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Cable companies and tech giants reportedly joining forces to push 'WifiForward'
Time Warner, Comcast, Charter, Google, Microsoft and Motorola aren't the most likely of allies, but it appears they'll be teaming up to form the new WifiForward coalition. According to the Wall Street Journal, the group will be pushing to expand WiFi access, primarily by lobbying the government to free up more spectrum for unlicensed uses. Each of the companies has been pushing for such measures independently, but by joining forces they're hoping to have more success. Increasing the available airwave space for WiFi transmissions will become increasingly important as the number of smartphones and overall data consumption in the US grows. Cisco Systems says that the average American consumed 1.4GB of data per month in 2013 and 57 percent of that was over WiFi. By 2018, that number could grow to 9GB per month. Notably absent from the list of companies are the mobile carriers. AT&T and Verizon in particular have invested heavily in building robust LTE networks. The less traffic traveling over those wireless frequencies, the less money the companies are generating -- and the percentage of mobile data sent over WiFi is only increasing. Google has invested heavily in WiFi across the country, and the major cable providers have joined forces to share their roughly 250,000 hotspots. Now these big players need to figure out how to take the next step.
Charter makes a $61 billion bid for Time Warner Cable, could be the first of many
After months of trying to negotiate a deal behind the scenes, Charter Communications is publishing details of its offer to buy Time Warner Cable (which split from Time Warner years ago). Despite a bid that including debt is enough to nab 20 or so Nests, TWC's board responded to the offer by calling it "grossly inadequate." Charter CEO Tom Rutledge is telling anyone who will listen that he can run the company better than its current leadership, and is encouraging shareholders to join him in this viewpoint by making this offer (apparently Charter's third in the last year) public. For customers the upside isn't so clear, as according to J.D. Power Charter is next-to-last in customer satisfaction, staying ahead of only Time Warner Cable -- ouch. Bloomberg mentions that a reason this deal may happen is because billionaire John Malone is backing Charter, and he believes that by joining the companies he can negotiate better deals with the Hollywood studios that provide their content. Another possibility mentioned by Gigaom, is that control over a larger swath of area and customers could help push bandwidth caps and tiered internet pricing. Others like Comcast have also been rumored to be interested in a deal for at least part of Time Warner Cable, but the Charter/TWC combination would make for the country's third-largest provider behind Comcast and DirecTV. This afternoon Charter put on a conference call (slides are available here for EBITDA fans to drool over) to explain its side of the argument, and Time Warner replied it "would not let Charter steal this company." The biggest takeaway here is that these same economics affect others in the industry, so there could be more consolidation of cable/internet giants to come.
Twitter and Comcast expand their tweet-based TV viewing to nine more providers
Comcast and Twitter made it easy to watch TV online when they launched their SeeIt social platform, but the service has only been truly useful for Comcast customers watching NBCUniversal shows. It's about to become much more relevant, though, as Comcast has reached deals with nine new channel and TV service providers. ABC, A&E Networks, AMC, Cablevision, Charter, Crown Media Family Networks, Discovery, Fox and Time Warner Cable should all support SeeIt's "watch now" links in tweets as soon as the first quarter of 2014. You also won't need to sign up for Comcast service to get the full experience -- the new SeeIt deal will let Cablevision, Charter and TWC TV subscribers both tune their set-top boxes and record programming without ever grabbing the TV remote. There will still be gaps in SeeIt's coverage in the wake of these agreements, but don't be surprised if it's ubiquitous in the near future.
Bloomberg: If Aereo wins in court, cable companies might buy it or build clones
While TV broadcasters like CBS and Fox continue their legal battle against Aereo and its leased microantenna-to-internet streaming scheme, Bloomberg reports cable companies are watching more closely than ever. Since they're currently paying retrans fees for a lot of the same content networks broadcast over the air (and that Aereo is catching, then streaming to its subscribers on various devices -- web browser, Roku, Apple TV via AirPlay, iOS and most recently Android) if Aereo wins, they might see it as a way out of deals said to be worth billions of dollars over the years. Specifically, the usual unnamed sources name Time Warner Cable, Charter and DirecTV as candidates to build their own versions of the technology, with TWC mentioned as considering a purchase of the company. One thing that could complicate any potential end run however, is the fact that said broadcasters also own a number of cable channels. CBS has Showtime (as seen during its showdown with Time Warner Cable earlier this year), Fox has Fox Sports, FX, FXX and more, ABC brings ESPN and Disney to the table and Comcast-owned NBC attaches USA, Syfy and a few others to its umbrella. Time Warner Cable namechecked Aereo during its dispute with CBS, while Fox's CEO threatened to make the channel pay-TV only if it can't get the service shut down. For now though, the lawsuits still fly back and forth and Aereo's footprint continues to expand, if this ever means your cable bill might shrink a bit then we'll let you know.
Officers' Quarters: Charter pirates
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. I never thought I'd be writing an OQ column about intellectual property, but here we are: Hi Scott, I'll make this short and to the point, because I'm honestly at the end of my rope with just how disrespectful, inconsiderate, and shady some folks who play this game are. Without going into too much detail, we removed some folks from our guild a few weeks ago; they tried to poach our members and couldn't, so they ended up stealing our charter instead. I found out because I noticed them advertising in trade chat, so I scoped their website out. Lo and behold, there were MY words I worked so dutifully on, for many hours, over the course of a few weeks, with my co-GM and other officers. This charter was the result of almost a year's worth of questions, concerns, comments, and experiences we all have shared since forming our guild, and to see another guild just blatantly rip it off was infuriating.
Charter lands deal for Disney's full streaming, TV services in the first half of 2013
Charter viewers won't have any shortage of TV choices this year -- at least, as long as they like Disney-owned channels. The House of Mouse has signed a deal with Charter to bring its full deck of channels and services to the cable provider in the first half of 2013. The mix includes all national ABC, Disney and ESPN channels as well as their on-demand and authenticated streaming equivalents, such as WatchESPN. The Longhorn Network and local station retransmissions are involved as well. Neither side has mentioned the full terms, although it's cast as a "multi-year" pact; we'll take the uncertainty as long as we get more say in what (and how) we watch.
Nielsen to use watermarks to enhance local channel rating accuracy
While we're watching our favorite shows in HD, it's easy to forget that they live and die by ratings, and those ratings aren't always collected with the latest technology. In an effort to improve the sample size and accuracy of ratings for local TV channels, Nielsen is starting to roll out a hybrid technology consisting of watermarks and return data from supporting pay-TV provider's set-top boxes, like DirecTV and Charter. The first three markets to get the upgrade are St. Louis, Dallas and Charlotte, with 17 yet to be announced markets to follow in 2013, and finally, the remaining 190 about two years after that. The system will work in parallel with the older Local People Meters and Diaries for three to six months and will lay the groundwork to collect ratings for online, tablets and other platforms. All the inside industry details and more are in the release after the break.
Charter Cable boosts downloads to 100Mbps, keeps uploads limited to a modest 5Mbps
Good news Charter customers, you're getting a speed bump! The DOCSIS 3.0-based cable service is boosting both download and upload speeds across all tiers of its service -- starting at the bottom with its Express package, which will be a 15 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up offering from now on. The "flagship" Plus level is getting its rates almost doubled from 18 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up to 30 Mbps down and 4 Mbps up, offering you plenty of bandwidth for streaming, torrenting and browsing all at the same time. The fastest connection is getting not just a new speed (100 Mbps down), but a new name -- Ultra 100. Sadly, your $60 a month for the big bits doesn't get you particularly blazing upload speeds. Charter's tops out at a pretty modest 5 Mbps up. Check out the PR after the break for a few more details.
TiVo Q4 results bring first sub growth in years, DirecTiVo is imminent
While many consumers are still waiting for something new from TiVo -- finally enabling the second processor core on Premieres this weekend is a nice step, but how about more HD menus? -- said company has found growth for the first time in four years by turning to a more traditional way to sell set-top boxes in the US. Yes, the growth is mostly thanks to six months of success with Virgin Media and other provider deals like the one with RCN. TiVo netted an additional 117,000 this quarter, bringing the total to just over 2 million and even more growth is expect in the coming months -- despite the continuous drop in retail subscribers -- thanks to the expected limited release of the DirecTiVo in December, with a more widespread release next year. This helped TiVo realize a 25 percent year-over-year growth in revenues, but still wasn't enough to hold off a net loss, which came in at a cool 24.5 million for the quarter. You have to stop going down before you can go up, but more TiVos in more homes is a good thing for just about everyone involved.
TiVo talks cable, satellite deals in Q2 results; DirecTiVo exposed! (video)
TiVo's results for the second quarter are here and there were a few tidbits that let us know where its products are going in the future. Despite reporting a net loss for the quarter, its cash position was up after receiving the first $300 million payment from its settlement with Dish Network. Things appear to be going well with Virgin Media in the UK where it reported 50,000 TiVo's live by the end of July and ONO is closing in on a launch in Spain, while closer to home RCN is almost ready to officially offer a whole-home DVR setup based on the quad-tuner TiVo Premiere Q. Charter and DirecTV are mentioned as "progressing towards launch", but the company seems particularly excited to see the current state of patent warfare going on, trumpeting its 210 issued patents and 389 applications. Speaking of the DirecTivo, an apparent training video has leaked. ZatzNotFunny has more information, but it reveals the hardware and UI, which disappointingly harken back to the days of older Series3 hardware instead of the updated HD menus on the new Premiere boxes. Check out the video and Q2 press release after the break.
Hurt Locker lawsuit targets a record-breaking 24,583 IP addresses
It's been almost a year since the producers of The Hurt Locker filed a lawsuit against 5,000 alleged pirates suspected of distributing the film via BitTorrent. Now Voltage Pictures has updated its complaint, adding almost 20,000 IP addresses to the list of defendants. That makes it the largest file-sharing lawsuit of all time -- a crown previously held by the company behind The Expendables, according to Wired. The plaintiff has already reached agreements with Charter and Verizon to identify individual users, but no such deal with Comcast, who owns nearly half the supposedly infringing addresses. Linking those addresses with user accounts would let Voltage manage individual settlements -- probably somewhere between $1,000-$2,000 -- rather than continue legal action. All of this eerily echoes the Oscar-winning film's plot, about an adrenaline junkie who couldn't resist downloading just one more movie. Or defusing one more bomb. We're a little fuzzy on the details, but venture into TorrentFreak to scan for familiar IP addresses.
Charter to offer TiVo's Premiere, 'non-DVR platforms' later this year
Add Charter to the growing list of provider's delivering TiVo hardware to their customers, as the two announced a multiyear deal earlier today. Later this year, Charter will start offering the TiVo Premiere DVR as well as upcoming multiroom and non-DVR platforms. There's no word on the status of over-the-top video like Amazon VOD, Blockbuster or Hulu Plus but it's still an example of newly gained ground for TiVo as a competitor in the connected-TV wars and an important step forward in technology for Charter. Check the press release after the break for all the details.
$600k a week iPad-controlled charter yacht
First land, then air, and now sea. This $600,000 per week charter superyacht, called "Solemates," is also controlled by Apple's iPad device. When you rent the boat and step onboard, the captain hands you an iPad with a custom-made app that allows you to control the lights and climate systems on the boat, control entertainment systems, and even summon crew members while onboard. Pretty snazzy, though of course it's far from cheap -- anyone with enough money to spare to rent this boat probably doesn't have any issue picking up an iPad anyway. Of course the iPad isn't the only amenity on the craft -- a wood interior fills up with natural light and has spaces for dining and partying, and there's a sun deck on top with a jacuzzi for relaxing in when you're not staying in one of the cabin spaces for 12 guests. Quite a boat to be on, indeed. [via 9to5Mac]
EPIX HD adds online streaming, sign up via Charter.net
Say hello to a new wrinkle in EPIX HD's online/VOD/linear channel offering, now that its online library is accessible for Charter subscribers through the Charter.net website. Subscribers can sign up for the channel and stream content online in HD, all on one page with their existing Charter login. Not sure about trying it out yet? It appears all Charter60 internet subscribers have free access to the online streams through December 31, so why not click over and check a flick (or two) out.
ESPN360.com turns into ESPN3 tomorrow - more HD, DVR, social networking features on the way
Get ready for a shift in ESPN's online offerings, tomorrow the video streaming arm of its empire changes names from ESPN360.com to ESPN3.com. New features immediately available on The Tres include new viewing modes for events including split-screen and picture-in-picture, updated scoreboards, Facebook and Twitter tie-ins and live chat with other viewers, while it also plans to launch more HD-quality video streams during the NBA Playoffs, World Cup and U.S. Open Tennis events later this year. It should be available to customers on AT&T, Verizon, Cox Communications, Comcast, RCN and many other networks, a quick revamp and positioning next to the two top dog channels may be just what it needs for us to consistently see what's available on the desktop and not just the television. Check after the break for a few of the TV spots that will be promoting the change.
Status of the tru2way cable rollout: Still disappointing
Podcast listeners have already heard about the lack of tru2way presence at this year's CES, but the rollout at headends across the country is still continuing, slowly. Cable Digital News has rounded up the results for your perusal, but aside from Cox at 100%, they fall in line under various levels of fail, more than six months after the original deadline. So much for "not that far off."
Cable companies miss tru2way deadline, insist it's no big deal
Remember that tru2way-related Memorandum of Understanding that was all the rage about this time last year? It appears the 6 cable companies haven't lived up to at least one part of their agreement, collectively missing the deadline of July 1 to have 100% of their digital cable headends compatible. No word on how close they got, but Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House still insist it's "not that far off" though we don't see how missing important milestones is helping move the technology forwards.
Court sides with Charter, takes DirecTV ads pointing out bankruptcy off the air
It seems DirecTV has gone out of its way to let Charter customers know about the cable company's bankruptcy proceedings, airing ads that said there was no way it could continue to provide more HD channels and that customers needed to be saved from its bankruptcy. Apparently the U.S. District Court in St. Louis agreed the ads went too far in implying the company might be liquidating or about to stop offering service, issuing a temporary restraining order barring the ads. This is far from the first time the law has had to jump in on one side or another of TV providers ads, we're just wondering when they'll jump in on ads touting "choices," highlighting broadband speed without mentioning bandwidth caps and pushing HD channels without copping to known overcompression issues.
Charter's Moxi 3012 HD DVR rollout reaches Wisconsin
Looking for a Moxi box without paying $799 (even in easy monthly payments) up front? We got the heads up that Charter is expanding the footprint for its Cable HD DVR 3012 multistream CableCARD box, starting with Wisconsin. Apparently following a successful test in St. Louis Charter is ready to deploy 23,000 of the set-top boxes in 2009 and make it the primary DVR in the area. No official word from Charter on the new hardware yet, but the trend of Digeo actually shipping units is one we can get used to.[Thanks, Anonymous]
Canoe's targeted ads set sail for households with income to spend
The six cable companies involved with Canoe Ventures -- Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House -- will be turning loose the targeted ad technology that has been in the works for a while now. Especially in the midst of the economic crunch, you just know that tax brackets are going to drive the tailoring of the bespoke ads, which go by the friendly name of CAM (community addressable messaging). Fully interactive ads will have to wait for tru2way, so for now CAM 1.0 will swap in one of two versions of a spot, depending on whether the destination is in a zone designated as "over $100,000." We foresee some interesting water cooler discussions ahead as coworkers report seeing different ads at halftime and thus give away some personal info.
