| This week's sponsor is Conklin-Intracom. | | 
| | Visit Booth #220 at the Metaswitch Forum 2014 |
Also Noted: IneoQuest
Spotlight On... BTI's Doherty sees data center growth, metro 100G opportunities
Charter deploys Digitalsmith platform; SEC nabs insider trading execs at Qualcomm and much more...
 Special Report:
Cable and IPTV in the first quarter of 2014
How did pay-TV distributors including cable MSOs, IPTV and satellite providers perform in 2014's first quarter? In this earnings summary, we list results for the biggest cable industry players, broken down by distributors, select programmers, vendors and online video providers. Read more
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News From the Fierce Network:
1. Comcast hits No. 3 spot in Netflix rankings, but Canadian ISPs trump U.S. speeds
2. CenturyLink adds mitigation appliance option to DDoS offering
3. How to get your app noticed via App Store Optimization
| This week's sponsor is Adtran. |  | Webinar: Making the Move to Gigabit Services - What You Need to Know for a Successful Transition
Tuesday, May 20th, 12pm ET / 9am PT This webinar will explore how to make a successful transition to Gigabit services. We will explore topics including market drivers for G.fast and FTTdp architectures, the G.fast value proposition, how to make FTTdp part of your FTTH Gigabit services toolkit, we will also explore other elements needed to complete your Gigabit toolkit. Register Today! |
| Sponsor: Digital Adware FierceLive! Webinars > Video Analytics Strategies for Monetizing the Video Experience - Thursday, May 15, 2014 11am ET / 8am PT
> Making the Move to Gigabit Services - What You Need to Know for a Successful Transition - PRESENTED BY: ADTRAN
> How to build a profitable metro-regional network - Thursday, May 29th, 11amET / 8am PT
> Inside NFV?Why is virtualization important? - Thursday, June 5, 2014 2 PM ET/ 11 AM PT
> Driving revenue from multiscreen opportunities - Wednesday, June 11, 2014, 2pmET / 11amPT
> Developing for the Internet of Things: Challenges and Opportunities - Wednesday, June 18th, 2pm ET / 11am PT
Events > The TIA Network of the Future Conference - June 3-5 - Dallas, TX - Sponsored by: Telecommunications Industry Association
> OPS - June 10 - New York
Marketplace > Whitepaper: Running Out of Bandwidth? Take a Fresh Look at 100G
> Whitepaper: Cisco Collaboration Architecture: Enhance Employee Effectiveness for Greater Business Impact
> Whitepaper: Successfully Deploying Communications And Collaboration Solutions To Meet The Needs Of Your Medium-Size Business
> eBook: VoLTE and the Future of Mobile Voice
> Whitepaper: 802.11ac in the Enterprise: Technologies and Strategies
> eBook: Executive Summary | Thoughts on the Small Cell Evolution Part 2: Distributed Antenna Systems
> eBook: eBrief | MSOs See New Era for VoIP
> Whitepaper: Moving to the Suburbs: New Network Services For Data Centers
Jobs > Subject Matter Expert 2- Info Security - Arlington, VA (US)
> Sr. Network Engineer Telephony - Jonesboro
> Sr Programmer - Sierra Vista, AZ (US)
> Sr Analyst, Intelligence - Herndon, VA (US)
> Desktop Implementation - TS/SCI - Springfield, VA (US)
> Senior IP Network Engineer - Madison, WI
> Principal Information Security Analyst TS.SCI Required - Washington, DC (US)
> Cyber Security Engineer (TS.SCI Required) - Washington, DC (US)
> Staff Manager, Product Planning - San Diego, CA (US)
> Director, Wireless Engineering - URGENT!! - San Jose, CA
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* Post a job: Click here. | Today's Top News 1. AT&T, DirecTV reportedly in talks for $50B merger
AT&T (NYSE: T) is in talks to buy DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) for at least $50 billion--and if the two companies can come to terms, it would create a 26 million subscriber video powerhouse which would rival Comcast's (NASDAQ: CMCSA) proposed $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC). If successful in its bid to buy the satcaster, AT&T could bolster its small television operations and gain a valuable foothold in Latin America, where DirecTV has about 18 million subscribers. DirecTV's shares surged almost 6 percent in after-hours trading after the merger talks were first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Monday. For AT&T, the deal would signal the company's renewed expansion efforts in the U.S. following the wireless carrier's failed bid to buy T-Mobile in 2011. Talks between AT&T and DirecTV reportedly began in earnest after Comcast announced its plan to acquire Time Warner Cable. Some industry players believe that if DirecTV and AT&T come to terms and announce a formal deal, it could complicate regulators' lives because antitrust regulators may want to consider both deals simultaneously. For DirecTV, the deal is well-timed. It comes as customer growth is slowing. Cable companies have been able to offset the decline in video customers with more broadband subscribers, but DirecTV doesn't have that option. A merger between DirecTV would give the phone company another way to access video customers ,and it would give DirecTV a broadband delivery partner. For more:
- The Wall Street Journal broke this story
- New York Times Dealbook has this story
- the New York Post has this story
- Multichannel News has this story
- Hollywood Reporter has this story Related articles:
DirecTV reportedly enlists Goldman Sachs for talks with AT&T
Dish Network boss Ergen dashes DirecTV merger, acquisition speculation
DirecTV: Time Warner Cable Dodgers deal 'far above any rational view of the market'
DirecTV boosts U.S. revenues to $6.09B, but net income declines Read more about: acquisition, AT&T
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| This week's sponsor is Digital Adware. | | 
|
2. Comcast cuts full-access on demand deal with Turner
Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Turner Broadcasting System have cut a deal that will give Comcast customers on demand access to full seasons of several Turner TV shows including TNT's The Last Ship, a Michael Bay drama. The pact will give users of Comcast's Xfinity on-demand service access to the current and past seasons of shows on Turner networks including TNT, TBS, CNN, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network and truTV. The deal covers shows made by Turner's networks, not reruns of shows from other networks. Comcast has been increasingly offering all episodes of current TV shows on its Xfinity service. In the past, cable operators have offered a handful of the most recent episodes on-demand, but Comcast is trying to beef up its offering to satisfy consumers who increasingly want to binge or catch up on entire seasons of shows. The MSO's deal with Turner gives Comcast customers the full current season of more than 400 shows, the company said, up from a handful a year ago. Comcast says 70 percent of its subscriber base now uses video-on-demand service at least once a month. For its part, Turner executives believe its on demand deal with Comcast will give its shows a larger audience. The Comcast-Turner agreement also provides a new way to sell ads in the on demand arena. Research shows more than half of on-demand viewing happens after the first three days, a Variety article said. Comcast said in December it was working with Nielsen to determine ways to measure viewership of commercials inserted into on-demand programs. Using dynamic ad insertion technology, Turner will be able to easily swap in new ads on the fourth day or later--on TV, as well as on tablets and smartphones. The inventory available from the deal will be part of what Turner offers advertisers at this spring's "upfront" ad sales market, which is kicking off this week. Turner meets advertisers on Wednesday to preview its coming programming. For more:
- The Wall Street Journal has this story
- Variety has this story Related articles:
Pay-TV subscribers devour TV Everywhere, study shows
Nielsen: People watch just 17 of 189 available channels
Comcast partners with Nielsen to experiment with ads for on-demand content Read more about: Turner Networks, Comcast
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3. Major League Soccer scores $720M in new TV deals with ESPN, Fox, Univision
Major League Soccer inked new TV deals, netting eight-year rights agreements with ESPN and Fox for English-language and Univision for Spanish-language rights. The deals, which run through 2022, are the same length as Fox's contract with FIFA to show the World Cup and many other international competitions. According to Sports Business Daily, ESPN and Fox will pay a combined $75 million a year, and Univision will pay $15 million a year. That adds up to $90 million a year for eight years, a total of $720 million. The deals give ESPN and Fox the rights to air Spanish-language versions on ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes, respectively, for the games that air on the English channels. Univision's deal for Spanish-language rights is separate. "We wanted partners that would align without brand," said MLS commissioner Dan Garber said during a press conference announcing the new partnerships on Monday. "Partners that were committed to the domestic game and committed to supporting our league." All three TV partners will feature an exclusive MLS Match of the Week. ESPN and Fox Sports 1 will air Sunday doubleheaders back-to-back at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET, while the Univision family of networks will televise a game of the week on Friday evenings--primarily on UniMás--and a wrap-up show on Sundays. More than 125 MLS matches will be televised annually on the three networks. The new deals give ESPN a crucial soccer presence as the network hands off World Cup rights to Fox this year following this summer's World Cup in Brazil. The deal also marks a return to the league for Fox after three years. Univision will extend its relationship with MLS to 20 years over the life of the deal. "It's a futures deal," John Skipper, the president of ESPN, said Monday at the news conference announcing the new pacts "We're buying pork bellies. We think they'll become more valuable over time." But the MLS's viewership under the current contract is a mixed bag. On ESPN and ESPN2, viewership fell from 311,000 in 2012 to 220,000 last season. NBCSN's viewership fell from 122,000 in 2012 to 112,000 last season. But viewership has rebounded to 215,000 through seven games this season, thanks in part to English Premier League games acting as the lead-in to MLS four times. On Univision's UniMas (formerly TeleFutura) and Galavision networks, viewership more than doubled in 2013 to 135,000. This season, UniMas and Univision Deportes are averaging 136,000 viewers, according to data from the The New York Times. Executives from Fox and ESPN remained bullish. "We have a loyal and rabid fan base for M.L.S.," Eric Shanks, the president of Fox Sports, said. "We intend to expand that reach." Said Skipper: "We reach 115 million fans every week. It's a question of where we turn on the promotional fire hose." For more:
- the New York Times has this story
- Forbes has this story
- Broadcasting & Cable has this story Related articles:
Industry split on whether NBC overpaid for Olympics
Regional sports channel rights muddle Comcast-TWC merger, drive up costs across industry
Univision CEO says Comcast-TWC merger would hurt Hispanic TV viewers Read more about: ESPN Deportes, Major League Soccer
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4. Nielsen: TV is still leading in viewership
There's a lot of noise about viewers moving away from traditional TVs in favor of the Web or an app on their mobile devices, but new research from Nielsen found folks still like watching programming on their old-fashioned TV sets, spending an average of 55.5 hours watching traditional TV. That compares to nearly 15 hours on time-shifted TV; 34 hours using the mobile Web or an app on a smartphone; and about 28 hours via the Internet on a computer. The data comes from Nielsen's Cross Platform Report based on third-quarter 2013 data. Nielsen's latest data also found that second-screen usage is on the rise. Some 41 percent of people using tablets and smartphones look up information about the shows they are watching while they are watching them, according to the study. Another 29 percent are either texting or emailing while they watch a show and 18 percent are reading social media posts while they watch TV. Indeed, Nielsen has reported that 36 million people sent 990 million tweets about TV last year. Despite the continued health of TV viewing, some advertisers including MasterCard and Verizon Wireless are moving more of their ad dollars to the Web and away from TV, according to The Wall Street Journal. And the trend is likely to continue as online outlets ramp up their programming lineups. Advertising money for online video is "definitely coming out of TV," Ben Jankowski, head of global media for MasterCard, told the WSJ. While companies have been putting money into online video ads for years, few talked about moving TV ad dollars there. But with improvements in online video content and more accurate audience measurements, media buyers are becoming more comfortable with the Web in terms of ad buys. Indeed, nearly 88 million people watched online video on a daily basis in March, according to comScore. That's up 14 percent from the same period last year, according to WSJ. Further, digital media drew about 25 percent of total ad dollars last year, according to eMarketer, and should reach 31 percent by 2017. At the same time, eMarketer said TV ad spending will continue to capture the largest share of U.S. ad spending--though the number is expected to drop slightly from 38.8 percent in 2013 to 38.2 percent by 2017. In 2018, eMarketer predicts advertisers will spend more on digital than on TV. The firm said that digital ads--including not just online video but all website ads and mobile ads--will capture 36.4 percent of all advertising spending, just above TV's 36.1 percent share. For more:
- see this MediaPost article
- see this Wall Street Journal article
- see this eMarketer post Related articles:
Nielsen: People watch just 17 of 189 available channels
Broadcasters convince Nielsen to withhold broadband-only subs from ratings sample
Comcast partners with Nielsen to experiment with ads for on-demand content Read more about: comScore
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5. Telemundo taps Discovery veteran Silberwasser as president
Luis Silberwasser has been named president of Spanish-language broadcast network Telemundo by NBCUniversal's Hispanic Enterprises and Content unit. His hiring comes at a time when Telemundo is in the process of refining its business strategy and programming lineup.  | | Silberwasser (Image courtesy of NBCU) | That new lineup, which features over 1,000 hours of new content available via broadcast and online according to a company release, will be introduced to advertisers Wednesday night as part of its Upfront presentation in New York City. Telemundo is taking over rights to several World Cup soccer games beginning next year as part of a deal that also involves Fox and ESPN. The company outbid its chief rival, Univision Communications, by agreeing to pay $600 million to the FIFA organization for the rights from 2015 to 2022. It also has plans to add NASCAR to its mix of programming. Silberwasser, who had been executive vice president and chief content officer for Discovery Networks International, replaces Emiliano Romano, who stepped down as president last year. He'll have overall responsibility for the Telemundo broadcast network and Telemundo Studios when he starts his new gig in August. The move follows last week's hire of Ruben Mendiola as president for Telemundo's sister network mun2. For more:
- see this press release
- and the new programming lineup
- Broadcasting & Cable has this story
- the Los Angeles Times has this story Related articles:
Univision CEO says Comcast-TWC merger would hurt Hispanic TV viewers
Comcast expands usage-based broadband trials; Telemundo Media President Emilio Romano reportedly resigns
Operators team with programmers and rivals to drive local ad revenue Read more about: Discovery Networks International
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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... BTI's Doherty sees data center growth, metro 100G opportunities  Newly named BTI Systems CEO Colin Doherty sat down with FierceTelecom's Sean Buckley to discuss what's in store for the company, which has more than doubled its cloud services revenues. BTI's real opportunity, Doherty told Buckley, is providing more visibility into the traffic between data centers and certainty in the cloud. Traffic growth in the cloud is enormous and is projected to grow at a 35 percent CAGR between 2012 and 2017. Doherty said cloud operators are critical. "A lot of our banking transactions today ride over cloud operators and get stored in clouds so there's a huge security, visibility, speed, content awareness and higher up to the stack services that these cloud operators are going to demand rather than fast-paced optical services," Doherty told FierceTelecom. Read more
Cable industry news from across the Web: > TiVo's Digitalsmiths unit announced that Charter Communications has begun deploying its Seamless Discovery platform to more than 5 million Charter TV and Internet customers. The deal will allow Charter customers to increase engagement and discover the relevant content they want faster and on channels they may not have normally surfed. Release > Two former Qualcomm Inc. sales directors were charged with insider trading, allegedly making $230,000 in profit from trades in Atheros Communications Inc. when Qualcomm bought the company in 2011. Prosecutors said the men invested more than $500,000 in Atheros stock and options after they learned Qualcomm would be buying the company and before the $3.2-billion acquisition was announced. Authorities alleged that the men bought Atheros securities based on information that had not been made public and cashed in on the surging Atheros stock price. Article > A national survey of entrepreneurs and small business IT decision makers conducted by Bredin Research and sponsored by Comcast Business found that offering free Wi-Fi works better at keeping customers happy than common "waiting area" conveniences like candy, water or magazines. These "Main Street" businesses that offer Wi-Fi--coffee shops, bars, restaurants, retailers, doctor's offices and others--are leveraging the service to attract new clientele, improve customer loyalty and raise their profile within the community. Article > Ultra HD (UHD or 4K) TV household ownership will grow from less than 10 percent of homes in the US for the next four years to 33 percent of homes by 2020, according to Strategy Analytics in its newest study, "Ultra High-Definition TV Displays: Global Market Forecast 2012-2020." The report predicts UHD TV shipments will account for 41 percent of global flat panel TV units in 2020, up from just 4 percent in 2014. Article And finally... Cox Communications plans to activate more than 500 wireless hot spots in Omaha by May 20, according to the Omaha Word Herald. Cox said the Wi-Fi service will operate at speeds up to 15 Mbps download and 4 Mbps upload, depending on the number of devices connected at a time. Article > 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! > Making the Move to Gigabit Services - What You Need to Know for a Successful Transition - PRESENTED BY: ADTRAN This webinar will explore how to make a successful transition to Gigabit services. We will explore topics including market drivers for G.fast and FTTdp architectures, the G.fast value proposition, how to make FTTdp part of your FTTH Gigabit services toolkit, we will also explore other elements needed to complete your Gigabit toolkit. Register Today! > How to build a profitable metro-regional network - Thursday, May 29th, 11amET / 8am PT In this webinar we'll look at how service providers can craft retail business service offerings and revenue opportunities for specific verticals like education and health care. And we'll talk about the demand for Ethernet and optical services. Register Today! > Inside NFV?Why is virtualization important? - Thursday, June 5, 2014 2 PM ET/ 11 AM PT Vendors claim that the wireless industry is about to go through a major change as operators simplify and scale their networks by separating hardware and software functionality and using virtualization to improve network management in the software layer. This webinar will look at the latest developments in NFV and what it means to operators and vendors. Register today! > Driving revenue from multiscreen opportunities - Wednesday, June 11, 2014, 2pmET / 11amPT Smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and other IP-connected devices are revolutionizing the way content providers, distributors and advertisers reach viewers. While multiscreen devices promise to increase viewer engagement and social interaction, the strategies for making money from these other screens are still evolving. This webinar will look at a variety of multiscreen strategies that are currently being used by pay-TV providers. Register Today! > Developing for the Internet of Things: Challenges and Opportunities - Wednesday, June 18th, 2pm ET / 11am PT Cisco estimates that 50 billion devices and objects will be connected to the Internet by 2020. Will there be a role for developers in this area? And if so, how can developers position themselves in the months ahead on this nascent but potentially explosive opportunity? Register Today!
| > The TIA Network of the Future Conference - June 3-5 - Dallas, TX - Sponsored by: Telecommunications Industry Association The Conference, which highlights the intersection of markets, technology, and policy perspectives, will focus on transformation of the ICT industry as globalization, technological innovations and regulatory environments present challenges and opportunities. Topics include: 5G, SDN, Big Data, NFV, Cybersecruity, and much more. Click Here Now. > OPS - June 10 - New York OPS is where digital media leaders meet, develop best practices and work together to solve today's most important online advertising challenges. As a digital strategist, OPS is the one event where you're certain to get the information you need to stay competitive and maximize profitability. Register Now.
| > Whitepaper: Running Out of Bandwidth? Take a Fresh Look at 100G This white paper describes each of these technological advances and how this 100G benefit in scale can even be accomplished with existing, fully depreciated, legacy 10G DWDM systems. Download this white paper today. > Whitepaper: Cisco Collaboration Architecture: Enhance Employee Effectiveness for Greater Business Impact In this paper, you will learn how the Cisco® Collaboration Architecture enables you to address trends such as mobility, "bring-your-own-device," and video, and create a flexible platform for collaboration. Download this whitepaper today. > Whitepaper: Successfully Deploying Communications And Collaboration Solutions To Meet The Needs Of Your Medium-Size Business > eBook: VoLTE and the Future of Mobile Voice Despite more than two years of anticipation, the U.S. is still waiting for the widespread deployment of voice over LTE as major operators delay deployment. Experts say this shouldn't come as a surprise given the complexity of the technology. FierceWireless will take an in-depth look at VoLTE as well as explore HD voice and other advanced services made possible by VoLTE. Download this eBook today! > Whitepaper: 802.11ac in the Enterprise: Technologies and Strategies Download the White Paper "802.11ac in the Enterprise: Technologies and Strategies" to learn from industry expert Craig Mathias about the technologies behind 802.11ac, deployment misconceptions and review steps that every organization should take in getting ready for 802.11ac.
Download today! > eBook: Executive Summary | Thoughts on the Small Cell Evolution Part 2: Distributed Antenna Systems TE Connectivity conducted surveys in the spring and fall of 2013 to gauge how service providers, hardware/software integrators and other segments of the industry are thinking about small cell technologies and their roles in the macro/micro network. The surveys found that attitudes and perceptions continue to evolve. Download this executive summary 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! > Whitepaper: Moving to the Suburbs: New Network Services For Data Centers Data centers are moving outside traditional metro areas to take advantage of lower real estate and power costs. Learn three ways service providers can manage this shift by reading this white paper. You will learn: How to optimize connectivity between users and content, how to differentiate user to content domain services and how on-demand service offerings can bring additional revenue. Download this whitepaper today. | > Subject Matter Expert 2- Info Security - Arlington, VA (US)
> Sr. Network Engineer Telephony - Jonesboro
> Sr Programmer - Sierra Vista, AZ (US)
> Sr Analyst, Intelligence - Herndon, VA (US)
> Desktop Implementation - TS/SCI - Springfield, VA (US)
> Senior IP Network Engineer - Madison, WI
> Principal Information Security Analyst TS.SCI Required - Washington, DC (US)
> Cyber Security Engineer (TS.SCI Required) - Washington, DC (US)
> Staff Manager, Product Planning - San Diego, CA (US)
> Director, Wireless Engineering - URGENT!! - San Jose, CA
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