Multichannel News back issues from August 2008:
FCC Hammers Comcast.(United States. Federal Communications Commission)(United States. Federal Communications Commission)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn Agency: Nation's Top MSO Blocked Users From File-Sharing Washington- A sharply divided Federal Communications Commission voted Friday that Comcast violated agency policy by blocking and degrading file-sharing applications used by Internet customers. ...
Dish Drops Four Stations In Midwest.(Dish Network)(Brief article)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Linda Moss DBS Provider, Citadel In Retransmission Row In a retransmission-consent dispute with Citadel Communications, Dish Network Friday dropped four TV stations in Iowa and Nebraska off its lineup. In a press statement, the satellite provider said ...
Lighting the Flame Early.
Aug 04, 2008; ... by R. Thomas Umstead NBCU Signs Cable Affiliates Ahead of 2010, 2012 Olympics The Olympic flame has yet to be lit for the 2008 Olympics games in Beijing ,but NBC Universal has already said it has a 'significant' number of cable and satellite distributors signed up to ...
Can Cablevision 'Close the Gap'?(Cablevision Systems Corp.)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Cablevision Systems investors may be having deja vu with the Dolans. Less than one year after its third attempt to go private was rebuffed by shareholders, Cablevision Systems, fueled by yet another strong operational quarter, has vowed to 'close the ...
Awkward Moments With Broadcasters.
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Linda Moss Small Operators Must Cooperate With Stations on DTV While Sparring Over Retransmission Consent Orlando, Fla.- Small cable operators face an unavoidably awkward relationship with broadcasters this year: Work with them on the looming all-digital ...
Comcast, Cablevision Rally on Results.(Financial report)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Despite Downturn, Cable Giants Report a Robust 2nd Quarter Fears that the economic downturn or telco competition would crimp the high-speed Internet market for cable operators were partially alleviated last week as two of the top cable operators ...
Cable: No LPTV Must-Carry.(low power television)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn Industry Says FCC Has No Authority to Require Class-A Carriage Washington- Cable operators are rejecting a proposal by Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin that would allow hundreds of local TV stations to demand cable carriage for the ...
Cable Networks Bail Out Disney.(Financial report)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Big gains at its cable networks like ESPN and Disney Channel rescued The Walt Disney Co.'s fiscal third quarter from the doldrums, with the media giant reporting revenue and operating income increases of 2% for the period ended June 30. Total revenue ...
'Mad Men' Viewers Make Critical Choice.(Brief article)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Kent Gibbons and Mary McNamara After the critical adulation, the 16 Emmy nominations, the magazine covers and the Brandweek -reported $25 million promotional spend by AMC, viewers had the chance to vote on returning dramatic series Mad Men with their remotes last Sunday (July ...
Coda.(briefs)
Aug 04, 2008 ... by Staff Rivals Crank Up HD Heat Todd Spangler, Linda Moss The high-definition arms race continued to escalate last week, with aggressive lineup expansions unveiled by Dish Network, DirecTV and Verizon Communications's FiOS TV. At least for ...
USA Sweeps Up In July.
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Mike Reynolds Originals Fuel 'Characters' Channel's First-Place Nielsen Finish With its five original series clicking, USA Network easily won cable's primetime ratings race in July. The 'characters network,' bolstered by fresh episodes of returning ...
Reviews.
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Kent Gibbons Primeval (BBC America, Saturday, Aug. 9, 9 p.m.) BBC America's latest bid for an action-adventure (Robin Hood ) or sci-fi (Doctor Who ) hit is a little bit Torchwood , a little bit Jurassic Park and overall a ton of fun. Like ...
Starz 'Crashes' Into VOD.(video on demand)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted First Two Episodes of 'Crash' Offered for Free Before Series Debut Premium service Starz will allow affiliates to offer the first two episodes of its upcoming original drama Crash free on video on demand in advance of the series premiere on the ...
LMN Promo Has A Happy Ending.(Lifetime Movie Network)
Aug 04, 2008 ... by Linda Haugsted Advertisers from 26 major television markets will converge at the Director's Guild Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Aug. 7, the beneficiaries of a local sales promotion tied to the Lifetime Movie Network's original movie, Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera ...
Hits Not Enough for Viacom.
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Stock Pounded by Sluggish U.S. Advertising Growth Despite Strong Quarter Hit movies drove big increases in revenue and operating income at Viacom in the second quarter, but anemic domestic ad revenue growth pummeled the media giant's stock last week. ...
Harmonic Stock Hits Sour Note.(Brief article)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Harmonic shares nose-dived - down 19% or $1.83 - to $7.81 each last Tuesday after the cable equipment vendor offered weak second-half sales guidance. Harmonic released second-quarter results after market close on July 28, reporting revenue of $89.3 ...
The Rutledge Return.
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Kent Gibbons, Executive Editor The Dolan Discount. The FiOS Factor. The uncertain outcomes and potential pitfalls associated with buying Cablevision Systems stock got swept away this week with another alliterative observation: The Rutledge Return. That's as in Tom ...
Talkback.(Brief article)
Aug 04, 2008 ... by Staff Pushing Paperwork As a Stall Tactic Anyone who has ever attempted to purchase leased access from a cable operator knows full well that most of the 'excess paperwork' that is generated is generated purposely by the cable companies from the leased-access ...
People.(appointment of )
Aug 04, 2008 ... by Staff ActiveVideo San Jose, Calif.-based ActiveVideo Networks has tapped Todd M. Nisbet as senior vice president, strategic relations. BigBand Susan George was named regional vice president, cable sales at Redwood City, Calif.-based tech ...
Motorola Shuffles Deck.
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler Realigns Units Around Home and Broadband Access Products Motorola realigned its Home & Networks Mobility segment into three product groups, a move that will put cable consumer-premises equipment and broadband-access gear into separate units. ...
Interactive-TV Pioneer Jumps to ActiveVideo.(Television)(appointment of John Callahan )
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler Former Time Warner Cable engineering executive John Callahan - a driving force in the development of the cable operator's interactive video services and other applications - is joining ActiveVideo Networks as chief technology officer. Callahan, who ...
Upstream Bandwidth and Symmetry.
Aug 04, 2008 ... by Leslie Ellis Recently, a childhood friend wrote to express his outrage at the U.S. cable industry, for 'deliberately precluding people from getting symmetrical broadband speeds.' Several angry blogs bludgeon this topic, too. Salty opinions abound. This week's ...
CMC Plugs Digital, HD.(Comcast Media Center)(High definition television)
Aug 04, 2008 ... by Linda Moss & Todd Spangler Orlando, Fla.- Comcast Media Center is stocking up on high-definition programming for smaller cable operators and gearing up an option that would let them take their systems all-digital more easily. Last week at the Independent Show ...
Sen. Stevens Indicted.(Ted Stevens)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn Home Renovations Spark Action Against Key Telecom Player Washington- Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), a powerful force in the telecommunications policy arena, was indicted last Tuesday on seven felony counts for failing to disclose more than $250,000 in free ...
Court Halts Access Attack.
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn Washington- A federal appeals court has stopped the cable industry's legal attack on new leased-access rules to accommodate the Federal Communications Commission in the agency's ongoing dispute with the Bush administration's Office of Management and Budget. ...
Through the Wire.(briefs)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted, Linda Moss and Todd Spangler Cox's 'Bee Guy' Helps Pollinate Orange County Jack Robinson, the loss prevention specialist for Cox Cable in Orange County, Calif., has gained a new identity in the community during the last two months. He's become 'the ...
O'Neill Heads Back to TLC, For Good.(Eileen O'Neill appointed)(TLC Services Inc.)(Interview)
Aug 04, 2008; ... by R. Thomas Umstead After overseeing the June launch of eco-friendly network Planet Green, Discovery Communications veteran Eileen O'Neill recently shifted gears and will now serve as president and general manager of the 96 million-subscriber TLC service. O'Neill, a 17-year ...
Live From ESPN, It's 'SportsCenter'.
Aug 04, 2008 ... by Mike Reynolds Flagship Show Gets New Format, Anchors Come Aug. 11, the 9 a.m. SportsCenter will be different. Not only will ESPN's flagship show feature the new anchor team of Hannah Storm and Josh Elliott, but it will be telecast live, thus ending more ...
ESPN Comes Out Swinging on Golf.
Aug 04, 2008; ... by Mike Reynolds For a network that opted to stay out of the rights game for the PGA tour a couple of years back, ESPN certainly has a strong hand in the game. ESPN, which has been covering the Professional Golfers' Association's U.S. Open Championship (and the ...
BTN Ready For '08 Season.
Aug 04, 2008 ... by Mike Reynolds It's August and for football players that means the grind of two-a-day workouts. For those trying to secure Big Ten Network carriage deals with Time Warner Cable, Mediacom and Charter Communications, it hasn't gotten to that point - yet. ...
TBS Goes Out to the Ballgame.
Aug 04, 2008 ... by Mike Reynolds Network Looks forward to the postseason Forgive Turner Sports president David Levy for rooting for more competitive series in Major League Baseball's playoffs in 2008. Last year, TBS's first under a seven-year contract with Major League ...
NBC's Olympic Proportions.
Aug 04, 2008 ... by Allison Romano Net spreads wealth of Beijing Games coverage across all platforms, sports In past summers, when the Olympic Games hit television airwaves, die-hard fans of niche sports like archery or fencing were usually left out in the cold. Such so-called ...
'Huge Win' on Net DVR.(Digital video recorders)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Cablevision Wins Case Against Studios; Others Ready to Follow After more than two years on the sidelines, Cablevision Systems' long-awaited network digital video recorder product finally appeared ready to enter the game last week, after an ...
Rebooting The NDVR Concept.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler Cautious Interest In Service Revived After Cablevision Systems' legal victory, cable-technology vendors are taking their blueprints for network-based digital video recorder systems out of mothballs -- albeit cautiously. Even if the ruling ...
Dish Loss Fuels Rumors.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Linda Moss But DirecTV's CEO Dismisses Idea of a Satellite-TV Merger After Dish Network registered a historic loss of subscribers in the second quarter, there was speculation last week that CEO Charles Ergen will renew his quest to merge his satellite-TV service ...
Nielsen Delivers A Deep Dish Dip.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Linda Moss Many cable networks saw their Nielsen distribution numbers drop anywhere from 200,000 to 1 million homes after the measurement company adjusted its figures for Dish Network this year, officials said last week. Nielsen said it is still working to solve ...
Cablers Post Strong Growth.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Digital, Voice Sub Gains Fuel TWC, Charter and Mediacom in Q2 The remaining publicly traded cable operators proved that the strong second-quarter results reported by Comcast and Cablevision Systems late last month were no fluke, with Time Warner Cable, ...
Cablevision Joins Cuomo Campaign.(Brief article)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted Cablevision Systems is the latest Internet service provider to agree to block customers' access to online child pornography in the state of New York. The state's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, has urged companies throughout the state to join his ...
Starz Eyes More Deals for Encore HD.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Mike Reynolds Encore HD is looking for some encores. The enhanced simulcast version of the channel had its first launch on Dish Network on Aug. 1. Encore HD, which became available July 15, has also been rolled out on Insight Communications systems serving the ...
Ratings Hosannas for 'Montana'.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Mike Reynolds Are halcyon ratings days returning for Hannah Montana ? A fresh installment of the Disney Channel show drew the most viewers in about 10 months, continuing a positive trend after the controversy following series star Miley Cyrus's semi-nude pictures, ...
Dish, DirecTV Tout ITV Features for Sports Fans.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Kent Gibbons and Larry Barrett The Beijing Olympics and PGA Championship last week gave satellite-TV providers Dish Network and DirecTV a chance to tout new interactive television applications that give their subscribers a chance to dive deeper into those events. ...
Dolan Ready to Meet Holders.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Cablevision CEO to Seek Suggestions on Boosting Stock James Dolan's listening tour is about to begin. The Cablevision Systems CEO last week backed up his pledge to solicit shareholder input in the company's quest to boost its public ...
Citadel's Stations, Gol TV Still Off Dish.
Aug 11, 2008 ... by Linda Moss Gol TV and four Citadel Communications TV stations remained off Dish Network's lineup at press time Friday, one week after they were dropped by the satellite provider in separate contract disputes. Gol TV was taken off Dish Network's roster Aug. 1 after ...
Michigan City to Sue Comcast.(Brief article)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted The city of Saline, Mich., is taking Comcast to court, claiming the operator has failed to fund public, educational and government programming support fees the city is entitled to under Michigan's state franchising law. The suit asserts the operator ...
TWC Leaves Stamford Offices.(Brief article)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Kent Gibbons Time Warner Cable is moving out of its Stamford, Conn., corporate offices, relocating about 220 employees to New York City and two other locations, the company announced internally on Aug. 4. More than two-thirds of the affected employees will shift to ...
Coda.(briefs)
Aug 11, 2008 ... by Staff O Canada, It's Caller ID On TV Todd Spangler Montreal -- Quebec operator Videotron is looking to drive incremental revenue with the launch of caller ID on the TV this month, charging subscribers an extra $2 (Canadian) per month for the feature. ...
Olympics Won't Alter Cable Schedules.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by R. Thomas Umstead Basic Networks to Go Ahead With Originals During Beijing Games It'll be business as usual for cable networks during NBC's two-week presentation of the Summer Olympics which began last week. Networks such as TNT and A&E Network -- and ...
Disney 'Toons' In a New Brand.(Walt Disney Co. Walt Disney Studios)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted What are little boys made of? Disney will find out in February when it rechristens Toon Disney as Disney XD, aimed at boys 6 to 14. The service, currently available in 73 million households, is a complement to sister service Disney ...
Sexual Dysfunction?
Aug 11, 2008; ... by R. Thomas Umstead Why some of the biggest adult TV players are shying away from the Internet Porn is king -- at least on the Internet. Every second around the world, more than 28,000 Internet users view pornography, while more than 370 Internet users ...
Taking Tech-Support Problems Online.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted Vendor's 'Supportal' Helps Providers Tackle Non-Network Issues Executives from satellite broadband provider WildBlue Communications said when customers are afflicted by computer glitches outside their control -- such as when Microsoft sent an update ...
ESPN Promotion Nets Pro Football 'Legends'.(Brief article)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted Consumers will have a chance to rub elbows with National Football League greats thanks to a component of a sweepstakes package ESPN is offering as part of a late summer/fall local ad-sales promotion. Affiliates will sell local advertisers on the ...
TW, News Ride Cable's Wave.(The News Corporation Ltd.)(Time Warner Inc.)(Viacom Inc.)(Financial report)
Aug 11, 2008 ... by Mike Farrell Strong Earnings In Sharp Contrast to Viacom's Poor Showing Despite fears that a recession is cutting deeply into advertising budgets, two of the largest content providers in the country reported strong earnings last week, fueled by big gains in cable ...
Discovery Holders Set to Vote.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Mark your calendars. Discovery Holding filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission last Wednesday, targeting its Sept. 16 annual meeting in Englewood, Colo., for a shareholder vote that would consolidate the ownership interests of its partners and ...
Cable Operators: What's In a Name?
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Mark Robichaux, Editor in Chief When the issue of our upcoming Operator of the Year came up at last week's staff meeting, a fierce debate broke out within the ranks. Someone raised the issue of whether or not a satellite provider, namely DirecTV, should be in the ...
Talkback.(Brief article)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Staff Sorry Charlie, We Liked Voom C'mon [Dish Network CEO] Charlie [Ergen], tell the truth ("Dish Loses 25,000 Subs in Q2," Aug. 4). Voom had its, problems but you alienated all the HD customers by killing it. With the last competitive advantage removed, they ...
People.(briefs)(appointments of )
Aug 11, 2008 ... by Staff A&E Networks Thomas Moody was elevated to senior vice president, program planning and acquisitions, A&E Network and Bio Channel. He had been VP, program planning at A&E Television Networks. Acumen Solutions Vienna, Va.-based business ...
Verizon Balks at Tru2way.(Verizon Communications Inc.)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler In Letter to FCC, Telco Calls For 'Platform-Agnostic' Solution Verizon Communications has asked the Federal Communications Commission to encourage the development of interactive video standards based on a low-cost, universally implementable interface ...
The Secret Bandwidth of Addressable Advertising.(Column)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Leslie Ellis Last summer, while talking with a small gathering of muckety-mucks from a cable program network about how cable operators use bandwidth, I was asked what I knew about the "secret bandwidth." Secret bandwidth . News to me. I asked for ...
Small Operators See Relief.
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn Some Could Be Exempted From Digital Must-Carry Rules in Expected FCC Action Washington-- Small cable operators could be just days away from scoring a major political victory at the Federal Communications Commission concerning the carriage of local TV ...
FCC's Martin To Support Quiet Period.(United States. Federal Communications Commission)(Kevin Martin)(Brief article)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn Washington-- Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin has agreed in principle to bar TV stations from pulling their signals from cable systems around the time of the Feb. 17, 2009, transition to digital television, FCC sources said last week. ...
Through the Wire.(briefs)
Aug 11, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn, Kent Gibbons and Todd Spangler Familiar Media Names Are Candidates' 'Bundlers' Barack Obama and John McCain are expected to raise $1 billion combined to finance their White House campaigns. Not surprisingly, they need rich supporters with a lot of ...
Web Tracking On Trial.(Cable One Inc.)
Aug 18, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn Cable One, Bresnan, Other MSOs Have Tested 'Tailored Ads' Cable One last fall conducted a six-month trial of a network-based technology that tracks consumers' Internet movements in an effort to amass refined data on Web-surfer habits that can be sold to ...
MGM Has VOD Impact.(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.)(video-on-demand)(Brief article)
Aug 18, 2008; ... by Kent Gibbons Comcast, Studio Launch Action Net Comcast and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer last week launched "Impact," a new video-on-demand channel of action programming. Many of the movies and TV shows on the channel will be available in high-definition, MGM and ...
Time Warner Fears Indecency Rules.
Aug 18, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn Washington-- Time Warner Inc. is concerned that banning fleeting indecency on broadcast TV could be used to justify regulating cable television programming for indecency for the first time. The company, a major owner of cable-TV systems and programming ...
A Harbinger of More Moves.(Cablevision Systems Corp.)
Aug 18, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Cablevision Sets Dividend as Hedge-Fund Stake Is Disclosed Cablevision Systems CEO James Dolan's recently completed listening tour with top investors could have been spurred by fears that a new shareholder, known for its activist slant, would make ...