TiVo Surpasses 2006 Subscriber Count

In conjunction with the opening of The Cable Show, that Mari is attending, TiVo has fired off a press release trumpeting a record 4.5 million subscribers — the majority of which originate from cableco-deployments. TiVo Inc., a leader in the advanced television entertainment market, today announced that it has more than 4.5 million subs who are now enjoying the TiVo … Read more

Netflix Comes To RCN (by way of TiVo)

Well that was quick. Netflix had informed investors that their streaming video service would be available via US cable operators “this quarter” … and, just a few days later, here we are with RCN, Grande, and Atlantic identified as the first partners to serve up Netflix via customer-leased TiVo hardware. At this stage of the game, … Read more

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news… that we may have missed due to database issues.  HBO streams to cord cutters for the first time via Amazon Instant Video Vevo Updates iOS App With Real-Time Feed And Live Vevo TV Streams YouTube Channel Now Available To All Current Roku Models Live Disney Channels Now Available On-the-go … Read more

Boom! Netflix Coming To US Cable Operators This Quarter

While investor calls generally bore us, Netflix dropped quite the bombshell this afternoon: This quarter we will launch the first MVPD integrations in the U.S. As we did in Europe, we will start with U.S. MVPDs that use the TiVo set-top box and try to extend to non-TiVo devices after that. From an MVPD point-of-view, they would … Read more

How Bad Is CableCARD Support?

cablecard

As the story goes, CableCARD support has deteriorated since the FCC inadvertently relaxed the requirement last year. Indeed, Tim Gibbons reached out this weekend regarding his inability to tune Fargo … and ignorance (at best) or deception (worst case) from Time Warner Cable’s first line phone support agent. What makes this especially ironic (or depressing) is Tim’s role in the cable television industry. If the producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm can’t keep his TiVo’s CableCARD going, what hope do the rest of us have?

Beyond public shaming, we currently have a rare and unique opportunity to influence the FCC as they evaluate Big Cable’s push to end CableCARD … without having identified a successor. But you better fire up those word processors post-haste as today, April 21st, is the deadline. Hit this FCC link, click Reply To Comments, and make sure you reference Proceeding Number 14-16. For comparative purposes, you can review previously submitted comments here.

Tim’s TWC transcription follows:

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Roku Media & Plex Channel Updates

Yesterday’s news, today! While we patiently await smartphone search from our Rokus, two notable updates worth sharing slipped my radar late last year. First, the originally anemic “USB Media Browser” has steadily improved as it evolved from a private app into a Roku-branded initiative… now featuring DLNA support, in addition to the new “Media Player” label. Next, the formerly free Plex channel has … Read more

Amazon Details Upcoming Fire TV Updates

Amazon is out with a release trumpeting their stellar Fire TV reviews and announcing several welcome updates. New Prime Browse While Amazon touts blazing fast quad core Fire TV speeds, those gains are partially offset by inefficient browsing. Sure, the UI is quite attractive with box art and large icons, but good luck trying to simply find a listing of your … Read more