Fox sports and entertainment apps -- and the network’s Fox Nation subscription service -- will launch this month on Samsung 2017-2019 smart TVs, the company said Friday.
Nascent mobile streaming platform Ficto announced a slate of shows Wednesday that will debut with its consumer launch in Q1. The free platform promises profit-sharing with its creator community, which includes 30 partnerships. Ficto will also launch an interactive program category in genres including dating, courtroom, scavenger hunt, daily news and comedy, said the company. Partnerships include an interactive dating game called Date & Switch and a courtroom show We The People. Ficto will premiere more than 50 shows at its 2020 launch. A beta version of its submission platform is available to content creators, and the company continues to finance and produce original series to premiere at launch, it said. The company will showcase its platform at CES.
Dish Network pushed convenience in announcing the Amazon Prime Video app on its Hopper 3 DVR Monday. Hopper owners can launch the Prime Video app via voice remote or the channel guide vs. having to switch inputs and devices, it said.
FandangoNow launched the first on-demand movie and TV store on Facebook’s Portal TV, it said Tuesday. Users rent or buy movies and TV shows. The FandangoNow library has more than 100,000 titles and is available on more than 200 million devices.
Atlantic Broadband integrated the Amazon Prime Video app into its TiVo devices, the cable ISP said Thursday. The Netflix app previously was integrated into its video platform.
Netflix will lose some digital viewing minute share to new subscription VOD services from Disney and AT&T, but streaming services in total will grow as consumers shift more TV viewing to digital, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Tuesday. He said Disney Plus and HBO Max will accelerate the decline in value of Disney- and AT&T-owned TV channels, and it's not clear whether the value generated by the streamers will recoup that lost TV channel value.
Starz rolled out the international Starzplay app in Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico and the U.K. with plans to launch an additional 20 countries next year, it said Monday. Subscription fees are about $5 monthly.
AT&T was upfront about the risks of launching a new product and there's no proof it knew of any improper practices in selling DirecTV Now -- now AT&T TV Now -- subscriptions, it said in a motion to dismiss (in Pacer, docket 19-cv-02892) Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. It's challenging of a fraud suit by union pension fund investors claiming the company inflated its streaming service subscriber numbers (see 1909160026). Plaintiffs' outside counsel didn't comment Wednesday.
VidAngel's motions seeking a new trial or to alter an earlier verdict lack substance and don't come close to meeting the standards for a new trial or showing the jury verdict was obviously unreasonable in its statutory awards, Disney said Monday in a docket 16-cv-04109 oppositions (see here and here, in Pacer) in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. It said most of the alleged errors that supposedly justify a new trial are objections to evidence or rulings on jury instructions. In its motion (in Pacer) to amend or alter the judgment, VidAngel said Disney received statutory damages awards without proving it had lost profits or suffered any actual damages when it "inflamed the jury with unsupported speculation that VidAngel threatened the very existence of the movie industry." Its motion (in Pacer) for a new trial listed what it said were 17 separate court errors or other evidence necessitating a new trial. Disney was awarded $62.4 million in its copyright violation complaint against VidAngel (see 1906180003)
Sony now owns Game Show Network (GSN), having purchased AT&T's 42 percent minority stake for about $500 million, it said Monday. It said Mark Feldman will remain CEO-president and GSN will continue to be carried on AT&T's DirecTV.