by Michael Grotticelli May 16th, 2012
Dish Network, the direct-to-home satellite operator, has introduced a new DVR feature called “Auto Hop.” It allows viewers to skip past commercials in most recorded HD programs shown on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC a day after the program airs.
Nicknamed the Hopper, Dish’s DVR allows subscribers to record all network shows with a single click. Auto Hop, Dish said, is an extension of the operator’s Primetime Anytime capability launched last March. It does not work with live or cable programming. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: auto hop, digital video recorder, direct-to-home, Dish Network, DVR, Hopper, NBC, satellite operator, skip commercials
Related Topics: HDTV, Infrastructure, News, Products, Storage & Networking |
by Michael Grotticelli May 16th, 2012
LightSquared, once a promising facilitator of low-cost broadband access for 260 million users, filed for bankruptcy this week after losing a brutal fight with the GPS industry in the U.S.
 LightSquared had depended on winning FCC approval to convert airwaves originally designated for satellite service to spectrum for land-based radio towers. Based in Reston, Virginia, LightSquared listed debt and assets of more than $1 billion each in a Chapter 11 filing today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York City, Bloomberg News reported. Reports said the court filing came after intense negotiations with creditors, who had requested that the company’s main backer, Philip Falcone, resign. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: bankruptcy, broadband, Harbinger Capital Partners, LightSquared, wireless
Related Topics: Infrastructure, News, OTT, Products, RF and Mobile TV |
by Michael Grotticelli May 15th, 2012
Looking to capitalize on the well-established user base of SeaChange Broadcast Servers used for the storage and delivery of audio and video content as digital files, XOR Media, a newly established company announced in April, has officially taken over the business and customer support activities of the former division of SeaChange International.
 XOR Media will look to leverage the large installed base of SeaChange Broadcast MediaLibrary archives around the world. XOR Media is based on Greenville, NH. It is being run as a privately held independent company and led by Zheng Gao, Chief Executive Officer and former president of SeaChange Broadcast. The new company said it will continue to development of media-centric, cloud-capable storage systems and associated video codec servers that address ingest and playout, production, digital media factories, media asset management, disaster recovery, and active near-line archives.
Gao said the new XOR Media, with over 150 design and support engineers, will provide media storage solutions that feature the company’s MediaClient codecs embedded into its simultaneous SAN/NAS Universal MediaLibrary storage architecture. The company will also continue to support legacy SeaChange MediaCluster server customers.
“We are taking an existing profitable business and enhancing it with increased investments in engineering and customers services,” said Gao, adding that all existing customer support agreements with SeaChange Broadcast will seamlessly transition to the new entity.
To ensure success, XOR Media will look to leverage the SeaChange Broadcast installed base of over 300 top-tier customers; 12,000 on-air channels; and 11 petabytes of managed media-centric data. The company has sales, services, and support facilities around the globe.
“The feedback we have from the industry on the institution of XOR Media as an independent company has been very encouraging,” Gao said.
Tags: architecture, codecs, compression, MediaClient, SeaChange International, servers, storage, Universal MediaLibrary, XOR Media
Related Topics: HDTV, Infrastructure, News, Production, Products, Storage & Networking |
by Michael Grotticelli May 14th, 2012
KCET-TV, once the powerhouse PBS affiliate in Los Angeles, is now in its second year of independence from PBS with new production studios in Burbank, a new slogan and new promises about the great programming it will produce in the future about Southern California.
 Led by KCET technical staff, the station’s move was “a Herculean undertaking” that spanned more than 12 months. The moves are all part of the station’s attempt to break away from PBS (announced in January 2011) and go it alone as one of the nation’s largest independent public television stations. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Burbank, HD production, independent station, Infrastructure, KCET, Orad, PBS, SeaChange International, Studios, Technology, virtual sets, XOR Media
Related Topics: HDTV, Infrastructure, News, Newsrooms, Production, Products, RF and Mobile TV, Storage & Networking |
by Michael Grotticelli May 11th, 2012
The NAB continues to express its skepticism about a spectrum shortage. Gordon Smith, the group’s president, sent a letter to the new House Federal Spectrum Working Group this week asking it to get “a clear understanding” about how the private sector is using the nation’s wireless spectrum.
In a letter to the co-chairman of the new group, Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-Kentucky) and Doris Matsui (D-California), Smith said “neither Congress nor the American people have a clear understanding of what spectrum is being used, by whom and for what purpose.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: CTIA, engineering, inventory, NAB, RF, Spectrum, usage, white spaces, wireless, Wireless Association
Related Topics: Infrastructure, News, RF and Mobile TV |
by Michael Grotticelli May 10th, 2012
NBCUniversal has announced it will make a $190 million investment in its New York City operations, including 30 Rockefeller Plaza and other facilities.
The upgrade includes high-definition technical facilities for many of its most popular news programs ( and flagship O&O WNBC-TV) that will use “best-in-class, state-of-the-art technology,” the network said. New construction includes building a new state-of-the-art studio control room, and updating critical components of the company’s technical infrastructure. That will also include replacing the existing underlying broadcast origination technology,” as well as implementing a new studio and production-related “fiber highway.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 30 Rock, broadcast engineering, HD production, Infrastructure, investment, NBCUniversal, Studios, technical facilities, Technology
Related Topics: HDTV, Infrastructure, News, Newsrooms, Production, Storage & Networking |
by Michael Grotticelli May 10th, 2012
ABC News has announced that it plans to join forces with Univision News to create a multiplatform news, lifestyle and information programming service aimed at Hispanics in the United States.
Both organizations promised to provide “uncompromising coverage of current events with a unique perspective” with the around-the-clock, English-language television network and digital platform. Both will cater to the country’s more than 50 million Hispanics with programming focused on news, lifestyle and culture.
 Isaac Lee, president of Univision News, called the combined effort “an important moment for journalism in the U.S. and for the U.S. Hispanic community.” The new television network, to be owned 50-50 by the two companies, will be staffed by journalists from ABC News and Univision News. A website, mobile and social media content are expected to debut this summer. The yet-to-be-named television channel is expected to launch in 2013.
No financial details were provided. Editorial coverage will focus on the issues most relevant for Hispanics living in the United States. This includes the economy, jobs, health care, immigration, education, politics, entertainment, health and wellness.
“This exciting joint venture represents the latest example of our long-term strategy to broaden the reach of ABC,” said Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC Television Group. “Our powerful premier news brand, combined with the world’s leading Hispanic media company, will create the nation’s first news and lifestyle channel targeted to this quickly expanding and important community.”
ABC News president Ben Sherwood said the mission is the new enterprise is clear: “To offer culturally relevant news, information and lifestyle programming to the large and thriving Latino audience in the United States.”
Isaac Lee, president of Univision News, called the combined effort “an important moment for journalism in the U.S. and for the U.S. Hispanic community” that will “provide all audiences with a multiplatform current events perspective on the issues that matter most to Latinos.”
A management team is expected to be announced this summer. The network will have anchors and correspondents in major cities across the United States. Additionally, ABC News and Univision News will share newsgathering and production resources.
The joint venture reflects the growth of Hispanics in the United States. A recent report by Nielsen projected that the buying power of U.S. Hispanics—estimated at $1 trillion in 2010—will grow to $1.5 trillion in 2015.
Tags: ABC News, Hispanics, News, newsgathering, Platform, reporters, television network, Univision
Related Topics: ENG, HDTV, News, Newsrooms, Production, RF and Mobile TV |
by Michael Grotticelli May 9th, 2012
Online television is creating new opportunities for the makers of television programs, creating new competition for broadcast networks and other content providers. Among the latest is Amazon Studios, the program development division of Amazon.com, which has announced that it is expanding into episodic comedies and children’s shows for prime time.
Independent TV writers and producers have been invited to upload series proposals that will be reviewed by the Amazon Studios team and, potentially, added to the company’s development slate. The best series will be distributed online via Amazon Instant Video. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Amazon Studios, Broadcasters, competition, content creation, distribution, episodic comedies, Internet, Online television, Production, streaming, TV creators, Web
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by Michael Grotticelli May 9th, 2012
The NAB has dropped its court challenge of rules that allows the unlicensed use of vacant “white spaces” in spectrum between existing digital broadcast channels.
 The FCC approved the use of unlicensed wireless devices in white spaces in 2008. The spectrum, to be used by new higher speed Wi-Fi systems, allows radio signals to travel faster and penetrate walls more easily. It also covers larger geographical and rural areas than the current spectrum used for Wi-Fi coverage. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Broadcasters, court challenge, engineering, FCC, NAB, Spectrum, white spaces
Related Topics: Infrastructure, News, RF and Mobile TV |
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