U.S. AM and FM radio stations extended their reach by half a million listeners year-over-year, according to a Nielsen report released Monday. Some 244 million Americans ages 12 and older use radio during the Monday-Sunday midnight to midnight hours, with daily time spent listening to radio holding even at roughly 2 hours and 41 minutes per day, Nielsen said. Nielsen’s radio measurements don’t include streaming or Internet radio stations outside of listening done through broadcasters’ Internet radio streams, a Nielsen spokesman told us. While Nielsen doesn’t currently measure “pure plays” such as Pandora or Spotify, “we are working right now on developing a measurement that would capture all online and digital listening sources,” the spokesman said. Nielsen will make an announcement on additional radio measurement offerings later this year, he said. Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews last week applauded the Media Rating Council’s accreditation of Triton Digital, which will benefit Pandora’s measurement of listening hours versus local radio hours as it competes for advertising. The Nielsen report, which covers Jan. 3-Dec. 4, 2013, includes data from all 48 Nielsen Portable People Meter markets. It measures 46 individual radio networks operated by AdLarge Media, American Urban Radio Networks, Crystal Media Networks, Cumulus Media Networks, Premiere Networks, United Stations Radio Networks and WestwoodOne.

Some 54 percent of Americans 16 and older are satisfied with the technologies in their primary vehicles and are more aware of original equipment manufacturer versus aftermarket technology solutions, according to research released Friday from CEA. CEA cited growth in technologies such as in-dash navigation systems, rearview/backup cameras, in-vehicle communications, safety or entertainment systems, remote vehicle starters and car alarms. Forty-two percent of respondents said they planned to purchase an in-vehicle tech device or accessory in the next year, it said, and 47 percent said they were interested in using apps designed for easier and safer use in the car. According to data, two in five consumers plan to buy devices such as car alarms, remote vehicle starters, in-dash car stereos and in-dash navigation systems for their vehicles. They also want items that simplify use of a mobile device such as connection options for smartphones and MP3 players, hands-free phone products and mounts to hold devices safely in an “easily visible manner.” The State of In-Vehicle Technologies online study was conducted in September with a national sample of 997 U.S. residents 16 or older who had ridden in a nonpublic transportation vehicle in the previous month.

Disney slashed about 700 jobs, about 25 percent of its interactive game division, as part of a restructuring, the company said Friday. Disney Interactive “consolidated several lines of business as part of an effort to focus the division on a streamlined suite of high quality digital products,” a spokesman said. “These actions were difficult but necessary given our long-term strategy focused on sustainable profitability and innovation.” Playdom, which makes social games, will continue to operate as Playdom, but Disney Interactive’s social and mobile games businesses will now operate under one leader, said the spokesman, who declined to name that leader. “No action” was being made with the Disney Infinity game and staffing, he said. The company “will continue to invest in and grow” that business, he said. “We will focus on priority projects, and this includes console games,” but it “will not be developing console games in-house, outside of” Disney Infinity, anymore, he said. “We will instead pursue licensing partnerships where applicable,” he said. The cuts weren’t a surprise. Disney had restructuring charges of $1 million related to the interactive division in Q1 ended Dec. 28, it said in a 10-Q SEC filing. The company declined to say then what the charges were for. The restructuring charge and comments made by Disney CEO Robert Iger on an earnings call pointed to significant changes being made in the company’s game division to increase profitability. “You'll see more licensing rather than publishing on the console side” of the game business, “except for” Disney Infinity, he said.

A memorandum of understanding between the FTC and U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office “is designed to bolster their privacy enforcement partnership,” said an FTC release Thursday night (http://1.usa.gov/1gdibHn). “The FTC needs to be able to work with privacy enforcers around the globe in investigating potential violations of law,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “This arrangement with our UK counterpart will help us cooperate on privacy investigations more effectively.” The agreement came the same day the FTC, European Union and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation revealed a checklist for companies wanting to self-certify they are following the data security standards required to transfer data among each organization’s jurisdiction (CD March 7 p14).

Pandora said it will stop releasing monthly audience metrics in June due to industry measurement changes it believes gives advertisers the tools they need to make side-by-side comparisons with radio listening hours. The company historically released listening metrics to advertisers because there wasn’t enough acceptance of third-party metrics measuring Pandora listening hours, CEO Brian McAndrews said at a Raymond James Financial investor conference Thursday. “We wanted them to have the data they needed to make advertising decisions.” Triton Digital announced earlier this week that it had achieved accreditation from the Media Rating Council for local ratings, and a “milestone has been met,” McAndrews said. “Now there will be no dispute” about Triton’s measurement of Pandora hours versus local radio listening, he said. Listener hours for February were 1.51 billion, up 9 percent from February 2013, and the number of unique visitors was up 11 percent to 75.3 million, Pandora said. Comparisons between 2013 and 2014 were “unique,” because last year the company was trying to rein in listening hours to manage costs, “not a situation any business wants to be in where you're actually deterring people from using your product,” said McAndrews. Now that Pandora has turned a profit, it expects to invest more in marketing to drive its free, ad-supported model, which the company sees as a bigger revenue opportunity than its subscription base. McAndrews called the car market a “huge opportunity” for the company. In integrated car applications, where drivers use their smartphone for the content and a car’s controls to operate the thumbs-up and thumbs-down feature and station changes, the company has 4 million activations, up from 1 million a year ago, McAndrews said. The company is looking for further penetration in the connected car where the car serves as both the “brains” and control for Pandora service he said. Pandora will be part of General Motors and Volvo connected cars rolling out this year, he said.

Two Microsoft officials, an academic and a public sector education official will speak at the White House’s second big data review workshop, to be March 17 at the New York University Law School, said a Wednesday release (http://bit.ly/1jSbzCz). They will discuss the social, cultural and ethical dimensions of big data, NYU said. Microsoft Research Principal Researcher Danah Boyd will lead off, followed by a keynote from a yet-to-be-named senior White House official. Speaking on the panel to follow are Microsoft Research Principal Researcher Kate Crawford, Innovate NYC Schools Executive Director Steven Hodas, Columbia University sociology professor Alondra Nelson and MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth Executive Director Shamina Singh. The evening workshop is the second of three events the White House is co-hosting with academic institutions across the country as part of the big data review President Barack Obama ordered in January (CD Jan 24 p9). Previously, stakeholders discussed the technology of big data at the working group’s first workshop, held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (CD March 4 p7).

The public can submit comments for the White House’s big data review, said an administration request for information published in the Federal Register notice Tuesday (http://1.usa.gov/NUuhOB). The request asks for input on the public policy implications of big data, specific sectors and data uses the government should be paying closer attention to, the problems arising from differing data jurisdictions between countries and the technologies with potential to alter data collection practices. The topics reflect those Counsel to the President John Podesta -- who is leading the review -- has laid out in blog posts (CD Jan 24 p9) and at a recent daylong workshop at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (CD March 4 p7). The request follows a call from two dozen public interest groups to solicit public input (CD Feb 11 p12). The government will take comments by email at bigdata@ostp.gov (Include “Big Data RFI” in the subject line), fax or mail until March 31.

The House Privacy Working Group will discuss the EU-U.S. free trade agreements Wednesday with an academic and two industry representatives, said a spokesman for Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. They are: Jake Colvin, vice president-global trade issues for the National Foreign Trade Council; Justin Weiss, Yahoo senior director-international privacy and policy; and Georgetown Law Professor Laura Donohue, who focuses on national security. Blackburn, who co-chairs the working group with Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., recently introduced legislation to prevent the FCC from writing net neutrality rules (CD Feb 24 p20), and has expressed skepticism about enhancing FTC authority over domestic and international data security. Wednesday, the working group will examine the differences between the U.S. and European data security regulations, the challenges those differences create for citizens and businesses and whether the two sides’ ongoing trade negotiations will address those differences, said Blackburn’s office. It said the group will also discuss whether Congress should enact legislation to make U.S. privacy laws more in line with those of Europe.

Comcast is extending the Internet Essentials low-income broadband adoption program indefinitely. The program is “much more than we ever thought it would be, and the fact is, the program has become a key part of who we are and what we do,” Comcast said in a progress report (http://bit.ly/1czqBYS). In more than two years, more than 1.2 million Americans have been connected to the Internet at home through Internet Essentials, it said. “We've sold more than 23,000 low-cost computers and, with our community partners, we have provided support for free digital literacy training for more than 1.6 million people.” Comcast agreed to make more than $1 million in grants to nonprofit organizations where school districts have done the most to close the digital divide, it said. Internet Essentials service is widely used by participants to do school work, and full-on participation by libraries, banks, government agencies and other institutions “plays an important role in increasing broadband adoption and utilization,” a study commissioned by Comcast found (bit.ly/1czRyeM). Internet Essentials customers overwhelmingly got service for kids and their schoolwork, “but expectations from other parts of society helped drive the adoption decision,” it said. Ninety-eight percent of respondents said their children needed the service for schoolwork, and 68 percent said they needed it to get health and medical information online, it said. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, and included 1,969 subscribers to the program, it said. John Horrigan, independent technology policy consultant and former researcher for the FCC National Broadband Plan, drafted the study. Comcast agreed last month to pay about $45 billion for Time Warner Cable.

Internet of Things governance “might be defined carefully with two objectives in line to maintain customer trust: Security and privacy,” said European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Smart M2M (machine-to-machine) Chairman Marylin Arndt in an email over the weekend. Arndt, the standards manager for wireless carrier Orange, will speak at a panel Tuesday at the IoT Europe summit in Brussels (CD March 3 p15). The session will compare the two approaches to IoT governance: Standards vs. policy and, if regulation is needed, at what level it should be implemented, she said. ETSI and now oneM2M -- the website of which says its goal is to develop technical specifications to address the need for a common M2M service layer that can be easily embedded in hardware and software to connect devices -- are working on standards based on the existence of a horizontal service platform which has application programming interfaces, is network-centric, and is independent from device connectivity and business vertical applications, she said. The platform will provide interoperability at three interfaces, she said: South (toward and from the devices); north (toward and from the applications); and middleware (above the device or gateway operating system). Different customized service layers will then co-exist on the service platform, and a guidelines and best practices book will define how data can be exchanged and shared with other applications, Arndt said. There will be a common semantic that allows higher-layer applications to be easily defined on top of the service layer, she said. The service layer with its tools and the abstracted layer with semantics could be considered “global” standards, which must be open and interoperable, in contrast with “dedicated” standards that are often closed and don’t allow networking, she said. ETSI M2M and oneM2M have now defined global standards, the first step toward such standards for the IoT, she said. Regulators will have to set rules for such things as common data models and command language for the home and building environment, and ensure that best practices respect privacy, she said. Governments will apply the rules allowing end-to-end security for IoT autonomous communication and data treatment, said Arndt. She said IoT governance will “probably be a balance between interoperable standards and policies.” The U.S. and European approaches to IoT development differ but are complementary, speakers said Monday at the meeting. (See separate report in this issue.)