There’s only so much room for all of the television and social media news in the week over here. Here are some good stories we should have covered, but didn’t. Don’t hold it against us.
1) In geeky tech news, the FCC wants local broadcasters to auction off their airwaves to make room for wireless carriers. The New York Times reports:
The F.C.C. effort to redistribute spectrum is expected to take an unprecedented form, with two auctions conducted simultaneously. The government will bid on airwaves from the broadcasters and, at the same time, sell those airwaves forward to wireless phone carriers. Although the auction date has yet to be set, the agency predicts it will take place in the first three months of 2016…The agency needs at least 200 stations, of about 2,100 eligible ones, from specific parts of the country to participate for the complex undertaking to succeed.
Advertisement
2) MediaPost reported on a Nielsen Study about how social media “augments” linear television reporting. You probably could have put money on these findings, but having some numbers to refer to is never a bad thing. Wayne Friedman writes:
Nielsen says nearly half of its global respondents, 49%, say they watch live video programming more if it has a social-media tie in. And 47% say they engage with social media while watching any video programming.
In Europe and Asia, less people watch television for social engagement, but in the U.S., 62% of respondents say they watch while browsing the Internet doing something else entirely, like reading Apple Watch reviews.
3) Verizon’s prepping its own SVOD service and signed a deal this week with ESPN and other sports networks. They plan on rolling out their OTT in late 2015, focusing on younger consumers. With the focus on college sports, it looks like they’re going for the bros. From Variety:
- ESPN: select live college football and college basketball games, plus documentaries from ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 series
- CBS Sports: dozens of live major college games;
- ACC Digital Network: live events, game highlights, previews, recaps, news and features from the official network of the Atlantic Coast Conference and its 15 member universities;
- Campus Insiders: hundreds of live events as well as game highlights from schools across the country; live studio and original programming; and classic games via partnerships with the ACC, Big 12, Mountain West, West Coast Conference, Patriot League and A-10; and
- 120 Sports: live and on-demand news, highlights and analysis aimed at sports fans who consume content primarily through mobile devices.
Image via The New York Times.