Technology360

Mark Schubin's memo on digital TV for 7/17/2006

Mark Schubin's latest "Monday Memo" on digital television -- this one actually published on a Monday! -- is available on the OpenDTV list.  --Dennis

IP Video on my Set-Top Box ... It's Now!

Shelly Palmer writes:

... Both Comcast and Time Warner Cable are working quickly to deal with the reality of Web-based broadband content providers. Their solutions don't go quite as far as one would ultimately predict, but the future path is fairly obvious. Within a short period of time, people will be able to watch content from the Internet in a convenient, emotionally satisfying, "lean-backward" way. This is opposed to the "download it to something, burn it to something or route it somewhere and watch it on your computer at your desk (or on your TV if you've spent the time and energy to set up a media center PC and an A/B switch)" mode. Sure you can do it now, but most people can't. And, truth be told, even the people who can won't bother very often; it's just too time-consuming. ...

Link:  The Emmy Awards Advanced Media Committee.

Mark Schubin's memo on digital television, 7/7/2006

Mark Schubin's memo on digital television for July 7, 2006 has been posted to the OpenDTV list.  --Dennis

HD to help cable operators ward off IPTV, say execs

Loring Wirbel writes:

Cable multisystem operators needn't fear the claims of IPTV dominance by telcos, provided they are aggressive in rolling out their own switched digital video plans, cable executives agreed at panels of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers here earlier this week.  ¶   Richard Green, president and chief executive of cable consortium CableLabs, said he sees only the Verizon FiOS topology as posing a true threat to hybrid fiber-coax architectures.  ¶  "HD channels are the ultimate weapon against IPTV, because most of the PON architectures being talked about right now can't handle multiple HD streams," Green said. "Verizon is the toughest competitor because it duplicates the cable plant." ...

Link:  EE Times.

Over-The-Top Monkey Business

Michael Harris writes:

... The new party line says Google and Yahoo are cable's real competition in video, not Verizon and AT&T. Then there's the growing cadre of Internet video upstarts like Akimbo, YouTube, and DaveTV.  ¶  The upstart crowd is doing a nice job of assembling "viral" and user-generated content. But distribution is limited to the PC screen, or in Akimbo's case, a proprietary IP set-top box. Couldn't they team with MSOs?  ¶  Of course, cable MSOs can add value to these services by providing preferential QoS treatment for video streams. But what proves far more interesting is moving these "long tail" services into cable's video-on-demand (VOD) offerings. In this model, YouTube and friends would essentially become cable programming networks -- Homey Box Office if you will -- aggregating and filtering user-generated video content for on-demand broadcast to the TV. ...

Link:  Cable Digital News.

Mark Schubin digital television memo, 6/23/06

Mark Schubin has posted another in his series of news memos on digital television to the OpenDTV list.  It contains a good collection of links on the multicast must-carry story.  --Dennis

Newest Board Member Rebuffs FCC Chief On 'Must Carry' Issue

FCC chairman Kevin Martin supports cable must carry for all DTV program streams.  With the appointment of the new commissioner, Robert McDowell, he had scheduled it for tomorrow's (6/21) agenda.  However, Drew Clark reports that McDowell apparently favors a voluntary solution and it's been pulled from that agenda.  Read the story at National Journal.  --Dennis

Mark Schubin's memo on digital TV, 6/16/2006

Mark Schubin's latest "Monday Memo" on digital television for June 16 is available on the OpenDTV list.   --Dennis

HDTV--the clincher in war between cable and phone?

Marguerite Reardon writes:

High-definition television could tip the balance between phone companies and cable operators as they compete for TV dollars.  ¶  After years of hype, HDTV, with its enhanced picture quality and superior sound, is finally becoming a reality. Consumers are starting to buy new HDTV sets in droves. Providing those people with more than one channel of HDTV programming could become a key selling point for the phone and cable providers battling to sign up TV subscribers. ...

Link:  CNET News.com.

As Verizon moves to compete with cable, it offers broad carriage to pubTV

Steve Behrens writes:

Verizon, whose fiber optic video service competes with cable TV in parts of seven states so far, has agreed to carry all freely available local public TV stations.  ¶  The deal, announced June 16 by APTS, PBS and the phone company, covers all DTV multicast channels that local stations choose to air, including Create, Explore, PBS Kids Go, PBS HD and stations' other programming. ...

Link:  Current.

Also see Verizon to Carry PBS Multicast Channels. Link:  Broadcasting & Cable. 

This deal was negotiated by the Public Broadcasting Service and the Association of Public Television Stations.  Disclosure: I'm a former PBS board member and current APTS board member, and represented the latter on the joint committee that worked on this.  --Dennis