Tag archive: cable

According to a recent article at Public Knowledge, cables companies are pushing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reconsider a rule regarding the encryption of the basic cable tier. During the early nineties, a rule was adopted by the FCC to make sure cable companies kept a portion of the broadcast stations completely unencrypted. Commonly known as “basic cable” by the public, these stations can be accessed without the… Read More

According to a study conducted by consulting firm Deloitte, approximately 9 percent of users subscribing to premium television programming such as cable or satellite TV ditched those services in favor of online options during 2011. With more than 2,000 respondents between the ages of 14 to 75 participating in the survey, eleven percent are considering “cutting the cord” during 2012 since they believe their favorite television shows… Read More

Announced on Friday night on a blog post by Time Warner spokesman Jeff Simmermon, Time Warner Cable has finally struck a deal with HBO in regards to bringing the HBO Go streaming application as well as the Max Go app to subscribers. The cable company will run a short trial to test out the streaming app on the Time Warner Cable network and roll out the app to all 12 million subscribers during January 2012. Just like implementations on other… Read More

With Google and Apple looking at ways to change how TV shows are delivered into the home, it may come as little surprise that other tech giants are also beginning to examine the same area. Cable TV operators will be disheartened to hear that Sony is the latest company to take an interest. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the Japanese electronics firm is talking to “several big media companies” in the hope of persuading them to… Read More

TV continues to exist in an eternal state of flux: Consumers aren’t quite sure where it’s heading and manufacturers are still trying to pull the right strings to get the next phase off the ground. But there are more than a few complications keeping us in this proverbial purgatory of television and streaming content. But change is going to come, and amid news that Google is interested in entering the cable TV business and continued rumors that… Read More

Most people have a long list of things they'd rather not deal with — and many people would put cable companies near the top. Yet, thanks to local utility monopolies and the paucity of over-air broadcast service in many areas of the United States, cable companies occupy center stage in many Americans' lives. Sure, satellite operators have offered alternatives for years, but as broadband has become more ubiquitous in the United… Read More

Announced in a third quarter earning report earlier today, Comcast informed investors that the company lost approximately 165,000 cable subscribers between the months of July through September of 2011. While cable subscribers continue to remain the most profitable portion of Comcast business, more consumers are dropping cable service for alternative options including over-the-air channels and set-top boxes like the Roku. The average Comcast… Read More

Cable companies just might do the right thing, for once. According to Reuters, some US cable operators have a secret plan in the works to force programmers to unbundle their channel offerings, which would make it possible for customers to subscribe to channels individually. The move is a complete 180-degree turn from the cable industry's position for the last decade. Cable providers have long fought tooth and nail to keep maintain the… Read More

In the race to make sure you’re connected to the Web, able to download game demos, and stream high-def video to your desktop, there’s always a mix of fantasy and reality. (How much fantasy depends on exactly which games you play and which videos you watch.) Broadband providers routinely quote specs about download speeds, always careful to include an asterisk about your location and equipment. Well, we decided to take the asterisk and blow it to… Read More

In the wake of Steve Jobs’ resignation, rumors that Apple is planning to produce a branded television have begun to circulate. This particular Apple TV would be an actual screen television set, not the Apple TV set-top box for streaming content that’s currently on the market. It would appear that there are various pieces to an Apple TV puzzle that are beginning to line up, and this entire product might be more than a fanboy's pipe dream.… Read More

Sprint may be hatching a long term plan with cable companies to invest in and possibly acquire Clearwire, sources tell Bloomberg. The reason is 4G LTE. The cable companies and Sprint want it and Clearwire has a plan to make it happen, but it needs funding. Clearwire, which offers wireless internet service in most major metropolitan areas, has already committed to spending $600 million to upgrade its network from WiMax to LTE, but it will need… Read More

Time Warner is expanding its cable subscriber footprint, announcing today that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire midwest cable operator Insight Communications for $3 billion in cash. Insight has about three quarter of a million customers throughout Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana; the majority subscribe to cable television services, but over half a million subscribe to home broadband services, and more than a quarter million… Read More

A new FCC report looks at the state of broadband Internet access in the United States and generally finds that providers are improving on actually delivering the upload and download bandwidth they advertise to their customers—but, as a group, they aren't there yet. The FCC's Measuring Broadband America report finds that providers are generally delivering 80 to 90 percent of advertised capacity to consumers, with a small… Read More

Cable operator Time Warner and Viacom Inc. have agreed to put their lawsuits against each other on hold while they try to reach an agreement over what programming Time Warner can offer to its cable subscribers via an iPad application, according to a court filing. The companies originally sued each other back in April over Time Warner offering its cable subscribers access to Viacom programming on an iPad app. Viacom—along with Discovery and News… Read More

DVR pioneer TiVo has taken wthe wraps off two new set-top boxes at the 2011 NCTA Cable Show—the TiVo Premiere Q and the TiVo Preview. Both mark substantial departures for the company: the Premiere Q sports four tuners and can push video to up to three other other devices on a home network, while the TiVo Preview lacks any DVR capabilities at all: it's a set-top box designed to provide a TiVo experience purely for cable content,… Read More