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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Time Warner Cable app delivers TV outside the home
April 16, 2013 1:20 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsTime Warner Cable is preparing to provide on-demand content outside the home for the first time. TWC has secured the rights to provide a subset of the channels it has available for both on-demand and live programming outside the home , via its TWC TV app.
NAMIC, WICT team up on diversity survey
April 16, 2013 12:26 pm | by Mike Robuck | CommentsWomen in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) and the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) announced plans to conduct another joint workplace diversity survey for the next editions of the WICT PAR Initiative and the NAMIC AIM (Advancement Investment Measurement). The Walter Kaitz Foundation will fund the survey through a grant.
In Demand renews capacity deal with SES
April 16, 2013 12:06 pm | by Mike Robuck | CommentsSES announced this morning that In Demand had renewed its capacity agreement with the satellite operator in order to continue the delivery of pay-per-view and VOD sports and entrainment video content to cable headends across North America. As part of the deal, In Demand is using a full transponder of C-band capacity on SES’ AMC-1 satellite.
In the media: Verizon offers to buy Clearwire spectrum
April 15, 2013 2:00 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsVerizon Wireless has reportedly offered to buy spectrum rights from Clearwire Corp. for up to $1.5 billion. Clearwire had earlier agreed to be bought out by majority shareholder Sprint Nextel Corp. Sprint has, in turn, agreed to sell 70 percent of itself to Japan's Softbank Corp.
Dish leapfrogs Softbank with $25.5B bid for Sprint
April 15, 2013 1:53 pm | by Ben Munsen, Wireless Week | CommentsDish Networks' $25.5 billion merger bid for Sprint represents a 13 percent premium over the value of Softbank’s current offer. Softbank’s bid, valued at approximately $20 billion, would put the Japanese cellular giant in control of 70 percent of Sprint.
HITS’ new Q2 package packs more HD
April 15, 2013 1:44 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsHITS has signed up a set of new programming partners, and has bundled them in a newly organized set of 250 video channels that are now available in the DVB-S2 format. This new bundle, will include more HD channels, all still encoded in MPEG-2.
Comcast strikes Ethernet accord with Nationals
April 15, 2013 12:35 pm | by Mike Robuck | CommentsComcast Business announced today that it has signed a multi-year deal with the Washington Nationals to provide its Ethernet services in the ballpark. The Ethernet Dedicated Internet (EDI) line from Comcast serves as the backbone for Wi-Fi and other data services at Nationals Park.
EU signs off on Liberty Global’s deal to buy Virgin Media
April 15, 2013 12:28 pm | by Mike Robuck | CommentsThe European Commission announced this morning that it had put its stamp of approval on Liberty Global’s $23 billion purchase of Virgin Media. The European Commission found that the deal, which was announced earlier this year, didn’t raise any competitive concerns.
From NAB: Broadcasters wary of spectrum plans
April 12, 2013 2:13 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsBroadcasters lost access to spectrum in the transition to digital TV in 2009, and are worried they'll lose more under in a complicated reverse auction. The U.S. wants to clear 500 megaHertz of spectrum by 2020, with 120 mHz coming from TV stations.
Starz pushes 2nd-screen technology
April 12, 2013 2:03 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsThe programmer is getting ambitious with second-screen technology in the form of a new companion app for the network’s new show “Da Vinci’s Demons: Citizens of Florence.” The second-screen app, called “Citizens of Florence,” relies on cues from the show's audio track to dynamically unlock interactive content as the show is being broadcast.
NBC Sports democratizes streaming
April 12, 2013 1:51 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsCablevision, Comcast Xfinity TV, Suddenlink and Verizon FiOS customers are the first to receive NBC Sports Network content, with more to come. NBC, NBC Sports Network and Golf Channel plan to stream more than 4,000 hours and 1,000 events and programs in 2013.
DoJ signs off on Moto/Arris deal
April 12, 2013 12:29 pm | by Mike Robuck | CommentsArris announced this morning that the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) had signed off on its $2.235 billion deal to buy Motorola Mobility’s Home division from Google.With the DoJ stamp of approval in hand, Arris has cleared all of the regulatory hurdles and expects the transaction to close “on or about April 17.”
Broadcasters counter Aereo with aerial dongles
April 11, 2013 1:55 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsThe miniature TV antenna picks up free, mobile broadcast signals. It attaches to iPhone and iPad power ports and extends about 7 inches, allowing users to view live local TV channels at not-quite-high-definition quality. The antenna doesn't sap a user's data plan or rely on Wi-Fi signals, but it does need to be recharged.
Midcontinent authenticating via social media
April 11, 2013 1:49 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsMidcontinent is among the first service providers to offer their subscribers the Social Login feature from Synacor as a means to simultaneously authenticate for TV Everywhere content when their customers log in to their Facebook, Twitter or Google accounts.
United Fiber goes with Entone for hybrid TV
April 11, 2013 1:43 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsThe subsidiary of the United Electric Cooperative is using Entone’s FusionTV to deliver both linear and over-the-top content on the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network it is building in rural Missouri, using money from the Broadband Stimulus.
