Warner’s decision to release 2021 blockbuster titles simultaneously in theaters and with a one-month window on its HBO Max streaming service is “a very costly one for everyone involved,” MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett wrote investors Friday. “We have a hard time believing the messaging that this is only a temporary 2021 plan,” said the analyst, “even if that might be the current plan today. Once the windows change, it will be hard to go back.” It’s “hard to find any winners here,” he said, ticking off AT&T, participants/rights holders and U.S. theater owners who will suffer “another unexpected big hit.” Despite growing consensus that coming COVID-19 vaccines should help return the U.S. to some normalcy by mid-2021, the Warner Bros. decision “puts a damper on those expectations for movie attendance,” he said. It’s unclear whether U.S. exhibitors will agree to play the upcoming Warner 2021 movie slate, “given the unattractive terms of running films that are simultaneously available for ‘free’ on HBO Max,” though given the difficult position most theater owners are in today, it will be hard for them to hold the line on an exclusive theatrical window, he said. The Warner announcement is ahead of any expected update from Disney this week “of likely plans to alter their own traditional theatrical windowing strategy,” Moffett said. While studios have been pressuring exhibitors to shrink the theatrical window for some time, WarnerMedia is the first to “blow up the model by skipping an exclusive theatrical window altogether.” The Pay 1 window -- where studios typically break even on their original investment -- is now the HBO Max release, which “no longer generates cash; instead, it merely shifts content between WarnerMedia segments,” he said. Going all in on the biggest blockbusters seems “overly aggressive vs. a simple window change.” The move will likely spur new subscriptions to HBO Max, which until now “has simply not been all that differentiated" from HBO, which has "floated at a penetration rate of 1/3 of US Pay TV homes for many, many years," he said. “But at what cost?” Warner didn’t comment Friday.

Comscore and MediaMath announced a connected TV ad technology Thursday that uses frame-by-frame visual recognition and second-by-second audio processing to provide contextualization of the full content for connected TV (CTV), video and livestreaming. Advertisers can use it to target relevant and “brand safe” CTV and video content programmatically to take advantage of connected viewing from consumers in a “safe and relevant way.” Brands and agencies are looking for ways to connect with consumers within CTV and livestreaming while prioritizing privacy and brand safety, said the companies. They gave the example of an automotive advertiser targeting relevant sections of a news program while avoiding content on car accidents and violent crime.

Ad-supported linear channels are a route to incremental revenue and new subscribers for streaming services, and expect more premium content providers to give them a shot, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Tuesday. Sling TV, VUit and Showtime are experimenting with such streaming linear channels, he said.

The latest U.S. plus streaming video service is Discovery’s, slated for a Jan. 4 debut. Pricing for discovery+ is $6.99 for the ad-free version, $4.99 with ads. Discovery is partnering with Verizon, which will “accelerate adoption” by giving six or 12 months free on select broadband and wireless plans. Verizon was a partner when Disney+ launched last year. Content will include original series across Discovery brands, with shows from HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, OWN, Travel Channel, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Discovery+ will be the streaming home of the Olympic Games in Europe, except in Russia, and Eurosport's premium sport offering.

Nexstar's WGN America cable network will be part of the YouTube TV channel lineup starting Jan. 19, Nexstar said Tuesday, announcing a multiyear carriage agreement with the vMVPD.

Though Warner Music Group’s digital revenue increased 15% in fiscal Q4, ended Sept. 30 from the year-earlier quarter, total revenue declined 1%, said CEO Steve Cooper on a Monday investors call. WMG had a 45% revenue decline “in areas of our business that are most aligned with touring and live appearances, and therefore most disrupted by COVID,” he said. The pandemic “reinforced the importance of technology across every aspect of our business, from how we sign talent to how we market music to how we pay royalties,” said Cooper. WMG sees subscription streaming as “just the beginning” of a new “golden age” in music, one “of many avenues for long-term growth,” he said. Music revenue from social media is growing faster than that of subscription streaming, and gaming “is among the fastest-growing sectors of digital media,” he said.

Sixty-one percent of U.S. broadband households subscribed to two or more over-the-top video services in Q3, up from 48% in the year-ago quarter, reported Parks Associates Monday. ViacomCBS is expanding CBS All Access to become Paramount+ early next year (see 2009150003), joining several other OTT video services that hit the market in the past year, trying to take share from the big three: Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. The pandemic stirred up competition at the top of the OTT ecosystem, as viewers spend more time at home, said analyst Steve Nason. The five main challengers are “filling in important content gaps not currently being delivered by the Big 3 and other services,” said Nason.

The biggest TV platform providers, such as Roku, Apple and Amazon, are growing in influence, but their power is checked somewhat by the fragmented TV platform market, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Sunday. The top 10 platforms have about half the market; the rest is divided among many others. Big content providers are a check, he said, with TV platforms' popularity dependent on having the biggest subscription VOD services.

Netflix users who most enjoy the service’s original content grew from 35% in 2017 to 49% this year, nearly flat with 2019’s 50%, reported S&P's Kagan Friday. Some 48% of users in a survey say they would subscribe to the service even if it offered only original content. Weekly Netflix streamers were more likely to select original TV programs as the content they enjoy most (35%) vs. 23% of Netflix subscribers who watch less than once per week. Four in five users watch Netflix on a TV, either directly via an internet-connected TV or via another streaming device; a third view on a smartphone; and a quarter view on a PC.

Pivotal Research Group swapped a “sell” rating for a "hold" and raised its target price for Roku stock from $75 to $240 in a Thursday investor note. Analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak cited comments by Liberty Media Chairman John Malone on the streaming platform’s competitive positioning, the ongoing “dramatic benefit” from COVID-19 and a “much slower than anticipated roll-out in competitive threats,” including the Comcast/Cox Flex product and early discussions of building Comcast’s Xfinity into Walmart TVs (see 2011030059). The pandemic “appears to have accelerated AMZN and ROKU’s lead (and pushed back competitive responses) with the potential for that lead to be sustainable especially as the platforms build global scale,” said the analyst. Wlodarczak raised Roku subscriber forecasts to 113 million active accounts by 2027, from 99 million previously, based on “high likelihood of return of Covid-lockdowns over the winter but also the clear inevitable decline of traditional PayTV.” The “currently mediocre Roku channel has the potential to be significantly strengthened with signing of new distribution deals,” he said, noting that he expects HBO to make such a deal.