After receiving a default judgment against named defendant Alejandro Galindo in their litigation alleging piracy by video piracy by IPTV service Nitro TV (see 2005060013), content company plaintiffs and Galindo are asking the court to set aside the default. In a stipulation filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles (in Pacer, docket 20-cv-03129), the plaintiffs and Galindo agreed to the judgment being set aside and Galindo filing an answer to the complaint.
Expect more ISPs to join small cable operators in considering the switch from traditional cable TV service to streaming service offerings, CCG Consulting President Doug Dawson blogged Friday. Operational cost savings are a big motivator because ending traditional cable means far fewer customer service calls and truck rolls and the expenses of set-top boxes, he said. That would also mean cable operators can quit collecting local franchise fees assessed on cable service, and also avoid all the local obligations that come with a cable franchise, he said.
More ViacomCBS networks join the YouTube TV lineup under an agreement announced Thursday: BET, Comedy Central, MTV and others. The deal covers continued carriage of CBS stations and CBS Sports Network, The CW and others.
TiVo announced availability of the Stream 4K media dongle it launched at CES that allows cord-cutters a path to live TV -- but not broadcast TV like traditional TiVo boxes -- via Sling TV. The $69 device is available at a limited-time price of $49 with no TiVo subscription fee, said the company. Sling TV offers a free seven-day trial on Stream 4K for its service that starts at $30 monthly. A TiVo differentiator is it brings together shows and movies from favorite platforms -- “live or streaming," it said. Users can easily switch between, say, CNN and Netflix. Stream 4K integrates with Amazon Prime Video and Google Play. Dolby Atmos and Vision are included on the Android device, which supports Google Assistant voice control on the supplied remote.
NBCUniversal’s free Peacock service will be available on Apple devices July 15, it said Wednesday. The streaming service will be integrated with the Apple TV app, giving customers a “seamless” watching experience across Apple devices, including integration with Siri for content search. They will be able to sign up via the Peacock app on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV. Peacock Premium will be $5 monthly.
TiVo added Pluto TV to its platform, it said Tuesday. The streaming service has more than 250 live, linear and ad-supported channels plus “thousands” of movies and TV shows on-demand. Pluto TV will roll out in the coming weeks to TiVo Edge customers, and it will be available on the upcoming TiVo Stream 4K device, said the company.
As more than 17% of worldwide video streaming users stream content illegally, the anti-privacy solutions market is expected to reach $172 million this year and $229 million by 2024, ABI Research said Wednesday. It said 7.5 million North American households are reportedly accessing pirated content, costing providers more than $4 billion yearly, and pandemic shelter-in-place orders are driving piracy activity higher.
Radio.com is available to Comcast Xfinity customers on the X1 and Flex platforms, said the broadcaster Wednesday. Last week, Entercom announced its digital platform will be available on Sonos Radio (see report, April 24). Xfinity customers can get hundreds of Entercom-owned radio stations; in the future, they can see video.
Subscription streaming services could pick up some film releases that were slated for his year, Wedbush's Michael Pachter emailed investors Monday. Streamers will face a dearth of content later in the year because productions halted with stay-at-home orders, he noted. North American box office revenue is trending down 47.6% for 2020; Q1 fell 25.4%. Wedbush expects a 96.8% Q2 plunge. The analyst doesn’t see cinema attendance levels beginning to normalize until year-end. Box office receipts for 2020 are forecast to end 47.1% lower at $6 billion, with several tentpole releases moved to 2021, when box office is forecast to rise 60%.
Discovery and Amazon expanded a partnership, giving Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablet users a free, one-year subscription to Food Network Kitchen, they said Monday. Food Network Kitchen will feature a “We Cook Together” initiative Saturday and Sunday with celebrity chefs cooking in real time from their home kitchens. Fire customers have access to more than 2,300 on-demand cooking classes, instructional videos, Food Network TV cooking shows and more than 80,000 recipes, they said.