In late October, Amazon Prime Video will release Sacha Baron Cohen's sequel to the 2006 film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. The film, which has been kept under wraps, was reportedly rushed to be ready before the U.S. election in November.
Google has informed makers of apps residing in its Google Play Store that they'll no longer be able to circumvent its payment system in order to avoid the 30% revenue-sharing policy on in-app purchases. Currently, Netflix, Spotify and a number of other streaming companies re-direct aspiring users who download their app from Google Play to actually sign up for their service directly from their respective websites.
Several price cap carriers have indicated their intent to continue to receive Connect America Fund grants in the seventh year of the program, they told the Federal Communications Commission. CenturyLink, AT&T and Frontier Communications will receive a total of more than $1.2 billion combined in return for extending broadband service to rural areas in their local service territories.
Distributed-denial-of-service attacks are increasing in volume, while also becoming more powerful than before, Netscout warns in a threat intelligence report. During the first six months of this year, there were 4.83 million DDoS attacks, a 15% increase from the year before, the cybersecurity firm says, and the potency of the strongest attacks has grown 2,851% compared with 2017.
US wireline networks have fared exceptionally well during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from umlaut Telecommunication, a benchmarking and analysis firm which compared more than 200 million samples of crowdsourced data from before and after the outbreak. More than 90% of the samples met the standards for video chat and YouTube ultra HD transmission.
The Federal Communications Commission this week announced the termination of 1,990 proceedings considered dormant, including an investigation of digital radio's impact on broadcast and a request to suspend radio deregulation until music royalty fights were settled. The National Association of Broadcasters had previously urged the FCC to stay away from the royalty fight, arguing the issue was outside the agency's authority.
The 2020 Radio Show, kicking off on Oct. 5, will feature a series of technology-focused sessions on topics such as hybrid radio and all-digital broadcasting for AM. Other educational sessions and special events presented during five days will include a radio executive townhall, a keynote discussion with media mogul Byron Allen and the presentation of the NAB National Radio Award to Russell Perry.
Television journalists have been forced to increase their reliance on new technologies previously considered unsuitable for broadcast news as the pandemic forced them to gather information for stories remotely. Most major networks have embraced broadcast-quality internet protocol solutions to boost electronic newsgathering operations.
Tom Carter's role at Nexstar Media Group has expanded from that of chief financial officer to include the duties of president and chief operating officer as well, company leader Perry Sook announced this week. Carter joined Nexstar in 2009 and has renewed his contract until the start of 2024.
ESPN and its parent Walt Disney are ramping up efforts to demonstrate how they can attract "Monday Night Football" viewers as they vie to extend their National Football League contract, which expires in 2021. This week's coverage included an introduction by Marvel designers, featuring Samuel L. Jackson as a narrator and depicting players as superheroes.