Video

TWC to pay $2.2 million to overcharged NY subs

March 8, 2013 12:36 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | Comments

New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman announced yesterday that Time Warner Cable has agreed to refund some of its New York subscribers $2.2 million for allegedly overcharging them. The settlement requires Time Warner Cable to refund overcharges collected since March 2007.

Bang the DRM slowly

March 7, 2013 6:10 pm | by Brian Santo | Articles | Comments

There isn’t a single legal concept that has inspired more heartburn in more facets of content distribution than digital rights management (DRM). Consumers have a pretty good idea what DRM is, and plenty vociferously despise it with the same loathing they have for banks, airlines and their communications service providers.

Open Mic: Navigating television’s perfect storm

March 7, 2013 5:37 pm | by Jim Tanner, Chief architect at Clearleap | Articles | Comments

For today’s well-equipped TV watcher, pausing a program on the living room TV set and resuming it on the portable tablet is merely a matter of pressing buttons or swiping screens. A click here, a tap there, and in seconds the program hops from one screen to the next, uninterrupted and ready to resume. Or so it appears.

Cache as cache can: cable cozies up to nDVR

March 7, 2013 2:46 pm | by Mike Robuck | Articles | Comments

Network-based DVR services have been waiting in the wings for years now, but their big debut seems to be only a matter of time now that content rights issues are thawing out and the network architectures are taking shape. nDVR will be, when paired with a content delivery network or cloud, one of the legs that TV Everywhere services stand on once it’s enabled.

ActiveVideo hires Nemani away from Cisco

March 7, 2013 1:17 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

ActiveVideo Networks has hired Murali Nemani as senior vice president and chief marketing officer. He joins ActiveVideo after five years with Cisco, where he directed the launch of the company’s Videoscape solutions for service providers, as well as the expansion of the company’s mobility portfolio for wireless and wireline operators.

TWCBC checks in with new HD service for hotels

March 7, 2013 12:36 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | Comments

Time Warner Cable Business Class is provisioning a new HD platform for hotels that was designed to mimic in-home HD services without the expense of on-site headend equipment and bulky set-top boxes. Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC) is offering a new version of its HD Video for Hospitality service across the greater New York City area, New York State, New England and the Carolinas.

Aurora closes $46 million deal with Harmonic

March 7, 2013 12:27 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | Comments

Aurora Networks has closed its $46 million deal to buy Harmonic’s Cable Access unit that was first announced on Feb. 19. Aurora said the acquisition would increase its market share lead in the optical transport market by significantly increasing its installed base for next-generation service-providing products and create long-term strategic growth opportunities.

New Products: Pasternack, Multicom, Fujitsu

March 6, 2013 6:21 pm | by CED staff | Articles | Comments

Pasternack Enterprises has a new line of 50-watt medium- power attenuators; Multicom has introduced a clear QAM SD/HD video distribution solution that eliminates the need for a set-top box; Fujitsu has announced the a Packet Optical Networking Platform (Packet ONP) for optical transport network (OTN) switching.

In perspective: Wait... what?

March 6, 2013 5:54 pm | by Brian Santo | Articles | Comments

Once upon a time, Time Warner was a giant media company with both a programming arm and a distribution arm. Investors demanded Time Warner Cable be spun off. After buying the rest of NBC Universal, Comcast now looks pretty similar to 2008 Time Warner.

Capital Currents: FCC broadcast spectrum incentive auctions

March 6, 2013 5:42 pm | by Jeffrey Krauss, President of Telecommunications and Technology Policy | Articles | Comments

The big picture on FCC incentive auctions of broadcast spectrum, includes two key elements: 1) The transfer of at least 120 MHz of spectrum for mobile broadband use; and 2) The generation of enough revenues to pay broadcaster relocation costs, the funding of a national broadband public safety network, as well as support for deficit reduction.

Ad platform startup gains $11M in vencap

March 6, 2013 3:08 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

Innovid, a startup that specializes in equipment used to create and distribute interactive advertising, has just nailed down another $11 million in venture funding. The company develops tools to create, deliver and measure video campaigns, in any format, on any screen, publisher or ad network. The suite of products includes the Innovid's own Ad Server.

In the Media: Verizon hiking DSL fees

March 6, 2013 3:01 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

Verizon will be upping the price of its basic tier of DSL service by $5 a month. The price hikes are not universal. The price has not changed in some cities where they company has franchise obligations to not increase its rates. The company says the new rate will remain in effect for one year.

Roku adds headphones to latest online video player

March 6, 2013 2:54 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments

The Roku 3 box going on sale Wednesday also includes a more powerful search engine to find movies, TV shows and music more quickly and a new menu for perusing the more than 750 online services available through the device. The new model will be sold for $100, initially only at Roku's website and Amazon.com.

Memory Lane: When the sky was the limit

March 5, 2013 9:15 pm | by Stewart Schley Media & technology writer | Articles | Comments

On Dec. 13, 1975, RCA gave the cable industry a pre-Christmas gift to remember when the first of RCA’s Satcom series of geostationary satellites was launched by NASA from a Delta 3000 rocket. That satellite and its progeny have endured for decades as an essential conduit for cable programming.

DOCSIS theft and cloning

March 5, 2013 8:52 pm | by Owen Parsons, cable access ops engineer III at Cox Communications | Articles | Comments

As long as there are services, there will be service thieves. Preventing this theft may take some configuration changes in software, firmware upgrades and the removal of problematic cable modems, as well as adjustments to CMTS settings. Combating service theft has been a series of moves and countermoves, not unlike a game of chess.