Sezmi launches $20 per month cable/satellite alternative today in L.A.
By Richard Lawler 
posted February 18th 2010 5:27AM
posted February 18th 2010 5:27AM
Sezmi Personal TV Service Now Available in Los Angeles Best Buy Stores
First-Ever All-in-One Service Integrates Live TV, On-Demand Movies and Programs, and Web Video; Breakthrough Pricing Starting at Less Than $5 a Month
BELMONT, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Feb 18, 2010 Sezmi today announced an introductory release of its all-in-one television service, available in the greater Los Angeles area exclusively through Best Buy (NYSE: BBY). The first-of-its-kind personal TV service seamlessly integrates live television, on-demand movies and television shows, and web videos in an easily self-installed system that automatically records, recommends and organizes the favorite shows of each individual member of the family.
People throughout Los Angeles and parts of Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties can purchase the system and sign up for a Sezmi service plan at one of many Best Buy store locations or online through www.bestbuy.com. Los Angeles area residents can determine if their home is within Sezmi's service coverage area at www.sezmi.com.
Buno Pati, co-founder and chief executive officer of Sezmi, said, "Consumers have been clamoring for a better way to view their favorite shows, movies and web videos in a seamless way, and at an affordable price. Today, Sezmi is making that a reality with the first self-installed, all-in-one home television service that delivers leading cable networks live and on-demand with the easiest access to broadcast, on-demand and online entertainment."
"The Sezmi personalized experience makes our rapidly expanding collection of content uniquely accessible and easily discoverable on the primary television screen. Our ability to automatically organize and display content for each individual in the household is a real game changer," said Phil Wiser, co-founder and president of Sezmi.
The Sezmi System can be purchased for $299 and includes an HD Media Recorder that automatically organizes live, recorded, on-demand and online content and can store up to 1,400 hours of programming. It also includes an advanced indoor television reception system for receiving local HD broadcast channels and Sezmi's programming lineup of cable channels. Finally the system includes a remote control featuring personal "mi" buttons for each member of the family to quickly discover and enjoy the programming they care about most.
Flexible Value Pricing for a Next-Generation Service
Sezmi offers two service plans – Select and Select Plus – that deliver a premium, next-generation entertainment experience on a subscription basis and provide access to a large volume of pay-as-you-go movies and TV shows and a large collection of free on-demand content. The difference between the plans is the amount of live and on-demand cable network programming included.
Sezmi Select customers receive local broadcast channels through the Sezmi advanced reception system, including the major broadcast networks such as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, MyNetwork, PBS, Azteca, Telefutura, Telemundo and Univision. Sezmi Select also provides convenient access to a wide selection of local programming, which varies by market but may include sports, weather, ethnic and even children's programming.
Additionally, Sezmi Select includes the rich on-demand store that features thousands of free and pay-as-you-go movies and shows from top studios, including popular television programs, documentaries and blockbuster films, many of which Sezmi features on the same day as the DVD release.
Combined with access to rich Internet content such as YouTube and video podcasts, Sezmi Select is a highly attractive service that meets the needs of a large percentage of the U.S. population at a monthly subscription cost of only $4.99. The Sezmi Select customers also will receive ongoing guide updates, web video additions, and enhancements to the HD Media Recorder.
Sezmi Select Plus Includes Favorite Cable Channels
Sezmi Select Plus provides all of the content and features of Sezmi Select and adds live and on-demand programming from leading cable and broadcast networks for a total monthly subscription price of only $19.99. The cable content lineup features popular cable channels and shows including many choices viewers cannot find in typical television services, resulting from Sezmi's unique ability to seamlessly integrate traditional live programming with emerging broadband digital offerings. As a result, the Sezmi platform gives content providers a new way to offer their entire range of content.
Market Expansion to Begin in Late Spring
The Los Angeles launch marks the first phase of Sezmi's rollout across the U.S. Sezmi plans to make the Select Service available nationwide in the spring of this year. Sezmi is also adding more cable entertainment content to its Select Plus lineup and plans to offer it in additional markets beyond Los Angeles beginning this summer.
First-Ever All-in-One Service Integrates Live TV, On-Demand Movies and Programs, and Web Video; Breakthrough Pricing Starting at Less Than $5 a Month
BELMONT, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Feb 18, 2010 Sezmi today announced an introductory release of its all-in-one television service, available in the greater Los Angeles area exclusively through Best Buy (NYSE: BBY). The first-of-its-kind personal TV service seamlessly integrates live television, on-demand movies and television shows, and web videos in an easily self-installed system that automatically records, recommends and organizes the favorite shows of each individual member of the family.
People throughout Los Angeles and parts of Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties can purchase the system and sign up for a Sezmi service plan at one of many Best Buy store locations or online through www.bestbuy.com. Los Angeles area residents can determine if their home is within Sezmi's service coverage area at www.sezmi.com.
Buno Pati, co-founder and chief executive officer of Sezmi, said, "Consumers have been clamoring for a better way to view their favorite shows, movies and web videos in a seamless way, and at an affordable price. Today, Sezmi is making that a reality with the first self-installed, all-in-one home television service that delivers leading cable networks live and on-demand with the easiest access to broadcast, on-demand and online entertainment."
"The Sezmi personalized experience makes our rapidly expanding collection of content uniquely accessible and easily discoverable on the primary television screen. Our ability to automatically organize and display content for each individual in the household is a real game changer," said Phil Wiser, co-founder and president of Sezmi.
The Sezmi System can be purchased for $299 and includes an HD Media Recorder that automatically organizes live, recorded, on-demand and online content and can store up to 1,400 hours of programming. It also includes an advanced indoor television reception system for receiving local HD broadcast channels and Sezmi's programming lineup of cable channels. Finally the system includes a remote control featuring personal "mi" buttons for each member of the family to quickly discover and enjoy the programming they care about most.
Flexible Value Pricing for a Next-Generation Service
Sezmi offers two service plans – Select and Select Plus – that deliver a premium, next-generation entertainment experience on a subscription basis and provide access to a large volume of pay-as-you-go movies and TV shows and a large collection of free on-demand content. The difference between the plans is the amount of live and on-demand cable network programming included.
Sezmi Select customers receive local broadcast channels through the Sezmi advanced reception system, including the major broadcast networks such as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, MyNetwork, PBS, Azteca, Telefutura, Telemundo and Univision. Sezmi Select also provides convenient access to a wide selection of local programming, which varies by market but may include sports, weather, ethnic and even children's programming.
Additionally, Sezmi Select includes the rich on-demand store that features thousands of free and pay-as-you-go movies and shows from top studios, including popular television programs, documentaries and blockbuster films, many of which Sezmi features on the same day as the DVD release.
Combined with access to rich Internet content such as YouTube and video podcasts, Sezmi Select is a highly attractive service that meets the needs of a large percentage of the U.S. population at a monthly subscription cost of only $4.99. The Sezmi Select customers also will receive ongoing guide updates, web video additions, and enhancements to the HD Media Recorder.
Sezmi Select Plus Includes Favorite Cable Channels
Sezmi Select Plus provides all of the content and features of Sezmi Select and adds live and on-demand programming from leading cable and broadcast networks for a total monthly subscription price of only $19.99. The cable content lineup features popular cable channels and shows including many choices viewers cannot find in typical television services, resulting from Sezmi's unique ability to seamlessly integrate traditional live programming with emerging broadband digital offerings. As a result, the Sezmi platform gives content providers a new way to offer their entire range of content.
Market Expansion to Begin in Late Spring
The Los Angeles launch marks the first phase of Sezmi's rollout across the U.S. Sezmi plans to make the Select Service available nationwide in the spring of this year. Sezmi is also adding more cable entertainment content to its Select Plus lineup and plans to offer it in additional markets beyond Los Angeles beginning this summer.
"Sezhu?"
"Sezmi!"
@MastrCake haha :,)
I'm always skeptical of service offers with a huge initial investment. Pay $300 upfront so you can subscribe for $20/mo? No, thanks.
The way the technology is moving, this company could be either out of business in 6 months or something much better will come along. No need to tie yourself to some system where you get screwed out of 3 bills just to get in the game.
The headline should read "Sezmi launches $300 box that lets you subscribe to TV channels and youtube with a monthly fee"
@(Unverified) If $300 is a "huge" initial investment, I agree that you should pass. $20 a month is probably less than most of us pay any cable provider. Of course, I haven't lived with the device so I can't comment on execution or quality.
@(Unverified)
This is generally true. I will say that I have Ooma which required a substantial up-front cost ($250+$100 for the Premier service). I'm now about 9 months into my investment and it has already paid itself back.
In some cases, a large up-front acquisition cost is justifiable.
+1 internets for Buy More/Chuck reference!
I'm intrigued. As someone who doesn't care enough about TV to pay $100+/mo for cable I might be interested in this just for CNN/Fox News.
I wonder how they deliver the OTA streams, is it satellite (2GHz like Sirius XM) or local repeaters? I can't imagine they have the ability to build out a national presence in 6 months.
I am quite interested in something like this if it goes nation-wide and turns out to be 1/2 decent.
I currently refuse to waste money on cable TV. Hell I would barely turn my TV on at all if it wasn't for XBox or watching movies. However I still get about 10 or so digital local channels using rabbit ears and a convert box so if I could get some decent premium channels for only $20/mo I'd be all over that.
The key for me is if it gets channels like Discovery, History or Comedy Central.
My TV is already effectively $20/month. My FIOS TV + Internet package is $89.99 but if I drop TV, my internet goes to $69.99. Granted there are cablecard fees on top of that ($12/month). But the sezmi service is lacking significantly when it comes to channel choices & HD content compared to FIOS.
@scyber
$12 a month for a cable card? What? Most places it's between $1-3 per card. Sounds like price gouging to me.
@(Unverified)
3 Cablecards at VZ's $3.99/month rate.
From what I can tell from their site and the review at CES, it's mainly a DVR system to combine everything you already have and adds a bit more to it with their OTA channels.
I don't know how they'll manage broadcasting premium channels OTA, which is the only value-added item in this package. I already get YouTube with my Wii and Blu-ray player.
Where I live, surrounded by hills and mountains, I get nothing OTA and even satellite reception is so-so, so this will probably be of no use to me. LA people should love it.
from their site "Sezmi's local and cable television programming is broadcast over a nationwide digital television network capable of providing the highest quality HD video in the market, with resolution up to 1080p."
how on earth are they accomplishing building an entirely new broadcast network without eating into all the available broadcast frequencies? what tech are they using to broadcast? find out engadget!
@willowtwf they lease spectrum from existing stations in the market. One of the carrots the gov't handed out to broadcasters to get the ATSC transition done was the promise of additional revenue streams through multicasting and/or ancillary services. With a minimum of compression, stations can push out one HD channel and a couple of other SD channels, or up to 6 SD streams (the ION affiliate in our market is pushing 4 decent quality streams).
So far, few of these revenue streams have materialized, a full year after the first wave of stations shut off their analog transmitters. Sezmi is a lot like the failed U.S. Digital, which also provided "cable-like" services using leased spectrum. USD was just a little early to the table; this could take off in a big way once customers realize that they can save big bucks and get the shows they watch the most (big 4 affiliates) at significantly higher quality than satellite or cable subscribers can offer. For households with fast broadband (especially FTTH), good digital coverage, and one primary HDTV set (which describes quite a few homes in the US, and more are getting there all the time) this is an excellent alternative to paying Comcast for the privilege of skipping through pages of niche channels that you'll never tune in anyway.
@willowtwf
Sezmi is using spectrum from four L.A.-area TV stations: KOCE (a PBS member station in Huntington Beach, Calif.), KRCA (a Spanish-language station owned by Liberman Broadcasting), KAZA (owned by Pappas Telecasting and affiliated with Azteca America) and KDOC (an unaffiliated station owned by Ellis Communications).
@nefnet13... Our market (Virginia Beach/Norfolk) had USDTV. They leased spectrum from a couple of stations in the market (including two digital LPTVs).
Sezmi receivers are using MPEG2 to receive the free ATSC OTA signals and if it uses MPEG4 for the scrambled signal from a local station, it could possibly get 6 SD channels from say 3~4Mbps of leased bandwidth.
Sezmi is offering 15 SD "cable" channels. I wonder how many TV stations in LA are leasing their spectrum to Sezmi???
@Tammacho Are the scrambled signals MPEG2 or MPEG4???
I've had a Sezmi for a couple of months. The company offers great service. Their big selling point is the ability to customize an individual's tv experience. But there is a learning curve. Example: the remote has no numeric keypad. Instead, you are supposed to teach the system what you like to watch and then simply select from your menu. Sounds great, but I'm not finding it that convenient.
The initial setup was not easy enough to roll out to a mass market. This is especially the case if your tv and internet connections are not in the same place--as is my situation. To their credit, Sezmi sent me out a wireless internet "home plug." I wish that I could say that it was an instant and simple solution, but it wasn't, due to no fault of Sezmi. It took many tries to find a location in the house where the broadcast reception and "home plug" internet worked. I've got the unit working along side my FIOS TV and have used it off and on.
Unlike FIOS (and every other wired system) Sezmi is a single TV solution. Sezmi's solution will be to require the purchase of as many DVR/Receivers as needed, but only to charge a single subscription fee for those multiple boxes. So...that means a $900 startup cost for our home. It may be cheaper over time so long as a) the company stays in business, b) the price doesn't change c) the equipment that you own doesn't fail....
I really want Sezmi to work. We need competitors to the current providers, especially if they can find a way to make it less expensive by eliminating the need for expensive wired infrastructure. We pay nearly $200 per month for a FIOS bundle (TV, Internet, Phone) with no premium channels. With my kids getting half of their "media" from the net, I'm not sure we or FIOS can justify their monthly fees (and substandard DVR--though that is another subject entirely!)
@jkaplb why don't you just switch to DISH? its much cheaper and you get all the channels you watch for a fraction of the price. and then based on where you live you can get DSL Internet and a basic phone line. We have a basic phone line for like 5 bucks a month and we all use our cell phones for long distance and talk for free because all my cousins and uncles have AT&T. So pay like 60 bucks total for TV, INternet and Home phone, and then 100 for the cell phone plan.
@jkaplb I'm confused, are they actually sending cable TV over the air to that specialized antenna, or are they just giving you access to a specialized video player for each network that offers it?
@jkaplb
I'm also a part of the pilot program, and thought I'd chime in. I have been using an antenna for the last six years, stubbornly refusing to shell out the cash for either satellite or cable. When I heard about the free three month pilot for Sezmi, it seemed like a no brainer.
Like jkaplb, I think the service is really great. The whole personalization concept is pretty interesting. Me and my wife have our own buttons. When I press my button, it'll only show me recorded shows that I chose to record, and in certain views it'll only show the channels that I have designated as my favorite. For each of us it also provides recommendations for shows (usually already recorded). 1TB is a ton of space, I have gone a little nuts and already have over 200 episodes of shows recorded (not sure how to tell how full it is though). The interface and remote do have some quirks though. As mentioned, there are no numbers on the remote, so jumping straight to the channel you want becomes more difficult. Getting to live TV is not as simple as I'd like, I wish there was a live TV button. I wish I knew more about how it records; for example, I think I've created some recording conflicts, and I'm not certain how they're resolved.
It's probably worth mentioning that they just rolled out an update to the software, improving the software's functionality and speed. It's possible they make more improvements in the future.
Overall, I think the experience is good, but what appeals to me most is the monthly price. $20 a month to me is a very palatable price. I may even opt for the $5 local channel plan. Coming from OTA, I do not miss the extra channels that other services offer (although I wish it had ESPN!), and adding DVR functionality to my home has been really awesome.
I do worry that the $300 starting cost might deter a lot of people. I think half that (the price pilot people get) would the sweet spot for this thing to take off. I would like to see Sezmi succeed, I really hope they don't mess this up!
@jkaplb But this is a single tuner box, right? I mean, a 1TB disk is great, but I need four tuners to make this box useful. The hardware/service package sounds great, $300 is about what a TiVo appliance costs, and for $7 per month more than a TiVo subscription, you get USA, TNT, SyFy, and others. Comcast and Time Warner will be in some deep poop if this launches in Kansas City.
I think i'll stick to DISH HD.. only 30 bucks a month for 60 channels plus locals.
If I can have HBO and Discovery HD, ill do it!
I wanted to get in on the beta; I talked to them for a while and figured out that their NDA might actually conflict with some consulting work I do for the networks here.
Seems like a good idea. The problem, I think, is HDTV reception. Here in West LA (along with Santa Monica and every other city on the westside), I'm over 20 miles from Mt. Wilson where I get my HDTV signals. I can only get about 50% of the channels I should be able to get. That means if they're using unused bandwidth from the same transmitters, I'm not going to get half of what I'm paying for. Yes, I can get more if I put up an external antenna, but that's not an option for everyone - and probably not an option for many people for whom this might be a good system.
@KillerOrca - the network content is over the air. They're encrypting an HDTV signal on unused bandwidth leased from existing transmitters.
@Tammacho
I'm in West LA as well, and part of the pilot program. I was initially skeptical about the OTA component, as I have tried at least three antennas prior to getting Sezmi and likewise have not been able to receive even 50% of the channels. Since the digital transition it has gotten worse for some reason, and I can only receive ABC. I was extremely happy to find out that I get all of the major channels using Sezmi's equipment. I have since relegated the antenna to a closet (in the top story of an apt building), and reception is still very good, with only very occasional digital static.
I should also add that Sezmi in at least one case seems to be working to make reception better for people. Apparently, some people (not me) were having trouble receiving Fox. They somehow worked with Fox to provide an extra Fox HD channel (11-3) for those people (originating from a different place possibly?). So it seems that if they identify reception issues people are having, they do have avenues to try to fix them.
@Daniel Cool. Thanks for the tip.
What we really need to do is regulate the industry again and force the companies to charge a flat rate of $20 a month for basic cable and $5 each for the premium channels (hbo/cinemax etc). Also make it illegal to pass along the taxes and fees that they have passed along to us in the last few years. The only reason that people pay these fees is because there is no real competition. Dish network won't give you HD tv unless you get standard tv on half of your televisions without a box.... I know, I had them for a short amount of time. and OTA doesn't get the pay stations. So people are basically stuck until the game really changes and is easy enough to use for people that they can push a button and get their content. I, for one, will drop my cable company as soon as there is an economical alternative that is simple to use and reliable without some setup that requires a pc, while still allowing me to get on demand, HBO, showtime, starz, etc., without being ripped off by a company for the service that used to cost $20 a month when it was rolled out.
@Griffin
I use that same logic for buying all my things.
I haven't bought groceries in years because things are more expensive today than they were 30 years ago when I started buying groceries. I also no longer have a house, car, take public transportation, or visit sporting events as these all have experienced significant price increases over the years.
I've always wondered why Netflix never thought of adding a service like this, or if they have, why they haven't implemented it yet. Were Netflix to offer cable TV via their service through a Roku box, or especially through the Xbox 360, I would so pay them more money per month for a service like that.