Fleet-management software has increased drivers' efficiency and safety, Verizon Connect says, citing the technology's role in reducing speeding and other forms of "harsh driving." The telecom's telematics arm conducted an analysis that concluded, among other findings, that deployment of connected vehicles curbed speeding by 71% in the first month.
Tennessee is spending $45 million over three years to expand broadband service, with about 5,000 rural homes and businesses to gain access by the end of this year, as the state seeks to help the approximately 800,000 residents who do not have service. Some telecoms and Tennesseans, however, say the state should invest more funds.
Federal regulators are considering lowering the fees the government pays telecoms for providing text-display phone services to customers with hearing impairments. The Federal Communications Commission believes users could be steered to less expensive remedies.
Panelists at TVNewsCheck's TV2020 covered the future of retransmission revenue and predicted that it will continue to grow rapidly in both the market and national scale. Many media groups, including Sinclair Broadcast Group, Nexstar Media Group and Tegna, are already expanding into the national broadcast market because of its lucrative potential.
Major stations -- including Fox, Univision and NBC -- have committed to launching Next Gen TV broadcast standards within two years. The announcement comes on the heels of the successful Phoenix Model Market pilot project, which includes both English- and Spanish-language broadcasters.
Scripps CEO Adam Symson is happy with the company's $150 million purchase of Triton, noting that the deal makes the company less dependent on advertising revenue.
CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said the ratings for NFL games -- which have been flat or up -- can be attributed to viewers needing the distraction from current divisiveness in the country and the subsiding of the national anthem controversy, which has been an issue for the league for the past two years. He also optimistically noted the strong ad sales for Super Bowl, which CBS will be broadcasting this year.
R.J. Curtis is taking the helm of Country Radio Broadcasters as the new executive director. Curtis has been in the radio industry for over 30 years.
Mobile advertising investment will account for 43% of all US ad spend by 2020, hitting $113.21 billion to TV's $69.52 billion, and will take a larger share than all traditional media combined, eMarketer predicts. "Even the strongholds of TV, such as live sports and news, are starting to move online, and people are consuming them on the go through mobile devices," says eMarketer's Martin Utreras.
Hulu CEO Randy Freer recently said that the service may offer smaller bundles of programming that would include news and sports while limiting cable content to on-demand shows. The move could let Hulu eliminate network carriage fees and attract customers looking for cost-friendly options.