Sony Pictures Post Production Services has announced that the final phase of a multi-year effort to expand and modernize its motion picture and television sound facilities has been completed. As part of an effort to establish an inviting, state-of-the-art space for filmmakers and creative sound artists, the studio said it has integrated the latest immersive sound technology across 14 mix stages on its lot in Culver City. It has also made extensive aesthetic improvements. Its historic Cary Grant, William Holden, Kim Novak, Burt Lancaster and Anthony Quinn mix stages have been restored to sparkling condition, with new acoustics, cinema screens, creature...

SILVER SPRINGS, Md.—Encoder specialist ATEME has integrated Advanced HDR by Technicolor into its TITAN video compression solution, Technicolor said.ATEME designed TITAN to meet the needs of broadcasters, content owners and service providers to enable delivery of high-quality content efficiently across platforms, it said.The result of a collaboration between Philips, InterDigital and Technicolor, Advanced HDR by Technicolor is a suite of high dynamic range production, distribution and display solutions.“Integrating Advanced HDR by Technicolor directly into TITAN streamlines the delivery of HDR live premium content in the Advanced HDR by Technicolor format, allowing for larger deployments and increased capabilities for broadcasters, including rights owners,” said Valerie Allie, senior director of the video solutions group at InterDigital. “This simplifies workflows while opening up new options for broadcasters and streaming providers to maximize and scale their HDR distribution capabilities," she added. Integrating Advanced HDR by Technicolor with ATEME’s TITAN enables implementations in production, playout and file-based conversions. It also increases scalability and deployment capabilities for broadcasters, the company said.HDR content enabled by Advanced HDR by Technicolor can be delivered along with AVC, HEVC and VVC codecs and from any SDR or HDR source content, it said. More information is available on the ATEME and Technicolor  websites. 

LAS VEGAS—The premise of the 2024 NAB Show's "Creative Lens on Live Sports: Next Gen Video Production and Fan Experiences" session was very simple to understand if one casts a discerning eye across the broadcast landscape.In July 2023, linear TV made up less than half of all TV viewing, according to Nielsen. So all of those content craving eyeballs have gone to other screens, with the big push about streaming and the demands of today’s market.That’s largely because cable isn’t interactive. And interactivity and the ability to produce one’s own experience is what much of the market, notably Gen Z...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced the establishment of the Spectrum Steering Team that will lead the FCC’s efforts to develop and implement forward-looking spectrum policies and carry out the National Spectrum Strategy.The FCC reported that the Spectrum Steering Team brings together policy experts, economists, and engineers from across the Commission—including the Office of Economics and Analytics, Office of Engineering and Technology, Space Bureau, and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau—to drive spectrum policy and planning efforts that will ensure U.S. wireless leadership. “Demand for spectrum is growing at a breakneck pace as wireless technology expands and transforms so much in our economy...

Warner Bros. Discovery's Max streaming services has finally set a launch date for "Dune: Part Two" with the announcement that the film will begin streaming on Thursday May 21. Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ blockbuster, which has produced over $710 million at the box office worldwide, continues the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed bestseller Dune with returning and new stars, including Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar nominee Josh Brolin, Oscar nominee Austin Butler, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Oscar winner Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, with Stellan Skarsgård, with Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling, and Oscar winner Javier Bardem. "Dune: Part Two" explores the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family, the studio said. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee. 

NEW YORK—Disney has landed on top of Nielsen's newly launched Media Distributor Gauge, which offers its first cross-platform view of total TV consumption across broadcast, cable and streaming and provides an aggregated view of TV consumption by media company. The new ranking, which removes the siloes of traditional television versus streaming, and puts all content distributors on a level playing field to allow for additional perspective of TV viewing, found that 14 media companies achieved a 1.0% or greater share of total TV usage. As the top performer in April, Disney accounted for 11.5% of TV viewing, with 42% of its share...

BURBANK, Calif.—The CW Network has announced it will be the broadcast home for 11 Pac-12 football games featuring Oregon State and Washington State during the upcoming 2024 season. The network will provide full nationwide coverage for the games. The deal comes in the wake of the recent collapse of the Pac-12 conference, with 10 of the conference’s 12 teams opting to move to other conferences. The conference, which is more than a 100 years old, played its last football championship game in Dec. 2023. The CW coverage of the remaining two schools kicks off on Saturday, August 31 with a doubleheader featuring...

 WASHINGTON, D.C.—C-SPAN has announced that longtime CNN executive Sam Feist will be the nonprofit public affairs network's next CEO.Feist will be only the third CEO in the network's 45-year history, succeeding co-CEOs Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain, who have served in this role since 2012, and founding CEO Brian Lamb, who remains on the cable network's board of directors. In announcing the appointment, C-SPAN highlighted Feist's background as an editorial leader and a digital and television innovator with deep relationships throughout the Washington media and politics community. As senior vice president and Washington bureau chief, Feist currently heads CNN’s DC bureau which...

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Chyron has released a series of updates for its LIVE cloud-native production platform.The latest features, demonstrated in April at the 2024 NAB Show, elevate online production accessibility, remote production monitoring and smooth remote commentary as well as enable more intuitive illustrated replay and simpler graphics playout, the company said.LIVE's latest features enhance the quality of live streaming sports and news content that broadcasters can deliver to online audiences, it said."Updates to Chyron LIVE focus on improving the way operators interact with the platform, not just to streamline production of fast-paced live events, but also to simplify tasks involved in...

 Comcast is planning to begin offering a new streaming bundle of Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ sometime later this month at a “vastly reduced price,” Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said at the MoffettNathanson Media conference in NYC on May 14th. The launch is the latest example of how streamers and pay TV operators are creating streaming bundles in a relatively mature streaming market where consumers are looking to cut hefty steaming bills. Most recently, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney announced that they would launch a new streaming bundle this summer that includes Disney+, Hulu and Max. Earlier this year, Fox, Disney...

JERSEY CITY, N.J. & COLOGNE, Germany—OpenVault has released new details about how it is leveraging the power of Generative AI to significantly and securely expand the capabilities of its Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM), Profile Management Application (PMA) and other troubleshooting solutions for broadband networks.OpenVault, which bills itself as the only provider of solutions for both PNM and PMA, is integrating an array of AI functionality that will complement existing, trusted machine learning algorithms to optimize the convergence of wired and wireless networks. OpenVault AI applications are vendor agnostic and are being designed to simplify interactions with any operator’s customer service...

SAN JOSE, Calif.—In another important example of how high-profile sports rights are shifting to streaming, Roku has secured the exclusive multi-year rights for Major League Baseball (MLB) Sunday Leadoff live games. Starting May 19, Roku will offer Sunday MLB games for free on The Roku Channel. It will also be offering an all-new MLB Zone to help baseball fans discover live and upcoming games, nightly recaps, highlights and a fully programmed MLB FAST channel. On most Sundays throughout the season, Roku will be the home for the first games of the day, with an exclusivity window during airtime as well.The MLB also...

MIAMI, Fla.—Adsmovil has expanded access to its free, ad-supported, streaming TV service, Nuestra.TV to include Apple TV, Android TV, Smart TVs, Android media players, and iOS/Android mobile and tablet devices in the U.S. With the expanded distribution, subscribers can now watch via 14 different screens from any location on internet-connected mobile devices, including smart phones, tablets, computers, and televisions.The service was previously available on Roku and Amazon Fire TV. Nuestra.TV offers premium short-form and long-form video on demand (VOD) content that includes productions from the U.S., Latin America, and Spain as well as original content created for the bilingual/bicultural consumer from award-winning...

ATLANTA—Gray Television Inc. has announced an agreement to bring select American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) games to free, over-the-air local television stations in multiple Midwestern markets and across three of Gray’s local sports networks: Arizona Family Sports in Arizona, Peachtree Sports Network in Georgia, and Silver State Sports and Entertainment Network in Nevada. The AAPB is a Major League Baseball Partner League that operates in nine states and one Canadian province. Formed in 2006, the league consists of twelve member clubs. On opening day 2023, 23 players had previous experience with MLB clubs; over 65% of American Association players already...

IRVING, Texas—Nexstar Media Group has appointed Humberto Hormaza vice president and general manager of its broadcast and digital operations in Houston, Texas (DMA #6). In the new role, he is responsible for overseeing the long-term strategy and day-to-day operations of KIAH-TV (CW), cw39.com, and their related digital and social media channels. Hormaza began his new duties on May 13 and reports to Ron Romines, senior vice president and pegional manager for Nexstar’s broadcasting division.Throughout his 20+-year career in broadcasting, Hormaza has demonstrated the ability to develop strong long-term relationships with sales clients, create new revenue streams, and grow both revenue and...

LOS ANGELES—Gary Heelas has joined TSL as principal engineer in the company’s U.S. office, the company announced. With more than 30 years of experience in electronics design, Heelas joins TSL after working for Evertz and PerkinElmer where he led significant projects, it said.At PerkinElmer, Heelas was responsible for the electronics and firmware teams, focusing on the development of advanced infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers and thermal analysis instruments, the company said.At Evertz, he introduced high-definition video technologies to the company’s product line, it said.Heelas will reinforce TSL’s commitment to robust engineering that pushes the boundaries of technology and work to ensure its design and manufacturing processes exceed the contemporary demands of the global market for high adaptability and interoperability between hardware and software, the company said.More information is available on the company’s website.

Unidentified source says up to 30% could be on the block

Organizers says exhibit floor reservations running ahead of 2023

‘Significant grant’ from CPB to pay for it