Local advertising spending in 2020 likely will be about $140.4 billion instead of the previously forecast $143.3 billion due to the COVID-19 pandemic's economic fallout, BIA Advisory Services said Wednesday. That would be a 6.1% decline from 2019 spending, it said. Broadcast TV and radio advertising projections of $27.9 billion are down $500 million from its previous forecast, it said, while mobile advertising will likely total $24.3 billion, also a $500 million decline, and its online/interactive advertising projection is down $300 million to $20.6 billion, it said.

Pixelworks hopes to save $3.2 million annually through a restructuring that includes a 14% head-count reduction, said the tech company Monday. Q2 revenue declined 48.3% from a year earlier, despite a 24% increase in mobile revenue from higher shipments of Iris-brand visual processors to six smartphone OEMs. “Our second quarter results reflected the anticipated headwinds associated with the broad impact from the COVID-19 pandemic on our target end markets,” said CEO Todd DeBonis on a quarterly call Monday. The stock plunged 25.6% Tuesday to close at $2.54. Pixelworks began seeing the “green shoots of the recovery in mobile demand in the current quarter,” he said. “We continue to believe there will be a high correlation between OEMs’ adoption of 5G technology and high-performance displays and smartphones, as video remains the most single compelling use case for 5G with consumers.” The smartphone industry is “still in the early innings” of the 5G transition, said DeBonis. “We are seeing a more rapid introduction of high-frame-rate displays into mid-tier phones than we previously anticipated, which is positive and increases the Pixelworks value proposition in mid-tier devices.”

COVID-19 forced Mozilla into a restructuring that will eliminate 250 jobs, including the shutdown of operations in Taiwan, said CEO Mitchell Baker in a memo to employees Tuesday. Mozilla’s pre-pandemic plan for 2020 was “a year of change” by speeding the infusion of more “product value” in Firefox and “adjusting our finances to ensure financial stability over the long term,” she said. The pandemic “accelerated the need and magnified the depth for these changes,” said Baker. “Our pre-COVID plan is no longer workable. We have talked about the need for change -- including the likelihood of layoffs -- since the spring. Today these changes become real.” Mozilla’s “new focus” will be on product, technology, community and economics, blogged Baker: “Recognizing that the old model where everything was free has consequences, means we must explore a range of different business opportunities and alternate value exchanges.”

Retail landlord Simon Property Group took a $315 million hit to its Q2 operating profit from COVID-19 through “rent abatements” and a “higher provision for credit losses,” said CEO David Simon on a quarterly call Monday. The company runs about 200 malls and other retail properties in 37 states. “Given the lack of local, state and federal government support for our industry, we went out of our way to abate rent for thousands of local small businesses, entrepreneurs and restaurateurs and other retailers for the period they were closed,” said Simon. The company estimates 91% of its properties were “open and operating” through Aug. 9, he said. Reopened stores reported their June sales exceeded 80% of their 2019 volume, he said. Movie theaters, gyms and restaurants are the bulk of “remaining tenants” that are still closed due to “restrictive governmental orders limiting or prohibiting their operations,” he said. The Great Recession of 2008 “pales in comparison to what we're dealing with” in the pandemic, said Simon. The number of bankruptcies “in our sector” is “tremendous,” he said.

The personal health and safety risks of COVID-19 are casting autonomous driving in a more positive public light than before the pandemic, Motional President-CEO Karl Iagnemma told an Axios webinar Tuesday. The Hyundai-Aptiv autonomous vehicle joint venture was rebranded Tuesday as Motional.

More state commissions are eyeing contribution and other USF changes. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission may vote later this year on a USF administrator recommendation to switch to a connections-based mechanism. The Texas Public Utility Commission asked legislators to consider USF contribution changes next year. Oregon, New Mexico and Nebraska commissions are also reviewing state USF.

COVID-19 is a “significant headwind” at ON Semiconductor, which reported a 10% revenue drop in Q2 to $1.2 billion, said Chief Financial Officer Bernard Gutmann in the quarterly statement Monday. ON had “moderate improvement in business conditions” on a pickup in global macroeconomic activity, Gutmann said. The company is having “strong momentum” in its power, analog and sensor products. Networking and wireless accounted for $255 million, 21% of Q2 revenue, up 3% on strength in 5G, but Q3 volume will be down due to “delayed launches of certain platforms and geopolitical issues related to a specific customer,” said CEO Keith Jackson on a call. Responding to a question on whether the semiconductor company is concerned about risks that the U.S. will expand targets in China beyond Huawei, Jackson said, “We are very concerned about some of the increasing tensions on global trade.” Much of global trade is “essential for technology and the growth of semiconductors,” he said, “so clearly, would not like to see further there.” The consumer end-market contributed $126 million in the quarter, 10% of revenue, dropping 22%, due to consumer tech market weakness. The company forecasts Q3 revenue of $1.2 billion-$1.3 billion compared with $1.38 billion in Q3 2019. The stock closed 5.2% higher at $21.92.

The FCC Wireless Bureau approved requests allowing reviews to proceed under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act for various critical infrastructure projects by Windstream and Frontier Communications, during the pandemic, said orders in Monday’s Daily Digest.

Gogo took a “devastating” Q2 hit from the COVID-19 pandemic's obliteration of commercial airline passenger traffic, said CEO Oakleigh Thorne on a Monday investor call. “It certainly was an extraordinary quarter, but for all the wrong reasons,” he said. “If you sell internet on an airplane and no one’s on the plane, it’s tough to make a living.”

The broadcast TV industry expects improvement in Q3, but it's still (see 2008050063) too uncertain to promise specifics, said executives from Gray Television, Univision, E.W. Scripps and Tegna. “The situation is still fluid and visibility is limited,” said Gray Chief Financial Officer Jim Ryan. “The impact of the pandemic remains uncertain,” said Tegna CFO Victoria Harker. "Scripps has suspended issuing new guidance because of the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," said the company.