FLO TV at an End?
Posted by Steve Fravel on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 · 
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Citing low subscriber growth during the first three years of operations, Qualcomm is said to be looking closely at options for its FLO TV division. Those options may include selling the division outright, selling the spectrum or finding a partner that can modify the business and take it in a new direction.
Qualcomm reportedly invested $683 million to acquire the wireless spectrum necessary to provide the FLO TV service. FLO TV provides ESPN, ABC, CNN, CBS and Comedy Central among the approximately 20 live channels carried. It is not a nationwide service, though it is available in most major cities around the country.
Disney Pays $763 Million for Social Games
Posted by Steve Fravel on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 · ·
According to observers, the social gaming business is booming. Disney’s initial payment of $563.2 million places the Walt Disney Co. squarely into social gaming as the largest Hollywood operator. The deal is reportedly structured to include additional payments of nearly $200 million should Playdom achieve significant undisclosed growth benchmarks.
The concept uses simple games that include ”virtual retail” opportunities for players to purchase everything from clothing and spa visits to refreshments for their game characters. Playdom is one of a group of game developers that are part of the rapid expansion of social game growth in network environments like Facebook.
Alcatel-Lucent Intros IPTV Solution for Small Telcos
Posted by Jesse Ward on Friday, July 23, 2010 · ·
Alcatel-Lucent is targeting small telcos with the release of a compact IPTV solution, powered by Microsoft Mediaroom, which can scale from 1,000 to 100,000 set-top boxes. The solution provides high-quality television programming, and also enables new services through the blending and personalization of Web and broadcast content.
Alcatel-Lucent’s Integrated Solution for Microsoft Mediaroom is a substantially modified version of an existing solution that the company has previously deployed in more than 25 large networks globally. The new solution, based on Microsoft’s Mediaroom Hyper-V architecture, includes a unique design that can support more than three times as many households, while using a smaller number of servers. Read more
AT&T Reaches Agreement with Rainbow Media
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, July 19, 2010 · ·
AT&T U-verse announced last Thursday that it reached a new carriage deal with Rainbow Media.
Rainbow, part of Cablevision Systems, owns AMC, IFC and WE tv. The agreement with U-verse expired July 1, but was extended another 14 days for negotiations.
“We are happy to report that AMC, IFC and WE tv will remain on AT&T U-verse,” AT&T said in a statement. “We’re very satisfied that we were able to reach the fair deal we wanted for our customers – one that includes the right content, across platforms, at prices that are in line with the marketplace, and that helps us with important strategic content initiatives. We are very grateful to our customers for their support.”
Rainbow also released a statement: “We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with AT&T for AMC, WE tv, IFC and Sundance Channel that truly recognizes the value of our networks. We look forward to continuing our partnership with AT&T and are excited to continue to bring their subscribers our award-winning programming, including the new season of AMC’s Mad Men on Sunday, July 25.”
VOTW: Boxee Readies Set-top Box
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, July 19, 2010 · ·
And last but not least, our video of the week (VOTW). Boxee, software that allows users to watch movies and TV shows from the Web on a television, is putting the final touches on its new set-top box. In this video, Zach Klein, who oversees design at Boxee, discusses the STB and the production methods the company is using to make it. Zach tells us that the device will be on retail shelves in late October/early November. D-Link is builing the box, which is expected to go on sale for around $200.
90% of Network TV Shows Available for Free Online
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, July 15, 2010 · ·
Approximately 90% of network TV episodes are available online, but taken down after six weeks or less, this according an exhaustive study performed by online video search site Clicker.
Clicker’s study includes shows that came online at any point during the fall or spring seasons from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and The CW. Clicker narrowed its focus to free streaming only—the study does not include paid downloads or video on demand (VoD) streaming from Netflix, Amazon or iTunes. Clicker determined that a surprisingly high percentage of episodes on broadcast TV were made available on ad-supported video websites. Read more
NY Times Profiles ‘Big TV Brawls’
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, July 12, 2010 · ·
The New York Times published an interesting article yesterday which highlights the escalating programming war between content providers and carriers – and the simultaneous conflict for subscriber eye balls between telcos and cable providers.
Over the weekend Verizon took aim at Time Warner Cable, noting that Time Warner’s contract with Disney – supplier of ESPN, ABC and the Disney Channel – will expire on September 2. Verizon ran two high-profile ads which urged customers to preemptively switch to Verizon’s FiOS service to retain programming. Read more
