Univision has gone dark in the homes of Verizon FiOS customers amid a contract dispute between the two sides that just couldn’t be worked out. [More]
tv
‘South Park’ Screws With Viewers’ Google Home, Echo Devices
By 9.14.17
Fans of the show South Park who watched the season premiere last night got more than the usual fart jokes and foul-mouthed rants: Amazon Echo and Google Home devices were woken up throughout the episode, triggered by commands from the characters. Of course, hilarity — or headaches, depending on your point of view — ensued. [More]
Facebook Finally Launching Long-Rumored “Facebook Watch” TV-Like Feature
By 8.10.17
“TV” doesn’t mean what it used to. We’re as likely to watch a premium drama from Netflix or Amazon as from any traditional broadcast or cable channel, and we can watch it on a laptop, phone, or tablet as easily as we can watch it from the big screen in our living rooms. And so it’s unsurprising that Facebook — the all-encompassing worldwide digital platform that once was merely a social network — is finally ready to launch its own programming channel, Facebook Watch. [More]
Was The ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 7 Premiere Really Pirated A Whopping 90M Times?
By 7.21.17
It is not news that people have been illegally watching the season 7 premiere of Game of Thrones — by this point, we pretty much expect that one of the most-pirated shows on TV will be, well, pirated. But one report claims that the first episode of this final season has been pirated a whopping 90 million times since it aired last Sunday. [More]
Facebook Is Ready For Its Close-Up, Wants To Get Into Scripted TV Shows
By 6.26.17
Not content to let Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu corner the market on original streaming TV shows, Facebook is reportedly trying to carve out a spot for itself in the entertainment business with its own scripted programming. [More]
TV Networks Watch You Back With The Help Of Big Data
By 5.15.17
Adults between ages 18 and 49 are advertisers’ favorite demographic, but television networks have a huge problem. Every year, those adults watch less and less prime-time TV, and when they do it’s often on a DVR that lets them zip through the commercials or months later on an ad-free streaming service like Netflix. So without all those eyeballs to advertise to, how are TV networks able to stay on air? [More]
You Can Really Download The Not HotDog App From ‘Silicon Valley’
By 5.15.17
Have you ever sat down to a meal and asked yourself, “is this a hot dog?” In the only slightly fictionalized world of HBO’s Silicon Valley, a programmer receives funding to create a mobile app that identifies all types of food from an image, but instead develops one that identifies whether a food item is a hot dog or not. This app is real. [More]
Discovery CEO: Cable TV Skinny Bundles Really Just “Overstuffed Turkeys”
By 5.9.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
A few years ago, the pay-TV industry started trying to placate customers fed up with paying for channels they don’t watch by introducing so-called “skinny bundles” — fewer channels for less money. But the CEO of one cable TV colossus says these TV packages are still too bloated. [More]
Twitch Might Produce Interactive Streaming TV Programs
By 5.5.17
The appeal of Twitch is being able to watch someone play a game while simultaneously chatting with people about what you’re seeing. How could the site expand that concept? It’s thinking about producing TV-style programs that would change based on feedback from the audience. [More]
Report: 25% Of Americans Won’t Have A Traditional TV Subscription By 2018
By 4.24.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
TV viewers have been snipping the cord and freeing themselves from traditional TV subscriptions offered by satellite and cable companies for years, so it may come as no surprise that the flood of customers fleeing to streaming video shows no signs of easing. [More]
17,000 AT&T Technicians Go On Strike Amid Contract Dispute
By 3.22.17 — Updated: 3.24.17
UPDATE: On Thursday morning, AT&T said that the walkout was over. [More]
Chinese Entertainment Company Won’t Be Buying Dick Clark Productions After All
By 3.10.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Chinese entertainment giant Dalian Wanda will be keeping $1 billion in its pocket after a proposed deal to purchase Dick Clark productions fell through. [More]
Nintendo Switch Will Include Netflix, Hulu & Other Services…. Eventually
By 3.8.17
If you’re already bored playing the games on your new Nintendo Switch — and its awful tasting cartridges — there’s little else you can do with the gaming system…. at least for now. [More]
Univision Blackout Ends For Charter Customers… For Now
By 3.7.17
A month after Univision first pulled its programming from Charter-Spectrum as the result of a contract dispute, the two sides have agreed to kiss and make up — for the time being, anyway — to prevent any further channel blackouts. [More]
Don’t Want Your TV To Report Back Everything You Watch? Here’s How To Turn That Off
By 2.10.17
Vizio got busted early this week for spying on users and sharing their data without permission. But the key there is the “without permission” part, because pretty much all smart TVs are collecting and sharing some kind of data on you. And so many consumers are now asking: Can I make them stop? [More]
Charter’s Univision Blackout Ends With Court Ruling
By 2.3.17 — Updated: 3.7.17
Charter-Spectrum customers now have access to TV networks owned by Univision, after a judge granted the cable company’s request for a temporary restraining order against the media company, effectively ending the blackout that started Tuesday night. [More]
Small Cable Companies, Indie Networks Ask FCC To Force Channel Unbundling
By 1.31.17
As cable packages have ballooned in both volume and price over the years, a growing segment of consumers has demanded options for unbundled, choose-your-own-channels cable. So far, those cries have gone largely unheard, except for a few streaming, internet-based options. However, it seems the à la carte option has a growing fan base clamoring to be heard: small cable companies themselves. [More]
Super Bowl Advertisers Spending Millions To Run Ads About Their Ads
By 1.30.17
Advertisers love the Super Bowl, since it’s one of the few times that huge numbers of people sit and watch the same thing in real time, while paying attention to the commercials. Some marketers want to increase the impact of their ads even more, by spending over $1 million promoting their Super Bowl commercials. They’re shelling out to advertise their ads. [More]
