STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter’s operating brand Spectrum and Amazon have announced that the Spectrum TV App will launch on Amazon Fire TV devices starting on April 15. The deal will allow subscribers to Spectrum to stream their full pay TV lineup on Fire TV devices.

“The Spectrum TV App is designed to fit seamlessly into how customers stream TV today,” said Elena Ritchie, senior vice president, video at Spectrum. "Making it available on Amazon Fire TV devices will give our customers even more flexibility to access their Spectrum TV service on the streaming platforms they use every day.”

The Spectrum TV App is available to Spectrum TV customers at no additional cost. Access on Fire TV devices will let customers:

• Stream Spectrum TV with the ability to pause live TV.
• Use the new Multiview feature for select sports games.
• Access Cloud DVR recordings.
• View On Demand entertainment.

“Our mission at Fire TV is to get customers to the content they want fast, and we’re super excited to add Spectrum TV to the Fire TV experience,” said Aidan Marcuss, vice president Amazon Fire TV. “Spectrum customers will now soon be able to access the Spectrum TV App on a wide range of smart, powerful, and fast Fire TV devices, from Fire TV Sticks to Fire TV-powered Smart TVs from leading TV brands."

Once launched, Spectrum Video customers can install the Spectrum TV App on their Fire TV device and seamlessly log in to the app without credentials while inside their home. The Spectrum TV App will be available on Amazon Fire TV devices running Fire OS 6+ or Vega OS, including the Fire TV 4K Select, Fire TV 4K Max, Fire TV Omni QLED Series, Hisense U6, TCL QM64L Series, and Panasonic Z95B.

In addition to Amazon Fire TV devices, the Spectrum TV App is available on Xumo Stream Box, as well as Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, Apple TV, Amazon Fire Tablets, LG smart TVs, Roku, Samsung smart TVs, VIZIO smart TVs, Xbox and Xumo TV.

SAN FRANCISCO—Ad-supported streaming service Tubi next week will launch Matter Casting, a new casting standard that will enable seamless mobile-to-TV viewing directly from iOS and Android devices to Fire TV with no need to install a separate application.

Tubi says it is the first streaming platform to automatically trigger app download and launch on Fire TV via Matter Casting, a new standard developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) and championed by Amazon.

With Matter Casting, users can launch and control Tubi on Fire TV directly from their mobile device to the living room TV without needing to initiate downloads, sign-ins or setup. Matter Casting automatically handles these processes. The Tubi launch of Matter Casting reflects the streamer’s commitment to enabling effortless entertainment and giving viewers a cross-platform experience that lets them to discover more than 300,000 on-demand movies and TV episodes, it said.

“In a world where content proliferates and entertainment lovers want to jump into a movie or TV show as quickly as possible, an experience that is hyper-personalized to your taste and effortless to get into is paramount,” Deirdre Hesseldieck, senior vice president of Product, Viewer Experience at Tubi. “With Matter Casting, we’re simplifying connected viewing by removing setup friction and enabling instant access to content.”

Matter Casting handles automatic app installation, secure sign-in, and real-time playback control, creating an over-the-top experience, not a temporary screen mirror. Tubi’s launch will be available globally by the end of December on select Fire TV devices, such as Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Fire TV Omni QLED Series, Fire TV Omni Mini-LED and Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen).

Tubi is part of Tubi Media Group, a division of Fox.

More information is available on the company’s website.

TYSONS, Va.—Tegna Inc. has announced that it is teaming up with Amazon Fire TV Channels for a new series called “Fire TV Channels Bracket Breakdown” that will offer college basketball fans a new approach to men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament coverage.

The new series from Tegna’s Locked On Podcast Network will cover the tournament with a single click on Fire TV, Fire tablet, and Echo Show devices. “Bracket Breakdown” combines the expertise of notable players, insights from basketball journalists, and the local coverage for which Tegna’s Locked On Podcast Network is known, Tegna reported.

The first “Bracket Breakdown” started with Selection Sunday on March 16, and continues all the way through the National Championship game on April 6 via Amazon Fire TV Channels with no downloads or fees.

“Locked On is uniquely positioned to produce coverage for today’s basketball fans, delivering a fresh perspective on the tournament for the millions of customers on Amazon Fire TV Channels,” said Locked On president, David Locke. “In addition to our successful Locked On College Sports FAST TV channel plus on-demand shows for virtually every team, no other sports outlet is able to pair the best national analysts with local experts that cover these teams year-round like we can.”

”Bracket Breakdown” will feature a line-up of former and current NBA, WNBA, and collegiate players plus national and local team experts from the Locked On Podcast Network.

Production will take place at Locked On’s studios located at Tegna station WFAA in Dallas. All “Bracket Breakdown” episodes will be available on demand on Amazon Fire TV Channels. Fans will find “Bracket Breakdown” on Fire TV, Fire tablet, and Echo Show devices, and can access it directly simply by asking Alexa to “Watch Bracket Breakdown," Tegna explained.

MIAMI, Fla.—The Hemisphere Media Group is reporting that its Spanish language channels Todo Cine, Todo Novelas, Más Pasiones and WAPA+ have been added to the Fire TV Channels as free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) services. 

“We are excited to launch our best-in-class FAST channels on Fire TV Channels. Our channels deliver compelling movies, series, and news and informational content that has a proven track record of success and represents a unique offering unavailable elsewhere. We are proud to be the go-to for premium content that resonates with the fast-growing segments of the Hispanic audience that are underserved by traditional content providers,” said Alan Sokol, president & CEO of Hemisphere Media Group, Inc.

“The launch of Todo Cine, Todo Novelas, Más Pasiones, and WAPA+ on Fire TV Channels will enhance the viewing experience for millions of users, offering a wide range of entertainment options tailored to the preferences of the diverse U.S. Hispanic community,” he added. 

Todo Cine offers an exclusive movie lineup of contemporary Spanish-language blockbusters and award-winning titles across the FAST ecosystem.  

Todo Novelas and Más Pasiones offer drama and telenovela enthusiasts with high quality productions from around the world. 

WAPA+ is the only FAST channel serving the large and fast-growing Puerto Rican community in the U.S. Leveraging the decades-long content tradition of WAPA TV, Puerto Rico’s #1 TV network for 14 consecutive years, WAPA+ offers viewers 70 hours of news and information content every week, including the only newscast targeting the Puerto Rican community in the continental U.S., NotiCentro América.  WAPA+ also brings a variety of local entertainment programming including the exclusive U.S. premiere of Super Chef Celebrities, as well as proven ratings hits, like reality competition series Guerreros.

As Amazon celebrates the 10th anniversary of the launch of the first Fire TV devices in 2014, the company has unveiled new AI-powered search capabilities for the devices. 

The new Fire TV search experience has begun to roll out to customers in the U.S. in English on select Fire TV devices running FOS6 and later. It will be available on all eligible Fire TV devices in the U.S. in the coming weeks.

Citing studies that the average streaming customer now spends more than 10 minutes searching for options each time they access their streaming services, the company noted that the Fire TV’s new AI-enhanced search combines artificial intelligence with Fire TV's extensive entertainment content and app library, enabling users to find personalized TV show and movie recommendations using natural language.

“You can ask Alexa to search for streaming content recommendations in the same way you might ask a friend with encyclopedic knowledge about TV shows and movies, using complex or nuanced language to ask for options based on topic, genre, plot, character, actor, and even by quotes,” Amazon reported in a how-to-use the new features guide.

The new Fire TV search experience is powered by an Amazon-built large language model (LLM), which enables customers to ask Alexa for personalized TV show and movie recommendations using natural language. These recommendations are contextual, personalized for users, and will include choices from their Prime Video or other streaming subscription libraries, so users know which ones are free. 

More information on the 10th anniversary is available here; more information on the new search features can be found here.  

SEATTLE—Amazon has surpassed a significant sales milestone for its Amazon Fire TV products, with more than 200 million Fire TV devices sold globally, as it announced a notable expansion of its Amazon-built TV family of smart TVs. 

The Amazon-built TV lineup will now include three new sizes of the Fire TV Omni QLED Series lineup, which includes the Fire TV Ambient Experience. 

In addition it is introducing the affordable Fire TV 2-Series which starts at just $199.99 and is launching its Amazon-built TVs in more countries, bringing the Omni QLED Series, Fire TV 4-Series, and the new Fire TV 2-Series to the United Kingdom, Germany, and Mexico for the first time.

“We continue to hear from customers that most smart TVs just aren’t all that smart—and they’re turning to Fire TV to deliver a truly intelligent and intuitive TV experience,” said Daniel Rausch, vice president of Amazon Entertainment Devices and Services. “With over 200 million streaming players and smart TVs sold globally, our relentless focus on making TVs actually smart is resonating with customers around the world. In fact, televisions are the fastest growing segment in the Fire TV business. When customers love something, we double down. We’re excited to not only bring our Fire TV Ambient Experience to more rooms of the home with multiple new screen sizes of the Omni QLED Series, but also to enable customers to get a Fire TV smart TV for as low as $199.99 with the new 2-Series. We can’t wait to hear what customers think.”

Amazon announced that its Fire TV Omni QLED Series—with the Fire TV Ambient Experience—will now be available in three new sizes: 43”, 50”, and 55”. With new smaller sizes, customers can enjoy the Ambient Experience in any space, in any room. The Omni QLED features a 4K Quantum Dot Technology (QLED) display with full-array local dimming of up to 96 zones, plus support for both Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive providing an immersive, cinematic experience. The lineup also features built-in far-field technology, enabling customers to find apps, discover shows, manage playback, and control the Ambient Experience hands-free with Alexa from anywhere in the room.

In addition Amazon is introducing the Omni QLED’s Fire TV Ambient Experience that transforms the TV into an always-smart device. When not streaming, the Omni QLED Series uses built-in presence sensors to detect when a person enters the room to intelligently switch to the Ambient Experience, which uses the power of Alexa to display helpful information. With the Ambient Experience, customers can see glanceable information like their schedule with Calendars and Reminders, leave Sticky Notes for family members, control smart devices like a thermostat or Ring doorbell, play audio from services like Amazon Music, Spotify, and others—and much more.

With no monthly subscription required, the Omni QLED Series can also turn the TV into an in-home art gallery, Amazon reported, with its collection of more than1,700 free gallery-quality pieces of artwork. The collection has been expanded from famous institutions like The National Gallery of Art and The Art Institute of Chicago to include pieces from the National Galleries of Scotland, National Museum of Wales, Munich’s Pinakothek of the Modern, and more.

The new Fire TV 2-Series have prices starting at just $199.99, Amazon also noted. The all-new Fire TV 2-Series features 32” and 40” sizes, designed for all rooms and sizes like the family room, kitchen, or bedroom. The Fire TV 2-Series 32” brings movies and shows to life in HD resolution, while the Fire TV 2-Series 40” offers enhanced clarity and detail with FHD. 

The Fire TV 2-Series lineup includes support for HDR 10, HLG, and Dolby Digital Audio and are available on March 22. 

In terms of accessibility, Amazon reported that Fire TV supports the open-source Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) protocol. In 2022, the Fire TV Cube (2nd Gen) became the first-ever streaming media player in the United States to support ASHA through a collaboration with hearing aid company Starkey. 

Less than a year later, Fire TV streaming media players and smart TVs became the first streaming TV devices to stream sound directly to a hearing implant sound processor through Fire TV’s work with Cochlear, the global leader in implantable hearing solutions. 

In addition, the Fire TV Omni QLED Series, Fire TV 4-Series, and Fire TV 2-Series support ASHA. 

Customers with compatible Starkey Bluetooth hearing aids or Cochlear hearing implant sound processors can connect directly with these Amazon-built TVs to enjoy audio from their favorite streaming apps, use Alexa, listen to music, hear navigational sounds, and more. 

The new Fire TV Omni QLED Series 43”, 50”, and 55” sizes are available for pre-order on March 22 starting at $449.99 at Amazon and will be available for purchase at BestBuy.com starting May 11th. The brand-new Fire TV 2-Series will be available in 32” and 40” starting at $199.99 at Amazon starting March 22. 

NEW YORK—NBCUniversal has announced that it is partnering with Amazon Fire TV to launch a one-stop user experience for its Winter Olympic Coverage from February 2 to February 20. 

The landing page on Fire TV will make it easy for users to immerse themselves in NBCUniversal’s 2,800+ hours of Winter Olympics coverage, the companies said. 

“NBCUniversal sees great value in placing bespoke Olympic destinations and next-generation experiences on our partners’ platforms,” said Matt Bond, chairman, content distribution, NBCUniversal. “These experiences generate ultimate value for all involved, driving dramatic increases in viewership and fan engagement with our coverage of live sporting events. We look forward to combining Amazon Fire TV’s best-in-class capabilities with the world’s greatest sporting event, delivering our viewers thousands of hours of 2022 Winter Olympics programming.”

NBCUniversal will present more than 2,800 hours of Winter Olympics coverage across its platforms, including Peacock which will stream all live coverage as well as full-event replays, curated clips and virtual channels, all of which will be accessible from Fire TV.

“Our goal is to provide the ultimate fan experience on Fire TV that enables every customer to never miss a moment of NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Olympic Games,” said Charlotte Maines, director, Fire TV. “We’re making it easier for customers to browse and click into their must-see events and viewers can simply use their voice to find start times, ways to watch, or specific events – just say, ’Alexa, play the Olympics on Peacock.’”

NBCU had partnered with Roku during the Summer Olympics in 2021 but turned to Fire TV for the Winter Olympics. 

The partnership means that Fire TV users can easily access live and on-demand content airing on NBCUniversal networks and streaming on Peacock with a dedicated Fire TV landing page featuring a complete viewing guide for all the ways users can watch – with or without a pay-TV subscription. 

Fire TV will also deploy a new Live TV row on the Fire TV home screen, which will display a wide variety of live Winter Olympics sporting events streaming on Peacock. Users will be able to click on a live stream tile and go directly into Peacock’s live stream to begin viewing.  The Fire TV Feature Rotator will highlight major events from NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Games, and Ways to Watch across Fire TV, the companies said. 

NEW YORK—Verizon has announced that it’s Fios TV app is now available on Apple TV and Fire TV. 

That will allow customers to access Fios TV content on multiple TVs in the home without having to pay for additional boxes. Users will still, however, need one Fios TV box. 

The move was part of the July 22 launch of new Mix & Match on Fios plans that Verizon said would give customers more value and stronger connections with Whole-Home Wi-Fi.. 

The Mix & Match plans include:

· Whole-Home Wi-Fi to boost signals to improve in-home Wi-Fi coverage.

· Upload speeds up to 25x faster than cable.

· Fios TV app available on Apple TV 4K, Apple TV HD or Amazon Fire TV, which allows users to watch TV on your favorite devices with only one Fios TV box necessary

· New Fios TV plans come with the Fios TV One box and voice remote included at no additional charge

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.—Amazon Fire TV is hitting the road, as the service will be integrated as part of the latest models of Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, making them the first in the automotive industry to offer Fire TV for Auto and give passengers access to TV shows, movies, apps, unique vehicle features and Alexa, Jeep manufacturer Stellantis announced.

Fire TV for Auto, communicating with the vehicle’s Uconnect 5 system, can sync with an existing Amazon account. This allows for passengers to begin or resume a program in the car that had been paused in the home.

Other features include watching Fire TV in high definition from the rear seats and the front passenger screen, with a privacy filter disabling driver viewing; though when in park, the driver can view Fire TV on the main Uconnect 5 screen.

There is a specific Fire TV for Auto remote to control the experience, as well as push-to-talk access to Alexa. A button also connects Fire TV with the Uconnect 5 system for control of vehicle features, such as climate and maps. Touchscreen controls are also available, with support for compatible content able to be downloaded when wireless service is limited or to save on data.

“We reimagined Fire TV for the automobile with a purpose-built experience that delivers the best in entertainment, anywhere you go,” said Sandeep Gupta, Vice President and General Manager of Amazon Fire TV. “With Fire TV built in, customers can stream their favorite shows, see if they left the lights on at home with Alexa, and take advantage of unique controls through the Uconnect system.”

Others have recently pushed to provide TV and other content with updated in-car entertainment systems. AT&T debuted the in-car streaming service WarnerMedia Ride in October 2020. The ATSC 3.0 standard has also been testing transmission to cars for various functions.

Fire TV for Auto will be packaged with other connected services and made available in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. by fall.

SEATTLE—Amazon is expanding its Fire TV Edition program, enabling the entertainment service to be used across things like smart TVs and streaming media players, as well as new avenues like auto manufacturers and soundbars. The updated Fire TV will offer specific tools and services to better integrate it into products.

For the first time, Amazon is expanding its Fire TV program to automakers, announcing a partnership with BMW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. This will enable living room-like experiences in the car with hands-free access to Alexa, a touchscreen interface and offline playback capabilities. Content can be recorded with Fire TV Recast or saved locally on-device, or streamed over a vehicle’s Wi-Fi, LTE, mobile hotspot or any WAN-enabled device.

After releasing the first Fire TV Edition soundbar from Anker innovations in September 2019, Amazon has announced a second model now available, the TCL Alto 8+ Soundbar-Fire TV Edition. Both soundbars support acoustic performance, with tuned speaker drivers and support for Dolby Digital Plus. Amazon announced that it is working with Anker, Polk Audio and Tonly on new soundbar systems. It also expects to offer Dolby Atmos support, compatible device control, HDMI switching and far-field voice control to its soundbars later this year.

Television and telecommunication operators will also now have easier access for offering Fire TV to their customers, Amazon announced. Following Fire TV partnerships with Tata Sky in India and Verizon in the U.S., operators in North America, India, Europe and Japan can choose an appropriate Fire TV offering as well as merchandising opportunities.

Amazon has also announced a new partnership with Skyworth for a turnkey solution for smart TVs to create 4K and Full-HD TVs as part of its international expansion with more brands. More Fire TV Edition smart TVs are expected to be released in the U.S., Canada, India, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Spain and Mexico in 2020.

More information is available at Amazon.com.