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Also Noted: IneoQuest
Spotlight On... HBO tops among cable networks whose content is illegally shared
Comcast hires 76 lobbyists to push TWC deal; Dish promotes Swain and much more...
 The Cable Show 2014: Live coverage
Los Angeles plays host to The Cable Show 2014, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association's annual trade show, at the Los Angeles Convention Center from April 29-May 1. FierceCable is on hand covering the events, keynotes and panels as they happen. Check here regularly for updates from Fierce Editor-in-Chief Sue Marek and correspondent Craig Kuhl. (Image courtesy of The Cable Show.) Read more
 Follow @FierceCable on Twitter!
News From the Fierce Network:
1. Hulu cracks down on VPN masking to block access by non-U.S. viewers
2. Frontier says FCC's CAF II 10 Mbps proposal isn't realistic
3. No 'trauma team' to save state healthcare site
| This week's sponsor is Vubiquity. | | 
| | Vubiquity Booth Number 909 | NCTA CABLE SHOW |
Today's Top News 1. Netflix cuts deal to pay Verizon for direct access
Even as it continues to wage war with Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA)--including openly opposing the $45.2 billion merger between the nation's top MSO and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC)--Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) is paying to improve its working relationship with Verizon (NYSE: VZ). According to multiple reports, Netflix has agreed to pay Verizon to guarantee faster access on its broadband networks, ensuring that Netflix and Verizon customers get a better streaming experience. Neither side would say how much this will cost, but a Netflix spokesperson confirmed the deal to techradar. "We have reached an interconnect arrangement with Verizon that we hope will improve performance for our joint customers over the coming months," the spokesperson said. Which, of course, begs the question of why Netflix has been openly rancorous about paying for better access to ride on Comcast's networks, as evidenced by a recent blog item written by Ken Florance, vice president of content delivery at Netflix, complaining that Comcast was forcing Netflix to pay for better access. As part of the blog item, Florance produced a chart "which shows how Netflix performance deteriorated on the Comcast network and then immediately recovered after Netflix started paying Comcast (for direct interconnection) in February." Comcast isn't the only broadband pipe with which Netflix takes issue. In a letter to shareholders accompanying second quarter earnings, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells said AT&T's (NYSE: T) fiber-based U-verse service "has lower performance than many DSL ISPs such as Frontier, CenturyLink and Windstream" and suggested "it is free and easy for AT&T to interconnect directly with Netflix and quickly improve their customers' experience, should AT&T so desire." For more:
- techradar has this story
- and Bloomberg has this story Related articles:
Toll spat continues as Netflix accuses Comcast of double dipping
Reported net neutrality changes roil consumer advocates, send Wheeler into defensive mode
AT&T tackles online video market with Chernin Group joint venture, $500M pledge
Netflix opposes Comcast-TWC merger, raises subscription by up to $2 in some markets Read more about: Comcast
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| This week's sponsor is Ooyala. | 
| Webinar: Making Money From OTT
Thursday, May 8th, 11am CET/ 10am UTC
With rising programming costs, pay-TV providers are looking at ways they can benefit from OTT entertainment. This webinar will look at how Pay-TV providers can embrace OTT and not erode their core subscription TV services. Register Today! |
2. Univision CEO says Comcast-TWC merger would hurt Hispanic TV viewers
Univision CEO Randy Falco is opposed to Comcast's (NASDAQ: CMCSA) $45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) because it could harm Hispanic TV viewers.  | | Falco (Source: Univision) | "You've already heard that the new Comcast will be the dominant cable and high-speed broadband provider in markets with 30 percent of all U.S. cable households. What you may not know is that the new Comcast will serve markets with 91 percent of all Hispanic households and will be the top TV distributor in 19 of the top 20 Hispanic markets," Falco said during a first quarter earnings conference call, Adweek reported. "That gives this new company staggering influence over Hispanic consumers." The writing could be on the wall just based on the fact that Comcast is the only cable service provider that doesn't distribute Univision's sports network--apparently not understanding the "passion" that Hispanics have for soccer which is covered by the network, Falco said. "Either Comcast doesn't understand that soccer is a passion point for Hispanics or they don't support competitors who have competing service," Falco said, alluding to Comcast's multiple sports networks with NBC. "My fear is the latter is the case and this type of anti-competitive conduct would continue." As has become its wont as the merger approval process proceeds, Comcast quickly responded with what Variety called a "lengthy statement" defending its Hispanic lineup. "This transaction will not lead to any reduction in competition or consumer choice in any market because Comcast and Time Warner Cable serve separate and distinct geographic areas--we don't compete for customers anywhere," Comcast spokesman John Demming said, according to Variety. "We will not have undue power in negotiating with programming networks and we have a great record of working with programmers from the largest to the smallest." Aside from Comcast, Falco came down in favor of broadcasters and against Aereo as that service battles for its life before the Supreme Court, the Variety story said. In less controversial news, Univision said Friday Abernethy had been named senior vice president of content distribution for Univision Communications, charged with overseeing distribution relationships with cable, satellite and telecom operators. Before joining Univision, Abernethy was executive vice president of distribution sales and marketing for TV Guide Network. For more:
- Adweek has this story
- Variety has this story
- see this Univision announcement Related articles:
TWC, Univision extend multiplatform, multi-year contract
Microsoft close to signing content deals for Xbox; NBCU names Univision veteran Cesar Conde EVP
It's official: Comcast, Charter to swap subs, spin off a new business Read more about: Comcast, Time Warner Cable
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3. NCTC members cut deal to use Rovi DTA guide technology
In what the two parties described as a "first-of-a-kind agreement," the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) has cut a licensing deal with Rovi for its digital terminal adapter (DTA) guide, effectively giving all-digital customers more features for secondary televisions. According to terms of the deal, NCTC members--generally small-to-medium cable operators--will be able to license the Rovi technology to deploy the guides on SD and HD DTA devices used to move cable subscribers to digital reception for secondary TV sets. Incorporating Rovi DTA guide software into the small boxes provides navigation, channel tuning, parental controls and multiple language options for both the guide and audio. "The cable industry is eager to complete their transition to an all-digital footprint (and) we're heralding this change with additional capabilities across all of our devices--even on the basic DTA," Corey McCarthy, senior vice president of business development and CFO of the Kansas-based buying cooperative said in a press release. "Our agreement with Rovi will offer our members the ability to bring a navigation experience and show added value as they switch over their subscriber base to digital services." The Rovi guide "is an important component of (TV viewers') entertainment experience," Bob Shallow, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Rovi added. For more:
- see this press release Related articles:
Rovi poised to license voice-enabled IPGs with $69M Veveo acquisition
Armstrong deploying Rovi DTA Guide on all-digital systems
Microsoft signs Rovi to supply TV program guide data for Xbox One Read more about: Nctc
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4. Comcast, AT&T, beef up personalized TV service offerings
Once-and-future TV service competitors Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA)--especially if it acquires Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and swaps customers with Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR)--and AT&T (NYSE: T) have beefed up their TV offerings with new features aimed at further personalizing the interactive viewing experience. Comcast, in a press release issued from The Cable Show in Los Angeles, said that triple play subscribers using its advanced C1 platform will be able to stream personal video from their mobile devices to their televisions via the Internet by early 2015. "Imagine you're in Philadelphia and can live stream your son's tee-ball game to his grandparents' TV in San Francisco," Marcien Jenckes, executive vice president of consumer services for Comcast Cable said in the release. "X1 has set an industry standard for home entertainment (that) transcends traditional TV to deliver an immersive and personalized entertainment experience across all devices." The latest feature, he added, is "just another example of how we're making X1 the center of the customer's home." AT&T, on the other hand, is trying to do the same by further personalizing its U-verse service with features on trending and recommendations on what programming to watch on demand, the carrier said in a press release. The trending feature offers up a dynamic list of the most popular shows being watched in the viewer's area. On-demand recommendations provide personal suggestions for TV shows and movies based on criteria ranging from the subscriber's known interests to plot lines. "With such extensive live and on-demand offerings on U-verse TV, we wanted to give customers an easy way to discover and watch the content they want," Mel Coker, AT&T's chief marketing officer for Home Solutions said in a press release. Neither service provider went as far as RCN, Grande Communications and Atlantic Broadband, which have added a Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) application to their set-top boxes. Both AT&T and Comcast have been embroiled in disputes with Netflix about broadband data transport. For more:
- Comcast has this press release
- and AT&T has this press release Related articles:
Basic cable subs show hankering for movie fare
Despite multiple screen options, TV remains preferred streaming device
Netflix added to TiVo set-tops at Atlantic Broadband, Grande, RCN
Netflix cuts deal to pay Verizon for direct access Read more about: Comcast
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5. Pay TV subs willing to pay more for 'outstanding experience,' study says
The first reaction to Amdocs' independent research that says North American TV viewers will pay more for better service that includes more features is "Duh, of course!" The study found that cable operators can outplay the OTT competition by "providing one service that enables subscribers to search, discover and consume their video content from both MSO and OTT sources." The second reaction is to question when, or even if, many MSOs will take the steps their subscribers seem to be seeking. Some MSOs such as Atlantic Broadband, Grande and RCN, who all integrated Netflix into their programming lineups, have taken steps in this direction. Others, such as Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and AT&T (NYSE: T) have resisted and taken steps to add their own features that may or may not satisfy their customers' demands. The researchers polled almost 750 consumers who use pay TV and/or OTT services in North America and reported that 76 percent who've already cut or shaved their cable cord would reconsider "if they were given one service that aggregates all video content." Some 66 percent said they would "prefer" this service and 40 percent would be willing to pay more for the privilege. "Customers are prepared to pay up to 10 percent more for outstanding experience in the areas of content (62 percent), multi-screen provisioning (44 percent) user interface (30 percent) and customer service, (25 percent)," an Amdocs press release said. A bit more menacing, but not surprising, is the finding that half of the polled consumers said they would like to pay only for the channels or content they want (a.k.a., a la carte programming that breaks traditional programming bundles); 19 percent want a one-size-fits-all package and 31 percent would like a one-size-fits-all package that includes other communications services. "MSOs have some clear strengths that can be leveraged both in terms of customer experience and the actual viewing experience," Nizar Assanie, vice president of IE Market Research, the company that conducted the study for Amdocs, said in the press release. "By understanding consumer preferences for every aspect of the customer experience--from selling and billing to support and consumption--MSOs can leverage their strengths and emerging services to retain their customers and drive growth." Contrary to doomsayers who claim the cable business will be destroyed by OTT, Assanie said that "people are looking towards their MSOs to be the single source of their video and entertainment consumption." In other news, the need to feed an increased array of personalized services is creating a cottage industry for "consumer-facing virtual video platform" vendors, according to a study by Research and Markets. "Enterprises, IPTV/OTT operators, TV Everywhere programmers, publishers, brands, businesses and eCommerce websites collectively are embracing or bolstering virtual video initiatives illustrating the backdrop to market expansion," the research firm said in a press release summarizing its report "Virtual Video Platforms and Workflow Technologies Review 2014-2016." The report's conclusion is that "video deployment complexities necessitate end-to-end solutions or existing systems integration expertise" and companies with virtual video platforms have an early lead in delivering. For more:
- Amdocs has this press release
- Research and Markets has this press release Related articles:
Despite multiple screen options, TV remains preferred streaming device
Netflix added to TiVo set-tops at Atlantic Broadband, Grande, RCN
Ice dam breaks: AOL, Amazon, Dish, AT&T, TWC spill into online video
Virtual MVPD race heats up as Dish Network, TWC dive into OTT streaming Read more about: Amdocs, OTT
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Also Noted | This week's sponsor is IneoQuest. |  | Webinar: Video Analytics Strategies for Monetizing the Video Experience
Thursday, May 15th, 11am ET / 8am PT As consumers have more ways to watch video than ever before, video providers are looking at new business strategies for monetizing their video services, to reduce churn, increase subscriber base, reduce capital and operational expenditure and optimize investments. This webinar will provide an overview of how providers can monetize their video services through video analytics strategies. Register Today! |
SPOTLIGHT ON... HBO tops among cable networks whose content is illegally shared Despite efforts to make its content as available as possible--to viewing customers of course--on as many platforms as possible, HBO tops the list of cable networks whose content is consistently pirated, according to a breakdown by CEG TEK International. The research firm found that more than 3.7 million users worldwide illegally shared TV shows daily via BitTorrent's peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Of those shares, HBO led the way by far with 381,953 worldwide users pirating its programs and 38,330 in the U.S. The most pirated show, probably not surprisingly, was Game of Thrones, which attracted the attention of 289,310 file sharers. Continue... More cable industry news from around the Web: > Comcast has registered 76 lobbyists from 24 firms to push its $45.2 billion Time Warner Cable acquisition, according to first quarter 2014 filings with the Senate Office of Public Records. Story > Dish Network promoted Steven Swain to senior vice president-programming where he will head acquisition of and renewal of programming content. Story > Hallmark Channel is going TV Everywhere by making a variety of content available to subscribers of over 200 authenticated MPVD affiliates, including Cox, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS. Story > Dutch telco KPN added 62,000 IPTV subscribers in the first quarter and now claims 26 percent of the TV market. Story > CenturyLink is launching high-speed Internet in the Dunlora and Dunlora Forest, Va. areas where qualified customers will be able to get speeds up to 100 Mbps. Story Telecommunications News > Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's proposal to expand broadband services in rural areas suffered a major setback as the state's House of Representatives voted against the bill, reports The Des Moines Register. Full article Wireless News > In its most recent quarter, Sprint reported improving financials, but the company lost 231,000 postpaid customers and 364,000 prepaid customers. However, Sprint promised to reverse that trend in the second half of this year by posting positive net customer adds in the final six months of 2014. Further, the company said that it has embarked on a marketing campaign touting "America's Newest Network," now available in 20 cities, intended to highlight its more reliable and faster wireless network. Full article And finally … Orange gained IPTV subscribers in France, Poland and Spain in the first quarter. Story > Self-optimizing networks deliver the new customer experience - Wednesday, May 7, 9:30 am ET/ 6:30 am PT In this presentation, the speakers will discuss the strategic move towards automation, the impact of current and future self-optimizing network (SON) use cases on the customer experience, and identify key differentiators among the leading SON providers. Register Today! > Making Money From OTT - Thursday, May 8, 2014, 10am GMT / 5am ET With rising programming costs, pay-TV providers are looking at ways they can benefit from OTT entertainment. This webinar will look at how Pay-TV providers can embrace OTT and not erode their core subscription TV services. Register Today! > Video Analytics Strategies for Monetizing the Video Experience - Thursday, May 15, 2014 11am ET / 8am PT As consumers have more ways to watch video than ever before, video providers are looking at new business strategies for monetizing their video services, to reduce churn, increase subscriber base, reduce capital and operational expenditure and optimize investments. This webinar will provide an overview of how providers can monetize their video services through video analytics strategies. Register Today!
| > Register: The Premier Connected Home Conference - May 13-15, 2014 - San Francisco, CA CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Connected Home Conference, hosted by Parks Associates, focuses on consumer trends, emerging technologies, value-added services & business strategies for the entertainment and smart home industries. Keynotes: AT&T, ARRIS, Cisco, iControl Networks, Lowe's. www.connectionsus.com
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Download today! > eBook: eBrief | MSOs See New Era for VoIP This FierceCable eBrief will explore that while cable MSOs may be struggling to retain video customers, several Tier 2 and Tier 3 operators are growing their revenues by bundling VoIP services with their existing video and high-speed Internet packages. Download this eBrief today! | |
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