Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched Rt.live, a tracker to measure how fast COVID-19 is spreading in states, and how effective shelter-in-place orders have been. “Kevin has been writing and publishing open-source data analysis notebooks on how to calculate Rt on a daily basis. We wanted to take that work and visualize it so anyone can see how their state is doing at curbing the spread,” Krieger told TechCrunch. It’s the team’s first project together since leaving Instagram.

Facebook announced a new feature called “Get the Facts,” with articles that debunk misinformation about the coronavirus. Messages will appear in News Feed to people who previously engaged with harmful misinformation related to COVID-19, connecting them with accurate information. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted in a Thursday post that the tech giant is continuing efforts to reduce misinformation, including working with over 60 fact-checking organizations that review content in over 50 languages.

IT services giant Cognizant was the victim of a ransomware attack. Said the company on its web site, “Cognizant can confirm that a security incident involving our internal systems, and causing service disruptions for some of our clients, is the result of a Maze ransomware attack. Our internal security teams, supplemented by leading cyber defense firms, are actively taking steps to contain this incident.” The hackers behind Maze hold victims hostage by threatening to leak company information if ransom isn’t paid.

Stay-at-home orders have prompted YouTube to accelerate the launch of a free tool for businesses that can help users create quality video. For businesses without the resources to create videos from scratch, Video Builder animates static assets like images, text and logos with music, to generate a 6- or 15-second YouTube video. “With this tool, any business who needs a video can create one that helps connect with their customers and keep them informed,” said YouTube.

Instagram is teaming with restaurant ordering platform ChowNow to make photos and stories from local restaurants shoppable. “Order Food” buttons and stickers will link to ChowNow, and followers can re-share stickers on their own Stories. “During this unprecedented pandemic, ChowNow has mobilized all its resources to help local restaurants survive and ultimately thrive, launching new products and services in record time,” said Chris Webb, ChowNow’s CEO and co-founder. “This Instagram feature is yet another valuable tool we’re offering our restaurant partners — at no cost to the restaurants — to help them drive more revenue and boost order volume without suffering the outrageous commissions and fees imposed by other delivery apps.”

Google is supporting local news publishers globally with awards ranging from “low thousands of dollars” for small hyper-local newsrooms to low tens of thousands for larger newsrooms, the company said in a blog post. “Local news is a vital resource for keeping people and communities connected in the best of times,” said Google VP of News Richard Gingras. “Today, it plays an even greater function in reporting on local lockdowns or shelter at home orders, school and park closures, and data about how COVID-19 is affecting daily life. But that role is being challenged as the news industry deals with job cuts, furloughs and cutbacks as a result of the economic downturn prompted by COVID-19.” The support falls under Google’s Journalism Emergency Relief Fund.

Telestream, a provider of workflow automation and measurement solutions for the production and distribution of video, introduced Vantage IMF Producer, a Vantage option that automates the creation of IMF (Interoperable Master Format) packages from Adobe Premiere Pro. Using a Vantage panel within Adobe Premiere Pro provides direct access and significant workflow efficiencies for editors wishing to use Vantage’s comprehensive IMF processing and packaging. “While IMF has become the delivery format of choice for many media-services providers and production companies, Adobe Premiere Pro users need to primarily focus on the storytelling process,” said Sue Skidmore, Head of Partner Relations for Adobe video. “Having a plug-in panel to Adobe Premiere Pro for Vantage’s automated IMF packaging workflows gives editors confidence they can deliver compliant IMF masters right from their Timeline.”

Broadband usage spiked to new Sunday highs on Easter. According to data from OpenVault, downstream consumption was 16.3 GB per subscriber, an increase of 15.8% over the previous Sunday (14.1 GB) and of 37.9% over Sunday, March 1 (11.8 GB), immediately before COVID-19 social distancing measures began to take effect. Videoconferencing likely contributed to data usage, said Mark Trudeau, CEO and founder of OpenVault: “Given the day and the profile of the usage, it’s safe to assume that much of the spike OpenVault saw was due to individuals and families conducting virtual Easter Sunday visits to friends and relatives.”

Consumers who watch movies or TV programs on smartphones reported higher levels this year of smartphones being “very easy” to use for streaming and having an “excellent” variety of streaming content/apps, according to Hub Entertainment Research’s “Connected Home 2020” study. The share of TV households with a Roku OS smart TV grew from 18% (2019) to 22% (2020) while the share with a Fire OS increased from 14% to 15%. Overall, the net share of Roku-enabled TVs (either smart TV OS or connected stick/box) rose from 30% to 35% of TV households, while a similar share of Amazon FireTV rose from 23% to 26%. “Consumers and their homes are getting smarter all the time, whether it’s for entertainment, comfort or security,” said David Tice, senior consultant to Hub and co-author of the study. “Although fielded prior to the main impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this US snapshot shows how well most households were equipped to deal with both work-at-home and entertainment needs during the lockdown.”

Rohde & Schwarz has introduced two enhancements to its R&S SpycerNode media storage system. R&S SpycerPAM is a production asset management system that enables workgroup editing and seamless integration of various editing and mastering platforms. Rohde & Schwarz also debuted several new SpycerNode JBOD capacity extension units, which provide affordable storage capacity expansion for their other SpycerNode models. Up to two JBOD systems can be added to each of the SpycerNode 2U12, 2U24 and 5U84 systems.

National Geographic released its first augmented reality-enabled cover last week, conveying a cautionary outlook at climate change. On Instagram, users are able to see climate data in 12 major cities across the globe, and see what those locations might feel like 50 years from now.

Telestream, a provider of workflow automation, media processing, quality monitoring and test and measurement solutions for the production and distribution of video, announced its Inspect 2110 video monitoring solution for broadcast, production and distribution networks. Inspect 2110 monitors ST 2110 video streams at broadcast and production facilities for operations staff, network engineers and content creators, ensuring that video flowing across the network is correct, working as expected and synchronized, allowing broadcasters to make the shift from SDI to IP video while introducing several benefits in flexibility, scale, migration and efficiency.

From outstanding ad & brand safety solutions to deft achievements in strategy, Cynopsis is shining a well-deserved spotlight on those who are making a difference in the digital media supply chain. Categories include: Best Addressable TV Collaboration, Best Audience-Based Buying Platform, Best Use of Blockchain and Cryptography, Most Innovative Implementation of Addressable, Outstanding Advance in Transparency, Outstanding Attribution Measurement, Outstanding Brand Safety Strategy and more.

After their introductory free trial period ends, is Quibi counting on subscribers to pay $4.99/month for the version of the short-form streaming service with ads, or fork over $7.99/month to go ad-free? In an interview with Fox Business Network’s Varney & Co., Quibi CEO Meg Whitman predicted about 75% of people will opt for ads. “It’s a little cheaper, and the ads are 15-second, non-skippable prerolls in front of every piece of content that we call Quadis,” said Whitman. “And we have 10 of the greatest brands that have decided to launch with us, and they make ads very differently. They make it with our patented Turnstyle, which shows full screen video portrait to landscape. So, yes, there’s an advertising business that’s an important part of our revenue stream.” Whitman also reports Quibi had 1.7 million downloads of the app its first week.

Discovery, Inc. announced it is offering “Family Favorites” content across its portfolio of 13 TV-everywhere streaming GO apps and sites. The initiative includes full seasons of series and specials from Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Cooking Channel and DIY, commercial-free with no MVPD sign-in required. “As families are spending more time at home, we know parents are looking for premium content they can watch with their children, content that will bring them together,” said Peter Faricy, CEO, Direct-to-Consumer, Discovery, Inc. “We are excited to team up with our affiliate and distribution partners to offer them the best of our family-friendly programming, free and uninterrupted through our GO apps and sites and our partners’ consumer experiences.”

Syncbak streaming service SBTV is expanding its coverage of the pandemic with the launch of the Survivors and Heroes Channel. With the support of local broadcasters across the country, the channel curates stories of individuals who are overcoming some of the biggest health challenges of their lives. SBTV features content from more than 115 local broadcast stations across the country; the service is free for local stations to upload content to, and free for viewers to watch.

ADVERTISING

The Ad Council has launched a programmatic private marketplace where media companies can donate digital media inventory in support of the Ad Council’s COVID-19 digital public service ads. The Trade Desk is providing the tech platform, and Cadreon is offering in-platform management. Acxiom is donating data segments to target at-risk audiences, parents and young adults. Media partners that have donated inventory so far include InMobi, GroundTruth, OpenX, Ogury, Xandr, TripleLift, Bustle, the New York Post, EMX and Kargo. “Through the PMP, we’ll have the opportunity to serve the right message to the right audience at the right time,” said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council. “During this ever-changing crisis, it will be invaluable to be able to optimize, evolve and adapt messaging and target audiences to ensure that our COVID-19 messages drive the greatest impact.” The marketplace is currently projected to deliver over 100 million display and video impressions in the first two months through donated inventory.

FreeWheel announced the next generation rollout and market-wide 2Q20 availability of its unified decisioning capability, enabling buyers and sellers to seamlessly transact across both direct sold and programmatic advertising. “To see the enthusiasm for our unified decisioning capabilities from both publishers and advertisers alike has been tremendous,” Geoff Wolinetz, Head of Sell-Side Revenue, FreeWheel, tells Cynopsis. “The ability to unify sales channels with full television grade control has been a huge need for content providers, and the capability allows them to open up more premium, living room quality inventory for buyers. It’s truly a win-win for the industry, and we are thrilled to be leading the way.”

Video advertising platform SpotX is collaborating with media owner partners to run video PSAs created by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization in place of traditional video ads OTT and online video inventory donated by A+E Networks, Discovery, Gameloft, Philo, and SendtoNews. Other industry partners involved in the COVID-19 PSA campaign effort include Amobee, DoubleVerify, and Universal McCann.

Semcasting announced a new partnership and integration with video ad serving platform SpringServe that provides SpringServe clients with cookie-free data onboarding and activation, and Semcasting data targeting into the CTV space. “By integrating with Semcasting, CTV audience targeting will be even more seamless,” said Ian Tattenham, VP of Partner Development with Semcasting. “Our longtime commitment to cookie-free audience targeting is destined to disrupt the identity resolution space with a higher reach and quicker time to market.”

AVOD service Tubi is partnering with TransUnion to establish a better viewing experience, and improve how advertisers reach consumers. “The integration of TransUnion data assets can help companies connect the dots to gain a more comprehensive understanding of today’s consumer and reach them with confidence – especially as they move and consume content in new ways,” said Matt Spiegel, executive vice president of marketing solutions and media vertical at TransUnion. “With identifiers such as third-party cookies on the decline and media consumption changing, alternative identifiers such as home IP address are imperative for building a strong foundation of individual-level identity and reaching consumers on devices like Connected TVs.”