The Office of Law Revision Counsel found that people who refer to Title 19 tend to know the substance of the provisions by the section number, so a reorganization that would create a change in numbers “posed a greater concern than the OLRC was aware of,” Law Revision Counsel Ralph Seep said in an Oct. 29 e-mail. The OLRC planned to reorganize trade laws from a chronological system to chapters based on subject matter, but recently announced it would hold off (see 2010220050).
Verance developed a “mechanism” for addressing the risks of fingerprint-based dynamic advertising insertion (DAI) technologies marring subscription VOD content viewing, said the company Thursday. It enables over-the-top services to “privately identify their content to TVs” to safeguard their content against audience measurement functionality while preventing insertion of unauthorized dynamic ads, said Verance. With DAI technologies newly “baked” into smart TVs, subscription VOD services and TV makers worry about the risk of “ads or measurement functions meant for broadcast being mistakenly placed into the streams” of OTT video services, it said. “We believe this will create a path forward for the subscription VOD and ad-supported broadcast worlds to co-exist,” said Verance CEO Nil Shah. Though TV makers are able to deactivate automatic content recognition (ACR) when apps run natively on a smart TV, “they currently have no way to do that for SVOD content played or casted from devices connected to the TV via HDMI,” said Verance. “SVOD content is indistinguishable from broadcast content when each is received from attached devices including media sticks, set-top boxes and A/V receivers.” With broadcast TV becoming more interactive through the advent of platforms like ATSC 3.0, it’s important for TVs “to have more advanced ACR technology,” said Verance. “We not only need to know what content each person is watching but how it is being distributed,” said Shah. “If I am watching Seinfeld on Netflix and hit pause or playback, that shouldn’t be an opportunity for an ad that is supposed to appear in broadcast syndication to play and ruin my ad-free viewer experience on a subscription service.”
Declines in sports viewership during the COVID-19 pandemic are a “cause for concern,” blogged Lightshed Partners Wednesday (password needed), saying sports viewership is “getting slaughtered” in the competition for time and attention. Sports leagues “may have to evolve their media strategies to avoid the more existential risks ahead for their partners,” said analysts.
CTIA urged the FCC to “pause any increase” in federal Lifeline minimum service standards (MSS) until after it releases its Lifeline market report, expected next year. “In the uncertain times created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission can provide certainty to millions of low-income Americans who are relying upon Lifeline supported mobile wireless services to stay connected,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 17-287. There's “overwhelming” consensus in support of a pause, the group said.
CTIA urged the FCC to “pause any increase” in federal Lifeline minimum service standards (MSS) until after it releases its Lifeline market report, expected next year. “In the uncertain times created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission can provide certainty to millions of low-income Americans who are relying upon Lifeline supported mobile wireless services to stay connected,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 17-287. There's “overwhelming” consensus in support of a pause, the group said.
Google Fiber is “ready to come back out of the shadows” and expand into more mid-sized cities, Public Policy Head John Burchett said Wednesday. On a Fiber Broadband Association webinar, Burchett acknowledged the once-hyped ISP slowed down in 2016. “We got out ahead of our skis and were building in ways that ended up not being the most profitable,” he said. It paused new construction and spent the past few years “figuring out how to retool our business,” he said. Earlier this year, it began increasing construction in existing markets, while exploring new business models with municipalities in which Google won’t handle everything as it did before, he said. In a project announced in July with West Des Moines, Iowa, the city is building conduit to people’s homes and Google Fiber will be among the provider options, Burchett said. “We’re talking to a bunch of other cities,” with talks furthest along in places that had already been thinking about how to expand broadband, have money for bonding and have municipally owned utilities, he said. Google seeks to “catalyze a movement” of “third network providers,” said Burchett. “What we’d like to do is show it’s financially viable and you can be successful coming in as the competitor.” The strategy isn’t only about getting internet to places that don’t have it “but also having competition so that the existing carriers and the new carriers are always incentivized to increase their speeds.” State limits on municipal broadband remain a barrier, the representative said. “All the restrictions on municipalities and on utilities for providing broadband themselves drives me nuts.” The ISP has talked to several cities that want to collaborate, “but the state laws ... prohibit muni broadband or put ridiculous restrictions on them” that make “a really close-call economic project infeasible.” National focus on funding unserved and underserved areas makes it “really hard for anybody but the incumbents to do meaningful expansions using federal resources," he added.
Google Fiber is “ready to come back out of the shadows” and expand into more mid-sized cities, Public Policy Head John Burchett said Wednesday. On a Fiber Broadband Association webinar, Burchett acknowledged the once-hyped ISP slowed down in 2016. “We got out ahead of our skis and were building in ways that ended up not being the most profitable,” he said. It paused new construction and spent the past few years “figuring out how to retool our business,” he said. Earlier this year, it began increasing construction in existing markets, while exploring new business models with municipalities in which Google won’t handle everything as it did before, he said. In a project announced in July with West Des Moines, Iowa, the city is building conduit to people’s homes and Google Fiber will be among the provider options, Burchett said. “We’re talking to a bunch of other cities,” with talks furthest along in places that had already been thinking about how to expand broadband, have money for bonding and have municipally owned utilities, he said. Google seeks to “catalyze a movement” of “third network providers,” said Burchett. “What we’d like to do is show it’s financially viable and you can be successful coming in as the competitor.” The strategy isn’t only about getting internet to places that don’t have it “but also having competition so that the existing carriers and the new carriers are always incentivized to increase their speeds.” State limits on municipal broadband remain a barrier, the representative said. “All the restrictions on municipalities and on utilities for providing broadband themselves drives me nuts.” The ISP has talked to several cities that want to collaborate, “but the state laws ... prohibit muni broadband or put ridiculous restrictions on them” that make “a really close-call economic project infeasible.” National focus on funding unserved and underserved areas makes it “really hard for anybody but the incumbents to do meaningful expansions using federal resources," he added.
Senate Republicans “need to get smart and confirm” FCC nominee Nathan Simington “ASAP,” President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday. Trump last month named Simington, an NTIA senior adviser, as his pick to replace Commissioner Mike O’Rielly (see 2009150074). Trump directed the tweet toward Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who sets the committee’s agenda. Wicker met with Simington last month and supports the committee advancing his confirmation (see 2009300022). Senate Commerce hasn’t set a hearing on the nominee, and the prospects of confirming him before the Nov. 3 election appear to be dimming further, after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., paused floor proceedings until Oct. 19 because three GOP senators tested positive for COVID-19 (see 2010050053). Wicker and Senate Commerce staff have reviewed Simington's "final paperwork," an aide told us. "We are performing the standard vetting process expeditiously as we determine a hearing date in the near future."
Senate Republicans “need to get smart and confirm” FCC nominee Nathan Simington “ASAP,” President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday. Trump last month named Simington, an NTIA senior adviser, as his pick to replace Commissioner Mike O’Rielly (see 2009150074). Trump directed the tweet toward Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who sets the committee’s agenda. Wicker met with Simington last month and supports the committee advancing his confirmation (see 2009300022). Senate Commerce hasn’t set a hearing on the nominee, and the prospects of confirming him before the Nov. 3 election appear to be dimming further, after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., paused floor proceedings until Oct. 19 because three GOP senators tested positive for COVID-19 (see 2010050053). Wicker and Senate Commerce staff have reviewed Simington's "final paperwork," an aide told us. "We are performing the standard vetting process expeditiously as we determine a hearing date in the near future."
Over four in 10 U.S. consumers plan to buy a TV this holiday season, with smart TVs leading gift-giving and receiving tech lists, said a Roku survey conducted by Harris. Some 70% plan to spend the same or more on gifts this holiday season, said Tuesday's report. Average holiday spending is expected to be $885, up 2.5% from the 2019 survey; a third plan to buy more gifts due to sheltering in place rules barring them from visiting family and friends. Also due to COVID-19 concerns, consumers expect to do 65% of their holiday shopping virtually. Most consumers are primary streamers, with nearly one in three having cut the cord. For the first time in the survey’s history, Americans reported spending more time streaming than watching pay TV; average reported streaming hours grew 19% year over year vs. traditional TV viewing hours, which fell 13%. Some marketers are adapting their advertising strategies to meet consumers where they spend most of their viewing time, said Roku Chief Marketing Officer Matthew Anderson. About 43% of consumers (including two-thirds of millennials) said an ad on a streaming service led them to pause content, go online and shop for the product advertised. Citing a “tipping point” for the future of TV, Abbey Lunney, director-trends and thought leadership at Harris Poll, said the shift to streaming shows that marketers need to adjust their engagement strategies. The survey polled 2,000 U.S. adults Sept. 8-12.