Cable News

NBC Sports Group signs Avail-TVN to deliver Olympics On Demand

Steve Donohue — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:12:29 -0400

Avail-TVN struck a deal with NBC Sports Group to help it deliver programming from the Summer Olympics in London to cable operators in North America. Avail-TVN will provide an array of services, including broadcast signal acquisition and file capture, C3 watermark verification, support various file formats, dynamic asset management, and distribution of the content. FierceOnlineVideo takes a closer look at the deal. Read more...

Genova returns to Cablevision as EVP of field operations

Steve Donohue — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:07:21 -0400

Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) on Wednesday said that it named Jerry Genova EVP of network management and field operations.

Genova, who left Cablevision in 2000 after 25 years at the company, will report to Wilt Hildenbrand, the company's former chief technology officer who recently came out of retirement to head Cablevision's technical operations.

Cablevision said Genova will be responsible for the overall operation, maintenance and expansion of network infrastructure. Genova's hiring follows the exit of Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge in December, and the departure of several EVPs.

"We're happy to welcome Jerry back to Cablevision, in this very significant role overseeing the company's network management and field operations functions," Hildenbrand said in a statement. "He was a key contributor to building Cablevision from the company's earliest days, and he will be an important leader as we move to deliver new technologically-advanced products to our customers," Hildenbrand added.

For more:
- see the release

Comcast launches Skype to the TV; wins patent for set-tops that can deliver video calls

Steve Donohue — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:43:56 -0400

Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) on Wednesday said it is allowing subscribers in Boston and Seattle to make Skype video calls through the TV, and that it will soon expand its Skype-on-Xfinity service to several other markets.

image from USPTO

Comcast first demonstrated the Skype service last June at The Cable Show convention in Chicago.

The product, which will cost digital cable subscribers $9.95 monthly, relies on an adapter box and video camera that are attached to cable set-tops.

Comcast said that the Skype service will this week also launch in eight other markets. It is the first pay-TV provider to integrate Skype with its digital video offering. The MSO plans to demonstrate the product at The Cable Show convention in Boston next week, spokeswoman Jenni Moyer said.

The Skype announcement came one day after Comcast won a patent for a set-top terminal that can deliver video calls. The patent, titled "advanced set-top terminal having a video call feature," describes how Comcast would pause live TV programming when a video phone call is received.

For more:
- see the news release
- see the patent

DirecTV accuses Verizon of 'abandoning initiatives that would compete with cable'

Steve Donohue — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:52:15 -0400

Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) decision to abandon its DSL service and plan to market a fixed wireless broadband product with DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) shows the telco is focused on "abandoning initiatives that would compete with cable," DirecTV attorney William Wiltshire wrote in a letter to the FCC secretary Marlene Dortch Wednesday.

Wiltshire

The letter from DirecTV was sent to the commission for its review of Verizon's spectrum and marketing deals with Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), Cox Communications and Bright House Networks.

While DirecTV has partnered for years with Verizon on marketing bundles of satellite TV programming and DSL, DirecTV says Verizon's move to force subscribers that order DSL to also subscribe to its landline telephone service makes the bundle less attractive to consumers.

"Verizon, in other words, imposed a substantial price increase upon every prospective subscriber of the DirecTV / DSL bundle, especially those who prefer to use a wireless or voice over Internet protocol provider for primary telephone services," Wiltshire wrote. "It thereby makes this bundle less competitive to those offered by its new cable partners."

Verizon officials didn't respond to a request for comment on the letter DirecTV sent to the FCC. Wiltshire is a founding partner at the Washington law firm of Wiltshire & Grannis LLP.

While the FCC and the Department of Justice are still reviewing Verizon's spectrum and marketing deals with the cable MSOs, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox are already pitching promotions that offer subscribers prepaid debit cards if they order new bundles from the cable MSOs and Verizon Wireless.

For more:
- see the DirecTV letter

SeaChange, Tellabs to target ads on iPad based on web viewing habits

Steve Donohue — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:06:11 -0400

SeaChange (Nasdaq: SEAC) on Wednesday said it will team-up with Tellabs (Nasdaq: TLAB) next week at The Cable Show to demonstrate how a cable operator could target ads to subscribers watching live TV on an Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad based on activity from the device's Web browser.

The technology may be able to help cable MSOs such as Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) pitch media buyers the ability to target ads to subscribers watching live video on tablets and smartphones.

National cable networks such as MTV, ESPN and TNT give cable operators about two minutes per hour of ad inventory to sell locally. SeaChange and Tellabs are focused on delivering a way to let operators use that local inventory to sell ads on mobile devices, using techniques similar to the way marketers target Web surfers with banner ads based on their browsing history.

"Users prefer relevant ads, while advertisers are looking for ways to reach their target audiences in more precise and relevant ways," Pankaj Shroff, Tellabs director of new-media solutions and strategy, said in a statement.

While the companies said the technology will protect users' privacy, some cable subscribers may protest the idea of an operator inserting ads during their favorite TV shows based on their web browsing activities.

For more:
- see the release

Time Warner Cable adds Vutopia movies to TV Everywhere portfolio

Steve Donohue — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:04:52 -0400

Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) on Wednesday said it is allowing digital cable subscribers to access several hundred movies online provided by Vutopia, including such titles as Donnie Brasco, Philadelphia and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Vutopia is owned by In Demand, the pay-per-view and VOD content distributor backed by Time Warner Cable, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Cox Communications and Bright House Networks. In 2010, Cox was the first MSO to offer subscribers online access to Vutopia movies.

While the Vutopia library is minuscule compared to the 60,000 titles available in the Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) library, it could appeal to some cable subscribers that want to watch movies online.

Time Warner Cable said it is offering customers who subscribe to its $9.95 monthly MoviePass package access to Vutopia content online. MoviePass also includes Fox Movie Channel, Disney Family Movies, FearNet and the Encore channels.

For more:
- see the release

Comcast, Cisco execs join Adobe board

Steve Donohue — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:36:10 -0400

Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE) said Tuesday that it has appointed Comcast Ventures (Nasdaq: CMCSA) senior VP Amy Banse and Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) EVP and CFO Frank Calderoni to its board of directors.

The software company also named Laura Desmond, global chief executive at ad agency Starcom MediaVest Group, to its board.

Banse, who joined Comcast in 1991, was previously president of Comcast Interactive and also ran the MSO's portfolio of cable networks.

Cisco is expanding its board from nine members to 12 with the additions of the Comcast, Cisco and Starcom executives.

"Amy Banse, Frank Calderoni and Laura Desmond bring deep expertise in media and technology to our board, which are critical to our mission of being the category leader in digital media and digital marketing," Adobe co-chairmen John Warnock and Chuck Geshke said in a statement.

For more:
- see the release

Brian Roberts tops list of highest paid cable CEOs

Steve Donohue — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:09:55 -0400

In today's spotlight, FierceCable tracks the highest paid CEOs at publicly traded cable MSOs and satellite TV providers. Even though Comcast CEO Brian Roberts took a 13 percent cut in total compensation last year, the $31 million he received makes him the highest paid CEO. Roberts earned a salary of $2.8 million. Former Charter Communications CEO Michael Lovett received $20.54 million in total compensation in 2011, while Time Warner Cable chief Glenn Britt earned $17.42 million. Also making the list: Cablevision CEO Jim Dolan, Dish CEO Joesph Clayton, DirecTV CEO Michael White and Knology CEO Rodger Johnson. Read more...

Comcast: VOD series can help subscribers shed pounds

Steve Donohue — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:58:33 -0400

Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) said it hopes that it may be able to help hundreds of subscribers in Philadelphia and Knoxville, Tenn., lose 5 percent to 7 percent of their body weight by watching video-on-demand programming that offers tips on diabetes prevention.

The MSO is teaming up with UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) on a pilot program involving 310 subscribers on its systems in Philadelphia and Knoxville. Subscribers in the pilot are asked to watch a 16-part VOD reality series called Not Me, which follows six adults who are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

Comcast said the 310 VOD study participants have an average BMI (body mass index) of 35.6. It said 19 percent of the group is overweight, and that 81 percent of the group is obese. It hopes that participants in the program will follow tips learned from the VOD programming between each episode. The company said a Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine professor is conducting a study involving the VOD participants, and that initial results will be available in September.

Comcast and other cable MSOs hope to boost revenue by using their broadband networks to offer subscribers and healthcare professionals telemedicine products. The VOD pilot is an example of how the MSO may be able to profit by using on-demand platforms to sell advertising or sponsored programming involving healthcare. Comcast didn't disclose the terms of its agreement with UnitedHealth Group.

For more:
- see the release

Cox, Verizon challenge AT&T, CenturyLink in Oklahoma

Steve Donohue — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:52:59 -0400

Cox Communications and Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) kicked off a joint promotion to subscribers in Oklahoma, offering new customers that order digital video and wireless phone and data bundles prepaid Visa debit cards ranging from $100 to $400.

The promotion--similar to marketing efforts that Verizon is running with Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and several other major markets--is tied to a $315 million deal Cox struck with Verizon in December to sell the company Advanced Wireless Service (AWS) spectrum.

AT&T (NYSE: T) and CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) will feel the brunt of the Cox-Verizon promotions, which target Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

AT&T markets its U-verse TV and high-speed Internet service in Tulsa, while CenturyLink pitches pay TV programming in parts of Oklahoma City through a cable system it picked up from Qwest Communications through its merger with the telco last year. CenturyLink also resells DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) programming in parts of the city it hasn't wired with coaxial cable.

In order to get the maximum $400 debit card, a consumer would have to buy a new Cox triple-play of digital video, high-speed Internet and landline phone service and order new Verizon Wireless service (including the purchase of a new smartphone or tablet) within 14 days of each order. Verizon and Cox are also forcing customers that take the offer to sign a two-year contract, and may hit subscribers with early termination fees of up to $350 for cancelling service.

For more:
- see the release

The highest paid CEOs in cable & satellite

Samantha Bookman — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:05:11 -0400

Which pay TV distributor's CEO saw the highest rate of total compensation in 2011? While last year saw the usual multimillion-dollar compensation packages, sky-high jumps in compensation were not the norm.

In fact, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) CEO Brian Roberts took a 13 percent cut in compensation. Glenn Britt, CEO of Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), received 5.7 percent less compensation in 2011 compared to 2010. And DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) chief executive Michael D. White saw his total compensation nosedive to less than $6 million--largely because in 2010, his first year with the satellite operator, he received $27 million in stock and options for joining the company.

Michael Lovett, meantime, resigned his position at Charter (Nasdaq: CHTR) early this year. His replacement Tom Rutledge--one of the first among the recent pack of executives to leave Cablevision (NYSE: CVC)--took over in February.

AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) CEOs' compensation was covered in our recent wireline compensation feature. The salary and compensation data in the table below was drawn from SEC filings.

Brian L. Roberts, Comcast Total Compensation (2011): $26.9 million Total Compensation (2010): $31 million Salary: $2.8 million Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $24.13 million Duration with company: Since 1990
Michael J. Lovett, Charter Communications Total Compensation (2011): $20.54 million Total Compensation (2010): $10.91 million Salary: $1.3 million Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $19.24 million Duration with company: Since 2003 (resigned Feb. 2012)
Glenn A. Britt, Time Warner Cable Total Compensation (2011): $16.43 million Total Compensation (2010): $17.42 million Salary: $1.25 million Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $15. 18 million Duration with company: Since 1990 (following Time's merger with Warner Communications; was with Time since 1972)
James L. Dolan, Cablevision Total Compensation (2011): $11.45 million Total Compensation (2010): $13.44 million Salary: $1.75 million Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $9.7 million Duration with company: Since 2009 (Previously CEO of Rainbow Media, a Cablevision subsidiary now known as AMC Networks)
Joseph Clayton, Dish Network Total Compensation (2011): $9.84 million Total Compensation (2010): n/a Salary: $467,307 Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $9.37 million Duration with company: Since June 2011
Michael D. White, DirecTV Total Compensation (2011): $5.94 million Total Compensation (2010): $32.93 million Salary: $1.52 million Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $4.42 million Duration with company: Since 2009
Rodger L. Johnson, Knology Total Compensation (2011): $3.13 million Total Compensation (2010): $1.75 million Salary: $556,756 Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $2.57 million Duration with company: Since 1999

Tribune, Digitalsmiths pitch MSOs solution for multiscreen program guides

Steve Donohue — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:33:08 -0400

Tribune Media Services and Digitalsmiths are teaming up to pitch cable operators technology that could make it easier to deliver TV listings and other data to cable subscribers using tablet computers and smartphones.

The companies said Tuesday that they are releasing a set of data-delivery APIs that will be built with Digitalsmith's Seamless Discovery platform.

"This is an API that allows you to slice and dice TMS data in very efficient and very nimble ways," Digitalsmiths CEO Ben Weinberger told FierceCable.

TMS, whose parent company publishes The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and other major newspapers, supplies TV listings data to several multichannel providers for use in their interactive program guides. Its customers include Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR), Cox Communications, Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH), DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV), Bresnan Communications and TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO).

Most major pay-TV providers have built apps for Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad and iPhone and mobile devices that run Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android platform.

The TMS-Digitalsmiths APIs could help developers at cable and satellite providers deploy new multiscreen guides, recommendation engines and applications that rely on Tribune metadata involving TV and movie listings and celebrities. The companies said that TMS metadata is integrated into Digitalsmith's Seamless Discovery product for providers that are mutual customers of the companies, and that the agreement will allow TMS to market the Seamless Discovery platform.

The companies plan to pitch the APIs to attendees at The Cable Show convention in Boston next week.

For more:
- see this release

ClearWire eyes 168 Mbps peak download speeds

Steve Donohue — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:38:26 -0400

ClearWire (Nasdaq: CLWR) CTO John Saw boasts that the company may be able to deliver peak download speeds of 168 Mbps by 2014 through a new LTE Advanced network that it plans to deploy by June 2013. In an interview with GigaOM, Saw said that Clearwire will be able to use carrier aggregation technology in its TD-LTE network to combine its spectrum into 40 MHz channels. "When carrier aggregation comes along we will go to 40 MHz, which will essentially leave the competition in the dust." Read more

Jinni to demonstrate recommendation engine at The Cable Show

Steve Donohue — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:22:05 -0400

Israel-based Jinni plans to demonstrate its recommendation engine technology for interactive program guides at The Cable Show convention in Boston this month.

Jinni's recommendation engine

Jinni hasn't announced agreements with any U.S. multichannel providers, but the company struck a licensing deal with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) last fall. That agreement could let Microsoft deploy its recommendation engine--which suggests content to viewers based on their viewing habits and content viewed by fiends--in cable set-tops that use Microsoft's middleware platform.

Jinni said it will demonstrate a guide that uses its recommendation engine at the CableNet exhibit at The Cable Show, which kicks off on May 21. The company said its recommendation engine could also be used to support a voice-activated program guide.

Pay TV providers such as Comcast and DirecTV and are beginning to incorporate recommendation engines into their program guides. Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) plans to use a recommendation engine to suggest program titles to subscribers with its new X1 service, which will also be demonstrated at The Cable Show.

Foxconn denies that CEO said company will produce Apple TV

Steve Donohue — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:46:25 -0400

Foxconn is attempting to downplay speculation that it is building a connected TV for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), saying Monday that reports that it is producing a "specific product for any customer are not accurate."

On Friday, China Daily reported that Taiwan-based Foxconn, which manufacturers the iPad, iPhone and popular consumer electronics devices for Apple and other companies, was preparing to produce the "iTV," an HDTV that Apple may be developing.

The newspaper said that Foxconn CEO Terry Gou, speaking at the groundbreaking for Foxconn's new China headquarters in Shanghai, said Foxconn was preparing to build the TV, but that "development or manufacturing has yet to begin."

Foxconn didn't deny that it will manufacture a smart TV for Apple. But the company insists Gou didn't say that it is working on the product.

"At no time did he confirm that Foxconn was in development or manufacturing stages for any product for any of its customers. He did say that Foxconn is always prepared to meet the manufacturing needs of customers should they determine that they wish to work with Foxconn in the production of any of their products," Foxconn said in prepared statement Monday.

While it's not clear if Apple will market its own TV one day, the company's success with driving Internet video programing sales through the iTunes Store--coupled with the popularity of the iPad and iPhone--could position it to add a connected TV to its product portfolio.

For more:
- China Daily has this story
- The Next Web has this story