Cox, Charter team up in Nevada to serve business customers
Charter and Cox listened to their customers in Nevada, and the end result was mutually beneficial for the cable operators and their business clients.

Last week, the two announced that they had hooked up a fiber optic communications link between Cox's business customers in Las Vegas and Charter's business customers in Reno and Carson City. While Cox and Charter formed a similar partnership between Cox's Orange County division and Charter's Los Angeles division, the Nevada partnership was a first for that state.

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  — Michael Robuck, Senior Editor, CED

Comcast tops 7B VOD views
By Mike Robuck

Comcast announced that its VOD service has topped more than seven billion views and one billion hours watched since it launched in 2003. Continue

Nielsen, Charter sign deal for STB data
By Mike Robuck

The Nielsen Co. and Charter Communications announced that they have signed an agreement to commercialize the use of anonymous digital STB data for analytical and potential audience measurement purposes for television. Continue

DirecTV gearing up for VOD offering
By Mike Robuck

According to a story in The Wall Street Journal, DirecTV is working on a VOD service of its own that it plans to launch in the second quarter of this year. Continue

Best guess for EchoStar: A mobile TV network
By Brian Santo

The biggest unanswered question ensuing from the FCC's auction of 700 MHz spectrum is what EchoStar is going to do with the airwaves it has licensed. Continue

Verizon beefs up VOD offering
By Mike Robuck

Verizon announced that it has added more programs to its VOD tier with content from CBS, Discovery Channel, Smithsonian Channel and Ovation TV. Continue

TiVo ready to send Web videos to TVs
By Mike Robuck

TiVo announced that its subscribers can now pull in video content from the Internet for viewing on their TVs. Continue

TiVo connects with YouTube for videos on TV
By Mike Robuck

TiVo is jumping into the Internet video space by announcing that it has an agreement with YouTube that will put YouTube videos directly onto TVs. Continue

Concurrent bows new MediaHawk software
By Mike Robuck

Concurrent took the wraps off of its new software for the company's MediaHawk 4500 VOD server. Continue

Chinese cable op chooses Tandberg for VOD, nPVR rollouts
By Mike Robuck

Tandberg Television announced that its OpenStream Digital Services Platform has been picked by Tianjin TEDA Cable TV Network Co. to expand the operator's cable TV offering into VOD and nPVR services. Continue

Motorola puts cash into Invidi
By Brian Santo

Motorola's vencap arm, Motorola Ventures, has made a strategic investment in Invidi Technologies, which specializes in a key area of addressable advertising - identifying and reporting on the demographic characteristics of viewers. Continue

Zenith Media signs on for Nielsen measurement services
By Mike Robuck

Zenith Media Services announced that it has signed on to use a suite of the Nielsen Co.'s measurement tools in order to gain insight into its advertising efforts across the three screens of television, Internet and mobile devices.Continue

Yahoo reaffirms Q1 and full-year 2008 outlook
By Brian Santo

Yahoo revealed a months-old operating plan that predicts an increasingly profitable future. The move was clearly aimed at convincing investors that Yahoo can prosper without being taken over by Microsoft. Continue

AOL drops $850M to pick up Bebo
By Brian Santo

AOL is buying Bebo for $850 million in cash, while Microsoft said it will acquire Rapt. Continue

Google launches beta version of Ad Manager
By Traci Patterson

Google has announced the beta launch of its Google Ad Manager, a new tool for Web publishers. Continue

Cablevision rings up 1B Caller ID on TV messages
By Mike Robuck

Cablevision announced that it has recently surpassed one billion Caller ID on TV messages on its customers' TV screens. Continue

Integra5: Converged services deployments ready for 2nd phase
By Mike Robuck

Integra5 announced today that its i5 Converged Services Platform has been deployed by quad-play IPTV and digital cable provider Panhandle Telephone Cooperative Inc. Continue

ICTV, iPanel ink marketing agreement for Asia-Pacific region
By Mike Robuck

ICTV and iPanel have signed an agreement that was designed to spread the availability of ICTV's ActiveVideo Web-based television technology throughout China and the Asia-Pacific markets. Continue

• Despite on-demand downloads, it's a DVD world after all, reported by The Clarion Ledger.

• New York State bill targets targeted ads, reported by eBrandz.

Company: GridNetworks
Headquarters: Seattle
CEO: Anthony C. Naughtin
URL: gridnetworks.com

Claim to fame: GridNetworks provides managed Internet TV services. Targeted primarily at media and entertainment companies, GridNetworks' GridCasting technology allows media companies to cost-effectively and reliably stream full-screen, HD-quality video content over the Internet.

Recent news of note: Cisco has finally allowed itself to be identified as an investor in GridNetworks. The company held a Series A funding in October, led by Panorama Capital, during which it raised $9.5 million.