Starz had its best-ever quarter for over-the-top subscriber growth, said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer on a fiscal Q2 investor call Thursday. The quarter ended Sept. 30. Starz U.S. streaming subs increased to 9.2 million from 7.4 million in Q1 “on the strength of a focused content strategy and the launch of successful new series,” he said. The new shows are “driving subscriber growth,” plus “boosting subscriber retention with record levels of engagement,” he said. Starz had a record-high 13.7 million global streaming subscribers at the end of Q2, reaching its full-year target of 13 million to 15 million subs “a full six months early,” he said. The stock closed 10.5% higher Friday at $7.78.

Tegna completed an update of its TV stations’ over-the-top streaming apps on Roku, it said Thursday, and will launch streaming apps for Amazon Fire TV by year-end: The stations’ programming will be available on OTT streaming media players reaching 70% of the U.S. market. Tegna’s free OTT station apps offer ad-supported access to live news, the most recent news broadcasts, breaking news and weather forecasts, plus Verify fact-checking reports and its live entertainment program. A “Watch” feature was launched on stations’ websites and mobile apps to create a unified video consumption experience, it said.

Walmart is “constantly having conversations with current and new suppliers about innovation and new products we can bring to our customers,” emailed Ryan Peterson, vice president-electronics. "We don’t share details." He responded to our questions about a report the retailer and Comcast are in talks to develop smart TVs (see 2011030059). The TVs, if produced, would likely run Comcast software with streaming apps on a platform similar to those offered by Amazon, Roku, Google and Apple.

TiVo announced application programming interface-based metadata technology to make it easier for consumers to find relevant programming and movies. It signed a multiyear extension and expansion of an agreement with Finnish digital services company Elisa Viihde for the tech, saying Wednesday the Deep Discovery package lets TV and video service providers, CE manufacturers and media companies “better maximize the value of their catalogs and drive conversion, engagement and loyalty.” Content is tagged with metadata like moods, tones, themes, weighted keywords, age descriptors and popularity.

Comcast and Walmart didn’t comment Tuesday on reports they’re in talks to develop and sell smart TVs. A Tuesday Wall Street Journal article said the companies are discussing possible Walmart-branded TVs that would run Comcast software with streaming apps on a platform similar to those offered by Amazon, Roku, Google and Apple. Walmart would get a cut of the streaming revenue. Walmart sells Roku TVs under its Onn private-label brand and from Hisense, JVC, RCA and TCL.

Microsoft gave a hat tip to Apple TV+ in a Monday announcement listing streaming apps that will be available on the Xbox Series S and Series X when the consoles go on sale Nov. 10. Other apps include Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, NBC Peacock, Vudu, FandangoNow, Twitch, Sky Go, Now TV and Sky Ticket, it said. Apple TV+ goes live on the Xbox One the same day, Microsoft said.

Comcast's ad-supported Peacock streaming service has close to 22 million sign-ups since its July launch, is starting to help with churn, and is playing a role in increased broadband subscriptions, CEO Brian Roberts said Thursday as Comcast announced Q3 financial results. It ended the quarter with 27.84 million broadband subscribers, up 1.8 million year over year, Comcast said. It said revenue for the quarter was $25.5 billion, down from $26.8 billion last year. Roberts said Comcast is focusing on a three-pronged strategy of broadband, streaming and aggregation or bundling of services. He said its Flex streaming service and platform for broadband-only subscribers now has more than 1 million monthly active users, which more than offsets the decline in the number of traditional pay-TV video subscribers for the past two quarters. Comcast said it ended the quarter with 19.2 million video subscribers, down 1.2 million year over year. Roberts said Comcast's theme park business is still hurting from the global pandemic but is expected at least break even in 2021. Chief Financial Officer Mike Cavanagh said Comcast has spent $239 million in COVID-19 pandemic-related restructuring and severance costs so far this year and expects to spend about $480 million more in Q4. Comcast said it ended the quarter with 2.6 million mobile subscriptions. It said the wireless business is being hurt somewhat by some retail stores remaining closed due to COVID-19, but the vast majority are now open. Comcast said it ended the quarter with 9.68 million residential voice customers, down 270,000 year over year.

SiriusXM’s holiday music lineup features 17 ad-free channels, including 14 available now on the SiriusXM mobile app, said the company Wednesday. Subscribers can listen online, with the mobile app and at home on a wide variety of connected devices.

Netflix “came pretty close” to its Q3 forecast of 2.5 million net paid additions (see 2010200056) “to land within 300,000 members on a member base of roughly 195 million,” said Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann Tuesday evening. “It's super difficult to forecast with perfect precision given all the unknowns,” he said. “Retention trends in our business are healthy.” The company is forecasting slower first-half 2021 growth due to the tough comparisons, said Neumann. “We grew by 26 million members in the first two quarters of 2020. That's more than twice the level of growth we had in 2019.” Since the COVID-19 shutdowns, Netflix has completed work on more than 50 productions, “and we expect another 150 before the year is over," said co-CEO Ted Sarandos. “All that ramp-up puts us back to nearly fully operational in most parts of the world.” Consumers’ desire to watch films at home has been growing during lockdowns, “and we've been satisfying it,” he said. “I think at some point theaters are going to reopen and people are going to go back out to the theaters. I hope so.” People crave “the social interaction to go out and see a film with an audience,” he said. “I don't doubt that is going to come back in some capacities.” Theaters just reopened in Japan at 100% capacity, and people are "looking at the impact of that around the world," he said. The stock closed down 6.9% Wednesday at $489.05.

Some 300 over-the-top video services are operating in the U.S., doubled from 2014, said Parks Associates Tuesday, citing the impact of theater closures due to COVID-19: Six streaming services ceased operations this year vs. one in 2018. “The decision to delay the latest James Bond film No Time to Die hit the theater industry hard, and Disney’s announcement to move the Pixar film Soul to Disney+ shows studios are putting more emphasis on streaming as many theaters remain closed or at limited capacity," said analyst Steve Nason. Disney leveraged its position as a content creator and streaming service by experimenting with different transactional and windowing options, taking Mulan directly to Disney+ in September, he noted. The NBCUniversal-Roku partnership is a “win-win” for both parties, with NBCU able to distribute its content on a leading streaming video platform and Roku getting a “revenue bump” from Peacock's advertising, he said.