TikTok is under investigation by the US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission over whether the app failed to comply with a 2019 agreement to protect children’s privacy. According to Reuters, two sources said they took part in calls with the agencies to discuss, among potential violations, whether TikTok failed to delete videos and personal data from users aged 13 and under as it agreed to do in a February 2019.

In more TikTok news, the social platform is saying bye to Hong Kong after China introduced a new national security law in the semi-autonomous territory. The platform, now run by former Disney exec Kevin Mayer, was founded in Beijing and still owned by developer ByteDance.

In celebration of the fourth season of World of Dance, NBC is partnering with Sway App through August 11 for a campaign based on AI-powered motion filters. Viewers of the show can move like the performers, with custom choreography from contestants. Each week, fans can record videos of themselves for 30 seconds to create shareable videos performing the same moves as contestants on the show.

Executive shuffle at Ubisoft, which over the weekend announced the departure of three high-level executives amid vows to change its workplace culture. Chief creative officer Serge Hascoet, managing director of Ubisoft’s Canadian studio Yannis Mallat and global head of HR Cecile Cornet all are resigning, effective immediately, following an internal investigation in response to allegations of sexual misconduct and toxic culture. Hascoet wll be replaced in interim by Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft CEO and co-founder. In a statement Guillemot noted “Ubisoft has fallen short in its obligation to guarantee a safe and inclusive workplace environment for its employees.”

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Nielsen changes its tune. Bowing to pressure from television networks after it announced it would not include out-of-home viewership in its overall TV ratings beginning this fall, Nielsen reversed course and said it would again include those metrics. In a letter to clients, Nielsen said it had “misunderstood the extent to which upfront deals have already been agreed to using out-of-home metrics” and did not wish to case further industry disruption.

Facebook is mulling an end to political ads across its platforms. According to reports over the weekend, the house of Zuckerberg is considering a reversal on its long-standing hands-off approach to political ads and political speech. Twitter last year said it would ban political advertising, though the platform still allows for select issue-based ads.

Apps on Apple’s iOS operating system including Spotify crashed Friday morning with outages that turned out to be caused by errors in Facebook’s Software Development Kit, which many apps use to manage their logins. The social network got on the case quickly, and issued an apology to users.

ADVERTISING & ANALYTICS

TV data and measurement company Alphonso and Tegna renewed and expanded their multi-year partnership to include all of Premion, Tegna’s OTT and CTV advertising platforms. The new agreement enables Tegna’s local ad sellers to provide clients with digital-like measurement and attribution for linear TV and OTT campaigns. Tegna operates 62 television stations in 51 markets.

Parrot Analytics launched TV360, a new data analytics platform that can be optimized by individual users and large media corporations alike. Available on a subscription model, TV360 brings together TV content analytics and exclusive deep-dive reports and insights.

Ad tech firm Amobee is launching a self-service platform for its TV Amplifier solution aimed at optimizing the process for advertisers to create connected TV, social and digital media campaigns that complement their linear TV strategy.

Onsite search intelligence firm Captify launched Programmatic Search Intelligence, a new product making dynamic and live search data available to programmatic ad buyers globally and outside the parameters of search engines such as Google and Amazon. and others. The launch is in partnership with digital ad tech company PubMatic.

Video ad tech company Unruly expanded its brand protection solution with measurement and analytics software platform DoubleVerify to the global stage. The partnership, which was extended in the US earlier this year, is now being rolled out across select markets worldwide, including the UK. As part of the deal, DoubleVerify’s fraud-filtering solution will be applied pre-bid across Unruly’s omnichannel marketplace UnrulyX. The suite also covers connected TV.

Video intelligence platform Iris.TV introduced SendtoNews to the company’s Contextual Video Marketplace. Going forward, STN’s online video platform of content will be contextually segmented by a growing list of data providers including Oracle Data Cloud, Comscore, GumGum, and Spectrum Media Services. Marketers will now be able to contextually target STN’s over a billion monthly video views across thousands of trusted publishers in a privacy-first and brand-suitable way.

E-commerce platform TVPage launched its previously exclusive virtual selling app to the public via the iOS app store and GooglePlay. Storefront by TVPage allows online content creators to be brand ambassadors and virtual sales associates for participating brands while earning a commission on sales. Existing customers include Macy’s and Verizon. Each ambassador is able to create a personalized virtual storefront and upload shoppable videos where customers can click to purchase.

Local ad management company Viamedia renewed and expanded its ad sales representation with MetroNet. Viamedia will continue to manage MetroNet markets in Terre Haute, IN; Louisville, KY; Lafayette, IN; Ft. Wayne, IN and Indianapolis, IN and add representation in Lexington, KY.

NBCU is heralding the Wednesday, July 15 launch of Peacock with free access to all NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage. Four matches, including newly crowned champion Liverpool visiting Arsenal, are slated for that day. Peacock Premium is currently available at no additional cost to Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex customers. At launch, Peacock will offer a free tier featuring 7,500 hours of movies, shows, and live and on-demand content.

ViacomCBS is fortifying its AVOD service Pluto TV with a mass injection of 40 library titles from CBS and Comedy Central. The slate, including the first 10 Seasons of South Park, Survivor, The Amazing Race, CSI: Miami and Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beverly Hills 90210, layer more than 100,000 hours of unique content onto the service.

Live TV streamer fuboTV during Q1 clocked 107.2 million hours streamed, up 124 percent year over year. fuboTV’s monthly active users during the quarter watched 120 hours per month on average, up 52 percent. The moves helped the company see a 78 percent revenue rise over the prior year period, to $51 million. fuboTV this week also sold 2.16 million in stock shares to Credit Suisse Capital LLC in a deal valued at $20 million.

Entertainment One notched a multiyear licensing partnership that will see Olympusat air 200-plus hours of its content on its newly launched AVOD service Free TV in Latin America. Among titles included in the deal are Bitten, Haven, Rogue and Saving Hope.

UK-based performing arts streaming service Marquee TV is expanding its US footprint with the launch of its full slate of programming within Cox Communications’ Contour TV platform.

Whip Media Group will provide real-time streaming availability data for more than 4 million television episodes and movies across 60 countries and 1,200 platforms, in partnership with content distribution researcher BB. Whip Media also will integrate BB’s data into the company’s TV Time app, to provide users with an enriched search and discovery experience.

Amazon Fire TV is stepping up its live programming showcase by directly integrating heavy hitters Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and Sling TV into Fire TV’s live discovery features. The three services join close to 20 other integrated apps with live components, including Amazon’s own Prime Video Channels, Philo and Pluto TV.

Speaking of Sling TV, Comcast is launching an app for the OTT service on its Xfinity Flex device—the first virtual pay TV the US’ largest cable operator is adding to Flex and a marked olive branch to cord-cutters.

A Twitter job posting that found its way into the social stream prompted speculation the company is eyeing a move into subscription platform business. The buzz about an ad seeking a developer to work on a new internal team called Gryphon, “building a subscription platform, one that can be reused by other teams in the future,” sent Twitter share up nearly 9 percent yesterday afternoon.

Spotify is set to enter the Russian market on Wednesday, July 15. The move, which comes a year and a half after the music streaming service debuted in India, marks its 80th locale.

Streaming on aisle five? Walmart is eyeing an entry into the subscription service business, with a model that would cost subscribers $98 a year and include benefits such as same-day grocery delivery and discounted gas. Although the retail goliath didn’t share details, the service rings similar to Amazon Prime in that it also reportedly would include video elements under a Walmart+ banner. The company kicked off its “Camp by Walmart” initiative, which converts its parking lots into drive-in movie spaces in collaboration with Tribeca Enterprises and includes video offerings tied to celebrities. Drew Barrymore, Neil Patrick Harris, LeBron James, Idina Menzel and Todd Oldham together are delivering 50 virtual summer camp experiences.

Amazon Prime Video customers now have the ability to create up to six viewer profiles on one account. Hulu and Netflix are among the competing services that have long offered this feature, which lets members create additional profiles where each individual profile will have access to separate recommendations and tracking based on their activity.

Documentary streaming service CuriosityStream is live in Sweden for the first time. Subscribers to Swedish TV operator Com Hem can access original series and specials through its linear service, with subscription VOD and Comhem Play+ streaming on the way soon.

Top tech CEOs including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai are slated to appear before a US House of Representatives panel July 27. On the agenda: Defending their companies’ massive market share.

OTT publishing platform Future Today is expanding its offering on the HappyKids.tv app with new titles from Mattel, Corus and 9 Story Distribution International. “We are pleased to be to working with a growing group of the highest quality kids content providers,” said David DiLorenzo, EVP of Kids & Family at Future Today. “With HappyKids already prominent on Roku and other streaming platforms, our viewership during these changing times has increased exponentially.” For more, go to the Cynopsis Upfronts Navigator: https://www.cynopsis.com/upfronts/?post=202872.

The NFL and Pluto TV extended their programming partnership in a multiyear agreement. The NFL Channel has delivered a curated version of library pro football fare as part of a one-year deal signed last August. Now without live game coverage, new content includes highlight shows to commemorate the league’s 100th anniversary season in 2019.

Sony is investing $250 million in Fortnite creator Epic Games, a move that gives it a minority interest in the gaming company. The investment does not include any requirement for Epic to exclusively distribute games through PlayStation.

Gen Z-focused VENN (Video Game Entertainment and News Network) unveiled a slate of original live shows leading up to its August 5 beta launch. Digital and interactive programming will be delivered live from its properties in LA and NY.

Nonstop: Downloads of Disney+ shot up 74 percent in the US and 47 percent globally from July 3-5, as the film premiere of Hamilton burst onto the screen. The app was downloaded 513,323 times globally and 266,084 times in the US during the three days, according to research firm Apptopia. Even more telling, the numbers reflect only mobile downloads via Apple and Android app stores, so they don’t count viewership on connected devices or smart-TVs is not counted. Additionally, the worldwide figures exclude India and Japan, where Disney+ is packaged with pre-existing apps.

Having tackled the Marvel Universe, Brie Larson is on to her next galactical adventure: YouTube. Larson over the weekend launched a YT channel, which she says will be a platform to of personal expression. First video features the actress asking some of her favorite YouTubers advice on how to record and share pics.