Given the projected revenue growth of free ad-support streaming TV (FAST) services, expect the launches of more of them in 2023, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Sunday. Such services "will be the driving force behind the expansion of the streaming TV market over the next five years," he said. He predicted subscription VOD services will launch FAST channels and license content to competitors, plus better monetizing content, such as pay-per-view models, for new movies and exclusive live events.

The most successful video services will use innovative technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to drive high engagement with consumers through advanced content moderation and curation, said Parks Associates analyst Sarah Lee in a Friday report. AI and ML can create a personal experience by using data to understand patterns and relationships at a granular level, beyond recommendations offered by big-data systems, she said. About 30% of U.S. internet households are "service hoppers" who frequently switch services and resubscribe multiple times, according to Parks data, and businesses may be able to use AI to cut down on the practice, she said. AI and ML use cases “are just starting to scratch the surface,” she said. "By understanding the viewer on a deeper, personal level, businesses can deliver a more positive, individualized experience that drives acquisition, satisfaction, and retention," Lee said. Some 83% of U.S. internet households subscribe to at least one over-the-top video service; 45% still subscribe to a linear pay-TV service, Parks said.

Broadcasters sneaking around the ownership rules' prohibition on owning more than one top-four station in a market by putting top-four programming on multicasts and low-power stations is one driver of the steep rise in retransmission consent fees, DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow told the FCC commissioners in a series of meetings recapped in a docket 18-349 posting Thursday. Morrow urged the agency to stop that practice.

The FCC released its Disability Advisory Committee's report on best practices for sending and receiving captioning files so captioning associated with full-length programming remains available regardless of the distribution method. Members discussed the report at length before it was approved two weeks ago (see 2211010062). “The captioning ecosystem for video programming online is large and complex,” the Tuesday report says: “Captions are initially created by a content creator, owner, or provider, either internally or through a vendor. They are sidecar components to a video program and may be delivered as a file embedded in the media container, or may be streamed alongside the video, such as for most online program delivery, including live streams. After creation, the captions may be converted to various formats … as required by the content distributor or to suit the method (or platform) of distribution.” Among its recommendations for the FCC are “encouraging efforts by developers, vendors, and providers of professional and amateur video editing, production, and distribution tools to ensure that tools are available to creators to promote the availability and utility of captions in their videos” and “educating video creators at all levels about the importance of treating captioning as an integral part of the creative process.”

In Q3, the largest MVPDs, with about 92% of the market, lost about 785,000 net subscribers, compared with a pro forma loss of 650,000 in Q3 2021, Leichtman Research Group said Monday. Combined, those MVPDs have about 71.4 million subscribers, it said. The top cable providers lost about 980,000 video subscribers, up from a loss of 700,000 in Q3 a year earlier. Telco and DBS services altogether lost about 700,000 in the quarter, compared with 630,000 lost the same quarter a year earlier. Virtual MVPDs added about 900,000 subs in the quarter, up from gains of 680,000 year over year. Leichtman said Q3 marked the third-best quarter ever for net subscriber adds for the top publicly reporting vMVPD services.

The FCC again received no submissions from U.S.-based foreign media outlets for its latest semi-annual report to Congress, it said Thursday. The latest report covers April 13-Oct. 12. The May 2022 and November 2021 reports also reported no submissions (see 2205090049). The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act requires the reports.

That Arkansas' Video Service Act doesn't expressly bar municipalities from bringing claims doesn't mean it confers a right for municipalities to do so, an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said Tuesday, upholding a lower court's dismissal of the city of Ashdown's suit seeking video service provider franchise fees from Netflix and Hulu. Judges Steven Colloton, Roger Wollman and David Stras, in a docket 21-3435 opinion inked by Wollman, said it's the state Public Service Commission's right and duty under the VSA to bring a claim. Read as a whole, the VSA's aim is establishing and regulating a statewide franchising system, and recognizing Ashdown's right of action would circumvent that intent, the judges said. Oral argument was in September (see 2209200046).

Warner Bros. Discovery's joint streaming service combining HBO Max and Discovery+ will launch in spring 2023 rather than the summer, CEO David Zaslav said last week as the company announced Q3 results. The programmer at the same time will focus less on being streaming-primary, he said. He said the strategy of focusing on subscriber numbers at the expense of theatrical and linear TV results "and spend[ing] money with abandon, while making a fraction in return in the service of growing sub numbers, has ultimately proven to be deeply flawed." Discovery said ad revenue was down 11% globally year over year, partly due to macroeconomic conditions. Shares closed Friday at $10.41, down 13%.

Citing macroeconomic headwinds, Paramount Global is cutting costs and anticipating a Q3 decline in advertising revenue to continue in Q4. In a call with analysts Wednesday as the company announced Q3 financial results, CEO Bob Bakish and Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra said cost-cutting steps underway include reorganizing the Showtime networks, focusing marketing resources and spending on segments with high growth potential, and streamlining its ad sales. Bakish said Paramount+ added 4.6 million new subscribers in the quarter, for a total subscriber base of 46 million. He said year-over-year Paramount+ revenue was up 95%, and total sub base for its various direct-to-consumer services is close to 67 million. He said Paramount+ became available in Italy during the quarter, with Germany, Austria and Switzerland following later this year. Bakish said the Sky Showtime joint venture with Comcast launched during the quarter in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and involving Paramount and NBCUniversal content is a route for going after smaller markets. Chopra said Paramount+ and Pluto TV combined had ad revenue growth of 4%, and would have done better if not for the economy. "Growth will reaccelerate" once the digital ad marketplace rebounds, he said. Chopra said Paramount expects "healthy" streaming subscriber growth in Q4 due to content and new market launches. He said it expects to exceed its full-year direct-to-consumer subscriber growth expectation of 75 million globally. Bakish said it would likely see in Q4 the same 2% overall decline in ad revenues it did in Q3. Revenue for the quarter was $6.92 billion, up 5% year over year. Paramount closed Wednesday at $16.79, down 12.42%.

Amazon expanded the menu for Prime members, announcing Tuesday they have access via Amazon Music to 100 million songs -- up from 2 million -- in shuffle mode, ad-free and at no additional cost to their membership. The company raised the price of a Prime membership in February to $14.99 a month from $12.99, or $139 a year, from $119. Users can shuffle play any artist, album or playlist, plus stream a selection of All-Access playlists on demand, it said. Prime members can also access what Amazon said is the largest catalog of “ad-free top podcasts," plus ones premiering globally exclusively on Amazon Music. The streaming audio service added a Podcast Previews feature, allowing listeners to sample a “soundbite” from a podcast episode to make it easier to discover new content. Amazon Music Unlimited ($8.99 a month) steps up users to on-demand access to albums, playlists and over 100 million songs in HD, along with songs in Ultra HD and spatial audio.