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Cablevision adds HGTV, Food Network to HD lineup
There's been a rash of new HD announcements coming from all over the cable landscape lately, and now it's Cablevision's turn. The provider has added the HD-flavors of HGTV and Food Network to the lineup across its entire network. The new goodies will show up on channels 730 and 766, respectively. This double-dose of "lifestyle" programming arrives just in time for the holidays and brings Cablevision's iO TV HD tally to 44. Sure, the number lags behind that of HD-count leader DirecTV, but it's nothing to shake a stick at. But we'd really like to see Cablevision use up a more substantial portion of the that 500 HD channel capacity!
Cablevision expands HD lineup with CNN HD
Hot on the heels of Charter's decision to add The Weather Channel HD, Cablevision is claiming that its users will be able to check out CNN in high-definition. Reportedly, CNN HD will be the operator's 42nd HD "service" available to customers, and it's being made available to everyone gratis on iO TV channel 725. John Trierweiler, Cablevision's senior vice president of product management, boasted that the firm's HD lineup has "nearly doubled in size over the last year," but unfortunately, he didn't throw out any wild claims for the future for us to hold 'em to.
Cablevision adds Voom HD channels, could have up to 500 more
In addition to recently adding Versus and Golf in high definition, Cablevision has also added all fifteen of Voom's high-def channels to its lineup, giving them a total of 40 HD channels. As longtime readers know, Cablevision owns the parent company for Voom, so we should be more surprised it took them so long to add the content. Cablevision is also beefing up its fiber optic network to call satellite provider DirecTV's bluff, creating a claimed capacity of up to 500 channels by the end of the year. As we've said many times, DirecTV can claim they will have more channels than anyone, but other companies can add those same HD channels, all it takes is some upgrading or new set-top boxes. So, even though it's still up in the air whether there will actually be 100 HD channels by year's end, the good news for all consumers is that cable -- and IPTV -- providers aren't taking this lying down.
Cablevision picks up Versus, Golf Channel in HD
Following directly in the footsteps of Comcast, it looks like Cablevision has become the next carrier to add Versus HD and Golf Channel HD to its high-definition lineup. Additionally, the deal moves Golf from Cablevision's $4.95-per-month sports tier package to its iO digital lineup. Interestingly, the company's CEO even mentioned that a whopping "80-percent of its cable subscribers were embracing digital television," but neglected to mention the concentration of paying HD customers. So while hockey may be a good ways off at this point, the Cablevision golfers in the crowd will have a lot to look at in the upcoming months.
Switched On: Hollywood's remote control turns revenue off
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: Last week's Switched On compared two devices that only peripherally compete with each other today, but which represent different approaches to acquiring TV shows. In a fit of serendipity, the arrival of the Apple TV occurred just as Cablevision's remote DVR service (RS-DVR) got the smackdown from a U.S. District Court. I am not a lawyer, but I can understand the rationale. RS-DVR is a video equivalent of the music locker service that MP3.com tried at the beginning of 2000. A CNET article written slightly after that service's launch noted: MP3.com admits that it has created a database of some 45,000 unlicensed CDs that it serves through its My.MP3.com accounts. But company executives argue that it is toeing the legal line by offering tracks under the "fair use" exemption of the copyright law, which allows consumers to make copies for personal use. Now, substitute "Cablevision" for "MP3.com, "TV shows" for "45,000 unlicensed CDs," and "RS-DVR service" for "My.MP3.com accounts." Cablevision's legal defense differed from that of MP3.com's, though. Trying to leverage the established legality of DVRs, it claimed to offer the equivalent of a legally protected DVR device, whereas the court found that RS-DVR was a service -- not a device. Consumers lose because RS-DVR could have enabled cheaper deployment not only of basic virtual DVR service but of long-delayed advances such as virtual multi-room DVR. Which, interestingly, brings us back to Apple TV.
Cablevision loses networked DVR case
Cablevision once had dreams of keeping all your recorded shows on a network-based DVR system, which would have kept them from having to send boxes to all their subscribers. Then Hollywood and the TV networks stepped in with the lawyers last May, and here we are today, with a ruling that this would have broken copyright rules by effectively "rebroadcasting" the programs. The cable operator is considering an appeal, although Scientific Atlanta, Motorola, TiVo, and other DVR manufacturers are likely relieved that their revenue streams are firmly intact.
Cablevision adds Discovery HD Theater and National Geographic HD
Finally. We had no idea that any HD provider nationwide didn't offer Discovery HD Theater as part of their high-def lineup. Simply amazing. This was that station HD was created for. High definition and Discovery goes together like Steve Job and black turtlenecks. Anyways, the station along with National Geographic HD is now available on Cablevision's nationwide network. They say that the channels have been added with no additional cos so check 'em out on channel 727 for Discovery and 726 for National Geo HD if you happen to have Cablevision.
Life/Style IPTV content jumps to WNBC New York
New York's WNBC is well-known for its pioneering attitude towards high definition, and just like it broke new ground by delivering the local news to viewers in crisp HD, the channel is making waves again by offering up made-for-IPTV content on one of its digital channels. Not too long after seeing made-for-mobile content heading to the tube, Life/Style Television, an IPTV channel that caters to "affluent consumers," will soon be making the leap to broadcast television as well. The channel's original series, "LX.TV 1ST/LOOK: NYC," will be beamed out OTA on WNBC 4.4; additionally, cable customers will be able to catch the daily half hour show by tuning in on Time Warner, Comcast, or Cablevision. The program, which will introduce completely new episodes on a weekly basis, will take viewers around various NYC hotspots, and include first-hand experience with "nightlife, restaurants, shopping, kids activities, and fitness and wellness destinations." So if you're anxious to take on the city, but don't exactly feel like fighting the bustling crowds, you can tune in at 8:00AM, 11:00PM, or 2:00AM to catch the fresh programming.
Verizon FiOS hitting 50Mbps in more states
Sure, it's not quite 100Mpbs, but hey, the folks in Massachusetts and Rhode Island will probably take what they can get. Verizon has just announced that Massachusetts and Rhode Island have now joined New York, Connecticut and New Jersey as states where Verizon "has increased the maximum connection speed of both its mid-tier and top-tier FiOS Internet services." Previously, their mid-range connection topped out at 15Mbps downstream and a paltry 2Mbps upstream, while the high-end package offered just 30Mbps up and 5Mbps down. Basically no other details were given, but Verizon did state that it planned on bringing similar speed boosts to "11 other states where the service is available" during the course of this year, but didn't mention any type of price decreases from the admittedly lofty monthly charges top-tier customers currently pay. Now, how about we get FiOS to more homes before giving all the lucky ones even more bandwidth to play with next time you get the itch to upgrade, okay Verizon?[Via GigaOM]
Cable giants being sued for VOD patent infringement
If nothing else, you've got to admire the tenacity of a Connecticut-based firm called USA Video Interactive, which just days after losing what seems to be a final appeal in its lawsuit against Movielink, decided to go after almost all of the country's major cable operators for supposedly infringing on the same patent. Comcast, Cox, Charter, and Time Warner (disclosure: Time Warner owns the company that owns the network that includes Engadget) are all named in a suit filed Tuesday in a U.S. District Court in Texas by USA Video (maybe Cablevision got spared because of all its other legal woes), which claims that like Movielink, the cable giants are violating its so-called Store-and-Forward Video-on-Demand patent (#5,130,792, filed in 1990) by using protected technology in their own VOD services. Besides making patents, the company also offers various products revolving around email, web tools, digital video watermarking, and content delivery infrastructure, so it's probably not appropriate to bunch it in with other lawsuit-happy -- but seemingly less legitimate -- claimants such as NTP and Visto.[Via TechWeb and Digital Media Thoughts]
Cablevision postpones networked DVR
Under heavy pressure in the form of a lawsuit filed by nearly all of TV land's major content providers, industry giant Cablevision has announced that it will delay the rollout of its networked DVR offering until the service's legality is confirmed in court. The lawsuit, filed by the four key networks and their parent studios, claims that Cablevision's plan to store customers' recorded swag on their own servers as opposed to local set-top boxes constitutes a retransmission of copyrighted material, and therefore violates pre-existing agreements the company has with its providers. Cablevision, on the other hand, argues that networked DVR services are only facilitating "fair-use" of their broadcasts by consumers, who have already paid for any programs they intend to record. The outcome of this suit will be closely monitored by other players in the cable industry as well, because a victory for Cablevision would allow Cox, Comcast, et al. to begin offering their own remote storage -- good news for consumers, but perhaps bad news for our old friend TiVo.
More networks suing Cablevision over networked DVR
Trouble is brewing in TV land, and the stakes couldn't be higher for consumers, as a lawsuit filed by many of your favorite content providers against industry giant Cablevision could determine the future of networked DVR services. Two Time Warner networks (disclaimer: Engadget's parent company's parent company's parent company is Time Warner), CNN and Cartoon Network, have joined Disney, Universal, Paramount, and 20th Century Fox in fighting Cablevision's plan to offer subscribers the option of recording their programming to the company's servers, arguing that allowing at-will remote access to stored content constitutes a re-transmission, and therefore violates copyright agreements. What makes Time Warner's entry into the fray particularly interesting is the fact that another one of its divisions, Time Warner Cable, has publicly expressed interest in the concept of networked DVR, meaning that either outcome of the lawsuit would be potentially beneficial to the company. Way to go guys, you can never go wrong playing both sides of the fence.
Surprise! TV networks sue Cablevision for Network DVR
We sure didn't see this coming at all. Seems the TV networks Fox, Universal, Paramount, Disney, CBS, ABC and NBC aren't really so pleased about the "Network DVR" offering from Cablevision, and have taken the issue up in a lawsuit. Cablevision's plan to have remote storage DVR does blur the line a bit between personal recording use and straight up license-free on demand service, but they think they're in the right with Network DVR, and that the lawsuit is "without merit." As for the networks' thoughts, we haven't seen the exact accusations yet, but we can take a wild guess. Cablevision is banking on a bit of TiVo legitimacy, and we have a small fear that a decision on this issue could spill over and affect the use of traditional DVRs. But if they do manage to pull this one off, it looks like other cable providers are lining up to follow suit.
