, he noted, while Apple TV+ content is being produced in Vision and Atmos. Amazon Music HD and Tidal are the only two streaming services currently supporting the growing catalog of Atmos Music tracks, but Frankel believes it’s “only a matter of time before Apple Music follows.” The iPhone 12 could be a “seminal event,” accelerating adoption of Vision in PCs, tablets and smartphones, said the analyst.
Sharp introduced Wi-Fi microwave ovens that are Works with Alexa-certified for “hands-free operation.” The SMC1449FS, a 1.4 cubic-foot 1000-watt model ($169), responds to 70 Alexa voice commands, said the company Wednesday, giving an example of asking Alexa to defrost two pounds of meat. Another voice command selects the correct settings for popcorn. A 1.1-cubic-foot model ($149) works with 30 Alexa voice commands, the company said.
Customers with Google TV products can pause video to unlock information and buy what they see, said interactive video company Wirewax, which is powering the app. Interactive and shoppable experiences are available on Chromecast with Google TV and other Android TV devices, it said Wednesday. The Interactive app lets viewers get names and biographies of actors, view ingredients for recipes, create memes and go directly to retailers and universal carts to shop products that appear in a video, it said.
Maserati is making SiriusXM with 360L standard across its lineup of 2021 U.S. models, the first automaker to do so, they said Wednesday. Maserati's U.S. customers get a year trial to SiriusXM's top-tier All Access package.
SiriusXM’s signing of Howard Stern to a five-year contract extension, announced Tuesday, likely will stand as CEO Jim Meyer’s final high-profile action before he transitions to executive chairman Jan. 1 and relinquishes the top post to Jennifer Witz. The agreement gives SiriusXM license to the Stern audio and video catalog through 2032. A little more than three weeks before Stern’s contract was due to expire, this was a cliffhanger Meyer apparently didn’t foresee when he told investors Oct. 22 that a deal was close (see 2010220019).