The OTT Revolution Will Be Televised

Another week of eye-opening developments from the world of over-the-top delivery:

• Azuki Systems is turning the OTT-as-enemy perspective on its head as it unveiled this week a new solution for MVPDs to integrate over-the-top delivery of live and on-demand content into their current networks. The company hopes providers will embrace the multiscreen/multiplatform technology as a complimentary service to their existing network infrastructures.

"First generation OTT solutions like Netflix and Hulu were largely viewed by service providers as the enemy, when in reality they are lucrative business opportunities," company President & CEO John Clancy said. "It's no longer about OTT vs. the service providers; it is about the perfect marriage between the two."

• Boxee is rolling out "major updates" to its connected TV platform, including support for its LiveTV dangle ($49 - on sale now). This week the company said it would take its products to small cable operators as an alternative means for distributing pay-TV services to customers. The company's blog proclaims: "Let the cord-cutting begin!"

• Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed Tuesday that the company sold 1.4M AppleTV boxes during Q4... (about 1/2 of what the company sold in the entire year prior and 1/3 of the 4.2M sold in total). Of note, says GigaOm: 1) Apple is clearly outselling the competition, 2) there's "pent-up" demand for the "mythical" iTV, and 3) people want their TVs to connect to the internet without having to buy another set. The calm before the storm? •

Cable's Favorite Networks

An enlightening new study from Beta Research is making its way through cable circles this week as the company has named which networks are the most wanted by cable operators. According to the firm's 2011 carriage survey, the "emerging network" cable ops most want to carry overall is the Hallmark Movie Channel (88%) while the "mid-sized network" is Fox Business Network (85%). For large cable systems, the study said the most-wanted emerging net is the BBC World News (33%) and the mid-sized net is NatGeo Wild (24%).

The top vote-getting networks in each category are as follows:

• Emerging (all operators): 1) Hallmark Movie Channel, 2) Smithsonian Channel, 3) MTV Hits, 4) BBC World News, 5) Crime & Investigation.

• Emerging (large operators): 1) BBC World News, 2) Sony Movie Channel, 3) Crime & Investigation, 4) RLTV,  5) Chiller.

• Mid-sized (all operators): 1) Fox Business Network, 2) NFL Network, 3) NatGeo Wild, 4) PBS Kids Sprout, 5) Cooking Channel.

• Mid-sized (large operators): 1) Nat Geo Wild, 2) NFL Network, 3) PBS Kids SProut, 4) Current TV. •

Etc.: Netflix Q4 Rebound - Murdoch-backed Music Service Folds - Supremes Uphold PBS Ruling on DISH

QRs: Netflix reported Q4 results Wednesday mostly pleasing investors with a rebound of sorts. The company added 220K new streaming members during the period accentuated by "fewer streaming cancellations, lower migration to DVD-only plans" and an international reach of 1.9M customers. Netflix posted Q4 net income of $41M ($.73 per share) with FCF of $34M. The company added $2.3B of streaming content library assets, and revealed an "expected" loss in DVD members to 11.2M. In sum, the company said it now boasts 24.4M members (25% y/y increase), will continue its evolution from DVD to streaming and has plans to launch as many as 5 original TV series by 2013.

Rules & Regs: The FCC will hold an open meeting Tuesday, Jan. 31 to discuss reforming the Lifeline program including: 1) universal availability of communications services to low-income Americans, 2) minimizing universal service contributions,  3) eliminating program waste, fraud and abuse, and 4) supporting broadband adoption. --- The FCC is accepting objections to the proposed Verizon Wireless/Spectrum Co. deal through Feb. 21. Justice Dept. spokeswoman Gina Talamona said this week that the department is looking into the $3.6B agreement. Meanwhile, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said he expects the deal to close by midyear. --- After a 3-year wait, the FCC quietly dismissed Urban Networks' application to share the airwaves with ION Media Networks despite its own 2010 channel-sharing proposal. The long, complicated story is broken down quite well at CommLawBlog.

$$$: Social TV startup Bluefin Labs raised $12M is series B financing, led by Time Warner Investments. AdWeek has details. --- SquareTrade, a San Francisco-based company that provides warranties for CE products such as the iPhone, iPad, laptops and e-readers, landed a $238M investment from Bain Capital. --- The News Corp.-backed digital music startup Beyond Oblivian filed for bankruptcy protection after spending millions developing the service that never even launched. Reuters has details.

Research: Driven by digital TVs, satellite STBs and OTT video game consoles, the connected device market will grow from 256.8M installed units in 2011 to 1.34B in 2016. According to NPD In-Stat, smart devices will have a global CAGR of 52.6% during the next 5 years led by 36.7M connected video gaming consoles. --- IHS says with flat-panel TVs installed in nearly every hotel room in North America, growth of HDTV shipments to the hospitality industry will drop off dramatically this year. The firm says HDTV shipments will reach ~1.21M units, a 7% y/y increase as compared to the 28% y/y surge in 2011. IHS projects the growth will plateau from 2013-2015 averaging around 5%.

Tech: CableLabs intro'd an equipment qualification program for its DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON project. Designed to accelerate the development of EPON-supported devices, the new DPoE program enables equipment manufacturers to certify that their products are compliant with CableLabs specs. --- ATIS released a new spec to securely authenticate TVs, tables and other devices for IPTV services. Details here. --- Cisco unveiled a new Linksys homeplug AV powerline adapter that transforms a home's outlets into wired network connections. Simple and cool. --- Local reports suggest Comcast is having some difficulties transferring a few subs to its all-digital service. Read more.

Programming: CBS announced its multiplatform strategy for coverage of this year's college football National Signing Day on Feb. 1. The company is offering massive, in-depth coverage of kids picking schools across CBS Sports Network, CBSSports.com, MAXPreps.com and CBS Sports College Network. --- Wednesday we reported on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's plans for a new talk show. Quick update seems to point at RT, the Kremlin-funded English language station, as the program's first home. RT says its global footprint reaches 430M HHs. --- ShalomTV is launching ShalomTV Live, its first "PBS-style" cable net featuring daily news from Israel, Jewish studies programming, Jewish celebrities, music/art/film and more. The channel is also available online.

Dist.: Cablevision added the new iO Italian package, which includes Mediaset Italia and Rai Italia. --- Mediacom added 23 new HD channels in Eastern Iowa including CBS Sports HD, Fox Sport Soccer HD, BBC America HD, HBO Latino HD, Showtime Extreme HD and Starz Kids & Family HD. The company says it now offers more than 100 HDs in the area.

Mobile: Deloitte Ubermind is launching an iPad app for Showtime's authentication service Showtime Anytime. --- ADBOWL, the online, real-time poll tracking consumer response to Super Bowl ads, launched a mobile app for both Android and iOS powered tablets.

Deals: Belo renewed its data contract with Rentrak for Dallas/Ft. Worth's WFAA (ABC) and included Houston's KHOU (CBS), Phoenix's KTVK (indie) & KASW (CW) and Seattle's KING (NBC) & KONG (indie).

SkyREPORT: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected DISH's request to overturn an earlier federal appeals court decision on implementing rules that force the satcaster to distribute PBS stations in HD. --- Five international broadcasters are devising an organization to address the problem of intentional interference of satellite transmissions. BroadbandTV News has the story from the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva.  --- SiriusXM asked the FCC to devise other uses for wireless spectrum besides mobile data service. The company said the agency imposed several interference conditions on it during Sirius' merger with XM yet has done nothing to quell fears that "satellite radio consumers will experience interference from mobile WCS devices."  

Retail: People like buying TVs around Super Bowl time. Consumer Reports just released its ratings report on 142 HDTV models to help them decide. Check it out.

Over, Up & Under There: Alcatel-Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen thinks Asia and Africa are leading the way on digital infrastructure that could leave Europe behind. Bloomberg BusinessWeek has more. --- Bell Aliant launched a Facebook app for its Canadian FibreOP TV customers. --- Chinese PPV/VOD platform YOU On Demand is launching its first music channel, YOU On Demand Karaoke.

People: Comcast named Amy Lynch as area VP in the company's California Southwest Bay region. --- Outdoor Channel Holdings said Tom Hornish has been named President & CEO succeeding Roger Werner, who will remain with the company as co-Chair.

Obit: James Jespersen, 77, co-inventor of closed-captioning, died of a heart-attack in San Miguel, Mexico.

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

ADVERTORIAL: Cable Center Inducts 6 Industry Leaders Into Cable Hall-of-Fame

The Cable Center has named six industry stalwarts to the Cable Hall of Fame Class of 2012, and preparations for the Cable Hall of Fame Celebration are in full swing!  This year's Celebration will be held on May 21 at the Marriott at Copley Place in Boston, in conjunction with The Cable Show 2012.

The 2012 honorees are:  

•    Ann R. Carlsen, Founder and CEO, Carlsen Resources, Inc.
•    Leo Hindery, Jr., Managing Partner, InterMedia Partners  
•    Larry King, Former Host of Larry King Live, Host of Larry King Specials, CNN
•    Debra L. Lee, Chairman and CEO, BET Networks
•    H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest, President and CEO, The Lenfest Group
•    Phil Lind, Vice Chairman, Rogers Communications Inc.

The 2012 honorees are a diverse group of leaders who have all helped to shape the cable industry.  Since 1998, only 90 men and women have been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame.

"Congratulations to the Cable Hall of Fame Class of 2012," said Larry Satkowiak, President and CEO of The Cable Center. "It is a privilege to recognize these six individuals who have been such an important part of the cable industry’s legacy. We look forward to honoring them at the 2012 Cable Hall of Fame Celebration during –The Cable Show."

Register today!  Online registration is now available at www.cablehalloffame.com.   

Interested in Sponsorships?  Put your company in front of this elite group with a sponsorship.  For information, contact Lela Cocoros, 303.871.2798, lcocoros@cablecenter.org.•