Netflix named its recommended TVs for 2017, with LG, Samsung and Sony receiving nods, said a company blog post Monday. LG’s 4K UHD TVs with WebOS 3.5, Samsung’s 7, 8, 9 and Q series TVs and Sony’s Android TVs netted recommendations for “better usability, faster performance and new features” that make getting to streaming media services “as easy as getting to live TV,” said Netflix. The TVs passed an evaluation process based on factors Netflix users said were important, including getting from power on to using internet TV apps such as Netflix in “just a few seconds"; switching between apps or switching from apps to live TV and back “almost instantly"; and displaying the Netflix interface in high-resolution, making text and graphics clear, sharp and bright, Netflix said. Other criteria carried over from previous years: Netflix must be easily accessible from the TV menu, including having a Netflix button on the remote control that can turn on the TV and go directly into the Netflix app “within a few seconds.” Recommended TVs also must incorporate the latest version of Netflix, it said.

The interconnected PubFilm websites are a "massive" pirated TV and movie streaming operation with more than 8 million visits a month, several content companies said in a lawsuit (in Pacer) unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The suit said the PubFilm pirate sites include PubFilm, PubFilmHDNo1, PubFilmHD, PidTV, Top100Film and iDMCA and are believed to operate from Vietnam. Alleging direct and secondary copyright infringement, trademark infringement, unfair competition and false designation of origin, the content companies asked for an order that the PubFilm domain names be rendered inactive and transferred to them, as well as for damages. The plaintiffs are Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Columbia, Universal, Disney, Paramount and Viacom. PubFilm didn't comment Tuesday.

Ad management company Sizmek partnered with TV advertising company BrightLine on an interactive connected video experience crossing desktop, mobile, tablet and over-the-top platforms, it said in a Monday announcement. The joint offering pairs BrightLine’s interactive, dynamic OTT ad platform with Sizmek’s HTML5 Vpaid technology to allow marketers to repeat the desktop interactive video experience across all channels, they said. OTT is the fastest growing source for digital video, with 74 percent of U.S. households now owning a smart TV, it said. Citing industry studies, the companies said advanced TV ads delivered on OTT platforms have higher engagement metrics than traditional TV ads, including higher purchasing intent, brand recall and likeliness to recommend.

Six A+E networks will be part of the lineup on Hulu's forthcoming virtual multichannel video programming distributor service, Hulu said in a news release Friday: A&E, History, Lifetime, LMN, FYITM and Viceland. “We’re pulling together the most valuable, well-rounded package of channels available for under $40,” Hulu Mike Hopkins said. The firm said its service, to launch this spring, has similar deals with CBS, 21st Century Fox and Disney covering more than 40 networks. Some of those companies own Hulu, as does Comcast's NBCUniversal.

Macquarie Securities is modeling Pandora paid subscription churn for 2017 at 4-5 percent, parallel to other paid music streaming services, analyst Amy Yong wrote investors Friday. The analyst is projecting 2017 paid subscriptions for Pandora’s $4.99-per-month Plus service at 4.8 million and at 1.1 million for its $9.99-per-month Premium service that launches this month. That’s at the low end of Pandora’s expectations of 6 million to 9 million paid subscribers. Some 30 million of competitor Spotify’s 100 million customers are paid subscribers, Yong noted. Citing new video ad offerings and the Ticketfly segment, Yong said Pandora “does not need to be category king to succeed and will rely on the strength of its product vs competing on price.” Marketing techniques for Premium will include exclusivity through an invite-only period and free trials ranging from seven to 30 days, she said. Macquarie is modeling $58 million in subscription revenue for the quarter and $319 million for the year, reflecting the late Q1 launch of Premium. The company rated Pandora an “outperform,” saying recently named Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra (see 1702270064) “could bring financial discipline and a fresh perspective.”

Dish's Sling TV made its Cloud DVR service available to subscribers using Amazon Fire devices, it said in a news release Thursday. Sling announced the Cloud DVR service in 2016 for Roku users (see 1611280058).

"Legacy brand" content companies and multichannel video programming distributors are held to a higher standard for their content than "so-called ‘Internet companies’ like Google and Facebook," said The Diffusion Group (TDG) senior adviser Joel Espelien in a blog post Tuesday. Pointing to the controversy over YouTube star PewDiePie's content and Disney's Maker Studios division's dropping most of its YouTube channel roster, TDG said AT&T's DirecTV Now, Verizon's Go90 and others have partnerships with new media stars with the aim of original exclusive content on their platforms: "Be careful what you wish for, guys. You just might get it." The research firm said YouTube kicked PewDiePie off only its paid YouTube Red service, but it left his YouTube channel alone since the viewers and ad dollars he drives are "simply taken as a given." Disney's reaction, meanwhile, "seems to be an overreaction," TDG said. "Clearly not everybody’s brand needs to be as squeaky clean as Disney," it said. "But not everybody can get away with YouTube’s casual indifference either."

The YouTube app will be integrated into Comcast's Xfinity platform later this year, including through the X1 voice remote, the companies said in a news release Monday. Along with being accessible through X1's Apps and Networks section, the Google product will be integrated through Xfinity On Demand, they said.

Pandora is working with A Million Ads in an exclusive partnership for real-time personalized ads and sequential messaging and targeting, it said in a Thursday announcement. The combination of Pandora’s “massive data set” with A Million Ads’ ability to deliver tailored, data-driven audio creative in real time will help advertisers “unlock the power of audio,” said Pandora Chief Revenue Officer John Trimble. Marketers will be able to build and serve audio ads to listeners based on attributes including gender, age and ZIP code through a single tag, factoring in location, time of day and weather, Pandora said. Advertisers will be able to create “thousands” of versions of an audio ad easily and efficiently, it said. Through sequential messaging and targeting, advertisers will be able to capture attention by telling a story over time through sequential ads that give listeners new pieces of information about a brand or product, Pandora said. Campaigns that tell a brand story before asking people to make a purchase have proven “significantly more effective than ones that immediately focus on people to take an action,” it said.

Discovery Communications and Snap will jointly develop short-form mobile video programming exclusively for Snapchat, they said in a news release Thursday. The programming will debut in the U.S. in coming months, they said. The two also will partner on advertising-related efforts, they said.