Tag archive: Comcast

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

Comcast subscribers, your TV-watching may soon get a whole lot more social. A recent patent from America's largest cable provider, uncovered by FierceCable, reveals that the company is developing technology that would allow users to receive notifications when their friends begin watching particular programs. Dubbed “Xfinity TV,” the revamped program guide may also let users know when their friends change channels. And the… Read More

Number-three mobile operator Sprint has filed separate lawsuits against Time Warner, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Cable One, alleging the companies violate a dozen Sprint patents related to digital phone technology. The patents in the suits date back to the 1990s, and some of them are the same patents that Sprint used back in 2007 to extract an $80 million settlement from Vonage over its VoIP operations. In all the complaints, Sprint says… 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

Late last week, Verizon Wireless signed a deal to purchase 122 spectrum licenses from SpectrumCo, a joint venture between Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, for $3.6 billion. As part of the deal, which awaits approval from the Federal Communications Commission, the Comcast will now be able to sell Verizon Wireless service as part of their communications packages. To the casual observer, this might not sound particularly… Read More

Verizon Wireless has purchased 122 spectrum licenses from a number of cable companies as it aims to bolster and expand its 4G LTE network, the company announced today. The licenses come from Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, and were purchased for $3.6 billion in total. The purchase is actually for shares of the company SpectrumCo, of which the cable giants each own a chunk. Comcast is selling its 63.6 percent share for $2.3… Read More

On Thursday of this week, Starz President Chris Albrecht announced plans to create and launch a digital platform for distributing Starz content very similar to the HBO GO application created by HBO. The application will work on a variety of platforms and may require an existing subscription to the Starz network through a cable or satellite company. However, Albrecht also indicated that the company was exploring the option of providing Starz to… Read More

According to a recent study from Strategy Analytics, gaming consoles have become the preferred method within U.S. households for watching online movies, television and Web video on televisions. Approximately 12 percent of U.S. households (15 million) use a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 to consume online media. This percentage of people is much higher than consumers hooking up a PC to a television or third-party, set-top box solutions like the media… Read More

Earlier this week, Roku rolled out an update that offered access to the HBO GO application. Assuming that a Roku owner is currently subscribed to an approved provider, users can download the application and watch the latest in HBO original programming. However, HBO doesn't provide any method to subscribe directly to the service due to existing relationships with cable and satellite companies. A Roku owner must be subscribed to HBO through… Read More

DirecTV has seen sizable growth in the third quarter of this year likely attributed to the extremely popular NFL Sunday Ticket package that's exclusive to the satellite TV service. DirecTV added 327,000 subscribers during the months of July, August and September. This nearly doubles the amount of subscribers added during the third quarter of 2010. Adversely, competitors like Time Warner and Comcast posted losses of video subscribers… 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

While media companies like Comcast and Verizon are anxiously awaiting the potential November 15 release of the Xbox 360 dashboard update, Microsoft's Xbox team is furiously working to create a version of Silverlight to stream content to users. According to Gigaom, the code name for the project is Lakeview and contains a variety of new actions for the Xbox 360 Kinect system including more gesture and voice controls. Microsoft is rolling… Read More

Comcast Corp. and Universal Pictures are launching a test program that will provide Comcast subscribers access to films that are still in theaters. Film rentals will be priced at $59.99 and rolled out in both Atlanta, Georgia as well as Portland, Oregon to start. The program is ideally geared towards families that easily end up spending between $40 to $60 for movie tickets when visiting the theater as well as money on concessions. Comcast will… Read More

Those of you who like to watch Hulu Plus and Netflix on your Xbox, prepare for a pleasant surprise. Today, as predicted, Microsoft has expanded its app partners on the Xbox 360 from 3 (ish) to 50. Yep, 50. These partners range from music streaming services, to movie sites like YouTube all the way up to HBO Go, Comcast Xfinity, and Verizon FIOS. The Xbox is simultaneously about to become a cable TV set-top box and a pretty broad Internet… Read More