Five years ago this week…
Rumors were breaking that Rovi was on the verge of buying TiVo. We pondered how, if true, it would mark a complete change of track for much-troubled TiVo. The company’s longstanding CEO, Tom Rogers, stood down at the end of 2015 among fears that network PVRs would eventually make disk-based DVRs – TiVo’s key patent – less attractive. Rovi’s ability to license its EPG and other patented technologies offered TiVo a framework to pursue further patent revenues. The rumors were of course true as the $3 billion acquisition went public in April 2016 and was completed in September of that year, with Rovi adopting the TiVo brand.
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To support OTT functionalities within Chile’s inaugural Android TV Operator Tier platform, the country’s largest telco Entel has selected Velocix’s origin server and video recording management software. Targeted at Entel’s 16 million internet subscribers and 26 million mobile users, the new Entel TV service is available on dedicated set tops, mobile devices, and select smart TVs from Samsung and LG.
Telenor Norway has expanded its contract with existing security supplier Nagra to include the Swiss firm’s DVnor Media Asset Management (MAM) system – allowing the Nordic operator to add capacity to its VoD platform through what it says is a simplified content preparation and distribution system. The Kudelski Group company’s MAM offering enables fast and efficient onboarding of new content that includes the entire catalog of originals from NENT Group’s Viaplay streaming service.
Two pioneers of remote production technologies to have found fame on the back of Covid-19 – LiveU and Blackbird – are partnering to accelerate production processes further for VoD content. A pre-integration of portfolios enables production teams to deliver, edit and publish video remotely via Blackbird, while producers can bring any LiveU feed into the Blackbird editing workflow in near real-time without waiting for the shot to complete.
Cloud media processing service Encoding.com has landed a deal at systems integrator Ideal Systems, to provide VoD transcoding and packaging technology for Ideal’s platform-as-a-service, called Alice. This will be targeted at media companies in the APAC region.
Amino is celebrating reaching an unorthodox milestone of having 14 North American operators deploy its technology to launch Android TV Operator Tier platforms since January 2020.
Finnish telco DNA has signed a multi-year agreement for video metadata services from Simply.TV, involving mapping some 200,000 historical on-demand programs to improve indexing and enrich metadata across linear and non-linear TV to compete against streaming services and build new revenue streams.
Qualcomm Technologies has completed the takeover of CPU design firm Nuvia for $1.4 billion. The first Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms to feature new internally designed CPUs are expected to sample in the second half of 2022 and will be designed for high performance ultraportable laptops.
The long-awaited Walmart-made Android TV streaming device is taking shape. The hardware will be coined ‘onn.’ (with an intentional period), according to an FCC filing, and will feature a voice-activated remote with a whopping four dedicated buttons for Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, and YouTube. No launch date has been revealed.
The TrueMesh technology from Amazon-owned eero has resurfaced with a sizable deployment deal at fifth-placed US cableco Mediacom Communications, powering a new Xtream 360pro gateway supporting WiFi 6. Mediacom has also made eero’s security features available to its broadband subscriber base.
Netflix has long been internally debating ways of clamping down on password sharing behaviors without disturbing the status quo, and the SVoD champ is now testing this in the field with certain users receiving messages prompting them to prove they live with the account owner.
Free-spending US media firm Cinedigm has made what we make to be its fifth acquisition since December 2020, this week hoovering up the Films Around The World content library, featuring some 150 feature films and 500 hours of audio programs.
Netherlands-based United Group has selected Nokia as part of a €500 million ($596 million) five-year fiber network upgrade project. As well as infrastructure based on XGS-PON, Nokia will support mesh WiFi equipment.
After a decade of targeting non-pay TV households, Comcast-owned European operator Sky is dropping the TV from its Now TV streaming service. Aside from a new color palette, not much else has changed with Now.
Indian video streaming platform Zee5 reckons it will break 100 million subscribers within the next 12 months, from its current position of 66 million subscribers.
AT&T has announced plans to add 3 million new FTTP installations this year in 2021, and then ramp this up to 4 million in 2022. In 2020, it only managed to install 1 million, but Covid-related delays are rather understandable. Note, this does not mean new customers, rather an expansion of the existing fiber footprint of 14 million customer locations, which claims a 34% penetration rate.
A group of Democrats has introduced the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act, which proposes a $94 billion broadband investment program that targets underserved communities. This is a significant expansion on the $40 billion that was floated in 2019, and perhaps a sign of the Democrat’s confidence in pushing the bill through. It also builds on the recent Rural Development Opportunity Fund (RDOF) allocations.
Disney+ and Netflix are leading the way when it comes to exclusive content, boasting 89% and 83% exclusivity on their libraries, respectively. A new report from Reelgood found the next most exclusive library was HBO Max at 72%, with Hulu and Amazon Prime running up far behind at 40% and 38%, respectively.
AMC Theatres has reported a net loss of $4.6 billion for the full year of 2020, a staggering growth of over 2,970% YoY from the $149 million loss reported in 2019. Revenues shrunk 88% YoY in Q4, resulting in a $946 million loss. CEO, Adam Aron, estimated on the investor call that 2020’s blockbuster releases that were delayed by the pandemic would hit AMC’s screens in May this year.
AVoD platform Plex has tapped competitor Crackle Plus to represent its US ad inventory in the direct sales market. Plex is one of the few remaining independent AVoD platforms, and with consolidation expected, perhaps this is an early sign of it cozying up to Crackle Plus’ parent – Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.
ESPN+ has been added to Hulu in the US, which Hulu subs can access through a $5.99 a month add on, or via the Disney Bundle – which offers Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99 a month.
Contextual intelligence outfit GumGum has launched its In-Video product, claiming it to be the first scalable ad overlay technology for streaming video. In an ambitious press release, GumGum says it is encouraging advertisers to “think past the commercial break” and instead place ads atop uninterrupted video streaming.
French SVoD service Molotov is seeing initial success in Africa, having reached 100,000 subscribers in Ivory Coast and Senegal less than three months after launching. Molotov has added local public channels to its offering, as well distribution agreements will local operators Orange and MTN. Launches are planned in at least five other African countries this year.