Disney’s plans to launch two direct-to-consumer (DTC) video services in the next two years under the ESPN and Disney brands (see 1709080027 and 1709080030) “will further exacerbate the growing divide between media companies that have strong intellectual property and a deep library of content and those that don't,” S&P Global Ratings said in a Friday report. “Disney's announcement is an important step in the continued evolution of the U.S. television industry," S&P said. “Disney has been a staunch defender of the pay TV video bundle.” But with launch of an “enhanced” ESPN-branded livestreaming service, “the company appears to be hedging against an acceleration in pay TV subscriber declines and positioning itself to upgrade the service to a stand-alone DTC service in the future,” it said. “Since sports is the glue that holds the pay TV bundle together, any significant change in Disney's sports strategy could affect the video bundle's long-term prospects.”

With Q3 being one of the most competitive in recent years for video subscribers, Comcast likely will end down 100,000 to 150,000 subs year over year, said Matt Strauss, executive vice president-Xfinity Services, Thursday at a Bank of America conference. He said the competition has come from new over-the-top services and from incumbent distributors increasing marketing spending and being more aggressive with offers. Strauss said hurricanes cost the company some subscribers. He said Comcast is focused on profitable subscribers instead of overall subscriber numbers, but the company could see a return to video subscriber growth. Strauss also said a major industry trend in video is an increase in time-shifting. "The future is aggregation," with Comcast as a distributor aiming at offering an increasing variety of sources on its Xfinity platform, Strauss said. He said Comcast's streaming video product, Instant TV, which was testing in Boston and Chicago, will be rolled out across its footprint later this month and into Q4. Instant TV is a skinny bundle of content and a cloud DVR, with additional programming packages available as add-ons, he said. He said Comcast will try not to cannibalize its existing video subscriber base by targeting its marketing at specifically high speed data-only customers and limiting the number of video streams. Comcast closed Thursday at $38.60, down 6.2 percent. In a note to investors, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker said the stock movement is likely due to the Q3 subscriber news.

Roku launched an advertising-supported free movie channel, the Roku Channel, on its streaming platform, it said Wednesday. Roku Channel requires no subscriptions or log-ins and the company said it will have about half the ads per programming hour as traditional, ad-supported linear TV. It said content will come from such studios as Lionsgate, MGM, Sony, Warner Brothers, American Classics, Fandor, FilmRise, Nosey and Vidmark, with others to be added.

T-Mobile is adding a free Netflix subscription to its One family plan packages, it said Wednesday. Calling mobile video "the new frontier for carrier bundles," T-Mobile contrasted its strategy with other wireless carriers', saying their focus is on purchase of content and MVPDs "all so they can sell it to you in bigger, more expensive carrier bundles."

The Ovation network launched its Ovation Now TV Everywhere app on Roku, it said Tuesday. The app features both live linear and on-demand content, it said. Ovation said it will make the app available on other over-the-top platforms in coming months.

Streaming media players, at least in the near term, have the best shot of being the universal TV home page, given their cheapness and depth of content catalog, though it's not clear if any particular player will be the overall category winner, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Monday. Longer term, smart TVs likely will prevail, though for that to happen there needs to be standardized technical and user experience requirements for putting internet video on TV, and that standardization "could take a very long time," he said. The pay-TV set-top box is the first place the majority of viewers go for TV watching, but subscription-video operators "are not leveraging such a huge advantage" by integrating more online video services, while the set-tops also aren't connected to the internet, Dixon said.

The operators of the YouTube-mp3 website, which converts audio from YouTube videos into MP3 files, will be permanently restrained and enjoined from operating the site or substantially similar sites, under a proposed final judgment and permanent injunction (in Pacer) filed Friday in docket 16-7210 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. PMD Technologies, doing business as YouTube-mp3, was sued in 2016 by labels including Arista Records, Capitol Records, Warner Brothers Records and Sony Music Entertainment, claiming copyright violations. Under the settlement, defendants also would be permanently enjoined from operating any technology or service that allows such "streamripping" and required to give the www.YouTube-mp3.org domain name to the plaintiffs.

A growing challenge for online video services -- particularly smaller providers -- is being found by potential customers, and while cross-service search is a big aid, it comes with challenges like different metadata formats for different connected TV devices, nScreenMedia's Colin Dixon said in a white paper Thursday. Another problem is that some platforms prioritize their own content over other providers' in the search result, it said. The authentication step, where viewers have to use their pay-TV operator credentials to see content on a connected device, also needs to be easier, the analyst said. A solution to the "binge-and-bolt" subscriber who signs up, binges on particular content and then cancels the subscription is how content is deployed, such as frequent additions of new content, he said.

Content costs are rising as streaming services seeking original content cause a bidding war for top production talent, Kagan emailed investors Tuesday. It said Netflix's general and administrative expenses in Q2 are up 55 percent year over year, and Amazon has similar G&A expense growth. The trend started in 2011 when Netflix partnered with director David Fincher on House of Cards. In recent weeks, Netflix has announced a deal with Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes; Amazon with The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman; and Hulu hired away AMC's Joel Stillerman to be its chief content officer, Kagan noted.

Flixster Video ceased streaming and download options for customers, it said in a notice on its website Monday. The subscription online video distributor said the shutdown was "due to circumstances beyond our control related to the unexpected shutdown of a critical vendor." Fandango bought Flixster in 2016 (see 1603230022).