In this edition of CE Pro’s Weekly Rewind, the U.S. senate takes shots at the current state of sports streaming, Spotify downplays its fabled hi-fi streaming service, a Texas suburb gets converted into a virtual powerplant via smart home technology, and more.
Senate Steps into Sports Streaming Debate
Jason Yoder – stock.adobe.com
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) took to the senate floor Tuesday to discuss the abysmal state of sports entertainment viewing options in the U.S. “The shift to streaming isn’t just frustrating. It can be expensive,” the senator argued. “Between league-specific packages and games behind different streaming paywalls, it can cost hundreds of dollars a year for a hardcore fan wanting to watch all of a league’s games.” He’s not the only one upset, though, as the NBA, NFL and NHL are all planning to meet with Congress in the near future over the matter, according to the Sports Business Journal.
Spotify CEO Says Current Sub Plans ‘Enough’ When Discussing Hi-Fi
Alliance – stock.adobe.com
According to TechRadar, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek stated that the company is in no rush to deploy its long-teased high fidelity audio streaming plan. In the company’s latest financial earnings call, Ek responded to an investor query on the status of the “Superfan” subscription saying that the current set-up for subscriptions were “plenty enough for us”. Ek did follow up on that statement however, saying that the plan would be “a huge part for the music industry” but “this is really one where I would put, again, the emphasis is for the superfan, we do need the partners to come to the table and be part of this journey.”
Related News: Audiophile Streaming Platform, Pure Audio Streaming to Debut Early Adopter Program
Samsung Debuts Its Own FAST Channel
Tanya Keisha – stock.adobe.com
On Tuesday, Samsung held its NewsFronts presentation where it announced it would be launching its own Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) channel called the Samsung Television Network (STN). According to StreamTV Insider, the channel will act as a content aggregator for Samsung TV Plus, the company’s built-in streaming service, featuring the most-watched content from the service on a curated 24-hour basis. The goal, according to Samsung is to provide a FAST channel built more like a traditional television network that can better interpret what people enjoy watching and why.
Related News: Streaming Services Face Growing Pressure Over Cost, Content Availability, and Consumer Demand for Value
Sonnen Plans Virtual Power Plant in Texas
Sonnen
Sonnen, alongside partners Energywell and Abundance Energy, is developing a new virtual power plant in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas, as reported by Elecktrek. As Texas continues to struggle with outages due to grid strain—particularly in the summer and winter months—the goal of this new initiative is to take enough strain off the grid through the implementation of smarter energy infrastructure at the home level. Under the system, connected homes will be able to store and distribute power to other households when it’s needed most, ideally reducing energy costs to connected homeowners, in addition to adding greater stability to these neighborhoods.
CE Pro is Looking for Contributions on Its Entertainment Deep Dive
Snap One | ADI
CE Pro wants to know about your dedicated home theater and multipurpose media room segment so we can have more data for our annual CE Pro Home Entertainment Deep Dive, scheduled to run in our upcoming July issue. The survey is live now and can be filled out here. It takes about 10 minutes, and you will be eligible to win an Amazon gift card. We’ll also be deeply appreciative to hear your feedback and experiences in the category so we can give our readership a better look into the current state of the category that made the CI industry what it is today. The deadline to take our Home Entertainment Deep Dive report is Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
Keep Reading:
Here’s why we think sports streaming curation could be a slam dunk for integrators
Find inspiration with 34 of our favorite home theater designs throughout the years
Or read up on last year’s Home Entertainment Deep Dive to see how this year might compare
