Google Play, not YouTube, is Google’s “next multibillion dollar opportunity,” said a CreditSuisse equity research note to investors Monday. “Google Play has grown over the last two years from essentially zero to a level equal to YouTube in size and should contribute ~$4.4 billion in revenue this year.” The analysts cited the growth of mobile games as the driving force behind the prediction: “The proliferation of connected devices is ushering in the growth of mobile games and Google Play along with Apple’s App Store are the platforms facilitating monetization, and for Google, this is the first tangible benefit of its ownership of Android.” Apple and Amazon have faced scrutiny from federal regulators over unauthorized in-app purchases (CD Jan 16 p12).

Herring Networks continued to urge the FCC to act swiftly and approve AT&T’s proposed buy of DirecTV. Herring has had positive experiences and fair consideration extended by the telco video providers when seeking distribution, including AT&T’s U-Verse, it said in a letter posted Monday in docket 14-90 (http://bit.ly/1zCet6V). DirecTV is primarily a video service and doesn’t offer customers bundled services like broadband, video and voice, “thus its ability to compete long term against incumbent providers that offer broadband services is in question,” it said.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a September 2013 denial of Fox’s request for a preliminary injunction against Dish Network’s Hopper DVR service, said Dish. Dish is pleased that the court “sided again with consumer choice and control by rejecting Fox’s efforts to deny our customers access to the Dish Anywhere and Hopper Transfers features,” Dish said Monday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1sVdv19). The decision “had nothing to do with the merits of our claim and does not address the fact that ‘Dish Anywhere’ is both illegal and in violation of our existing distribution agreement,” a Fox spokesman said. “We will now move forward and fully expect to prevail at trial.” Fox sued Dish for breach of contract and infringement last year. The court denied Fox’s petition for a rehearing on the matter earlier this year (CD Jan 27 p3).

The FCC should relax or eliminate rules barring cross ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market, said Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson in a letter to the FCC (http://bit.ly/1s444ih) posted Friday in docket 14-50. The rule is out of date, and Internet news outlets “have undermined the economic viability of many newspapers,” said Isaacson. “It would seem that we should be encouraging, not forbidding, owners of broadcast outlets to buy or invest in newspapers.” Journalism benefits “from being able to combine print, video, and audio,” he said. “We need to do all we can to encourage investment in newspapers and improve the business models for local journalism.” Isaacson used to run Time Warner’s CNN and more recently wrote a biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs.

The global installed base of connected TV devices, including smart TVs, videogame consoles, Blu-ray players, digital media adapters and set-top boxes, has reached a billion units and will double over the next five years, Strategy Analytics said in a report (http://bit.ly/TSsDzL). Other findings: (1) Internet connectivity was found in 87 percent of all consumer electronics devices shipped in 2013; (2) Globally, the average home owns 2.8 connected CE devices, with the highest average ownership in the U.S. at 7.7 devices; (3) Global retail spending on CE products will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in 2017; (4) Average annual global retail spending per home on all CE products grew 2.9 percent in 2013 to $485.

Advertising software company Canoe certified multiplatform video service provider Vubiquity’s AdVU service suite as integrated with the Canoe VOD digital ad insertion platform, said the companies in a news release Wednesday. Canoe is backed by cable operators Bright House, Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner Cable, the release said. Programmers can use metadata asset management service AdVU to “efficiently create, coordinate and manage” submission of video assets for VOD DAI, they said. “Certification from Canoe is an important proof point and with that we hope another step forward for the industry toward wide adoption of DAI,” said a Vubiquity spokesperson.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Technology Partnership is planning to create the LGBT Technology Institute as an affiliate organization from its “research, analysis, and educational activities,” it said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1qW5wD5) Wednesday. “Social entrepreneur” and consultant Allyson Dylan Robinson will be the institute’s director, it said.

The FCC must not underestimate the difficulty of captioning time-sensitive online video clips when setting an implementation deadline for a draft order on the matter, NAB officials told staff from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office in a June 30 meeting, said an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/TOaZ0f) posted in docket 11-154. The draft order is set for a vote at the commission’s meeting Friday (CD June 18 p10). To allow broadcasters to develop the processes to track and replace time-sensitive clips, “the obligation should” begin “no earlier than mid-2017,” NAB said. It also takes at least 12 hours for the process of re-encoding the clips with captions to be completed, NAB said. “The process requires re-formatting the video clip for all potential video players used via consumers on the Internet.” The commission also shouldn’t immediately apply its captioning quality standards to such clips, NAB said. “The variety of formats for online video clips and the fact that there are inherent problems involved with synchronicity in online video clips due to the Internet’s architecture means those standards may not always be met."

The Supreme Court’s Aereo ruling lends further support to the petition to declare AT&T’s offering of public, educational and government access channels on U-Verse inadequate, said the Alliance for Community Media in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday to dockets including 09-13(http://bit.ly/1sXJKR5). The decision “lends further support to ACM’s position that AT&T’s U-verse video service is in fact a ‘cable service,'” it said. Therefore, AT&T is subject to Communications Act Title VI, which sets provisions for cable systems and franchise procedures, it said. ACM opposed AT&T’s stance that it provides a multichannel video service and not a cable service. U-Verse is “in fact engaging in one-way transmission of video programming to subscribers,” said ACM. It began to revisit arguments for its 2009 petition last month after AT&T announced its intent to buy DirecTV (CD June 6 p6).

Comments on an FCC public notice on the aggregate interference cap and use of proxy channels in repacking stations were due Wednesday, the same day the item appeared Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1lU9gBZ). The lack of notice stems from a mix up in delivering the information to the Federal Register, an FCC official told us. The commission will likely be lenient in accepting late comments on the item, the official said. The public notice announcing the call for comments was released by the FCC June 2 (CD June 4 p17). Replies are due July 22.