STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter’s operating brand Spectrum has announced that it is offering free Amazon Prime memberships and benefits to eligible lower-income Spectrum Internet customers. Prime currently costs consumers $139 a year.

As part of the program, existing and new customers who currently qualify for Spectrum Internet Assist, affordable internet for low-income customers with speeds up to 50 Mbps, can receive Prime membership included with their Internet subscription at no extra cost.

“Our goal at Spectrum is to give customers more value from the services they already count on every day,” said Adam Ray, executive vice president, chief commercial officer for Spectrum. “That value already includes the fastest mobile service at the lowest prices, and our inclusion of programming apps in our video services at no extra charge. And that value now extends to including Prime for low-income customers to help make everyday life a little easier while delivering incredible savings and entertainment – reflecting just a part of our ongoing investment to ensure the communities we serve can thrive.”

Valued at $14.99 per month or $139 per year, qualifying Spectrum Internet customers can sign up for Prime through Spectrum’s simplified onboarding experience.

Benefits of Prime include low prices on Amazon.com and free delivery on 300 million items across 35 categories as well as free Same-Day Delivery on perishable grocery orders over $25 in most places.

It also serves as an entertainment destination, offering unlimited streaming of movies and shows, plus access to must-see live sports including NBA, WNBA, NASCAR, and Thursday Night Football.

In addition, members also enjoy ad-free listening of 100 million songs and millions of podcast episodes with Amazon Music, cloud gaming with Amazon Luna, unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos, and Alexa+, Amazon’s next-gen AI assistant that enhances the Prime experience, making it easy to shop, discover new entertainment, and manage photo content through natural conversation.

More information is available at spectrum.com/AmazonPrime.

A new survey of American’s media habits find that 90% access YouTube on a typical weekday versus 79% for streaming services and 73% for Live TV.

Even so, they typically spend more time with streaming services (one hour and 49 minutes) versus YouTube (one hour and 46 minutes) and Live TV (one hour and 31 minutes), according to Attest.

Very notably, Attest’s 2026 Attention Economy Report, based on surveys of 1,000 UK and 1,000 US adults alongside five years of tracking data, found that creator content is now more popular than streaming or TV.

Americans spend an average of 3 hours and 54 minutes a day with YouTube, TikTok and social video, outstripping the time, three hours and 20 minutes, that people spend with live TV and streaming services like Netflix. “YouTube hasn’t just become an alternative to TV, it’s already ahead of it,” Attest reported. “Tellingly, 23% of Americans primarily watch YouTube on their televisions.”

These numbers are higher for younger age groups. “Gen Z watches by far the most YouTube, 2h 25m a day on average, well ahead of Millennials (1h 55m), Gen X (1h 18m) and Boomers (53m),” the researchers noted. “Men also watch significantly more than women overall (2h 09m vs 1h 23m).”

This does not spell the end of longform content, however, the researchers explained.

“The assumption behind most `short attention span' commentary is that video has been chopped into ever-smaller pieces because that’s all people want,” the study noted. “The data tells a more specific story: as creator platforms introduce longer content, it’s gaining eyeballs. Two-thirds of people regularly watch YouTube videos longer than 15 minutes, while 53% watch long-form on Facebook or Instagram and 39% on TikTok. All four of these platforms launched their short-form video products with strict length caps. They have since expanded them repeatedly, visibly chasing consumer demand for longer content, not just short clips.”

As the attention of consumers shifts from TV to social media platforms, the study also found that people are paying less attention to the TV programming they are watching. “Only 12% of people give TV their full attention, with no other activity happening alongside it. The other 88% are doing something else, and for 68% of the total, that specifically involves second screening: scrolling social media, shopping, searching, messaging, or gaming.”

The study also highlighted data regarding consumer’s willingness to tolerate high ad loads. High ad loads contributed to the shift of viewing from pay TV channels to streaming services and social media platforms, which in recent years have also begun showing more ads.

“Ad frequency tolerance is one of the only genuinely flat patterns in this entire report,” the researchers noted. “People say ads become excessive once they’re shown every 14 minutes on streamed TV and every 12 minutes on social video, a threshold that barely moves regardless of generation. What isn’t flat is what people do about it: 82% of Gen Z always or usually skip ads on social video, compared with 46% of Boomers; on streamed TV it’s 68% versus 36%. Everyone hits roughly the same wall, younger audiences just act on it faster and more completely…When people can’t skip an ad, only 44% say they continue watching as intended, 34% redirect their attention elsewhere, 17% mute it, and 3% stop watching altogether.’

The full report is available here.

The production environment that broadcast infrastructure was built around no longer exists. The model of the studio with a defined perimeter, a predictable signal path, and content that stayed within four walls has been under pressure for years, and the pressure is not easing.

Remote production means contributors are no longer in the building. Corporate clients with broadcast-quality studios want those studios to feed their enterprise networks: the lobby screen, the conference room, the overflow space on the floor above.

Houses of worship running full production environments need the same signal that powers their main auditorium to reach every classroom and corridor in the complex. Education facilities are building multi-camera setups not just for events, but for daily instruction that flows across buildings and campuses.

None of these are edge cases. They represent a significant and growing segment of production activity, and none of them are well-served by a contained baseband workflow. The SDI-to-IP conversation has been going on for a decade. What has not kept pace is the infrastructure layer that determines whether IP actually delivers on its promise.

The Real Barrier is not the Protocol
What often gets lost in the SDI-versus-IP debate is that the barrier to adoption is rarely the protocol itself. NDI, Dante, AES67, SMPTE ST 2110 are proven, mature, and increasingly affordable. The technology works. The problem is the network sitting underneath it.

For years, configuring a switch for a broadcast or professional AV environment required someone with deep IT networking knowledge. Someone who understands multicast routing, IGMP snooping, PTP grandmaster configuration, VLAN segmentation across mixed protocols. Large integrators might have had two or three people in the entire organization capable of doing it correctly.

That bottleneck was a meaningful brake on IP adoption, and operations lacking that specialist knowledge either stayed with SDI, made configuration errors that eroded confidence in IP workflows, or relied on unmanaged switches that worked until they did not.

Complexity Does Not Scale
The problem compounds in hybrid environments, which are now the norm. A typical broadcast or corporate studio operation today might be running NDI for remote contributors, Dante for audio, SMPTE ST 2110 for its core video fabric, and AES67 for audio interop—all simultaneously, all across the same physical infrastructure. Each protocol has its own network requirements, and getting them to coexist without colliding requires switch-level configuration that is specific, precise, and easy to get wrong.

The industry largely accepted this as an unavoidable cost of IP adoption, but I think it’s worth challenging. When NDI 4 was transporting NDI traffic, control traffic, and Dante over the same ports without separation, manufacturers were fielding support calls that were about the network surrounding their product.

The fix was not to change the protocol, but to build the separation into the switch itself. Manufacturers who adopted that approach reported reductions in NDI-related support calls of 80-90%.

The Next Generation of Broadcast Infrastructure
The operations successfully making the transition to IP are not necessarily the biggest or best-resourced. What they share is infrastructure specified for the workflow, not generic IT hardware pressed into service.

As production workflows move toward 25 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit transport—already underway at the leading edge of the market—the margin for infrastructure that is merely adequate shrinks considerably. A switch that handles 1 GB NDI traffic may not handle uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 at the same level of reliability. The physics change, and so do the timing requirements, the synchronization demands, and the consequences of getting it wrong.

Broadcast engineers understand this intuitively from the SDI world. The discipline around termination, signal path, and equipment specification that makes SDI reliable translates to an IP workflow. PTP grandmaster configuration is the timing equivalent of gen-lock. VLAN segmentation is the traffic management equivalent of router output assignment. The execution requires infrastructure purpose-built to handle them.

The Partnership Layer
For most of the last decade, the production vendor and the network vendor operated as separate procurement tracks. The integrator specified a production system from one supplier and a network from another, then reconciled the two on-site, often discovering incompatibilities that had not surfaced during pre-sales.

The market is beginning to move away from that model. When production vendors validate and distribute switching infrastructure alongside their own product, the compatibility question is already answered before the project starts. The integrator is deploying a solution that has been tested end-to-end, not reconciling two separately specified systems.

For integrators handling the full scope of a project without a dedicated network engineering resource, removing that compatibility uncertainty changes the risk profile of the project in a way that makes IP adoption viable for clients who would otherwise stay with what they know.

Foundation Before Conversation
Years of SDI-versus-IP debate have generated panel discussions, white papers, and show floor demonstrations. What the industry has scrutinized less is the infrastructure layer underneath those protocols - and whether it is actually ready to deliver on the flexibility and scalability that IP promises.

The operations thriving in hybrid IP environments are not the ones that chose the right protocol. They are the ones that built the right foundation first. The network is not a commodity input in a broadcast IP workflow. It is the layer that determines whether everything above it works—reliably, repeatedly, and at scale. Until the industry starts treating it that way, the gap between the IP conversation and IP reality will remain.

CESSON-SÉVIGNÉ, France—Broadpeak has launched Click2Cart, which it calls “the next evolution” of its Click2 interactive advertising solution. Click2Cart enables viewers to add products directly to their online shopping cart with a single click of their TV remote during a streaming advertisement.

Click2Cart builds on Broadpeak's Click2 interactive advertising solution that enables viewers to engage with ads and begin the process of purchasing while watching video streaming services. The add-to-cart feature marks a significant next phase, according to Broadpeak, moving beyond click-to-notification features by allowing viewers to add products directly to their online shopping cart, bringing consumers just one click away from completing a purchase.

As performance advertising becomes an increasingly important priority for connected TV, advertisers are demanding the same measurable commerce capabilities available through the world's largest digital platforms. Today, advanced shoppability features remain largely confined to major digital commerce ecosystems and their own advertising environments. Broadpeak Click2 helps overcome these barriers by providing a universal performance advertising framework that interoperates with existing streaming workflows while connecting seamlessly with third-party retail platforms.

“Retail media and shoppable TV are two notable sectors of rapidly-growing opportunity in today’s advertising landscape,” said Paul Erickson, Principal Analyst, Media & Entertainment at Omdia. “Interactive CTV advertising’s potential for brands and publishers has been traditionally limited by challenges such as intuitiveness of user experience and level of performance measurement. Improved integration, experience, and measurability is in the shared interest of advertisers, platforms and consumers alike.”

For publishers, broadcasters and streaming operators, the solution introduces a new category of premium performance advertising inventory, attracting new advertiser demand while creating incremental revenue opportunities that capitalize on the continued growth of ecommerce.

For brands, retailers and retail media networks, Click2Cart creates a direct path from advertisement to purchase, while providing accurate engagement and conversion metrics that bring true performance advertising measurement to connected TV. For viewers, Broadpeak says the experience is "simple and intuitive," allowing viewers to click once using their existing TV remote to add products directly to their shopping cart.

"For too long, delivering true shoppability and performance advertising has only been feasible for a handful of top digital platforms," said Jacques Le Mancq, President and CEO at Broadpeak. "We're giving streaming companies and broadcasters the tools to compete for performance advertising on a level playing field. The industry has been asking for a better way to connect advertisers, retailers and streaming platforms without compromising the viewer experience. Click2Cart makes TV shoppability practical at scale – we’re looking forward to collaborating with customers and their retail partners to push this next phase forward."

Click2Cart integrates with existing streaming advertising workflows and third-party retail ecosystems, with support across standard pre-roll and mid-roll advertising and non-linear display formats including L-Banner. It introduces new engagement and conversion beacons that provide advertisers with accurate performance KPIs and measurement capabilities throughout the purchase journey, according to Broadpeak.

Broadpeak says that when combined with the spot-level ad replacement solution Spot2Spot and nonlinear ad insertion capabilities with BannersIn2, which unlock new ad formats and higher-value inventory, Click2Cart “opens a pathway to revenue growth and true incremental inventory across the 150+ telecom operators working with Broadpeak worldwide.”

Broadpeak will demonstrate Click2Cart publicly for the first time at IBC2026, Sept. 11-14 at booth 1.F83 in the RAI Amsterdam.

OAKLAND, Calif.—Truthset announced an agreement with FreeWheel, a global technology platform for CTV advertising, that will allow advertisers to activate its independently validated Data Rated Audiences (DRAs) across the FreeWheel CTV advertising ecosystem.

The agreement provides advertisers with more accurate and consistent audience activation, while reducing wasted impressions and improving outcomes, the two companies said.

"As CTV continues to scale, the industry needs a more reliable way to connect high-quality audience data to premium video inventory without adding complexity for advertisers or publishers,” said Michelle Eule, executive director of Data and Measurement at FreeWheel, which is owned by Comcast. “This integration helps solve that challenge by giving advertisers and publishers greater accuracy and higher quality audience data across their campaigns.”

The integration allows advertisers to match Truthset’s Data Rated Audiences or DRAs, which are multi-sourced from participating members of its Data Collective and independently scored, to FreeWheel Identity Network. By embedding Truthset’s DRAs into the identity matching and activation process, advertisers can achieve more accurate targeting across premium CTV inventory. Ultimately, advertisers gain greater confidence they're reaching the right people and households to drive stronger campaign performance.

Initially, the integration will support audience activation through FreeWheel's Advertiser Suite, including FreeWheel Buyer Cloud (formerly Beeswax), and Curation Hub, , with broader availability across FreeWheel's unified audience marketplace planned.

This direct integration builds on Truthset's recent partnerships with The Trade Desk, Magnite, Yahoo and Databricks, where Data Rated Audiences are being 1:1 matched to IDs to ensure accuracy is maintained throughout platform and publisher activation. Together, these integrations advance the open web toward end-to-end validation, enabling advertisers to achieve walled garden-level performance while retaining the flexibility of programmatic advertising.

"Premium CTV inventory commands premium pricing, making audience accuracy more important than ever," said Gregg Galletta, President of Truthset. "We’re seeing a shift towards creating a more validated path between audience creation and media activation, to bring walled garden accuracy to the open web."

Akta Tech will demonstrate a unified AI-first video platform designed to replace the collection of tools media companies use to move, understand, repurpose and measure content during IBC 2026, Sept. 11-14, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

Akta can ingest and distribute live signals, analyze video in real time, enrich metadata, identify and create high-value clips, and turn operational and audience data into prescriptive insights—all within one cloud platform, enabling a continuous, signal-to-audience workflow.

The company’s IBC demonstrations will include:

• Cloud signal distribution across broadcast, streaming, FAST, OTT, digital and social destinations.
• Real-time AI enrichment that identifies speech, people, objects, scenes, sentiment and events.
• Automated metadata generation and standardization to improve discovery, production and monetization.
• Intelligent clipping for sports, news and live events, with automated and human-in-the-loop workflows.
• AI-powered media analytics spanning playback quality, audience engagement, ad delivery and fill rate.

“Media companies no longer need separate tools to move, understand, enrich, repurpose and measure their content,” said Alper Turgut, chairman of Akta Tech. “Akta brings those capabilities together in one AI-first platform, helping customers create more content, reach audiences faster and improve operational and commercial performance.”

Akta is a high-end digital video platform powering video offerings for broadcasters and media companies for both live streaming and video-on-demand. Akta's turnkey technology streamlines video from ingest to playback and monetization.

See Akta Tech at IBC stand 3.DiamondLounge.

More information is available on the company’s website.

IRVING, Texas—Nexstar Media Group has announced that Brett Jenkins, executive vice president and chief digital and technology officer, will retire from full-time work at the company effective October 1, at which time he will transition to executive advisor, overseeing the completion of several special projects.

“Brett has been an incredible asset for Nexstar over the last nine-plus years,” said Perry Sook, Nexstar’s founder, chairman and chief executive officer. “He has led Nexstar’s technology advancements, overseen our expansion of ATSC 3.0, spearheaded the development and rollout of the company’s connected TV and mobile applications, and been instrumental in the planning and execution of our automated sales technology. Brett has had a distinguished career, and we are pleased he is staying on in this new capacity.”

Jenkins joined Nexstar as chief technology officer in 2017 in connection with the company’s acquisition of Media General. He was promoted to chief technology and digital officer in 2023, responsible for the company’s technology, data and digital operations, as well as the development and deployment of ATSC 3.0.

Prior to joining Nexstar, Mr. Jenkins served as vice president and chief technology officer at Media General from 2014 to 2017, overseeing the company’s information technology and engineering functions. Before joining Media General in 2014, he was vice president chief technology officer of LIN Media.

As executive advisor, Jenkins will provide counsel for Sook and for Nexstar’s president and COO, Michael Biard, and continue to oversee several important projects for the company.

He will also remain actively involved in Edgebeam Wireless, LLC., a wireless data services provider launched in 2025 as a joint venture among Nexstar and three of the country’s largest independent broadcast groups. Jenkins’ current day-to-day responsibilities and direct reports will be reassigned across Nexstar’s deep bench of experienced executives.

“I’m happy to continue working with Brett, especially as Edgebeam continues to ramp-up its commercial rollout,” said Biard. “He is a tremendous resource for Nexstar and a leader in the media industry, recognized repeatedly for his ability to solve complex problems, integrate highly advanced technology systems, and execute major digital initiatives. He’s been an extremely valuable member of Nexstar’s executive team, and we’re grateful for his countless contributions to our success.”

Jenkins is a former member of the Board of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), an international, non-profit organization that develops standards for digital television. He has been instrumental in building out Nexstar’s ATSC 3.0 footprint in the country’s top-25 markets.

Average price increases across Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon have fallen from 24% of the previous subscription price in 2023/24 to 14% in 2025/26, according to a new survey from Ampere Analysis.

In dollar terms, average increases have declined from $1.67 to $1.54 over the same period, with increases averaging $1.62/17% in 2024/25. Across the full three-year period, the average individual price increase was $1.60, equivalent to 17% of the previous price. As streaming markets mature and become increasingly competitive and saturated, Ampere says the trend could indicate that streamers are moving closer to the limits of consumers’ willingness to pay, leaving less headroom for larger price increases in the future.

Ad-free tiers have seen larger price increases over the past three years, averaging $1.62 versus $1.21 for ad-supported tiers. With ad-free plans already premium-priced, the gap between the two has widened. In markets offering ad-supported tiers, the average price difference between the ad-free and advertising tiers has grown from $4.53 in August 2023 to July 2024 to $5.35 in August 2025 to July 2026 globally across the three streamers.

For Netflix in the U.S., for example, the price gap between the Standard with Ads and the Standard tiers for new subscribers grew from $8.50 in August 2023 to $11 in July 2026. As advertising becomes an increasingly important source of streaming revenue, platforms have an incentive to keep ad-supported tiers attractively priced.

Average price increases over the past three years vary across the three services, ranging from $1.73/16% for Netflix to $1.53/17% for Disney+ and $1.47/30% for Amazon. The frequency of price increases also differs.

Netflix’s price increases have remained broadly stable, according to Ampere.

Disney+ has seen the clearest shift towards more modest increases, down from an average increase of $1.86/31% in 2023/24 to $1.45/13% in 2025/26.

Amazon has made the fewest over the three-year period, likely reflecting the broader role of the Prime subscription within Amazon’s retail business.

Western Europe has seen the largest average price increases over the past three years at $1.86/16%, ahead of North America at $1.70/15% and Central and Eastern Europe at $1.68/18%. Most regional markets are moving in the same direction, with average price increases shrinking over time.

“The decline in price increases comes as streamers diversify how they monetise their audiences. says Jaanika Juntson, Senior Research Manager at Ampere Analysis. “Advertising is an increasingly important revenue stream, reducing reliance on subscription pricing alone, while password-sharing crackdowns allow streamers to generate more value from existing audiences through extra member slots. As streaming businesses mature, revenue growth is becoming less reliant on price increases, while intense competition is also making streamers increasingly mindful of how they are positioned against rivals.”

ESPN is increasing the price of its monthly streaming subscription services on Sept. 17, with the ESPN Select monthly sub fee going from $12.99 to $13.99, a 7.7% pop, and its ESPN Unlimited going from $29.99 to $31.99, a 6.67% spike.

The current annual inflation rate in the U.S. is 3.4%. This is the first every price increase for ESPN Unlimited, which just launched last year on August 21, 2025.

ESPN is also increasing the discounted annual sub fee paid upfront for ESPN Select from $129.99 to $139.99, a 6.7% increase, and the annual cost of an ESPN Unlimited from $299.99 to $319.99, a 6.7% increase.

MIRAMAR, Fla.—Cable operator Breezeline has signed a deal with DirecTV that will expand viewing choices for its streaming-focused customers that will allow them to directly subscribe to DirecTV live sports and entertainment packages.

The streaming bundles of programming from DirecTV are backed by a two-year price guarantee.

“We’re rethinking how our customers experience TV by prioritizing convenience and modern viewing technology,” said Bart Nickerson, chief commercial officer at Breezeline. “With DirecTV, we’re bringing live sports and entertainment to customers with the speed, strength, and reliability of our fiber-powered network. Customers can simply plug in a DirecTV Gemini [streaming] device or log into the DirecTV app and start watching immediately.”

Breezeline, which is the country’s eighth largest cable operator, reported that customers can lock in DirecTV’s satellite-free Signature Packages for two full years with a price guarantee without having to sign an annual contract. Through a new Bundle & Save incentive, customers who pair DirecTV with Breezeline Internet will enjoy a $5 monthly discount on their Internet bill.

“Consumers want simple access to the live sports, local channels, news and entertainment they care about most,” said Mike Wittrock, COO at DirecTV. “This relationship gives them more choice, simplicity and value by bringing together what Breezeline and DirecTV each do best, delivering reliable connectivity and a premium entertainment experience.”

Breezeline provides its residential and business customers with internet, TV, and phone services in 13 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as mobile service in most states in which it operates.

More information on the new service is available at https://www.breezeline.com/tv.

DirecTV has launched a new promotion that offers new DirecTV customers who choose a DirecTV Genre Pack and its Gemini streaming device will get a year of free access to Netflix Standard with ads.

Normally Netflix’s ad supported service is priced at $8.99 a month.

The promotion is being offered at a time when more pay TV operators are bundling discounted streaming services with their video offerings as a way of attracting consumers. With a DirecTV Gemini device, subscribers can access Netflix right alongside their live channels in one easy-to-use interface, all on a single bill.

DirecTV has also been pushing smaller more focused packages like its Genre packs, which target consumer interests for sports, entertainment or other content at more affordable packages.

More information is available here.

NEW YORK—Gracenote’s Q3 2026 Data Hub analysis shows rapid growth for sports-related ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels and programming over the last year.

Overall the number of FAST channels classified as sports rose 13.8% year over year to 264. Over the same period, unique sports program titles increased 31.2%, while individual games and events distributed across FAST climbed 37.5%.

Each measure captures a different dimension of the FAST sports market, the researchers noted.

Channel count tracks FAST channels classified as sports, while program title count reflects the breadth of distinct offerings. Because a single sports program title can encompass many games or competitions, tracking them individually provides a fuller picture of the volume of sports distributed across FAST.

The analysis also found that in July, sports programming appeared on 20 FAST channels outside the sports category. The pattern resembles traditional television, where sports serves as both destination programming on dedicated channels and as part of lineups centered on other genres.

In general, sports programming also grew faster than the overall FAST category. Globally, FAST channel count increased 17.5% year over year to 2,172, compared with 18.6% gains in total video distribution and 19.4% in TV program titles.

The resulting larger sports inventory gives FAST programmers greater flexibility to create varied schedules and reduce reliance on frequently repeated content, the researchers explained. More broadly, the findings suggest that competitive differentiation across FAST will increasingly be shaped by the range and volume of programming within the ecosystem—not channel count alone.

The Gracenote Data Hub is a set of data visualizations tracking the volume and composition of programming available across leading global subscription video-on-demand services (SVOD) and FAST channels. Derived from Gracenote Global Video Data and updated quarterly, the Data Hub covers Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix and Paramount+, as well as more than 2,170 FAST channels.

Q3 Data Hub reporting pairs program title counts with data on individual episodes, games and events, offering a more granular view of programming distribution and revealing changes beneath topline catalog and channel counts.

INDIANAPOLIS—Pacers Sports & Entertainment has named DAZN its exclusive streaming, bringing fans live games and team content with 22 regular season games and four preseason games available free on the DAZN app.

Through the new team-branded streaming service launching in early September on DAZN, fans throughout the Pacers' home television territory, including Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, will be able to watch every Pacers game live and on demand.

Fans will have multiple ways to watch all 82 Pacers regular-season games this season. Of the 22 games available for free on the DAZN app, 15 are also expected to air on a local over-the-air broadcast station partner. Eleven games will be nationally televised through NBA broadcast partners, while all locally available games will be available live and on demand through DAZN.

Chris Denari, Quinn Buckner, Jeremiah Johnson and Eddie Gill will continue to call Pacers games throughout the 2026-2027 season.

“This partnership is about making Pacers basketball more accessible than ever before,” said president and CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment Mel Raines. “Local sports broadcasting has evolved significantly over the last decade and so has the way people watch games. DAZN is a global leader in sports streaming, and its premium viewing experience gives our fans more flexibility and affordable access to Pacers basketball, while creating more opportunities to connect with the team.”

DAZN subscribers will have access to expanded pregame and postgame coverage, highlights, behind-the-scenes access and original programming throughout the season.

Available in more than 200 markets worldwide, DAZN is a leader in direct-to-consumer sports entertainment, annually delivering more than 140,000 live sports events as well as innovative viewing experiences through partnerships spanning the NBA, NFL, NHL, college football and basketball, soccer, boxing, MMA, F1, MotoGP and other major sports leagues, competitions and properties.

When the service launches later this summer, fans can download the DAZN app for free and start with a free, 7-day trial before choosing the subscription that works best for them. Fans who sign up by Oct. 15 can purchase an Early Bird Season Pass for just $59.99, saving 50% off the regular $119.99 price and getting every available game for about $1 per game. A monthly pass will be available for $19.99.

More information is available online.

We settled in for the night. The episode started. My elderly in-laws couldn't follow the popular Western's dialogue, so I reached for the remote to turn on captions. Simple enough, I thought.

On the first streaming app, the process was seamless: enlarge the text, add a dark background block, position it so it didn’t obscure the actors’ faces. Done in seconds. Then we switched apps for a movie, and the captions shrank to a font barely visible against a bright blue sky, with no size control and no way to reposition them.

Frustrated, I jumped to a third app and discovered there was no way to turn on captions from inside the video player at all. I had to exit the movie and dig through the streaming device's system settings.

A night meant for relaxation became a string of small, unnecessary aggravations. Multiply that by the tens of millions of households juggling four or five streaming apps, and you have a design failure that's rarely discussed with the seriousness it deserves.

The Problem We Already Solved Once
This is the same problem the industry already solved in hardware. For years, the “cable drawer” was a rite of passage: one proprietary connector for the phone, a different wide-pin connector for the tablet, a third for the camera. Traveling meant packing a tangled nest of cords just to keep your devices alive.

Then, driven largely by the EU’s common-charger mandate, the industry converged on USB-C. Nobody’s product got worse. If anything, the switch unlocked value. Manufacturers stopped competing on how they could lock customers in, and started competing on what their products could actually do.

Streaming is Repeating the Same Mistake
Every app is a new dialect. Streaming interfaces are running the hardware maze all over again, just without the cords. Every time a viewer switches apps and has to play detective to find the skip button, adjust playback speed, or turn on captions, the platform is taxing the viewer’s attention and treating a basic accessibility need as an afterthought.

Captions are not new technology. They are not some cutting-edge feature streaming apps are struggling to invent. Broadcast television has operated under federal captioning standards for decades. The technology and the precedent both already exist. What’s missing is the industry’s willingness to agree on how it should look and behave from app-to-app.

Consistency is a Form of Respect
We’ve already solved this kind of coordination problem elsewhere in consumer life. Play, pause, and fast-forward symbols mean the same thing regardless of language. Traffic lights dictate identical behavior worldwide. Power icons and QWERTY keyboards converged on standard forms because confusion has a measurable cost in time, accessibility, and trust.

Streaming platforms are one of the few remaining corners of consumer technology that still treat basic navigation as proprietary territory.

What This Reveals About Lasting Value
I’ve spent my career on the brand, creative, and commercial side of media products, and the pattern is consistent across every digital shift I’ve watched: the companies that build lasting enterprise value are the ones that obsess over the last mile of the experience, not the ones chasing the next feature. Beautiful content tied to a frustrating interface is still a product failure.

In a market saturated with choice, the real luxury isn’t more features. It's less friction.

The Real Question Every Interface Answers
Consistency is a form of respect. A universal charging port and a predictable caption menu are answering the same question for the customer: did you think about me, or did you just ship something and call it innovation?

Streaming platforms happen to be making this failure highly visible right now, but the rule applies to any company running a digital ecosystem. Every time we force a customer to relearn our dialect, we’re making them do our job for us.

What Comes Next
The companies willing to put ego aside and agree on a shared standard for captions, for playback controls, for the basic grammar of the remote won’t just make viewers’ evenings easier. They’ll be the ones customers trust the next time they’re choosing where to spend $15 a month. That trust is how loyalty actually gets built, and it’s worth more than any proprietary menu design ever will be.

The technology to fix this already exists. What’s missing is an industry willing to sit down together and use it.

HENDERSON, Nev.—While the FIFA World Cup 2026 broke viewing records in the U.S. on linear TV and on streaming platforms, new data from Gaming Compliance International (GCI) suggests that an enormous amount of illegal streaming also occurred around the world. Its first complete global measurement of illegal streaming across the 2026 FIFA World Cup, estimates that there were 174.3 billion qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus globally across the tournament.

The analysis also found that:

• 174.3 billion qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds or more globally across the tournament
• 1.68 billion average qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus per match, globally
• 6.2 billion qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus globally for the Spain vs Argentina Final
• 95% of qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus globally carried advertising for unregulated gambling

The estimate is derived from GCI's global monitoring and marketplace intelligence, using multiple proprietary and third-party licensed data sources.

A qualifying illegal stream view requires at least 90 seconds of streaming, denoting a "committed view". This is a stream-view measure, not a unique viewer count. The methodology accounts for stream interruptions, forced refreshes, reloads, mirror switches and channel resets throughout each match.

GCI's analysis also highlighted a dark nexus between illegal streaming and unregulated online gambling with heavy ad loads for unregulated gambling in the illegal streams.

GCI monitoring shows that illegal streamers can receive payment for advertising and referring audiences to unregulated gambling, with affiliate deals offering between 25% and 50% of net gaming revenue produced by unregulated gambling operators from referred customers.

The result is a powerful illegal economy: premium sports content attracts mainstream audiences; illegal streaming monetizes that attention; and unregulated gambling pays to acquire those audiences.

This relationship was previously identified by GCI in Great Britain. Analysis released in January 2026 found 3.1 billion illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus across the Top 10 sports in Great Britain during 2024 and another 1.6 billion during the first half of 2025, with unregulated gambling advertising present upon 89% of illegal sports streams.

The GCI study found that the World Cup demonstrated the same relationship at global scale.

Overall, GCI estimated the 2026 FIFA World Cup would generate $593 billion in global online betting handle — the value of money wagered on World Cup betting online. Of that total, $409 billion — 69% — was unregulated, compared with $184 billion — 31% — regulated.

While regulated operators saw record activity, the majority of wagering value flowed through offshore, unregulated and unlicensed channels, the study found.

Illegal streaming connects these two parts of the marketplace by delivering sports audiences to unregulated gambling operators while those consumers are watching live events and each game presents fresh betting prospects.

The commercial relationship with unregulated gambling is not the only risk associated with illegal streaming.

GCI's analysis found that video players, pop-ups and fake "click to watch in HD/4K" buttons can hide malware, spyware and keystroke loggers, exposing audiences to data harvesting and other forms of cybercrime.

"174 billion qualifying illegal stream views should remove any remaining illusion that illegal streaming is a marginal problem for sport, said Matt Holt, CEO of Gaming Compliance International (GCI). “Consumers experience one marketplace, and illegal streaming is an industrial-scale part of it — competing for the same audiences and extracting value that should support rights holders, broadcasters and the wider sports ecosystem.”

"When 95% of qualifying illegal stream views carry advertising for unregulated gambling, illegal streaming is not simply stealing content,” he added. “It is providing one of the world's largest sporting audiences as an acquisition channel for the unregulated gambling economy."

The full GCI Illegal Streaming – Global: World Cup 2026 report is available from Gaming Compliance International (GCI).

NEW YORK—MS Now has unveiled plans to launch its first direct-to-consumer service, which it is calling MS Now Membership, on Wednesday, Sept. 9 for a monthly subscription price of $7.99.

In releasing the launch date and some programming details for the service, which parent company Versant first announced in December 2025, MS Now emphasized that the service is designed to be “an additive experience to the MS Now television and digital offerings.”

It will allow members to interact directly with the brand’s journalists, provide exclusive community features, a new roster of contributors and experts, original content, and 24/7 access to live streams and television programming.

"From the beginning, we've approached this deliberately. When we launched MS Now, our ‘We the People' campaign was never just a tagline. Our mission has always been to inform, engage and empower our audience,” said Rebecca Kutler, president of MS Now. "Our Membership is the first step in a long-term strategy to deepen our relationship with audiences in ways that build on what they already value about MS Now, while addressing what consumers told us was missing from the news experience. We will continue to research, test, and refine this experience because we want it to be something that our loyal MS Now fans genuinely love, as well as something that future fans genuinely need.”

MS Now also reported that it has had more than 3.2 billion views across YouTube and TikTok year to date and more than 80 million podcast downloads. The new service will build on its rapidly growing digital news apparatus, popular mass-market live events and its existing high levels of engagement. The typical viewer watches the network, on average, nine hours every week, the second-most hours viewed of any cable network.

The news outlet also noted that MS Now content is resonating with millions of people outside of the traditional TV landscape, with less than 10% overlap between MS NOW’s television and digital audiences, according to Comscore Content Measurement.

The MS Now Membership will be available for $7.99 per month or $79.99 annually. Taxes and fees apply. Through Sept. 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET, new Members can take advantage of an introductory offer of $39.99 for the first full year of Membership

NEW YORK—Nielsen’s June 2026 reports of The Gauge and Media Distributor Gauge reveal that the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup 2026 drove remarkable audience engagement with over 84 billion minutes viewed across Fox and NBCUniversal properties.

That viewing also pushed both distributors to June's only viewing increases in the Media Distributor Gauge.

Meanwhile, the combination of World Cup matches and NBA Finals games helped drive a 118% increase in broadcast sports viewing, and led the broadcast category to 19.8% of TV and its first increase during a June interval (+0.6 share pts.) since the inception of The Gauge in 2021.

According to the June Media Distributor Gauge, Fox exhibited the largest gain in share of TV (+0.9 pts.) compared to May, and the largest overall viewing increase among all distributors this month (+18%). The World Cup surge boosted viewing on Fox affiliates by 73%, and Fox Sports 1 was up 232%. FOX concluded the month with 7.4% of total TV watch-time and moved up to No. 5 in the Media Distributor Gauge rankings.

NBCU-Versant represented 9.1% of total TV viewing in June (+0.7 share pts.). That success, the researchers reported, was a result of two drivers: NBCU’s Telemundo served as the exclusive home to all Spanish-language World Cup coverage, which drove a 143% monthly viewing increase to its broadcast affiliates in June. Peacock also benefited from Telemundo’s World Cup coverage, as days with games exhibited a 60% audience increase on the platform over those that did not, and viewing from Hispanic audiences increased nearly 200% compared to the prior month.

Peacock’s 34% total monthly viewing increase was also due to owning June’s most-streamed title, “Love Island USA.” The six-night-per-week appointment viewing for the reality dating series generated 6.8 billion minutes across the month. Overall, Peacock gained half a share point to represent 2.3% of total TV viewing in June, its second-best share of TV to date behind February 2026.

Overall streaming usage was up about 3% compared to May, but due to it being just below the 3.1% increase for total TV usage, the category dropped back 0.1 share point to 48.5% of TV watch-time.

In addition to Peacock, several other streamers also saw monthly viewing increases, including YouTube, Netflix, The Roku Channel and Paramount Streaming (Paramount+ and Pluto TV combined), but similar to the overall streaming category, their shares were flat or down slightly. However, YouTube remained in the lead among media distributors with 13.8% of time spent.

Disney held on to the No. 2 spot among media companies with 9.6% of TV. ABC’s coverage of the five-game NBA Finals showdown between the San Antonio Spurs and eventual champion New York Knicks helped drive a 15% viewing bump for ABC affiliates in June. Each game of the series was the most-viewed broadcast telecast on days played, and Games 3, 4 and 5 were the most watched telecasts over the June interval with more than 20 million viewers a piece.

Cable represented 19.5% of television in June (-0.9 pts.) as viewing was down 2% compared to May. This was largely due to the absence of the NBA and NHL playoffs, which led to a 10% monthly decline in cable sports viewership.

Due to the fact that advertising sales for Versant are still retained by NBCUniversal, and to preserve data trends and insights in these reports, NBCU and Versant are reported together in the Media Distributor Gauge with each company’s respective share included in the Media Distributor Gauge chart.

The June 2026 interval spanned four weeks, from 06/01/2026 through 06/28/2026. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.

WASHINGTON—The Motion Picture Association and the Chinese tech giant ByteDance have reached Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on a shared framework to protect intellectual property on generative AI video and image models like Seedance and Seedream, which is offered by TikTok, the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, CapCut, Dreamina and others.

ByteDance founded and is the owner of TikTok outside the U.S.; it currently owns 19.9% of the social media platform’s U.S. business. It launched Seedance 2.0 in February of 2026 and the first iterations of Seedream in 2025.

In February the MPA, which is backed by the U.S. studios and major streaming players, sent a cease and desist letter to ByteDance in connection with Seedream 5.0 Lite and Seedance 2.0.

That led to “constructive conversations” between ByteDance and the MPA, the two parties said.. More recently, the launches of Seedream 5.0 Pro and Seedance 2.5 have reflected improved IP protections.

“Today’s agreement illustrates our belief that copyright is a cornerstone of the film and television industry – and reinforces our commitment to protect creative content,” said MPA chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin. “For the past several months, we have had constructive engagement with ByteDance to implement meaningful guardrails on Seedance and Seedream, and this MOU reflects our shared determination to continue our work together to further fortify those guardrails.”

“ByteDance respects the intellectual property rights that underpin creative industries around the world, and we believe responsible innovation in AI goes hand in hand with meaningful protections for rightsholders,” said John Rogovin, general counsel, ByteDance. “We appreciate the productive engagement with the MPA and its members as we continue to strengthen safeguards across our generative AI services. This MOU establishes an important framework for continued collaboration as the technology evolves, across a variety of products and platforms.”

The MOU is an important step forward in establishing that IP can and should be protected in the generative AI space, and it formalizes meaningful progress in recent months to further strengthen safeguards on ByteDance’s platforms, the MPA said.

The MPA’s member studios are: Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery.

As the world of broadcast TV news moves into the AI era, station groups like Scripps are using the technology not only to help improve news coverage and viewer engagement, but also to reform and enhance how reporters and anchors spend their days—focusing on new workflows and adapting to how consumers stay informed.

That was the impetus behind Scripps Media’s announcement several weeks ago that it would adopt a “digital-first” approach to news coverage, in which it would prioritize streaming breaking news rather than waiting for scheduled daily newscasts. This approach reflects the reality of how consumers get their news—a development that is long overdue, according to Dean Littleton. Littleton recently became president of media for Scripps, combining leadership of the company’s enterprise television and broadcast operations in a newly created role.

The company plans to roll out its new process to a dozen of its smaller markets, with plans to increase deployment to all markets over time.

'We've Got to Change Our Business'
The changes were revealed at the same time the station group announced that 268 positions across the company were being eliminated. Littleton says Scripps had to make these changes, noting that core revenue across its approximately 60 local broadcast TV stations in more than 40 markets and 22 states is down 30%–50% from 20 years ago. The station group announced a nearly 5.4% drop in core revenue in its latest fiscal quarter, compared to the same quarter a year ago.

“A year ago we sat down and said, ‘We've got to change our business,’” Littleton told TV Tech. “So we took a step back and said, ‘What is our true north?’ And our true north is journalism. It's the journalism that will sustain us.

“So we looked at all of our processes and completely set about reinventing all of them with a focus on the consumer and how they consume content across broadcast, digital, streaming, and social platforms.”

Littleton says today’s news production process isn’t all that different than what it was 30 years ago and that, despite past promises to focus more on digital and streaming, broadcasters were not moving forward fast enough.

“I remember sitting in these meetings talking about strategy, and as much as we would walk out of those meetings and all say, ‘We're digital-first,’ we'd go right back to working on our 5:00, 6:00, or 10:00 newscast,” he said. “Meanwhile, the consumer left the party in large part, and that's been a mistake. I think we lost sight of the consumer.”

Littleton also wanted to move beyond the walled garden of a station news “app,” calling that approach “overly simplistic.”

He says Scripps needs to go where consumers are when it comes to news—giving them access to “journalism that's delivered on the platforms of their choosing, in formats native to that platform, and delivered on a schedule that fits the consumer's schedule.”

Littleton emphasizes that Scripps is increasing its focus on local news despite the recent layoffs by tapping into new AI processes that automate more of the production process.

“We are essentially reallocating resources from the production of newscasts to the development of journalism,” he said. “[We’re] moving resources from the process of creating the traditional newscast, and then investing in resources to create original reporting in our markets.”

Littleton says he wants to increase the number of reporters in local markets and believes Scripps will expand its local coverage rather than reduce it, as some critics have claimed.

“We'll see more reporters and MMJs, not fewer, with them having geographic beats so that they build expertise, and their stories are told with relevance and context in the communities that they serve,” he said. “And these communities that they're serving often are communities that have been 'news deserts' up until the point that we assigned a reporter.”

“At the end of this process, we'll have more MMJs and reporters overall than what we have today,” Littleton added.

Scripps has developed a new workflow to support its digital-first approach, according to Littleton.

“We've invented a whole new process for operating our newsrooms, where a story gets completed, and the story immediately goes into the live stream,” he said. “The technology that we've built constantly ‘stacks’ and ‘restacks’ the shows on the live stream, and the stories are prioritized based on tags that human beings assign to those stories, so the technology knows how to prioritize the content.

“Therefore, my experience as a consumer watching that live stream at 2:00 in the afternoon is different than it would have been at 1:00, because as new content has moved into the stream, the technology ‘restacked’ it based on priorities that human beings gave it,” Littleton added.

New Role: 'Executive Reporter'
Along with more automated production processes, Littleton also says the management of how news is handled is changing, with the creation of a new “executive reporter” role in each newsroom.

“This person leads the reporting resources inside each newsroom, they have a reporting background, and so their goal is to help improve the storytelling and the journalism, and their focus is on that all day long,” he said. “So we've had to rethink how management works in our newsrooms to support what is an entirely new workflow and process inside our buildings.”

To put the power of AI behind its new news workflow, Scripps developed its own news production platform called "Stacker," according to Christina Hartman, vice president of emerging technology operations at Scripps.

Producers working with Stacker create templates based on their focus—whether it be news, weather, business, or sports—and connects those subjects to local community concerns so news reports better reflect local issues.

“Stacker is the platform we built that is responsive to a template that a producer builds, as a reflection of the content strategy of the newsroom, whether it’s heavy on weather, leading with community connection stories, etc.,” she said. “The producer sets the template, and then Stacker as a platform will read what stories we have available and meet the criteria for slotting in the platform, and then it produces a draft or suggested rundown based on that daypart's template.

“It allows the producer to intuitively move stories around if they don't like the suggested order, or if they want to change some of the timing content, they could do that really easily through the platform,” Hartman added.

Better Use of Time
Hartman reiterated Littleton’s assessment of the need to use AI to free up a reporter’s time during the day.

“The amount of time that our reporters have been able to spend being in the field versus doing the shooting, editing, and versioning for social media and the web—the time spent actually with news gathering has shrunk, and the day has gotten longer,” she said. “We remind people that more and more of your day is going to things that aren't why you got into this business.”

Given the level of automation now involved in news production, Hartman stressed that everything aired is still approved by humans.

“Nothing is published or goes to air without human review and affirmative approval, and everything that we publish or take to air is originally reported, substantively written, and reviewed and approved by a human journalist,” she said. “What we have brought AI in to assist with are really the production components: the versioning, the metadata tagging, the sort of rough-cut edit, and the layout of the rundown in a suggested capacity. So from a guardrails point of view, it's structurally built into the process.”

As Scripp’s chief advocate for AI development within the company, Hartman shares her initial skepticism about AI, noting that when ChatGPT was launched nearly three years ago, her first thought was, ‘how do I keep this as far away from our newsroom as possible?’

“It's why I proposed forming AI governance,” she said. “So we started from sort of a ‘protective condition.’” she said. “What I found though is that if I was writing the guardrail and the rules around use of AI, I better know what I'm doing and be using it so that I can understand what the traps and the and the pitfalls were.”

Hartman responded to criticisms that Scripps is using AI as an easy way out to justify downsizing its news staffs.

“If this were purely a financial exercise, there are many other models that that I will tell you candidly would have been so much easier to pursue,” she said. “We could have dripped down to five-minute newscasts. We could have killed reporting and reporting roles, and maintained the facade of a newscast where you have talent that isn't even local, putting on the appearance of a local broadcast. But none of those alternatives would be true to Scripps’ value and Scripps’ promise to its communities.”

With a digital-first approach, a news story is not a finished product, but rather an evolving element that Littleton believes can help make viewers part of the narrative.

“What we are now seeing our newsrooms do with this process where you create a story and you immediately upload it and it goes into the stream, that happens throughout the day so viewers get to go along with the reporter as they develop a story,” he said. “[As the reporter] walks out of the newsroom, they record video that explains what their story is for the day, and as that story gets updated, those videos are created, and they go into the stream also. So the person watching at home gets to go along with the reporter as the story develops throughout the day.”

The fact that news workflow is being built around AI is not new, but technical changes are just one factor in the decision to the shift, according to Hartman, who characterized the new direction as “as much cultural as it is technological.”

CTV unified advertising platform Adte has formed a partnership with Haystack News, that will allow Adte’s brand and agency clients to access advertising inventory on the FAST platform.

Haystack News compiles clips from over 400 news providers and builds personalized "My Headlines" playlists based on one’s location, favorite topics, and preferred media sources.

“With the US political season approaching, audience demand for trusted news content continues to grow,” Adte CEO Yanir Yudovich said. “Our relationship with Haystack News further expands Adte’s premium CTV reach, enabling us to deliver highly engaged, highly relevant audiences for our advertisers."

The 2026 election cycle is expected to reach a record $11.6 billion in spending, according to advertising intelligence company AdImpact. CTV continues its ascent as the fastest-growing media channel in political advertising and is projected to reach more than $2.5 billion (23%) this year.

The partnership further expands Adte's inventory and builds on several other agreements announced earlier this year with C15 Studio’s premium FAST sports channels, Paramount+, and Major League Baseball’s MLB TV streaming service.

Through C15 Studio, Adte gained access to premium FAST sports channels F1 Channel, Yahoo! Sports Network, MotoGP Channel, DP World Tour, Triton Poker, and One Championship TV. Adte also became an approved ad serving vendor across Paramount’s entire streaming platform including Pluto TV, Paramount+ originals, first-run shows, current-season programming, and live sports broadcasts.

The company also renewed its partnership with MLB for the second year in a row. Adte purchased 15-second and 30-second midroll advertising inventory on MLB TV for Adte to make available to its wide base of advertisers.

NBCUniversal’s expanded partnership with YouTube is being presented as a streaming distribution deal, but its larger significance lies in how both companies are positioning themselves for the next phase of connected television.

For YouTube, the agreement strengthens its role as a starting point for television viewing. For NBCUniversal, it creates a broader path for Peacock’s programming, sports and entertainment brands to reach audiences across one of the world’s most heavily used video platforms.

Owning the Starting Point
That matters because the most valuable position in CTV is no longer simply owning popular shows, movies or sports. It is owning the starting point: the screen viewers open first when they sit down to watch.

YouTube already competes with Netflix, traditional television and other streaming services for viewing time on the largest screen in the home. Adding Peacock to YouTube Premium gives subscribers another reason to open YouTube first and remain there for television shows, movies and live sports.

For NBCUniversal, the arrangement offers a practical way to put Peacock in front of more potential subscribers.

YouTube, meanwhile, is starting to look less like a single streaming app and more like a complete television destination. It can help viewers find something to watch, subscribe to it, pay for it and begin watching without leaving the platform.

That changes how streaming companies compete.

Industry executives increasingly see the Peacock agreement as a potential blueprint for what comes next. In a recent Looper Insights survey of C-suite executives across streaming services, broadcasters, agencies and CTV platforms, 73% described the Peacock/YouTube deal as very significant or game-changing, while no respondent considered it insignificant.

Nearly half, 46%, believe YouTube’s most likely next move will be securing similar bundle agreements with other major streaming services, while another 27% expect it to emerge as a universal streaming super-aggregator. Taken together, nearly three-quarters of respondents see YouTube’s next phase being driven by aggregation.

The 'Front Door'
For years, media companies focused on ensuring their apps were available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google TV and smart televisions. But simply being available is no longer enough. As more content is brought together within larger platforms, the bigger question is whether viewers need to open a separate app at all.

Someone starting on YouTube might discover a Peacock show through a trailer, sports highlight, creator review, search result or recommendation. Instead of leaving YouTube and searching for the program elsewhere, the viewer may be able to move directly into the show or event.

That makes YouTube the front door. For NBCUniversal, that doorway is valuable because it creates another route to viewers who may not regularly open Peacock or otherwise consider subscribing. In an increasingly crowded streaming market, making content easier to discover can help reduce the friction between interest and viewing.

The agreement also matters for YouTube TV. The broader partnership keeps NBCUniversal’s channels within Google’s live television service while allowing YouTube to connect traditional channels, streaming shows and online video in one place.

Sports could make that connection especially powerful. A viewer might watch highlights or commentary on YouTube, receive a recommendation for an upcoming event and then move into live coverage through Peacock or YouTube TV.

For NBCUniversal, that can create additional exposure for its sports programming. For YouTube, it creates a direct path from free video to paid viewing without asking the viewer to start over on another service.

For Roku, Amazon, Apple and television manufacturers, this increases the pressure to become the place where viewers begin their search. These companies have spent years building home screens that bring apps and subscriptions together. YouTube’s advantage is that it can combine television programming with creator videos, search, fan communities and online conversation on a huge scale.

The next phase of streaming competition will therefore be about more than producing the best shows or acquiring the most valuable sports rights. It will be about becoming the place where television viewing begins.

In the changing television market, that may be the most powerful position of all.

NEW YORK—IAB Tech Lab has released updates to its Privacy Standards Portfolio that include enhancements to the Global Privacy Protocol (GPP) and the Data Deletion Request Framework (DDRF) Version 2.0.

The updates by the global digital advertising technical standards-setting body aim to reinforce how elements of IAB Tech Lab's Privacy Standards Portfolio work together to help organizations mitigate privacy risk while supporting consistent implementation across the industry. The public comment period will be open until September 11, 2026.

"Privacy requirements continue to change, but that doesn't mean implementation has to become more complicated," said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. "These updates reflect what we've heard from companies putting these standards into practice and help make compliance more consistent, transparent, and practical across the ecosystem."

The proposed GPP updates focus on changes needed to support the Fifth Amended and Restated Multi-State Privacy Agreement (MSPA). They include removing MSPA coverage for the previous state-by-state approach, eliminating Service Provider and Opt-Out Option Modes, removing secondary usage consents, and simplifying notice and choice fields.

The IAB Tech Lab also reported that DDRF Version 2.0 is now finalized following a public comment period that commenced in the fall of 2025. It introduces updates based on implementation experience and regulator questions.

The revisions clarify identity and deletion request JSON Web Tokens (JWT) definitions, improve result feedback and troubleshooting, strengthen framework integrity, and support implementation-specific extensions. Together, these updates are intended to make data deletion requests easier to implement while increasing confidence for both consumers and regulators.

"Organizations implementing these standards have given us valuable feedback on where additional clarity was needed," said Rowena Lam, senior director of product at IAB Tech Lab, IAB Tech Lab. "These updates are intended to make implementation more predictable while helping companies meet growing privacy expectations with greater consistency."

The updates were developed through IAB Tech Lab's Global Privacy Working Group and Privacy Rearc Commit Group (PRCG), reflecting collaboration across the industry. IAB Tech Lab encourages stakeholders to review the proposed GPP specifications and submit feedback during the public comment period to help shape the final standards.

To learn more about the Privacy Standards Portfolio and participate in the public comment process for the GPP and DDRF Version 2.0 specifications, visit https://iabtechlab.com/2026PrivacyUpdates

NEW YORK—Gracenote has announced a deal with Fox’s Tubi Media Group that will see Gracenote supply advanced content discovery and advertising capabilities on Tubi Media Group properties, including Tubi and Fox One.

Gracenote's solutions provide unique identifiers, human-verified program metadata, rich imagery and standardized taxonomy that will provide improved content search and discovery capabilities for natural language queries.

As a part of the partnership, Tubi Media Group will also test Gracenote IDs in programmatic bid streams to improve contextually relevant advertising.

"Gracenote has been a valued partner, and this renewal underscores our commitment to innovation for both consumers and for advertisers across our streaming portfolio," said Paul Cheesbrough, CEO of Tubi Media Group. "As Tubi and FOX One continue to scale, we are excited about the future we're building."

"Tubi Media Group's market-leading streaming portfolio, combined with Gracenote's gold-standard content intelligence, make a powerful pairing," said Jared Grusd, CEO of Gracenote. "As the market embraces data and technology to maximize value for viewers and partners alike, Gracenote's curated and human-verified data provides an essential foundation—a definitive source of truth for entertainment experiences that keep consumers engaged."

Tubi recently announced it has reached 110 million monthly active users, with engagement growing 17% YoY and a record quarter of revenue, up 35% year over year.

In addition to record streaming levels during FIFA World Cup 2026, which saw more than 20 million viewers visit Tubi's World Cup Fox Hub, Tubi also announced that it reached an all-time high of 2.3% share of total U.S. TV viewing, according to Nielsen, and that more than 60% of its audience comprised of Gen Z and Millennials, who spend more time on Tubi than watching traditional broadcast or cable television.

Tubi's simulcast of the opening World Cup matches also delivered the most streamed English language opening match in World Cup history.

Netflix has concluded its 2026 Upfront sales in the U.S. with deals from “all major agency partners” that “nearly doubled our ad commitments this year,” Netflix president of advertising Amy Reinhard reported.

Reinhard did not provide specific dollar amounts but said the results were in line with their expectations.

“This Upfront proved that advertisers are more excited than ever to work with Netflix, where they can access the most engaged audiences, with an ad tech platform built to drive results, all centered around series and films that never disappoint,” she wrote in an August 10 blog post.

The growth came from new programming as well as “returning favorites like `Love Is Blind', `Big Mistakes', `Bridgerton', `Emily in Paris', `Nobody Wants This', and `Running Point'”, upcoming feature films and live events like the NFL.

“Upfront demand for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup was also extremely high, as we’ve sold out of game sponsorships and nearly sold out of all available in-game inventory,” she said.

In another major development in its ad sales efforts, Reinhard said that "the Media Rating Council (MRC) has granted Netflix Ads Suite’s first accreditation. We’re proud to have been awarded accreditation across the processing and reporting of US in-stream video impressions amongst connected TV, mobile app, and desktop web."

Reinhard also stressed the importance of a variety of tech advances in the “Netflix Ads Suite, which makes it easy for advertisers to buy with us, offering expanded flexibility, interactivity and reach.”

Those improvements included:

• CTV Marketplace and DSP-Initiated deals extend programmatic buying so that partners can transact with Netflix through any of the demand-side platforms they already use across Google Display & Video 360, Amazon, Yahoo or The Trade Desk.
• Pause Ads are now available to buy programmatically across all DSPs. The Netflix Ads Suite also offers advertisers AI-creative tooling that generates pause ad formats from existing assets.
• Conversion, Reach and Audience APIs offer advertisers AI-driven tooling to drive even stronger results.
• Netflix recently expanded interactive formats to include ‘Send to Phone’ and now offer Frame Ads.

BOCA RATON, Fla.—Florida Atlantic University said Dolby Laboratories has acquired a video-compression technology portfolio FAU had developed through a long-standing research partnership with OP Solutions LLC (OPS).

At the heart of the portfolio is technology that contributed to Versatile Video Coding (VVC), also known as H.266, the international video-compression standard finalized in 2020 by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Telecommunication Union. VVC reduces video data requirements by approximately 50% compared with the previous High Efficiency Video Coding standard while maintaining the same visual quality.

Although VVC is not yet widely deployed by streaming services, due to the lack of hardware support, the codec has been adopted by Brazil's TV 3.0 standard as well as DVB broadcasters in Europe. ATSC approved the standard for 3.0 in April.

The portfolio comprises 683 intellectual property assets, including 250 granted patents worldwide and 73 United States patents, which were invented by FAU researchers in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. The research was sponsored by OPS, which provided strategic research support, patent development and commercialization expertise, while FAU faculty conducted the underlying technical research.

“This acquisition exemplifies the power of combining world-class faculty expertise with strong industry partnerships,” said FAU President Adam Hasner. “Technology developed at Florida Atlantic has evolved from groundbreaking university research into an international standard and is now part of the portfolio of one of the world’s leading media technology companies. Its applications span digital media, national security, autonomous systems and emerging AI technologies, demonstrating how FAU research is driving innovation and economic impact on a global scale.”

The transaction also highlights the success of the research and commercialization partnership between FAU and OPS. Through the collaboration, OPS sponsored advanced video-coding research at FAU while helping guide intellectual property development and commercialization efforts.

“This achievement illustrates the power of sustained investment in research excellence and strategic partnerships,” said Stella Batalama, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. “Working with OP Solutions, our faculty took video-compression research from the lab into a global standard, and that work is now part of Dolby’s portfolio. It is a clear example of FAU research reaching real products and returning value to the university.”

Sixteen U.S. patents developed through the FAU-OPS collaboration have been declared essential to the VVC standard and are licensed through the Access Advance VVC patent pool for worldwide commercial implementation. Dolby acquired the portfolio from OPS, which held the patent rights following assignment from FAU.

LONDON—As consumers continue to feel pressure from the rising cost of living, one researcher predicts that the increasing popularity of ad-supported streaming subscription services will reshape the streaming business.

According to Ampere Analysis, ad tiers are now the dominant monetization model in North America, and the research firm expects them to account for more than half (54%) of total subscription streaming service revenues in the region by year-end. As the world;s most mature streaming market increasingly relies on advertising to drive growth, Ampere says the region offers a clear indication of where the global streaming market is heading.

Ampere expects revenues from advertising alone will exceed $18 billion in North America this year, accounting for more than one-fifth of total subscription OTT revenues for the first time.

To illustrate how this could influence the world market, North America currently dominates the global ad-supported subscription OTT market, accounting for nearly 60% of global revenue. Platforms in this region benefit from stronger subscription ARPUs, higher CPMs, a more mature connected-TV advertising environment and a greater consumer acceptance of ads. As subscriber growth slows elsewhere, the region is suggesting the direction of travel for the global streaming market, Ampere said. Consumer goods and retail companies are leading the shift to streaming advertising, with Procter & Gamble, Amazon and Walmart accounting for 22% of U.S. subscription OTT advertising impressions so far in 2026.

Amazon’s Prime Video, which began charging subscribers a monthly fee to skip ads starting in 2023, leads the North American ad-supported subscription OTT market, with revenues expected to exceed $14 billion in 2026. In contrast, Netflix and Disney+ have encouraged users to choose their ad tiers, offering a lower price point and fewer ads.

"Advertising has become a fundamental part of streamers' business models, changing both how success is measured and the content they commission,” Ampere Analysis Research Manager Rory Gooderick said. “As subscriber growth slows in mature markets, the focus has shifted towards driving engagement and habitual viewing. The challenge now is to increase monetization without compromising the premium viewing experience that these streamers have spent years cultivating.”

NEW YORK—Nielsen Holdings has announced a definitive agreement to acquire DoubleVerify in an all-cash transaction valued at about $2.15 billion.

DoubleVerify is a leading software platform that offers solutions for verifying media quality, optimizing ad performance, and proving campaign outcomes.

The deal comes at a time when Nielsen faces increasing competition from a number of other companies and many industry players continue to express frustration with the state of audience measurement in the streaming era.

The combination, Nielsen said, would to provide clients clear, verified, and independent data and would help advertisers improve their campaigns and outcomes.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.

“Over the last few years, Nielsen has undergone a fundamental transformation — accelerating product innovation; expanding our platform across the full media lifecycle, from discovery and planning through measurement and outcomes; and strengthening our financial foundation,” Karthik Rao, CEO of Nielsen, said in announcing the deal.

“This combination will unite two organizations focused on strengthening independence and trust in advertising, Rao continued. “Joining forces with DoubleVerify will extend our capabilities deeper into the digital media industry, ensuring that the spend flowing between buyers and sellers is reaching real people in brand-suitable environments, through verified channels. As advertising workflows become increasingly automated, together we can offer publishers, advertisers, agencies, and platforms a truly independent, end-to-end partner that connects trusted audience intelligence with verified media delivery — across every screen, every channel, and every transaction – enabling superior decisions and outcomes.”

“Today’s announcement is an exciting milestone for DoubleVerify,” added Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify. “As a private entity with the support of Nielsen, we will have access to expanded resources to deliver new, market-leading solutions that drive exceptional value for our customers and partners. DoubleVerify’s MRC-accredited quality signals, in combination with Nielsen’s deduplicated cross-screen audience measurement, will fuel genuine market innovation – a single currency that scores media on both audience delivery and media environment quality. I’m proud of the strong momentum we’ve built for DoubleVerify as the leading media effectiveness platform, the strength of our AI-powered measurement and optimization platform, and the exceptional work of our team.

Nielsen described the key benefits of the transaction as follows:

• Extends Nielsen’s Platform Across the Full Media Intelligence Stack: Nielsen’s platform already spans the entire media lifecycle — from content discovery and audience planning through cross-platform measurement and outcome attribution. DoubleVerify adds the layer of independent verification that the impressions underpinning every campaign are real, viewable, brand-suitable, and free from invalid traffic. Today, advertisers must reconcile these signals across separate vendors. The combination unifies them into a single, integrated platform covering audience, context, and delivery quality.
• Expands Nielsen’s Addressable Market into High-Growth Digital Channels: DoubleVerify sits at the operational core of how digital advertising is bought and sold, with integrations embedded into the day-to-day workflows of the platforms, publishers, and agency groups that execute the world’s largest campaigns. Nielsen products already power media decisions across television, streaming, audio, and sports. By coming together, Nielsen will reach across the full breadth of the $240 billion digital advertising segment, giving clients a better partner as budgets continue to shift toward digital channels. The combination delivers global, end-to-end, independent, transparent measurement and optimization across linear TV, CTV, social, mobile and AI platforms.
• Preserves Independent Verification Standards the Industry Depends On: The combined company will continue to support the open, independent standards that are highly valued by global advertisers. This includes preserving DoubleVerify’s industry-leading capabilities in invalid traffic detection, viewability and brand suitability.
• Helps Enable a Reliable, Trusted Shift to AI in Advertising: As AI-driven planning, activation, and optimization shape how campaigns are built and executed, the combined company will help enable the advertising industry to adopt AI with confidence, with the verified data, outcome signals, infrastructure, and platform integrations necessary to execute the spectrum of advertising workflows.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nielsen will acquire DoubleVerify for $13.60 per share in an all-cash transaction, representing a 30% premium to DoubleVerify’s 60-trading day volume weighted average price as of August 5, 2026. The value per share implies an enterprise value of approximately $2.15 billion for DoubleVerify.

The transaction, which has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, is expected to close by the first quarter of 2027, subject to approval by DoubleVerify shareholders, receipt of required regulatory approvals, and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

The transaction will be financed through a combination of committed debt financing provided by Barclays, BofA Securities and Citi, incremental equity financing and cash on hand at Nielsen.

Upon completion of the transaction, DoubleVerify will become a privately held company as part of Nielsen and DoubleVerify common stock will no longer be listed on any public market. DoubleVerify will continue to operate under the DoubleVerify name and brand.

Funds affiliated with Providence Equity Partners LLC (“Providence”) that own approximately 11.8% of DoubleVerify’s outstanding shares of common stock as of August 5, 2026, have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the transaction. As part of the transaction, Providence will conclude its investment upon close.

DENVER—MediaKind will make its first major appearance as a unified global provider of video infrastructure solutions during IBC 2026, Sept. 11-14, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

MediaKind will present unified demonstrations showing how it is already sharing technology across its portfolio, demonstrating rapid progress in integrating capabilities across its on-premises and SaaS ecosystems.

“We’re bringing our teams and technologies together at speed,” said MediaKind CEO Allen Broome. “Customers can rely on the products they use today, while benefiting from deeper integration, a broader portfolio and faster innovation.”

Many of these capabilities were used during the recent World Cup where MediaKind supported more than 20 brands and delivered 3 billion streams. These customer deployments ensured reliability with peak viewing concurrency exceeding 20 million across MK.IO and VOS360.

MediaKind technology and demonstrations will also be featured across selected partner stands throughout the show, highlighting the strength and reach of its broader technology ecosystem.

See MediaKind at IBC 2026 stand 1.D71.

More information is available on the company’s website.

The Walt Disney Co. and TikTok have struck what they call a first-of-its-kind global content-sharing deal that allows users of the social media platform to create content utilizing memorable scenes and moments from Disney movies and shows.

The agreement, which will pilot in the U.S. in the coming months with plans for other markets to follow, will bring a collection of what the two companies describe as “thoughtfully curated Disney-centric fan-created content” from TikTok to the Disney+ app.

At launch, short-form videos from participating creators will be live on both TikTok and Verts on Disney+, and will feature characters and stories from across Disney’s brands including Pixar, Marvel, “Star Wars,” FX and others.

The deal comes as content companies are scrambling to expand their offerings of vertical and short-form video content, which dominate viewing on social media. It also represents a notable embrace of fan-created content by Disney, which has a long history of protecting its brands from unauthorized use by creators, and a push by Disney to expand its connections to the creator economy.

As part of the deal, TikTok will offer participating creators access to assets related to hundreds of films and series from Disney’s library of franchises. Videos created through the program will be refreshed regularly on the Disney+ Verts feed, providing subscribers with another means of discovering Disney-related content.

“The best storytellers are fans first,” Asad Ayaz, Disney chief marketing and brand officer. “That has always been true at Disney, and today, fans are celebrating our stories in entirely new ways. This collaboration creates a new bridge between the stories we tell and the creativity they inspire, giving creators a bigger stage to share what they’ve made, and audiences more to discover on Disney+ every day.”

Added TikTok Global Head of Entertainment Dawn Yang: “Creators are at the heart of everything we do at TikTok. Their creativity extends the life of films and shows into conversations that fans discover and share. Together with Disney, we’re bringing the authentic creator expression of the TikTok community to Disney+, inviting audiences to experience the shared creativity that makes fandom so powerful.”

Through the jointly run Disney Creator Ambassador Program, Disney and TikTok will also help creators unlock special rewards and provide increased visibility, access to exclusive events and career development pathways, the companies said.

Disney said that this tiered program reflects its commitment to building relationships with the next generation of creative talent in partnership with TikTok.

In announcing the deal, Disney noted that fan-created content continues to play an increasingly important role in how audiences discover, engage and celebrate entertainment.

According to internal TikTok data, fans shared an average of 6.5 million film and TV-related posts on the platform each day last year. Nearly half of users said they went on to watch a movie or TV show on a streaming service or television after discovering it on TikTok, according to the platform.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) are seeking innovations that significantly surpass the capabilities of the current Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard and have issued a call for proposals for the next generation of video compression technology.

The formal registration for proposals period runs from Aug. 1 to Sept. 1.

The call for proposals from the Joint Video Experts Team—a partnership of ITU-T Study Group 21 (multimedia, content delivery and cable TV) and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 (coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information)—marks the start of the process to develop a new video coding standard by 2029.

Submissions will be evaluated by the 45th meeting of the Joint Video Experts Team next January.

The project continues a longstanding tradition of joint work that has produced VVC (ITU H.266 | ISO/IEC 23090-3), along with the Emmy Award-winning High Efficiency Video Coding (ITU H.265 | ISO/IEC 23008-2) and Advanced Video Coding (ITU H.264 | ISO/IEC 14496-10).

The call for proposals covers a broad range of content types and use cases, including streaming services, video conferencing, social media, gaming, content creation, extended reality (XR), machine vision, and high-dynamic-range (HDR) video.

The Joint Video Experts Team said proposals may introduce entirely new coding tools, improved system architectures or novel approaches to advance the state of the art in video compression.

Reflecting an increasingly diverse video ecosystem, innovations will be evaluated across diverse test content ranging from HDR and ultra-high-definition (UHD) video to gaming, screen content and user-generated media.

The call invites innovations that demonstrate either significantly improved compression performance or important new functionality beyond the capabilities of VVC.

The groups said they welcome innovations addressing future multimedia requirements, including those arising from the continued evolution of AI-enabled content creation, processing, analysis and delivery.

All proposals will undergo rigorous evaluation through both formal subjective quality assessment and objective performance measurements.

Proposals can be submitted here.

Amazon’s Prime Video will be the first streaming service to offer HDR10+ Advanced on supported titles globally beginning this month, Samsung Electronics said. The content will initially be made available on Samsung’s 2026 TV lineup.

The next-generation High Dynamic Range (HDR) standard—designed to deliver brighter, more immersive picture quality for supported movies and shows—brings the benefits of Enhanced Overall Brightness and Intelligent Motion Smoothing to streaming viewers for the first time, according to Samsung.

“As home viewing options become more diverse, users are prioritizing elite viewing standards and greater levels of immersion,” said Taeyong Son, executive vice president of Samsung’s Visual Display (VD) business. “By collaborating with Prime Video, we are bringing HDR10+ Advanced to home entertainment systems for the first time, we are elevating the home viewing experience all over the world.”

HDR10+ Advanced, billed by Samsung as the next evolution of the HDR10+ standard, is designed to take advantage of today’s most advanced televisions with their larger screen sizes, higher peak brightness, greater color depth and increased processing power while satisfying the requirements of top content distributors, the company said. The standard preserves the creator’s intent across compatible displays while delivering a more dynamic, lifelike viewing experience for supported content, according to Samsung.

It also introduces two new capabilities. The first is Enhanced Overall Brightness, which uses extended statistical metadata to make fuller use of today’s premium TV brightness capabilities—delivering brighter, more precise HDR across the full tonal range—and AI-driven tone-mapping, to preserve shadow detail in darker scenes and deliver heightened brightness in sports and action content, according to Samsung.

The second, Intelligent Motion Smoothing, uses scene-by-scene metadata to allow compatible displays to dynamically adjust motion processing, preserving the cinematic feel of film content while delivering smooth, natural motion for sports, action and other fast-moving scenes, Samsung said.

“At Prime Video, we’re dedicated to providing the best possible viewing experience and HDR10+ Advanced represents a meaningful step forward for our customers,” BA Winston, vice president of technology at Prime Video, said. “With Enhanced Overall Brightness and Intelligent Motion Smoothing, the picture quality adapts to bring out the best details in every scene and we’re excited to deliver richer, more dynamic visuals on the titles our Prime Video customers love on supported devices.”

The collaboration builds on the December 2017 launch of HDR10+ on Prime Video, which made it the first streaming service to offer the standard to customers. With that launch, Prime Video’s entire library was made available in HDR10+ via Samsung’s 2017 UHD TV lineup, using dynamic metadata to deliver enhanced contrast and color. Since then, 183 companies and more than 22,000 certified products have adopted the HDR10+ standard.

HDR10+ Advanced will be integrated into Samsung’s product lineup starting with 2026 TV models, with support planned for future products as the HDR10+ ecosystem continues to grow.

For more information on Samsung TVs, visit the Samsung website. For more information about HDR10+ Advanced, please visit the HDR10+ website.

Now that consumers can stream live sports of just about every description through one OTT service or another, the question is, can service providers draw enough viewers to make money on their big sports streaming bets?

Amid much publicity about the boom in sports streaming, the general absence of sports-specific ROI data can’t hide the fact that, by all indications, providers are a long way from generating the returns they’re looking for on huge licensing and infrastructure costs. Notwithstanding a wealth of vendor-supplied, audience-building solutions aimed at achieving that goal, live sports viewing is still predominantly experienced through legacy TV outlets.

That point was driven home in April by Dan Rayburn, streaming media analyst and producer of the annual NAB Show Streaming Summit, who noted that pay TV still accounts for around 85% of total live sports viewing hours in the U.S. Citing inflated numbers widely ascribed to recently streamed marquee productions, Rayburn said the impression that streaming services are drawing “tens of millions of viewers” is wrong.

“It’s not happening,” he said, adding, “I see almost nobody reporting the numbers correctly.”

With streamers spending $12.5 billion of the $64 billion global outlay for sports distribution rights in 2025 and likely to add another $1.7 billion this year, according to Ampere Analysis, it remains to be seen if the pursuit of better UX will deliver the payback platforms are looking for. Getting there starts with eliminating the hassles confronted by consumers in searching for specific events, suggested Sandeep Tiku, chief technology officer at global sports streaming giant DAZN, which, as reported by the Financial Times, finally hopes to turn a profit by year’s end.

Battling the Fragmentation Impact on UX
Joining Rayburn for a different session at the NAB Show Streaming Summit, Tiku took streamers to task for thinking the use of recommendation engines qualifies as personalization. “Personalization totally is a joke,” he said, with Rayburn voicing concurrence. “Open your app and keep scrolling to find what game to watch? That’s not personalization. That’s marketing buzz.”

Tiku suggested the granularity of the in-the-moment, per-user personalization providers need will require streaming via the new Delta protocol, which DAZN and multiple development partners plan to demonstrate at next month’s IBC in hopes of bringing it to market over the next two years. But there’s ample evidence that sports streamers are already moving toward significant improvements in personalization and UX in general by tapping into the outpouring of new vendor solutions now at hand.

One way to get over the fragmentation hump with a more search-friendly UX can be found among the many multiview platforms that have appeared over the last year or so. While multiviewing with three or four on-screen options has gained some currency, a spurt of newly introduced next-gen systems could bring streamers much closer to mitigating the fragmentation issue.

The platform Broadpeak introduced at April’s NAB Show is a case in point. As Broadpeak sees it, the key to getting the most from multiviewing lies with lifting limitations on the number of user choices, how those options are configured and how fast they are rendered, said Damien Sterkers, the company’s vice president of products and solutions marketing. In an interview, Sterkers said the new multiview platform meets these requirements with improved cost and streaming efficiency compared to other available options.

But as with any consumer-targeted multiviewing platform, there are matters of rights, market testing and other business complexities that must be dispensed with before Broadpeak can talk about customer implementations. “There’s huge interest, but it takes a lot of time,” Sterkers said.

That appears to be the case with most of the other next-gen systems just hitting the marketplace, including the widely varying approaches taken by AWS, Eluvio, Harmonic, Imagine Communications, MediaKind, Syna­media, Tiledmedia and Red5, all of which were also on display at NAB Show. To date, very few service provider implementations of these solutions have been publicized.

One exception involves AWS, which began its foray into multiviewing late last year with the development of Formula One’s F1 TV Premium platform, enabling in-sync displays of camera feeds from every car in a race. Still in development with general availability targeted for IBC in September, Prime Video used the AWS solution in last season’s NBA telecasts to give viewers instant access to all games in action at any given time, according to Greg Truax, director of live services at AWS Elemental.

Truax said his team has put a lot of work into developing a ready-to-deploy platform that can be customized to each provider’s specific needs. Given that implementations can be resource-intensive on the server side, he said, this can only be done at reasonable cost “with on-demand scaling in the cloud.” What matters is that, by packing multiple videos into a single bitstream, “you’re not burning batteries or using other extra resources like advanced chips on the client,” he added.

Innovations in Production
There’s also a lot happening on the production side to enliven live-streamed sports, as exemplified by the support industry operators are getting from Techex, the longtime U.K.-based broadcast production system integrator and solutions provider that is expanding its U.S. customer base. At NAB Show, Techex announced a partnership with Encompass Digital Media that integrates Encompass’ cloud-production workflow platform with Techex’s content transformation, user interface and control technologies.

As described by Techex product manager David Edwards, the partnership is focused on live sports and production convergence for traditional broadcast and streaming in the cloud, including hybrid operations involving both on-prem and public commodity processing centers. “What’s unique for Techex is we can insert content seamlessly in multiple live transport streams with the ability to scale operations in the cloud compute environment,” Edwards said, adding this is done with no need to decode the streams.

A big focus for customers has been enabling on-the-fly insertions of SCTE 35 (“Scutty”) markers and then ads on a regionally targeted basis whenever game breaks occur. The benefits and scalability of the Techex functionalities were on display in DAZN’s 2026 World Cup productions, he said, noting production for the championship game in New Jersey involved dealing with feeds from 50 cameras.

A UX Game-Changer Tied to Latency Reduction
On another front widely regarded as essential to a better sports streaming UX, industry players are moving aggressively to lower end-to-end distribution latencies. These initiatives have two goals: reducing streaming latencies to broadcast equivalency in the 6-to-8-second range (and sometimes lower) over conventional HLS and MPEG DASH streaming platforms, and achieving sub-500-millisecond latencies, commonly referred to as “real time,” over new streaming infrastructures.

As previously reported, the search for real-time streaming solutions shifted into high gear at the NAB Show with surging industry participation in testing and, in a few cases, commercial operations over new CDN infrastructure supporting the new MOQ Transport standard.

But there’s something more to MOQ beyond support for real-time streaming that may account for the surging industry involvement, and this could go beyond the latency question to address the larger challenge of how to drive ROI on live sports streaming.

As Broadpeak’s Sterkers noted: “MOQ gives us one single protocol for streaming all video applications. Imagine you have a streaming service where you can mix programs on the same transport platform, adding real time for watch parties or to bring in commentary from influencers, while maintaining broadcast-level latency with the core content.”

That’s possible because MOQ users will have independently managed dashboard control over each track of a MOQ stream. They can assign latencies ranging from sub-500 milliseconds to two-second “interactive live,” for applications like sports betting and interactive shopping, to 5-second “conservative live” matched to broadcast speeds.

Broadpeak is all in at this stage of MOQ experimentation, taking a highly flexible approach to its CDN infrastructure that will be productized as soon as one of its tire-kickers is ready to go public, Sterkers said. “It really depends on how much people want to spend on latency optimization,” he added. “But with MOQ they can do a lot more natively.”

Whatever the motivations might be, demand for MOQ support is high enough to persuade AWS it is worth a lot of the Elemental team’s time, AWS Elemental’s Truax said. Given that AWS has long supported streaming with the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), a fundamental component of the QUIC protocol used with MOQ, “we’re excited about the standardization of UDP video delivery,” he said.

With several customers already in MOQ beta testing, “it’s kind of a latency thing right now,” Truax added. But now that “all the pieces of the chain” are in play, aside from control over device playback, AWS has more expansive goals in mind.

“You will see us make a fairly big splash,” Truax predicted. But with the IETF hoping to complete the MOQ Transport specifications by year-end, getting to commercial operations is “going to take a lot of work all the way into December.”

In a major distribution deal that will make YouTube an even more important outlet for sports and premium video content, NBCUniversal and YouTube have announced a multi-year global strategic partnership that brings Peacock to millions of YouTube Premium subscribers in the U.S. and expands the international reach of Universal+ and Hayu.

The deal, which pairs YouTube’s global scale, creator ecosystem and diverse content with NBCUniversal’s premium entertainment, blockbuster films, live sports and iconic franchises, is a notable example of how the lines between traditional TV and streaming continue to blur.

When fully implemented, the agreement will allow YouTube users to easily jump between creator content on YouTube to NFL games and big-budget TV series on Peacock. Such distribution scenarios are likely to become even more important to the future of NBCU after it is spun off from Comcast.

In a note to investors, LightShed Partner's Richard Greenfield highlighted the groundbreaking potential of the deal by stressing that "Peacock is being fully ingested into YouTube Premium, not just bundled alongside it. That distinction matters enormously. A YouTube Premium subscriber will be able to watch NFL games, NBA games, and MLB games directly within the YouTube app, the same way they would if they had subscribed to Peacock through YouTube Primetime Channels. No app-switching, no separate login, no friction. It will feel like YouTube offers the content itself."

"YouTube is proving that the platform, not the content, is the most powerful asset," he added. "Every sport, every show, and every stream flowing through the YouTube interface is another reason a subscriber never needs to open a competitor’s app. If sports rights holders are willing to let their content be ingested (and Peacock clearly is), that creates a powerful flywheel that gets harder to disrupt over time."

The deal, which is Peacock's largest wholesale distribution partnership to date, also extends NBCUniversal's multi-year distribution partnership with YouTube TV and Comcast’s distribution partnership with various YouTube products; deepens the companies’ longstanding advertising and technology relationship; expands NBCUniversal's international streaming footprint through Universal+ and Hayu in select markets; and creates new opportunities across sports production and live sports on YouTube.

“This partnership brings NBCUniversal’s world-class content and iconic franchises to YouTube’s unmatched scale and global platforms,” said Mike Cavanagh, co-CEO of Comcast Corporation. “We’re excited to deepen our relationship with YouTube through a collaboration that reflects our strategy of partnering with industry leaders to drive sustained growth for NBCUniversal.”

“We’re incredibly excited to expand our partnership with NBCUniversal to redefine what a modern entertainment subscription can be for consumers,” added said Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube. “YouTube Premium brings your favorite creators, artists and cultural moments together uninterrupted, and now, we’re pairing that ultimate viewing experience with Peacock’s expansive lineup of live sports like Sunday Night Football and the NBA, blockbuster Universal movies, and original series. This makes it easier than ever for our members to find and watch all the premium content they love, all in one place.”

More specifically, the wide-ranging deal includes:

• Beginning in early 2027, Peacock Premium will be included in a bundle with YouTube Premium, making it immediately available to millions of existing YouTube Premium subscribers. This will substantially expanding Peacock’s reach and making it one of the most broadly distributed premium streaming services in the U.S.
• Subscribers will receive seamless access to Peacock within the YouTube experience, featuring marquee live sports including the NFL, Olympics, NBA, MLB, Big Ten and Notre Dame Football, Big 12, Big East and Big Ten College Basketball, Premier League, WNBA, Kentucky Derby, golf and more, hit series such as Love Island USA, The Real Housewives franchise, Law & Order: SVU, Saturday Night Live, The Traitors, All Her Fault and The Office; and award-winning and blockbuster films.
• This deal also extends NBCUniversal's multi-year distribution agreement with YouTube TV, the largest and fastest-growing pay TV provider in the U.S., ensuring continued broad linear distribution of NBCUniversal's industry-leading portfolio of entertainment, sports and news programming.
• The companies will deepen their longstanding advertising technology collaboration, including through FreeWheel, to enhance advertising capabilities and drive greater monetization at scale.
• The agreement will also expand the global reach of NBCUniversal’s international streaming services, Universal+ and Hayu, through YouTube Premium in select markets.
• NBC Sports will be the production partner for select premier live sporting events on YouTube.
• A selection of live sporting events from NBCUniversal will stream on NBC Sports’ YouTube channel, bringing a sample of world-class games to millions of users on YouTube.
• The deal extends and expands the distribution and offerings of YouTube, YouTube TV and YouTube Premium on Comcast’s Xfinity and Xumo platforms.
• Peacock Premium (currently $10.99/month) will also be available as a separate add-on subscription through YouTube Primetime Channels starting later this summer. Peacock Premium Plus has been available via YouTube Primetime Channels since late June.

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL—The Minnesota Timberwolves have announced a new local media rights agreement with DAZN that makes it the new exclusive home for Timberwolves basketball across its local broadcast territory.

The deal creates a new team-branded subscription service. Launching later this summer, it will allow fans to stream Timberwolves games and provide access to broader team content.

Fifteen games will be available for free this season, underscoring the team’s commitment to reaching more fans.

The subscription service will be available throughout the entirety of the Timberwolves' home broadcast territory, which includes full coverage across Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, with partial coverage extending into Kansas and Wisconsin.

The team reported that DAZN’s digital-first viewing experience and multi-device capabilities will allow fans to seamlessly access games, programming, and additional content across smart TVs, mobile devices, web browsers, and partner streaming platforms.

Production for all local game broadcasts, including pregame and postgame coverage, will be provided by the NBA.

“Our commitment to the best possible fan experience is what drives everything we do,” said Timberwolves & Lynx CEO Matthew Caldwell. “With DAZN, we’re delivering on that promise, bringing Timberwolves basketball directly to fans through a modern streaming experience that expands reach with 15 free games and meets fans wherever they are.”

“The Timberwolves are one of the most exciting young franchises in the NBA, with an incredibly passionate fanbase. We are honored to be their exclusive regional home starting next season and to give fans an easy way to watch the team they love," said Shay Segev, CEO, DAZN Group. “The NBA is one of the most popular leagues in the world and the Timberwolves are an indelible part. Bringing a team of this calibre onto DAZN is an amazing addition to our growing U.S. sports portfolio. We can’t wait to start serving Timberwolves fans as the team prepares for another incredible season.”

DAZN will deliver live Timberwolves games alongside a broad slate of additional content, giving fans expanded access to live action, pre- and post-game shows, highlights, behind-the-scenes storytelling, and original programming that deepens the fan experience.

DAZN also reported that new interactive features will be launched throughout the season including live in-game fan chats, polls, quizzes, and games.

Available in more than 200 markets worldwide, DAZN has partnerships spanning the NFL, NHL, soccer, boxing, MMA and other major sports leagues, competitions and properties.

Additional details regarding game availability, programming, launch timing and pricing will be announced at a later date.

With cable operators rebranding themselves as “broadband providers,” the term “cable TV” has fallen out of favor in recent years. The impact of cord cutting, increasing retransmission fees, increased competition from streaming services and changing demographics have all contributed to an industry approach that now considers “video” just another service from the local operator.

While the larger providers can often protect themselves from the changes in consumer interests, smaller, independent cable operators have to continuously evaluate the rising costs and routinely ask themselves, “is it still worth it for me to offer a video service?”

That was the focus of a panel discussion, "Video is Evolving: How to Win in a Changing Video Ecosystem" at The Independent Show held by the NCTC at Disney World this week.

I moderated a panel that included Mark Rankin, CFO, of Summit Broadband in Orlando, Geoff Shook, President & GM, Buckeye Broadband in Toledo, Ohio, and Sandra Tilley, senior vice president of Brand Strategies, EPB, Chattanooga, Tenn.-based provider of broadband services.

‘Hard Conversations’
Providers now see offering video as a service as one of numerous options that will attract and keep customers rather than one that will automatically improve a broadband provider's bottom line, the panelists said.

“In and of itself, I don't believe that video is still a strategic product on its own,” Rankin said. “Having said that, though, I think you need to think about where you deploy it, how you deploy it, how it helps broadband, and certainly as a bulk provider in Florida, serving 55-plus communities, it's a strategic product for us in how we go to market and win business.”

Shook agreed that video is still essential, but with caveats.

“Our philosophy is there'll always be a video product as a part of our catalog, [but] I think that we continue to have the hard conversations over what that product looks like and how we make it affordable,” he said.

Shook acknowledged the importance of his shrinking list of “video-only” customers and said “we don't want to walk away from that,” but he also cited the growing costs that have forced Buckeye to reconsider what channels to carry on a regular basis.

“We've made some really difficult decisions regarding carriage because we just cannot afford to continue to take video rate increases from the programmers,” he said. “Our customers push back and when they get a change in their bill they don't just shop video, they shop everything and so we've walked away from several programmers, but we've also provided resources and options for those customers to find another way to to still get the video and still depend on us to help facilitate it.”

EPB’s customer base is primarily older, according to Tilley, so video still plays an important role. Nevertheless, she continues to look for new ways to partner with third parties to maintain and improve their services.

“We've been able to maintain our market share, and we haven't seen any decline in our broadband because of a loss of video,” she said. “But we do have a customer base which is primarily older that has a high value, and we're looking at how we can continue to offer a quality product. We're working with TiVo now to try to see how much cost we can get out of it by going managed, and we think that that allows us to hold our pricing, keep it at a value for our customers, and still make a short, small margin.

“We don't look at video as a big margin producing product, but I will say we are looking for anything that is the right next thing to bundle to protect our broadband market share,” Tilley added. “So we're going to continue to watch what happens with video and look at maybe broadband TV.”

Simple and Seamless
With increased competition from streaming services, particularly in live sports, panel members agreed on the importance of making it simpler for customers to navigate the increasing variety of sources as well as the complexity and fragmentation of the current scenario.

In response to this, Rankin said he isn’t as concerned about the fact that more big ticket sports are now only available on paid streaming services.

“We don't see that as the bigger problem; it's finding it that’s the challenge and the complexity that customers feel,” he said. “It's middleware that's hard to navigate that is a problem. So the more that our vendors can help us with middleware that makes it easy for customers, I think will make a big difference.”

Tilley cited a campaign by EPB to help their customers better understand the changing video landscape and provide the needed assistance, regardless of who they choose to sign up with—whether it’s their video service or a streaming bundle.

“About five years ago, we rolled out what I call our ‘cord-cutting campaign,’ but really the whole point of it was to say, ‘we want you to have TV the way you want it; we want you to have choice, and we're here to help you,” she said. “Whether it's ours that you want to buy, if you do, we want to sell that to you, and we want it to be a product you like. If it's not ours, we want to help you learn how to stream and find what you're looking for.”

Buckeye Broadband offers a program called “Brain and Stream Assist,” that helps its customers consolidate billing, passwords and navigation, according to Shook.

“We have a pay call center that is there to help those that need the help to figure out how to set up their billing and remember their passwords and connect through to the apps that they choose,” he said. “Our positioning is that we've heard from multiple generations that our video consumers wanted choice and control.”

Understanding how their customers consume TV is essential to a better overall experience, regardless of their age, Rankin added.

“The younger generations probably prefer an app-based search experience, and certainly the older demographic, they love the guide and the big remote,” he said.

Rankin pointed to the TiVo Manager app in helping Summit to “marry” those environments.

“TiVo Manager is doing that well for us,” he said. “We can give the grid guide experience and still create that app experience. And it brings deep search capabilities, such that if you are subscribing to Paramount or Netflix or something else, you know your search will present those options to you. And so, so we think that's the best of both worlds right now.”

Tilley summed up the panel’s philosophy by noting the delicate balance small independent operators need to maintain to continue to offer video while keeping an eye on the bottom line.

“We try to keep the price as affordable as possible while covering costs at a small margin,” she said. “That's our philosophy of how we approach video.”

BURBANK, Calif.—The CW and ESPN have announced that their streaming agreement to bring live CW Sports events to the ESPN App will officially launch on Tuesday (Aug. 4).

ESPN App users can watch all CW Sports offerings live on any device as a complement to The CW’s nationwide over-the-air broadcast and pay TV distribution.

More than 800 annual hours of CW Sports content will be broadcast live on The CW and livestreamed on the ESPN App for viewers with an ESPN Unlimited subscription plan.

CW Sports on the ESPN App launches Aug. 4 at 8 p.m. with a live, two-hour “WWE NXT” event. Next, motorsports fans will be able to stream the final two the final two regular season NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races from Iowa Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 8, at 4:30 p.m. ET and Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. ET before The Chase for the Championship continues throughout the fall.

CW Sports offers college football and men’s and women’s basketball from the ACC, Mountain West and Pac-12 conferences, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, WWE NXT every Tuesday night, WWE NXT premium live events, PBR Bull Riding, AVP volleyball, PBA bowling and the 2026 Arizona Bowl.

Fans can activate the ESPN Unlimited plan through their TV or mobile providers in addition to a standalone subscription.

The CW’s biggest college football season in network history—featuring140 hours of games across the ACC, Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences—kicks off on Saturday, Aug. 29 at 6:30 p.m. ET with New Mexico State-Florida State.

NEW YORK—DAZN, one of the world’s leading sports streaming services, said today that it will be the exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming home of MSG Networks and YES Network starting with the 2026-2027 NBA and NHL seasons.

This now gives DAZN subscribers in the New York City region access to live Yankees, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Devils, Islanders and Sabres games, as well as 24/7 feeds of regional sports networks MSG, MSG Sportsnet and YES Network, as well as on-demand content including highlights, behind-the-scenes programming and Emmy Award-winning original series.

Pay TV subscribers who receive MSG Networks or the YES Network as part of their content package will receive MSG and YES content, as applicable, via the DAZN platform at no additional cost, the company said.

Subscribers to the Gotham Sports App—the previous home to MSG Network and YES Network streaming—will continue to receive uninterrupted access as YES and MSG prepare to migrate users to DAZN during the 2026-2027 NBA and NHL seasons. Exact timing and other details of the migration will be announced in the coming months, according to DAZN.

Although it's the largest digital sports streaming service in the world, covering about 200 countries, the partnership is DAZN’s biggest move yet to gain a larger foothold in the world's most lucrative sports market, allowing it to stream several marquee U.S. sports leagues to American subscribers for the first time.

Up until now, DAZN’s presence in the U.S. market has focused on combat sports, airing 185-plus fight nights a year as well as soccer leagues and competitions, such as the UEFA Champions League and FIFA+. Outside the U.S., DAZN streams NFL Game Pass, NHL.TV, the NBA and NCAA college football and basketball to international subscribers.

In May, the company said it was specifically targeting local rights to certain NBA franchises, telling Awful Announcing, “let’’ be clear, we want to be in that space.“

DAZN Group CEO Shay Segev said the deal was a "defining moment for us and underscores our commitment to expanding our footprint in the United States.”

“The New York sports landscape has a rich heritage of teams and DAZN is honored to partner with both the YES Network and MSG Networks to become their exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming home, bringing the Yankees, Knicks, Rangers, Nets, Devils, Islanders, and Sabres to more fans than ever before," he said. "This is what DAZN does best—connecting fans to the sport they love and creating immersive digital experiences that go far beyond the game."

HBO Max is embracing vertical video as part of its efforts to make it easier to discover new content and improve the user experience on mobile devices with the launch of two new features that provide U.S. subscribers with new ways to browse, sample, and explore its premium library of programming.

“HBO Max Shorts” is designed to help users discover something to watch by highlighting iconic and memorable scenes from the HBO Max library in a vertical, scrollable feed.

Users can tap the “Shorts” icon on the bottom navigation menu to browse trailers, clips, and bonus content, making it easier to discover a new favorite series or film. Content within a user’s feed is customized to individual tastes and preferences based on watch history. If a title sparks a user’s interest, they can start watching immediately or add it to “My List” directly from the feed.

This feature is initially being tested with select iOS users in the U.S. and then will be rolled out across more devices and markets.

The clips for this feature are powered by an AI tool built in-house, which helps human editors select and verticalize content by using machine learning algorithms that utilize scene-level metadata to comb through thousands of hours of titles and suggests the most compelling, high-impact scenes for discovery.

Once the tool has suggested these clips, HBO Max editors decide which best represent the stories viewers love and capture jaw dropping moments, pivotal plot twists, and visually stunning sequences. These clips are then rendered in a new vertical video experience to ensure seamless playback.

Looking ahead, "HBO Max Shorts” will expand to include additional devices and markets, incorporate sports content, and refine as users interact with the feature.

"We're thrilled to launch this application of AI to accelerate the creation of these clips and look forward to quickly expanding to make even more of our amazing content offering discoverable through this new feature,” explained Deepna Devkar, senior vice president of machine learning engineering at HBO Max.

Along with the new vertical shorts feed, HBO Max also announced an experimental conversational search experience.

Initially available for adult users in the U.S., on Android mobile and accessible from the search page under “Ask HBO Max,” this experience uses natural language understanding and semantic search to interpret the intent behind a query and recommend relevant videos, even when the exact search terms aren't present in the metadata.

Select subscribers can now search for terms such as “in the mood for a comedy” or "dysfunctional family drama" or "best movie for a girls night in,” to find relevant content. Availability of this feature will also eventually be rolled out to more devices and markets.

“These new mobile features build on intuitive, familiar behaviors subscribers use every day. Both ‘HBO Max Shorts’ and ‘conversational search’ translate those behaviors into new ways to discover programming across the HBO Max service, making it easier and more seamless for subscribers to find something to watch," said Liesel Kipp, executive vice president, product management, Warner Bros. Discovery.

FIFA World Cup 2026 has officially become YouTube's most-viewed FIFA World Cup in history, pushing lifetime views for videos related to the current and past FIFA World Cups past 200 billion views, the streamer reported.

Overall, more than 1.7 billion unique viewers globally watched World Cup-related videos on YouTube during the FIFA World Cup 2026, including over 550 million that watched on their televisions.

Official YouTube broadcasts of the FIFA World Cup 2026 final match between Spain and Argentina on July 19 drew over 21 million average minute audience (AMA) across more than 40 markets. Together, they reached a peak of over 27 million concurrent viewers on YouTube.

The data was released in a blog post by Angela Courtin

Vice president of sports and entertainment marketing on YouTube and Justin Connolly, vice president, global head of media and sports, YouTube.

They also reported that FIFA’s official YouTube channel amassed over 4 billion views and added over 7.5 million new subscribers between June 11-July 19. The channel now has over 34 million global subscribers.

The YouTube executives also noted that the tournament also redefined what it means to be a soccer (or fútbol) fan, with a global roster of creators with a combined 350 million YouTube videos related to the FIFA World Cup uploaded by its creator roster accumulated over 2.5 billion views globally.

YouTube also hosted the first YouTube FIFA Creator Cup exhibition match on July 12, live from Central Park, New York. Led by team captains IShowSpeed and Celine Dept, the official live streams for the event drew over 10 million live views globally, including broadcasts from FIFA’s official channel, participating creators and official broadcasters, the blog said.

TiVo Ads has announced a new agreement with OpenGlass to make premium TV home screen advertising inventory programmatically available.

“At TiVo Ads, we believe the home screen is one of the most influential moments in the viewer journey,” said Craig Chinn, senior vice president of global advertising sales at TiVo Ads. “By partnering with OpenGlass, we are helping brands across different verticals connect with audiences earlier, with more impactful formats, incremental reach and greater ease of activation.”

Traditionally, the TV home screen has operated as a closed environment, making it difficult for buyers to access inventory at scale across multiple platforms. Through this partnership, TiVo Ads and OpenGlass are creating new opportunities for advertisers to reach consumers when they first turn on their TVs and decide what to watch.

The new offering gives brands programmatic access to TiVo’s home screen inventory across a U.S. footprint of millions of households, powered by TiVo’s pay TV operator partnerships and front-of-screen presence.

While home screen advertising has been most used by media and entertainment brands, the new solution expands access to advertisers across all verticals, including retail, automotive, finance, travel, telecommunications and consumer goods.

As a result, more brands are able to engage audiences in a high-attention environment that has traditionally been difficult to access programmatically. Additionally, advertisers can now leverage larger ad experiences covering up to 90% of the screen, rich video formats, and custom-branded end screens designed to drive stronger engagement and brand impact.

“Advertisers have seen the power of premium home screen environments to drive outcomes but have struggled to access them in a way that’s seamless and scalable,” said Jason Higgins, co-founder and CEO at OpenGlass. “Together with TiVo Ads, we are bringing greater openness, automation and flexibility to this valuable part of the TV experience.”

For more information on TiVo Ads, visit advertising.tivo.com.

As Comcast prepares to spin off its NBCUniversal operations, the company reported that its streaming service Peacock was profitable for the first time ever in Q2 2026, with a EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $189 million, up $290 million from the losses reported in Q2 2025.

Paid subscribers Increased by 2 million net addition in the quarter to 48 million, driven by NBA Playoffs, FIFA World Cup and Love Island USA.

In an earnings call with analysts, Brian Roberts, chairman and co-CEO of Comcast said that “in just 6 years, we've built Peacock into a streaming business with real scale in the U.S. We've added 2 million paid subscribers in each of the last 2 quarters, had our biggest viewership month ever in June and reached profitability, all anchored by what NBCUniversal does best: premium entertainment, live sports, news and extraordinary storytelling.”

Jason Armstrong, CFO of Comcast provided more details. “Digging into Peacock specifically, revenue increased 54%, driven by strong growth in both distribution and advertising revenue,” he said. “Distribution revenue grew over 50% with paid subscribers up $7 million year-over-year and $2 million sequentially, reaching $48 million and advertising revenue increased nearly 70%, fueled by multiple drivers with notable callouts including the simulcast of Telemundo's FIFA World Cup, the NBA playoffs and the latest season of Love Island.”

During the World Cup, the company recently reported that streaming comprised 48% of Telemundo’s Total Audience Delivery for the FIFA World Cup 2026, up from 30% contribution in 2022. With an average minute audience (AMA) of 3 million viewers on Peacock and Telemundo streaming platforms, digital viewership grew +297% vs. 2022 (767,000).

In addition Spain vs. Argentina Finals on July 19, is the most-streamed World Cup match in Spanish-language history with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 13.9 million viewers, +370% over the most-streamed match of the 2022 tournament (Argentina vs. France Finals, 3 million AMA).

Overall, there were 21 games that averaged 4 million or more streaming viewers, up from zero in 2022.

MIAMI, Fla.—Telemundo is reporting that its Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 set audience records at every stage of the tournament.

Overall, the tournament is the most-watched FIFA World Cup tournament in Spanish-language media history with an average Total Audience Delivery of 6.3 million viewers across the 104 matches, up +143% vs. the 2022 tournament (2.6 million). Each stage of the 2026 tournament set a new Spanish-language World Cup Total Audience record and delivered triple-digit growth versus the 2022 World Cup.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 also delivered impressive growth over 2022 in linear and streaming, with the linear match window average up +79% (3.2 million vs. 1.8 million) and the digital average minute audience (AMA) up +297% (3 million vs. 767K).

In addition, Sunday’s final battle, which saw Spain earn its second title as they dethroned reigning champions Argentina, delivered a 23.9 million Total Audience Delivery (TAD), becoming the most-watched soccer match ever in Spanish-language media history.

It also set numerous records for streaming, digital media and social media.

Combined with the 39.8 million who watched Fox Sports English-language coverage on Fox, 63.7 million Americans watched the final.

Telemundo produced more than 700 hours of original programming through the 39-day tournament.

Other data highlights included:

• The FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament delivered the 15 most-watched soccer matches in Spanish-language media history based on Total Audience, led by Spain vs. Argentina’s 23.9 million viewership in the Finals.
• The 77.2 billion total minutes consumed during the FIFA World Cup 2026 across Telemundo, Universo, Peacock, and Telemundo streaming platforms, surpassed the 43.2 billion total minutes consumed for the combined 2018 and 2022 Men’s World Cup tournaments in Spanish by +79%.
• Mexico vs. England delivered 23.2 million viewers in Total Audience Delivery (TAD), making it the second most-watched soccer match ever in Spanish-language media history. On linear, the full program averaged 10.1 million viewers from 8:25–11:20 p.m. ET, making it the highest-rated telecast in Spanish-language TV history; viewership peaked at 11.7 million viewers at 10:45 p.m. ET.
• The France vs. England Third Place match delivered 7.7 million viewers in Total Audience Delivery, making it the most-watched Third Place game in Spanish-language media history, up +225% vs. the 2022 tournament (Croatia vs. Morocco, 2.4 million).
• 42 games had a Total Audience Delivery of at least 6 million viewers, up from two during the full 2022 tournament.
• Overall, streaming comprised 48% of Telemundo’s Total Audience Delivery for the FIFA World Cup 2026, up from 30% contribution in 2022. With an average minute audience (AMA) of 3 million viewers on Peacock and Telemundo streaming platforms, digital viewership grew +297% vs. 2022 (767,000).
• Spain vs. Argentina Finals on July 19, is the most-streamed World Cup match in Spanish-language history with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 13.9 million viewers, +370% over the most-streamed match of the 2022 tournament (Argentina vs. France Finals, 3 million AMA).
• There were 21 games that averaged 4 million or more streaming viewers, up from zero in 2022.
• Telemundo ranked as the #1 Spanish-language television network across all 34 matchdays (June 11 – July 19) during Total Day (7A-2A) with 1.9 million average viewers, and a share of 76% of the three Spanish-language networks. This Total Day delivery is up +300% vs. the network’s May 2026 average.
• June 2026 was Telemundo’s highest-performing month in network history with 1.4 million average viewers in Total Day, surpassing the previous World Cup highs set in June 2018 (954K) and December 2022 (837K).
• Sunday, July 5, set a new linear record with the highest Total Day average audience in Spanish-language television history with 3.6 million viewers, driven by the Mexico vs. England and Brazil vs. Norway Round of 16 matches.
• Throughout the duration of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Peacock drew four times its normal share of Hispanic viewers. Those viewers who watched World Cup also watched a variety of Peacock content, including Telemundo entertainment (e.g., El Señor de los Cielos), Peacock originals (e.g., Love Island USA, MIA, Five Star Weekend), Sports (e.g., MLB), and library content (e.g., Yellowstone, The Office).
• Cultural cross-over: While each of these cultural phenomena drew massive audiences on its own, 40% of Peacock viewers who watched Love Island USA also watched the FIFA World Cup 2026.
• On Peacock, one in three FIFA World Cup viewers are Gen-Z, and they are especially receptive to brands: +21% more likely to feel loyal to World Cup advertisers and +24% more likely to view World Cup advertising as more credible than other ads.
• The FIFA World Cup 2026 generated 2.25 billion video views across social platforms, more than 9x the combined total generated during the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.
• The tournament generated 75.1M social actions across social platforms, nearly 3x the combined total generated during the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.
• Round of 16 Match Day 26 became the highest social engagement day in Telemundo FIFA World Cup history, generating 5.28M social actions.
• Round of 16 Match Day 27 became the most-viewed social day in Telemundo FIFA World Cup history, generating 135.6M video views.
• On linear, the 26 Telemundo-owned stations reached 22.3 million total viewers through the FIFA World Cup 2026 Semifinals.
• The Telemundo-owned stations’ average audience through the FIFA World Cup 2026 Semifinals of 2.52 million viewers was +57% higher than the same period during the 2022 tournament (1.61 million) and +64% above 2018 (1.54 million).
• Eight Telemundo-owned stations captured 50 percent or more of the FIFA World Cup 2026 audience share in their markets, including in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, and Phoenix, through the Semifinals.

NEW YORK—The IAB Tech Lab has announced the release of the Podcast Technical Measurement Guidelines v2.3, an update to the industry's technical framework for measuring podcast downloads, audience, and ad delivery using server-side log data.

The updated guidelines clarify how measurement should be applied across both audio and video podcasts distributed through open RSS feeds and podcast applications that rely on server-side file delivery. The guidelines are available for public comment for 30 days until August 19, 2026.

[More on the growing interest in video podcasting in the new TV Tech, Radio World and TVBEurope ebook here.]

"Measurement only works at scale if everyone is counting the same way," said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. "These updates give the industry clearer guidance for today's podcast ecosystem and help reduce the inconsistencies that slow deals down and create unnecessary questions. That is good for buyers, publishers, and everyone responsible for reporting the numbers."

More specifically, v2.3 updates terminology from "listener" to "podcast consumer" and adds guidance around URL prefix measurement, RSS enclosure URL changes, invalid traffic considerations, and the application of different measurement window approaches.

These updates also provide clearer implementation guidance for organizations responsible for measuring podcast audiences and advertising delivery.

The change of terminology lays a foundation for work in 2027 on v3.0 guideline, which will be focusing on the growth area of streaming video podcasts. That next version of the guidelines is currently in development by the Podcast Technical Working Group, and anyone interested in supporting their development should email techlab@iabtechlab.com to join.

"Server-side log data remains the backbone of podcast measurement, and these updates reflect the continued evolution of the medium," said Hugo Martel, senior vice president of podcast and content delivery, Triton Digital. "Clearer guidance for video podcast measurement is a welcome addition, helping the industry adapt as podcast consumption expands across formats while giving publishers and advertisers greater confidence in the insights they rely on."

In releasing the new version, the IAB Tech Labs also noted that the podcast ecosystem continues to rely heavily on server-side log analysis because most podcast applications do not provide client-side playback confirmation yet. The updated guidelines help members reduce measurement discrepancies, better account for video podcasts, improve the handling of duplicate downloads and platform-driven anomalies, and promote more consistent reporting across the marketplace. For buyers, the guidance strengthens confidence that reported downloads, audience, and ad delivery are being counted consistently. For publishers, hosting providers, measurement vendors, and platforms, it provides clearer implementation guidance that supports a more trusted podcast advertising marketplace.

"These updates give the market more clarity around how podcast audiences and ad delivery should be measured, which ultimately benefits everyone relying on those numbers," said Robert Freeland, founder & CTO, Podtrac. "Our industry depends on trusted measurement that everyone can understand and apply consistently. These updates help bring that consistency."

The Podcast Technical Working Group led the development of Version 2.3 through industry collaboration and member input. IAB Tech Lab encourages publishers, platforms, measurement providers, and other stakeholders to review the draft and provide feedback during the public comment period before the guidelines are finalized.

To learn more about the Podcast Technical Measurement Guidelines v2.3, click https://iabtechlab.com/podcastmeasurement2dot3

YouTube has released a new study showing that in 2025, YouTube’s creative ecosystem contributed over $60 billion to the U.S. GDP and supported more than 540,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

The economic analysis was done by Oxford Economics for the YouTube Report released on July 16.

The study also stressed that the impact is nationwide for both rural and urban areas. YouTube reported that currently all 50 states have at least 10 channels with over 1 million monthly views. Those views translate into business growth: 76% of small- and medium-sized businesses with a YouTube channel say YouTube played a role in helping them grow their customer base by reaching new audiences.

The study also found that 77% of creators say their media and entertainment career started on YouTube.

Other key findings include:

• 87% of viewers report watching music videos, music festivals, or awards ceremonies on YouTube in the last year and 67% of viewers report discussing a YouTube video together with a friend or family member on a monthly basis, rising to 72% for Gen Z.
• 94% of teachers who use YouTube report using YouTube content directly in their lessons and/or assignments, with 81% stating it provides access to educational content that students would not otherwise have. At home, 78% of parents who use YouTube say YouTube (or YouTube Kids for children under 13) provides quality content for their children's learning and/or entertainment.

The full report is available here.

Netflix is reporting record viewing levels in the first half of 2026, with its subscribers watching more than 97 billion hours of programming.

It also released its 10 most popular movies and shows.

Among the movies, "War Machine" was #1 with 147 million hours of viewing, followed by "The Rip" (136 million hours), "Swapped" (131 million hours), "KPop Demon Hunters" (130 million) and "Apex" (129 million hours.)

The ten most popular shows were led by “His&Hers” (104 million hours of viewing), “Bridgerton” season 4 (100 million hours) and “I Will Find You” (64 million hours).

Other highlights included:

• Netflix audiences love to discover and watch new series. Five of the top 10 most-watched shows premiered in the first half of this year, with I Will Find You (64 million) and Teach You a Lesson (48 million) from South Korea both reaching the top 10 less than a month after their releases. The streamer also reported big audiences for new stories such as His & Hers (104M) — the #1 most watched show in the half — along with Run Away (50 million) and Nemesis Season 1 (33 million), which was recently renewed for a second season.
• New seasons consistently drive discovery and viewing of past seasons of a series. The return of Bridgerton Season 4 (100 million) nearly tripled viewing of every earlier season of the franchise (including Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story), when compared to the second half of 2025. Together, the entire Bridgerton franchise brought 180 million views in the first half of this year. Netflix also saw a boost in viewership for past seasons of series including ONE PIECE (69 million views across seasons), The Night Agent (63 million views across seasons), Virgin River (54 million views across seasons) and The Lincoln Lawyer (59 million views across seasons).
• Netflix original films continue to draw in huge audiences across genres. The action film slate performed particularly well this half, with The Rip (136 million), Apex (129 million) and Thrash (100 million) among the most-watched. War Machine was the biggest title in the half with 147 million views. Animated films are becoming hits. Swapped came in at 131 million views in the half and is on track to become the second most-watched original animated film ever, behind KPop Demon Hunters (130 million) — which came in at #4 despite premiering over a year ago. Book-to-screen adaptations were also popular with successful films including People We Meet on Vacation (78 million) and Remarkably Bright Creatures (51 million). And Rom-coms like Office Romance (58 million) and Voicemails for Isabelle (53 million) also moved audiences.
• Non-English titles represent more than a third of all viewing on Netflix, with titles from South Korea, Japan and Spain among the most-watched. South Korea continues to deliver a strong slate of titles including Teach You a Lesson (48 million), Can This Love Be Translated? (29 million), The Art of Sarah (26 million), My Royal Nemesis (16 million) and the Season 2 return of the hit series Bloodhounds (24 million). Japan continues to drive viewing with original stories like Straight to Hell Season 1 (10 million) and Sins of Kujo Season 1 (9 million). Spain released several popular titles this half including Firebreak (34 million), The Marked Woman (26 million), Oasis Season 1 (10 million), and from the creators of Money Heist — Berlín and the Lady with an Ermine (28 million).
• India had its highest viewing for a half yet with hits like Dhurandhar (37 million) — the most-watched non-English film in this report — Accused (19 million), Made in Korea (18 million) and Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web Season 1 (16 million). South Africa broke through with global successes like 180 (37 million) for film and The Polygamist Season 1 (17 million) for series. In addition, Netflix reported a number of stories that resonated locally and travel globally including Colors of Evil: Black (23 million) from Poland, Radioactive Emergency Season 1 (22 million) from Brazil, A Father’s Miracle (21 million) from Mexico, Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole Season 1 (22 million) from Norway, My Dearest Assassin (18 million) from Thailand, The Big Fake (17 million) from Italy and The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek (11 million) from Denmark.
• Members enjoy a variety of different programming. Must-watch live events brought audiences together in the first half for everything from Kevin Hart’s comedy spectacle with The Roast of Kevin Hart (21 million) to Alex Honnold’s thrill-seeking climb with Skyscraper Live (13 million) and BTS’ monumental comeback with BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG (21 million) that thrilled fans around the world.
• More than half of its members today have watched at least one anime title, where we saw breakouts with new stories like BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai Season 1 (8 million), STEEL BALL RUN: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (8 million) and Cosmic Princess Kaguya! (8 million).
• Documentaries of all kinds captivated viewers — from true crime stories like The Crash (65 million), to pop culture sensations like Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model Season 1 (22 million) and epic prehistoric tales like The Dinosaurs Season 1 (32 million).
• Kids & family continues to perform well, with creators like Ms. Rachel, the most-watched kids title at 69 million views across two seasons, plus Mark Rober's CrunchLabs (36 million across four seasons) and newcomers Salish & Jordan Matter (29 million across both seasons) and Danny Go! Season 1 (26 million).

LENEXA, Kan.—The National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC) has announced a new agreement with Minerva, a provider of cloud-based IPTV and OTT platforms, that will expand the range of technology solutions available to independent operations and to work to improve their video offerings and strategies.

Minerva powers video services for Tier 2 and Tier 3 operators, delivering a comprehensive platform that integrates subscriber management, content aggregation, and user experience into a single, cohesive solution.

The deal will give NCTC members access to a cloud-native platform that serves as the control and experience layer between video infrastructure and end-user devices. It enables operators to deliver a unified, branded viewing experience across live TV, on-demand content, streaming services, and more.

“Our role is to ensure members have access to the right partners and solutions to stay competitive in a rapidly changing video landscape,” said Lou Borrelli, CEO of NCTC. “Minerva brings a strong track record of supporting broadband operators with modern IPTV and OTT solutions, and this partnership expands the options available to our members as they evolve their video strategies.”

Minerva’s platform is designed to allow operators to maintain ownership of the customer experience, with tools to customize the user interface, integrate multiple content types into a single experience, and deliver consistent viewing across devices— including smart TVs, streaming platforms, mobile, and web. It also includes built-in capabilities such as cloud DVR, catch-up TV, and AI-driven content discovery, designed to increase engagement, improve retention, and unlock new monetization opportunities.

“We are excited to partner with NCTC to support its members as they modernize their video offerings,” said Mauro Bonomi, CEO of Minerva Networks. “Our platform was built to help operators deliver a seamless, high-quality entertainment experience while maintaining full control of their brand and customer relationships. Together with NCTC, we look forward to helping members accelerate their transition to next-generation TV services.”

Minerva and the NCTC said that the partnership will be particularly valuable for operators transitioning from legacy video platforms to IP-based delivery, as well as those looking to launch new OTT offerings like NCTC Broadband TV. Minerva’s cloud-based approach supports faster deployment timelines and reduces operational complexity, while providing a scalable foundation for future growth.

The National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC) is a Kansas-based, not-for-profit corporation comprised of more than 650 independent broadband and cable operators serving one-third of the connected households in all 50 United States and territories. The NCTC negotiates content, connectivity, and technology solutions for its member companies that create operational efficiencies, new products, and revenue streams for sustainable growth. For more information, visit: nctconline.org.

WASHINGTON—ATSC has completed a major revision of its A/85 Recommended Practice: Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television, marking the first comprehensive update to the industry reference since 2013.

ATSC said the revision, which expands the guidance beyond traditional television to address today's hybrid broadcast and streaming environment, is designed to help media organizations comply with loudness requirements and maintain a high quality viewing experience as they continue to transition toward IP-based and hybrid broadcast-broadband delivery models.

"As audiences increasingly consume content across both over-the-air and streaming platforms, maintaining a consistent listening experience has become more important than ever," said Madeleine Noland, president of ATSC. "This update to A/85 gives the industry practical, contemporary guidance that reflects today's production and distribution workflows while preserving the high-quality viewer experience broadcasters have worked to deliver for many years."

The newly revised ATSC Recommended Practice modernizes the document with numerous technical clarifications and introduces two important new annexes:

• Guidance for establishing and maintaining consistent loudness for streaming media services using both metadata-based and non-metadata-based audio codecs.
• A new Loudness and True Peak Quick Reference designed to simplify implementation for engineers and content providers.

More specifically, the revised A/85 Recommended Practice provides recommendations for audio measurement, monitoring, production, metadata management, dynamic-range control and loudness management throughout the content creation and delivery chain. By incorporating lessons learned from more than a decade of implementation, as well as addressing emerging streaming workflows, the document helps ensure consistent audio presentation regardless of how viewers access content, the ATSC reported.

The revised A/85 Recommended Practice can be downloaded here: https://www.atsc.org/atsc-documents/type/1-0-recommended-practices/

LOS ANGELES—Global broadcast design agency Girraphic selected Vizrt graphics for mixed martial arts promotion MVP’s premiere event, streamed on Netflix May 16.

Broadcast live from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., the 18,000-seat arena’s graphics lit up the venue, creating an immersive experience for fans at the event and bringing Netflix viewers closer to the action.

The venue’s Halo Board LED displays, augmented reality (AR) graphics, and every visual element were designed and operated by longtime Vizrt partner Girraphic. The agency specializes in virtual production and augmented graphical integrations.

“In live sports, you never know what’s going to happen,“ Girraphic CEO, North and South America Nathan Marsh said. “That anticipation brings fans to the edge of their seats, and visual elements on every screen should meet the magic of the moment. By counting on Vizrt technology, our teams were able to bring our collective vision to life, engaging the Netflix MMA fans in the venue and at home.”

A unified graphics workflow ensured the production team had the flexibility needed to deliver for both Netflix viewers and fans in the arena—all controlled from a single interface. Broadcasters, rightsholders, streamers and leagues are shifting strategy to handle more productions for more audiences in less time and with fewer added resources.

Essential to the workflow was the Viz Engine 5 real-time 3D graphics rendering and compositing engine, Vizrt said. Combined with Vizrt’s Viz Multiplay video wall and multiscreen control platform, the Viz Engine 5 enabled the team to create an original experience for every live event. Viz Multiplay enables the control of every display from a single interface, with playout available in any aspect ratio.

The solution blends prerendered animation, live video feeds and real-time broadcast graphics into a unified production workflow, Vizrt said. making the management of giant LED displays in venues of all sizes simple and solid. At the heart of both solutions is the reliability to not only support but also uplift productions, the company said.

More information is available on the Vizrt website.

ORLANDO, Fla.—Media technology company FreeCast has unveiled FreeCast Cities, a new direct-to-consumer streaming platform designed to deliver local streaming experiences tailored to each of the 210 U.S. Designated Market Areas (DMAs).

FreeCast Cities, already in beta testing, combines local television, free streaming channels, premium television services, on-demand entertainment and subscription management into a single consumer experience accessible across supported televisions, mobile devices, computers and connected streaming platforms.

FreeCast Cities is marketing itself as: "One City. One Login. All Your Television."

Each FreeCast Cities market is intended to provide a locally branded streaming destination. This destination will feature participating local broadcast television stations, using FreeCast's Broadcast-Enabled Streaming Technology (BEST), alongside hundreds of free FAST channels, free ad-supported movies and television programming, optional premium entertainment services and integrated subscription management capabilities.

The platform also incorporates SmartGuide, FreeCast's universal discovery engine, enabling users to search across supported live television, streaming services, connected subscriptions and on-demand programming through a single interface. Through MediaPay, eligible subscription services may be purchased, managed and billed within one account, creating a simplified consumer experience.

FreeCast said it expects the platform to include DirecTV residential offers, providing eligible consumers with the ability to add premium live television programming, sports, movies and other content through internet delivery without requiring a traditional home satellite dish or additional dedicated receiving hardware.

The company will introduce the platform in phases. It said it expects to introduce individual city launches on a market-by-market basis, generally in groups of about one to three markets at a time, as commercial agreements, broadcaster participation, content availability, operational readiness and related deployment milestones are completed.

Each market launch is expected to be announced individually, allowing consumers, broadcasters, advertisers and commercial partners to understand the unique local programming and services available within each participating community more fully.

"Television has become increasingly fragmented across dozens of applications, subscriptions and devices," said William (Bill) Mobley, CEO of FreeCast. "FreeCast Cities was developed to simplify that experience by bringing local television together with streaming services, premium entertainment and subscription management into one unified platform. We believe introducing markets individually will allow us to work closely with local broadcasters and partners while delivering a more localized experience for consumers."

FreeCast Cities is built upon the same enterprise Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) infrastructure the Company offers telecommunications providers, broadband operators, municipalities, multifamily communities, hospitality providers, broadcasters and other commercial organizations. The consumer platform represents an additional application of that technology while maintaining compatibility with FreeCast's broader commercial ecosystem, it said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

Streaming channel provider Wedotv has inked a distribution agreement with TiVo to be part of TiVo Channels, a free, ad-supported streaming content network integrated into the TiVo OS interface.

As a result of the deal TiVo Channels will initially include eight of Wedotv’s FAST channels and Wedotv’s streaming app will be available across TiVo’s European connected-TV and automotive platforms, Iza Piotrowska, senior vice president of global business development at Wedotv, said.

Additional Wedotv channels are scheduled to roll out to Powered by TiVo platforms in the U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy and France later this summer.

“We’re very pleased to expand Wedotv’s European footprint through this agreement with TiVo, a company whose innovation helped lay the foundation for today’s streaming television landscape,” Piotrowska said. “As audiences continue to embrace free streaming services across connected TV platforms, this partnership creates even more opportunities for viewers throughout Europe to discover wedotv’s premium entertainment channels and curated programming at no cost. TiVo’s longstanding reputation for innovation and user engagement makes them an ideal partner as we continue to grow wedotv’s reach and accessibility around the world.”

In addition to the FAST channels, the Wedotv app is available on Powered by TiVo Smart TVs and Streaming Media devices and on the DTS AutoStage Video Service, used by multiple major automotive OEMs to power their in-car video services.

Additional Wedotv channels are scheduled to roll out to Powered by TiVo platforms in the U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy and France later this summer.