Multichannel News - August 17, 2020

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TRUMP TACKLES THE EDGE Why big tech feels the regulatory heat in D.C.

VIRTUAL TCA TOUR PUTS TOPICAL SHOWS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

SMART TVs HAVE STREAMERS THINKING BEYOND THE BOX

CABLE OPS PUT THEIR BROADBAND FOOT(PRINT) DOWN

VOLUME 41 ISSUE 15 • AUGUST 17, 2020 WWW.MULTICHANNEL.COM

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8 COVER STORY FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

8 COVER STORY

President Donald Trump’s executive order on social media has big platform operators such as Facebook, Twitter and Google facing their first serious threat of government regulation.

By John Eggerton

14 PROGRAMMING

Top-of-mind issues like the pandemic and the push for racial equality are recurring themes of the shows featured during the first-ever virtual TCA summer press tour.

By R. Thomas Umstead

4 AGENDA 12 SPECIAL REPORT:

FALL TV EVENTS 16 TECH 18 POLICY 22 FATES & FORTUNES 24 DATA MINE 28 VIEWPOINT 32 THE FIVE SPOT

12 SPECIAL REPORT

20 BUSINESS

Recognizing that the end of cable’s current wave of broadband growth may be in sight, operators are quietly building out their highspeed data footprints to ensure the good times keep rolling.

By Mike Farrell

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CONTENT VP/Global Editor-In-Chief Bill Gannon, william.gannon@futurenet.com Content Director Kent Gibbons, kent.gibbons@futurenet.com Content Manager Michael Demenchuk, michael.demenchuk@futurenet.com Senior Content Producer - Programming R. Thomas Umstead, thomas.umstead@futurenet.com Senior Content Producer - Finance Mike Farrell, michael.farrell@futurenet.com Senior Content Producer - Washington John S. Eggerton, john.eggerton@futurenet.com Senior Content Producer - Technology Daniel Frankel, daniel.frankel@futurenet.com Senior Content Producer Michael Malone, michael.malone@futurenetcom Senior Content Producer Jon Lafayette, jon.lafayette@futurenet.com Content Engagement Manager Jessika Walsten, jessika.walsten@futurenet.com Assistant Content Producer Chelsea Anderson, chelsea.anderson@futurenet.com Contributor Paige Albiniak Production Manager Heather Tatrow Managing Design Director Nicole Cobban Art Editor Cliff Newman

3

AGENDA

Al Roker Sets Special On Veterans for Discovery ‘Today’ co-host focuses on mental health efforts on behalf of military

By Michael Malone michael.malone@futurenet.com @BCMikeMalone

T

he Al Roker special Life Aid: A Story of Hope, about efforts to help military veterans regain top mental health, premieres on Discovery Aug. 30. The one-hour special details the Life Aid Research Institute, which raises money to provide veterans and first responders with personalized mental health treatments. The organization also focuses on suicide prevention among veterans.

“There’s a lot of work being done with veterans to put their bodies back together,” Roker told Multichannel News. “But there’s a lack of information, a lack of research about brain trauma and those issues.”

Roker said John Wordin, Life Aid Research Institute founder, approached him about doing the special. “I said, absolutely,” shared Roker.

After its Discovery premiere, Life Aid: A Story of Hope debuts on Science Channel and American Heroes Channel Sept. 2. Roker

said the three networks cover the “underlying principles” of the special. Discovery makes people aware of the issue, Science covers the scientific aspects of the treatment, and American Heroes sums up the subjects.

“They are truly American heroes,” said Roker, whose Al Roker Entertainment produced the special.

Roker is the Today weather and feature anchor, and co-host of the morning show’s third hour on NBC. He does not come from a

The Al Rokerproduced Life Aid: A Story of Hope shows the Life Aid Research Institute’s work with veterans handling mental health issues.

military background, joking that the closest he came to service was a military school he attended as a child.

He summed up the Life Aid strategy as “research, rehabilitation, different therapies using biofeedback, using different drugs, doing physical and emotional therapy.”

“It’s a multi-pronged approach,” Roker added. “It’s not just one thing, but let’s look at a number of different efforts.”

Roker published the book You Look So Much Better in Person in late July, and the title is something he hears frequently on the street from viewers. “I understand you think it’s a compliment,” he quipped. “But it’s really not.”

Much of the production on Life Aid took place before COVID hit. “We were very careful, with minimal crews and plenty of social distancing,” Roker said. “It’s veterans and their families, so we were very, very careful.”

Roker hopes the special helps viewers appreciate what veterans have given to our nation. “I hope they take away the sacrifice that these folks have made,” he said. “We can never repay them, but we can make sure they become as whole as possible.” ●

Media Mogul Sumner Redstone Dies at 97 Live Aide: Al Roker Productionsl; Sumner Redstone: John Blanding/The Boston Glob

Built Viacom into $80 billion powerhouse at its peak

4

SUMNER REDSTONE, THE controversial media mogul who coined the term “content is king” as he created one of the largest media conglomerates in the world, died on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at age 97 at his home in Los Angeles.

A graduate of Boston Latin School, Harvard University and Harvard Law School and a code breaker during World War II, Redstone was a quintessential media mogul. He took his father’s small chain of movie theaters (National Amusements Inc.) and built it into one of the biggest entertainment conglomerates in the world, eventually encompassing culture-shaping cable networks (MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central), a movie studio (Paramount), publisher Simon and Schuster, the former Blockbuster video store chain and

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CBS. According to The New York Times, at its peak Viacom was worth about $80 billion.

ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish, who spent decades at the company before being named CEO last year, called Redstone “a force of nature and fierce competitor, who leaves behind a profound legacy in both business and philanthropy. ViacomCBS will remember Sumner for his unparalleled passion to win, his endless intellectual curiosity and his complete dedication to the company. We extend our deepest sympathies to the Redstone family today.”

Redstone was 64 years old when he

decided to enter the big media fray, purchasing Viacom, then a cable operator, from an investment group led by the company’s management. In 1994, he launched a surprising effort for iconic movie studio Paramount, outbidding former studio chief Barry Diller in the process.

He continued to grow Viacom through acquisition, purchasing CBS in 2000 for $39.8 billion and BET in 2001 for $3 billion. He also famously clashed with his top executives, including his daughter Shari, with whom he had reconciled in recent years. Shari, along with six other trustees, will gain control of his interests

in the company, according to reports.

The elder Redstone has been relatively quiet since Viacom recombined with CBS to form ViacomCBS in 2019 (reversing a split that was initiated in 2005). He had officially been chairman emeritus of both companies since 2016.

Wells Fargo Securities media analyst Steven Cahall opined that investment bankers will likely view the change in control as an opening for deals. He noted Sumner Redstone had been against the sale of the Paramount studio in the past, but now any offer would be put before the trust, which would have a fiduciary duty to consider it. Cahall also wondered if Shari Redstone would rather carry on her father’s ownership legacy or sell. — Mike Farrell

AGENDA

Hispanic TV Summit Amplifies Latino Voices Virtual event set for Sept. 21-24 should be more accessible than ever

By Joe Schramm jschramm@schrammnyc.com @Schrammnyc

“Where Latino voices matter most” is becoming a common phrase applied to Hispanic television and video today. This timely phrase has been adopted as the theme for the upcoming 18th Annual Hispanic Television Summit. The summit, presented as part of Fall TV 2020 by Multichannel News, B+C and Next TV, is the premier annual event for those in the business of TV and video for Hispanic audiences worldwide. The one-of-akind event attracts hundreds of leading executives from brands, advertising sales, media buying, production, promotion, broadcast, audience research and content distribution to share ideas with content providers from cable and satellite, as well as connected TV. New This Year: The summit will be offered “virtually” online. Traditionally, this has been a one-day, in-person event. Instead, the summit will be presented over four consecutive days Monday, Sept. 21 through Thursday, Sept. 24, in a series of daily programs, each running 90 minutes to two hours, and starting daily at noon ET. The virtual format makes it easier and more cost-effective to attend. It is expected that more mid-level and senior executives will now find it easier to attend. The convenience and cost savings aside, it is the awards recipients, the program and its speakers that will appeal most to attendees. Here are just some of the highlights of this year’s event.

The Hispanic TV & Video Awards: Monday’s program features the popular Hispanic TV & Video Awards ceremony.

Popular actor, director and producer Diego Luna is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Legacy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hispanic Television. Two executives being recognized for Outstanding Leadership in Hispanic Television and Video are Karina Dobarro of Horizon Media (Media category), and Juan Carlos Rodriguez, president of

Sports, Univision (Network category). The CultureX Leadership Award for news coverage is to be presented to Julio Vaqueiro, anchor of Noticias Telemundo Edición Especial.

Recognizing the Pioneers of Hispanic TV: This year also sees the introduction of the Rafael Eli Award for Pioneers in Hispanic TV. The series of awards honors pioneers who continue to work in the business. The awards are presented in the name of Rafael Eli, a long-time co-producer of the summit who lost his battle with COVID-19 in April. Recipients include sportscaster Andrés Cantor, the world’s most recognized voice of soccer; Gene Bryan, the publisher of Hispanicad.com; and a distinguished team of seven co-workers from the world of creative advertising and media strategy at d’expósito & partners.

Brands, Media and Ad Sales is the focus of Tuesday’s program. Group M’s Gonzalo Del Fa will open the program portion of the 18th Annual Hispanic Television Summit with an address that focuses on Hispanic TV as the media tactic where Latino voices matter most and a review of the state of the industry from a media perspective. Day 2 features other speakers including a data presentation by VAB’s CEO Sean Cunningham followed by an exciting panel conversation about media buying and sales that includes Steve Mandala of Univision, Glenda Villanueva-Marchetta from Altice’s A4 Media and Sandra Alfaro from 305 Worldwide.

Hispanic Audiences – Data and Promotion:

Ilia Calderón (l.), co-anchor of Noticiero Univision and co-host of Aquí y Ahora, will keynote at the Summit, while Daisy Expósito, president, d’expósito & partners, will receive the Rafael Eli Award.

The program on Day 3 looks at attracting, engaging and retaining Hispanic audiences from a perspective of data, marketing and promotion. A keynote interview with Ilia Calderón, co-anchor of Noticiero Univision and co-host of Aquí y Ahora, opens the program. Another of the highlights of Day 3 is a featured keynote with Marisol Martinez, VP, multicultural marketing at Charter Communications.

Creating and Distributing Content: Day 4 spotlights a session about recently launched networks like Discovery U.S. Hispanic’s home and garden channel for Latino audiences, Hogar de HGTV. Attendees will also enjoy a conversation about new productions for Latino audiences with Alejandro Uribe, CEO, EXILE Content. The closing conversation about content distribution always attracts attention. This year’s session features Jorge Fiterre, partner, Condista and Luis TorresBohl, president, Castalia Communications.

These are just some of the highlights. For more information and a complete list of sessions, speakers, award recipients, panelists, celebrity hosts, and moderators, or to save $50 off the price of registration with the “early bird’ rate, please refer to the 2020 Fall TV Events website and select Hispanic Television at falltvevents.com/2020. ● Joe Schramm is president of Schramm Marketing Group and producer of the Hispanic Television Summit.

Multichannel.com

5

AGENDA

THE WATCHMAN

WATCH THIS …

Senior content producer Michael Malone’s look at the programming scene

Dead Pixels: Mr Whisper/Channel4; Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe: Disney Enterprises; Love in the Time of Corona: Disney Enterprises; Alaskan Bush People: Discovery; Love Island: Timothy Kuratek/CBS Broadcasting

Love in the Time of Corona

6

Dead Pixels

By Michael Malone michael.malone@futurenet.com @BCMikeMalone

‘Dead Pixels’ Comes to Life on The CW

Dead Pixels starts on The CW Aug. 18. It’s about Meg and Nicky, who are obsessed with an online fantasy game, Kingdom Scrolls, which at times gets in the way of their actual lives.

The show is created by Jon Brown and has Jesse Armstrong as an executive producer. Both are on the HBO smash Succession.

Brown called Kingdom Scrolls “maybe the thirdbest role-playing game around,” as gamers move on to more state-of-the-art stuff like Warcraft.

“There’s something that quite appealed to me about people that have an attachment to a world and are not quite ready to let it go,” he said.

Brown delved into a concept called sunk cost fallacy, which pertains to the tons of hours, and cash, that gamers may have invested in a game, which makes quitting it that much more difficult. “That’s something a lot of people can relate to, whether it’s a relationship or a job,” he said.

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe Multichannel.com

Movie Chemical Hearts debuts on Amazon Prime Video Friday. “When a hopelessly romantic high-school senior (Austin Abrams) falls for a mysterious new classmate (Lili Reinhart), it sets them both on an unexpected journey that teaches them about love, loss and, most importantly, themselves,” Amazon said.

Saturday, Love in the Time of Corona begins on Freeform. Shot in the cast’s homes, the fourpart series tells four interwoven stories about

Dead Pixels has aired in the U.K. on E4. Brown said a summer 2020 release in the U.S. makes the series “accidentally timely.”

“In a way, it couldn’t be any more perfect,” he said.

“We’re all living the lives of the characters — stuck inside, connected through virtual worlds.”

‘Phineas and Ferb’ Is Back on Disney Plus

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe premieres August 28 on Disney Plus. The animated series, about step brothers who take on grandiose projects, ran for four seasons on Disney Channel before wrapping in 2015. It is back with a movie.

Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, creators and executive producers, said the call came from Gary Marsh, president of Disney Channels Worldwide.

“Would you like to dust these guys off?” the president asked. “Yes, we would,” said the producers.

The movie sees Phineas and Ferb set out across the galaxy to rescue sister Candace, who has been abducted by aliens.

“We had to think — we’d done 200 episodes, what have we not done?” said Povenmire. “Most have been about the boys building something. We never really put anybody in jeopardy. But Candace being abducted by aliens and the boys going to rescue her — we never really told that kind of story.”

What makes the movie right for summer 2020?

Phineas and Ferb The Movie offers positive vibes.

“Phineas and Ferb has always been a super-positive show,” Povenmire said. “It’s something we worked really hard on. The main characters weren’t jerks or idiots, which all the shows were when we were making Phineas and Ferb. That’s what’s needed right now.”

Might there be more Phineas and Ferb? “I wouldn’t say no to it,” said Povenmire.

Added Swampy, “I’m happy to have that discussion.” ●

Alaskan Bush People the hopeful search for love amidst quarantine.

It wraps Sunday. Also on Sunday, it’s Alaskan Bush People on Discovery. The Wolfpack aims to complete its dream cabin on the mountain before spring. Temps are subzero. And The Vow premieres Sunday on HBO. It goes behind the scenes of the self-improvement organization NXIVM, which many view as a cult, with women turned into sex slaves. On a lighter note, Love Island starts Monday, Aug. 24, on CBS. Single “Islanders” are sequestered in a Vegas hotel.

Love Island

COVER STORY

TRUMP TACKLES THE EDGE Hill pushes back even as it eyes regulating Big Tech

By John Eggerton john.eggerton@futurenet.com @eggerton

resident Donald Trump is focused on eliminating what he sees as systemic bias, but it has nothing to do with racism.

Under a Trump executive order,

to enforce his speech policies could work against

The White House explained the move this

efforts, backed by ISPs, to create a uniform

way: “In a country that has long valued

federal approach to online privacy and

freedom of expression, it is not acceptable for a

commerce.

limited number of online platforms to

Trump, in an executive order issued in May,

hand-pick speech that Americans may access

directed the National Telecommunications &

and convey. When large, powerful social

Information Administration to file a petition

media companies censor opinions with which

with the FCC, which it dutifully did late last

they disagree, they exercise a dangerous

month, to step into the regulation of web

power. They cease functioning as passive

content. The FCC would be empowered to

bulletin boards, and ought to be viewed and

require Facebook and Google to publicly explain

treated as content creators.”

the Federal Communications

how they moderate their content, as well as the

Commission for the first time would

warnings they place on user posts like the ones

Regulations Look Inevitable Some form of regulation of Big Tech appears

have a defined role in regulating edge

Twitter placed on the president’s tweets, which

providers. It’s a big change from the

would be considered content generated by the

inevitable. Last month’s hearing in the House

FCC’s hands-off approach during the previous

platform and not subject to the Section 230

Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee with the

administration, when the “gatekeeper” tag was

immunity from civil liability over third-party

CEOs of Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet

put on internet service providers — and not on

content, an immunity the president is targeting.

(Google) was pretty much a proverbial case of

the companies that use those connections to

Trump has long said he was looking for a

“the beatings shall commence.” Democratic

offer their own services, like Google, Facebook

way to keep social media platforms from

leaders said the big tech firms were too

or Twitter, which were basically untouchable

censoring conservative speech in general.

powerful, that the power had corrupted them

from a regulatory perspective.

More recently, he has been critical of what he

and that they needed to be regulated and, in

sees as political censorship of his own posts by

some cases, broken up.

While there is bipartisan support for finding a

Even though plenty of Democrats,

way to ensure there is some government

Twitter, posts that the White House has said

oversight of the most transformative technol-

are official presidential statements. So, it is

including at last month’s hearing, have

ogy perhaps in human history — including

clearly personal.

criticized Section 230 — or have even called

support from cable broadband providers — the

No less a Silicon Valley maven than Facebook

for its elimination — the president’s linkage

president’s focus on online content he does not

chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has

of the issue with his attacks on Twitter and

like threatens to add a layer of speech regulation

conceded there are legitimate concerns about

other sites had some of those pausing to push

that could dull the edge and even compromise

liberal bias, but he does not think it is systemic

back with one hand, even as they shake a big

its role as a marketplace of ideas.

and has said that is certainly not the case with

regulatory stick with the other.

While the order focuses on social media, law firm Wiley Rein says all the participants in

his company.

FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a

Questions about whether or not websites still should enjoy blanket immunity from

online communication will be impacted by

Democrat, said Trump’s order attempts to

liability have been asked by everyone from

“broad and long-term legal and policy effects.”

enlist the agency in becoming what she calls

conservative Republicans, who share Trump’s

For example, the president’s directive to develop model legislation for states

8

The president’s executive order on social media has platform operators like Facebook chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (below) in the crosshairs.

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the speech police, a business she doesn’t want to be in.

suspicions about the suppression of conservative voices, to the Democratic author of the

COVER STORY

Government regulation of private companies’ content moderation policies is a greater threat than the problem it seeks to address.

— Curt Levey, president, Committee for Justice

Communications Decency Act’s Section 230

community, it will be hard to sustain their

petition to investigate broadcast coverage of the

(see box). Section 230 is the law that says

business model.

president, with the explanation that the

social-media platforms bear no civil liability

But these social-media communities have

regulator is not “a roving arbiter of broadcast-

for most of the speech posted on their sites and

become so large and powerful that what they

ers’ editorial judgments.” The executive order

gives those platforms the freedom to remove

allow or don’t allow to be posted on their sites,

essentially asks it to become an arbiter of edge

content, or not, as they choose.

or how they moderate those posts, can change

provider content calls.

Immunity under Section 230 of the 1996 law is

the national conversation and impact many

A Bipartisan ‘Techlash’

what allowed those sites to grow from the

millions. Many in Washington have been

garage to the sprawling campus, but also, the

saying that with that power comes responsibil-

law’s critics say, allowed them to avoid the legal

ity — responsibility that Section 230 has

and Republicans have clearly been moving

consequences of the hate speech, fake news,

allowed them to dodge, unlike news publishers

toward regulation, or at least heightened

Russian election meddling and sex trafficking

that are subject to such civil liability.

oversight and perhaps changes in the antitrust

that finds its way onto their sites.

While the president wants the FCC get

There are no easy answers. But Democrats

laws to capture the speed of tech innovation and

involved with social-media content calls, that

consolidation, fueled by bipartisan concerns

that if they are liable for the millions or billions

could be a big ask. As influential telcom law firm

over issues like privacy and third-party

of posts they host, or for moderating them

Wiley Rein pointed out in a note to clients about

marketing of user data. While Republicans

according to the perceived preferences of their

the executive order, the FCC recently rejected a

criticize social media for allegedly censoring

Social media sites argue, and with reason,

THE PROTECTION SECTION SECTION 230 IS the surviving section of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, the rest of which was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

It allows social media sites to host third-party speech without being subject to legal action based on the content that is posted or what they do with it, either taking it down despite complaints from individuals, corporations or governments, or leaving it up despite such complaints.

As the Electronic Frontier Foundation put it, Section 230 “has allowed for YouTube and Vimeo users to upload their own videos, Amazon and Yelp to offer countless user reviews, craigslist to host classified ads, and Facebook and Twitter to offer social networking to

hundreds of millions of Internet users.”

In a note to clients, attorneys at Wiley Rein explained the specific legal protection that Section 230 affords online service providers: “Section 230 protects interactive computer service providers such as social media platforms in two ways.

Under Section 230(c)(1), ‘[n]o provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.’ This means that interactive computer service providers are free to host third-party content without being liable for the substance of that content.

“Section 230(c)(2) establishes an additional liability

shield for users and providers of interactive computer services who moderate their content, immunizing them from suit for ‘any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene … or otherwise objectionable.’

“As the Ninth Circuit has explained, these two subsections provide independent protections for providers: “even those who cannot take advantage of subsection (c)(1), perhaps because they developed, even in part, the content at issue … can take advantage of subsection (c)(2) if they act to restrict access to the content because they consider it obscene or otherwise objectionable.” — JE

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9

COVER STORY

Rosenworcel: Bill Clark/Getty Images; Hawley: Samuel Corum/Getty Image; Pelosi: Alex Wong/Getty Images

ORDERING UP ONLINE REGULATION THE PRESIDENT’S EXECUTIVE order includes getting the FCC to weigh in on social media content regulation, but it does more than that. Here are its prime directives.

• “Clarifies” that while Section 230 immunity from liability for third-party online content does apply to good faith efforts to remove objectionable content, it “should not … provide protection for those who purport to provide users a forum for free and open speech, but in reality use their power over a vital means of communication to engage in deceptive or pretextual actions stifling free and open debate by censoring certain viewpoints.”

• Requires the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) to petition the FCC to clarify when and under what circumstances a website that restricts access to content may not be able to claim immunity from third party content liability and when its content restriction is not undertaken “in good faith,” particularly whether conduct that is “deceptive, pretextual, or inconsistent with a provider’s terms of service; or taken after failing to provide adequate notice, reasoned explanation, or a meaningful opportunity to be heard” forfeits that immunity.

• Requires executive branch departments and agencies to review government funds for advertising and marketing paid to online content platforms to make sure they are not supporting platforms that restrict free speech. They will get an assist from the Justice Department, which will review a platform’s online speech restrictions “to assess whether any online platforms are problematic vehicles for government speech due to viewpoint discrimination, deception to consumers or other bad practices.”

• Urges the Federal Trade Commission to use its authority to prevent unfair and deceptive practices to take action “by entities covered

by Section 230 that restrict speech in ways that do not align with those entities’ public representations about those practices.”

• [Proposes to] work with states to develop bills “that prohibit online platforms from engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices.” — JE

10 Multichannel.com

speech, Democrats argue the sites don’t do enough to keep disinformation, including deceptive campaign ads, off their platforms.

One Big Tech critic speaking on background said social media platforms are clearly hoping that the executive order takes some of the pressure off. But he also said the “techlash” has its own momentum, likening it to a big rock rolling down a mountain with “gravity on its side.” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the author of

Section 230, said at a hearing last year that the whole point of the section was to have a “shield and a sword,” and the sword hasn’t been used.

But following the president’s executive order, Wyden came to the defense of Section 230 and how it has been functioning.

“Efforts to erode Section 230 will only make online content more likely to be false and dangerous,” Wyden said. “Section 230 does not prevent internet companies from moderating offensive or false content. And it does not change the First Amendment of the Constitution.”

Other prominent Democrats have weighed in with questions about Section 230. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden apparently agrees with Trump that the section should go, telling The New York Times back in January that the section should be revoked, saying “it is propagating falsehoods.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has also called for an end to the “sweetheart deal” of Section 230.

He had an unusual congressional ally in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who tried, unsuccessfully, to exclude Section 230 language from the USMCA trade deal among the United States, Mexico and Canada, calling the section a “gift to big tech.” She was joined in that effort to keep Section 230 from spreading by Reps.

Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.).

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are political poles apart.

But they teamed up earlier this year on a bill that would amend Section 230 to say that the section's immunity for online platforms from civil liability for third-party content does not extend to child exploitation, meaning Facebook or Twitter could be held liable for posts that illegally exploit children. If that passes, it could open the door to other changes and the prospect of the death of Section 230 by a thousand cuts.

Blumenthal said Section 230 provides a unique, near-absolute immunity from legal consequences for “certain companies and activities.” The bill would remove that exemption from companies that did not earn it.

(It is, appropriately, called the EARN IT Act.) But the president’s call for remaking Section 230 has forced pushback.

Pallone joined with other Democratic legislators to stand up for Big Tech. “Online platforms should enforce their codes of conduct to combat disinformation, even when it is spread by right-wing extremists and the president himself, but the president has made clear he wants the internet to cower in fear,” he said.

And following Trump’s order, Blumenthal tweeted: “Whatever the criticisms I may have of current

Critics ranging from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (top) on the left to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on the right have lashed out at Section 230. But FCC Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel (below) says the agency shouldn’t serve as the speech police.

law, this Executive Order is an authoritarian attack against freedom of expression and accountability. This Executive Order is egregiously excessive, with clearly malevolent intent to suppress free speech. It is a blatant attempt to use the full power of the United States government to force private companies to lie for the president.”

It’s not just Democrats who are pushing back on the president. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a conservative who agrees there is anti-conservative bias — though he has also argued against siccing the Justice Department on Google and other Big Tech companies — told Fox News Channel the order would be “just terrible precedent long-term.”

Lee said social media platforms were not “the government's tool to play with.”

The Committee for Justice, a Republicanbacked Washington, D.C., nonprofit group, pointed out that there are legitimate concerns that “content moderation policies on certain social media platforms have a disparate impact on conservative expression and sometimes result in outright anti-conservative bias,” including Twitter’s

COVER STORY

“singling out” of the president, according to committee president Curt Levey.

But Trump’s approach to those issues had Levey sounding more like Democratic FCC commissioner Rosenworcel following the executive order’s release. “Government regulation of private companies’ content moderation policies is a greater threat than the problem it seeks to address,” Levey said.

Republican FCC member Michael O’Rielly’s public raising of the First Amendment issues with regulating social media may have cost him his renomination, which the president has withdrawn.

Pushback on Both Sides

While the immediate pushback on the president from Democrats provided some hope in Silicon Valley that the regulatory tide might be turning, some of the highest-profile Democrats remained resolute.

The Biden campaign told The Verge his position in support of eliminating Section 230 has not changed, and Pelosi said that the president’s order was a “desperate distraction,” but also continued to hammer the edge, saying: “Social media platforms have sold

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon (below) said that his intent in writing Section 230 was that it be a ”shield and a sword,” but he says the sword hasn’t been used.

out the public interest to pad their corporate profits. Their business model is to make money at the expense of the truth.”

And the president wants to know just how much money. He gave federal agencies until June 27 to report on what they are spending on online advertising and marketing, and on which platforms. The Justice Department will now determine which of those are “problematic vehicles for government speech,” meaning government dollars.

But the principal problematic vehicle is the executive order itself, said Jon Epstein, a partner at law firm Hall Estill, who has advised clients on the risks of social media. "The EO is troubling to those who believe that the Section 230 protections are necessary and that use of the platforms should not be censored based on government officials’ political viewpoints.

“During his campaign and since he was elected, President Trump has engaged in a heated conflict with reporters and media platforms who have criticized or questioned him,” Epstein continued. “[W]e are on the verge of the battle that the President appears to have sought.” ●

FCC AS EDGE REGULATOR Law firm Cooley LLP has broken out the ways that the NTIA petition, if acted on by the FCC, would impose “sweeping changes.” For one, its requirement that websites disclose their moderation policies would subject edge provider content to the FCC’s authority for the first time. It could also affect review sites, gaming sites and online advertising.

Cooley broke out the wide ranging impact of the petition this way: “Protection against liability for thirdparty content would be available only when an interactive computer service (such as a website or app) failed to remove information provided by a third party. Under the proposed rules, a provider that solicits content, chooses third-party content for its site or promotes third-party content to its users would lose its immunity. This could mean that there would be no immunity for advertising or for content that was recommended to users through a preference engine.

“Moderation would include restricting access to or the availability of content and barring users from posting temporarily or permanently. Warnings placed on usergenerated content would be treated as content generated by the internet platform, rather than moderation, and would not be within the protections of Section 230.

“Internet platforms could be immune from liability for moderation decisions only for content that is sexual, excessively violent, harassing or ‘similar in type’ to those categories of content. Moderation for any other reasons — regardless of how objectionable the content might be — would not be immune from liability.

“Internet platforms would be immune from liability for moderation decisions only if those decisions (a) follow published rules that are stated plainly and ‘with particularity;’ (b) are based on an ‘objectively reasoned belief’ that the content falls within the categories approved by the FCC; (c) are applied consistently and not deceptively or pretextually; and (d) are communicated to the affected party promptly, with an explanation of the reason for the action and an opportunity to respond.

“Internet platforms that use moderation would be required to provide detailed public disclosures of their policies, subject to penalties from the FCC for failure to do so.” — JE

Multichannel.com

Wyden: Mark Wilson/Getty Images; Sundar Pichai: C-SPAN; Save the Net: Alex Edelman/Getty Images; Ajit Pai: Alex Wong /Getty Images

Online leaders like Sundar Pichai (below), CEO of Google parent Alphabet, have heard an earful on Capitol Hill.

11

SPECIAL REPORT: FALL TV EVENTS

Developing New Strategies for An Unprecedented News Cycle News Technology Summit to focus on emerging technologies for better coverage One major trend has been the move to cloud and IP-based technologies, which provide more flexibility and make it easier to quickly spin up or down new services. CNN Washington, D.C., bureau chief Sam Feist noted that the network’s recent push to deploy newer cloud and IP-infrastructures allowed it to have people running control room operations from home when the pandemic hit.

“It’s been a monumental undertaking by engineering and operations teams that has allowed production teams to work from home, but that has been how we’ve been producing our coverage since the end of March,” he said.

Feist will be speaking on the opening panel, “News Tech Under Fire” with senior executives from ABC News, the Associated Press and Quibi, discussing some of the major trends in the news business that are prompting a reexamination of the traditional technologies used to produce the news.

By George Winslow winslowbc@gmail.com @GeorgeWinslow

Mary Kouw/CBS Broadcasting; NBCUniversal

A

12

s news organizations work to cover one of the most unusual and highly anticipated elections in the history of television, this year’s News Technology Summit, produced by Multichannel News, B+C and TV Technology (Sept. 8-11), will be paying particular attention to strategies for streaming news content and the deployment of newer technologies that can improve news operations in a digital world.

As part of the summit, representatives from major news organizations, digital operations, researchers and technology providers will speak, including executives from Axios, ABC Owned Television Stations, ABC News, the Associated Press, the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN), CBS News, CNN, Fox Television Stations, Gray Television, HBO, Meredith, NBC Owned Television Stations, News-Press & Gazette, Newsy, PBS, E.W. Scripps, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Tegna, TikTok, Vice and Vizrt.

In the opening keynote, Christy Tanner, executive VP and general manager of CBS News Digital, will discuss how the streaming service CBSN has boosted the CBS audience by creating localized versions and focusing on fact-based reporting, social justice issues and longer-form investigative stories.

The streaming service has also been expanding internationally to take advantage of the enormous interest in the upcoming U.S. elections, Tanner noted. “About a month ago, we announced that our CBSN app is live on various platforms in 89 countries,” she said. “We know that the global audience is watching the U.S. election and we will be able to deliver in-depth coverage to them.”

Susie Banikarim, executive VP and global head of newsgathering at Vice News, sees similar opportunities. “At a time when other news organizations have been cutting back on international coverage, we have really been leaning into it with a new initiative Vice World News,” said Banikarim, who will speak on an election-focused panel at the summit.

“There is a lot of interest in what is happening in the U.S. among global audiences and a lot of interest in what is happening around the world from U.S. audiences.”

The agenda will also feature Axios CEO Jim VandeHei, Axios political reporter Alexi Multichannel.com

News You Can Use

McCammond and Axios on HBO directors and producers Matthew O’Neil and Perri Peltz discussing their successful move from digital to TV.

New Habits, New Media

The move towards streaming has highlighted the growing importance of platforms and apps in aggregating news content. In the opening panel, Ryan Kadro, head of news, daily programming at Quibi, will discuss some of the original news content the platform is putting together from networks like BBC News, CBS, NBC and Telemundo, and explore some successful strategies for attracting younger audiences on mobile devices.

A separate research panel will present original data on how Americans are getting their news and information, with presentations designed to help news organizations craft successful strategies for delivering such content.

In addition to changing consumer habits, the summit will focus on how COVID-19 is changing the way news organizations operate. Patrick McCreery, president of Meredith Local Media Group, who will be speaking about election tech in the COVID-19 era, noted that the pandemic has significantly changed the way they produce news in ways that could have a long-term impact on the business.

The News Technology Summit will share strategies from national players like CBS News (above), as well as examine new advances like the flexible allIP infrastructure adopted at NBC’s WCAU Philadelphia (below).

2020 NEWS TECH SUMMIT This year’s News Tech Summit will be held virtually from Sept. 8-11.

For the complete program and to register, go to: www.falltvevents. com/2020/ NewsTech.

The summit will also feature case studies designed to offer practical discussions of newer technologies and some of the opportunities these technologies offer news operations.

Nick Evansky, VP of technology and operations at NBC’s WCAU/WWSI Philadelphia, noted that the October 2018 completion of a new facility based on an internet protocol network has given the NBC and Telemundo stations a leg up in covering this year’s election.

“Having things on a network with an IP address gives us a lot of flexibility in terms of configuring things differently or quickly adding new technologies or services,” he noted.

During the summit, executives and engineers at the NBCU Boston Media Center, which opened in January 2020, will discuss the new facility and explain how the deployment of an IP infrastructure and other new technologies are improving their operations.

The summit will also offer practical advice on coping with some of the problems created by digital media. For example, Hari Sreenivasan, anchor of PBS NewsHour Weekend and host of public television’s YouTube series Take on Fake, will offer practical tips and ideas for journalists trying to fact check information on social media and the web.

“We have a polluted information ecosystem where disinformation and misinformation were algorithmically elevated by social media platforms,” Sreenivasan said. “So we wanted to create some smart content [with the Take on Fake series] that can give people some tools to grapple with this information overload.” ●

PROGRAMMING

TCA Tour Sessions Feature Pandemic, Inequality Themes HBO, AMC, Amazon Prime Video series tackle topics of the moment REVIEW

LOVECRAFT COUNTRY

By R. Thomas Umstead thomas.umstead@futurenet.com @rtumstead30

Utopia: Amazon Studios; Coastal Elites: HBO; Lovecraft Country: HBO

T

he country’s ongoing struggle with the pandemic along with continued protests over racial inequality served as recurring themes across several scripted programs presented during CTAM’s first-ever virtual Television Critics Association summer tour.

The Aug. 3-11 event, featuring virtual presentations from more than a dozen cable networks and streaming services, offered inside looks at several drama and sci-fi series that draw parallels between fantasy and the real events Americans are experiencing on a day-to-day basis, producers and cast members said.

HBO’s Lovecraft Country, from executive producers Jordan Peele, Misha Green and J.J. Abrams, follows the exploits of three African-Americans in the Jim Crow U.S. of the 1950s in search of a missing relative.

Along the way, they encounter supernatural monsters and other fantastical creatures (see Review, this page). The challenges with mythical terrors faced by the main characters often mirror the fight AfricanAmericans continue to wage today with regards to equality and justice, Green said.

“I think that monsters are a metaphor for the racism that's kind of always been through America and even globally,” she said. “For me, genre works best when it is the metaphor on top of the real-life emotions that you explore in real-life problems.”

AMC’s Soulmates, which offers a futuristic look at love in a world in which a test unequivocally tells you who your soulmate is, and Amazon Prime Video’s Utopia, a conspiratorial thriller about a group of comic-book fans trying to stop the end of the world, deal with anxieties that arise from an uncertain and uncharted future, much like viewers are dealing with during the COVID-19 era.

“I think that this will be an amazing respite from what the world is dealing with right now in that it delves into relationships,” said Betsy Brandt, co-star of Soulmates, which bows Oct. 5. “It’s a crazy time, and I think this show is perfect for what we’re all dealing with right now.”

Utopia star John Cusack said the show’s “theme itself included viruses, it

14

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(Sunday, Aug. 16, at 10 p.m., HBO)

included famine, it included perhaps a nuclear accident. It was kind of disturbing and surreal to see it come so close to life ... with the pandemic.” The show will be available starting Sept. 7.

HBO tackles the pandemic head-on Sept.

12 with series Coastal Elites, which tells contemporary stories of politics, culture and COVID-19 through the eyes of several socially distant characters. Stars Bette Midler, Issa Rae, Kaitlyn Dever, Dan Levy and Sarah Paulson filmed the series under quarantine in separate locations to better reflect the conditions of today, Coastal Elites executive producer and writer Paul Rudnick said.

“One of the great advantages [filming] so in the moment and so quickly with people who were so adaptable was that we could weave both the pandemic and the Black Lives Matters protests into the material,” Rudnick said.

“It was a very natural fit for all these characters, because they’re all people going through everything right now.” ●

Above, John Cusack in Amazon Prime Video’s thriller series Utopia.

Below, Issa Rae in HBO‘s pandemicthemed Coastal Elites.

HBO’S DRAMA SERIES Lovecraft Country tackles the issues of racism, prejudice and privilege in a frightening yet mesmerizing manner.

The series, a takeoff on author Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name, follows World War II veteran and sci-fi fan Atticus “Tic” Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he returns home to Chicago during the Jim Crow 1950s to search for his missing father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams).

While the two don’t get along, Montrose writes Atticus about a mysterious place in New England where he believes that secrets about Tic’s ancestry lie.

Curious to learn more about his legacy, Tic decides to travel east along with his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) — also a sci-fi fan whose favorite book is Bram Stoker’s Dracula — and childhood friend Letitia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) in search of his father. Along the way, the three encounter racism at virtually every turn, from prejudiced gas station attendants to unnervingly racist cops.

Once they reach their destination, the three are then forced to battle horrifying supernatural elements that in retrospect seem less scary than the racist realities of their travel.

Lovecraft Country executive producers Misha Green (Underground), J.J. Abrams (Westworld, Lost) and Jordan Peele (Get Out) unleash a flurry of ghosts, vampires, haunted houses, witches and magical spells to scare and terrify viewers throughout the series as it weaves different storylines together revolving around the protagonists, as well as supporting characters including Letitia’s sister Ruby (Wunmi Mosaku) and Uncle George’s wife Hippolyta (Aunjanue Ellis).

More succinctly, the producers also reflect on the real-life historical horrors of segregation and racial prejudice with its showcasing of sundown town lynchings and cross burnings that are just as terrifying as Lovecraft Country’s fantasy world.

The 10-part Lovecraft Country is oftentimes frightening and disturbing, but is overall a fascinating series worthy of viewers’ time and attention. — RTU

TECH

Smart TVs Move Toward Platform Supremacy Penetration reaches 54% in U.S., vs. 42% for HDMI-connected devices

By Daniel Frankel daniel.frankel@futurenet.com @dannyfrankel

S

mart TVs are becoming more popular than streaming boxes, sticks and dongles as the primary means for enjoying connected TV in the American home.

Smart TV adoption is up to 54% in the U.S., according to Parks Associates, vs. 47% a year ago. Meanwhile, U.S. adoption of HDMI-connected streaming devices from brands like Roku, Amazon and Apple has only reached around 42%.

According to Consumer Technology Association predictive data, the gap will get wider: Consumers are forecast to buy 35 million smart TVs this year, compared to 22 million streaming devices.

The emergence of Asian smart TV manufacturers as drivers of the global connected TV market has major implications for the media technology business. It comes as the biggest streaming platform operators, Roku and Amazon, have evolved to no longer be neutral platforms. They now compete against third-party streaming services that have traditionally programmed their platforms.

Within the last 90 days, two new, big

media-backed streaming services, HBO Max and Peacock, have launched without support on Roku or Amazon Fire TV largely due to this negotiating tension. Together, Roku and Amazon control two-thirds of the U.S. connected TV market, but the quickening emergence of smart TV manufacturers threatens that dominance.

Korea’s Samsung, which integrates its own streaming OS into its smart TVs, was the U.S. market-share leader. But China’s TCL, which began selling feature-rich smart TVs at a significantly lower price only a couple of years ago, usurped Samsung in

TCL

SPECTRUM MOBILE BOWS 30-GB ‘UNLIMITED PLUS’ PLAN CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS’ Spectrum Mobile unit has created a new service tier, Unlimited Plus, that allows 30 gigabytes of usage before users are throttled at speeds of 600 kilobits per second.

The plan, which runs $55 a month plus taxes and fees, and includes both 4G and 5G network access, also enables HD-quality video. Spectrum Mobile’s $45-a-month incumbent “unlimited” services only delivers 5G data usage before throttling, with video quality at a standard-definition level of 480p.

16 Multichannel.com

Like Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile, Spectrum Mobile uses Verizon’s national wireless network as part of a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement. Spectrum Mobile grew by an impressive 325,000 subscribers in the second quarter and now has 1.69 million wireless subscribers. The Q2 growth was faster than that of either of the other U.S. cable

Roku-enabled TCL smart TVs have quickly grabbed market share since their 2014 introduction.

2019 as the leading shipper of smart TVs to the U.S. market, according to IHS Markit.

TCL’s U.S. market share went from just 1% in 2017 to 27% last year. Its fast rise mirrors the proliferation of Roku, whose operating system TCL has used to power its smart TVs since 2014. On Wednesday, during its Q2 earnings call, Roku revealed that it reached 43 million active users in the second quarter, up 41% over the last year.

Indeed, one in three smart TVs sold in the U.S. is powered by Roku. But TCL is the catalyst.

In May, TCL threatened to upend Roku’s growth momentum, announcing a separate OS partnership with Google to begin selling smart TV’s powered by Android TV. Since Google is known for sacrificing short-term revenue for long-term adoption goals, this partnership threatens to undercut Roku.

Roku’s dominance seems safe for now, with TCL also just announcing an expansion of its partnership to begin selling Roku-enabled smart TVs in Europe and South America this year.

But TCL is clearly driving Roku’s growth.

And even more smart TV competition is on the horizon. For example, TiVo’s new parent company, Xperi, just announced that it plans to have smart-TV makers deploy new sets based on its TiVo Stream 4K platform as soon as late 2021. ●

companies with a mobile product — Comcast (with 126,000 mobile customer additions) or Altice USA (which gained 34,000 subscribers).

Charter is now advertising Spectrum Mobile as the “fastest-growing” U.S. wireless service.

For its part, Comcast’s unlimited wireless plan allows for 20 GB of usage before speeds are slowed. Xfinity Mobile users can pay $20 a month for 720p streaming via an add-on called HD Pass.

Charter’s press release didn’t define what it means by “HDquality” video. Technically, 720p meets the bar. And since Comcast and Charter are joined at the hip in terms of how

they execute their respective mobile businesses, even sharing technical and business information, it seems likely that 720p is what Unlimited Plus is offering.

Charter is billing Unlimited Plus as a “third option” for wireless customers, joining standard unlimited and the company’s $14-per-GB “by the gig” plan.

“With Unlimited Plus, Spectrum Mobile customers now have three simple and easy-to-understand data plans to choose from to fit their needs and budget, with no taxes and fees,” Charter chief mobile officer Danny Bowman said. “As our new top-tier data plan option, Unlimited Plus combined with Spectrum Mobile’s fastest overall speeds is the ideal choice for those customers who watch HD-quality video on the go.” — DF

POLICY

5G Spectrum on the Way Via C-Band Auction FCC maps out the airwaves sale to let winners get contiguous blocks

By Gary Arlen garyarlen@gmail.com @GaryArlen

T

he 280 megahertz of midband spectrum which is intended for 5G and other advanced services has been fully approved to go to auction starting Tuesday, Dec. 8, under a plan that the Federal Communications Commission adopted on Aug. 6. The controversial auction of the 3.7 to 3.98 GHz midband frequencies is expected to generate 5,684 new flexible-use overlay licenses and about $10 billion in payments to spectrum holders.

The new plan envisions procedures to ensure that auction winners receive contiguous spectrum blocks that will enable wide channel bandwidths to support 5G deployment. In the FCC’s partisan 3-2 decision, Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Sparks dissented from the process by which the auction plan was implemented.

Chairman Ajit Pai acknowledged the dissent. “That’s why we rejected politicallymotivated calls to do literally nothing until Congress passed a law on the subject,” Pai said, noting that Congress has not addressed the issue in the six months since the FCC made plans for the midband auction.

In her partial dissenting statement, Rosenworcel acknowledged that the midband ruling “may prove to be one of the more consequential auctions in this agency’s history” because the spectrum is “uniquely suited for next-generation 5G service.” But she cautioned that this was the first time that the FCC alone determined the value of spectrum, rather than letting “an efficient and effective market” set the price.

“Instead, bids in this auction will be distorted by a nearly $10 billion payment to incumbent satellite operators that was negotiated outside the light of day,” Rosenworcel said. “That means the public foots this $10 billion bill without the traditional tools of accountability that our auctions have relied on in the past.”

“We should have worked with Congress on a more transparent path,” she said.

Some Saw Rushed Process

Bidding in Auction 107 (as the C-band auction is designated) will begin on Dec. 8.

There will be two clock-phase categories of certain parts of Partial Economic Areas (PEAs) s that are scheduled for the first early clearing deadline in December 2021. The rules also specify upfront payment and minimum opening bid amounts as well as bidding credit caps for rural service providers and small businesses.

“Midband already is providing hundreds of megabits of 5G mobile performance in markets across the country,” commissioner Brendan Carr said, citing the spectrum’s value in new telehealth, remote learning and work-from-home activities. “We can be sure that this midband capacity will help us meet” further demands.

The FCC set the rules for the C-band auction at its Aug. 6 virtual meeting.

ACA Connects president and CEO Matthew Polka, whose group represents smaller, independent MSOs, criticized “the rush to get things done” during which the FCC’s Wireless Bureau “wholly discarded the directions of the commission.

“The bureau could have taken another couple of months to get the lump sum amount right without compromising the C-band auction schedule or the accelerated transition deadlines,” Polka said. He said that “hundreds of MVPDs who were relying on the text of the FCC’s order will now be forced to abandon their shovel-ready plans to deploy and use fiber as a satellite replacement.”

Meredith Attwell Baker, president and CEO of CTIA, the wireless industry association, called the decision an “important milestone [toward] American leadership in 5G.” “Keeping the C-band auction on schedule is critical to making sure we have the midband spectrum we need,” she said, adding that CTIA looks forward “to a successful auction … to bring more midband spectrum to market.” ●

FCC; Andre M/Wikimedia Commons

CALIFORNIA’S NET NEUTRALITY LAW CHALLENGED AGAIN

18

CALIFORNIA’S NET NEUTRALITY law should be blocked because federal law pre-empts the state statute, the U.S. Justice Department argued in asking a federal judge to overturn a state law reviving many tenets of the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order.

ACA Connects and other ISP organizations filed similar motions to put a hold on California enforcement of state law SB 822, the California Internet Consumer Protection and Net Neutrality Act, which they say conflicts with the 2018 Restoring Internet Freedom Order, the benchmark rule of the early Ajit Pai FCC. The government is seeking a preliminary injunction to block California from being able to enforce its law. In 2018, California agreed not to enforce its own state net neutrality law until a final court decision on the FCC repeal.

The Justice Department did not reply to a MultiMultichannel.com

channel News request about the timing of the Aug. 5 court challenge.

The California attorney general's office said it is reviewing the Justice Department's filing "and look[s] forward to defending California’s state net neutrality protections," according to a Reuters report. Large tech companies and consumer groups have embraced the California law. The court schedule may mean there will be no decision on the Justice Department request until October.

Meanwhile, Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan has agreed to hold off net neutrality litigation in that state pending a decision in the California case, according to ACA Connects. The association and other organizations entered a stipulation last week to stay enforcement of the Vermont law pending further discussions between the groups and Vermont officials. — GA

The Justice Department says federal statutes pre-empt the net neutrality law passed in California’s capitol.

BUSINESS

Operators Put Their Foot(print) Down Top cable companies quietly expand their broadband territory, ensuring growth for the foreseeable future

By Mike Farrell michael.farrell@futurenet.com @MikeFCable

C

able operators, cognizant that the broadband wave the industry has been riding for more than a decade could eventually come to a halt, have quietly been building out their service footprints, expanding the pool of potential high-speed internet customers and ensuring a lengthy growth runway for their most profitable service.

In the second quarter, both Charter Communications and Comcast reported record broadband subscriber growth despite the ongoing pandemic. Charter led the way with the addition of 850,000 broadband customers (588,000, when certain COVID-19 related programs are excluded). Comcast added 323,000 subscribers for its best Q2 growth in 13 years. Even with the COVID-19 programs excluded — mainly the Federal Communications Commission’s Keep Americans Connected Pledge and Charter’s own Remote Education Offer — broadband growth was an all-time high for Charter.

While the popularity of the broadband product could be due to Americans being confined to their homes for most of the day as the pandemic rages on, both Charter and Comcast believe that there is ample runway ahead for the service. And they aren’t the only ones.

Charter Gets Aggressive

Charter has been most aggressive at expanding its broadband homes passed over the past few years, growing that footprint by 2.1% in Q2, according to MoffettNathanson principal and senior media analyst Craig Moffett. Others are doing the same.

Altice USA, which added a record 53,000 broadband customers in Q2, and Charter will both participate in the upcoming Rural Digital Opportunities Fund auctions, which provide funding for expansion into rural markets.

Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei told analysts during its earnings conference call on July 30 that penetration rates can be as high as 40% once it enters a new area with broadband.

“On average, we reach about 40% penetration within 12 months of a new build, a remarkable result that gives us a lot of optimism and comfort in our strategy,” Goei 20

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PASSING THROUGH Charter, Comcast and Altice USA have steadily increased their estimated homes passed in the past few years, opening up the pool of potential broadband customers.

Q217

Q218

Q219

Q220

CHARTER

49.6

50.3

51.6

52.7

COMCAST

56

57

58

59

ALTICE USA

8.6

8.7

8.75

8.8

(in millions)

SOURCE: Individual companies

GROWTH CURVE Residential broadband subscriber growth rates have picked up as operators have bolstered their broader service footprints.

Q217

Q218

Q219

Q220

CHARTER

6.6%

5.2%

5.4%

7.2%*

COMCAST

5.5%

4.8%

4.9%

5.8%

ALTICE USA

2.4%

1.9%

2.1%

3.4%

* Excluding COVID-19-related programs | SOURCE: Company reports, MoffettNathanson estimates, analysis

said. He added that in 2019, Altice USA’s Suddenlink unit, which serves rural and secondary markets in the Midwest and Southwest, accelerated network edge-outs with 130,000 new build homes.

Goei said Altice’s footprint expansion plans go beyond just edge-outs, as the company completed the purchase of Service Electric Cable TV of New Jersey in July and continues to look for new purchase opportunities.

Comcast is sitting out this round of the auction, but on its Q2 conference call with analysts July 30, Comcast Cable president and CEO Dave Watson said the MSO has added more than 2 million passings to its footprint, through edge-outs and other extensions.

“We continue to pursue the edge expansion to new areas,” Watson said.

In a research note, Cowen media analyst Gregory Williams was encouraged by Comcast’s Q2 broadband gains, adding that the company was optimistic that momentum would follow into the third quarter.

“To that end, with just ~50% market penetration, we are bullish on the runway for telco share-stealing and some market expansion,” Williams wrote.

Comcast also has expanded through acquisition. In July, it purchased tiny Southern Vermont Cable Co. with about 2,450 subscribers in several towns in that part of the state, including Putney and Dover, for an undisclosed sum.

Expanding the footprint also appears to be paying off. Charter, according to its financial statements, has grown estimated passings to 52.7 million in Q2 2020 from 51.6 million in Q2 2019. Total customer relationship penetration in those passings rose to 57.8% in Q2 2020 from 55.5% in Q2 2019.

At Comcast, total homes passed exceeded 59 million in Q2, up from more than 58 million in the prior year. Altice USA increased its footprint to 8.8 million homes in Q2, up from 8.75 million in the same period in 2019.

“By expanding their footprint into unserved and underserved markets, they are dramatically de-risking future broadband subscriber growth,” Moffett noted, pointing to Altice USA’s claim of 40% penetration in those new lines in the first year.

“In most DCF (discounted cash flow) models of broadband expansion, 40% penetration is (conservatively) used as a terminal penetration rate,” Moffett continued. “With low competition (if it is hard to cost justify a first broadband line, it is impossible to cost justify a second) and intense pent-up demand, terminal penetration rates of 80% are not unreasonable.”

Broadband Driving Revenue

Broadband subscribers first surpassed video customers about five years ago. But in the second quarter, Charter’s broadband revenue began to outpace video sales for the first time.

That was largely fueled by the acceleration of single-play broadband service and the decline of double- and triple-play buys. In Q2, for example, Charter’s single-play customers grew 3.7% to 12.55 million, while its doubleplay subscribers grew 4.2% to 9 million and its triple-play customers fell 1% to 6.9 million.

The trend was even more dramatic at Comcast, which saw single-product customers rise 5% to 11.3 million, twoproduct subscribers fall 1.2% to 8.7 million and three or more product customers dip 2% to 9.7 million.

On Charter’s Q2 earnings call, chief financial officer Christopher Winfrey noted that while footprint expansion didn’t have a huge impact on the quarter, it is more of a long-term play.

“It’s not a material driver to our overall net adds inside of the quarter, and it hasn’t been — but as it builds up over time, it’s obviously a cumulative effect as you start to penetrate those vintages of construction,” Winfrey said. “[I]f you do enough of it over a prolonged period of time, it snowballs.” ●

FATES & FORTUNES

People Notable executives on the move BRIEFLY NOTED Other industry execs making moves

22

A+E NETWORKS

BLOCKGRAPH

CHARTER

CHARTER

A+E Networks elevated Sara Hinzman to senior VP, distribution and strategy. She was VP, content distribution, leading a team selling A&E, History and Lifetime products in the U.S. and Canada.

New York-based advertising technology firm Blockgraph has added Aleck Schleider as chief revenue officer, a new post. He comes he had been senior VP of client and data strategy at Amobee.

Pattie Eliason has been promoted to senior VP, Spectrum Stores and Retail, at Charter Communications.

She joined Charter in 2016 from Cablevision Systems, where she was group VP of marketing.

Charter Communications advanced Sharon Peters to senior VP, marketing, overseeing go-to-market sales and marketing strategy. She has served as Charter’s group VP of marketing since 2016.

COX

COX

HORIZON

FIRSTLIGHT

Cox Communications has elevated Keith Holmes to executive VP of Cox Business, its commercial services division. He had been the cable operator’s senior VP of residential sales.

Cox Enterprises in Atlanta has named Steve Rowley as president, Cox Automotive in Atlanta. He had been executive VP of Cox Business, Cox Communications’s commercial-services division.

Columbus, Ohio-based Horizon has named James Capuano as CEO. The 30-year telecommunications industry veteran had been chief operating officer of FirstLight Fiber.

Doug Derstine has joined Albany, New York-based FirstLight Fiber as chief operating officer. The 25-year telcom vet most recently served as chief operating officer at IMS Technologies.

REALNETWORKS

SIGNALWIRE

WARNERMEDIA

WARNERMEDIA

Mike Ensing has joined RealNetworks as president and chief operating officer.

He had served as the company’s interim chief financial officer and strategic adviser since January.

SignalWire has hired Ezra Hookano as VP, global channels and business development. He has worked for such startups as Barracuda Networks, Drobo, Fusion-IO, and Exablox.

Noelle Huynh has joined WarnerMedia Entertainment as VP of research, HBO Max. She comes from Facebook Marketing Research and has served as director, research strategy and insights at Hulu.

Liz Lundy was tapped as VP, content research at Warner­ Media Entertainment. She had focused on content & consumer research for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Netflix.

Multichannel.com

Wonya Lucas was named president and CEO of Hallmark Channel parent Crown Media Family Networks. The veteran cable executive was most recently president and CEO of Public Broadcasting Atlanta. … Preschool digital platform Hopster has named Miki Chojnacka and Tyrell Ellis as co-CEOs. Chojnacka has been chief creative & content officer; Ellis had been serving as chief financial officer since May 2020. … FirstLight also elevated Maura Mahoney to chief marketing officer and Todd Warmingham to chief construction officer. … Omnicom Group has elevated Adrian Sapollnik to executive VP, strategy and corporate development. He was senior VP, finance and corporate development. … WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone has elected Gunjan Bhow to its board of directors. Bhow is global chief digital officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance. … IPG Mediabrands-owned global agency network UM has tapped Arielle Garcia as its first chief privacy officer.

She had been VP of business operations and compliance for the ExxonMobil and Accenture accounts.

DATA MINE

Data provided by

Ad Meter Who’s spending what where

PROMO MOJO Our exclusive weekly ranking of the programming that networks are promoting most heavily (Aug. 3-9)

BIG SPENDERS

MOST-SEEN TV ADS

Brands ranked by the greatest increase in TV spend (Aug. 3-9)

Brands ranked

by TV ad impressions (Aug. 3-9)

1 Chick-fil-A Spend Increase:

1

GEICO ▲ 216%

$5M

Est. TV Spend: Spend Within Industry: Top Network:

8% NBC

2

Est. TV Spend: Spend Within Industry:

▲ 170%

$2.8M 17%

3

Spend Within Industry:

Shark Week, Discovery Channel

TOP 5 PROMOTIONS

TV Ad Impressions: 552,828,809

1. Shark Week, Discovery Channel

Total TV ad impressions within all U.S. households, including national linear (live and time-shifted), VOD plus OTT and local

Est. Media Value: $2,798,092

Discovery

Estimated media value of in-network promos With 552.8 million TV ad impressions, a Discovery promo for Shark Week is No. 1. The network also takes second place for a show-specific promo for Tyson vs. Jaws. Once again, cable dominates the rankings, with promos for HGTV’s Christina on the Coast, Reelz’s Autopsy and MTV’s Catfish. Notably, the Autopsy spot has the week’s highest iSpot Attention Score (95.85), meaning viewers were on average more likely to watch it all the way through (vs. interrupting it by changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fastforwarding or turning off the TV).

24

Multichannel.com

TV Ad Impressions Est. Media Value

552,828,809 $2,798,092

2. Tyson vs. Jaws, Discovery Channel TV Ad Impressions Est. Media Value

357,204,649 $677,171

3. Christina on the Coast, HGTV TV Ad Impressions Est. Media Value

272,266,878 $1,504,490

4. Autopsy, Reelz Channel TV Ad Impressions Est. Media Value

5. Catfish, MTV

TV Ad Impressions Est. Media Value

254,092,028 $104,540

Top Network:

Spend Within Industry:

5% NBC

92.35

Attention Score:

NBC Nightly News

TV Ad Impressions:

94.63

Attention Score: Top Show:

1.27B $14.2M

Est. TV Spend:

Ridiculousness

T-Mobile ▲ 149%

$3.4M 60%

5

TV Ad Impressions:

$18.4M

Est. TV Spend:

91.18

Attention Score: Top Show:

1.13B

NBA Basketball

5

McDonald’s

Olay Spend Increase:

$10.1M

Est. TV Spend: Top Show:

1.4B

4

Top Network: History en Español

Est. TV Spend: 206,816,340 $1,825,637

$3.4M

GoodRx Est. TV Spend:

TV Ad Impressions:

Amazon ▲ 151%

4

Spend Increase:

PGA Championship

3

Dunkin' Est. TV Spend:

90.44

Attention Score:

Liberty Mutual

Top Network: Discovery en Español

Spend Increase:

$23.2M

Est. TV Spend: Top Show:

1.53B

2

Ritz Crackers Spend Increase:

TV Ad Impressions:

▲ 137%

$3.4M

TV Ad Impressions:

1.07B

Est. TV Spend:

$10M 87.53

Spend Within Industry:

17%

Attention Score:

Top Network:

ABC

Top Show:

Chicago P.D.

DATA MINE

ADOBE: STREAMING VIDEO USE BACK TO EARLY PANDEMIC LEVELS IN JULY ADOBE, SURVEYING 1,043 U.S. consumers from July 14-17, found that streaming video usage had returned to the extraordinarily high levels of the early pandemic after dipping in the spring.

Although video starts were still down 2% year over year, time spent watching streaming video was up 28%.

This compares to a 32% spike in March and a 30% increase

35%

in April. Usage had leveled off by June, during which streaming time was only up about 3%.

The decreased starts vs. increase in viewing time in July indicates “less content surfing and less net new viewers,” Adobe said in its latest Streaming Video Report. — Daniel Frankel For more stories like this, go to nexttv.com.

VIDEO START AND TIME YOY GROWTH | (U.S.)

32%

30% 28%

MCN’S MOST VIEWED

25%

Top stories on multichannel.com, Aug. 4-12

15%

1. Fox News Opens August on Top of Ratings Charts 2. FCC Updates Wireless Broadband Speed Test 3. Fox News Grabs July Cable Ratings Crown

Video Starts Video Time

18% 16%

15%

5%

7% 3%

0.0

4. Biden’s FCC: Take a Number 5. DOD Agrees to Share Midband Spectrum for Commercial 5G

-2% 5%

To read these stories, go to multichannel.com.

-11% 15%

March

April

May

SOURCE: Adobe Analytics

June

July

STICKIEST SHOWS Top 10 cable programs ranked by viewer engagement Ratings Rank

Telecast (Week Ending June 14)

Network

Stickiness Index*

1

23

90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?

TLC

157

2

58

Romance in the Air

Hallmark

143

3

37

90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way

TLC

139

4

130

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Bravo

135

5

194

Sleeping with Danger

Lifetime

132

6

790

La Rosa de Guadalupe

Galavisión

131

7

169

A Murder to Remember

Lifetime

130

8

227

The Real Housewives of New York City

Bravo

129

9

91

WWE Monday Night Raw

USA Network

129

10

125

Below Deck Mediterranean

Bravo

128

Stickiness Rank

A Murder to Remember: Lifetime; Fox News

*

The Stickiness Index looks at viewer engagement based on several factors. A higher number indicates more of the audience is tuned in for the duration of the telecast. * TV Engagement ratings powered by Comscore’s TV Essentials. (Sorted by social media activity.)

Multichannel.com

25

DATA MINE

Data provided by

STICKIEST SHOWS Top 10 broadcast programs ranked by viewer engagement

*

Ratings Rank

Telecast (Week of Aug. 2)

Network

Stickiness Index*

1

66

Te Doy La Vida

Univision

157

2

99

Cennet

Telemundo

141

3

75

Como Tú No Hay 2

Univision

140

4

74

¿Quién Es La Máscara?

Univision

138

5

81

Médicos, Línea de Vida

Univision

135

6

101

Exatlón Estados Unidos

Telemundo

131

7

3

NCIS

CBS

126

8

8

FBI

CBS

126

9

1

60 Minutes

CBS

125

10

12

Chicago Fire

NBC

124

Stickiness Rank

The Stickiness Index looks at viewer engagement based on several factors. A higher number indicates more of the audience is tuned in for the duration of the telecast. * TV Engagement ratings powered by Comscore’s TV Essentials. (Sorted by social media activity.)

THE WEEK OF JULY 20 TV Time users track the shows they're watching on TV via the TV Time app.

That data is then used to determine the most-binged shows of the week in the U.S.

1

The Umbrella Academy

Share of binges: 9.29%

2

Shameless

Share of binges: 1.23%

3

Grey's Anatomy

Share of binges: 1.07%

4

Schitt's Creek

Share of binges: 0.94%

5

The Big Bang Theory

Share of binges: 0.83%

6

The Office

Share of binges: 0.83%

7

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Share of binges: 0.76%

1. Charter’s Spectrum Mobile Debuts ‘Unlimited’ Plan with 30GB of ‘HD-Quality’ Streaming

Share of binges: 0.72%

2. Pay TV Losses Accelerate as Broadband Tops Forecasts

LAST WEEK:

LAST WEEK:

LAST WEEK:

LAST WEEK: 3

LAST WEEK: —

LAST WEEK: 7

LAST WEEK: 4

8

Chicargo Fire: NBC; Spectrum Mobile: Charter

LAST WEEK:

9

LAST WEEK: 9

10

LAST WEEK:

The Seven Deadly Sins New Girl Supernatural

Networks reflected don't include every viewing platform available nor total viewing in share of binge

26 Multichannel.com

NEXT TV’S MOST VIEWED Top stories on nexttv.com, Aug. 4-12

Share of binges: 0.70% Share of binges: 0.65%

To receive "The Binge Report" and otherTV Time reports, visit https://www.whipmedia.com/subscribe/

3. Telegdy Leaves as NBCU Announces Reorganization 4. Dish and DirecTV Merger ‘Inevitable,’ Ergen Says 5. WarnerMedia Restructures Under Kilar; Greenblatt and Reilly Out To read these stories, go to nexttv.com.

DATA MINE

Ratings America’s favorite TV networks TODAY.YOUGOV.COM

1

Discovery Channel

76%

6

The Weather Channel

68%

2

National Geographic Channel

75%

7

AMC

63%

3

History

72%

8

A&E

63%

4

Animal Planet

70%

9

Food Network

63%

5

PBS

68%

10

Nat Geo Wild

60%

Methodology: Based on an average sample size of 5,103 US adults who had a positive rating of these networks between May 2019-May 2020

Multichannel.com

27

VIEWPOINT

By Amy Rumpler, Centro @Centro

Imagining a U.S.-Based TikTok Social media platform has much potential for would-be buyers

L

ooks like 2020 has struck again — this time causing turmoil in TikTok. The popular mobile app is getting banned in the United States (technically, a new presidential executive order prohibits U.S. citizens from doing business with it over security concerns, after a 45-day window expires). In essence — for TikTok to continue existing in the U.S., it will need a new owner.

Last week, Microsoft emerged as a rumored acquirer. And over the weekend, Twitter reportedly threw its hat in the ring, expressing interest in a merger.

While the app's fate will be determined over time, a lot could change over the coming months.

First, there’s no denying the value in owning TikTok. It’s growing fast — and is just scratching the surface of its revenue potential through its self-serve ad machine. With the U.S. president attacking TikTok, the noise just makes the platform even more popular — especially to young audiences who may feel a sense of rebellion in using it.

That said, TikTok is now more mainstream than it is counterculture. It was already becoming a hub for information and organizing gen-Z activists and politicallyminded people. In its NewFronts presentation this year, TikTok highlighted its community that’s leveraging the app to organize around social injustice, the pandemic and many other issues. Those users will be fighting for the app to stay alive and stay true to what it is today no matter who owns it.

Getty Images

Advertiser Benefits

If Microsoft acquires TikTok, the draw for advertisers is how it could leverage user data to tweak features on other properties to appeal to a broader audience. For example, having an integration with Xbox opens possibilities such as a user being served TikTok videos of people playing the new Halo

28 Multichannel.com

But I’m assuming way too much, and both of these billion-dollar deals can easily collapse. Although TikTok reassures users and advertisers that it plans to stick around for years to come, what happens if the deal falls through and the app gets shut down. Will its users go to Instagram, Snapchat or YouTube? Or somewhere else entirely?, This year, a lot of user growth on TikTok has come from more mature generations. As with Snapchat when it was first coming up, for TikTok to maintain a stronghold, it has to also attract the 24-to-35-year-old crowd (not just 13-to-17-year-olds). But with Facebook launching a competitive feature called Reels, and those mature TikTok users likely already spending time on Instagram/Facebook, it’s plausible that’s where they’ll turn. TikTok, if banned, has already done Facebook’s job of orienting young adults to this style of short-form video consumption.

Of course, there are other established alternatives such as YouTube, and many smaller new apps that are attempting to lure popular TikTok content creators. Although TikTok is pushing back by supporting influencers with large followers through its Creative Fund, some creators are already promoting the alternatives.

Building a Base Takes Time

release, and then being able to immediately download/play herself. Then she can share clips back to her own TikTok audience. And it would be easy for people to make TikToks of themselves doing Fortnite dances and share those with friends. That alone makes gaming and content creation very powerful. But seamless integration is a monumental task especially in the middle of a pandemic that has stunted the economy.

Twitter may be an even greater long shot.

Although it could face less scrutiny through the acquisition, pulling together the capital to outbid Microsoft within the 45-day deadline will be a hurdle.

Amy Rumpler is VP of paid social at Centro, a provider of advertising technology to unify programmatic and direct media buying with workflow automation.

But it will be a while until they match TikTok’s user base, and even longer before they can compete with the likes of Facebook.

If the audience isn’t there, there simply isn’t an incentive for marketers to pay attention.

And it would be foolish to bet that TikTok’s users will organically follow their favorite influencer to a new platform as opposed to turning to something that’s more familiar.

Not even TikTok was able to accomplish that — it initially won its U.S.-based users through the 2018 acquisition of Music.ly, and grew that through aggressive ad spend (which has paced as high as $3 million per day).

And TikTok is reportedly challenging the presidential order in a California court. That could pause all of this activity before it gets started.

TikTok’s business operations could look radically different by the end of the year.

What won’t change is how it generates value through the mobilization of data from its massive audience. Keeping up that scale amid its corporate changes (whether it is losing operations in the U.S. because of a ban, or maintaining its status through a sale) is the key for its continuation. It’s what makes the app’s video recommendations interesting, and what keeps users, creators and advertisers coming back. ●

VIEWPOINT

By Jed Corenthal, Phenix @phenixrts

To Make Wagering Work, Bet on Better Streaming How speedy video delivery can help sports betting live up to its potential

S

ports betting has been on a fast track to mass adoption across the United States ever since the Supreme Court’s monumental 2018 ruling in Murphy v. NCAA. As soon as 2022, it is projected that 32 states could offer legal sports betting and with it, generate almost $6 billion in revenue.

Even with the pandemic bringing traditional sports to a grinding halt earlier this year, betting didn’t stop. Rather, esports stepped in to fill the void.

Esports betting has ballooned since the onset of the pandemic. The sector alone is expected to reach $14 billion in gambling revenue this year; European bookmakers have already seen a 40 times increase. With traditional sports such as baseball, basketball and soccer playing again, the sports betting industry has massive opportunity ahead.

In order to capitalize on this interest, industry players must reconsider the importance of the technology that powers their streaming in order to drive betting handle, and thus bottom-line revenue.

Today’s platforms are riddled with delays which leaves all parties susceptible to leaving money on the table. To solve this problem and successfully progress to the full potential of sports betting and “micro-wagering” — betting on every pitch in a baseball game, every down in a football game and so on — streaming technology must change and become a priority.

Next-Level Gamification

The opportunity to amplify the fan viewing experience has increased tenfold this year, since watching live sports in person is off the table for now. Broadcasters and sports leagues alike have the chance to create a more engaging and interactive virtual viewing experience — bringing the stadium experience into living rooms and mobile devices across the country.

These gamification elements can come from features such as Q&As, trivia games or even a chance to purchase merchandise from a team.

But one of the largest categories is certainly sports betting. If leagues can provide the 30 Multichannel.com

opportunity to bet within a game on every play without leaving the live stream, revenue opportunities will skyrocket. Bringing true in-game micro-wagering to viewers allows them to place bets not just on an entire golf tournament for, example, but on whether or not Tiger Woods will make this putt.

The PGA Tour recently announced an expanded relationship with DraftKings to include betting integration in golf events designed to drive fan engagement. The true test for these kinds of gamification features, however, is whether or not streaming services will find the sweet spot to ensure they can minimize delays and support a simultaneous influx of online viewers. Lackluster streams will not cut it for viewers who are looking forward to placing their bets and engaging with others while streaming an event.

The age of cord-cutting has led to an increased number of fans tuning in via live streams. Yet, these viewers have become accustomed to seeing a tweet or push notification about the winning touchdown before it happens on their screen. While this may lead to dissatisfaction for some fans, it can be downright devastating for bettors.

In order to incorporate successful in-play or micro-wagering betting operators must work hand-in-hand with streaming platforms to provide a synchronized, real-time stream with no delays. Accomplishing this is easier said than done. During this year’s Super Bowl, fans streaming the game experienced delays of anywhere from 45 to 55 seconds, rendering many betting opportunities moot.

Jed Corenthal is chief marketing officer at Phenix, a Chicagobased streaming technology company.

If platforms can optimize micro-wagering via a proper real-time experience, the revenue opportunities in this new era of gambling are limitless.

The success of betting/platform integrations all circle back to the necessity of using technology that provides a real-time experience. At the end of the day, this technology will drive user engagement and have a substantial bottom-line impact.

Increasing Take With Tech

With today’s subpar streaming technology many sports leagues and betting operators are using, hundreds of millions of dollars in total wagering is being left on the table. When most “live” streams are riddled with delays, operators are forced to cut potential betting windows short, thus, less time for users to engage with the content and less time to generate revenue for all parties involved. In addition, real-time streaming removes the possibility for fraud or courtsiding because the streams are coming in too fast.

Right now, fans are able to bet on the outcome of games, and maybe on specific outcomes of quarters, halves or innings, but true micro-wagering is not possible. This kind of instantaneous action is even more important in fast-paced events such as esports. For example, no fan is going to be comfortable placing a bet on the outcome of a FIFA livestream if their stream is 20 or even sometimes 60 seconds behind a fan elsewhere. The popularity of legalized sports betting across the country is the meta-level of a real-time streaming requirement, with tangible consumer dollars on the line.

The “old normal” of live sports doesn’t look like it will be back for a while, as in-person viewing is not going to be plausible for the foreseeable future. Even if games start allowing fans, many viewers will be tuning in from the comfort of their own home rather than an arena. Ultimately, all parties involved must take a hard look at the technology being used and consider how it’s holding the betting and sports streaming industries back from maximum success.

If streaming platforms can provide a synchronized real-time stream to masses of people, the potential of legalized sports betting in the U.S. could be realized. ●

THE FIVE SPOT

Robert Rose

Producer/Creator/Host, ‘Raw Travel’ Globetrotting entrepreneur preps season eight of ‘socially aware’ series

O

n Oct. 3, stations in 174 cities covering 95% of the U.S. will kick off the eighth season of Raw Travel, the syndicated adventure travel and lifestyle series created, produced by, starring, distributed — and pretty much everything else — by media entrepreneur Robert Rose.

The former Univision sales executive, along with his independent production and distribution company, AIM TV Group, have become fixtures in first-run weekend syndication over the last 20 years, first with culture/lifestyle series American Latino (2000-2009), before launching the show Rose says “showcases socially and environmentally aware, independent travel.”

Think of an affable, Gen X version of Anthony Bourdain, with the media-business hustle parts of Byron Allen thrown in, and you get Rose, 53.

When Multichannel News senior content producer, technology Daniel Frankel caught up to him in early August at his New York apartment, he was doing something not that unusual — packing up for a trip. Turns out he was only taking his second sojourn of the pandemic, to visit a friend in the Poconos.

Indeed, for the Tennessee native and veteran New Yorker, who now calls whatever hammock he’s commissioned “home,” these last few months of mandated quarantine have been particularly austere.

Fortunately, for these last five months, Rose has been able to sift through gobs of unaired footage from pre-lockdown sojourns

to destinations including Lithuania, Ukraine, Turkey, Colombia, Indonesia, Jamaica, Ethiopia and the Republic of Georgia to craft an eighth season of Raw Travel.

“Travelers miss traveling, and viewers need a dose of optimism, love, and hope,” he said.

“I’m so grateful that last year, I said ‘yes’ to so many travel opportunities.”

What was your favorite Raw Travel destination and why? It’s impossible to have one favorite, but my trip to visit the tribes of Southern Ethiopia and the amazing city of Istanbul, Turkey, last summer were mind-blowing and life-changing adventures.

I mention the remote tribes of Southern Ethiopia because I hung out with people still living like they have for centuries. I say Istanbul, because they were so warm and hospitable. I was super bummed at the time over a personal situation and travel, as usual, came to the rescue and put things in perspective for me.

What was your least favorite? Again, this is very tough to answer, but I’d say parts of Honduras are kind of “once is enough.”

And I’ll also mention Chernobyl, Ukraine. If you’ve seen one disastrous nuclear travesty, you’ve seen them all.

How has the show been able to move forward amid COVID-19? Luckily, I didn’t say no to any travel opportunities in 2018 or ’19. The result was a glut of content to edit.

Filming and traveling is the fun part, after all. Now, my choices are easy. Write scripts Robert Rose’s pre-lockdown sojourns are the fodder for season 8 of Raw Travel.

32 Multichannel.com

BONUS FIVE What shows are you binge-watching?

Thanks to COVID-19, I’m running out of shows! Like everyone else, I binged Tiger King and The Last Dance.

Also Netflix’s Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich and HBO’s Welcome to Chechnya and Draining the Swamp.

Which streaming services do you subscribe to? Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO and YouTube TV. What book(s) are you reading right now? The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins, Just Mercy

by Bryan Stevenson, Chasing the Light by Oliver Stone.

What’s your favorite podcast? I’ve been interviewed on a few, but haven’t gotten hooked on any yet.

How many times have you left the house this week? I live in a small NYC apartment, so I leave the house every day to work out, walk, run, etc. Right now, I’m in the Poconos, visiting a ‘safe’ friend’s family, but it’s the first time I’ve been anywhere outside of NYC in over two months … and only the second place I’ve been since March.

and edit that glut of content. It is all that we can do right now.

Do you think COVID-19 will permanently impact travel? Yes, and that’s not a bad thing necessarily. Traveling, whether internationally or domestically, was becoming unsustainable for many ‘over-touristed’ destinations, and the planet needs to heal. Hopefully, this will give us and the planet pause on how we move forward.

Why do you think Raw Travel has connected with its audience for so long? I was as shocked as anyone when it did, but I just went with my gut. I knew authentic travel was grossly under- and misrepresented on TV. I wanted to address that any way that I could. ●

9000