U Verse Tv

CR likes telco TV over cable

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:50:42 -0500

In the for-what-it's-worth category, Consumer Reports magazine has endorsed the TV services of AT&T and Verizon Communications over those of the companies' cable TV competitors. Telco TV services have received strong endorsements in similar surveys and reports, and telcos had a pretty good in 2008 winning subscribers over to their new TV platforms.

However, it became apparent late last month that those same telcos will not be too quick to compete on price. It's quite likely that some consumers took advantage of telco TV launch promotions to get away from frequent cable TV price hikes, but according to an Engadget report just before Christmas, it sounds like AT&T will be raising some U-verse TV feature prices for some customers beginning next month.

For more:
- Kansas City.com covers the CR honors
- Engadget has the price report

2008 Year in Review: Market metrics present and future

Dan O'Shea — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:26:01 -0500

Ongoing subscriber growth gave the world's IPTV service providers plenty to cheer about in 2008, so it's no surprise that several of FierceIPTV's most-viewed stories in 2008 revolved around market research and predictions related to subscriber numbers and revenue for the sector. In March, Strategy Analytics said U.S. IPTV revenue hit $694 million in 2007, but was expected to soar to $14 billion by 2012. ABI Research that some month said a worldwide subscriber tally of 13 million in 2007 would jump to 90 million subscribers by 2013. Most of the growth up to this year was coming from Western Europe, and while that certainly continues to be true, the U.S. market, China and other Asian markets, and a few Latin America countries are starting to get in on the act.

Of course, a wide variety of numbers from a wide variety of sources came out throughout the year, some more impressive and hopeful than others, and many market research firms continue to revise their predictions on a quarterly basis. Can the global IPTV market keep up with the optimistic expectations we all had earlier this year? The U.S. market's emergence in 2008 and specifically the huge subscriber growth from IPTV giant AT&T and top U.S. telco TV player Verizon Communications have been very encouraging. Just last week, AT&T hit its goal of signing up 1 million U-verse TV customers by the end of this year. However, 2008 is ending on a note of caution. The economic crisis has given us reason to expect slower adoption, or at least slower build-outs. We should know much more in earlier 2009 as service providers report their fourth quarter subscriber numbers and year-end financial results.

Rentrak to track U-verse

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:33:22 -0500

AT&T reportedly has signed a deal with audience-measurement firm Rentrak to have the firm measure viewing patterns of U-verse TV customers, according to Multichannel News. The company collects anonymous data from set-top boxes throughout a carrier's customer base that can then be converted into intelligence for advertisers and content providers.

In addition to collecting basic data on the number of subscribers watching a particular program and average length of viewing time, Rentrak also can find out to what extent subscribers use DVR capabilities to fast-forward through commercial breaks or even specific commercials. AT&T also will co-market Rentrak's TV Essentials service to content providers, local TV stations and marketing clients.

While IPTV service providers likely will be leveraging ad insertion and targeted advertising within the next year, this type of subscriber intelligence could prove useful in making those capabilities more valuable, as well as endearing telcos like AT&T to their content partners.

For more:
- Multichannel News has this story

AT&T IPTV nears 1 million subscribers

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:30:18 -0500

Cable TV and telco executives already have been making news at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference this week, and here's more: AT&T Operations president and CEO John Stankey said the telco giant is set to pass through the threshold of 1 million IPTV customers sometime next week. AT&T had long talked of its goal to hit the 1 million mark by the end of this year, and it seems that the recession and ongoing concerns about consumer spending have not kept it from doing so. Stankey said U-verse TV now passes more than 17 million "living units."

Stankey also said AT&T will continue to add new capabilities to its U-verse IPTV offering, including more high-definition channels and greater HD streaming capacity, according to Light Reading. The LR report also said Stankey alluded to adding "more Internet-like capabilities," though it is not clear exactly what this means. Fellow telco TV player Verizon Communications has been pressing toward more integration on online video and TV content, and AT&T may be doing the same, though the company also may be talking about content searching capabilities or other aspects of the service. Sounds interesting in any case.

For more:
- Light Reading has this post

Spotlight: MI-Connection vs. Ma Bell

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:41:57 -0500

AT&T announced this week that it will begin offering its U-verse IPTV service in the Charlotte, N.C. area, which may sound like just another in a long list of market launches. However, Davidson, N.C.'s DavidsonNews.net offers a detailed local view of the potential competitive battle developing between AT&T and MI-Connection, a cable TV and Internet provider serving 16,000 customers, and operated by the towns of Mooresville and Davidson. The municipalities bought the former Adelphia system last year from Time Warner Cable.

AT&T said last year it would invest $350 million to upgrade its North Carolina network. Meanwhile, Davidson and Mooresville have initiated a $22.5 million upgrade to their network, and also plan to offer voice next year to compete against AT&T and other service providers. Can the local cable venture contend with U-Verse TV features like Total Home DVR? Or will customer loyalty to the local hero keep AT&T IPTV success to a minimum in these markets?

For more:
- DavidsonNews.net has this story

AT&T to sell IPTV through 'big box' retailers

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:17:12 -0400

If you were beginning to wonder what sort of additional effort AT&T would require to meet its goal of 1 million U-verse TV customers by the end of this year, the telco has provided at least part of the answer with new agreements to sell the service through "big box" retailers Wal-mart and Circuit City. This appears to be the first time an IPTV operator will sell its offering through national retails chains. The service will be available starting this month in about 600 stores stationed in markets where AT&T already has rolled out U-verse.

The telco had 549,000 U-verse TV customers at the end of the second quarter, and despite slowing growth amid uncertain consumer spending, AT&T has a goal of surpassing the 1 million customer mark by the end of 2008. The partnerships will encourage one-stop shopping for consumers looking to satisfy their home entertainment needs--at least for consumers brave enough to continue their buying ways.

For more:
- see this post at TheStreet.com

Cable disputes can strengthen telco-broadcaster bonds

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:37:34 -0400

Telcos with ambitious TV service strategies have long lamented their weak ties to the broadcaster community. It's one area in which cable TV incumbents continue to have the upper hand. Part of the reason, of course, is that IPTV and other telco TV offerings are still in their infancy. Only one telco in the U.S. and only a handful around the world have 1 million or more TV subscribers.

Part of the solution is for telcos to concentrate on wooing broadcasters with better deals and pricing arrangements for their content. Trying to get them to invest in the future of telco TV may not necessarily work well at this early stage, but lining their pockets with more money certainly will.

On a related theme, telcos may be able to gain when broadcasters have contract disputes with cable TV firms. Last fall, the new Big Ten Network became embroiled in disputes with several cable TV companies when it was unable to reach carriage agreements with them. Those disputes kept the BTN off those cable networks in some markets until just recently, when Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications finally reached separate agreements with the BTN. However, many subscribers to AT&T's U-verse TV service and Verizon Communications' FiOS TV service were able to enjoy the BTN last fall, when both telcos leaped at the opportunity to offer the BTN on their systems.

This fall, another local-level dispute has left one broadcaster recommending telco TV over an incumbent cable TV offering. Broadcaster LIN TV, which owns 15 local TV stations affiliated with national TV networks, has been at odds with Time Warner Cable because the cable TV firm has balked at a per-customer subscriber fee that LIN TV wanted as part of its re-transmission deal. As a result, LIN TV began recommending competing TV providers to its viewers, including Verizon's FiOS service. Verizon was among providers who had agreed to LIN TV's terms.

It's not clear how much telcos can gain from such disputes, which may often occur at a regional or very localized level, but in the effort to woo broadcasters, every little bit helps.

The latest move in the LIN TV dispute also raises another issue. TWC recently took a swipe at LIN TV by advising its subscribers to go online to watch LIN TV programming, rather than watch the LIN TV channels that TWC was re-transmitting. Sending customers online seems like a petty scheme to resort to, and one that affects cable TV viewership in the long run. But if gives any indication of how serious such disputes can become, Telcos should take note, because even as they begin to forge better relationships with broadcasters, they should think about how they will one day respond to the same sort of situation.

-Dan

For more:
- see this post at The New York Times

AT&T to resell Dish a little longer

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:37:54 -0400

AT&T had confirmed earlier this summer that its reseller arrangement with satellite TV firm Dish Network would end at the end of this year, but now the companies have agreed to extend their partnership through Jan. 31, 2009.

AT&T previously had ended a resale deal with DirecTV, seemingly in favor of selling Dish service. However, when AT&T and Dish acknowledged their resale deal would end this year, industry observers were left to wonder if that meant that AT&T was done with satellite TV, or if it would allow both Dish and DirecTV a shot at becoming its long-term partner. AT&T has said it is still trying to decide who to partner with next year. The telco now has more than 2.2 million satellite TV customers, but growth in that area has sharply dropped in recent months.

However, AT&T still has more satellite TV customers than IPTV customers. The U-verse TV service had gathered 549,000 subscribers at last count following the second quarter of 2008.

For more:
- read this story at Multichannel News

The fourth screen era begins

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:59:27 -0400

AT&T has announced HomeManager, a touch-screen broadband base station that, as the name suggests, manages and consolidates several communications functions. It leverages the U-Verse broadband connection and supports voice calling, e-mail and access to internet-based information services.

AT&T and other carriers have been talking for the last few years about three-screen strategies, and how to better integrate broadband communications functions via the TV, the mobile phone and the PC. HomeManager looks to be a step toward making that happen, though HomeManager itself also looks like a fourth screen being added to high-tech households. Will that be one screen too many?

At a cost of $299, 3Screens.net blogger Alan Weinkrantz wonders why AT&T doesn't offer a rebate, which is a good point. HomeManager requires customers to sign up for a two-year contract for AT&T High Speed Internet or sign up for AT&T U-verse TV, Internet and voice.

HomeManager doesn't have any further monthly service charge, and it looks like a pretty sleek and useful device. However, there are an awful lot of broadband appliances out there now vying to be positioned near consumers' TVs or other devices. Some of them provide online video, some of them provide converged wireline/wireless voice access, and others, like HomeManager and a similar offering Embarq announced earlier this year, look to bridge the gap between traditional landline voice and Internet-based communications and information services.

Will the fourth screen help consumers manage the first three screens, or is it destined to become another under-used resident in increasingly crowded household entertainment centers?

-Dan

For more:
- see this story at Telephony
- check out photos and AT&T's press release at Gizmodo
- read this blog post by Alan Weinkrantz

AT&T pushes MPEG-4 to full HD potential

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:43:06 -0400

AT&T did not pursue the same fiber-to-the-home IPTV plans that some others carriers have relied on, but John Donovan, the telco's CTO, said at a conference last week that increasingly efficient MPEG-4 compression will help AT&T continue to grow its high-definition channel line-up.

Donovan said MPEG-4 video compression for the company's U-verse TV service will improve to around 5 Mbps next year from its present rate of about 6 Mbps to 8 Mbps. That efficiency gain also will help AT&T support more simultaneous streams with its new whole-home DVR service in use--three live streams and four recorded streams.

MPEG-4 equipment was slow to come to market, but the protocol now can give IPTV service providers some help against their cable TV competitors, who mostly use MPEG-2 compression.

For more:
- read this coverage at Multichannel News

AT&T expands IPTV in Florida, shuts down cable in Alabama

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:08:45 -0400

AT&T continues to expand into new IPTV markets, already announcing this week that it is rolling out U-verse TV service in South Bend, Ind., and in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jacksonville launch is of particular note, as its one of the few former BellSouth markets to get AT&T's IPTV treatment--Atlanta and the South Florida area around Miami being the others.

As the carrier tries to lure 1 million IPTV customers by year's end, it will not be surprising to see more markets in the former BellSouth region get access to the service. Meanwhile, AT&T also reportedly has shut down a cable TV service that originally had been operated by BellSouth in one Alabama community, following up on an intention it announced earlier this year. The affected Alabama municipality of Vestavia Hills, however, already has approved AT&T as an IPTV provider, so expect a launch there sooner rather than later.

For more:
- read this post at DSL Reports
- see this report at DSL Reports

Related articles:
AT&T is aiming for 1 million U-verse TV subs this year. AT&T report
AT&T added 148,000 U-Verse TV subs in the first quarter. AT&T report

AT&T appeals Connecticut ruling

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:13:25 -0400

AT&T has formally appealed the U.S. District Court in Connecticut ruling that designated the company's U-verse IPTV service as a cable TV service. Perhaps you thought this saga was already over, and who could blame you, since AT&T has already received a state-wide video franchise from the Connecticut state legislature. However, while the franchise does not specify if the service is defined as cable TV or something else, being legally defined as a cable TV service in Connecticut could complicate matters as AT&T looks to take U-verse to others.

The Federal Communications Commission could potentially resolve this issue, but it is not clear if or when the agency would consider the matter. Meanwhile, AT&T is trying to gloss over this issue, as it looks to maintain a strong adoption pace for U-verse TV services.

For more:
- see this coverage at Multichannel News

Related articles:
U-verse was left with cable TV designation last month. U-verse report
AT&T was given a state-wide franchise last fall. AT&T report

U-verse TV aims for 1 million subs this year

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:54:33 -0400

If AT&T has anything to do with it, Verizon Communications soon will not be the only U.S. telco TV player with more than 1 million customers. AT&T said in its second quarter earnings report yesterday that it added 170,000 U-verse TV subscribers during the quarter, and that it still expects to surpass 1 million customers for the IPTV offering by the end of this year. The telco giant ended the second quarter with about 549,000 subscribers.

The company's U-verse service is available to 11 million households in about 53 markets. AT&T officials said the TV service has achieved 10 percent penetration in a handful of markets, and they also made the case that access line loss is not as severe in those markets as it is in other. Still, AT&T's landlines are down about 8 percent since the second quarter of 2007.

For more:
- see this coverage at Multichannel News

Related articles:
AT&T added 148,000 U-verse customers during the second quarter. AT&T report
AT&T U-verse landed in the Chicago area earlier this year. AT&T report

Telco TV players prep for Olympics

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:52:24 -0400

Major telco TV players AT&T and Verizon Communications each have cut deals with NBC to carry the broadcaster's coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing next month. The distribution deals with broadcaster NBC include presentation of live event coverage on IPTV (that's RFTV for Verizon), broadband Internet and mobile device platforms.

Verizon will show NBC's coverage on FiOS TV, and also will roll out two NBC high-definition channels to show basketball and soccer coverage at the games. Verizon also will make highlights, breaking news and results available on its streaming wireless video service. AT&T is the official telecommunications provider for the U.S. Olympics team, and will stream contests live on U-verse TV, and will provide mobile access on the new MediaFLO service called NBC Olympics 2Go.

For more:
- read this post at SportsBusiness.com

Related articles:
China Telecom recently was nearing 1 million IPTV customers. China Telecom report
Sports content was beefed up by both telco TV players last year. Sports content report

Could U-verse face a second-half slowdown?

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:31:38 -0400

All eyes in the telecom industry seem to be on AT&T, as the telco is set to report second quarter earnings tomorrow. AT&T of course has not said much, but numerous analysts and media outlets are anticipating the telco will report accelerated landline loss. It remains to be seen whether AT&T will keep up its past pattern of posting strong subscriber additions for its IPTV service, but some observers are forecasting that AT&T may slow roll-out progress and spending on its U-verse network for the rest of this year. Tune back in to FierceIPTV later this week for a closer look at AT&T's IPTV progress.

For more:
- check out this coverage at Light Reading

Related articles:
AT&T added 148,000 U-verse TV customers in the first quarter. AT&T report
AT&T still is considered a cable TV provider in Connecticut. AT&T report