The advertisement-free version of HBO Max is available at half its normal price until Sept. 26, with subscription discounts lasting six months, as the company tries to lure back customers after leaving Amazon Prime Channels. AT&T's Pascal Desroches said the company's target for 2021 took the 5 million lost subscriptions from the platform drop into account.

The Federal Communications Commission has approved 466 more broadband providers to start receiving Rural Digital Opportunity Fund money this month. The awards, spread over 120 months, come with a requirement that the winners have 40% of their sites in a state complete by the end of 2024 and 100% before 2027 ends.

WBZ NewsRadio in Boston is celebrating 100 years since it
went on the air. President Joe Biden congratulated the station on its anniversary and said radio news and journalism are vital to democracy.

Charlamagne tha God says that his new television show, "Tha God's Honest Truth with Lenard 'Charlamagne' McKelvey," could benefit from the way that Black people "are forced to know about a little bit of everything just to survive in this country." CBS' Stephen Colbert is one of the show's executive producers, as is "Boondocks" mastermind Aaron McGruder.

HBO and HBO Max took home a total of 19 Emmys, while Netflix was the biggest winner by far with 44. Disney+ won 14 awards, largely in the Creative Arts section, and NBC and VH1 got one each.

Facebook's Ray Ban Stories smart glasses, which have video, photo, telephone, audio and social media capabilities, may be the first step in a transition to the "metaverse." The social media company has announced that producing alternate reality wearable devices for consumers is its next step.

A Verizon unit and Massachusetts will provide low-income families with aid such as turnkey broadband connections and internet devices as part of a program to address the gap in connectivity. Verizon Public Sector is modeling the project, which is also taking place in eight nearby states and Washington, D.C., on the Distance Learning program the telecom launched during the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Very few Black, Latinx and Asian people won Emmy Awards for 2021, despite their presence as presenters and in custom programming. The ceremony itself paid tribute to Biz Markie, a rapper who passed away this year, while Cedric the Entertainer emceed and Run DMC provided music.

Executives at Graham Media Group's member stations report feeling free to experiment and fail as a learning experience, a quality that TVNewsCheck says helped make Graham its 2021 Station of the Year. The company is working with streaming content, newsletters for viewers and retooled approaches to advertising sales, all in an effort to keep up with the changing digital landscape, and focusing on improved diversity, equity and inclusion.

Broadcasters are increasingly using drones to monitor radio towers, signal coverage and other technical components of programming, with thermal imaging and other capabilities enhancing their reporting accuracy. Some forms of use require permission from the Federal Aviation Administration.