Next month, Canby Telcom will begin offering their Oregon customers a $15 plan that serves up local broadcast programming via an “EZVideo” Roku app:
The solution is comprised of Elemental Live video processing systems used to adapt traditional MPEG-2 broadcast channels to multi-bitrate Apple HTTP Live Streaming (HLS). The eight local live broadcast channels are packaged into an authenticated channel on the Roku platform called EZVideo which is then delivered by Canby over a secure broadband connection to Canby subscribers who have Roku players.
Canby’s upcoming Roku solution is in addition to their more traditional IPTV packages (and STBs) and is obviously limited in the content provided (compared to say a full-fledged STB or even the TWC Roku app). But it could be an economical and compelling service for those with poor OTA reception. And with Aereo available in only two (major metro) markets, EZVideo would be the only game in town for many.
Related, it seems Roku would benefit by offering enterprise customers the ability to run the streaming boxes in sort of a kiosk/sandbox mode. For example, I was recently consulting with an integrator looking to provide advanced video services to a number of hotel properties and the ability to pre-load or otherwise lock down a Roku would be quite desirable.