An Ignoble Experiment

2. Harris gears for over-the-top expansion with deal to acquire Imagine Communications

Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) could soon face new competition in the Long Island town of Glen Cove, N.Y., where Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is seeking a cable franchise for its FiOS TV service.

The Glen Cove City Council may vote on a Verizon franchise proposal at a meeting that has been scheduled for Dec. 10, Verizon spokesman John Bonomo told FierceCable.

Verizon's push to expand FiOS to Glen Glove is noteworthy, considering the telco announced in 2010 that it would halt new FiOS construction. But Bonomo said Verizon decided to seek a FiOS franchise in Glen Cove, which has population of 27,100 and 10,352 housing units, since its fiber network already covers much of the town.

"We looked at Glen Cove and realized it was a prudent decision to open franchise discussions with the City given the large amount that is/was already built," Bonomo wrote in an email Wednesday.

Verizon's decision to expand FiOS to Glen Cove, where the U.S. Census Bureau says the media value of owner-occupied housing units is $542,100, could see it receive complaints from consumers in less prosperous cities in New York state that have been pushing Verizon to offer FiOS. For example, in Buffalo, where the average home is valued at $66,200, Verizon operates a video hub that it uses to deliver FiOS to suburbs. But it doesn't offer FiOS in Buffalo and has said that it doesn't plan to convert its copper network to fiber in Buffalo.

Bonomo said Verizon isn't bypassing less prosperous towns in order to target cities with wealthier populations, which is also known as redlining. "Just look at the overall communities where we have fiber built and/or a franchise, you'll see that redlining argument is 1000 percent unfounded. It's an argument the critics love to use, but it's wrong," he added.

For more:
- Glen Cove Patch has this story

Read more about: FiOS, Verizon
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By Steve Donohue

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3. Tennis Channel takes Comcast fight to Supreme Court

Less than three weeks after naming Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) veteran Steve Reynolds CTO, Harris Broadcast said it struck a deal to acquire IP video tech firm Imagine Communications.

Denver-based Harris, which sells content management systems and hardware to cable operators and broadcasters, said the Imagine acquisition will help its customers launch over-the-top video and TV Everywhere services. The company didn't disclose terms of the deal, which it said is expected to close in January.

Reynolds, who was SVP of consumer premises technology at Comcast, was named Harris CTO on Nov. 18. In September, Harris announced a deal to acquire targeted advertising technology vendor placemedia.

Harris pointed to the potential of Imagine's content encoding and transcoding technology in Wednesday's announcement and said the deal will also bolster its research and development efforts.

"Many of our content originator customers have been adding services for OTT and TV Everywhere, but have had to do so with bifurcated systems for linear and non-linear services," Harris CEO Charlie Vogt said in a prepared statement. "This acquisition enables Harris Broadcast to take a leadership position in the OTT and TV Everywhere market, while laying the foundation for the first true software defined integration of sales, scheduling, automation, playout and delivery across both linear and non-linear content distribution networks," he added.

For more:
- see the release

Read more about: TV Everywhere, Comcast
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By Steve Donohue

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4. Starz launches TV Everywhere app on Xbox 360

The Tennis Channel said Wednesday that it asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a court ruling in May which allowed Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) to carry the network on a premium sports tier.

The network has complained that Comcast discriminated against it in favor of Comcast-owned networks such as The Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network. "We are seeking Supreme Court review of the D.C. Circuit's decision in our case because the lower court strayed from longstanding federal discrimination law," Tennis Channel said in a prepared statement.

Last year, the FCC ordered Comcast to distribute Tennis Channel in an additional 18 million homes. The D.C. Circuit Court decision issued in May overturned that ruling. Tennis Channel's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court may be its last chance to secure a slot on Comcast's expanded basic tier, where it carries Golf Channel, ESPN and several other sports networks.

Comcast officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

For more:
- see the Tennis Channel statement

Read more about: Comcast, The Tennis Channel
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By Steve Donohue

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5. DirecTV buys equity stakes in LiveClips and i.TV

Starz said it launched TV Everywhere app Starz Play on Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox 360, allowing subscribers from Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Cablevision (NYSE: CVC), DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) and Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) to navigate on-demand movies and TV series through the gaming console.

Starz is offering a new TV Everywhere app for the Xbox 360.

The Xbox launch lets authenticated Starz subscribers with a Kinect camera channel surf using hand gestures and voice commands.

Starz said it is also building a version of its Starz Play app for the Xbox One, making it one of the first programmers to target viewers who buy Microsoft's new console. Verizon launched a FiOS TV app on the Xbox One last month.

In addition to striking deals for Starz Play with the major cable MSOs and satellite providers, Starz has authentication agreements with Atlantic Broadband, Astound Broadband, Grande Communications and Wave Broadband. Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR) isn't one of the distributors with authentication deals that Starz lists on its TV Everywhere site.

Starz has also built Starz Play apps for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iOS devices, Android smartphones and tablets, Amazon's (Nasdaq: AMZN) Kindle Fire and the Nook HD tablet from Barnes & Noble.

For more:
- see the release

Read more about: Starz Play, Microsoft
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By Steve Donohue

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