More Companies Sign Up for CMC’s Centralized Interactive TV Platform

–New HITS AxIS Clients are NDS, Softel-USA, S&T, and Unisoft
–Buckeye CableSystem to Serve as Beta Site for HITS AxIS ITV Services

Comcast Media Center (note: the company, generally known as CMC, is a business unit of Comcast that provides centralized content management and distribution services for cable operators and content providers) says that it has signed up four more companies for its recently launched HITS AxIS service: NDS, a provider of conditional access and interactive TV technologies; Softel-USA, which is best known for its MediaSphere line of ITV products, including the widely deployed MediaSphere TX broadcast carousel; Strategy & Technology, whose TSBroadcaster carousel management and streaming product is being used for a number of OCAP/tru2way roll-outs across the US; and Unisoft, which specializes in providing broadcast, development and testing tools for ITV applications.

HITS AxIS (stands for “Headend In The Sky Advanced Interactive Services”) is a centralized platform that operates on the National Authorization System (NAS) and that is billed as being designed to support developers of advanced OCAP/tru2way and ETV/EBIF interactive TV applications and to facilitate the deployment and management of those applications on cable systems serving small- to mid-sized markets. According to CMC, the platform, which was developed in collaboration with Vidiom and TVWorks, two companies well-known for their work in the ETV/EBIF and tru2way/OCAP spaces (note: TVWorks is co-owned by Comcast and Cox), is currently supporting product development activities for a number of other ITV application developers, including Alticast, BIAP, emuse, Ensequence, Sofia Digital, vivoTRAK and Zodiac Interactive. Its product development services are expected to eventually encompass business modeling, licensing and application testing (both standalone and interoperability); its deployment services are expected to include configuration, hosting, affiliate sales, contract management, and product launches to HITS’ cable system affiliates; and its operations management services are expected to include application and network monitoring, updates and upgrade management, billing services and customer support, security, technical support, and disaster recovery. CMC positions the service as providing “cable system operators with an alternative to headend-based solutions for launching and supporting advanced interactive video applications,” and says that affiliates of its HITS Quantum service will be able to use HITS AxIS to offer interactive services to customers using their existing headend management systems. “HITS AxIS is ready to support the development, delivery and management of advanced interactive video applications, and we are very pleased to be working with a growing number of leading companies in the ITV space,” Gary Traver, SVP and COO of Comcast Media Center, said in a prepared statement. “In addition to our support for the applications development community, HITS AxIS can provide an end-to-end solution for cable system operators, allowing them to offer advanced services to their customers more easily and more cost effectively.”

Last week, CMC announced that independent cable operator, Buckeye CableSystem (serves around 150,000 customers in Northwest and North Central Ohio and in Southeast Michigan), has signed an agreement to act as a beta site for advanced interactive TV applications that are tested, launched and supported by HITS AxIS. “Buckeye CableSystem welcomes the opportunity to work with Comcast Media Center on a beta trial of the HITS AxIS service,” BuckEye CableSystem CTO, Joe Jensen, said in a prepared statement. “We see this as an opportunity not only to understand the AxIS service better, but also to develop a further understanding of some of the ETV/EBIF applications and their implications in our network.”

In other CMC news: The company says it is expanding its national VOD service to include transport via MPEG-4 compression technology (note: CMC claims that its MPEG-2 service currently delivers over 8,000 VOD assets per month to millions of VOD households served by around 20 of the US’s largest cable MSO’s). It says it expects to do this via SES Americom’s satellite-delivered IP-PRIME service, pending the signing of a definitive agreement between the two companies. “Extending our VOD capabilities to include MPEG-4 transport allows television programming networks and other content providers to reach their MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 distributors ‘All from The Center,'” CMC’s Gary Traver said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to making this new service available via SES Americom’s IP-PRIME service.” Added IP-PRIME president, Bill Squadron: “As consumer demand for more programming, including more VOD, continues to grow, this initiative with Comcast Media Center helps ensure that we can provide IP-PRIME operators with the best and most comprehensive IPTV service offering in the market. This collaboration with CMC extends our relationship, which until now has primarily focused on SES Americom’s satellite distribution of their services.” CMC bills its managed VOD platform as providing content providers with a cost-effective way to deliver VOD to their cable operator affiliates and as allowing cable operators to accept content from multiple sources without having to coordinate, manage and manipulate the content at each headend. Services provided by the platform include creation and validation of metadata, pitching of VOD content to local servers, 24/7 quality assurance monitoring, and a secure Internet portal that allows affiliates to track when programming has propagated from the CMC catcher to the affiliate’s VOD system (it can list VOD assets by programmer or provide a total view of VOD assets). SES Americom bills IP-PRIME as a customizable, MPEG-4-based, turnkey IPTV solution, featuring 45 HD channels and 260 SD channels. It is scheduled to add VOD services to its programming options in the fourth quarter.

Radio Interview: Tom Morgan, Chief Strategy Officer, Move Networks

In this recorded episode of [itvt]’s talk radio show, “The TV of
Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow,” Tom Morgan, chief strategy
officer of Move Networks (clients include ABC, Discovery and Fox),
provides an overview of that company’s technology and strategy;
explains why it sees itself as a company that delivers digital television
rather than broadband TV; discusses its interest in working with
CableLabs’ ETV and OCAP standards; details the interactive
advertising formats it is now offering; and more.

To listen to the show,
click here

Radio Show: The Interactive TV Month in Review

In this recorded episode of [itvt]’s talk radio show, “The TV of
Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow,” Bill Niemeyer, chief of
analysis and research at BlackArrow, and Tracy Swedlow discuss their
picks for the most important interactive TV stories of the past month.
Topics discussed include the significance of the tru2way MOU that was
recently signed by a number of prominent cable MSO’s and CE
companies; UK broadcaster ITV’s attempts to prevent the use of the

acronyms “ITV” and “iTV” in reference to interactive television; the
appointment of David Verklin to head up Canoe Ventures, the US cable
industry’s initiative for interactive, addressable advertising; Microsoft’s
acquisition of Navic Networks; and more.

To listen to the show,
click here

Archived Broadcasts

[itvt] is making past broadcasts of the show available on the show’s

homepage.

Broadcast #33
: Alex Magoun, director of the David Sarnoff Library,
discusses David Sarnoff’s legacy; outlines parallels between the early
development of television and the development of interactive TV
today; describes the David Sarnoff Library’s work; discusses Sarnoff’s
and Philo Farnsworth’s respective roles in the invention of television;
and more.

Broadcast #32
: Sangita Verma, co-founder and CEO of TAG
Networks–a company that has developed a games-on-demand service,
called TAG, that integrates with existing VOD infrastructures and
supports community features and multi-device interaction–discusses
the company’s trial deployment of the service with Time Warner Cable
in Dothan, Alabama (note: according to TAG Networks, during the first
four months of the trial, which began last December, TAG achieved a
40% penetration rate among digital households, and the average
playing time across digital households increased 238%); shares usage
trends and demographic data from the trial; describes the company’s
technology and marketing strategies; explains its relationship with
ActiveVideo Networks (formerly ICTV); outlines its future plans; and
much more.

Broadcast #31
: Steven Roberts, SVP of new media and business
development at DirecTV, and Tyler Slocum, the company’s senior
director of ITV and DVR services, provide an update on DirecTV’s
interactive TV offerings. Topics discussed include usage statistics for
DirecTV’s various ITV services, the company’s ITV strategy, its future
ITV and DVR plans, and more.

Broadcast #30
: Michael Finn, VP of advertising sales at DISH
Network, and Scott Higgins, the company’s director of interactive
programming, discuss DISH’s new interactive TV advertising deal with
NBC Universal, and the company’s plans to make increasing use of the
DVR hard drive for its interactive TV offerings.

Broadcast #29
: Jim Louderback, CEO of Revision3, provides an
overview of his company–which bills itself as “an actual TV network
for the Web,” and which produces its own original, broadcast-quality
programming. Topics discussed include funding, download numbers,
revenues, demographics, distribution strategy, content strategy,
advertising partnerships, new shows, and more.

Broadcast #28
: A panel of interactive TV experts–Steve Borelli, VP of
marketing and business development at Integra5; industry analyst,
Leslie Ellis (author of the popular Multichannel News column,
“Translation Please“); Will Kreth, director of product management for
interactive TV at Time Warner Cable; Alex Libkind, founder and COO
of Zodiac Interactive; Mike Malcy, VP of marketing and business
development at Vidiom Systems; and Gary Sohmers, chairman and
president of Interactive Meet and Greet Entertainment
(IMAGE)–review the 2008 NCTA Cable Show. Topics discussed
include the very well-attended tru2way Developers Conference that
immediately preceded the show; what the cable operators were saying
about their plans to support the ETV and tru2way standards;
noteworthy interactive TV applications on the show floor; the emerging
popularity of social-networking ITV applications; what should have
been discussed and showcased at the show, but wasn’t; and much, much
more.

Broadcast #27
: Richard Baker, EVP of sales and marketing at UK-
based interactive TV software provider, ANT (note: Baker, who joined
the company earlier this year, was previously general manager of
technology products and services for the EMEA region at
RealNetworks), discusses the company’s new multiplatform application
development strategy, its new Twitter ITV application, its new
proof-of-concept EPG application which displays up to 45 channels on
a single screen, the importance of developing hybrid solutions (e.g.
DTT and IPTV), and much more.

Broadcast #26: Silicon Valley pundit and author, Andrew Keen (“The
Cult of the Amateur“), discusses his skeptical take on user-generated
content and other participatory media, why he is not a fan of the
Creative Commons movement, his views on the economics of
broadband video, and more.

Broadcast #25: A panel of interactive TV experts–Patrick Donoghue ,
VP of interactive TV product management at Time Warner Cable ;
industry analyst, Leslie Ellis (author of the column, “Translation
Please “); Bill Niemeyer , chief of analysis and research at BlackArrow ;
David Preisman, VP of interactive television at Showtime Networks;
and Lori Schwartz , SVP and director of the Interpublic Emerging
Media Lab –and special guests, Steven Roberts , SVP of new media and
business development at DirecTV, and Amy Jacobson Kurokawa , chair
of the San Francisco Chapter of the Producers Guild of America
(PGA), discuss their picks for the most important ITV stories of April
and provide a snapshot of the current state of the industry. Topics
discussed include NBC Universal’s Digital Studio initiative and
whether it can serve as a model for a new relationship between the
advertising industry and the cable and satellite industries; the latest
developments in tru2way/OCAP; and the upcoming NCTA Cable
Show.

Broadcast #24: Mark Goldenson –founder and CEO of PlayCafe.com , a
company which streams live, free-to-play game shows that allow
viewers to play along, chat with hosts and other players, form teams,
contribute questions, and win prizes (note: Ken Jennings, the holder of
the record for the longest winning streak on the US game show,
“Jeopardy!,” recently appeared on PlayCafe.com as a special
guest)–discusses the company’s offering, its business model, the impact
on the industry of the UK participation TV scandal, and new features
the company plans to offer, including making it possible for end-users
to produce their own shows.

Broadcast #23: Tim Wahlers, founder and CEO of Vidiom Systems, the
company’s VP marketing, Mike Malcy, its VP of engineering services,
Walden Miller, and its VP of strategic initiatives, David Housman, discuss
their work with the cable industry on tru2way/OCAP, describe some of the
interactive TV projects they are currently engaged in, provide an overview
of Vidiom’s OCAP testing services, and offer a preview of the upcoming
second annual tru2way Developers Conference. (Note: the conference–which
is produced by the NCTA and CableLabs, and sponsored by Vidiom–will be
held in New Orleans on Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th, just prior
to the NCTA Cable Show. Areas of discussion will include programming,
platforms, consumer electronics, application development, and retail
opportunities, and the event will also feature hands-on workshops.)

Broadcast #22: James Joyce, EVP of business development at
Netherlands-based international TV formats developer, 2waytraffic (note:
the company is in the process of being acquired by Sony), discusses the
company’s participation TV formats, the challenges involved in bringing its
participation TV offerings to the US market, the impact of the recent
participation TV scandal in the UK, and more.

Broadcast #21: Marcelino Ford-Livene and David Jensen, co-governors
of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Interactive Media Peer
Group (IMPG), and Geoff Katz, chairman of the IMPG’s Primetime
Emmy Awards Working Group, discuss the Academy’s newly issued
call for entries for the 2007-2008 Primetime Emmy Awards for
Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media (note: the
Awards will recognize excellence in two areas of competition this year:
Fiction and Non-Fiction).

Broadcast #20: Magnus Eriksson, chief development manager, and
Christian Bjorkman, director of special projects at Mindark, the
company behind the virtual world, Entropia Universe, discuss the
interactive enhancements the company created for the Swedish
television drama, “The Truth about Marika.” Viewers of the
show–which was recently awarded the Emmy for Best Interactive TV
Service by the International Academy of Television Arts &
Sciences–could participate by searching for clues within Entropia
Universe that allowed them to solve a show-related mystery. In
addition, they could interact within the virtual world with avatars of the
show’s main characters. Eriksson and Bjorkman also provide an
in-depth overview of Entropia Universe: among other things, the virtual
world has a “real cash economy,” whose currency is pegged to the US
dollar (at a rate of 10-1), and which allows participants to earn money.

Broadcast #19: Cathy Hetzel, president of the Advanced Media
Information division at business-intelligence company, Rentrak, and
her colleague, Dustin Encelewski, the company’s director of
technological business development, discuss recent developments with
its OnDemand Essentials offering–a Web-based ASP service which
measures and reports anonymous, aggregate VOD usage data, such as
viewership volumes and trends, and which is intended to provide cable
operators, content providers and advertisers with customizable reports
designed to help them better understand viewers’ VOD content
preferences. They also discuss Rentrak’s relationship with the cable
industry, cast light on the company’s future plans for its Essentials
product line, discuss its competitors, and provide some interesting
statistics about VOD usage that the company has gleaned over the past
few months.

Broadcast #18: Gary Sohmers, president and chairman of Interactive
Meet and Greet Entertainment (IMAGE), discusses his company’s
flagship Video Queue technology, which allows TV viewers to have
face-to-face encounters with celebrities. (Note: Sohmers will probably
be familiar to [itvt] readers who are also PBS viewers: he is a regular
guest on the popular program, “Antiques Roadshow,” where he
appraises toys, collectibles and memorabilia.)

Broadcast #17: AirPlay chairman and CEO, Morgan Guenther, talks
about his company’s new deal with Sony Pictures Television to provide
multiplayer play-along mobile gaming for the popular game show,
“Jeopardy!”; about some of the other new projects the company will be
undertaking this year; about its business model and its plans to scale its
business; about his experiences at TiVo (where he served as president
from 2001-2003); and more.

Broadcast #16: Phil Bender, CableLabs‘ project director for OpenCable,
and Roger Brinkley, community leader for the Mobile & Embedded
Community at Sun Microsystems, provide an in-depth update on the
latest developments in OpenCable/OCAP/tru2way; discuss the
“OpenCable Project” that recently launched on Java.net; provide a
preview of CableLabs’ CableNET showcase at the upcoming NCTA
Cable Show; and more.

Broadcast #15: Ashwin Navin, co-founder and president of
peer-to-peer technology provider, BitTorrent, discusses that company’s
recently announced agreement with Comcast, which calls for them to
work together to address infrastructural issues raised by the growing
popularity of video and other rich media on the Internet. In addition, a
panel of high-profile interactive TV experts–Paula Byrne, founder and
managing director of Pushbutton; Bill Niemeyer, chief of analysis and
research at BlackArrow; and David Preisman, VP of interactive
television at Showtime Networks–discuss their picks for the most
important ITV stories of March. Topics discussed include Navic’s
announcement that its Admira media placement platform now supports
interactivity; UK broadcaster Five’s abandonment of red-button
services; Showtime Networks’ launch of a range of multiplatform
interactive services to support its high-profile new series, “The
Tudors”; the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ call for entries
for its interactive Emmy awards; and much more.

Broadcast #14: Will Kreth, director of product management for interactive
TV at Time Warner Cable , provides [itvt] readers/listeners with an exclusive
on OEDN.net, a newly launched OCAP/EBIF developer network. He
discusses, among other things, the group’s resources and goals, its
efforts to reach out to the Hollywood and academic communities, the
current state of OCAP and EBIF development and deployment, the
relationship between OCAP and Blu-ray, and much more. In addition, a
panel of high-profile interactive TV experts–Patrick Donoghue, VP of
ITV product management at Time Warner Cable; Bill Niemeyer, chief
of analysis and research at BlackArrow; and David Preisman, VP of
interactive television at Showtime Networks — discuss their picks for
the most important ITV stories of February. Topics discussed include
new VOD technologies from SeaChange International that allow
advertising to be inserted into interior program breaks and streamed
video games; the emerging market for VOD games services; ESPN360’s
launch of HD broadband video, powered by Move Networks’ technology;
Ensequence’s new Blu-ray Disc partnership with Sony; and much more.

Broadcast #13: A panel of interactive TV experts–Patrick Donoghue,
VP of ITV product management at Time Warner Cable; Bill Niemeyer,
chief of analysis and research at BlackArrow; and David Preisman,
VP of interactive television at Showtime Networks–discuss their picks
for the most important ITV stories of January. Topics discussed include
CES; next-generation remote control and touchscreen technologies;
the emergence of cable MSO’s as broadband TV content aggregators;
new technologies that bypass the traditional set-top box; CableLabs’
rebranding of OCAP as “tru2way”; the future of EBIF; new data on ITV
from Ensequence, Backchannelmedia and Gemstar-TV Guide; and
the persistence of two-screen ITV.

Broadcast #12: Andrew Solmssen,
EVP of multiplatform interactive
design agency, Schematic, discusses the impact of the company’s recent
acquisition by advertising and marketing giant, WPP; its work on the
ABC.com Full Episode Player, Starz’ Vongo service, and other
interactive and broadband TV projects; its work on video walls,
touchscreens, “Wiimotes” (Wii remotes) and other new interactive
platforms; using design to boost the efficacy of broadband video
advertising and of content navigation systems; and much more.

Broadcast #11: Steve Shannon, EVP and general manager of product
management at EPG developer, Gemstar-TV Guide, discusses, among
other things, the company’s EPG products and its product roadmap;
new features that will be offered by its EPG’s over the coming
year; My TV Guide, its new suite of cross-platform (TV, Internet
and mobile) guidance solutions; its work on social TV and
programming recommendation solutions; its work–via GuideWorks,
its joint-venture with Comcast–on a new, graphically rich
OCAP-based EPG; the future of EPG advertising; and much more.

Broadcast #10: Kristen Fergason is VP of marketing at Maven
Networks, a company that offers a software platform which allows
content providers and brand marketers to create interactive broadband
VOD channels (its customers include 20th Century Fox, Gemstar-TV
Guide, Univision, Virgin Records, General Motors, PepsiCo, Gannett,
Scripps Networks, and A&E Television Networks). The company
recently launched an advertising platform which it bills as introducing a
series of new, non-proprietary formats that are significantly more
engaging than pre-roll ads (the currently dominant form of broadband
video advertising), make for a better user experience, and deliver
higher-value ad units for advertisers. In the interview, Fergason
describes the new platform and the kinds of interactive advertising it
enables; outlines Maven’s product-development plans; and discusses
the Internet TV Advertising Forum, an industry group that Maven and a
number of other companies recently established in order to “solve the
challenges and deficiencies associated with current online video
advertising models” and to develop new standards and formats for
interactive broadband video advertising.

Broadcast #9: Hans Fischmann is general manager of advanced media
at Charter Media, the advertising arm of cable MSO, Charter
Communications. Since he joined Charter Media in January, 2007, he
and his team have launched over 600 interactive TV and VOD
advertising campaigns. He describes the kinds of interactive TV
advertising offered by Charter Media; provides statistics on the efficacy
of the company’s ITV ads; describes its efforts to market its ITV
advertising capabilities; provides some thoughts on the cable industry
ITV advertising initiative, “Project Canoe”; discusses “Did You See
It?,” a new channel Charter is launching that will be devoted to
interactive TV advertising; and much more.

Broadcast #8: Peter Price, president and CEO of the New York-based
National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, one of two
organizations that are responsible for television’s annual Emmy
awards (the other is the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television
Arts & Sciences), discusses, among other things, the relationship
between the two Academies, and their ongoing legal dispute over
the National Academy’s awards for Advanced Media (which were
presented Monday at CES 2008).

Broadcast #7: Upstate New York resident, James Cawley, whose
background includes, among other things, a stint as an
Elvis-impersonator, is the executive producer of Star Trek New
Voyages (startreknewvoyages.com), a production company that
produces original episodes of “Star Trek,” based on the characters from
that show’s first season (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura,
etc.). Downloads of these hour-long, fan-generated broadband TV
episodes have been in the multiple millions, and their audience base
appears to be growing rapidly. Cawley shares his thoughts on
producing original, fan-generated “Star Trek” programming for the
Internet; describes the events that led to the formation of Star Trek New
Voyages; discusses the company’s relationship with CBS (the owner of
the “Star Trek” franchise); provides a preview of new episodes and new
characters that the company has in the pipeline (including “Star Trek’s”
first gay character); discusses the possibility of making the show
interactive or building a social network around it; and much more.

Broadcast #6: Three high-profile figures from the interactive TV
space–Patrick Donoghue, VP of ITV product management at Time Warner
Cable; Bill Niemeyer, chief of analysis and research at BlackArrow;
and David Preisman, VP of interactive television at Showtime
Networks–provide a retrospective of the year in interactive TV,
present their picks for the year’s most important ITV stories, and
predict the important ITV trends for 2008. Topics discussed include
the rise of user-generated content; the demise of TMG; the
significance of the top-secret interactive TV advertising initiative,
“Canoe”; the emergence of big-budget broadband TV programming;
EchoStar’s purchase of Sling Media; DirecTV’s purchase of ReplayTV;
and much more.

Broadcast #5: Three senior executives from mobile interactive TV
specialist, SinglePoint–president and CEO, Rich Begert; VP of
industry relations, Doug Busk; and director of marketing, Philippe
Poutonnet–discuss, among other things, the company’s recent deal with
NBC Universal. The deal will see SinglePoint providing mobile
interactive/participation TV services for a range of NBC Universal’s
programming and channels, including NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo,
Telemundo, USA Network, NBC Sports, and NBC News.

Broadcast #4: Steve Rosenbaum is founder and CEO of
Magnify.net, a company that provides a new Web 2.0 service
which allows end-users to create video galleries/channels
complete with social networks. He discusses Magnify.net’s
service and the business model behind it; provides examples
of how it is being used; outlines the company’s current
strategy and future plans; and more.

Broadcast #3: Brian Seth Hurst, a well-known figure in
interactive TV circles, was recently elected as vice chairman
of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the
organization behind the Primetime Emmys. His election marks
the first time ever that a new media specialist has served in
such a senior role at the Academy. Hurst discusses what his
election says about the evolution of the Academy and of the
television establishment in general; the significance of the
ongoing writers’ strike for the interactive and broadband TV
industries; and much more.

Broadcast #2: Jodie McAfee, who was formerly SVP of
corporate development and marketing at The Media Group
(TMG), a high-profile interactive TV advertising and
programming company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
earlier this year, discusses that company’s demise; his new
company, BoomerangiTV; the cable industry interactive TV
advertising initiative known as “Project Canoe”; the current
state of the ITV advertising industry in general; and more.

Broadcast #1: Louis Slothouber and Dan Levinson of BIAP
discuss their company’s technologies; the challenges involved
in deploying the company’s interactive TV applications (which
include eBay on TV, Yellow Pages on TV, and Fantasy
Football and Baseball Trackers); the company’s patent
portfolio; the current state of the cable industry; ITV
standards; artificial intelligence; emerging market
opportunities; and more.

Top Six MSO’s, Major CE and STB Companies, and Intel Sign tru2way MOU

-Details of MOU Revealed in FCC Filing by Comcast

US cable-industry research, development and standards organization,
CableLabs, announced earlier this month that six companies have
signed a binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) on
tru2way/OCAP technology with the top-six cable operators in the US,

Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Cablevision, Charter and Bright House
Networks (which together account for over 80% of US cable
subscribers and 105 million homes passed). The signatory companies
are consumer electronics manufacturers, Sony Electronics (which was
the first CE company to sign the document and which was responsible
for negotiating its terms with the cable industry), Panasonic
Corporation of North America, and Samsung Electronics America
(note: last month, CableLabs announced that Samsung had become the
first CE manufacturer to sign a new tru2way license agreement that it
bills as providing CE device manufacturers with a “streamlined” license
to technology that will enable their retail products to interface with

two-way interactive cable networks; according to CableLabs, the new
tru2way Host Device License Agreement provides for self-certification
and paper certification of retail devices, formal rights of participation
by CE manufacturers in CableLabs processes, approval of new digital
outputs via a 4-studio approach, and a tru2way trademark license;
CableLabs also said that the new license “consolidates, clarifies and
provides an alternative to” the existing CableCARD Host Interface
License Agreement and the OpenCable Application Platform
Implementer Agreement, and that it is available to any CE
manufacturer on a “nondiscriminatory” basis). Other companies signing

include set-top box manufacturers, ADB and Digeo, and chip
manufacturer, Intel (note: Intel has previously unveiled plans to build a
system-on-a-chip that will support a range of tru2way devices,
including integrated digital television sets, set-top boxes and DVR’s).
“This is a momentous achievement that again validates the tru2way
technology platform for delivering interactive digital cable services to a
wide variety of devices,” CableLabs president and CEO, Richard
Green, said in a prepared statement. “We stand ready to support the
cable operators and the manufacturers in the roll-out of tru2way
devices for the benefit of our mutual customers.” Added Time Warner

Cable president, Glenn Britt: “tru2way technology will allow the
industry to continually enhance the customer experience, ensuring that
the latest features and technology are available to our customers
nationwide. Time Warner Cable has already distributed nearly a million
tru2way devices, and this agreement further supports the industry’s
efforts.”

When it announced the new MOU, CableLabs stated that its details
were not yet being released “while other potential signatories complete
their review of the document.” However, earlier this week the MOU’s
terms were revealed in an FCC filing by Comcast (that was first
reported by Jeff Baumgartner of Cable Digital News). Among the
highlights:

• Each of the signatory MSO’s will include network support for
  tru2way middleware in the hardware and software of headends serving
  digital cable systems by July 1st, 2009 (note: the document specifies
  that Charter will have an additional year to fulfill this requirement).

• Each of the signatory MSO’s will include tru2way middleware in 20%
  of new set-top boxes (termed “interactive navigation devices” by the
  MOU) it purchases after July 1st, 2009 (note: again, Charter will have
  an additional year to fulfill this requirement). However, this
  requirement will expire once the cable industry has deployed a total of
  10 million set-top boxes equipped with tru2way middleware.

• The MOU will have a term of 10 years from its April 25th, 2008
  signing. However, it also contains the following “sunset” clause: “If
  fewer than 500,000 additional new retail Adopters’ [note: the document
  refers to the MSO signatories as “Founders” and to the other signatories

  

  as “Adopters”] IDCP’s [stands for “interactive digital cable
  products”–i.e. CableCARD-equipped two-way devices] are connected
  to receive cable services via CableCARD or mutually agreed upon
  conditional access technology from the Founders in any rolling
  twenty-four month period following July 1, 2009 nationwide, then no
  further support for IDCP’s shall be required under this MOU except for
  the application support for deployed IDCP’s…and the Founders may
  make their own business judgments about appropriate support for such
  devices.”

• “Multifunction IDCP’s” [i.e. set-top boxes that offer additional
  functionality beyond reception of cable service] may overlay the
  manufacturer’s navigation control method over cable TV screens,
  provided that the overlay 1) is initiated by the end-user in each
  instance, 2) is solely for navigation (note: this precludes overlays being
  used, for example, for advertising purposes), 3) is transitory, and 4)
  appears the same regardless of the channel. (Note: the extent to which
  third-party tru2way CE devices could overlay the screen had long been
  a significant area of disagreement between the cable and CE
  industries.)

• Other than being compelled to pass through the CBS broadcast signal
  containing Gemstar-TV Guide (now Macrovision) EPG data, “there is
  no requirement that Founders provide metadata, additional guide data
  or any other path for guide data” to CE manufacturers.

  

• CableLabs will set up a “Founders Advisory Board” (FAB),
  composed of representatives of the cable TV, content, consumer
  electronics, and IT industries, for advisory input to CableLabs. The
  FAB will be convened at least once a year; in addition, it can be
  convened at the request of any FAB member, in order to hold a vote on
  “any proposed changes to the tru2way hardware specifications that
  impose a significant cost increase on IDCP’s that are unjustified by
  consumer choice, interest in innovation, economic burden on the cable
  operator, or developments in technology.”

• “Innovative features and functions” in IDCP’s that are “not specified
  in but are consistent with” the various tru2way specifications and
  license agreements are “allowed and encouraged.”

• Certification testing of Adopters’ IDCP’s will normally take place at
  CableLabs. However, “Adopters who have demonstrated that they are
  consistently capable of certifying IDCP’s may obtain self-certification
  status. Successful certification of at least five mutually agreed upon
  devices on different platforms in CableLabs Certification Waves
  indicates such capability.”

Comcast’s FCC filing is available:
here

Project Canoe Officially Launched as Canoe Ventures

–David Verklin Appointed as New Venture’s CEO

The contours of Project Canoe, the US cable industry’s hitherto
secretive initiative to create a national unified platform for interactive
and addressable advertising, became a little clearer last week when the
MSO’s behind the initiative announced the launch of a joint venture,
Canoe Ventures, and the appointment of advertising industry veteran,
David Verklin, as the new venture’s CEO. Verklin, who will join Canoe
Ventures on August 4th, will be tasked with leading its efforts to create
shared processes and standards for audience targeting, interactivity and
measurement in multiplatform advertising across cable systems
throughout the US. The new venture is based in New York City and
co-owned by Bright House, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox and
Time Warner Cable, which between them have contributed $150
million to get it off the ground (note: each company’s ownership stake
in the venture is proportional to the amount of money it has
contributed). According to an interview with Verklin published in the
Wall Street Journal, the new venture will sell advertising to
programmers rather than, as originally expected, directly to advertisers
and their agencies (the Journal pointed out that the advantages of this
strategy are that the cable industry will not need to build a national
sales force and will not risk alienating its programmers; and that the
strategy’s downside is that the industry will not generate as much
revenue as it might from a more direct approach). “We look forward to
working with someone of David’s experience, intelligence, and stature,”
Comcast COO, Steve Burke, said in a prepared statement. “His
appointment as CEO of Canoe Ventures demonstrates our commitment
to working more closely with the advertising community and to
delivering products and services needed for advertisers and
programmers to compete in today’s media landscape. David’s insight
will help make cable a more valuable advertising medium.” Added
Time Warner Cable COO, Landel Hobbs: “What we have developed as
the basis for this joint venture is a groundbreaking collaboration that
will unlock the potential of cable’s competitive advantages and take
advertising to a new level. We are excited to have David, who has
always been viewed as a thought leader, sign on as CEO of Canoe
Ventures to lead this change.”

Verklin was previously CEO of Aegis Media Americas, where he was
in charge of all Aegis Group’s operations in the US, Latin America and
Canada, and served on the parent company’s board. He currently also
sits on the boards of the American Advertising Federation, the Ad
Council, the Audit Bureau of Circulations and the New York Multiple
Sclerosis Society. He began his career at Young & Rubicam in New
York City and was also a co-founder of San Francisco-based
advertising agency, Hal Riney & Partners. Last year, he published a
book entitled “Watch This, Listen Up, Click Here.” “Cable is in a
unique position to take advertising to another level–for marketers,
programmers and consumers,” Verklin said in a prepared statement.
“As technology has evolved and consumers have been given greater
control over their viewing experience, we are all looking for innovative
solutions and greater accountability. Canoe Ventures and its goals were
informed by input from advertisers, networks and vendors to respond to
these needs, and I am excited to lead this effort and continue this
dialogue with our key stakeholders.”

[itvt] Radio: Review of the 2008 NCTA Cable Show

In this recorded episode of [itvt]’s talk radio show, “The TV of
Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow,” a panel of interactive TV
experts–Steve Borelli, VP of marketing and business development at
Integra5; industry analyst, Leslie Ellis (author of the popular
Multichannel News column, “Translation Please“); Will Kreth, director

of product management for interactive TV at Time Warner Cable; Alex
Libkind, founder and COO of Zodiac Interactive; Mike Malcy, VP of
marketing and business development at Vidiom Systems; and Gary
Sohmers, chairman and president of Interactive Meet and Greet
Entertainment (IMAGE)–review the 2008 NCTA Cable Show which
took place earlier this week in New

Topics discussed include the very well-attended tru2way Developers
Conference that immediately preceded the show; what the cable
operators were saying about their plans to support the ETV and
tru2way standards; noteworthy interactive TV applications on the show
floor; the emerging popularity of social-networking ITV applications;
what should have been discussed and showcased at the show, but
wasn’t; and much, much more.

To listen to the show,
click here.

Next Live Broadcast of [itvt]’s Talk Radio Show

The next live broadcast of “The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow”
is scheduled for Tuesday, May 27th at 9:00AM Pacific/12:00PM Eastern.
Jim Louderback, CEO of Revision3, will discuss his company–which bills
itself as “an actual TV network for the Web,” and which produces its own
original, broadcast-quality programming–and the current state and future of
the broadband video space in general.

To listen to the show live, click here.

To call in with a question during the show’s broadcast, dial 1-646-595-4343.

To submit a question or comment via text, use the chat application that appears
on the show’s homepage during live broadcasts.

Archived Broadcasts

[itvt] is making past broadcasts of the show available on the show’s

homepage.

Broadcast #27
Richard Baker, EVP of sales and marketing at UK-
based interactive TV software provider, ANT (note: Baker, who joined
the company earlier this year, was previously general manager of
technology products and services for the EMEA region at
RealNetworks), discusses the company’s new multiplatform application
development strategy, its new Twitter ITV application, its new
proof-of-concept EPG application which displays up to 45 channels on
a single screen, the importance of developing hybrid solutions (e.g.
DTT and IPTV), and much more.

Broadcast #26: Silicon Valley pundit and author, Andrew Keen (“The
Cult of the Amateur“), discusses his skeptical take on user-generated
content and other participatory media, why he is not a fan of the
Creative Commons movement, his views on the economics of
broadband video, and more.

Broadcast #25: A panel of interactive TV experts–Patrick Donoghue ,
VP of interactive TV product management at Time Warner Cable ;
industry analyst, Leslie Ellis (author of the column, “Translation
Please “); Bill Niemeyer , chief of analysis and research at BlackArrow ;
David Preisman, VP of interactive television at Showtime Networks;
and Lori Schwartz , SVP and director of the Interpublic Emerging
Media Lab –and special guests, Steven Roberts , SVP of new media and
business development at DirecTV, and Amy Jacobson Kurokawa , chair
of the San Francisco Chapter of the Producers Guild of America
(PGA), discuss their picks for the most important ITV stories of April
and provide a snapshot of the current state of the industry. Topics
discussed include NBC Universal’s Digital Studio initiative and
whether it can serve as a model for a new relationship between the
advertising industry and the cable and satellite industries; the latest
developments in tru2way/OCAP; and the upcoming NCTA Cable
Show.

Broadcast #24: Mark Goldenson –founder and CEO of PlayCafe.com , a
company which streams live, free-to-play game shows that allow
viewers to play along, chat with hosts and other players, form teams,
contribute questions, and win prizes (note: Ken Jennings, the holder of
the record for the longest winning streak on the US game show,
“Jeopardy!,” recently appeared on PlayCafe.com as a special
guest)–discusses the company’s offering, its business model, the impact
on the industry of the UK participation TV scandal, and new features
the company plans to offer, including making it possible for end-users
to produce their own shows.

Broadcast #23: Tim Wahlers, founder and CEO of Vidiom Systems, the
company’s VP marketing, Mike Malcy, its VP of engineering services,
Walden Miller, and its VP of strategic initiatives, David Housman, discuss
their work with the cable industry on tru2way/OCAP, describe some of the
interactive TV projects they are currently engaged in, provide an overview
of Vidiom’s OCAP testing services, and offer a preview of the upcoming
second annual tru2way Developers Conference. (Note: the conference–which
is produced by the NCTA and CableLabs, and sponsored by Vidiom–will be
held in New Orleans on Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th, just prior
to the NCTA Cable Show. Areas of discussion will include programming,
platforms, consumer electronics, application development, and retail
opportunities, and the event will also feature hands-on workshops.)

Broadcast #22: James Joyce, EVP of business development at
Netherlands-based international TV formats developer, 2waytraffic (note:
the company is in the process of being acquired by Sony), discusses the
company’s participation TV formats, the challenges involved in bringing its
participation TV offerings to the US market, the impact of the recent
participation TV scandal in the UK, and more.

Broadcast #21: Marcelino Ford-Livene and David Jensen, co-governors
of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Interactive Media Peer
Group (IMPG), and Geoff Katz, chairman of the IMPG’s Primetime
Emmy Awards Working Group, discuss the Academy’s newly issued
call for entries for the 2007-2008 Primetime Emmy Awards for
Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media (note: the
Awards will recognize excellence in two areas of competition this year:
Fiction and Non-Fiction).

Broadcast #20: Magnus Eriksson, chief development manager, and
Christian Bjorkman, director of special projects at Mindark, the
company behind the virtual world, Entropia Universe, discuss the
interactive enhancements the company created for the Swedish
television drama, “The Truth about Marika.” Viewers of the
show–which was recently awarded the Emmy for Best Interactive TV
Service by the International Academy of Television Arts &
Sciences–could participate by searching for clues within Entropia
Universe that allowed them to solve a show-related mystery. In
addition, they could interact within the virtual world with avatars of the
show’s main characters. Eriksson and Bjorkman also provide an
in-depth overview of Entropia Universe: among other things, the virtual
world has a “real cash economy,” whose currency is pegged to the US
dollar (at a rate of 10-1), and which allows participants to earn money.

Broadcast #19: Cathy Hetzel, president of the Advanced Media
Information division at business-intelligence company, Rentrak, and
her colleague, Dustin Encelewski, the company’s director of
technological business development, discuss recent developments with
its OnDemand Essentials offering–a Web-based ASP service which
measures and reports anonymous, aggregate VOD usage data, such as
viewership volumes and trends, and which is intended to provide cable
operators, content providers and advertisers with customizable reports
designed to help them better understand viewers’ VOD content
preferences. They also discuss Rentrak’s relationship with the cable
industry, cast light on the company’s future plans for its Essentials
product line, discuss its competitors, and provide some interesting
statistics about VOD usage that the company has gleaned over the past
few months.

Broadcast #18: Gary Sohmers, president and chairman of Interactive
Meet and Greet Entertainment (IMAGE), discusses his company’s
flagship Video Queue technology, which allows TV viewers to have
face-to-face encounters with celebrities. (Note: Sohmers will probably
be familiar to [itvt] readers who are also PBS viewers: he is a regular
guest on the popular program, “Antiques Roadshow,” where he
appraises toys, collectibles and memorabilia.)

Broadcast #17: AirPlay chairman and CEO, Morgan Guenther, talks
about his company’s new deal with Sony Pictures Television to provide
multiplayer play-along mobile gaming for the popular game show,
“Jeopardy!”; about some of the other new projects the company will be
undertaking this year; about its business model and its plans to scale its
business; about his experiences at TiVo (where he served as president
from 2001-2003); and more.

Broadcast #16: Phil Bender, CableLabs‘ project director for OpenCable,
and Roger Brinkley, community leader for the Mobile & Embedded
Community at Sun Microsystems, provide an in-depth update on the
latest developments in OpenCable/OCAP/tru2way; discuss the
“OpenCable Project” that recently launched on Java.net; provide a
preview of CableLabs’ CableNET showcase at the upcoming NCTA
Cable Show; and more.

Broadcast #15: Ashwin Navin, co-founder and president of
peer-to-peer technology provider, BitTorrent, discusses that company’s
recently announced agreement with Comcast, which calls for them to
work together to address infrastructural issues raised by the growing
popularity of video and other rich media on the Internet. In addition, a
panel of high-profile interactive TV experts–Paula Byrne, founder and
managing director of Pushbutton; Bill Niemeyer, chief of analysis and
research at BlackArrow; and David Preisman, VP of interactive
television at Showtime Networks–discuss their picks for the most
important ITV stories of March. Topics discussed include Navic’s
announcement that its Admira media placement platform now supports
interactivity; UK broadcaster Five’s abandonment of red-button
services; Showtime Networks’ launch of a range of multiplatform
interactive services to support its high-profile new series, “The
Tudors”; the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ call for entries
for its interactive Emmy awards; and much more.

Broadcast #14: Will Kreth, director of product management for interactive
TV at Time Warner Cable , provides [itvt] readers/listeners with an exclusive
on OEDN.net, a newly launched OCAP/EBIF developer network. He
discusses, among other things, the group’s resources and goals, its
efforts to reach out to the Hollywood and academic communities, the
current state of OCAP and EBIF development and deployment, the
relationship between OCAP and Blu-ray, and much more. In addition, a
panel of high-profile interactive TV experts–Patrick Donoghue, VP of
ITV product management at Time Warner Cable; Bill Niemeyer, chief
of analysis and research at BlackArrow; and David Preisman, VP of
interactive television at Showtime Networks — discuss their picks for
the most important ITV stories of February. Topics discussed include
new VOD technologies from SeaChange International that allow
advertising to be inserted into interior program breaks and streamed
video games; the emerging market for VOD games services; ESPN360’s
launch of HD broadband video, powered by Move Networks’ technology;
Ensequence’s new Blu-ray Disc partnership with Sony; and much more.

Broadcast #13: A panel of interactive TV experts–Patrick Donoghue,
VP of ITV product management at Time Warner Cable; Bill Niemeyer,
chief of analysis and research at BlackArrow; and David Preisman,
VP of interactive television at Showtime Networks–discuss their picks
for the most important ITV stories of January. Topics discussed include
CES; next-generation remote control and touchscreen technologies;
the emergence of cable MSO’s as broadband TV content aggregators;
new technologies that bypass the traditional set-top box; CableLabs’
rebranding of OCAP as “tru2way”; the future of EBIF; new data on ITV
from Ensequence, Backchannelmedia and Gemstar-TV Guide; and
the persistence of two-screen ITV.

Broadcast #12: Andrew Solmssen,
EVP of multiplatform interactive
design agency, Schematic, discusses the impact of the company’s recent
acquisition by advertising and marketing giant, WPP; its work on the
ABC.com Full Episode Player, Starz’ Vongo service, and other
interactive and broadband TV projects; its work on video walls,
touchscreens, “Wiimotes” (Wii remotes) and other new interactive
platforms; using design to boost the efficacy of broadband video
advertising and of content navigation systems; and much more.

Broadcast #11: Steve Shannon, EVP and general manager of product
management at EPG developer, Gemstar-TV Guide, discusses, among
other things, the company’s EPG products and its product roadmap;
new features that will be offered by its EPG’s over the coming
year; My TV Guide, its new suite of cross-platform (TV, Internet
and mobile) guidance solutions; its work on social TV and
programming recommendation solutions; its work–via GuideWorks,
its joint-venture with Comcast–on a new, graphically rich
OCAP-based EPG; the future of EPG advertising; and much more.

Broadcast #10: Kristen Fergason is VP of marketing at Maven
Networks, a company that offers a software platform which allows
content providers and brand marketers to create interactive broadband
VOD channels (its customers include 20th Century Fox, Gemstar-TV
Guide, Univision, Virgin Records, General Motors, PepsiCo, Gannett,
Scripps Networks, and A&E Television Networks). The company
recently launched an advertising platform which it bills as introducing a
series of new, non-proprietary formats that are significantly more
engaging than pre-roll ads (the currently dominant form of broadband
video advertising), make for a better user experience, and deliver
higher-value ad units for advertisers. In the interview, Fergason
describes the new platform and the kinds of interactive advertising it
enables; outlines Maven’s product-development plans; and discusses
the Internet TV Advertising Forum, an industry group that Maven and a
number of other companies recently established in order to “solve the
challenges and deficiencies associated with current online video
advertising models” and to develop new standards and formats for
interactive broadband video advertising.

Broadcast #9: Hans Fischmann is general manager of advanced media
at Charter Media, the advertising arm of cable MSO, Charter
Communications. Since he joined Charter Media in January, 2007, he
and his team have launched over 600 interactive TV and VOD
advertising campaigns. He describes the kinds of interactive TV
advertising offered by Charter Media; provides statistics on the efficacy
of the company’s ITV ads; describes its efforts to market its ITV
advertising capabilities; provides some thoughts on the cable industry
ITV advertising initiative, “Project Canoe”; discusses “Did You See
It?,” a new channel Charter is launching that will be devoted to
interactive TV advertising; and much more.

Broadcast #8: Peter Price, president and CEO of the New York-based
National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, one of two
organizations that are responsible for television’s annual Emmy
awards (the other is the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television
Arts & Sciences), discusses, among other things, the relationship
between the two Academies, and their ongoing legal dispute over
the National Academy’s awards for Advanced Media (which were
presented Monday at CES 2008).

Broadcast #7: Upstate New York resident, James Cawley, whose
background includes, among other things, a stint as an
Elvis-impersonator, is the executive producer of Star Trek New
Voyages (startreknewvoyages.com), a production company that
produces original episodes of “Star Trek,” based on the characters from
that show’s first season (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura,
etc.). Downloads of these hour-long, fan-generated broadband TV
episodes have been in the multiple millions, and their audience base
appears to be growing rapidly. Cawley shares his thoughts on
producing original, fan-generated “Star Trek” programming for the
Internet; describes the events that led to the formation of Star Trek New
Voyages; discusses the company’s relationship with CBS (the owner of
the “Star Trek” franchise); provides a preview of new episodes and new
characters that the company has in the pipeline (including “Star Trek’s”
first gay character); discusses the possibility of making the show
interactive or building a social network around it; and much more.

Broadcast #6: Three high-profile figures from the interactive TV
space–Patrick Donoghue, VP of ITV product management at Time Warner
Cable; Bill Niemeyer, chief of analysis and research at BlackArrow;
and David Preisman, VP of interactive television at Showtime
Networks–provide a retrospective of the year in interactive TV,
present their picks for the year’s most important ITV stories, and
predict the important ITV trends for 2008. Topics discussed include
the rise of user-generated content; the demise of TMG; the
significance of the top-secret interactive TV advertising initiative,
“Canoe”; the emergence of big-budget broadband TV programming;
EchoStar’s purchase of Sling Media; DirecTV’s purchase of ReplayTV;
and much more.

Broadcast #5: Three senior executives from mobile interactive TV
specialist, SinglePoint–president and CEO, Rich Begert; VP of
industry relations, Doug Busk; and director of marketing, Philippe
Poutonnet–discuss, among other things, the company’s recent deal with
NBC Universal. The deal will see SinglePoint providing mobile
interactive/participation TV services for a range of NBC Universal’s
programming and channels, including NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo,
Telemundo, USA Network, NBC Sports, and NBC News.

Broadcast #4: Steve Rosenbaum is founder and CEO of
Magnify.net, a company that provides a new Web 2.0 service
which allows end-users to create video galleries/channels
complete with social networks. He discusses Magnify.net’s
service and the business model behind it; provides examples
of how it is being used; outlines the company’s current
strategy and future plans; and more.

Broadcast #3: Brian Seth Hurst, a well-known figure in
interactive TV circles, was recently elected as vice chairman
of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the
organization behind the Primetime Emmys. His election marks
the first time ever that a new media specialist has served in
such a senior role at the Academy. Hurst discusses what his
election says about the evolution of the Academy and of the
television establishment in general; the significance of the
ongoing writers’ strike for the interactive and broadband TV
industries; and much more.

Broadcast #2: Jodie McAfee, who was formerly SVP of
corporate development and marketing at The Media Group
(TMG), a high-profile interactive TV advertising and
programming company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
earlier this year, discusses that company’s demise; his new
company, BoomerangiTV; the cable industry interactive TV
advertising initiative known as “Project Canoe”; the current
state of the ITV advertising industry in general; and more.

Broadcast #1: Louis Slothouber and Dan Levinson of BIAP
discuss their company’s technologies; the challenges involved
in deploying the company’s interactive TV applications (which
include eBay on TV, Yellow Pages on TV, and Fantasy
Football and Baseball Trackers); the company’s patent
portfolio; the current state of the cable industry; ITV
standards; artificial intelligence; emerging market
opportunities; and more.

Comcast Media Center Launches HITS Broadband

–Says it will Enable Small Operators to Offer Advanced Interactivity

Comcast Media Center (CMC)–a business unit of the eponymous MSO
that provides centralized content-management and distribution services
for cable operators, programming networks and advertisers–has
launched a service called HITS (stands for “Headend in the Sky”)
Broadband, which it says will provide IP connectivity to cable
operators and enable them to launch advanced, interactive services that
it will support. “By tapping into Comcast’s terrestrial fiber capabilities,
the CMC can provide a cost-effective alternative to cable MSO’s for
addressing their IP connectivity needs,” CMC COO, Gary Traver, said
in a prepared statement. “This is becoming increasingly important as
the industry moves toward an IP-based operating environment.”

The CMC says that it is working with its industry partners to expand
the capabilities of its content-management services to support the
deployment of IP-based applications, including apps based on the cable
industry’s tru2way (formerly OCAP) platform. It claims that, just as its
HITS service minimizes the headend equipment and on-site tech
support required for launching DTV services, the enhancements to its
centralized content-management services will allow customers of its
HITS Quantum service (provides around 210 linear HD and SD video
and audio channels) to avoid much of the investment required for
managing advanced applications.

2nd Annual tru2way Developers Conference Scheduled for May 17th and 18th

The second annual tru2way Developers Conference will be held in
New Orleans on Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th, just prior
to the NCTA Cable Show. The conference is produced by the NCTA,
in partnership with CableLabs (the originator of the tru2way/OCAP
standard) and premier sponsor, Vidiom Systems, a company that
specializes in tru2way/OCAP technology and that has a long track
record of offering not-for-profit classes and other educational events on
the standard. According to the organizers, the conference will provide a
forum for cable operators, content providers, Java developers, and
interactive TV developers and companies to share ideas and
information about the latest tools and trends in the roll-out of the
tru2way platform. They promise it will offer a full agenda of business
and technology sessions, as well as hands-on workshops designed to
promote “further developments in the Java-based tru2way universe.”
Areas of discussion will include programming, platforms, consumer
electronics, application development, and retail opportunities.
Confirmed keynote speakers include CableLabs president and CEO,
Richard Green, and Panasonic CTO, Paul Liao; other speakers and
panelists include John Collins (Time Warner Cable), Mark DePietro
(Motorola), Anne Dirkse (Vidiom), John Hashimoto (Weather
Channel), Sherisse Hawkins (Time Warner Cable), David Housman
(Vidiom), Chet Kanojia (Navic), Mike LaJoie (Time Warner Cable),
Arthur Orduna (Advance/Newhouse), Sam Pemberton (Softel), David
Preisman (Showtime), Gary Schanman (Comcast), Jeff Seebeck
(Cisco), Bill Sheppard (Sun), Gary Sohmers (IMAGE), Tim Spencer
(Sigma Systems), So Vang (CableLabs), and Andrew Ward (Comcast
Spotlight). Detailed information on the conference’s speakers and
sessions can be found at:
http://2008.thecableshow.com/Attending/tru2waySchedule.aspx

CableNET Line-Up Announced

The NCTA and CableLabs have announced the line-up of companies
that will be participating in CableNET, their annual showcase of new
cable technologies and products at the NCTA’s Cable Show (takes
place May 18th-20th in New Orleans). A number of participating
companies, including UniSoft/Strategy & Technology, Sigma Designs
and Zodiac Interactive, will be demo’ing tru2way-based technologies,
and several other companies, including Digeo, Motorola, Pixel3 and
Symmetricom, will be demo’ing other advanced video technologies. In
addition, there will be a number of presentations on tru2way at a
CableNET Theater.

CableNET participants that will be demo’ing interactive TV-related
technologies include:

• Digeo, which will be demo’ing its latest DVR for cable, the Moxi HD
  DVR 3012. The demo will feature the box’s Emmy-winning interface,
  its dual digital tuning capability, and its integrated CableCARD.
  According to Digeo, the new DVR includes a streamlined processor
  and a high-capacity hard drive.

• Digital Fountain, which will be demo’ing DF Splash, billed as an
  end-to-end solution that streamlines the most complex elements of
  delivering and measuring a high-quality video experience. According to
  the company, the technology provides viewers with an instant-on,
  full-screen, TV-quality experience, and significantly improves “the way
  we watch streaming video over the Internet.”

• EchoStar Technologies (i.e. the company that was formerly the
  hardware arm of the satellite TV provider now called DISH), which
  will demo SlingModem, a product it acquired through its recent
  purchase of Sling Media. According to the company, the product is the
  first DOCSIS cable modem to fully integrate the place-shifting
  capabilities of the original Slingbox. It is billed as allowing viewers to
  watch and control their TV programming on any Internet-connected
  computing device just as they would in front of their livingroom
  television set.

• Motorola, which will be demo’ing its MTR700 Tuning Adapter.
  According to the company, the product connects unidirectional UDCP’s
  (in this case, a TiVo device) to a cable network, accessing multimedia
  content in the cable network’s switched digital video tier. It says the
  demo will showcase “seamless tuning of the TiVo device across both
  broadcast and SDV tiers.”

• Oversi, which will be demo’ing its OverCache multi-service caching
  and content delivery platform for Internet video and P2P traffic.
  According to the company, the platform enables cable operators to
  relieve heavy network congestion, while improving customers’ quality
  of experience and monetizing over-the-top video traffic.

• Pixel3 (formerly Clique Communications), which will be demo’ing
  ImageIQ, an application which is billed as taking SD video and
  upgrading it to HD quality. The company claims that the resulting
  video “is not just a scaled-up version of low-definition content, but an
  actual, full-bandwidth 1080p image” with high-frequency detail.

• Samsung, which will be demo’ing downloadable conditional access,
  and digital program insertion for advertising.

• Sigma Designs, which will be demo’ing an integrated, tru2way-based
  set-top box that features four narrowband tuners that can display three
  video channels (HD as well as SD). According to the company, the
  tuners can be linked to enable channel bonding based on DOCSIS 3.0,
  enabling high-speed throughput.

• Softel-USA, which will be demo’ing its MediaSphere TX carousel
  playing both tru2way and ETV applications, as well as what it
  describes as the “flexibility and ease-of-use” of the system’s Web-based
  configuration tools. According to the company, the carousel has been
  integrated with Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta headends and set-tops,
  and with various automation, scheduling and billing systems. The
  company also bills its MediaSphere product line as fully supporting
  DSG delivery via GigE and ETV I04 updates.

• Symmetricom, which says it will be demo’ing “the importance of
  video QoE from a viewer’s perspective.” According to the company,
  mean opinion scores from a streamed video signal, along with video
  quality results, will be displayed to indicate perceptual video quality,
  and validate video quality as perceived by end-users.

• Synacor, which will be demo’ing various new features of its consumer
  portal, including Web DVR scheduling.

• thePlatform, which will be demo’ing an integrated delivery
  framework, jointly developed with Cisco Systems, that it claims gives
  service providers a mechanism for seamless delivery of broadband
  video to multiple screens. The company says it will also be exhibiting
  technology that allows cable operators and programmers to create a
  branded, customized broadband video channel “in minutes,” and that
  can also manage the entire logistics process and enhance the overall
  online video experience.

• UniSoft/Strategy & Technology, which will be demo’ing various
  aspects of tru2way and ETV application creation, testing and delivery.
  The demos will include the company’s TSBroadcaster 2.0 delivering
  multi-service transport streams containing a number of OCAP and ETV
  applications; ETV-based ad insertion and splicing; validation of ETV
  and OCAP applications using XFSI’s XAV; OCAP benchmark testing
  using Sofia’s OCAP Benchmark system; and generation of
  authenticated OCAP applications using UniSoft’s OCAP Security File
  Generator.

• Zodiac Interactive, which will be demo’ing its tru2way Zidget
  framework, which utilizes a plug-in architecture to support such
  applications as local search, weather, traffic, sports scores, and local
  news, without disrupting the TV viewing experience.

[itvt] Radio: Vidiom Execs on tru2way/OCAP and the 2nd Annual tru2way Developers Conference

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