BIT RATE

May 16, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Does Pace Micro Technology have the inside track on Comcast's digital-to-analog converter project?

The U.K. set-top manufacturer has made headway as a third supplier against Motorola and SA (er, I mean Cisco SPVTG), particularly at Comcast.

Now, Pace has produced a small "DTA" that Comcast is currently playing with in its labs, according to an industry executive who has laid eyes on it.

"Pace has a little black device, as big as the palm of your hand, with a small LED to show the channel number," the exec said, who added...Read More
Industries: Cable Operators, Technology

May 10, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Got a new HDTV set. It's sharpened my thinking about the quality-vs.-quantity debate. I'm now squarely in the camp of HD tonnage being the priority, rather than picture quality per se.

A few months back, the inexpensive, off-brand flat-panel (Maxent) I'd bought at Costco two years ago fried itself. Screen just turned a nauseating shade of putting-green green. Of course, I hadn't bought extended warranty coverage.

Figured I could hold out for a bit using our 15-year-old JVC analog set. Yeah, the thing has a 19-inch screen. Looks good enough, though, right?

Well, our 2-year-old didn't seem to care -- ...Read More

Industries: Cable Operators, Technology

May 3, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Cable could score millions of new subscribers as a result of the looming broadcasters’ all-digital switchover come February 2009 (see "It’s Now For 'Nevers,’" March 31).

Or not. 

Depends on whom you ask.

Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt downplayed the opportunity this week. On the company’s earnings call (one of the highlights: a net gain of 55,000 video subs) Britt noted that somewhere between 10% and 15% of U.S. homes will be affected by ...Read More

May 2, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Comcast will not officially confirm it, but it seems that the $100 million, 25-year programming rights deal CFO Michael Angelakis alluded to on the operator's earnings call yesterday was with the San Francisco Giants.

In December 2007, the Giants and FSN Bay Area, operated by Comcast SportsNet, announced a "long-term rights extension" agreement. Comcast ...Read More

Industries: Cable Operators, Content

May 2, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Another interesting tidbit from Comcast's Q1 earnings Thursday: The operator disclosed that it shelled out $100 million in cash for a 25-year programming rights deal.

Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis brought up the one-time payment to explain that free cash flow would have been even higher for the quarter without it. Even with the $100 million hit, free cash flow rose 59%, to $702 million, compared with $442 million in Q1 2007 (see Comcast Revenue Climbs 14%, As Basic Video Subs Drop).

The $100 million payment, the way Comcast is accounting for it, affected free cash flow but had a "de minimis impact" on operating cash flow, Angelakis said. That's because the rights deal is amortized over 25 years. 

"So ...Read More

Industries: Cable Operators, Content