Steve Donohue
Samantha BookmanComcast Media Center, thePlatform boost TV Everywhere possibilities
Comcast Media Center and thePlatform have given TV Everywhere a lift by successfully preserving audio watermarks used by Nielsen to measure audience for both video programming and commercials, the
Everyone keeping an eye on Google--even without Google TV
Even without the official announcement of Google TV, the giant search engine is getting more than its fair share of scrutiny. The aptly named Consumer Watchdog has launched a new website, Inside
All sides weigh in, none happily, on must-carry/retransmission issue
It's hard to find anyone who's happy about where the must-carry/retransmission issue is headed. Broadcasters, who might be expected to greet the news that cable operators must carry their signals,
AT&T aside, cable has its eyes on some forms of wireless convergence
AT&T took some solid shots at the cable industry when it announced a new quad play of services that threw mobile wireless into the traditional triple play mix of IP voice, video and broadband
Blip.tv gets $10.1 million to monetize Web video shows
Suggesting that there is actually a way to make money from Web-based video, a funding round led by Canaan Partners and including Bain Capital Ventures has poured $10.1 million in financing into
Technologists and personalities partner on Internet-based TV network
A diverse group of technology geeks and entertainers have joined forces to create an Internet-based TV network called This Week In. The start-up closed a $300,000 "angel round" of financing from
Bulgarians rebrand cable service as Blizoo
The merger of Bulgaria's top cable providers, Eurocom and CableTel, has resulted in a new brand name: Blizoo. The new entity "has the ambition to turn into Bulgaria's leading digital television
Partnering could help service providers avoid becoming 'dumb pipes'
A report developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for Amdocs suggests that service providers can avoid becoming "dumb pipes" for over-the-top content providers by partnering with outside
Some people literally can't see the thrill of 3D
The American Optometric Association (the eye doctors' trade group) has pushed another pin into the slowly inflating 3D TV bubble with a news release that confirms 3D is not for everyone, because
AT&T goes where no cable operator can and offers quad play
AT&T has introduced a U-Verse quad play bundle that it says is designed for "consumers wanting to find a better bundle." The bundle one-ups current cable triple play offerings by adding in a
Google TV is coming! Google TV is coming! Really, this time it's happening
In the early 1980s, the British fought a little known historical footnote of a war over the Falkland Islands. To get there, the English sent their Navy across the Atlantic Ocean, and every day for
Comcast inks first corporate customer for IPv6 upgrade
While it wouldn't reveal any names, Comcast said it has installed its new dual-stack service that supports both IPv4--with its dwindling supply of IP addresses--and the new IPv6 upgrade. A
DirecTV launches live whole-home DVR service
Last week, Cox Communications became the first U.S. cable operator to offer a whole-home DVR as part of a $5 a month add-on package of services that included new Cisco set-top boxes with expanded
The competition: Verizon kills FiOS contracts in Tampa
As the novelty of getting FiOS TV instead of cable wears off, Verizon is finding it tougher to sign on new customers. So, as with any new service trying to make headway in the market, the telco is
Customer satisfaction on the rise for cable services
Last week at The Cable Show in Los Angeles, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts made it a point that cable's image as a customer-friendly service must improve. "We have to evolve how we do business," Roberts
Trouble ahead: Supreme Court turns deaf ear to cable's must-carry request
The Supreme Court has thrown yet another stick into the spokes of a smooth-running cable TV operation with its decision not to reconsider Cablevision's appeal of longstanding must-carry rules. By
The Cable Show 2010 news summary
Last week as cable providers ramped up for their big show in Los Angeles, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski dropped a 10-kiloton bomb into the middle of the party with a document outlining a framework
Broadcast scenario left unaddressed at Cable Show
I love good science fiction. I'm not talking about Stargate Universe, which is admittedly good science fiction; I'm talking about 24, Fox's weekly killfest with the deadly but never dead Jack Bauer
Local TV becoming a hot property again: just ask Comcast
Even with 500 channels to watch, the ones that are again becoming the most attractive are the local channels coming over the air to a cable, satellite or telco provider near you. That's the latest
IP video? YouTube now serving up 2 billion daily downloads
There was a bunch of talk about IP video (as opposed to IPTV) and connecting cable to the Internet and the intrusion of the Internet on cable TV at The Cable Show in Los Angeles last week. The
