FierceIPTV

Live TV is dying, advertisers likely to spend $9B anyway

Jim O'Neill — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:15:08 -0400

With DVR penetration nearing 50 percent of American households, and with the majority of homes already watching video on demand, Americans are slowly moving away from a former mainstay of television viewing: Live TV. Nevertheless, this week's upfronts, that put advertisers and broadcast networks together, are likely to result in $9 billion worth of business. Article

Are consumers happy with their pay-TV services? Survey says… No

Jim O'Neill — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:39:26 -0400

Shoot a 66 at the golf course and your buddies are likely to give you a hard time for scoring so well (and, possibly offer to bankroll you on your way to the PGA). But score a 66 out of 100 on a consumer satisfaction survey? Ah, not so good.

Yet, for the third year in a row, that's where the pay-TV industry came in on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released today by the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

In fact, the pay-TV industry as a whole, ranked ahead of only the penultimate laggard, the airline industry, which scored a 65 ACSI, and the worst-of-the-worst newspaper industry, which scored 64.

Among the 47 industries that had better customer satisfaction scores in the most recent surveys (that would be 44 of them if you're counting): Department and discount stores, 76; Gas stations, 74; Health and personal care stores, 76; Specialty retail stores, 79; Internet brokerages, 76; Internet retailers, 81; Co-op utilities, 81; Health care, 78.5; and even banks, with an ACSI of 75, scored better... but the recent news out of J.P. Morgan could knock those numbers down.

In the overall Information category, which includes that 64 from newspapers and thus saves pay-TV from last place, the ACSI ranked segments this way: Computer software, 77; Motion pictures, 76; Cellular telephones, 74; Network and cable news, 74 percent; Fixed-line phone service, 70; Wireless service, 70; Subscription television services, 66; and, Newspapers, 64.

Here's the breakdown for service providers:

For the third year in a row, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and its FiOS TV service, which recorded a 74 ACSI rating, was at the top of the heap. And, it improved from 72 a year ago;

Dish Networks (Nasdaq: DISH) came in second at 69, up from 67;
The "All others" category ranked third at 68, down from 69;
AT&T (NYSE: T) scored 68 for the second year in a row;
DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) earned an ACSI of 68, down from 69;
Cox tumbled to 63, from a less-than-stellar 67 a year ago;
Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) earned a rating of 63, up from 59;
Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) inched up to 61 from 59; and,
The worst pay-TV service in the ACSI goes to Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR), which earned a 59 for the second consecutive year.

Only two power companies and an airline scored as badly as Charter. Delta Air Lines has the worst rating on the list, with a 56 ACSI, which I can, as a frequent flier with them, sadly, attest to.

Even the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service outscored every pay-TV provider, with an ACSI of 74, but that could be a pity vote. And, if you're planning on jumping on the upcoming Facebook IPO, take note: The social-networking site's ACSI rating is a decidedly pay-TV-ish 66.

ACSI points out that service providers are, on the whole, offering more services than ever before. But, reliability and rising costs continue to be consumers' primary concerns.

Verizon and its FiOS TV product, ACSI founder Claes Fornell points out, has maintained relatively high levels of customer satisfaction, and managed to continue growing subscriber numbers. The four largest cable TV companies ACSI tracks are well below the fiber optic and satellite TV providers for customer satisfaction.

Cox Communications, Fornell said, may have suffered most as "higher rates and fees for many Cox customers are sapping customer satisfaction."

The lack of satisfaction Americans feel with their pay-TV services isn't new. Since 2001, the sector has never scored higher than the 66 it's seen for the past three years.

But for service providers who are spending big bucks to offer over-the-top services, and who are making their content available on more devices, and laying out huge sums for programming, the lack of satisfaction has to be causing them to be scratching their heads in wonder.-Jim

AT&T puts U-verse TV on Xbox on indefinite hiatus

Jim O'Neill — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:53:07 -0400

Hoping to use an Xbox to access AT&T's (NYSE: T) U-verse TV? You may be in for a bit of a wait, as the telco has pulled the hardware kit that allowed users to use the game console as a "spare" set-top box.

The $99 kit (plus a $55 installation fee for existing users) enabled subscribers to access DVR recordings, switch from games to TV without switching video inputs, use U-verse applications, access the U-verse TV menu and guide, and use Xbox IM and chat with your friends while watching TV.

A note on AT&T's website said, "We apologize, but the AT&T U-verse TV for Xbox 360 Hardware Kit is not currently available for ordering.... Please check back regularly for availability and new features."

An AT&T spokeswoman told FierceIPTV that the company was "in the process of enhancing the U-verse on Xbox 360 functionality, adding that the telco hoped to "have more updates and news to share on these enhancements soon. To ensure our new customers have the best possible experience, the kits will not be available until the new enhancements and functionality are added."

The kit first appeared in October 2010 and contained a Motorola HomePNA adapter, a Microsoft media remote control, and installation CD and user guide.

AT&T said the decision was made "to ensure our new customers have the best possible experience."

The company said the kits wouldn't be available until new enhancements and functionality are added.

Subscribers who are using the Xbox also need an Xbox Live Gold account, a U-verse TV subscriptions, at least one standard receiver and U-verse High-Speed Internet.

AT&T hasn't disclosed how many subscribers currently use the Xbox as a set top box for U-verse.

Last week, Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) complained that AT&T's policy of not charging users overage fees in connection with using the Xbox feature violated the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules. AT&T otherwise has a 250-Gigabyte monthly cap on U-verse Internet users.

For more:
- see this Game Politics article
- see this Engadget article
- see this Multichannel News article

AT&T launches U-verse TV and Internet service in Ottawa, Kan.

Jim O'Neill — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:26:26 -0400

AT&T (NYSE: T) U-verse Internet and U-verse TV are now available in Ottawa, Kan., continuing the telco's expansion in the Sunflower State.

The company said the service now passes more than 540,000 living units in and around the Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita areas since its 2007 roll out in the state.

"Our most recent expansion of AT&T U-verse in Ottawa reflects our commitment to make the investments necessary to bring consumers across Kansas a new era of communications technology," said Steve Hahn, president of AT&T Kansas. "Ottawa residents have asked for more choices in television service and today we're delivering."

AT&T said its U-verse TV service closed the first quarter of 2012 with more than 4 million users, after adding some 200,000 subscribers. It's high-speed Internet service, meanwhile, closed the quarter with 5.9 million users after adding 718,000 new subscribers.

AT&T U-verse TV has added more TV subscribers than any of the major TV providers reported over the last 12 quarters combined.

For more:
- see this release

Ensequence gets $26M in latest funding round

Jim O'Neill — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:54:33 -0400

The concept of smart TVs and their potential to connect with consumers has been fueling venture capital investment in the space of late, especially in the area of app development.

The latest company to share a piece of the VC pie is interactive TV vendor Ensequence, which just announced it landed $26 million that it'll use to enable "programmers, advertisers and service providers to transform television into a more engaging consumer viewing experience on all platforms and devices."

Ohio-based Myrian Capital led the round.

"This round will help Ensequence further lead the industry in enabling programmers, advertisers and service providers to transform television into a more engaging consumer viewing experience on all platforms and devices," said Peter Low, president and CEO of Ensequence.

The Portland, Ore.-based company is no newcomer to the space, having spent the past 10 years working with programmers, advertisers and service providers to make shows and ads more engaging through branded interactive elements.

Ensequence counts among its customers NBCUniversal, MTV Networks, Showtime Networks, Turner Broadcasting, HBO, and also works with a number of service providers, including Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), and Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH).

With Showtime, for example, Ensequence enabled viewers to watch the network's sports programming and vote during boxing bouts by remote with the results displayed on-screen.

It also allowed viewers to access fighter stats and profiles, as well as live polling, a trivia game, a fight calendar and control over custom viewer settings.

The interactive experience, initially available on Verizon FiOS, appears to be ‘floating' as it hovers above the video telecast.

Ensequence helps service providers cope with widespread fragmentation, allowing them to develop, deploy and manage interactivity across different TV platforms and mobile devices.

The latest funding brings Ensequence's total funding since it launched in 2000 to around $125 million.

For more:
- see this release
- see this article

Elemental lands Columbus Communications for video play in LatAm, Caribbean

Jim O'Neill — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:06:39 -0400

Transcoding vendor Elemental Technologies, which last year added Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Avail-TVN to its customer roster, today said it would power Columbus' multiscreen video roll out in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The service is set to launch in September and will give Columbus subscribers expanded access to 250 live linear broadcast channels and on-demand video on a variety of connected viewing devices, including hybrid set-top boxes, PCs, tablets and smartphones.

The customer win is the second in the region for Elemental, which last year was chosen by Avail-TVN to power a multiscreen deployment with Avail-TVN for Cable & Wireless subsidiary LIME in Jamaica and Barbados.

Elemental, also last year, was chosen to provide transcoding for Comcast's Xfinity, a win that really helped it plant its feet firmly with major service provider clients.

Columbus, based in Barbados, said Elemental was a strategic component of its expanded deployment.

"The key differentiators that influenced our decision to work with Elemental versus competitors include overall video quality, high-performance software, system scalability, significant reduction in power consumption, a smaller hardware footprint, lower maintenance costs," Columbus CTO Darren Richer said.

ElementalLive will be used to create adaptive bit rate (ABR) streams for both Apple Live Streaming (HLS) and Microsoft Smooth Streaming. Customers will initially have access to live broadcast output streams and an on-demand video library on PC, iPhone and iPad platforms. The next step of the deployment will include support for hybrid set-top boxes and larger screen viewing will be available.

Columbus offers subscribes in Trinidad, Jamaica, Grenada and Curacao digital cable television, broadband Internet, digital landline telephony and corporate data services under the brand name FLOW.

For more:
- see this release

SeaChange wraps up spinoff of broadcast server, storage unit

Jim O'Neill — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:42:45 -0400

Video-on-demand software specialist SeaChange International (Nasdaq: SEAC) said it has closed the sale of its broadcast server and storage business to XOR Media, completing its first major step toward becoming a pure-play software company.

The spinoff of XOR Media, formerly SeaChange Broadcast, was bankrolled by a U.S. VC company, and leaves intact a unit that includes ingest and playout codecs MediaClient and MediaServer; and the shared grid, and scalable Universal MediaLibrary storage.

"This sale is an important part of our strategy to transform SeaChange into a pure play software company," said SeaChange CEO Raghu Rau. "Now that the transaction is complete, we can focus on our core software and services operations, including our next generation back office, video streamers, gateway software and advertising solutions."

Rau said he expects minimal impact on customers since XOR Media's management and product line is essentially unchanged.

"XOR Media is a new business entity in name, but the same team and processes are here to ensure business continuity for our customers," XOR Media CEO Zheng Gao said. "The feedback we have been receiving on XOR Media is very encouraging, and we are excited to launch new opportunities for XOR Media's open, cloud-capable, and media-optimized servers and storage."
Moving forward, SeaChange will become a reseller of XOR Media, but it said it plans to work with other server and storage vendors as well.

As part of the deal, XOR Media launches with an installed base of some 300 top-tier customers; 12,000 channels on air; and 11PB of managed data. Headquartered in New Hampshire, it has some 180 employees and sales offices around the world.

The Acton, Mass.-based company has had a tumultuous year.

In December, after failing to find its sweet spot for several quarters, the company's chief executive and founder Bill Styslinger, retired. Rau became interim CEO; he took over permanently last month.

In February, the company announced president and longtime SeaChange exec Yvette Kanouff was leaving the company, saying it had no plans to replace her, part of an ongoing drive to cut $5 million costs that included thinning employee ranks as well.

The company saw first quarter earnings dip, and Rau reiterated that it would continue to morph itself into a pure-play software provider and said it was actively seeking buyers for other non-core segments of the company that don't fit into its long-term strategy.

For more:
- see this release

CenturyLink Q1 income falls 5.2%, Prism TV subscriptions climb

Chris Rizo — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:15:59 -0400

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) today reported first quarter 2012 earnings slid 5.2 percent, still beating Wall Street analysts' expectations for the the nation's fourth-largest telecom company.

CenturyLink said Q1 increases in strategic revenues were driven primarily by business demand for high bandwidth data services and growth in high-speed Internet, in addition to an increase in its Prism TV subscribers.

The company said it added nearly 15,000 Prism TV subscriber in the quarter, taking its total to about 85,000.

The company's GAAP net income for Q1 2012 was $200 million, compared to $211 million for first quarter of 2011.

Operating revenues for the quarter were $4.61 billion, up from $1.7 billion in the year-earlier period. It attributed the sharp increase to a $2.7 billion revenue contribution from its Qwest acquisition--completed in April 2011--and $266 million from its Savvis acquisition of July.

The company reported Q1 2012 adjusted net income of $423 million, compared to pro forma adjusted net income of $484 million in the first quarter of 2011. Its net income translates to per-share earnings of 68 cents, which beat analysts' estimate of 59 cents per share.

CenturyLink's operating expenses, excluding special items, decreased to $3.87 billion, from $3.89 billion in the year-earlier quarter, the Monroe, La.-based telecom reported.

CenturyLink said increases in its strategic revenues were "more than offset" by declines in legacy services revenues, primarily due to the impact of access line losses and lower access revenues, the company said in its earnings statement.

"CenturyLink delivered solid financial results again this quarter, highlighting our continuing growth of broadband and Prism TV customers, as well as good operating expense control," the company's president and chief executive officer, Glen Post III, said.

"We continue to improve our top-line revenue trend and deliver strong subscriber results while investing in key strategic initiatives and meeting our synergy targets for both the Qwest and Savvis integrations," Post added. "Our local operating model continues to help drive revenues and improve customer trends."

For more:
- see the earnings statement

Special Report: IPTV earnings in the first quarter of 2012

Harmonic debuts Iris 2.0 with improved end-to-end monitoring of bandwidth and video

Jim O'Neill — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:21:52 -0400

Harmonic (Nasdaq: HLIT) has rolled out a new iteration of its video-quality monitoring and analytics software suite, this one delivering a more robust end-to-end video-monitoring and analysis solution and an enhanced graphical user interface.

Service providers have aggressively been adding new channels to their lineups, increasing the amount of programming available to customers. Iris 2.0 helps them assure video quality and optimize bandwidth by monitoring and analyzing their use of Harmonic broadcast encoders in real time.

"Using Iris 2.0, operators can better analyze their channel lineup and make changes that both improve video quality and optimize bandwidth. Iris provides objective data that accurately reflects picture quality, giving operators hard data on which to base their decisions," said Yoav Derazon, director of software products and solutions at Harmonic.

Iris 2.0 also has integrated Sencore's VideoBRIDGE monitoring solution and the TeleSight test and measurement tool from global MPEG technology provider MiraVid, giving it an end-to-end video monitoring and analysis solution. Iris collects video quality information at the encoder level and provides it to the end-to-end monitoring systems, adding a deeper layer of data to help operators evaluate the overall health of their systems.

The software works in tandem with the Harmonic NMX Digital Service Manager video network management system, and collects data from Harmonic Electra and Ion encoders and presents it as a set of charts, reports, and dashboards, making it easier for result, service providers to monitor and analyze sources and programming over time; achieve better statmux pool balancing, bit rate allocation, and homogeneity of video quality; and ultimately increase end-customer satisfaction.

For more:
- see this release

Frontier CEO: OTT video 'more important than anything else'

Jim O'Neill — Tue, 08 May 2012 08:59:56 -0400

Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR) reported first-quarter 2012 revenue dipped nearly 7 percent, to $1.27 billion, from $1.35 billion a year ago, and continued to shed the FiOS customers it acquired when it bought Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) landline business in 14 states in July 2010.

Maggie Widerotter

But, the company said it was aggressively looking at video--especially over-the-top delivery--as an important piece of its business.

The Stamford, Conn.-based company attributed the decreases to fewer residential and business customers, switched access, data services and video revenue. When it initially acquired the Verizon business, Frontier nearly tripled in size, providing services to 4 million residential, including FiOS, and business customers in 27 states. The company now has 3.34 million customers.

But, said chief executive Maggie Wilderotter, the integration of the Verizon business has been completed, opening doors for the telco.

"After a long road, Frontier systems integration of the Verizon acquisition is completed... We are now in complete control of our systems, processes, products, marketing and the delivery of a better customer experience," she said. "Our efforts will now be focused on three things: One, revenue growth; two, broadband leadership; and three, operational excellence."

Unfortunately, the company missed the first quarter earnings expectations of analysts, delivering net income of $26.8 million, or 3 cents a share, compared to $54.7 million, or 5 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts had expected earnings of 6 cents per share.

But Wilderotter said Frontier's revenue growth will accelerate in the third and fourth quarters, a result of running their own systems after the integration.

Frontier continued to slough off FiOS customers, something it's done in every quarter since it acquired the business. Frontier has maintained that it could not support the high cost of acquiring content on the service and has dramatically increased the install cost of the service in Indiana, Oregon and Washington.

It lost 4,800 customers this quarter, on the heels of 5,900 FiOS video subs quitting the service last quarter. But it added a net 9,200 satellite customers this quarter.

But Wilderotter said the company had "gone to school" on the FiOS products and was now "aggressively selling FiOS in the 3 markets we have."

"It is a very high cost to operate FiOS video," she said. "We have said that in the past, and we continue to look at that as a stumbling block for us deploying any further IPTV on that type of a platform."

Because of that, she said, Frontier has been evaluating other alternatives, including AT&T's (NYSE: T) U-verse.

"We have not announced anything in terms of us doing anything different than what we are doing today," Wilderotter said. "But we do like the U-verse product. We think it's a product that can work, not just on fiber, but it also works on copper as well. So it's a lot more forgiving in the market."

Frontier will also look at "a couple of other IPTV capabilities."

"(IPTV) doesn't make sense in all of our markets," she said. "Video is very important. We think over-the-top video is probably more important than anything else."

The stock closed Tuesday at $3.26. It's traded between $3.06 and $8.97 over the past 52 weeks.

For more:
- see this release
- see this earnings call transcript

Special Report: IPTV earnings in the first quarter of 2012

Small Canadian ISP has plan to sell IPTV nationwide

Jim O'Neill — Tue, 08 May 2012 06:19:57 -0400

A Canadian ISP that just recently began reselling Bell's IPTV service in greater Montreal wants to offer its product across Canada, saying it will compete by offering "more channels for a lower price." Colba.Net Telecom already has applications pending with Canadian regulators for regional broadcasting licenses that would allow it to operate in Quebec and Ontario, as well as in major cities in Western Canada. Colba has provided Internet services since 1996, and in 2011 said it has 3,186 subscribers, 27 employees and revenue in 2011 of just $3.2 million. CEO Joseph Bassili said he expects the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to approve its applications after hearings wrap up June 7 because, he said, "the CRTC has said it wants competition." The service hasn't signed any agreements with incumbent telcos. He also said the service would require subscribe to have an existing Internet connection, something it doesn't plan to provide. The chances for success may be pretty slim. And one industry analyst said, "Many resellers have tried and none have succeeded. This is a scale game now." Article

Elemental adds $13M in Series C funding round

Jim O'Neill — Tue, 08 May 2012 05:58:12 -0400

Elemental Technologies today said it raised $13 million in a Series C funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners, joined by existing investors General Catalyst, Voyager Capital and Steamboat Ventures.

CEO Sam Blackman told FierceIPTV the new funding would help the company accelerate its plans to expand in the market, continue hiring and raise awareness about its product.

Blackman said the involvement of Norwest--which has backed other high tech companies like Rackspace, Polycom, Omneon and others--was significant in part because Elemental wasn't actively seeking funding.

"It wasn't us going out to raise money," Blackman said. "It was very strong, proactive interest on their part. They came to us and said ‘Hey, guys, we think we can help you scale.' That means a lot to us." The company raised $14.6 million in two previous rounds.

Blackman said having extra cash, its balance sheet now shows reserves of some $19 million, would allow the Portland, Ore.-based transcoding company to more easily expand its international efforts. Elemental already has offices in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, and Blackman said the company plans to get feet on the ground in Latin America, and to expand in Europe, Asia, Russia and the Middle East.

The company, which Blackman said has been cash-flow neutral for several quarters, has no immediate plans, or need, to deploy the funds.

But, he said, "Having a better balance sheet is better for us because it shows the companies we're approaching that we're in a strong financial position, that we have staying power."

Elemental's customers include Comcast, Disney, Avail-TVN, ESPN, Big Ten Networks, CBS Interactive and HBO. It recently signed several big streaming deals for the 2012 London Olympics.

Blackman said Elemental is working to expand its product line from the origin to the network side of video processing; something the extra cash also could accelerate.

"Today, we process video and hand it off to a delivery network of some type like Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM)," he said. "We think we can leverage Elemental's video processing experience better, and further down the line."

Blackman also pointed out that the startup in January 2011 added a heavy hitter to its lineup to help it scale and take a bigger role in the market.

Kevin O'Hara, the co-founder and former CEO of Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT), joined the board shortly after taking over as CEO of Integra Telecom. He has some 25 years of experience in guiding startups.

"We're excited he's willing to step into this role," Blackman said. "Elemental is truly humbled to have the strong support of NVP and our new chairman as we continue to invest in the product development, sales and support required to build a world-class business."

For more:
- see this release

Dish subs to lose 'Mad Men,' 'The Walking Dead' as it vows to drop channels

Jim O'Neill — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:30:48 -0400

Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH), citing declining viewership numbers, said it's planning to drop all of AMC Networks' programming, including hit shows like Mad Men and The Walking Dead on the flagship AMC channel.

Dish said AMC, the Independent Film Channel, Sundance Channel and WE TV would drop from its line up at the end of June. The satellite TV provider said that the channels "overall have had significant declines in viewership," and said the high costs of the channels were also a factor in its decision.

But AMC's hit shows, like Mad Men, The Waking Dead and Breaking Bad, are in the midst of a ratings bump that has them deliver some of the "strongest ratings performances" of all cable networks, one analyst told The Wall Street Journal.

Dish also cited the availability of those hit shows on Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes and through Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN).

Meanwhile, in a press release, AMC contends that Dish's decision to drop the channels was likely based more on a recent court ruling against the operator, part of ongoing litigation between the two that dates back to 2008, when VOOM HD (an indirect subsidiary of AMC Networks) sued Dish Network for breach of contract.

Within days of the ruling, AMC said, Dish informed AMC of its intention to drop the channels.

"AMC Networks has some of the most acclaimed programming on television, with shows like Mad Men, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad," the company wrote in its release. "In fact, AMC's The Walking Dead is the number one scripted drama with Dish subscribers."

Dish denied the events were related, calling the AMC statements "self-serving," and claiming it "distorts the facts of the current situation and incorrectly attempts to tie together two separate issues."

"Dish's contract with AMC Networks was nearing its end, and we decided not to renew at the end of June," Dish said. "Our decision to drop AMC Networks' channels is solely dependent on their high renewal cost when compared to their low viewership. Dish will make alternative high-value channels available to our customers as replacements."

For more:
- see this Hollywood Reporter article
- see this release

Report: Connected devices, TVs offer opportunity for service providers

Jim O'Neill — Fri, 04 May 2012 05:49:08 -0400

The increasing consumer uptake of connected devices and smart TVs is changing the way consumers access online content, according to a new report.

And, rather than being a threat to service providers and content owners, over-the-top delivery though those devices could end up being an ally for operators, research company Parks Associates reported.

Even services traditionally viewed as disruptive, like YouTube, could provide opportunities for service providers to offer consumers value-added services. Parks said it found nearly 60 percent of U.S. broadband households say they want to be able to access on-demand YouTube content through their pay-TV service.

While few of those households currently say they're likely to pay for the YouTube content--80 percent opt for a free, advertising-based offering--the online video company's push for professional content, its nascent channel lineup and new features like Channel Search are changing its value proposition to viewers, advertisers, and pay-TV providers.

"Connected consumer electronics, particularly smart TVs, are changing the consumer experience and creating opportunities for providers to lure subscribers away from OTT services such as Netflix and Hulu," said Stuart Sikes, president, Parks Associates. "Connected devices are impacting how companies distribute content, sell services, and position advertising. New business models and content services are dramatically changing the industry."

The company will present its new smart TV and connected consumer electronics research, with new content strategies to capture consumer interest and new revenues, June 5-7 at Connections TIA, in Dallas.

For more:
- see this release

SeaChange to add APRICO content-recommendation technology

Jim O'Neill — Wed, 02 May 2012 10:27:19 -0400

SeaChange International (Nasdaq: SEAC), which earlier this week announced it had elevated interim CEO Raghu Rau to become its permanent chief executive, today continued its own transition to a more software-centric company.

The company announced it was licensing APRICO content-recommendation source code and other intellectual property rights from Royal Philips Electronics.

The deal will allow SeaChange to offer what has become a more important aspect of multi-screen video delivery, personalized, content-aware and collaborative recommendation functionality.

SeaChange will integrate the APRICO source code into its Adrenalin multiscreen video back-office platform, allowing service providers to improve their buy rates and increase revenue per user.

"Viewers today are confronted with hundreds of channels, thousands of on-demand movies and countless videos available through their TVs, PCs and mobile devices," said Erwin van Dommelen, SeaChange's president of software. "Finding interesting content has become a real issue, with digital TV subscribers often spending at least 25 percent of their viewing time browsing content catalogs or hopping channels."

APRICO finds, recommends and delivers personalized content from linear broadcast material, video-on-demand and web video to viewers via TV, PC or mobile device, based on their profile, viewing behavior and/or explicit inputs.

SeaChange said that gives service providers a better shot at retaining viewers and maximizing revenues.

SeaChange CEO Rau, in March, said the Acton, Mass.-based company would aggressively spin-off or divest of non-software businesses as it worked to morph into a pure software play. This deal, he said, works toward that goal.

"The acquisition of these intellectual property rights is part of SeaChange's strategy to grow revenues through targeted investments and expansion into adjacent products," he said.

The APRICO technology will be released over the course of 2012.

For more:
- see this release