AT&T taps SeaChange for VOD switch-out

By JEFF BAUMGARTNER
From CED Broadband Direct, August 20, 2002

Add SeaChange International Inc. to the list of video-on-demand vendors to benefit from the demise of Diva Systems Corp.

AT&T Broadband said Tuesday that it has tapped SeaChange to replace its existing VOD systems in the Atlanta and Los Angeles areas. The MSO said it expects to complete the transition by Oct. 31. Financial terms were not disclosed.

AT&T Broadband serves roughly 600,000 basic cable subs in Atlanta and about 500,000 basics in Los Angeles. In the L.A. area, the MSO is featuring Starz! and Showtime content for a subscription-VOD trial in the nearby cities of Westchester and Culver City.

Although the company does not break out how many digital customers it has in each market, it does have a 30 percent digital penetration rate across its national cable footprint.

The MSO has already replaced Diva with iN Demand for its on-demand content aggregation requirements. AT&T Broadband also has announced VOD plans for Pittsburgh and San Francisco, but has not disclosed when those launches will occur or which vendors it will use.

“SeaChange has a long history with AT&T Broadband, with nearly 10 years of success in cable advertising insertion technology and hotel VOD, SeaChange President and CEO Bill Styslinger said, in a press release.

SeaChange also has an established history with Comcast Corp., AT&T Broadband’s pending suitor, having been chosen to supply VOD systems in a spate of Comcast markets, including Alexandria-Arlington, Va.; Baltimore; Chesterfield, Va.; and Philadelphia, among others.

AT&T Broadband is the latest former Diva affiliate to come forward with a VOD system switch-out plan. Charter Communications, a former Diva investor, announced in June that it’s installing nCUBE Corp. gear in several Scientific-Atlanta-based networks and Concurrent Computer Corp. in a spate of networks based on the Motorola Broadband platform.

Insight Communications, which uses the Diva platform in about 10 markets, has yet to announce a replacement video server/system vendor, but has already forged a deal with TVN Entertainment Corp. to supply its on-demand content transport and aggregation system. Charter also has signed a similar deal with TVN.

Diva filed Chapter 11 in late May, and Gemstar-TV Guide International stepped in to acquire Diva’s software and technology assets for about $40 million as part of a pre-packaged bankruptcy deal.