Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (VII) 8/1/16: ADB, Amazon, Arris, ATSC 3.0, CBS, Discovery DramaFever, EPIX, Esports Advertising Bureau, Stuart Lipson, Facebook, Interlude, Twitter, Turner

As most of you are probably aware, [itvt]'s news round-ups were on hiatus for a couple of months, because our editorial team was working on TVOT SF 2016 and then taking a post-event break. We expect it will take us a few weeks to catch up with all recent developments (note: we have marked older stories with the date they originally broke), so if you have sent us a press release or briefed us about a piece of news, and don't yet see it covered here, please bear with us.

• ADB's New graphyne2 Platform Integrates Personalized Recommendations via ContentWise Partnership
• Amazon to Double its Video Content Spend, Triple its Original Content Spend, in H2
• Amazon to Bring Prime Video to India
• WSJ: "Apple's Hard-Charging Tactics Hurt TV Expansion" by Alienating Cable Providers and Networks
• Report: Paying User Base for AR Game, Pokemon Go, Has Already Peaked
• Arris Reports Strong Q2 Results; Pace Integration Is "On Track and Is Mostly Complete"
• Arris Announces Warrant Agreement with Comcast Cable
• Arris Tapped to Power Weather Channel's "Local Now" OTT Service on Sling TV (April 14th)
• Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE) Calls on FCC to Clear Roll-Out of ATSC 3.0; Responding to CTIA Concerns, Argues that Interference Potential of ATSC 3.0 "Is Likely to Be No Greater than That of ATSC 2.0"
• CBS CEO Moonves: "CBS All Access and Showtime OTT Have Surpassed 2 Million Subscribers, about Evenly Split. That's Well Ahead of Where We'd Thought We'd Be This Early in the Game"
• Channels Launches iOS Version of its Live TV App
• Anime-Themed SVOD Service, Crunchyroll, Names Ex-Discovery Digital GM, Colin Decker, COO
• Visual Effects Studio, Digital Domain, Broadcasts 360-Degree Curated VR Livestream of Democratic National Convention
• Discovery Teams with Toyota on Scripted, 4-Episode VR Miniseries, "The Satchel"
• Asian-Themed OTT Service, DramaFever, Launches in Australia and New Zealand; Service Was Acquired by Warner Bros. in February
• EPIX Launches Cross-Platform 360-Degree Interactive Video Experience for its Original Series, "Berlin Station"
• Esports Advertising Bureau Formed; Founder-Members Include Turner, Twitch, Major League Gaming, MSG Company, Magid Advisors, Canoe; Executive Director Is Advanced-Advertising Industry Veteran, Stuart Lipson
• Facebook's Zuckerberg: "Right Now, the Big Theme and Strategy that We're Executing Is We're Going to Become Video-First"
• Facebook Launches "Birthday Recap Videos"
• ABC News Says its Facebook Live Streams of the RNC and DNC Generated 28 Million Views
• Google Says It Has Sold 30 Million Chromecast Streaming Devices
• Interactive Video Company, Interlude, Rolls Out Video-Streaming Capabilities for HTML5 Development
• Interlude Secures "Strategic Investment" from Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE); Deal Will also See the Companies Collaborating to Develop Content for Interlude's Eko Platform (June 16th)
• Interlude Names Prominent Video Game Director, Sam Barlow, Executive Creative Director (March 15th)
• Jaunt Teams with ESL to Produce VR Docuseries on eSports
• Disney-Owned MCN, Maker Studios, Confirms Layoffs
• Germany's ProSiebenSat 1 Taps Ex-Maker Studios Exec, Christian Dankl, to Head Up its VOD Products
• NBC Olympics to Distribute Content through Facebook and Instagram; Offerings Will Include "Facebook Live Content with Athletes and NBC Olympics Commentators" and "Daily Highlights Recap"
• NCTA Provides More Details about Cable-Industry Proposal to Counter FCC's Efforts to "Unlock the Set-Top Box"
• Sarandos: Netflix to Increase Spending on Original Content
• English Soccer Club, Arsenal, Teams with Ooyala to Live-Stream via its Official App
• Rovi Reports Lower Q2 Revenues, Swings to a Loss--though Results Exceed Analyst Expectations
• Sky Set to Launch VR App
• Starz' New Hybrid OTT/TVE App Helps Fuel Subscriber Growth
• Technicolor Launches Technicolor Experience Center to Develop "High-Concept Content, Platforms and Technology for VR, AR and Other Immersive Media Applications"

• Tcommerce-Enabled Visual Search Engine, TVRunway, Launches on Stream Now TV
• Twitter in Deal with Turner's ELEAGUE to Live-Stream "Counter Strike: Global Offensive" eSports Championship; Deal Marks First Time Twitter Has Live-Streamed an eSports Event
• Report: Smartphones Key to LeEco's Acquisition of Vizio