The issue of whether Aereo can be treated as a cable system will be considered in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, ruled the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an order issued Thursday. “We leave it to the district court to consider whether the issues are properly raised in these cases and, if so, to rule on the issues in the first instance.” In response to a broadcaster request for a nationwide injunction against Aereo, the streaming TV service has argued that the majority opinion in its recent Supreme Court loss means it should be treated as a cable system, and be eligible for the same copyright license such systems use (CD July 11 p10). The U.S Copyright Office has said that Aereo doesn’t qualify for such a license (CD July 18 p18).
Pandora’s global workforce had nearly equal parity between men (50.8 percent) and women (49.2 percent), its diversity report said Thursday (http://pdora.co/1q30AK2). Whites are 70.9 percent of Pandora’s U.S. employees; Asians, 12.3 percent, it said. Hispanics (7.2 percent) and blacks (3 percent) are just more than 10 percent of its U.S. workforce, it said.
NFL Now launched on Apple TV. NFL Now gives Apple TV users access to game highlights, original content from NFL Media and 32 NFL clubs, and shows and videos from the NFL Films vault, the NFL said Wednesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1z2pwDn). It also delivers a personalized NFL viewing experience anywhere, “providing a one-of-a-kind video stream based on each fan’s favorite NFL teams, players and NFL.com Fantasy rosters and viewing preferences over time,” it said.
Disney and Mediacom signed a comprehensive distribution agreement to deliver Disney’s lineup of sports, news and entertainment content to Mediacom customers. Customers can access the content on TVs, computers, smartphones and other devices, said Disney, ESPN and Mediacom Wednesday in a news release (http://es.pn/1sUXwDs). Under the agreement, Mediacom plans to introduce new services, including ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Buzzer Beater, it said. ESPN3 will continue to be available to residential Mediacom High Speed Internet customers across screens and devices, it said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency launched a free Spanish-language app that informs users of steps they can take before, during and after a disaster to keep their families safe. Information includes preparedness tips, locations of nearby shelters and a list of items to keep in an emergency supply kit, FEMA said Monday in a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1BuRQlU). The app also has a tool that provides information about how to offer volunteer services and donations, it said. It’s available for iPhones and Android devices, FEMA said.
BroadbandTV renewed its agreement with the NBA to manage fan-uploaded content and enhance the NBA Channel on YouTube. That channel has received more than 2.2 billion page views, and has more than 5.6 million subscribers, BroadbandTV said Tuesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1vdj6kp).
ContentBridge, a supplier of digital supply chain software to studios, distributors and online stores, and research firm GfK Entertainment are among five new Digital Entertainment Group members, the DEG said Tuesday. Others joining are the online store Google Play, Vubiquity, the supplier of multi-platform video services whose CEO, Darcy Antonellis, is former Warner Brothers chief technology officer, and Western Digital, a hard drive and components manufacturer, the DEG said. Western Digital also is a founding member with Fox Home Entertainment, SanDisk and Warner Home Entertainment of the Secure Content Storage Association, which, according to Samsung, is working to fashion “an open ecosystem” of 4K content that one could buy at retail or download for storage or playback on any number of brands of Ultra HD TVs that will support that ecosystem.
Buckeye Cablevision again told the FCC the retransmission consent regime needs substantial and systematic reform. Buckeye Cablevision’s experience as both a broadcaster and a cable operator in retransmission consent proceedings “gives it a unique perspective on both the problems and solutions to the retransmission consent problem,” it said in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1qn02Ml). The filing was on a meeting at Buckeye’s headquarters with Commissioner Ajit Pai, his aide Nicholas Degani, Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, the American Cable Association and other media executives.
Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS) signed an agreement with FourthWall Media to use FourthWall’s anonymous TV viewing data to link advertising with retail sales. NCS plans to use FourthWall’s data to expand its TV panel, it said Monday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1oUU1oP). The larger footprint will deliver greater precision across NCS metrics “and enable measurement of smaller TV networks and programming as well as more niche brands,” it said.
The 13 largest U.S. pay-TV providers lost about 300,000 net video subscribers in Q2. That’s down from 350,000 subscribers lost during the year-ago period, Leichtman Research Group (LRG) said Thursday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1puVo2F). The top providers have nearly 95.5 million subscribers, with the top nine cable companies having 49.9 million video subscribers, satellite TV companies with 34.3 million subscribers and the top phone companies more than 11 million subscribers, it said. Cable One, Comcast and Time Warner Cable are among the top nine cable companies that collectively lost about 510,000 subscribers in Q2, it said. DirecTV and Dish Network lost 78,000 subscribers in Q2, compared with 162,000 in the same period last year, LRG said. AT&T and Verizon added 290,000 subscribers, compared with 373,000 net additions in Q2 2013.