TVover.net

Sony to Deliver ''Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs'' to Networked Bravia HDTVs and Blu-ray Players

TVover.net — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:47:25 GMT

Sony announces that owners of Sony networked BRAVIA HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc players will be able to enjoy an exclusive in-home opportunity to rent the Sony Pictures animated hit, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” four weeks before it is available at retail.

Starting today, customers who purchase a networked BRAVIA HDTV or Blu-ray Disc player and register the device between Nov. 9, 2009 and Jan. 4, 2010, will receive a free 24-hour rental of the movie in high definition (a value of $24.95).

From Dec. 8, 2009 through Jan. 4, 2010, the movie will be offered for rent at a cost of $24.95 on all current networked BRAVIA HDTVs, including the W5100, Z5100, XBR9 and XBR10 series as well as the company’s new BDP-N460 Network Blu-ray Disc player.

Customers who already own networked BRAVIA HDTVs or have earlier BRAVIA models equipped with the BRAVIA Internet Video Link can rent the movie during this exclusive time period. Televisions and Blu-ray Disc players must be connected to the internet to receive the movie.

The initiative will be supported by a special broadcast advertisement featuring “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” animated characters Sam (Anna Ferris) and Flint (Bill Hader). The ad will beginning Nov. 9, 2009.

Harmonic Powers Broadcast and On-Demand IPTV Service in Curaçao

TVover.net — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:41:35 GMT

Harmonic announces that Santa Barbara Utilities has selected Harmonic’s industry-leading digital video solutions for a new broadcast and on-demand IPTV service at the Santa Barbara Plantation Resort Community in Curaçao, the most populous island in the Netherlands Antilles. The end-to-end IPTV deployment includes Harmonic’s Ion AVC HD encoders, ProStream 1000 stream processing platform, StreamLiner video servers, Armada intelligent asset management and NMX Digital Service Manager.

Standard definition video sources are received from satellite and multiplexed using Harmonic’s versatile ProStream 1000 stream processor for the IP encapsulation. The Ion AVC encoders are used to compress and deliver the HD channels for the broadcast service. On-demand assets are stored and delivered using Harmonic’s StreamLiner video servers and Armada asset management system, which dynamically distributes content across the network based on popularity. The entire video service is monitored and controlled via NMX.

Calix to Demonstrate Advanced IPTV Applications for the Microsoft Mediaroom Platform

TVover.net — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:24:06 GMT

Calix will demonstrate new interactive IPTV applications enabled by Microsoft Mediaroom at TelcoTV in Orlando (November 10-12, Orange County Convention Center, booth #501).

The Calix TelcoTV demonstration will include security monitoring and caller ID applications created by Microsoft Certified Integration Partner 180Squared using the Mediaroom application development platform, Mediaroom Presentation Framework. This demonstration will provide a clear vision of the differentiated user experience that Microsoft Mediaroom can provide. It will also highlight the deployment flexibility that the Calix Unified Access Infrastructure can deliver across any media type or protocol.

Calix customers are now widely deploying the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV platform across North America, providing a clearly differentiated home entertainment experience for subscribers. Microsoft Mediaroom includes differentiated features like instant channel change and multiview capabilities that allow consumers to see multiple channels and programs on one screen.

Calix will also demonstrate an advanced home entertainment experience enabled by Microsoft Mediaroom for Xbox 360 and Cisco set-top box consoles, across its Unified Access Infrastructure. This powerful home entertainment experience features content access and control across the home network, including broadcast, on-demand, recorded, and streamed content, as well as gaming, music, and digital photography assets. It will also be the first public demonstration of the Calix E7 Ethernet Service Access Platform.

Calix has worked closely with Microsoft to implement the full extent of current and emerging Mediaroom features and map them to the realities of communications service provider deployments. The Calix C7 and E7 platforms have been specifically optimized to support many of the unique features enabled by Mediaroom:

1. For service providers transitioning from legacy middleware environments to Microsoft Mediaroom, the Calix Unified Access Infrastructure can support dual middleware environments and has the capacity to handle the duplication of extensive channel line-ups.

2. Calix supports video service quality management functionality, which seamlessly manages the subscriber experience in situations where the breadth of Microsoft Mediaroom functionality may exceed the total bandwidth available in bandwidth-constrained deployments.

3. Network address translation (NAT) support across the Calix Unified Access Infrastructure enables a home gateway model, allowing Microsoft Mediaroom to deliver robust media sharing functionality throughout the subscriber home environment.

4. Comprehensive support for advanced Microsoft Mediaroom services and features across the Calix Unified Access Infrastructure, including virtually any wireline protocol (ADSL2+ and VDSL2, including bonding, GPON, and Active Ethernet) and any physical media (copper or fiber).

Butler-Bremer Communications Launches Cable IPTV Service with Harmonic and Falcon IP/Complete Solutions

TVover.net — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:19:36 GMT

Harmonic and Falcon IP/Complete announce that Butler-Bremer Communications has selected the IP/Complete “bird to box” video solution and Harmonic’s Direct-2 Edge solution for Butler-Bremer’s new cable IPTV service. The new Harmonic/Falcon cable IPTV solution enables Butler-Bremer to offer a comprehensive and high quality service lineup to all of its customers. Butler-Bremer also operates an IPTV service over its existing telephone network infrastructure and a fiber-to-the-home network.

The Falcon IP/Complete IPTV delivery system encompasses content aggregation from satellites and routers, integration with middleware, and delivery over copper, fiber, and coax to the set top box. The Falcon solution will allow Butler-Bremer to deliver video service to a newly acquired exchange of Shell Rock, using FTTH and Copper networks. In addition, the system enables video service delivery to their cable TV exchanges over the coaxial plant—all from one total system.

Harmonic's D2E cable IPTV solution, incorporating the industry-leading NSG 9000 universal edgeQAM and D2E management software, enables cable operators to leverage their existing DOCSIS and digital video investments to deliver broadband video to multiple screens, including traditional TV and the PC. D2E addresses the significant challenges associated with delivering DOCSIS-based video content over traditional CMTS-based architectures, and provides a substantial infrastructure cost savings.

Harmonic will showcase its telco video delivery solutions at TelcoTV booth #539 in Orlando, Florida, November 10-12.

BH Telecom Selects Envivio IPTV Headend Solution for New IPTV Service

TVover.net — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:12:38 GMT

BH Telecom has begun the rollout of its new “Moja TV” IPTV service using a complete IPTV headend from Envivio. Built by systems integrator and middleware vendor Smart Com, the deployment enables BH Telecom to offer a full suite of live and on-demand channels complete with electronic program guide, PVR and other interactive features to its more than 2 million subscribers.

The Envivio IPTV headend includes the 4Caster C4 high quality, three screens encoder/transcoder paired with 4Stream IP Gateways and comprehensive monitoring and redundancy protection from the 4Manager management system. It provides an efficient, all-digital, IP-based signal flow that can directly ingest channels from any source and deliver the highest quality video at low bit rates that enable the service to optimize its reach and channel count.

Smart Com provided complete integration services for the BH Telecom installation, including BeeSmart middleware to enable converged multimedia services such as electronic program guides, video on demand, web browsing and mail.

4Caster C4 from Envivio combines the performance of the latest generation Intel multi-core processors with advanced video compression codecs developed by Envivio. A flexible software architecture allows Envivio to make continual quality enhancements and feature additions. The high availability IPTV platform delivers 99.999% uptime and unshakeable performance with fully redundant signal routing and power management. Fault tolerance throughout the headend is increased by redundant components administered via the Envivio 4Manager headend management system which provides automatic 1+1 or N+1 redundancy protection and high level service supervision. The 4Caster C4 encoder/transcoder can be extended to support distribution to mobile and broadband devices.

Espial Switches On IPTV Services for Sogetel

TVover.net — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:00:22 GMT

Espial announces that Sogetel is preparing to deliver IP-based television and video on-demand services using Evo TV Service Platform and Espial MediaBase. In its initial launch to 1,000 customers, Sogetel will provide standard- and high-definition TV services including Video on Demand and Time-Shift TV.

The group Sogetel currently maintains 32,000 access lines in five different rural areas of Quebec. In the last four years, it has grown its landline network by acquiring five independent telephone companies. Rapid scaling, single head-end support, and time-shift TV services are some of the compelling advantages of Espial MediaBase. These advantages of Espial MediaBase are also appreciated by millions of VOD subscribers worldwide.

IneoQuest Expands Family of Microsoft Mediaroom Deployment Test Solutions

TVover.net — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:11:35 GMT

IneoQuest has expanded its product line for optimizing Microsoft Mediaroom operations. iDMS Telco now leverages the data collected on IQDialogue IPTV Mediaroom Installer to give operations managers a consolidated collection of historical deployment data. Using IneoQuest's technology, providers can implement uniform procedures to ensure high quality installation, maximize overall support for technicians and efficiently engineer their network for improved performance.

Telecommunications providers are currently using IneoQuest's IQDialogue IPTV Mediaroom Installer to test the performance of Microsoft Mediaroom residential deployments and assure that the setup and configuration of television, video-on-demand and multi-room DVR services operate properly. Now, iDMS Telco allows for a centralized collection of all data and measurements gathered in the field, including deployment location and time, pass/fail results, fault identification, channel change timing and packet loss, with specific identifiers for each IQDialogue IPTV Mediaroom Installer probe.

Using the data, iDMS Telco enables telecommunications providers to hone operations management for improved deployment service, expense reduction and staff support. With iDMS Telco, providers can review deployments for adoption of uniform processes and cross-reference job details in case of follow up and additional service. At the same time, providers can survey the type of jobs or regions where deployments took the most time, enabling them to identify network challenges or provide training to streamline deployments.

In addition to operations management, iDMS Telco provides a snapshot of performance over time, giving providers trending analysis in order to resolve issues proactively and plan for future upgrades. For example, iDMS Telco details top deployment failures and issues, number of hours per deployment and individual identification of test probes. Since large repositories of historical data can be stored, providers can solve systematic issues to lessen the overall impact on subscribers.

With its centralized version control feature, iDMS Telco also notifies network technicians to the latest updates to software and allows for an automated download of updates to each probe during the synchronization process, ensuring all technicians are outfitted with the most recent software version for standardized service.

As a result of its partnership with Microsoft, IneoQuest is able to offer a family of products for Microsoft Mediaroom deployment support. In addition to iDMS Telco and IQDialogue IPTV Mediaroom Installer, IneoQuest also offers the IQDialogue IPTV Mediaroom Advanced for high-tier analysis and testing, monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities.

TelcoTV Panel Reveals Critical Elements to Deliver High Quality Internet Video

TVover.net — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:02:35 GMT

Zeugma Systems, along with industry experts from IDC, Roku, and Skitter.TV, will participate in a panel entitled “Delivering on the Quality Promise: Internet Video on Your 50-inch HDTV (And Loving It)” at TelcoTV in Orlando. The infinite expansion of internet video has left consumers expecting an internet video viewing experience that is indistinguishable from locally attached DVD players. With advances in video storefronts, content delivery, network technology, and digital media players, this quality hurdle is being rapidly surmounted.

Matt Davis—Program Director, Consumer Multiplay Services, IDC

“As attested to by the success of the TelcoTV conference, telcos everywhere have been driving to include video as a core element of their multiplay offerings. Thus far most of these efforts have been focused on IPTV, a route fraught with cost and complexity. Now telcos can, possibly for the first time, contemplate relying on much simpler and less expensive over-the-top video as a component of their entertainment offerings.”

Bob Saunders—President, Skitter.TV

“The most successful entertainment service offerings will be those that combine linear TV with internet TV with user-generated content in a sit-back viewing experience on the TV as well as the computer and mobile devices. To provide such an offering with the quality of service consumers expect, telcos must focus on three aspects of service delivery: the quality of the video stream, the reliability of content delivery, and a set-top box that is easy to install and use.”

Kevin Walsh—vice president of marketing, Zeugma Systems

“Arguably, the last hurdle to widespread replacement of linear video with purely over-the-top video is quality. And while virtually all OTT video ecosystem players have made tremendous strides toward improving video quality, the broadband network remains to be addressed. Telcos are in the unique and advantageous position to address this final piece of the OTT video puzzle by generating new services geared toward enhancing the video experience.”

Jim Funk—Vice President of Business Development, Roku

“One of the most challenging aspects of delivering high-quality, long-form video content to consumer high-definition televisions is reliable and inexpensive in-home content conversion. With a wide variety of sources and formats, it becomes even more difficult to present the user with a cohesive and easy to understand interface. Telcos anticipating offering enhanced OTT video services need to pay especially close attention to the consumer end of the value chain.”

This full hour session, part of TelcoTV’s New Media track, will explore the ecosystem supporting the delivery of long-form (television episodes and feature-length movies) video over the internet directly to subscriber televisions. Moderated by IDC analyst Matt Davis, the panel participants will discuss both the challenges and recent technical advances which have occurred in this ecosystem. The result is a video experience much better suited for today’s consumer than older, rigid, linear video approaches employed by cable and satellite operators.

Panel Details:

Title

Delivering on the Quality Promise: Internet Video on Your 50-inch HDTV (And Loving It)

Track

New Media: Managing a Brave New World

Speakers

Matt Davis, Director, Consumer and SMB Multiplay Services, IDC; Kevin Walsh, vice president of marketing at Zeugma Systems; Jim Funk, vice president of business development at Roku; and Robert Saunders, founder and president at Skitter.TV

Date / time

Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 1:00pm — 2:00pm EST

Location

Orange County Convention Center, north concourse, level two, room N220 (A)

EchoStar's ViP-TV Coming to Wyoming-Based IPTV Provider TCT WEST

TVover.net — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:56:54 GMT

EchoStar announces an agreement to deliver its ViP-TV video transport service to TCT WEST in Wyoming. TCT will receive transport of up to 42 IP-encapsulated high definition TV channels to its IP headend. The announcement was made in advance of this week's TelcoTV Conference and Expo in Orlando, Fla.

TCT is a telecommunications service provider supplying traditional and digital telephone, high-speed Internet and television services to several communities in Northwestern Wyoming as well as high-speed Internet and digital telephone services to several communities in Southeastern Montana. TCT sought a platform that would enable it to offer competitive video services using its existing IP network.

EchoStar's ViP-TV transport service can offer a suite of services, including a secure, MPEG-4 encoded IP stream of approximately 300 popular, broadcast-quality TV and music channels from a satellite located at 85 degrees W.L. ViP-TV can also provide satellite-delivered local TV channel aggregation in a telco's designated market area in both high definition and standard definition (where available).

Farmers Telephone Selects Motorola for IPTV Deployment

TVover.net — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:54:47 GMT

Motorola is accelerating the delivery of personalized media experiences for Farmers Telephone by supporting the delivery of IPTV services with Microsoft Mediaroom. Motorola will provide Farmers with its VIP1200 Series of IP set-tops and Microsoft’s Mediaroom video services platform, as well as systems integration professional services support.

As the world leader in advanced IP video solutions, Motorola is enabling Farmers to deliver exciting new revenue-generating IP-based TV and entertainment experiences, as well as greater control over capital and operating expenditures. As a result, Farmers customers will be able to enjoy enhanced picture quality and rich new features, including instant digital channel changes, picture-in-picture capabilities, whole home DVR with remote client scheduling, media sharing for pictures, and music on their TVs.

The implementation at Farmers will draw on Motorola’s extensive experience in deploying IPTV solutions from the digital headend to customer premises equipment, including Motorola’s VIP Series set-tops. This latest deployment at Farmers Telephone will additionally leverage Motorola’s already deployed MPEG-4 SD and HD encoders along with Motorola’s integrated receiver/ decoders.

Motorola’s IPTV Ecosystem Integration and Support Services enable seamless integration with existing network infrastructure and fast rollout of new, high-quality service offerings. The IPTV Ecosystem’s benefits include:

Streamlined operations -- A single point of contact and accountability for solution design, deployment and integration across partners and platforms.
Lower costs -- Eliminating the need for dedicated resources reduces costs on deployment and integration for service providers.
Quality assurance -- Optimizing operations and ensuring service quality can ultimately increase customer loyalty.

Verimatrix at IPTV World Forum Middle East & Africa 2009

TVover.net — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:50:35 GMT

WHO: Verimatrix enhances the value and security of pay-TV networks with advanced technologies designed to address the content protection challenges of today, and those of tomorrow. The Verimatrix 3-Dimensional Content Security approach provides a framework to enhance operator competitiveness and the consumer experience in the new world of pay-TV.

WHAT: Conference Track:

Steve Oetegenn, chief sales and marketing officer, will be contributing to a panel session discussing how IPTV operators can gain a competitive edge with launching time-shifted and catch-up services.

The panel, which includes partners from Harmonic and ADB, will address:

Exploiting the USPs of IPTV: time-shift and catch-up as “killer applications”
Enriching the user experience with a compelling catch-up service
Assessing service possibilities for PVR and full NPVR, beyond just “start-over” TV

WHEN: Sunday 15 Nov., 2009 at 4:10 p.m.

Product Focus:

VCAS 3 – Verimatrix’s next-generation Video Content Authority System platform broadens the domain of traditional conditional access. The core value proposition for VCAS 3 shifts beyond content protection alone towards the broader perspective of revenue security. The initial release of VCAS 3 supports emerging video delivery formats and new consumption models through a single content authority architecture.

Multi-device Adaptive Rate Streaming – As an important extension to the revenue envelope of pay-TV deployments, Verimatrix will be promoting its ability to secure adaptive rate streaming services to the PC, iPhone and other devices. In its latest whitepaper, “Adaptive Rate Streaming: Pay-TV at an Inflection Point,” the company highlights advances with this emerging technology are likely to alter the current framework of managed network vs. OTT delivery.

WHEN: During exhibition hours; 15 – 16 Nov., 2009

WHERE: IPTV World Middle East & Africa, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, Booth #2

Continued Network and Service Optimization The Key to Continued IPTV Growth

TVover.net — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:43:20 GMT

Improving multiplay content delivery by optimizing IPTV networks, provisioning and remote management are crucial strategic objective work areas for the Broadband Forum as it moves into 2010, according to Forum Marketing Director Laurie Gonzalez, who is addressing the TelcoTV conference in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.

The Forum, whose mission is to develop the full potential broadband, completed a union with the IP/MPLS Forum earlier this year and now has a membership of more than 200 of the world’s leading service providers, equipment manufacturers, chip vendors and other key organizations. Much of its specifications work over the past few years has centered around improving speed options and Quality of Service for IPTV delivery, and earlier this year it announced the approval of its latest IPTV-related Technical Report, TR-127. This new specification created - for the first time – the opportunity for network operators and independent test labs to carry out a system level test across four key IPTV network elements; the DSLAM, the CPE modem, the Central Office Splitter and the CPE Splitter. Testing splitters as part of a complete system will prevent disturbance of the video signal by a telephone signal on the same line-an important development that provides stability like never before.

Ms Gonzalez will show the audience how IPTV has continued its steady impressive growth despite the economic downturn, with North America now home to nearly 20 percent of all IPTV subscribers. The last 12 months has been particularly significant, with IPTV growth for the region, including Central and South America, hitting 86 percent.

She will also outline the Broadband Forum strategic objectives beyond IPTV. They include:

Facilitating broadband network coverage through shared architecture, responsive management and common interconnection standards
Defining common CPE specifications for all online device types for better provisioning, maintenance and end user experience
Empowering global energy reduction measures by developing standard broadband energy efficiency tests and establishing CO and CPE systems requirements specs
Ensuring IPv4 to IPv6 migration success
Stimulating MPLS use in Mobile Backhaul, Carrier Ethernet and other solutions
Fostering VDSL2 and PON interoperability
Developing certification to advance interoperability in several areas

She will explain the wider scope of the Broadband Forum and also talk about the BroadbandSuite – the Forum’s Release Plan – which is divided into three major domains of broadband; management, the network and the user. She will outline the benefits the Broadband Forum has already delivered in all three areas so far, with its Broadband 3.0 release and reveal some of the latest improvements soon to be launched with the next release – BroadbandSuite 3.1.

Come and see Laurie Gonzalez's presentation at TelcoTV, November 12 at 12:30

EEBC 2009: Day Two

TVover.net — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:17:52 GMT

The event that aroused the greatest interest among the EEBC 2009 audience was the International scientific-practical conference "Technologies of Satellite Communication and Broadcasting". The conference was opened by Onno Zonneveld, SES SIRIUS AB Eastern and Central Europe Market Development Vice President, who gave a talk on the topic: "The Growth of Opportunities in the Ukrainian Market". He spoke about the capabilities of the new satellite ASTRA at 31.5оE, emphasizing the provision of new services in the Ukrainian market, such as HDTV.

Another interesting presentation was "Digital Satellite Distribution Network of the National Satellite Communication System Dataware" given by Ivan Gorbach, Satellite Distribution Network Chief Designer (Ukrkosmos State Enterprise). The report analyzed the relationship between the projects of creating the National satellite communication system and creating a nationwide digital broadcasting telecommunication network during Ukraine's transition to digital TV and radio broadcasting.

Development prospects of the EUTELSAT 2009–2011 satellite constellation were described by Nikolay Orlov, CIS Regional Director of Eutelsat Communications, one of the three major satellite operators in the world. The speaker said that in November 2009 the company was preparing to launch W7 satellite, which will provide new broadcasting opportunities for the CIS countries.

The National satellite communication system, with its problems and their solutions, was described by Anatoly Melnik, Head of the Satellite Communication Systems Department, UNIIRT State Enterprise. He gave special emphasis to identifying the project’s bottlenecks, the problems of implementation, developing recommendations to address problematic issues, as well as the need of additional research to build the NSCS. Mr. Melnik also presented a report on the topic: "New Opportunities and Prospects of Using the DVB-S2 Standard". The expert highlighted the following key functions of the DVB-S2 signal format: provision of standard and high quality TV broadcasting services, provision of interactive services including Internet access, program exchange, news gathering, program distribution, data transmission and distribution.

The topic "Development Prospects of Satellite Broadcasting in Ukraine" was covered in the presentation by Ihor Kurus, a member of the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine. Among the problems that arose in the course of implementation of digital broadcasting, the speaker pointed out ensuring frequency resources for the process of digital television implementation, as well as the lack of programs for multiplex MX-4 television channels.

Oleg Skuybida, a representative of the National Space Agency of Ukraine, gave a talk on the topic: "The National Satellite Communication System". According to the speaker, within the project it is planned to produce and launch a satellite which will provide radio broadcasting and fixed satellite services and ensure satellite television broadcasting, including high definition television, access to information networks, multimedia services, and the operation of corporate departmental VSAT networks. The presentation "Allocation of Frequency-Orbit Resource for Satellite Communications and Broadcasting Development" was given by Dmitry Makoveyenko, Lead Engineer at the RF department, the UNIIRT State Enterprise. The expert considered the allocation of frequency-orbit resource at the international level. The topic "Oil and Gas Communications & Social Responsibility: Merging community interests and profitability" was covered in the presentation by Martin Jarrold, the Global VSAT Forum International Development Program Chief, who had been appointed the Head of the Global VSAT Forum (GVF) International Development Program in June 2001.

Cable television business players joined their efforts to address the market problems in the open All-Ukrainian Forum of Cable TV Operators. The richness of the event was ensured by a wide range of sessions, and its relevance — by the upcoming transition to digital television. The speakers marked out some positive changes in the regulatory framework of governmental regulation of program service providers’ activity in 2008–2009, aimed at mitigating the economic crisis, Ukraine's integration into the European community in the field of television. Through the joint efforts of the Freedom of Expression and Information Committee of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, individual members of the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine, and market participants, the procedure of licensing program service providers had been partially simplified, transparent rules for calculating the license fee from January 1, 2010 had been established, and the European Convention on Transfrontier Television.had been ratified. Ukraine had made a European choice in the distribution of TV programs.

As part of the "ROMSAT Day at EEBC 2009", a scientific-technical conference "Multi-Service Network and Technology Convergence" was held. In their reports, ROMSAT specialists told about the main trends in the digital TV market, the prospects of WEBTV and 3D mobile TV introduction, the evolution of Ethernet equipment, and ways to optimize access networks.

Among other speakers at the conference were representatives of ROMSAT partners, particularly CommScope, Optronik, Corning, Aurora Networks, Espial, A2B Electronics, WISI, Promax. They presented the latest groundworks of their companies in the field of fiber-optic technology of core access networks, cable television, IPTV technology, terrestrial digital broadcasting and mobile TV systems, control equipment for HDTV content.

A number of reports analyzed the real possibility of building multi-service networks based on Ethernet technology. The session participants noted the universality of such solutions and the possibility of using them as a basis for implementation of services to provide audiovisual content. The problem here was quality online transmission of video streams.

A notable event of the second day of EEBC 2009 was the Roundtable "Legislative Regulation of the Problems of the ICT Industry Development at the Present Stage" organized by the Ukrainian Internet Association. The event was attended by major players of the information and communication technology market, representatives of governmental organizations, professional associations, public organizations and the media. In particular: member of the Advisory Council on Informatization at Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Alexander Baranov, the Ukrainian Internet Association Deputy Chairman of the Board Alexander Olshansky, the UIA Chairman of the Board Tatyana Popova, the UIA Member of the Board and Executive Director Vladimir Kukovsky, Kravchenko Viktoria, representative of the USPP Science and Technology Committee Alexander Shatalov, Head of Mutual Settlement Department Lubov Tkachenko, and others.

The Roundtable participants discussed the problems and obstacles of implementing the digital signature in Ukraine. They also touched upon the issues of the formation of tariffs for the access to cable communication channeling, and other equally important issues in this area. They talked about the need of making changes in the law of Ukraine "On Telecommunications" in relation to domain regulation, which most fully reflect the provisions of the .UA Domain Development Concept, but at the same time require certain clarifications and additions.

The speakers at the event presented their views on the improvement of the industry legislation. Alexander Baranov, member of the Advisory Council on Informatization at Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, observed: "A huge number of regulations in the field of informatization suggest the need of systematization and even codification. Moreover, some of them slow down the processes, and some contradict each other". Aleksandr Shatalov, member of the USPP Science and Technology Committee, told about the problems of the digital signature that had been long ago developed in Ukraine. He also stressed that digital signature cannot be realized in the digital workflow vacuum. Tatyana Popova, the UIA Chairman of the Board, considered several bills that, in her view, seriously undermine the development of the information society.

Report: OTT Video Forecast to Drive Growth in Video Encoding

TVover.net — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:37:10 GMT

The new IMS Research report The World Market for Professional Video Encoding – 2009 Edition reveals that the industry will experience an estimated 19% annual increase in worldwide shipments during 2010, representing an 11% annual increase in revenues over 2009. This includes all broadcast encoders serving the ingest, transcode, distribution and contribution (fixed & mobile) markets. At the end of 2008, cable comprised the majority of distribution shipments followed by IPTV. This trend is expected to continue through 2014, although the CAGR for satellite is forecast to be stronger than any other platform. On the contribution side, revenues are forecast to grow by 17% through 2014 on shipment growth of 18%.

Shane Walker, research manager and author of the study, states, “Due to a general slowing in the pace of technological advancement within the industry, we expect the replacement rate for both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC (SD & HD) encoders for contribution and distribution to drop throughout the forecast. While MPEG-2 channels will continue to be upgraded to MPEG-4 AVC and JPEG 2000, they will still account for 25% of the distribution and contribution market at the end of 2014”. Walker continues “a likely area of opportunity will be encoding for web video, with data from some interviewees putting annual growth in this relatively small segment between 60% and 70%”. Two other areas IMS Research is watching include software-based encoders and camera-based encoders, both of which are expected to begin affecting the market between 2010 and 2011. Scenarios are presented in the report which demonstrate that the combined influence of these encoders could lower overall annual revenues for the industry by 9% over the next four to five years. This is due to the fact that, while software-based encoders require a maintenance agreement, they do not require equipment switch-out for upgrades. The impact from all of this on consumers will be a significant jump in new channels, including VOD, over the next two years on a worldwide basis.

This study provides detailed forecasts for the ingest, transcode, distribution and contribution encoding markets split by seven geographic regions. In addition, the market is further split by MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and JPEG 2000 standards as well as broadcast platform type for distribution.

Brightcove Cited as an Online Video Platform Leader by Forrester Research

TVover.net — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:33:35 GMT

Brightcove was recognized as a leader by Forrester Research in its report, The Forrester Wave: U.S. Online Video Platforms, Q4 2009, which was published today. Brightcove was among the select companies that Forrester invited to participate in its Wave report, and the company received top scores across all of the major evaluation categories.

According to the report, "Brightcove's offering is the most comprehensive video platform in this Forrester Wave evaluation; it consistently scores high marks with few, if any, gaps. The company's customer base, video scale, and internal resources are unrivaled in the market today. Brightcove's significant resources and road map position the company to stay ahead in the video platform race."

"Brightcove is honored to be recognized by Forrester as a leading online video platform," said Jeremy Allaire, Brightcove chairman and chief executive officer. "This is an exciting time for the online video industry, as video is becoming as pervasive as text on the Web and nearly every professional website is looking to publish video. We see an enormous global opportunity to establish Brightcove as the dominant platform for professional video publishing on the Web, and we believe this recognition from Forrester further validates our leadership position in the market."

Forrester evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of six U.S. online video platform vendors against 37 criteria in three major categories - current offering, strategy and market presence. Platforms were evaluated against several features, including media management, user-generated video, player capabilities, publishing capabilities, distribution capabilities, monetization capabilities, reporting capabilities, internationalization, integration, scalability, and service offerings. Strategy was measured against the vendor's ability to envision the future needs of the marketplace, the road map required to meet these needs, partner relationships and executive team experience. Customer base and financial strength were measured to determine market presence.

Report: IPTV Market Leaders Report 2009 Edition 2

TVover.net — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:29:03 GMT

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "IPTV Market Leaders Report 2009 Edition 2" report to their offering. This IPTV Market Leader Repor identifies which IPTV systems and software companies are leading each of the six IPTV market segments: Access, Video Headend, Video-on-Demand Server Software, Middleware, Set-top Box, and Content Protection/Digital Rights Management. Over 100 vendors are identified and tracked for this report. The MLR includes a breakdown of Asian, European, North American, and Rest of the World regions, as well as overall global leaders. Market positions are measured by tracking actual numbers of active IPTV subscribers that are using (or being supported by) each company's products. Subscriber numbers are gathered and broken down by IPTV sector and regional segment, resulting in rankings.

At the core of the data is the number of IPTV subscribers for each Service Provider. A combination of primary and secondary research methods are used to gather data for this report, including official company press releases and briefings with IPTV Operators and vendors. In-depth primary research is conducted by surveying IPTV vendors and verifying their customers and deployments around the world. Additionally, subscriber counts are verified by triangulating data from multiple vendors, using a top-down and bottom-up approach. Although many IPTV vendors are verified as possible on any given IPTV deployment, there are still a small number of IPTV vendors that have not been identified. Once data about each Provider's subscriber numbers is gathered, it is allocated to its vendors in each product category. The data gathered is then separated into rankings for five of the IPTV product categories, within the four regions and globally.

The one exception is the Video Headend category, where market positions are based on the reported number of IPTV (Broadcast) channels provided (rather than subscribers) using each company's products. Since a Video Headend may support two thousand or two million subscribers, the number of channels is a much better measure of a company's market position.

Overall, since these rankings are based on actual live IPTV subscribers, they provide a good measure of each vendor's current market position and ranking, as well as their future growth prospects.

Growth Prospects

In addition, the growth prospects for each company is rated based on the number of large IPTV service deployments the company is participating in. Included are tables that count each vendor's significant deployments, both globally and within each region. A significant deployment is one that has been announced and is expected to be one of the world's top 25 systems by number of IPTV subscribers forecasted for 2013.

Akamai and iStreamPlanet to Power Live and on-Demand Video for NBC’s Coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games

TVover.net — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:13:54 GMT

Akamai and iStreamPlanet announce they have been selected to work with Microsoft to provide an integrated, end-to-end solution to deliver live and on-demand video online for NBC during the network’s coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, February 12-28. The solution will leverage Microsoft IIS Smooth Streaming to deliver an uninterrupted, high-quality streaming experience to online audiences via Microsoft Silverlight-based media players.

iStreamPlanet will be providing turnkey satellite downlink encoding and production services to the Smooth Streaming for Silverlight format and the video will be delivered to online audiences over the Akamai HD Network. iStreamPlanet will be encoding 23 video feeds including nine venue feeds, four broadcast feeds, one Olympic News Channel, six Beauty Cams, two Victory Ceremonies and one Press Conference. All 23 feeds are originating from Vancouver, British Columbia and transported to iStreamPlanet’s Las Vegas Webcast Operations Center over OC12 via IP multicast.

The NBC Olympics online Silverlight player will leverage Akamai HD for Microsoft Silverlight and the Akamai HD Network, Akamai’s next generation video delivery offering, to deliver both live and on demand streaming to broadcast-sized audiences with a personalized and interactive online experience and quality designed to match and complements the TV experience. A key feature of Akamai HD for Microsoft Silverlight is adaptive bitrate streaming based on IIS Smooth Streaming, which is architected to enable uninterrupted video playback at HD bitrates that seamlessly adjust to fluctuations in available bandwidth to provide the best quality possible for each user.

iStreamPlanet is collaborating with Akamai on the content ingestion and publishing points management architecture to make sure all created content is delivered in the highest possible quality.

The Akamai HD Network offers adaptive bitrate streaming capabilities across playback formats that are specifically optimized to work with Akamai's HD EdgePlatform for the fastest and most consistent video bitrate switching – designed to enable an instant and uninterrupted viewing experience for consumers even at the highest bitrates. Leveraging Akamai's entire HTTP footprint, video over Akamai's HD Network is delivered from servers closer to audiences around the world. As a result, Akamai can more tightly control the amount of time the player needs to buffer before switching streams. The shorter the buffer, the faster the stream can adapt and respond to changing end-user conditions.

To streamline the content acquisition, encoding and live streams provisioning process including failover scenarios, iStreamPlanet has developed a workflow automation service that enables NBC to start and stop acquiring the desired multicast stream, route that stream to the available encoder, provision all publishing points required to run the live event, pass created encoding profile information including server ingest information to the designated encoder, start encoding and notify NBC’s scheduling system when the encoding process has started and stopped as well as return live event start times so play-by-play data can be synched with the video and audio.

Inlet Technologies to Enable NBC Universal’s Live Online Video Streams During The Vancouver Winter Games

TVover.net — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:07:43 GMT

Inlet Technologies has been selected to provide Microsoft Internet Information Services Live Smooth Streaming online video for NBC Universal during the media company’s coverage of the XXI Olympic Winter Games from Vancouver, February 12-28. The announcement was made today by Perkins Miller, senior vice president, digital media, NBC Olympics; Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Platform at Microsoft Corp.; and John Bishop, senior vice president of strategy and business development, Inlet Technologies.

Inlet’s Spinnaker family of encoding solutions is uniquely suited for live sports as it provides broadcast-quality streams over the Internet to multiple screens and devices. With its built-in support for adaptive streaming protocols, including IIS Live Smooth Streaming, Spinnaker generates high-quality streams that enhance online viewing of live sports action. For NBC’s coverage of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Spinnaker will provide HD streams in real time at resolutions up to 720p. Spinnaker also will enable Olympic Winter Games fans on NBCOlympics.com to easily switch between multiple events.

Today’s online video experience has become much more interactive and personal, with the Internet no longer seen as a smaller screen television, but rather as a unique platform that can provide a richer experience. Spinnaker’s support of technologies such as DVR-like capabilities, instant replay, and IIS Smooth Streaming has been instrumental in boosting the quality of experience for end users. With Spinnaker, URLs or captions, such as scores and statistics, can also be inserted directly into the live stream.

Telchemy Ships over 50 Million Units of VQmon VoIP/IPTV Performance Analysis Software

TVover.net — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:55:09 GMT

Telchemy announces that over 120 equipment manufacturers have successfully integrated Telchemy’s VQmon software into a wide range of products, such as IP phones, VoIP Gateways, Routers, IPTV Set Top Boxes, Residential Gateways, eMTAs, Probes and Analyzers. Over 50 million units of VQmon have been shipped, representing an annual growth rate of over 50%. This number does not include an estimated 200 million additional units shipped by a number of large ISPs who license VQmon on a subscription model basis.

The VQmon product family incorporates:

- VQmon/EP is the most widely used technology for IP Phones and Gateways to provide real-time VoIP performance measurement and reporting for a wide range of narrowband and wideband codecs. VQmon/EP generated RTCP XR and SIP RTCP Summary reports can be collected and analyzed using Telchemy’s SQmediator.

- VQmon/SA, designed for Routers, Probes and Analyzers to provide in depth analysis of VoIP traffic and IP performance, supports automatic detection of codec type and codec rate producing listening and conversational quality metrics

- VQmon/HD is integrated into Routers, Probes, Analyzers, and IP Set Top Boxes to provide a rich set of real time IPTV and IP Videoconferencing performance metrics. VQmon/HD is capable of analyzing encrypted/ scrambled IPTV streams and now supports the analysis of IPTV streams with FEC and Retransmission. VQmon/HD is in early commercial deployments in IPTV set top boxes and is already extensively used for service assurance by leading IPTV service providers.

VQmon products are compact, efficient, reliable and highly portable software agents that are integrated into a wide range of software and hardware platforms, producing accurate real-time, performance and QoE metrics for IP voice and video traffic. VQmon is unique in its ability to model the impact of time varying impairments on user perceived quality, which has been shown to materially improve the accuracy of QoE metrics.

ЕЕВС 2009 Telecom&Broadcasting: Seven Years is a Tradition Already

TVover.net — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:26:49 GMT

On October 21 the inauguration of the 7th Eastern Europe exhibition and conference ЕЕВС 2009 Telecom&Broadcasting was held.

This year EEBC 2009 was supported by:

- International partners: the UMTS Forum, the Global VSAT Forum, the European Digital Cinema Forum, High Definition & Digital Cinema Ltd, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine: Trade and Investment Promotion Office.

- Ukrainian industrial associations: The Ukrainian Internet Association, the Association of Information Technology Enterprises of Ukraine, the Ukrteleset Association, the Cable Television Union of Ukraine, the All-Ukrainian Association of Cable TV and Teleinformation Network Operators, the Television Industry Committee.

The organizers and partners of the conference were: The State terrestrial broadcasting network operator the Broadcasting, Radiocommunications and Television Concern of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of Radio and Television, Odessa National Academy of Communications named after A.S. Popov, the Institute of Radio, Television and Electronics, the European Digital Cinema Forum, High Definition & Digital Cinema Ltd.

General sponsor of EEBC 2009: SES-ASTRA.

Sponsors of EEBC 2009: ASTRO, AMOS-Spacecom, Profitt, Sat Systems, Chellozone, Eutelsat, Klub 100, the First Business Channel.

This year the inauguration was attended by Inna Burgela, Director of TECHEXPO, the organizer of EEBC; Vlada Rublevskaya, Project Manager of EEBC Telecom & Broadcasting; Sergey Sarapulov, Head of Radio Technologies Bureau of the State Communications Administration; Markus Fritz, Vice president and CEO of SesAstra, Vice president of the executive committee of Digital Europe; Vassily Anipchenko, President of the Ukrteleset Association; Tatyana Popova, President of the Ukrainian Internet Association; Yuri Labunsky, President of the All-Ukrainian Association of Cable TV and Teleinformation Network Operators; Denis Gursky, Coordinator of the Digital Committee of Television Industry Committee.

Addressing the exhibitors and visitors Inna Burgela said: "We thank everyone for your participation and support, for sharing your experience, for inspiring each other and us to hold more and more new activities every year. Only in this way — in close cooperation — will we achieve a great success."

Sergey Sarapulov noted the importance of holding EEBC 2009 Telecom&Broadcasting, a major event in the field of telecommunications in Ukraine: "Currently, the development of the telecommunications sphere is connected with the development of technology and the growing speed of rendering various services. Nowadays everyone can find and get the service that interests them. Therefore, the importance of the site where users can become familiar with new telecommunication services, operators can share their experience, and central executive bodies can identify new areas of the market development can scarcely be overestimated.”

Markus Fritz emphasized in his speech: "SES-ASTRA is glad to support this event and expresses a special interest in cooperation with Ukraine, the government and all stakeholders. We see the need for participation in EEBC 2009 in order to ensure the best choice of products for prospective Ukrainian customers.”

The highlight of the EEBC 2009 inauguration was the presentation of the SOS Children's Village project. TECHEXPO appeals to all participants and visitors of the current EEBC 2009 exhibition with an initiative to support the people who have taken responsibility for the lives, health and education of orphan children.

Introducing the project Inna Burgela noted: "For four years already EEBC exhibition and conference has been held under the slogan "Building the City of the Future Together!”. The future is children first and foremost. But it is children without parental custody who look with particular hope at the City of the Future.

The exhibition will present the best equipment and innovative solutions for digital video content transfer and reception in the cable, satellite, terrestrial and IP environment; equipment and unique solutions for the production of digital video content, including HD. Major satellite operators will take part in the exhibition.

This year the total are of the exhibition is 3500 sq m. The total number of participants is 159, from 27 countries (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, Germany, Israel, Canada, the USA, India, Pakistan, South Korea). The number of companies exhibiting with booths is 86. The exhibitors are represented by companies engaged in the following activities: equipment for satellite and cable television (37%), telecommunications equipment (30%), equipment for content production and broadcasting (11%), and TV channels and production studios (22%).

Webinar - Measuring Quality of Experience: IPTV Management Solutions

TVover.net — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:16:27 GMT

Host: Neil Hollingum, Independent Analyst, Light Reading

Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Time: 2:00 p.m. New York / 7:00 p.m. London

Overview:
Operators delivering IPTV have discovered the critical importance of service quality to user experience. Measuring and maintaining QoE levels is the key to success of IPTV services. This Webinar will examine tools and techniques for guaranteeing QoE delivery. Register here.

UTStarcom Announces Enhanced Sales Alliance With Logicalis in South America

TVover.net — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:54:51 GMT

UTStarcom announced a growing sales association with Logicalis. The collaboration will help accelerate the growth of UTStarcom's IPTV product offerings and broadband access solutions to tier-one and tier-two service providers in South America.

This growing relationship between UTStarcom and Logicalis benefits both companies by targeting new sales opportunities within the South American region via the combined customer base and managed service offerings. Additionally, both companies will collaborate to help ensure the quality deployment of the infrastructure products and services. There is also a sales pipeline identified with countries throughout the Southern Cone, indicating potential areas of additional growth for this agreement.

According to the agreement, UTStarcom's portfolio of solutions will be marketed and distributed through Logicalis' sales force in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay. UTStarcom will also support the sales of Logicalis' solutions throughout the Americas region.

UTStarcom's broadband solutions enable the deployment of IP-based, high-speed Internet, voice, data and multimedia services over wireline and optical networks for service providers such as Bharat Sanchar Nigam and United Telecoms Ltd. In addition, UTStarcom's RollingStream IPTV system provides customers with advanced video services such as interactive television, digital signage, mobile TV and distance learning programs. UTStarcom has announced IPTV deployments with Bharti Airtel, BSNL/Aksh, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam/Aksh and United Telecoms Limited in India; China Unicom and China Telecom in China; Sri Lanka Telecom in Sri Lanka; Softbank in Japan, Brasil Telecom in Latin America and Markwell in Taiwan. UTStarcom is the IPTV market share leader in both China and India. UTStarcom is also the market share leader in India's broadband market.

KIT digital and IMG Enter Into Agreement

TVover.net — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:50:13 GMT

KIT digital has agreed to a minimum two-year agreement with IMG, the world's premier and most diversified sports, entertainment and media company. Nunet AG, which KIT digital acquired from IMG earlier this month, has provided IMG with platform support for various IMG events for the past three years. It is intended these services be continued and that the companies will work closely to find new areas of entrepreneurial activity and collaboration.

Under the agreement, KIT digital will support certain key IMG properties, such as Fashion Week.

The agreement with IMG complements KIT digital's leadership in the sport arena, in which the company has worked with leading brands, including ESPN, Eurosport, MLB, La Liga, The AFL (Australia), and Tabcorp Racing to provide rich IP video experiences to end-users.

MBO Video and 180SQUARED Unveil IPTV Managed Cloud Service

TVover.net — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:04:57 GMT

MBOi and 180SQUARED unveiled the world’s first IPTV Managed Cloud Service called Cirrus Managed Cloud Solutions. The Cirrus solution is built with 180SQUARED’s v.Unison solution set, which enables a shared installation of an IPTV Middleware platform among multiple entities, while maintaining a secure, autonomous environment for each individual entity’s back-end systems and customized offering.

The Cirrus Managed Cloud Solution, based on Microsoft Mediaroom, gives providers immediate access to applications designed to differentiate their IPTV service including onscreen Caller ID (VoIP and TDM compatibility), remote PVR scheduling, Whole Home PVR, and other customer applications. In addition to these rich subscriber experiences, the Cirrus solution provides ongoing maintenance support to the installation and subscribing entities. Ultimately, the MBOi solution allows service providers the opportunity to access this shared installation to reduce the CAPEX and OPEX necessary for entry into the market.

v.Unison is a solution set composed of 180SQUARED’S v.Orchestra products and Quantum Site Technology and includes:

v.Maestro IPTV Middleware Integration & Management Platform that provides the critical entry point into a complex IPTV Middleware implementation in order to manage, integrate, and police multiple, disparate B/OSS systems and 3rd party applications
v.Harmonizer Device Provisioning Module that allows for multiple methods of Set-Top Box (STB) device activation and provisioning.
v.Harmonizer Billing Adapter Module that enables the required extraction and auditing of billing events from the IPTV Middleware to the billing systems in the formats that the systems require.
Quantum Site Technology, which segregates data at a domain level (subscribers, devices, channel maps, and users) and ensures that while multiple entities share the IPTV Middleware installation, they autonomously manage their own environment for their back-end billing and operational systems integration and management, and are empowered to offer their own branded experiences and unique offerings.

v.Unison, with its v.Maestro platform, easily integrates into a service provider’s network and back-end systems. For example, MBO Video affiliates, Cimarron Telephone, Cim-Tel Cable and Pottawatomie Telephone use MACC’s Customer Master Software for customer care and end-user billing. MACC easily developed an interface between Customer Master and the v.Maestro Integration and Management platform to auto-provision IPTV customers in Microsoft Mediaroom.

The Industry’s Most Relevant Forums & Standards Bodies Gather at TelcoTV09

TVover.net — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:53:14 GMT

Leaders from the most relevant telecom, broadcast, and IP industry standards bodies and forums will band together at at this year’s TelcoTV conference and Expo for three days of exhibition and one full day of presentations. The TelcoTV09 Conference and Expo takes place from Nov. 10 through Nov. 12 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The Standards Pavilion, featuring ATIS, The Broadband Forum, HomePNA, the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), MPEG Industry Forum, Open IPTV Forum, TM Forum, and the University of New Hampshire's InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), will be located in the TelcoTV Exhibit Hall (North Hall B) – booth #SP215. Via TelcoTV’s Standards Pavillion, attendees of the 2009 conference and expo will:

Learn about all the latest industry standards pertaining to future of broadcast TV and entertainment being delivered over the Internet and the implications for organizations
Get clarification on which standards bodies are addressing their companies’ markets
Learn which standards have been ratified and which have not

For the first time since the inception of TelcoTV eight years ago, the event’s organizers, NTCA and TechWeb, have brought together eight key industry forums, each committed to the accelerated development and deployment of highquality, converged broadband and entertainment services.

Based on reseach conducted by Heavy Reading presented at last years TelcoTV conference, consumers rated service quality as the No. 1 reason consumers left their incumbent provider, beating out cost and programming. The same is true of this year’s Heavy Reading Research survey, with results being revealed by the study’s author, Aditya Kishore, on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at noon EST in Room N220G of the Orange County Convention Center. Standards, by definition, are established to ensure high service quality by addressing compliance and interopability among the hundreds of protocals and devices employed to deliver consistent and reliable television programming.

"Standards ensure quality, reliability, efficiency, and a basis for rapid, economical innovation. Consumers benefit from standards with a broad choice of offerings and the positive effects of competition,” says Joe Braue, SVP and Group Director, Light Reading, a division of TechWeb. “That is why we are excited to have so many pivotal standards organizations represented here at TelcoTV – so that attendees get first-hand information about what each organization is contributing to the rapid rollout of high quality, reliable broadband programming over IP.”

On Thursday, Nov. 12, from noon to 2 p.m., seven speakers from eight of the industry forums will present on key trends and issues relating to the current state of TelcoTV. The schedule is as follows:

12:00 Jason Walls -- UNH-IOL Opening Remarks and Welcome
12:10 Monika Gadhammar -- Open IPTV Forum The Open IPTV Forum - Working Towards Globally Standardized IPTV
12:25 Laurie Gonzalez -- Broadband Forum Managing the Evolving Home Network of the BroadbandHome
12:40 Janice Ozguc -- MoCA MoCA, YOUR Standard for Home Entertainment Networking
12:55 David Price -- MPEGIF Convergence Needs Standards
1:10 Richard Nesin -- HomePNA Alliance HomePNA, the TelcoTV Home Networking Standard
1:25 Steve Fleece – TM Forum Standard Frameworks Service Providers Use to Profitably Manage TV Services From

Heavy Reading Research Reveals Pay TV Bundling Strategies Are Paying Off for Telcos

TVover.net — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:48:20 GMT

TelcoTV09 announced that Heavy Reading has discovered new revelations about consumer attitudes toward telco TV in its soon-to-be unveiled 2009 survey, “Making TV Pay: The Telco Challenge.” The new consumer survey, which looks at service provider preferences, satisfaction levels, and churn drivers will be presented by Heavy Reading Research analyst, Aditya Kishore at TelcoTV09) on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at noon EST in Room N220G at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. While many trends identified last year are reinforced by this year’s survey, one of most notable differences is that service bundling is becoming a real competitive advantage for telcos.

“Service bundling has long been an inherent capability of telcos, and it appears that effective marketing strategies, combined with pricing, improved customer service, and faster and more reliable service is really becoming the boon telcos need to stay competitive,” says Kishore. Another highlight of the 2009 survey is consumer adoption of over-the-top video, with insight into its market disruption potential.

The new study also analyzes changes in consumers’ thinking, helping companies across the IPTV value chain identify current market trends and consumer attitudes enabling more targeted, cost-effective marketing programs and service offerings.

As with last year’s study, the new research emphasizes consumer perceptions of telco TV service providers and their newest consumer video services offerings. Video service providers can glean insights into the services required to gain new subscribers and keep existing ones in the increasingly competitive market and sluggish economy. As the nation continues to face poor economic conditions, Kishore’s presentation of study findings will show how these conditions affect the pay TV business. In addition, the study covers the following key issues:

Current pay TV subscriptions, length of tenure, and selected providers (cable, satellite, telco)
Primary decision drivers for selecting current pay TV providers
Churn drivers and reasons for leaving previous providers
Satisfaction levels with current services across various criteria such as price, channel choices, dependability, and customer care
Interest in advanced services such as DVR, VoD, interactive TV, and HDTV
Multiservice bundling, plans to change providers, and likelihood of selecting a telco for TV service
Internet video preferences

TelcoTV provides a comprehensive overview of the changing telecom video landscape, with presentations delivering meaningful insight into, and analysis of, the evolving world of entertainment convergence, plus more than 100 exhibitors showcasing the latest solutions and products for the IPTV and video markets. It is a joint production of Techweb and NTCA. This year’s event will be held November 10-12, 2009 at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida.

Internet Summit 09 to Stream Live Using Endavo Media's Internet TV Platform

TVover.net — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:43:20 GMT

The Internet Summit is going live this year. Endavo Media will provide live video streaming services for the Internet industry's premier event in the South. More than 75 industry experts and Internet thought leaders from companies such as Technorati, Pandora, ESPN and Google, will speak at the Raleigh Convention Center on Nov. 4-5 in North Carolina.

Plus, Endavo Media will join an elite group of emerging high-growth companies selected to participate in the Demo Showcase and exhibit innovative Web solutions to hundreds of Internet executives, senior marketers, business strategists, entrepreneurs and investors.

Internet Summit 09 will feature exclusive networking opportunities and leading-edge content centered on Internet trends and opportunities created by new Web technologies, social media, real time, online advertising, search, blogs, mobile, ecommerce, usability, video and design.

The Endavo Media Internet TV Platform provides powerful ways to deliver live and online programming by including social media features, such as sharing of content, commenting, chatting, and much more, to connect with and grow the audience, and multiple ways to monetize online video to generate new revenue.

Advertising Industry Comes Together with Global Broadcasters and Pay-TV Operators to Discuss the Evolution of TV Advertising

TVover.net — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:39:59 GMT

The Future TV Advertising Forum will showcase leading global brands, advertising agencies, pay-TV operators and broadcasters to debate the future of television advertising.

The conference, taking place on the 11th December at 76 Portland Place, London, will feature brands such as Unilever, Coca-Cola, Ford and The Co-Operative Group, discussing topics such as “Advertising in the Age of Convergence”, “How Technology can Drive Ad Revenues” and “Is the 30 Second Ad spot doomed: Ad Business Models in the Modern Era.”

Key speakers include:

Benny Salaets, Vice President Product Marketing TV, Telenet
Mark Simpson, marketing Director, Ford
Rachel Bristow, Marketing Communications and Buying Director, Unilever
Casey Harwood, SVP, Turner Broadcasting
Adam Rattner, Media Manager, Coca Cola
Bartłomiej Kasiński, Director of Strategy, Multimedia Polska
Ed Couchman, Commercial Controller, Future and Digital Media Advertising, Channel 4
Simon Orpin, Creative Solutions Director, ITV
Amanda Collins, Campaigns and Events Manager, Co-Operative
Richard Griffiths, Director of TV and Entertainment, Eircom

The event will also be streamed Live online free of charge enabling those who cannot attend to take part and interact via the live discussion forum. Online viewers can also send in questions to speakers in real-time.

A 15% early booking discount ends on the 13th November, up to which the price for attendance is just £295.00. To register, then please visit www.futurevtvads.com.

TV Season Premieres Spur Continued Gains in Online Video Viewing as September Attracts Record Viewership

TVover.net — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:11:31 GMT

comScore released September 2009 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, showing that more than 168 million U.S. Internet users watched online video during the month. Online video viewing continued to reach record levels in September with nearly 26 billion videos viewed during the month, as Google Sites accounted for more than 40 percent of videos viewed online by Americans.

Top 10 Video Content Properties by Videos Viewed

Google Sites continued to rank as the top U.S. video property in September as it delivered nearly 10.5 million videos viewed, or 40 percent of all videos viewed online. YouTube.com accounted for 99 percent of all videos viewed at the Google Sites property. Hulu ranked second with 583 million (2.2 percent) followed by Fox Interactive Media with 547 million videos viewed (2.1 percent) and Viacom Digital with 513 million (2.0 percent).


    Top U.S. Online Video Content Properties* by Videos Viewed
    September 2009
    Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore Video Metrix
    -----------------------------
                                        Videos           Share (%) of
    Property                             (000)              Videos
    --------                             ----               ------
    Total Internet : Total Audience   25,979,089             100.0
    ----------------------            ----------             -----
    Google Sites                      10,436,413              40.2
    ------------                      ----------              ----
    Hulu                                 583,213               2.2
    ----                                 -------               ---
    Fox Interactive Media                546,531               2.1
    ---------------------                -------               ---
    Viacom Digital                       513,173               2.0
    --------------                       -------               ---
    Yahoo! Sites                         428,891               1.7
    ------------                         -------               ---
    Microsoft Sites                      420,023               1.6
    ---------------                      -------               ---
    Turner Network                       353,408               1.4
    --------------                       -------               ---
    CBS Interactive                      214,326               0.8
    ---------------                      -------               ---
    AOL LLC                              200,709               0.8
    -------                              -------               ---
    ESPN                                 166,866               0.6
    ----                                 -------               ---

    *Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video
    server networks.  Online video includes both streaming
    and progressive download video.

Top 10 Video Content Properties by Viewers

More than 168 million viewers watched an average of 154 videos per viewer during the month of September. Google Sites attracted more than 126 million unique viewers during the month (82.7 videos per viewer), followed by Fox Interactive Media with 58 million viewers (9.4 videos per viewer) and Yahoo! Sites with 57 million viewers (7.5 videos per viewer).


    Top U.S. Online Video Content Properties* by Unique Viewers
    September 2009
    Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore Video Metrix
    -----------------------------

                                        Unique         Average Videos
    Property                         Viewers (000)       per Viewer
    --------                         ------------        ----------
    Total Internet : Total Audience       168,234             154.4
    ----------------------                -------             -----
    Google Sites                          126,159              82.7
    ------------                          -------              ----
    Fox Interactive Media                  58,054               9.4
    ---------------------                  ------               ---
    Yahoo! Sites                           57,345               7.5
    ------------                           ------               ---
    CBS Interactive                        41,858               5.1
    ---------------                        ------               ---
    Viacom Digital                         41,808              12.3
    --------------                         ------              ----
    Microsoft Sites                        39,381              10.7
    ---------------                        ------              ----
    Hulu                                   38,705              15.1
    ----                                   ------              ----
    Facebook.com                           31,180               4.5
    ------------                           ------               ---
    NBC Universal                          28,533               4.2
    -------------                          ------               ---
    Turner Network                         28,397              12.4
    --------------                         ------              ----

    *Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server
    networks.  Online video includes both streaming and progressive
    download video.

Top Video Ad Networks by Potential Reach

In September, Tremor Media ranked as the #1 video ad network with a potential reach of 73 million viewers, or 43.3 percent of the total viewing audience. YuMe Video Network ranked second with a potential reach of 66 million viewers (39.4 percent penetration) followed by Broadband Enterprises (BBE) with 63 million viewers (37.5 percent).


    Top U.S. Online Video Ad Networks by Potential Unique Viewers
    September 2009
    Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore Video Metrix
    -----------------------------
                                                   Unique
                                                   Viewers           Viewer
    Property                                        (000)          Penetration
    --------                                        -----          -----------
    Total Internet : Total Audience               168,234             100.0%
    -------------------------------               -------             -----
    Tremor Media - Potential Reach                 72,882              43.3%
    ------------------------------                 ------              ----
    YuMe Video Network - Potential Reach           66,240              39.4%
    ------------------------------------           ------              ----
    BBE - Potential Reach                          63,161              37.5%
    ---------------------                          ------              ----
    Advertising.com Video Network -
     Potential Reach                               56,968              33.9%
    -------------------------------                ------              ----
    SpotXchange Video Ad Network -
     Potential Reach                               55,726              33.1%
    ------------------------------                 ------              ----
    ScanScout Network - Potential Reach            54,907              32.6%
    -----------------------------------            ------              ----
    BrightRoll Video Network - Potential Reach     51,441              30.6%
    ------------------------------------           ------              ----
    Break Media Video Ad Network -
     Potential Reach                               47,804              28.4%
    ------------------------------                 ------              ----
    TidalTV - Potential Reach                      40,108              23.8%
    -------------------------                      ------              ----
    Digital Broadcasting Group (DBG) -
     Potential Reach                               26,921              16.0%
    ----------------------------------             ------              ----

Other notable findings from September 2009 include:

The top video ad networks in terms of their actual delivered reach were: Tremor Media Video Network (19.9 percent penetration of online video viewers), BBE (16.3 percent penetration) and BrightRoll Video Network (14.9 percent penetration).
84.8 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
The average online video viewer watched 9.8 hours of video.
125.5 million viewers watched nearly 10.3 billion videos on YouTube.com (82.4 videos per viewer).
45.6 million viewers watched 424 million videos on MySpace.com (9.3 videos per viewer).
The average Hulu viewer watched 15.1 videos, totaling 1 hour and 32 minutes of videos per viewer.
The duration of the average online video was 3.8 minutes.

Ocean Blue Software Teams with Rovi for Home Networking TV Software Solution

TVover.net — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:05:54 GMT

Ocean Blue Software is pleased to announce a collaboration with Rovi to integrate Rovi’s Connected Platform software for Digital Living Network Alliance capabilities into its mature Sunrise digital video broadcast stack. Ocean Blue Software’s and Rovi’s combined technologies provide a solution designed to make it easier for consumer electronics manufacturers to develop DVB TVs that can access digital content from networked and DLNA compatible devices.

Ocean Blue Software’s Sunrise DVB software provides all of the components necessary to enable digital TV and set top box manufacturers to quickly and easily implement satellite, cable and terrestrial DVB functionality into their devices. Now, with the integration of Rovi’s Connected Platform, a DLNA technology component, CE manufacturers can offer consumers the ability to easily manage their digital media content stored on different devices in the home. Shared content, such as videos, photos and audio files, stored on a remote server can be retrieved and played from the TV; movie clips can be viewed, paused, re-wound or fast forwarded; and media files can be divided into genre and rated according to user preference.

The software solution is hardware and operating system agnostic ensuring manufacturers have a scalable and quickly deployable solution that can be ported across any TV-centric chipset.

TVover.net and Keynote Give Away 1 Free Pass to Future TV Advertising Conference

TVover.net — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:13:26 GMT

TVover.net and Keynote are giving away 1 free pass to the Future TV Advertising conference, December 11 in London, UK. Enter to win by emailing us at media@tvover.net with name, email, company, address and phone number by November 3, 2009. The winner will be randomly drawn.

The Future TV Advertising conference will bring together broadcast and advertising to analyse and debate the evolution of TV advertising.

Television is inexorably losing ground to online that is gradually offering greater accountability. The conference will address how the advertising community can work with broadcast so that this threat, embodied by new technologies and user behaviour, becomes an opportunity.

The event will provide a great opportunity to hear and network with key stakeholders in TV advertising: Brands, Media Holding Companies, leading European Cable, Satellite, IPTV Pay-TV providers and Content Owners. Key speakers include:

Benny Salaets, Vice President Product Marketing TV, Telenet
Mark Simpson, marketing Director, Ford
Rachel Bristow, Marketing Comms and Buying Director, Unilever
Casey Harwood, SVP, Turner Broadcasting
Adam Rattner, Media Manager, Coca Cola
Bartłomiej Kasiński, Director of Strategy, Multimedia Polska
Ed Couchman, Commercial Controller, Future and Digital Media Advertising, Channel 4
Simon Orpin, Creative Solutions Director, ITV
Amanda Collins, Campaigns and Events Manager, Co-Operative
Richard Griffiths, Director of TV and Entertainment, Eircom

Visit http://www.futuretvads.com for further information.

blinkx Delivers a Universal Jukebox for Music Videos Online

TVover.net — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:54:34 GMT

blinkx announces blinkx Music, a new tool for finding and watching music videos online. Offering music videos of every genre, from Rap to Country to Classical, and featuring a huge and varied constellation of artists, blinkx Music enables users to find their favorite music videos all through a single online gateway. From old favorites like U2, to rising stars on the scene like Lady Gaga, blinkx Music has indexed over 33,000 hours of music video from over 10,000 artists to become the most comprehensive source on the Web.

Search by artist, album, genre or song to watch the music video of your choice, or simply browse the top tunes of the moment. blinkx Music allows users to post comments and interact with other fans, and also offers background information about bands and their work.

As the pioneer in video search technology, blinkx has built a reputation as the smartest way to find rich media on the Web. The company has made more than 530 partners and indexed over 35 million hours of video and audio content to date.

Roku Introduces a New $79 Instant Streaming Player and the $129 Roku HD-XR

TVover.net — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:51:44 GMT

Roku announces the immediate availability two new models. The new Roku SD and Roku HD-XR expand the product lineup to three models. Now customers have a variety of features and price points ($79.99, $99.99, $129.99) to fit their needs. All players continue to deliver instant entertainment from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand and MLB.TV. With today’s announcement, customers can now purchase a Roku player for as little as $79.99. For a limited time, customers purchasing through either Roku or Amazon will receive free shipping, making it even more affordable to get started with a Roku.

The Roku SD player connects to the TV using the included and familiar Yellow-Red-White video/audio cable. In addition, the Roku SD player incorporates Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) and an Ethernet port for easy broadband connectivity. With the Roku SD player, customers can stream their favorite movies and TV shows to their TV at up to DVD quality.

The Roku HD and HD-XR players feature High Definition streaming capability, connecting directly to any TV using HDMI or Component video (both products also include S-video or Composite video outputs as well). The Roku HD-XR adds the latest Wi-Fi standard, 802.11n dual-band, giving customers who have adopted this router technology improved connectivity range and better overall wireless performance between the Roku HD-XR and the home network. The Roku HD-XR also works with legacy routers and can often boost Wi-Fi range inside the house. Finally, the Roku HD-XR includes a USB port for future use.

First introduced in May 2008, the Roku player still provides the easiest, most affordable and reliable way for hundreds of thousands of Netflix customers to watch over 17,000 movies and TV shows instantly on their TV. Earlier this year Roku added Amazon Video On Demand, adding 45,000 titles to the Roku platform, including a thousand in HD. In the summer the company launched MLB.TV bringing live and on-demand baseball to the living room TV as well. All Roku customers received these automatic and free updates.

Continuing its leadership role in the over-the-top video space, Roku will launch the Roku Channel Store later this fall enabling customers to add new content channels to their Roku experience, further enhancing the value of the Roku player. The Roku Channel Store will be delivered to all Roku customers, new and existing, as an automatic and free update.

CBS Interactive CEO Completes Speaker Lineup at NewTeeVee Live

TVover.net — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:34:45 GMT

Quincy Smith, the leader of CBS' Interactive division, will join other high-profile industry leaders at this year's NewTeeVee Live 09 on Nov. 12 in San Francisco. Quincy will share his perspective on the state of the online video industry and what impacts some of the changes coming up will create.

This is the year of "TV Everywhere" for the online television industry, and the conference will investigate the opportunities it creates. Aligned to the TV Everywhere topic will be discussions on new platforms in the home and the promise they hold for content companies and entrepreneurs.

NewTeeVee Live, now in its third successful year, is designed to answer the biggest questions about the future of television. The conference has assembled the most important industry leaders to share their views and visions.

Speakers at NewTeeVee Live include:

Amy Banse, president, Comcast Interactive Media
Quincy Smith, CEO, CBS Interactive.
Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO, Netflix
Kevin Lynch, CTO, Adobe Systems
Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox LIVE, Microsoft
Andy Mitchell, VP of Digital and Development Marketing, CNN
Erik Flannigan, executive vice president of Digital Media, MTVN Entertainment Group
Randi Zuckerberg, director of Market Development, Facebook
Avner Ronen, CEO and co-founder, boxee
Anthony Wood, CEO, Roku
Matthew McRae, VP and GM, Advanced Technology Products, VIZIO
Sam Blackman, CEO, Elemental Technologies
Bill Gurley, general partner, Benchmark Capital

The Next Big Idea

In addition, the show will feature 10 of the most exciting technology and content startups selected by Liz Gannes and Chris Albrecht, editors of the leading online video blog NewTeeVee.com.

A conference of this magnitude cannot successfully be delivered without the support of the conference sponsors. This year's sponsoring companies are led by primetime sponsor Comcast. The generosity and support of Comcast and other sponsors enable the GigaOM Network to deliver the show to the worldwide audience of media professionals.

Five hundred industry executives will explore the future of the planet's favorite media: television. If you wish to join them Nov. 12 in San Francisco, register for your ticket now.

Optibase IPTV Solution Deployed by a Leading Cable News Network

TVover.net — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:31:14 GMT

Optibase announces that a leading cable news network has selected Optibase EZ TV advanced IPTV solution for in-house video delivery. The EZ TV system will serve hundreds of employees in the network’s headquarters and remote sites, enabling them to view and monitor in real time and on demand the network’s internal and production channels as well as incoming feeds.

The Optibase EZ TV solution replaces the network’s legacy analog system, which delivered only a limited number of channels and required a dedicated TV monitor for each employee. With the EZ TV system, the network delivers hundreds of channels over IP set-top boxes as well as to desktops running Windows or Mac OS, with user-configurable mosaic views of up to 16 channels on a single screen. User permissions can be easily managed with Microsoft® Active Directory groups. By leveraging existing IP infrastructure and utilizing existing desktops, EZ TV will dramatically reduce the network’s day-to-day operating costs.

The EZ TV Player is a browser-based application with minimal footprint. It simultaneously displays any combination of live channels and VOD content chosen by each user. While the legacy analog system delivered only SD content, EZ TV supports multiple video formats such as HD and SD H.264 and MPEG-2. EZ TV also handles multiple audio tracks and closed caption display.