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Wednesday, September 18, 2002 |
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• Oceanic debuts interactive apps • Report: Cable still dominates broadband access • Avaya gives N.C. campus network a facelift • Comcast exec. to open Western Show • Rigases seek help with bills
Sometimes sports fans just need a fix. TVN Entertainment believes it has found a way to satisfy this need through a video-on-demand deal with ESPN. Although financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, it gives TVN distribution rights to select ESPN content, including SportsCentury Series, college football, college basketball, boxing, X Games and certain games on a time-shifted basis. ESPN says it committed to the VOD sector. "We believe that video-on-demand will become a significant force in home entertainment over the next several years and sports programming will be a key driver to this business," ESPN vice president of affiliate sales and marketing Sean Bratches said in a statement. The select programming will be available to TVN's cable affiliates beginning Oct. 1. TVN has been busy as of late, signing VOD deals with several content providers. Last month, the company announced it was tapping into the children's VOD market with licensing deals for 18 hours of children's programming. The children's package includes Sesame Street programming from Sesame Workshop, 13 episodes of Backyard Safari from RCN Entertainment and various programs, including Mattel's Barbie in the Nutcracker and The Great Bear Scare from Artisan's Family Home Entertainment label. The package also will include MGM content, including Pink Panther cartoons and Hello Kitty. Related stories:
Oceanic debuts interactive apps Time Warner Cable's Oceanic division is widening its interactive-TV portfolio with deployment of Navic Networks' "Settop Data Services" software to support two new applications. Oceanic, which serves 375,000 cable customers in the Hawaiian Islands, has launched Newton, Mass.-based Navic's audience-polling application to its interactive lineup. The application presents banner strips on viewers' TV screens asking them questions and taking polls during TV programs and advertisements. Viewers reply using their remote controls, and the results are compiled and presented to viewers. The cable system has also launched an addressable advertising application, allowing advertisers to target specific viewer demographics with tailored promotions, interactive offers, links to TV-commerce applications and on-demand content. "By working with Navic to knit together the different threads of our iTV capability, we've created a solid platform for interactive advertising," said MaryAnn Sacharski, director of advertising sales for Oceanic Time Warner Cable, in a release. "It gives advertisers access to a compelling portfolio of new-media opportunities like targeting, interactivity and long-form advertising from the launch point of an existing local cable spot," she added.
Report: Cable still dominates broadband access Cable modems continue to be the access mode of choice for broadband users in the residential and business sectors, but DSL is not too far behind, one analysis says. Roughly 58 percent of broadband customers in the United States get their access via a cable modem, according to research firm The Yankee Group. Second in line, DSL subscribers account for 33 percent of the broadband access pie. Emerging technologies such as satellite and MMDS are wild cards, with low penetration rates, but may start put a dent in the penetration rates of cable and DSL in the near future. "Emerging technologies have the potential to shake up this forecast in the 2004-2007 time frame, however, over the next two to three years, the market share for broadband access technologies is unlikely to change substantially," says Matt Davis, broadband access technologies director at The Yankee Group. In its latest report, dubbed 2002 Broadband Subscriber Forecast, the Yankee Group examines which technologies are winning and losing the battle for market share, and provides a five-year forecast for the overall U.S. broadband subscriber market. Related stories:
Avaya gives N.C. campus network a facelift The University of North Carolina at Wilmington was looking to converge its voice and data networks, and turned to Avaya Inc. to make it happen. Working with Convergion LLC, Avaya took on the task of upgrading the University's communications network to enable the 10,000-student campus to converge its voice and data networks and expand the capabilities of its existing circuit-switched voice applications. The upgrade is based on Avaya's MultiVantage software, a voice application designed to support more than 500 telephony features. The software also enables the implementation of Internet Protocol telephony. For its part, Convergion worked with the State of North Carolina IT Division to redesign the University's local exchange service. In addition to the main campus, the network supports various remote facilities, including the UNCW Center for Marine Science in Myrtle Grove, N.C. and the National Undersea Research Center in Key Largo, Fla. Earlier this week, Avaya announced a $3.9 million deal to upgrade the communication network on the Dwight D. Eisenhower. Avaya will replace the aircraft carrier's current 1,400-port voice communication system with a new 5,000-port network based on a military version of Avaya's Definity Enterprise Communications Server. Avaya's solution will support a variety of transmission protocols-including TDM, ATM, ISDN and IP. The upgrade also will enable the Navy to begin converging the carrier's existing voice and data networks. "One of the University's technology objectives is to evolve toward a 'blended' infrastructure that merges voice, data and even video - giving us the resources we need to support an extended campus and to take a leadership role in providing high-speed access to University community," says William Vereen, UNCW director of telecommunications. Related story:
Comcast exec. to open Western Show BroadbandPlus - The New Western Show will open up with a one-on-one interview with Comcast Corp. President Brian Roberts. Show organizers have yet to reveal what Roberts will be addressing or who will be firing off the questions. Roberts has been tapped to run the newly combined AT&T Comcast unit, once the merger is approved, which will most likely be before the exhibit hall opens for business. Yesterday, the companies announced it had cleared a hurdle. "The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (the HSR Act) applicable to the combination of Comcast Corp. and AT&T Broadband has expired," the cable firms said in a joint statement. "At this time, the HSR Act no longer prohibits the parties from closing the proposed transaction." Several other Comcast executives will be involved in sessions throughout the show, including Mark Hess, Andy Addis, Terry Bienstock and Steve Craddock. Other speakers will include executives from various MSOs, cable programmers and hardware and software providers. On the MSO side, AT&T Broadband's Cameron Gough, Cox Communications' Lynne Elander and Charter Communications' Curt Shaw will also participate. As of yesterday, more than 10 cable programming executives has signed on to speak at a session during the show. The show will run Dec. 3 - 6, 2002 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. As of last week, show organizers had signed up more than 180 companies for its main exhibit hall and the CableLabs CableNET 2002 showcase.
Adelphia Communications Corp.'s former Chief Executive Officer John J. Rigas and three sons who were board members want to use the cable television company's insurance to help pay their legal bills. Rigas and his sons are asking a federal bankruptcy judge to lift a freeze on Adelphia assets and allow them to tap into $ 50 million in directors and officers' insurance policies to cover "several million dollars" of expected bills. Rigas and sons Timothy, James and Michael, face dozens of shareholder suits, a lawsuit by Adelphia and a civil complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission. They also face criminal fraud charges. Adelphia sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June amid more than $ 20 billion of debt.
• Vibrant scores $14.5 million Vibrant Solutions has secured $14.5 million in Series B funding. The company will use the funds to develop new products and expand its global sales and marketing efforts. The company's flagship product, ViewLogic, is designed to provide the telecom industry with an end-to-end cost and revenue management solution. • WAM TV launches arts channel Worldart Media Television (WAM TV) has launched a broadband channel devoted to the arts. The 24/7 channel is a 300kb broadband stream and covers a wide range of original arts content, according to WAM TV. It can be found on the Internet at www.worldart.com. • DivXNetworks creates a certified partner program DivXNetworks Inc. has created a Certified Partner Program to certify companies that are working with DivXNetworks to enable the creation of DivX consumer electronic devices. Texas Instruments, Philips, Equator Technologies and Ingenient Technologies are among the first companies to join the partner program.
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