Cable News

Time Warner Cable subscribers in Texas may miss Super Bowl

Steve Donohue — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:59:02 -0500

With a retransmission-consent dispute with a Texas broadcaster leaving it unable to carry Sunday's Super Bowl 46 on NBC, Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) has handed out more than 7,000 over-the-air antennas to subscribers on its Corpus Christi system.

The MSO, which counts about 80,000 customers in Corpus Christi, lost the feeds of NBC affiliate KRIS-TV and three other local stations after its retransmission-consent agreement with parent Cordillera Communications expired on Dec. 13.

"The broadcaster is making outrageous demands," Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Maureen Huff said regarding the increases in fees that Cordillera is pushing for. With NBC and the NFL distributing the Super Bowl online for the first time, subscribers who don't pick up an antenna will be able to watch the game on the Web. And Huff noted that Time Warner Cable has an agreement with NBC that lets its subscribers watch primetime programming through its video-on-demand platform.

The dispute also prompted Corpus Christi attorney and Time Warner Cable subscriber David Burkett to sue the company, complaining that he's not getting all of the channels in his $140 monthly bill. Burkett has suggested that he be allowed to make partial payments of $50 monthly until Time Warner Cable reaches an agreement with the broadcasters.

Cordillera isn't the only NBC affiliate to attempt to use the Super Bowl to squeeze increased retransmission-consent fees from a distributor. Sunbeam Television had threatened to block DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) subscribers from watching the championship game on Boston station WHDH-TV, but reached a deal after Massachusetts U.S. Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown intervened.

While only 80,000 homes may be impacted, the Time Warner Cable-Cordillera dispute will mark a significant addition to the annals of retransmission battles if subscribers are unable to access the biggest TV event of the year. It could also be cited by pay TV distributors as an example of why the FCC and Congress should reform retransmission-consent rules.

For more:
- The Corpus Christi Caller-Times has this story
- KZTV has this story

Cablevision develops technology for WiFi-based mobile phone service

Steve Donohue — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:55:33 -0500

Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) has developed technology that could allow it to offer its Optimum subscribers access to a WiFi-based mobile phone service, according to a patent obtained by FierceCable.

The company, which has also obtained a trademark for the brand Optimum Mobile, could rely on its extensive WiFi network in the New York metropolitan area to carry mobile phone traffic, and roaming agreements with other carriers in areas that aren't covered by WiFi, according to the patent filed by its CSC Holdings subsidiary.

"In an embodiment, the subscriber is a customer of a service provider and accesses a communications network through a WiFi access point using a mobile handset. The subscriber may access the WiFi network through any WiFi network access point operated by the service provider or by a subscriber of the service provider," Cablevision writes in the patent, titled "efficient use of a communications network."

"If there is no available WiFi network access point for the mobile handset, the mobile handset may then attempt to initiate a handover to a visited network (such as a GSM network) operated by a third party with whom the service provider has a roaming agreement. However, because usage of the visited network is more expensive than usage of the service provider network, the mobile handset may continually search for an available WiFi network," Cablevision adds in the patent, which lists VP of digital voice product development Nicholas Damenti as the inventor.

A Cablevision spokesman declined to comment about the company's mobile plans.

The company has said that it is experimenting with ways to offer mobile phone service through a hybrid network of WiFi access points and cellular towers. "We've been working with devices that switch back and forth between cellular and WiFi, and there's clearly an opportunity to build products there," former Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge said on an earnings call in May 2010.

Cablevision executives have said little since then about its WiFi phone strategy, but the company continues to invest in building its WiFi network, using gear from Canadian supplier BelAir Networks.

Much of the Cablevision patent discusses ways that it could use WiFi to reduce the costs of offering service through other networks, and methods for handing off calls from WiFi to cellular networks.

Source: US PTO and Cablevision

"Today, the logic that governs the handover from a mobile network to WiFi is triggered by WiFi signal strength and/or network connection quality. In most cases, this logic alone is sufficient to manage handovers from a mobile network to WiFi. In some cases a subscriber may frequently drift in and out of WiFi coverage. Each time a subscriber drifts out of WiFi, a handover to a mobile network is triggered. Frequent handovers between WiFi and a mobile network can result in extra mobile network usage costs because, for example, a mobile network voice usage is rounded up to the nearest minute," Cablevision states in the patent.

"What is needed therefore are systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products to enable handover logic that is cost efficient. The logic should enable handover from a first network to a second network, such that the handover logic makes the most economical use of the first network before the handover is initiated," the company added.

While Cablevision has developed technology that it could use to offer a WiFi-based phone service, the company faces the challenge of obtaining handsets that it could offer to subscribers, and striking roaming deals with carriers. But it already does have one relationship in place with a mobile phone carrier. Last year, it reached an agreement with Sprint to offer discounts to its Optimum Business customers. Adding mobile phone service to its product portfolio could also help Cablevision compete with top rival Verizon (NYSE: VZ), which already offers a quadruple play of video, high-speed Internet and landline and mobile phone service to its FiOS customers.

Commentary: How WiFi can hook triple-play subscribers

Frontier insists it won't drop FiOS; rural telco offers bundled discounts

Steve Donohue — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:01:12 -0500

While Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR) previously said that it isn't focused on offering customers FiOS TV through systems it acquired from Verizon (NYSE: VZ) in 2010, the company is beginning to run radio ads in local markets that tout FiOS.

"The future is bright. We're not going to disconnect or stop serving FiOS," Frontier spokesman Matt Kelley told Fort Wayne, Indiana, station WANE-TV earlier this week.

Frontier lost 10,000 FiOS TV subscribers during the third quarter. The telco bought assets from Verizon in 14 states, including systems that offer FiOS TV, for $8.6 billion in 2010. But CEO Maggie Wilderotter has said that the company wants to focus on selling telephone and high-speed Internet service.

"Our focus is not on FiOS video deployment. The costs to install, set up and market new FiOS video customers are very expensive and, in our view, uneconomical," Wilderotter, the former chief of interactive TV firm Wink Communications, said on an earnings call last May.

For more:
- FierceTelecom has this story

Comcast hires former Cisco executive Singh for strategic planning post

Steve Donohue — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:36:58 -0500

Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) named former Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) executive Inder Singh senior VP of finance and strategic planning, making him responsible for its forecasting, strategy, business trends, and long-range plan preparation.

Singh

Singh, who reports to EVP and CFO Dave Scott, had been VP of corporate portfolio management and long range planning and a member of the CEO's operating committee and video board at Cisco. He's also worked previously at AT&T (NYSE: T), Lehman Brothers, American Express and Prudential securities.

"Inder's extensive knowledge and more than 20 years of financial planning experience will be instrumental in helping to identify new growth opportunities that are focused on our core businesses," Scott said in Thursday's announcement.

For more:
- see the news release

European Union takes data privacy more seriously than the U.S.

Steve Donohue — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:35:06 -0500

In today's spotlight, managing editor Samantha Bookman takes a look at how Europeans and Canadians marked Data Privacy Day last week compared to the efforts of the U.S. National Cyber Security Alliance. While EU lawmakers are drawing attention to privacy and data protection through meetings and roundtables that address privacy and security from the consumer, business and legislative level, Data Privacy Day drew little attention in the U.S. Read more...

Senate to grill Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable execs at antitrust hearing

Steve Donohue — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:03:35 -0500

Executives from Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and other MSOs will soon face questions about their recent spectrum and marketing deals at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.

Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), the chairman of the subcommittee, said Wednesday that he wants to ensure that consumers won't have to pay higher prices for cable and mobile phone service as a result of the agreements Verizon has reached with Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Bright House Networks.

"The subcommittee carefully examines questions about competition in the wireless and video markets, with the ultimate goal of protecting consumers and reducing their cable and cell phone bills, and these deals are no exception," Kohl said in a prepared statement.

Kohl didn't set a date for the hearing, and the committee hasn't yet finalized the witness list.

In December, SpectrumCo, a company backed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House, signed a $3.6 billion deal to sell broadband wireless spectrum to Verizon. The cable MSOs and Verizon also signed marketing agreements which allow the companies to market each other's products to consumers. Cox reached separate deals with Verizon to sell spectrum and market cable and mobile phone service.

Comcast and Verizon recently kicked off joint promotions in Seattle, San Francisco and Portland, Ore., and Time Warner Cable says it will run promotions with Verizon Wireless in several markets during the first half of 2012.

For more:
- The Hill has this story
- FierceWireless has this story

DirecTV to pitch satellite TV through mobile app for SI swimsuit issue

Steve Donohue — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:23:01 -0500

DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) struck a unique deal with Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Sports Illustrated to market its satellite TV product through a mobile video application built for SI's popular swimsuit edition.

Click here for a larger version.

The app for Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android devices will allow SI readers who hold their phones over 19 photos of swimsuit models in the magazine to access videos of the models that are embedded in the app. Each video will feature a pre-roll ad for DirecTV service starring model Kate Upton, and DirecTV also agreed to buy half-page ads in the swimsuit edition as part of the marketing deal.

While it's not clear how effective the ad campaign will be in terms of generating new subscribers for DirecTV, the move is generating publicity for the top satellite TV provider, including a story on the cover of USA Today's Money section on Wednesday. The app, which relies on digital watermarking technology from Digimarc, will debut on Feb. 14, the same day the annual swimsuit edition hits newsstands.

For more:
- USA Today has this story

Kanouff out after 15 years at SeaChange

Steve Donohue — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:52:05 -0500

A day after announcing layoffs that helped it reduce costs by $5 million, video-on-demand vendor SeaChange International (Nasdaq: SEAC) said late Wednesday that president Yvette Kanouff had left the company.

Kanouff

"We felt like it warranted its own release," SeaChange VP of corporate communications Tammy Snook said when asked why the company decided to hold the announcement of Kanouff's departure until the day after it announced layoffs and facility closures.

"Over the past few months, Yvette has been discussing her desire to pursue other interests and we support that and wish her well," new SeaChange CEO Raghu Rau said in prepared statement.

Kanouff, who was director of interactive technologies at Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) before joining SeaChange in 1997, is one of the top women technology executives in the cable industry. Last month, The Society of Cable Telecommunication Engineers announced that Kanouff would speak during a "fireside chat" session with Bright House Networks president Nomi Bergman on May 2 during a leadership program it is holding at Dartmouth College. The session is focused on helping increase the number of women in top engineering and operations positions at cable companies.

In a statement released by SeaChange, Kanouff said that she was proud of the work she did to grow the company's VoD business. "I think SeaChange is well positioned for the future, however, it is the right time for me to move on, and I look forward to my next endeavor," Kanouff said.

For more:
- see the news release

Dolan to Cablevision employees: Give management chance 'to show you that it does care'

Steve Donohue — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:17:48 -0500

Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) CEO Jim Dolan is taking a more hands on role in the company's cable operations, following the exit late last year of lieutenants Tom Rutledge and John Bickham. Dolan, who has focused much of his efforts in recent years on running Madison Square Garden and its professional sports teams, gave a 40-minute address Wednesday to Cablevision employees in which he encouraged them to contact him directly via email with any concerns.

Dolan

While Dolan spent most of the address focusing on Cablevision products and strategy, he also responded to a vote by Cablevision technicians and dispatchers last week to join the Communications Workers of America, according to Crain's New York. Facing the prospect of Cablevision employees in other parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut joining the union, Dolan encouraged employees to give management a chance before signing union cards.

"Give this management team a chance to show you that it does care about you as employees," Dolan said, according to Crain's, which said it obtained an audio recording of his remarks. "If you happen to be in a position where you get approached about signing a card to bring a union vote to another one of our facilities, I'm asking you not to sign it yet. I'm not asking you not to sign it forever, I'm asking you not to sign it yet."

Cablevision hasn't named a successor for Rutledge since he left his post as COO in December to join Charter Communications as CEO. With Dolan taking on more responsibility for day-to-day cable operations at Cablevision, it will be interesting to see if he will also take high profile role at cable industry events such as The Cable Show convention in Boston in May. While Dolan attends the cable convention each year, in recent years he has only taken the stage at private parties to play guitar and sing with his band, JD & The Straight Shot.

For more:
- Crain's New York has this story

FCC approves Time Warner Cable-Insight deal

Steve Donohue — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:12:18 -0500

Paving the way for Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) to close its $3 billion acquisition of Insight Communications systems, the FCC approved the deal on Wednesday. The commission noted that Time Warner and Insight only compete head-to-head for 2,600 homes in 10 communities in and around Columbus, Ohio. "Overall we conclude that any potential competitive harms are limited because the applicants primarily serve separate geographic areas," the FCC said in its order. Time Warner Cable has said that it expects to close the deal later this year. Read more...

Top Comcast strategy exec Coblitz to keynote SCTE energy management forum

Steve Donohue — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:06:25 -0500

Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) senior VP of strategic planning Mark Coblitz will push cable operators, programmers and technology vendors to "embrace comprehensive energy management strategies" at an SCTE event in Philadelphia on March 15, the group said Thursday.

Coblitz

Landing Coblitz, who is charged with figuring out what technology the nation's largest cable MSO will use five years from now, is a big score for SCTE. He'll keynote its SEMI (Smart Energy Management Initiative Forum, which will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.

Comcast and other cable MSOs are beginning to deploy more energy efficient set-tops and gateway devices. Legislators are also been pushing the industry to deploy hardware capable of powering down or switching to sleep mode when not in use.

"The value of energy management goes far beyond the public relations and financial benefits of ‘green' solutions," Coblitz said in Thursday's announcement. "Increasingly, cable needs to adopt strategic approaches that include the efficiency, availability and reliability of power, so that new services can be deployed when and where they are required."

A 22-year veteran of Comcast, Coblitz helped develop DOCSIS specs, chaired development of PacketCable technology for digital phone service and helped found Comcast's venture capital unit Comcast Interactive Capital. The former U.S. Air Force captain also chairs the OpenCable business committee at CableLabs and plays a key role in cable industry partnerships with the consumer electronics industry.

For more:
- see the news release

Time Warner buys Super Bowl spot to kick off 'Enjoy Better' campaign

Steve Donohue — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:31:18 -0500

Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) said Wednesday that it purchased a TV spot in NBC's coverage of Super Bowl 46 which it will use to kick off a new branding campaign that it calls "enjoy better."

The ad, starring comedian Ricky Gervais and actress Mary Louise Parker, is expected to show how subscribers can view pay TV programming on multiple platforms, including mobile devices such as Apple's iPad. The MSO hasn't released the ad yet, but says it will use its Facebook page and other social media to promote the campaign.

Time Warner Cable is spending $80 million on the "enjoy better" campaign, according to a report in the New York Times.

It's unusual for a cable MSO to purchase an ad in the Super Bowl. While DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) has previously advertised during the Super Bowl, most cable operators focus on regional and local marketing campaigns to reach new customers.

For more:
- see the news release
- the New York Times has this story

Comcast, Verizon Wireless launch joint promotion in San Francisco

Steve Donohue — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:20:53 -0500

Following the debut of joint promotions last month in Seattle and Portland, Ore., Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) have kicked off a marketing campaign aimed at new cable and mobile phone subscribers in the San Francisco Bay area.

Subscribers that order an Xfinity TV bundle from Comcast and mobile phone service from Verizon within two weeks of each order will be able to receive a $300 prepaid Visa debit card. That's the same offer Comcast and Verizon are offering in Seattle and Portland. The companies have said that they will expand the promotions nationwide this year.

The Verizon-Comcast promotions follow agreements Verizon struck late last year with Comcast, Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), Bright House Networks and Cox Communications to acquire Advanced Wireless Service Spectrum. The companies signed separate marketing pacts that allow Verizon and the cable companies to market each other products to subscribers.

Time Warner Cable executives said last week that the MSO will kick off similar promotions with Verizon during the first half of 2012.

For more:
- see the news release

DirecTV lands exclusive rights to premiere Mel Gibson's 'Get the Gringo'

Steve Donohue — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:10:18 -0500

DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) struck a unique deal with controversial actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson to premiere his "Get the Gringo" movie exclusively in satellite TV homes.

Under the agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, DirecTV will be able to premiere the R-rated action movie on May 1. The company plans to charge pay-per-view and video-on-demand subscribers $10.99 to watch the movie, which Fox will sell on DVD, Blu-ray disc and other digital and pay TV platforms later this year.

The deal gives DirecTV some exclusive content that it could help it recruit and retain subscribers. It also helps Gibson, who has faced charges of domestic abuse and discrimination, avoid the challenge convincing movie theater owners to distribute the movie widely.

For more:
- Reuters has this story
- Paid Content has this story

Comcast may double speed of Economy high-speed Internet tier

Steve Donohue — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:49:51 -0500

Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) appears poised to double the speed of its $39.95 monthly Economy high-speed Internet tier from 1.5 Mbps to 3 Mbps, following plans to increase the speed of the broadband package it is offering to low-income homes.

The MSO said it will double the speed offered to homes that qualify for its low-income Internet Essentials program during the second quarter to 3 Mbps. About 41,000 families in Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, Denver and other Comcast markets have signed up for Internet Essentials since last summer. In addition to doubling the speed it offers Internet Essentials subscribers, the company will expand availability to an additional 300,000 homes, making it available to 2.3 million low-income homes nationwide.

With Comcast planning to double the speed of Internet Essentials during the second quarter, it's likely that it will increase the speed for its Economy tier at the same time. When Comcast introduced its Internet Essentials program last year, it offered subscribers the same 1.5 Mbps download speed it offered through its Economy tier. Thus, it's likely the carrier will boost the speed of Economy in conjunction with increasing the speed of Internet Essentials. "That's not something we can confirm at this time," Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said when asked whether Comcast would increase the speeds it offers to subscribers of its Economy package.

Comcast offers subscribers in Washington, D.C., and other markets several tiers for high-speed Internet, including a $49.95 monthly Performance Starter tier and a $72.95 monthly "Blast!" tier that offers download speeds of 25 Mbps. The costs for its high-speed service are reduced when customers combine the service in bundles of digital cable and voice products.

While Comcast disclosed the number of subscribers who have signed up for Internet Essentials for the first time on Tuesday, the MSO doesn't detail the number of subscribers who take faster tiers. Comcast is the largest U.S. broadband provider, counting about 18 million cable modem customers. It picked up 261,000 high-speed customers during the third quarter.

One of the challenges the MSO has faced in signing subscribers to its Internet Essentials program is the fact that it is not available to previous customers who have not paid their bills. However, Comcast executive vice president David Cohen told reporters that low-income families with unpaid bills could still joint the program, noting that the MSO could work out payment plans and "compromises" with subscribers with unpaid bills.

"We're in this to sign people up," Cohen said on a conference call. "We're not in this to not sign people up," he added.

Several other cable MSOs have announced plans to offer similar discounted broadband access to low-income homes as part of the FCC's "Connect to Compete" initiative, including Cablevision (NYSE: CVC), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR). Cohen said Comcast doesn't have a specific goal in mind for Internet Essentials subscriber growth.

"Now that we've got 41,000 families signed up, our goal is to do better," he added.

For more:
- see Comcast blog post

Special Report: Low-cost broadband access: How do MSOs compare?