Amazon previewed Digital Day Thursday in an email, teasing some of the 5,000 deals it will offer Friday on apps, games, TV shows, movies, digital comics and other categories. Movies on sale for up to 60 percent off include Wonder Woman, The Fate of the Furious, Moonlight and The Dark Tower. TV shows discounted by up to half include Game of Thrones, American Gods, This Is Us and Outlander, said Amazon. Customers who subscribe to HBO Now on Amazon will receive a $10 Amazon.com credit, and customers can get a 90-day free trial of the Tidal music streaming service. Other subscription offers: $20 off one month of UFC Fight Pass, 25 percent off a Plex membership, three months of Amazon Music Unlimited (new subscribers only), 25 percent off a year subscription to Boomerang, a month free of Grokker, a 30-day free trial to Filmstruck, 20 percent off a year subscription to Quello streaming concerts and a 50 percent discount subscription to Smithsonian Earth, it said. Some 5,000 titles will be discounted, a 40 percent increase over Digital Day 2016, Amazon said.

A class-action complaint alleging Netflix hid the negative effects of its May 2014 subscription price hike from investors didn't show the company's subsequent public statements about the increase were false or demonstrated it acted with scienter, Netflix said in a docket 17-cv-1070 reply (in Pacer) Wednesday in support of its motion to dismiss. The filing with the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California in Oakland, also said since no amendment can cure the untimeliness of the action, coming more than two years after the facts on which the complaint rests were publicly known, it should be dismissed with prejudice. Plaintiff James Ziolkowski, in his original complaint (in Pacer) alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act and of SEC rules, argued that when the price hike's effects on subscriber growth became public in October 2014, he and other investors "suffered enormous investment losses" due the 19 percent decrease in share value. Plaintiffs' counsel didn't comment Thursday.

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau approved a one-year extension, sought by the Entertainment Software Association (see 1711010056), of rules requiring access to advanced communication services (ACS) in videogames for people with disabilities. Several groups representing the disabled earlier said they were OK with the extension, as long it was the last one granted by the FCC (see 1712040014). The waiver will now expire Dec. 31, 2018, and is conditioned on ESA’s submission of a mid-year progress report to the bureau on July 2, said an order posted Tuesday in docket 10-213. “We are persuaded by ESA’s assertions that a waiver for the class of video game software is merited because this software is capable of accessing ACS, but continues to be designed primarily for the purpose of game play rather than ACS,” the bureau said. “ESA describes and provides examples of several marketing materials for four video game genres (sports games, action games, strategy games, and role-playing games), all of which appear to emphasize game play and not ACS features or functions.” The requirement was first waived in 2012 and the waiver has been extended twice. "We conclude that good cause exists to extend the waiver and that granting the final waiver extension for an additional 12 months is in the public interest," the bureau said.

U.S. digital advertising revenue grew 23 percent year on year in first half 2017 to $40.1 billion, the Interactive Advertising Bureau reported Wednesday. Mobile had 54 percent at $21.7 billion, from $15.5 billion in the comparable 2016 frame and $8.2 billion in the first six months of 2015, it said. Total digital video, including mobile and desktop, rose to $5.2 billion in first-half 2017, up 36 percent, with video on mobile ad spending ($2.6 billion) overtaking video on display ads.

New tools to help people manage their facial identification on Facebook are included in a single "on/off" settings control, it announced Tuesday. The added features let users detect when others might be attempting to use their profile picture, and will enable visually impaired users to learn identities of people displayed in Facebook photos they access. Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman said the company's research found people want a way to turn off face recognition technology in one master setting. The company has "no plans to introduce features that tell strangers who you are," Sherman blogged. Monday, the company reported IP takedown requests (see 1712190023).

Pandora’s three listening tiers are now available to Comcast Xfinity X1 customers, allowing voice control according to available features, said the companies Monday. At the premium level, users can request access to songs, albums or playlists. A simplified sign-in experience will deliver “immediate Pandora playback,” they said.

EPA, bowing to “stakeholder requests,” extended to Jan. 25 the deadline for comments on its proposals to improve Energy Star program “guidelines and procedures,” the agency said Friday. Among other proposed refinements, creating a “standard operating procedure” for Energy Star product specs is one way the agency is trying to build more “transparency” into the program, EPA said in a Nov. 20 notice.

Using "commensense" disclosure practices for paid search and native ads made to resemble news can help consumers distinguish paid content from editorial, said an FTC study released Friday. The report, based on 2014-2015 research, provides insights into how consumers interpret search and native ads, both through desktop and mobile devices. Commissioners OK'd the study 2-0.

A simulcast of the NHL Network’s Thursday night matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vegas Golden Knights was to be the first of a “full slate” of DirecTV sports, music and events to be beamed live in 4K with high dynamic range, said DirecTV Thursday. DirecTV also will broadcast 13 NBA games this season in 4K HDR, and the Rose Bowl parade Jan. 1. The broadcasts will be available to DirecTV top-tier subscribers with the proper equipment, though the Penguins-Golden Knights 4K HDR simulcast will be blacked out in Pittsburgh and Las Vegas markets, it said.

The cord-cutting trend took a slight dip in Q3, with 20 percent of respondents ending pay-TV service in the past 12 months -- the first dip since Q3 2016 in what were upward-trending numbers, TiVo reported. Churn was down, with 7.5 percent of survey respondents switching pay-TV providers in the past three months -- the lowest since Q2 2014. The media tech company said Wednesday 82 percent say they want to pay only for the channels they watch, the highest in the survey's history. It said consumers indicated they're willing to pay on average $1.42 per channel per month for self-selected channel packages, with 22 channels on average ideal. TiVo said the most in-demand channels for that package would include HBO, Revolt, Cinemax, AXS TV, Starz and Telemundo. It said 91 percent watch live TV daily, up 5.2 percentage points year over year, while 67 percent watch previously recorded or DVR'd content daily and 62 percent over-the-top or streaming content daily. Some 65 percent use a monthly subscription VOD service, but recent quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year SVOD growth is slowing -- raising questions of whether the market is saturating or whether skinny bundle virtual MVPD services will again accelerate growth. The survey of 3,013 U.S. and Canadian adults was done in Q3 by a third-party survey service, TiVo said.