Yep, an Apple TV ... and it is in the new Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson (some details here from The Washington Post).

Hayley Tsukayama’s story says Isaacson wrote that Jobs told him, “He very much wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple and elegant.”

Isaacson continued: “‘I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,’ he told me. ‘It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.’ No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. ‘It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.’”

All those rumors about an Apple TV might just have been true, then.  But what’s interesting to me is the idea of the epg, internet search and easy navigation in the cloud ... takes away the STB.  In this case, the remote would, of course, be an iPhone.

Whoever gets there first might really win BIG!

And, Comcast has hinted it is looking at the idea.

• It was a nice and successful Argo conference in San Diego last week followed by a little stimulating relaxation in front of students at USC up in LA ... always a kick thanks to Dick Block.

So ... this week is NYC and DC.

Then a week in Denver ... then back to NYC (the SNL Kagan Cable MSO Summit on the 8th, details here) and DC again.

But when the snow really starts falling ... no more travel for awhile!

Meanwhile, our very good friend Lou Borrelli is at it again with his 7th (but who’s counting?) Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit @ SUNY Oswego (details here) on Thursday the 27th.

Pretty cool this year with Nomi Bergman, Arian Waterston and more panelists and participants looking at diversity ... as Lou writes, “The panelists speak in classes and small groups all day, culminating in a talk show style 90 minute session with Q&A from some of the 500 students, faculty and community leaders in the house -  distributed live on cable and radio across central New York and online across the planet.  We have reached the tipping point where students are doing most/all of the planning and execution for this day (I am looking forward to their version of a red carpet show leading up to the broadcast).”

Me, too.•

TV (Still) King of Growing Media Jungle

Despite ever-increasing choices for people to consume media, watching television continues to grow in popularity and frequency. So says Nielsen's State of the Industry report that shows in the April-to-July period, the average US viewer watched 2.5 hours of TV programming more per month than during the same period in 2010.

According to the ratings firm, American viewers are averaging 146 hours and 20 minutes of television consumption per month, a 2% y/y increase. Conversely, the company said, viewing of time-shifted programming from a DVR totaled 24.5 hours a month, a paltry .1% y/y increase.

So what gives? For starters, only 39% of US TV HHs have a DVR, Nielsen says. Additionally, viewing of video online and via mobile devices increased 14.7% and 19.8%, respectively.

Not surprisingly, older viewers tend to gravitate toward traditional TV delivery. The firm says US viewers older than 65 years-old watch on average 46 hours and 16 minutes of TV per week, while younger audiences aged 18-24 watch 24 hours and 17 minutes. •

Etc.: DIRECTV v. Fox - Report: Cord-Cutting Increasing - Super Bowl Porn Ruling

Retrans: Major dispute brewing between DIRECTV and Fox Networks. Reports indicate the companies' previous agreement expired at the end of Sept., but no progress has been made in negotiations. DIRECTV says it's going to drop Fox (almost) completely, including all 19 RSNs, FX, Nat Geo, Speed, Fuel, Fox Movie, Deportes and Soccer.  THR has more.

Analyze This: Bernstein's Craig Moffett says Deutsche Telekom is in the uncomfortable position of being the reluctant owner of an asset like T-Mobile that continues to deteriorate rapidly in an increasingly difficult U.S. wireless market. Ouch. Interestingly, the analyst says cable could be the answer. "With T-Mo likely to run into real spectrum constraints as early as next year, and with no spectrum auctions due in the U.S. until 2014/15, a deal with Comcast and Time Warner Cable for spectrum therefore looks appealing…"

Q3: Verizon reported net additions of 138K FiOS internet and 131K FiOS TV subscriptions during Q3, bringing the company's total video sub base to 4M. The company also reported an 8.8% y/y ARPU increase with FiOS revs accounting for nearly 60% of total consumer revenues. CEO Lowell McAdam said that the company faced significant challenges during the period but its Q3 results keep Verizon on track to meet 2011 earnings projections "with great momentum expected entering 2012." --- Netflix hasn't reported anything yet, but reports are saying the company may have dropped as many as 600K customers during its recent, er… rough patch. The company's past couple months have been a nightmare, but some don't think all is lost. Check out Bloomberg's piece, here. --- Shaw Communications reported a quarterly profit plunge of 32% blaming a $83.7M loss from its abandoned wireless strategy.

OTT: Nintendo inked a deal to make Hulu Plus available to Nintendo 3DS and Wii owners for a separate $8/month fee.

Research: Parks Associates suggests cord-cutting is accelerating. The firm's latest report says 13% of broadband-connected TV viewers have reduced pay-TV services within the last 12 months and another 9% say they're about to do the same. PA says the move away from pay-TV is tied closer to the adoption of broadband than internet video itself.

In Court: Director/producer John Singleton is suing Paramount Pictures and MTV Films for at least $20M for fraud and breach of contract. AP has details. --- A former Comcast employee pleaded guilty to two counts of computer tampering in Arizona last week. Frank Gonzalez admitted in court that he was the person who hacked Comcast's broadcast of the 2009 Super Bowl to air a full 37 seconds of porn. Comcast ended up paying offended customers a $10 credit; Gonzalez must serve 3 years probation and pay $1K.

Rules & Regs: An anti-piracy bill floating around the Senate could send polarizing pop-star Justin Bieber to prison for up to five years. While that may sound like sweet music to some, the bill would make it a felony to post unlicensed content online more than 10 times in a 180-day period. (Bieber made a name for himself posting vids of himself singing other people's songs… a violation of the proposal.) Hillicon Valley has more. --- The ACA said it supports federal regulations that would require online video programming providers and distributors to implement the same IP closed-captioning requirements already imposed on cable operators using IP to distribute programming. --- Not really a 'rule' or 'reg,' but LightSquared said it would not provide Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) documentation about its contacts with the FCC and White House regarding the company's regulatory waiver to launch its 4G LTE network. --- The FCC is considering legislation that would allow cable operators with digital systems to encrypt their basic service tiers. The agency will hear comments on a proposal to lift the current encryption ban that says it won't affect cable systems' compatibility with consumer electronics.

Dist.: The Broadway Channel and Mag Rack spun a deal that will have the network's programs sing on Mag's VOD platform. Available in ~30M HHs, Mag Rack is carried by Comcast, Cablevision, Verizon FiOS, Charter, DIRECTV and DISH.

Tech: IBM and Fox Networks received a joint Engineering Emmy® Award for Innovation from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for major improvements to digital workflows.

Up, Down & Over There: Russian pay-TV provider Rostelecom said it will set up a public registry of digital works to combat copyright piracy. --- Pace issued another profits warning (the 3rd of 2011) saying floods at the company's Thai-based tech supplier Western Digital "will negatively impact expected shipments… this year." Shares fell to a 52-week low upon the news.

SkyREPORT: Hughes said it made some "enhancements" to its HughesNet satellite broadband service including network upgrades, increased daily download allowances and a "status meter" that monitors subs' usage. --- Arianespace said the Soyuz' inaugural flight from French Guiana was a success Friday placing Europe's first two Galileo navigation sats into orbit.

Misc.: WICT's Rocky Mountain Chapter said former Qwest COO Teresa Taylor will deliver the keynote speech at The Cable Center's 'Tech It Out' conference on Nov. 10. Registration and details can be found here.

--- Catch today's media market news in The Evening BRIDGE. •