Weekly news round-up: Apple worth $1 trillion & EBU trials live UHD

Apple valued at a trillion dollars
Winning the race against Amazon and Microsoft, Apple Inc has become the first US-listed company to ever be valued at a trillion dollars. Apple’s quarterly results released earlier this week showed a jump in iPhone sales to $41.3 million, sending shares rising to $207.05 reported the Telegraph.

EBU to trial live UHD 
Some 19 technology providers including Dolby, Ericsson, EVS and Sony along with five broadcasters are set for trialling live UHD high frame rate (HFR) and next-generation audio (NGA) tests for the upcoming European Athletics Championships in Berlin. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are leading the trails in a world first, according to Broadcast, the aim to push the production workflow, delivery feed and signals for live transmission. 

Walmart’s new video service 
Set to challenge the dominance of Amazon and Netflix is the collaborative project between Walmart and television executive Mark Greenberg on a new video streaming service. The venture is in its early stages with formal sign off from Walmart expected within the coming months, according to Deadline, whether the channel would produce original content is unclear, yet it is sure to offer competitive subscription prices.    

ITV pegs deal with Virgin Media 
ITV has signed a three-year deal with Virgin Media which will offer subscribers complete access to ITV channels live and on-demand and will also expand Virgin’s advertising and marketing of ITV programming, Bloomberg reported. ITV Chief Executive Carolyn McCall said in a statement: “This exciting new commercial partnership has many benefits for both our businesses and for consumers”. 

Ofcom reports UK TV viewing drops  
According to Ofcom’s annual Communications Market report, the average TV consumption of 3 hours and 23 minutes a day in 2017 fell short compared to 2016 across all age groups under 65, reported TVB Europe. The report highlighted a decrease in 4% to broadcast revenue and a £7.5 billion spend on content attributed to sports rights and production

Facebook unveils time limit tools
Based on collaboration with mental health experts and organisations, Facebook and Instagram have announced a new set of tools where users will be able to check the time they’ve spent scrolling, receive a notification when they’ve reached their allotted time as well as mute notifications, according to the BBC. The tools are designed to help users who spend too much time on the platforms after concerns excessive social media can have a damaging impact on mental health.    

BT Sport to lose NBA and UFC rights
BT Sport has lost the rights to broadcast the NBA basketball and Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) resulting in the channel showing fewer popular sports. A spokesperson for the channel said: “We won’t bid any more than the rights are worth to us.” BBC reported the expensive move into football rights was a mistake, failing to lead a rise in new subscribers. 

FCC announces 5G spectrum auction
The US Federal Communications Commission has issued rules for bidding on high-band spectrum for 5G wireless networks. Bidding will begin on 14 November for the 28GHz band with the 24GHz licenses going up for auction immediately after. Reuters reported mobile carriers have spent billions of dollars to buy spectrums to develop and test 5G networks which are expected to cut data delivery time to less than one-thousandth of a second.