Instead of going through independent subscription VOD services like Amazon.com, Hulu and Netflix, media companies are increasingly exploring other SVOD models -- particularly ones giving "more control over their content and opportunities to yield more profit over the next two to three years," Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said in a report released Wednesday, "Conversations on the Road: Media Companies Finally Take a Stand on SVOD." Media companies "recognize that ... they have given up too much control of their content to the SVOD operators and are not being compensated for the content's full value," S&P said. As their current SVOD distribution agreements expire, media companies will put more content into TV Everywhere, giving them that greater control and better shot at monetization, S&P said. Meanwhile, since Nielsen doesn't measure SVOD viewing, media companies, advertising agencies and others "are furiously building out their data-driven programmatic advertising capabilities," but there still is no one universally accepted audience measurement system -- meaning advertising dollars continue to move from TV "to other media that can provide a more accurate measure of return on invested capital," S&P said. Nielsen's Total Audience measurement is expected to be done by year's end, and rolling out beginning in early 2016, the report said.

It’s clear that Internet TV “is becoming increasingly mainstream and traditional media companies are adjusting to the shift from linear to on-demand viewing,” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Chief Financial Officer David Wells said Wednesday in their quarterly letter to shareholders. “It is a great time to be a creator of content because studios make content to sell content (not to withhold it) and there are new bidders for their product,” they said. Some studios “will choose to license content” to subscription-based VOD (SVOD) services like "Hulu, Amazon Prime Instant Video and Netflix,” but “others may not,” they said. “We have a lot of content to select from.” The “competitive landscape remains vibrant” as Netflix competes with many forms of entertainment for consumers’ leisure time, they said. SVOD services “continue to evolve,” and they remain “active bidders for content, in addition to all the cable networks around the world,” they said. “Linear networks that embrace on demand and Internet delivery as we have, will become more valuable and will experience renewed growth (like HBO Now), while those that do not will lose relevancy,” they said. “The secular shift to on-demand consumption is best described as ‘consumers evolving vs. old habits’ rather than ‘Netflix vs. traditional media.’ We’re all racing to fulfill consumer desires.”

The FCC should adopt the proposed rule changes in its NPRM on designating some online video services as multichannel video programming distributors, said FilmOn X CEO Alki David in meetings last week with Commissioner Ajit Pai, Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler, aides to Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel, and staff from the bureau and Office of General Counsel. That is according to an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 14-261. Adopting the rulemaking, and employing a “light regulatory touch” could combine with recent court rulings favorable to online video services receiving compulsory copyright licenses to “remove barriers to entry” for online video distributors, FilmOn said. Designating OVDs as MVPDs would “spur investment and innovation,” FilmOn said.

U.S. broadband households with a streaming media device watch more video on TV than those without, said Parks Associates research released Tuesday. Streaming media device owners watch 22 hours a week, six of that Internet video and eight hours of broadcast TV, compared with 18 hours a week for non-owners, though non-owners watch more broadcast TV -- 10 hours a week, Parks said. Streaming devices, along with more over-the-top video options, have "altered the video environment, demanding new business models in advertising, content creation, and video subscriptions," said Brett Sappington, Parks director-research, in a statement.

Netflix and Zayo's co-location business, zColo, partnered to expand Community IX Holdings' (CIX) peering platform by sponsoring a peering exchange in Atlanta, Zayo said in a news release Tuesday. The space, power and underlying network connectivity of the new exchange, named CIX-ATL, will be provided by zColo, while Netflix will provide the necessary switching equipment and associated technology to run the exchange, said Zayo. CIX serves the southeastern U.S. and Latin American markets and its new CIX-ATL platform will reside in zColo's facility in Atlanta, the release said.

Verizon's go90 mobile entertainment platform will now include Univision entertainment, sports and VOD content, the broadcaster said in a Wednesday news release.

Panasonic Avionics and Rovi will collaborate to enhance Panasonic's in-flight TV service, the companies said in a news release Tuesday. Panasonic will use Rovi's metadata to manage its entertainment inventory and provide programming information for its TV offering, the release said.

Netflix partnered with Virgin America to bring free Wi-Fi access to Netflix subscribers on the airline's 10 new planes equipped with ViaSat Wi-Fi, the streaming video service said in a news release Tuesday. The promotional offer allows passengers to access their Netflix accounts on smartphones, tablets and laptops, and will continue through March 2, Netflix said.

Comcast started a cross-platform video service, Watchable, that pulls video content from online video networks and programs. The service is available at Watchable.com and on Apple products as well as to Comcast's X1 users, the company said in a blog post Tuesday. Content providers include AwesomenessTV, Buzzfeed, CelebTV, Discovery Digital Networks, Fast Company, Mashable, NBCUniversal, The Onion, Scripps Networks Interactive, Vice and Vox.

Over-the-top use is growing rapidly among younger Hispanic millennials, Centris Marketing Service said in an analysis released Friday. OTT use by Hispanics ages 18-24 in Q2 jumped 14 points year over year, as they increasingly use free video streaming services or subscription VOD offerings rather than rent or purchase video online, Centris said. Among older Hispanic millennials aged 24-34, OTT usage was relatively flat year over year, the survey said. The Q2 data came from a survey of more than 800 Hispanic millennials, Centris said.