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Facebook released a response to Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, which examines the negative effects of the social media industry and its business practices. “Rather than offer a nuanced look at technology, it gives a distorted view of how social media platforms work to create a convenient scapegoat for what are difficult and complex societal problems,” said Facebook of the film, adding that Facebook has made “significant changes” to how it manages user data.

Apple introduced new tools to help marketers promote their apps. They can now generate short links or embeddable code that lead to their App Store product page and display their app icon, a QR code, or an App Store badge. In more Apple news, the company’s iOS 14.2 will offer a new set of emoji. Currently being tested in beta are the transgender flag, a disguised face, pinched fingers, a smiling face with a tear, and more.

SaaS platform Quantum Metric and DISH have entered into a new partnership to help DISH build new product experiences driven by customer behaviors, intelligence, and input. Quantum Metric will help DISH analyze technical and behavioral indicators while creating optimized in-page analytics that allow the company to gauge the user perspective. This includes the ability for DISH to get visibility into its video playback experience around user segmentation, that lets the company identify behaviors and understand how they impact the company’s core KPIs like customer engagement scores and time to watch. “With these insights, we’ll be able to better understand technical and experience gaps in real-time to ensure that we continue to provide our customers with a world class viewing experience,” said Robert Sadler, Director of Product Development for DISH.

Nielsen is partnering with ad intelligence company The Search Monitor to offer Nielsen Ad Intel subscribers real-time market data across search advertising channels. Nielsen is also partnering with digital ad intelligence and media measurement company BIScience to measure additional sites, integrating virtual and human panel data across desktop and mobile devices.

ironSource Aura, the engagement platform for mobile carriers and OEMs, announced a new customer engagement solution for Pay TV providers. Aura’s solution allows media companies to dynamically enhance their existing Android TV set top boxes, and then bridge their TV and mobile technology to reach users across all of their screens. The solution empowers users to customize their TVs with their preferred content and services during the initial setup process, and throughout the lifetime of their Pay TV subscription.

TransUnion has agreed to acquire Tru Optik, the data marketplace and data management platform for connected TV, streaming audio and gaming. “Connected TV has quickly become most consumers’ preferred way to access long form video content. With the standard digital identity signals being sunset, marketers and media companies are looking toward a new generation of identity and audience products to reach the right people and households,” said Matt Spiegel, EVP Marketing Solutions and Media Vertical, TransUnion. “By bringing our two companies together, our combined assets will result in an expanded suite of solutions that modern marketing requires.”

Google introduced a new Chromecast. Chromecast with Google TV delivers a new Android-based operating system, with native streaming apps and a remote control. Google TV’s main home page will feature titles from the user’s integrated streaming services, as well as other channels. Tabs at the top let viewers see suggestions for movies, TV shows and more. “With more choices than ever, it can take a long time just to find something to watch,” said Shalini Govilpai, Senior Director of Google TV. “That’s why we made Google TV – a new entertainment experience designed to help you easily browse and discover.” Also unveiled by Google last week was its first 5G phone, the Pixel 5, with a camera that offers Portrait Light and Night Sight, and a new smart speaker, the NestAudio.

Makers of apps in Google Play Store will no longer be able to circumvent its payment system to avoid paying the 30% revenue-sharing fee for in-app purchases. “We’ve always required developers who distribute their apps on Play to use Google Play’s billing system if they offer in-app purchases of digital goods, and pay a service fee from a percentage of the purchase,” wrote Sameer Samat, VP of Product Management for Google, in a blog post. “To be clear, this policy is only applicable to less than 3% of developers with apps on Google Play. We only collect a service fee if the developer charges users to download their app or they sell in-app digital items, and we think that is fair. Not only does this approach allow us to continuously reinvest in the platform, this business model aligns our success directly with the success of developers.” Companies have until September 30, 2021 to comply.

Whip Media Group announced a new movie analytics solution offering consumer data insights to media companies as they are shifting releases from theatrical to premium on-demand-platforms. The new CVM (Content Value Management) Insights for movies monitors spikes in audience interest and consumption to help clients adapt their windowing, marketing and distribution strategies. “Movie consumption behavior across theatres and streaming platforms was converging even before the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Carol Hanley, Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer for Whip Media Group. “Now as theatrical windows are closing, understanding consumers interest in a given title across the movie’s entire lifecycle, from pre-release to SVOD distribution, to determine how a movie will ultimately perform, makes CVM Insights movie data a central component to decision making.”

Disney+ is diving into social viewing with the rollout of GroupWatch, which allows up to seven subscribers to simultaneously view programming. The feature is available on almost all connected platforms where the service can be viewed. While GroupWatch does not offer texting, users can respond to content with emojis.

OpenVault a global provider of industry analytics and SaaS technology solutions for broadband operators, has launched OpenVault Europe GmbH. The company’s cloud-based solutions are offered through a Software-as-a-Service business model and generate actionable data that can be used to anticipate residential and business broadband trends. “The record growth of broadband usage, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic, has increased broadband providers’ needs for increased visibility into their networks and subscriber traffic,” said Mark Trudeau, CEO of OpenVault.

Rohde & Schwarz, specialists in TV & radio terrestrial transmission, will extend its portfolio of low power VHF transmitters with the introduction of the R&S TLV9. The new model, designed to operate in the VHF band III with an output power of 50 to 300 W from a single 2U box, has been developed for applications spanning DAB+ and digital TV standards in VHF band III. The TLV9 targets a number of markets including DAB and DAB+ networks, mainly in Europe, as well as DTV network operators using VHF band lll in Italy, Finland, the US and Australia.

Samsung Ads has launched self-service demand-side advertising platform Samsung DSP, which will be available directly to programmatic buyers and include access to Samsung Ads proprietary inventory along with customizable audiences and data from across 45 million households. The company said it will provide a view of ad frequency across all its channels and let advertisers incorporate linear ad exposure into their household frequency cap.

DOOH advertising company Accretive Media announced the launch of Accretive Connect, a solution enabling sequential messaging between programmatic DOOH and CTV advertising. “Accretive Connect will allow brands to intelligently display their messaging across big beautiful DOOH screens and then use format sequencing to amplify that same message to those same consumers with sight, sound and motion in the comfort of their own homes on another large, emotive screen – the connected television,” said Craig Benner, Founder and CEO of Accretive Media.

Uberall has been selected by Gannett Co. and its digital marketing subsidiary ReachLocal to become their premier provider of presence management solutions.
As part of the agreement, Uberall will acquire Gannett’s SweetIQ subsidiary. A provider of local digital marketing services, SweetIQ will become part of a new Montreal hub, the company’s seventh location outside its Berlin headquarters.

Ad tech company True[x] is being acquired by location-based ad tech company Gimbal. Founded by Joe Marchese and David Levy, the company was sold to Fox in 2014, then landed at Disney as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

FreeWheel and FastPay announced a partnership that extends FastPay’s media payments platform to users of FreeWheel’s Strata platform. The partnership provides the 1100+ agencies using the Strata platform with options to automate and streamline their media payment processes. “Financial accountability and business continuity have always been critical for agencies and media sellers, but this is especially true in 2020 as many companies adapt to tighter budgets and new work styles,” said Mark McKee, Chief Revenue Officer, FreeWheel. “Working together, we are helping the industry adopt more modern financial processes that offer not only increased efficiency, but also greater security and accessibility.”

Roku is set to start rolling out its latest operating system, OS 9.4, with new ways to access content quickly as well as performance enhancements. Coming up: AirPlay 2, allowing Roku customers to stream, control and share content from iPhone, iPad and Macs to their Roku device, and HomeKit, to control devices using the Home app and Siri. Roku TV users can now access Roku’s Live TV Channel Guide directly from their home screen, and Helpful Hints will appear on the TV screen to inform users of voice commands they can use on their Roku device.

Peacock has added downloads for offline viewing. Subscribers to the streamer’s ad-free Premium Plan will get the feature.

Tastemade has launched Tastemade en Español, the media company’s first Spanish-language streaming TV channel. Tastemade en Español lifestyle programming is now available in the US on The Roku Channel, and will be streaming on VIZIO SmartCast and XUMO in the coming weeks.

NBCLX, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations’ new TV and OTT network aimed at viewers age 18-45, is now available on the Roku platform. The network’s reach includes mobile, online, linear TV, cable, and dMVPD platform users. NBCLX made its debut as a digital news brand in September 2019 and as a linear/streaming network on June 1, 2020 with the launch of LX News, a live news program that airs Monday to Fridays across OTT, mobile, linear and cable platforms.

Future plc, the platform for specialist media, announced the acquisition of CinemaBlend, a digital entertainment publisher focused on the TV, film, and entertainment market. CinemaBlend provides a platform for enthusiasts and casual fans to discover, explore, and discuss films and TV shows.

SVOD subscriptions will double, to 1170 million in 2025 from 529 million a year ago, according to Digital TV Research covering 138 countries. The forecast calls for Netflix to add 91 million subscribers, for a total of 263 million, and Disney+ to add 142 million, for a total of 172 million.

Short-form streaming service VideoElephant TV launched September 30. Free and available across platforms, the service offers curated channels in major languages, and includes over 60 branded and exclusive linear channels from the brands around the world including EuroNews, PA Media, Al Jazeera, Sports Illustrated, Tribune Publishing, Bonnier Corp., AccuWeather, Chicago Tribune, and WatchMojo.