TV Everywhere Has Come To Xbox Live, But Who Will Let You See It?
With HBO’s new video teaser for the April 1 launch of its HBO Go service on Xbox Live, the big question is: Which of the top cable, satellit… Read more at paidContent »
Why Aren't More People Cutting The Cord? Regional Sports Networks
This week, Major League Soccer introduced updated apps that let fans stream 230 live pro soccer games next season on iOS and Android mobile… Read more at paidContent »
Cord Cutting Can Wait: Subscription TV Added 343,000 Subs in Q4
Correction: A previous version of this story reported an increase of 343 million subs. We apologize for the error.
With the rise of Netflix… Read more at paidContent »
Comcast to offer smart thermostat service via EcoFactor
Cable giant Comcast plans to offer a smart thermostat and energy efficiency service to its Xfinity customers via startup EcoFactor. Read more »
Why Canoe Abandoned Ship With Interactive TV Ads
photo: Shutterstock / Oleg Zabielin
An ambitious effort by the cable industry to create unified standards for targeted and interactive television advertising has failed, the vi… Read more at paidContent »
Comcast gives subscribers one more reason to quit Netflix
Comcast is rolling out a new streaming on-demand offering called Xfinity Streampix, which will bring more library content to subscribers that pay for its high-end double- and triple-play packages. That could give subscribers less of a reason to also pay for Netflix or Hulu Plus. Read more »
Legislators aim to turn states into broadband backwaters
Regressive, telco industry-influenced state legislators are at it again, trying to kill communities’ right to determine their own broadband futures. Anti-community broadband bills are rearing their ugly heads in several states. Can SOPA-style protests help? Read more »
Comcast’s 17,000 Lost Cable Subs In Q4 Is Its Lowest Drop In 5 Years
photo: AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac
The bleeding has finally slowed for Comcast’s cable business. Reporting its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings Wednesday, the Philadelphi… Read more at paidContent »
When does sharing become stealing?
TV Everywhere is giving people access to content they are not actually paying for. I know, because I’m one of them. The question is whether that is stealing — and if it is, is there anything that cable companies can actually do about it? Read more »
Stub Rub: Does Exclusivity Hinder Sales Of Movie Tickets Online?
Besides the typical $1 to $2 broker fee, one of the factors limiting the growth of the online movie-ticket selling business has been its com… Read more at paidContent »
Verizon’s cable spectrum mashup: evil genius or simply genius?
Congress is eyeing the competitive implications of Verizon’s $4 billion deals to buy spectrum from the cable companies. Much like those of us at GigaOM, they are wondering if this is a cease-fire in terms of broadband competition in the air and on the ground. Read more »
Verizon, Comcast double team AT&T in Bay Area battle
The country’s largest mobile operator and largest cable provider bringing their “quadruple play” service to San Francisco and the Bay Area, jointly marketing Comcast residential TV and broadband and Verizon mobile service. In the process, they’re poking a needle in the eye of mutual enemy AT&T. Read more »
Apple to buy Hollywood? Not a chance.
Could Apple spend its $100 billion in cash to create a virtual cable operator to compete with Comcast and the like? Sure. But it would have a really hard time offering a competitively priced service and building a profitable business out of it. Read more »
The continued decline of DSL
From 1990s through 2011, DSL, a broadband technology, had a strong run at large phone companies in America. Now it is falling behind cable broadband and fiber. The latest data from Verizon, AT&T and Time Warner Cable points to its declining fortunes. Read more »
Carriers Have Only Around 100 Million Pay-TV Users, Less Than 60% Via IPTV
photo: Shutterstock / alexmillos
Some numbers out today that underscore the challenge telecoms operators have had in attracting customers to their pay-TV platforms, includin… Read more at paidContent »
If Comcast can’t make it in the wireless biz, who can?
Comcast claims it tried but failed to build a wireless business multiple times before it sold out to Verizon. Assuming Comcast is being honest, its failure has big implications for U.S. mobile competition. If Comcast can’t make wireless work, what hope is there for a newcomer? Read more »
Subscriber Content
Q4 Wrap-up: SOPA and the future of digital content
From SOPA to Microsoft’s expanded Xbox live platform to cloud-based content storage from Apple and Google, the fourth quarter in consumer electronics and media was all about the continued battle for digital living room dominance. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Cuban Teams With Seacrest, AEG To Relaunch HDNet as 'ESPN For Pop Culture'
photo: Flickr / Staci D. Kramer
Struggling for leverage with cable distributors as the operator of an independent network, Mark Cuban may have found a way forward for one o… Read more at paidContent »
Comcast is the fastest broadband provider in the U.S.
Comcast, the Philadelphia-based cable company, was the fastest broadband service provider in the U.S., according to Ookla, a broadband speed test company. In fact, Comcast and its cable industry peers trounced the phone companies when it came to download speeds. Read more »
After Starting Streaming Race, Starz Now Lags Behind HBO And Showtime
The evolution of premium cable TV beyond the living room took another step this week, with Showtime introducing a streaming app to rival HBO… Read more at paidContent »
Comcast’s new set-top streams live TV to DLNA devices
One DVR to rule them all? In addition to bringing Comcast’s new cloud-based user interface to subscriber homes, the Xcalibur set-top box includes DLNA Premium Video, which will allow users to access live and recorded TV from tablets, PCs, connected TVs and other devices. Read more »
Comcast Starts Live In-Home Streaming; Requires New 'AnyPlay' Device
Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) has started in-home streaming but it’s not quite live video Valhalla. Streaming access to the Xfinity TV linear lineup… Read more at paidContent »
Another nail in the set-top coffin
The latest evidence that the set-top box will soon be dead comes from Samsung and DirecTV, which have partnered. Set-top boxless viewing will enable operators to provide the same user interface on the TV without the need for another piece of hardware. Read more »
Comcast’s AnyPlay brings live TV to the iPad
Comcast is finally making live TV available on the iPad. But unlike other operators, it’s not just making those streams available directly through an app: Customers who wish to take advantage of the live offering will need an extra set of equipment to make it work. Read more »
The latest to target the smart energy home: Time Warner Cable
The 2012 CES show hasn’t even officially kicked off and already the smart energy home has emerged as a key target for a variety of sectors, including telcos, big box retailers, startups, chip companies and now cable operators like Time Warner Cable. Read more »
Disney, Comcast And Why TV Everywhere Alone Is Not Enough
photo: Shutterstock / Angela Waye
Yesterday’s press release from Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA), announcing a comprehensive new ten-year distribution agreement… Read more at paidContent »
Disney-Comcast Strike Broad Cross-Platform Content Deal
Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) Xfinity TV subscribers stymied by the lack of access to iPad app WatchESPN have relief in sight: a new multi-year, cro… Read more at paidContent »
Comcast strikes deal to bring ABC, Disney & ESPN to all screens
Comcast struck a new agreement with Disney that gives it access to a wide range of content from ABC, Disney and ESPN networks across a number of screens and platforms. The 10-year deal also stipulates that the companies will collaborate on developing applications for new devices. Read more »
What's Coming In 2012: The Age Of Ubiquity (For Some)
photo: Boston Globe
This is the last in a series of posts that highlighted key people, companies and trends to watch in 2012 in the sectors we cover most, from… Read more at paidContent »
Subscriber Content
Connected Consumer 2012: A year of consolidation and integration
Call it the year of lessons learned, if not quite bubbles burst. In 2011, several trends in the connected consumer space that appeared inexorable at the start of the year seemed disorganized by the end. What does that mean for the next 12 months? From cloud-based media storage to daily deals to the fight for the digital living room, 2012 will be a year of consolidation and integration. Both entrepreneurs and investors will figure out that many once-promising standalone business models need to be grounded on more solid, integrated platforms to create real value. Companies mentioned in this report include Hulu, LivingSocial, Netflix and Zynga. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Verizon Hit With DOJ Investigation Over Spectrum Deals With Cable Companies
Now it’s Verizon’s turn in the government spotlight. The U.S. Department of Justice plans to look into the recent deals that the wireless co… Read more at paidContent »
Can Tom Rutledge bring innovation back to Charter?
Charter Communications picked up one of the hardest-working men in the cable business when it named Tom Rutledge as its CEO. And it couldn’t have come at a more critical time, as Charter faces consumer demand for TV Everywhere and increasing competition from streaming services. Read more »
Feds Fine Comcast CEO $500K For Stock Reporting Violations
The Federal Trade Commission announced today Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) CEO Brian L. Roberts has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle charges that he… Read more at paidContent »
Hey, speed demons! San Francisco to get a gig!
Sonic.net, an independent ISP in San Francisco, plans to roll out a gigabit network to the city, putting the hub of today’s tech and web community on equal footing with Chattanooga, Tenn., and eventually both sides of Kansas City, where Google plans to lay fiber. Read more »
If Netflix Is In Play, Here's Some Companies That Would Be In The Hunt
Verizon is getting its full turn in the rumor mill. Last week, word had it that Verizon is looking to launch an OTT subscription service. Ne… Read more at paidContent »
TV Traction: BBC Gets Comcast Leap, Al Jazeera Relies On Online
Two of the biggest global news brands are gaining a bigger U.S. foothold – but, while one has finally broken in to the TV mainstream, the ot… Read more at paidContent »
Subscriber Content
Want to watch TV? There’s an app for that
With the rollout of its massive Xbox Live update, Microsoft has made a strong bid for the pole position in the digital living room. And with dozens of new programming partners also included with the update, the company now offers perhaps the most comprehensive, versatile and ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Post Its $3.6 Billion Cable Deal, Verizon Puts Brakes On FiOS Expansion
Last week, Verizon announced a $3.6 billion deal to buy wireless spectrum from cable operators and resell their pay-TV services. This week,… Read more at paidContent »
Will 2012 be the year of the virtual MSO? Don’t bet on it
Virtual MSOs might start appearing as soon as next year, according to BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield. But any streaming offering that emerges is unlikely to be priced less than $50, which means even if they do launch, the potential market is likely to be limited. Read more »
Verizon cutting wireline, DirecTV ties as it shacks up with cable
Verizon’s blockbuster deal with the major cable operators has made casualties of its future residential broadband expansion plans and its partnership with DirecTV. Verizon is wasting little time in embracing its rivals Comcast and Time Warner and overturning the competitive dynamics of the residential broadband industry. Read more »
