Spotify updated its privacy policy in countries outside the U.S. to consolidate all agreements under its Sweden-based parent company Spotify AB, it said in a Monday blog post. The company clarified its third-party subscription policy saying users who buy Spotify through a third-party are subject also to the terms of those companies. Users who don’t live in the U.S. will be guided by rules of arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, it clarified. It also changed, at the end of terms and conditions, the name and address of the Spotify company that provides subscribers’ service to the legal entity responsible for their data, it said. This company will now be Spotify AB everywhere but in the U.S. “to better reflect the reality of our business operations,” it said. Spotify attributed the changes to “operational efficiencies,” not tax considerations, and said the changes won't have an impact on its obligation to pay taxes in local markets as required under local tax rules.

Nielsen announced a plan to measure out-of-home viewing for national TV programs, it said in a news release Monday. The service will give subscribers audience estimates that combine in-home TV viewing with out-of-home viewing numbers based on Portable People Meter (PPM) data, the company said. It "gives us the ability to capture out-of-home viewing precisely as it happens ... while transacting on new, valuable audience segments for advertisers," said ESPN Senior Vice President-Global Research Artie Bulgrin. The service will provide “both program and commercial ratings (C3/C7) for live through live + 7 days of time-shifted viewing,” Nielsen said: The PPM device, which panelists carry with them, will allow Nielsen to measure TV viewing in places like restaurants and bars. "The out-of-home viewing will be based on data from over 75,000 PPM panelists across 44 local markets,” Nielsen said. The company expects the new service to launch in April, with data effective in January. Data going back to last month will be added shortly after the service launches, Nielsen said.

The YouTube app is integrated into Dish's Hopper 3 DVR, letting its subscribers view the Alphabet/Google content without changing devices or inputs, Dish Network said in a news release Friday. It came in a software update to Hopper 3 set-tops, it said. Dish is the only nationwide pay-TV provider to integrate YouTube into its set-top box, it said.

Making more video-described content available in its VOD library can work, but Comcast warned the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs and Media bureaus that technical constraints are involved with video-described programming. An ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 11-43 said executives including Tom Wlodkowski, Comcast Cable vice president-accessibility, met with bureau representatives about video-described programming hurdles such as that digital signals can carry two audio tracks, with the second able to carry a foreign-language translation or video description, but not both: Video description of VOD would require a multichannel video programming distributor "double publish" the content, straining the storage capacity of the VOD platform and possibly confusing consumers. As cable migrates to an all-IP environment, the issue will fix itself, the company said, since VOD content can be stored with multiple audio tracks and the server can send only the specific video/audio track combo the viewer wants. NAB, Time Warner and NCTA (see 1607270060 and 1609200053) in recent months opposed expanding the video description rules as part of implementation of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.

Deep-pocketed companies like Amazon and Google might try to undercut multichannel video programming distributor competition when they launch their virtual MVPD services, perhaps by putting up with negative returns in exchange for growth and increased share, UBS analyst Doug Mitchelson emailed investors Thursday. He said investors are still wait-and-see on virtual MVPDs, but any shoring up of pay-TV subscriber levels in the U.S. could make them a big plus for media companies with such services, and those without would take particularly big hits. CBS also likely will see more virtual MVPDs add its over-the-top service since Google reportedly secured a licensing deal, Mitchelson said. He said since virtual MVPDs seem to be making sports content a key part of their offerings, concerns about skinny bundles hurting Disney/ESPN and Fox and its regional sports networks seem "overdone.”

Spotify is now available on Samsung 2015 and 2016 smart TVs, said the music streamer in a blog post Thursday. Spotify Free and Premium users have access to the provider’s 30 million songs on Samsung TVs and can control music around the house using the Spotify Connect app on a mobile phone, tablet or desktop PC, it said.

Presidential campaign advertising spending could be “a nice lift” for broadcasters and streaming service Pandora, Macquarie analysts Amy Yong, Rachel Arrowood and Alessandra Gonzalez emailed investors. Pandora has political ad sales teams in New York and Washington, D.C., in addition to local sales teams, the analysts said Thursday. Those offices are expected to lead to more political spending on Pandora, they said. “Management expects to benefit significantly from local house and senate races on top of the Presidential election.” Cumulus is also well-positioned for incremental revenue in a presidential year, with 76 stations in swing states, the analysts said. Earlier this week, another analyst said late spending by the campaign of Donald Trump may help some TV station owners (see 1610190022), after some of their shares fell on concerns about Trump's relatively low spending (see 1609210075).

Music from Garth Brooks is available for streaming exclusively on Amazon Music Unlimited, said Amazon in a Wednesday news release. Select songs are available now, including Brooks’ latest single, “Baby, Let’s Lay Down and Dance,” from his upcoming Gunslinger album. More music from Brooks will be available later this year on the service, Amazon said. Amazon Music Unlimited launched last week (see 1610120052) at $7.99/month or $79/year for Prime members or $9.99/month for non-Prime customers. An Echo subscription plan is $3.99/month.

The NHL Network is now available via Sling TV, making it the first over-the-top provider of the sports channel, Sling owner Dish Network said in a news release Wednesday. The network is part of Sling TV’s Sports Extra package and is $5 per month with a Sling Orange subscription, or $10 per month with a Sling Blue subscription, Dish said.

Netflix thinks the growth of internet TV mirrors that of the mobile phone, CEO Reed Hastings said Monday in an online earnings Q&A. “Fixed-line telephony was an amazing invention,” because it brought 100 years of “broad, incredible benefits to society, and the same thing is true with linear TV,” Hastings said. It has been an “amazing innovation,” but “the age of linear is starting to fade and it's going to be replaced by internet,” he said. “So I think you have to think big about the future.” Netflix is “closing in” on 100 million global subscribers, “but I remind everyone at Netflix that Facebook and YouTube have 1 billion daily actives,” he said. “And so, in many parts, we are just so small compared to those other internet video firms and we have a lot of catch-up to do." That’s why Netflix is so heavily “investing in our content and making it globally interesting and compelling,” he said. “So there's a lot out there” in terms of market opportunity, he said: “But we only just have to take it year by year, and it's tremendous fun inventing the future.” Netflix shares closed 19 percent higher Tuesday at $118.79 after Q3 subscriber additions exceeded the company's forecasts (see 1610170061).