April 11, 2014

DOCSIS 3.1 Puts Cable Ahead of Upstream Curve

While upstream hasn't been the hot topic it was a few years ago when P2P sites were gobbling up bandwith, there will come a time in the near future when it's just as – if not more – important. With DOCSIS 3.1, cable operators will be ahead of the game. DOCSIS 3.1 includes advanced modulation and agile channel bonding capabilities that increase upstream capacity without expanding the return path bandwidth. Dan Rice, Vice President of Network Technology for CableLabs, points out that DOCSIS 3.1 is backward-compatible with previous iterations of the spec. “Operators ought to understand that they don’t have

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April 10, 2014

Report: Digital Has Major Impact On Viewing

According to a research report released by Google, digital activity has a direct and meaningful correlation to TV viewership. The report says that 90% of TV viewers also visit Google and YouTube, and their actions on those websites are strong indicators of a show's popularity. The biggest digital activity growth seems to be coming from mobile, where users are searching for ancillary content such as cast lists and schedules. "Digital platforms are changing the way today’s viewer experiences television,” the report says. MSOs have long been aware of and interested in how digital activity affects viewership, and this report could

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April 9, 2014

NAB Show 2014: 4K Everywhere

The 2014 convention put on by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is highlighting what many industry insiders have been predicting for some time: 4K video is on its way. According to Light Reading, vendor after vendor is showing off their 4K capable technology, including demos of the first live delivery of full-frame-rate 4K. It likely won't be long until consumers begin seeing 4K capable TVs on the store shelves. But what is 4K? Is it the same as Ultra-HD? What about 8K? Well, CableLabs' own Daryl Malas explains it all.

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April 8, 2014

Zenith Predicts Global Ad Growth

ZenithOptimedia is forecasting that global advertising spending will return to growth rates not seen since before the financial crisis. In a recent report the media agency sees 5% growth for 2014 and 6.1% by 2016. Despite growth across platforms, TV is forecast to be the dominant media, representing 40% of global ad spending. Dive into the numbers over at Broadcasting & Cable.

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April 7, 2014

Pay-TV Subscribers Willing to Pay for Mobile Downloads

Interesting analysis piece from Light Reading regarding a recent survey that showed nearly half of those with a smartphone and/or tablet were interested in downloading content to which they already subscribe, and of those the majority would be willing to pay $1-$5 extra per month to do so. The survey comes on the heels of Amazon's new set-top box, the Fire TV, which joins the foray of streaming devices that pundits say threaten the traditional cable-subscriber model. As Laurie Lawrence points out: "For all the concerns about cord-cutters, at least half of viewers are adding to their traditional pay-TV subscription,

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April 7, 2014

2014 Final Four Sets Record for Cable Viewers

The 2014 Final Four, buoyed by Kentucky's late-game winning shot over Wisconsin, set a record as the most-watched college basketball game on cable, according to Multichannel News. Turner took an interesting approach this year with simultaneous broadcasts across multiple channels, which they termed "Teamcasts." A main feed was shown on TBS, while team-centric feeds were shown on TNT and TruTV. Click on the link to Multichannel's piece above for more details on the numbers.

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April 4, 2014

CSE Allows for End-to-End Delivery of 4K

PeerApp, Sandvine, and Limelight announced this week that a joint effort successfully demonstrated implementation of the Content Service Extension architecture. They used the Packet Cable Multimedia (PCMM) standard, defined and promoted by the PacketCable industry consortium, founded by CableLabs. PeerApp demonstrated end-to-end content delivery of 4K video, providing not only a promising future for 4K, but an overall benefit to subscriber experience. More on the announcement from the Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch.

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April 2, 2014

Amazon Reveals $99 Streaming Set-top

After months of rumors and speculation, Amazon on Wednesday finally unveiled its set-top box, a video-streaming and gaming device that will cost $99. It's called the Fire TV, and Amazon claims it's more powerful than any of the competitors in the streaming space, like the Roku 3, Apple TV, and Google's Chromecast stick. It will host all of the expected streaming content, like Netflix and Hulu, plus the vast amount of content that Amazon has been collecting since 2011. It supports 1080p, and boasts a quad-core processor with 2Gb of memory. While more streaming devices come on the market to

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April 1, 2014

Netgear Offers DOCSIS 3.0 Gateway

Netgear is offering a new voice and data gateway capable of DOCSIS transmission rates up to 1 GHz. This gateway truly supports the Internet of Things, designed to support smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and other home devices that will require a network connection. The device, known as the AC1900 Voice and Data Cable Gateway (C7000B), offers end-user easy-to-use functions, such as a guest network that can be connected to via a QR code scan. More on Netgear's new device from Brian Santo over at CED Magazine.

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