Broadband Briefs
By Staff -- Multichannel News, 5/4/2003 8:00:00 PM
Sunnyvale, Calif.— More sports content will be coming to subscribers of Yahoo! Platinum, the premium Internet subscription package.
Yahoo! plans to add boxing content from Showtime, plus material from the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, National Geographic and Warren Miller Entertainment.
Showtime will supply Yahoo! with its ShoBox series, as well as 50 boxing matches from the network's archives. Subscribers can listen to a one-two of audio options: Sounds from the fighter's corner or the manager's unedited tips and comments.
The NHL is supplying plays of the day, game and series highlights and "Cool Shots" from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Major League Soccer will provide live video broadcasts of selected games this season. Warren Miller Entertainment is supplying episodes of Thrills and Spills from its skiing and snowboarding library.
Yahoo! Platinum, which also includes content from CBS's Survivor, Fox's American Idol, ABC News, and CBS Marketwatch, is available for $9.95 a month. A service level that includes archived National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball highlights and NASCAR.com retails for $11.95 a month.
Also on the content front, MGM Home Entertainment will supply movies to CinemaNow, the online movie-delivery service. Movies will appear on the same day and date as pay-per-view and VOD.
Exton, Pa.— The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers has contracted with Maher & Maher to provide e-learning and training courses for its members.
The first series deals with video-on-demand, and will be available at both SCTE's Web site (www.scte.org) and at broadbandlearninglive.com. The cost is $85 per session for SCTE members and $10 for nonmembers.
Sessions cover, pre-launch VOD topics, server architecture, traffic management and planning for the future. Each session is delivered twice as a live Web cast. Support materials are also available to participants.
Maynard, Mass.— SeaChange International Inc. has debuted transcoder software that allows cable operators to repurpose ads, programs, movies and other video for digital channels, video-on-demand and HDTV.
SeaChange said Time Warner Cable systems in Houston and San Antonio were using the software to place analog ads in digital-tier channels. SeaChange said the software supports MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 formats, along with all HD formats. The software will allow MSOs to place ads in HDTV programming, or convert content for video-on-demand storage.
Duluth, Ga.— Wegener Corp. said Mark Cuban's HDNet channel is ordering its Unity integrated receiver/decoders and its Compel network-control system.
HDNet and sister service HDNet Movies will use Wegener's Unity4422 IRD at cable headends. An HDNet executive said the equipment will make it easier for the programmer to handle regional blackouts of sporting events.
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