FCC spectrum auction: Winners and losers (Media Life Magazine)
Over recent weeks, as America’s attention turned to holiday gift shopping, TV station operators around the country have been cranking out paperwork for what could be a huge gift package to the entire TV industry: The long-anticipated FCC TV spectrum auction in which stations will be able to sell their broadcast spectrum.
The most-used medium by Millennials? Radio. (Media Life Magazine)
When you think of Millennials and media, the first thing that pops in your head is probably a smartphone. Then you may think of a tablet or a laptop. Or maybe one of those cool connected TV devices, such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick. You probably don’t think of radio when you think of these young people. But probably you should.
Apple Gets a Giant Taylor Swift Concert Exclusive (Recode)
Remember when Taylor Swift and Apple didn’t get along, and then they patched it up, and then everything was ok? Well things are even better now: Apple and Swift are syncing up for a multi-pronged deal that will give Apple exclusive rights to a Swift concert video that debuts on Sunday.
This 71-Year-Old Librarian Perfectly Describes What’s Wrong With Mobile Payments Today (Recode)
Despite all the action in mobile payments today, the industry is still a hot mess. There’s Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay. And there’s CurrentC, Chase Pay and now Walmart Pay. Most of these systems work in some stores, but not others. Apple Pay is built into iPhones, but only new ones.
For Pandora, Ruling on Webcasting Royalty Rates Is Crucial (NY Times)
An increase in the rates that webcasters, including Since it began 10 years ago, Pandora Media has become one of the most popular digital music services in the world, with around 80 million regular users. But it has never had a profitable year, its user growth has slowed and lately Wall Street has become impatient.
Human Traffic Overtakes Bots, But The Fight Isn’t Over (Media Post)
Security firm Imperva released its fourth Bot Traffic Report, finding that humans are now responsible for the majority (52%) of online traffic — good news for publishers. Still, bad bots, which pose a security threat to publishers, are probably not going anywhere.
Rubio Doubles Down on Repealing NSA Restrictions (Inside Sources)
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio amped his criticism Friday of the Obama administration’s support for restrictions to a major National Security Agency surveillance program, and joined with fellow Republicans to call for increasing the agency’s powers in the wake of recent deadly shootings in Paris and California inspired by the Islamic State.
Anonymous says it took down Trump Tower website (Network World)
The online activist group Anonymous said it took down the Trump Tower website on Friday after it warned presidential candidate Donald Trump about his statements on banning Muslims from entering the U.S. The site was unavailable during early afternoon, New York time.
INTERNET ACCESS TAX BAN (The Hill)
Hawaii, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin are expected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue when a permanent tax ban on Internet access closes off a loophole they have relied upon for more than a decade.
CLOSING THE BROADBAND ACCESS GAP IN AMERICAN CITIES (Brookings- Commentary)
The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program and the National League of Cities hosted an event at the titled “Broadband opportunity: boosting uptake in America’s cities and metropolitan areas”. The event featured a moderated conversation with Sen Cory Booker and a panel discussion with city officials from around the country.
FRONTIER TO PAY $150 MILLION TO WEST VIRGINIA TO SETTLE LAWSUIT OVER BROADBAND SPEED (Fierce Telecom)
Frontier Communications will have to invest at least $150 million over the next three years to increase broadband speeds in West Virginia as part of a settlement to lawsuit filed in 2014 by the state’s Attorney General Patrick Morrissey. The lawsuit accused Frontier of promising broadband speeds of up to 6 Mbps but only delivering 1.5.
T-Mobile Promises Verizon Customers A Year of Hulu for Switching (Variety)
T-Mobile is doubling down on video streaming as a competitive advantage: The mobile carrier is now promising to give Verizon customers a year’s worth of Hulu’s premium service if they switch their mobile plan over to T-Mobile. However, the promotion is time-limited: Customers need to switch before December 18.
Why Sly Stone still can’t collect royalties from his classic songs (LA Times)
A judge has handed a legal setback to Sylvester “Sly” Stone, ruling that he won’t be able to collect $5 million in royalties because he previously had assigned those royalties to a production company. Last January, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found that the iconic soul and funk musician had not been fully paid for songwriting royalties.