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ESPN Laying Off Hundreds

First Major Staff Cuts Since 2009
By: Tim Baysinger & Mike Reynolds May 21 2013 - 1:51pm
First Major Staff Cuts Since 2009

ESPN is laying off a large portion of its staff, its first major reduction in personnel since 2009.

Canby Telcom to Sell Broadcast TV Tier on Roku Boxes

‘EZ Video’ Tier to Debut in June, Cost $14.95 a Month
By: Jeff Baumgartner May 21 2013 - 12:51pm
‘EZ Video’ Tier to Debut in June, Cost $14.95 a Month

Canby Telcom of Oregon is preparing to launch a streamlined “Pay TV Lite” package comprised of eight local broadcast TV channels that will be offered exclusively on Roku boxes and sell for $14.95 per month.

Canby, a telco based about 25 miles outside of Portland with about 7,000 customers, said its new, authenticated “EZVideo” channel on Roku will augment its current triple play packages using a reduced, lineup of live local broadcast channels, video on demand from its local origination channel, CTV5, that will be delivered through the Roku device.

TiVo Asks Bureau to Rethink Charter Waiver

Wants Guarantees That it is not Creating De Facto Downloadable Security System Without Any Notice or Opportunity for Comment
By: John Eggerton (Broadcasting & Cable) May 21 2013 - 12:13pm
Wants Guarantees That it is not Creating De Facto Downloadable Security System Without Any Notice or Opportunity for Comment

TiVo has joined the Consumer Electronics Association in a challenge to the FCC's conditional waiver to Charter to supply set-tops with downloadable security rather than the current CableCARD hardware fix, but it is taking a different route.

The Consumer Electronics Association on Monday sought a full-commission review of the Media Bureau-level decision, arguing that the bureau did not have the authority to make the call.

Sprint Raises Clearwire Offer

Wireless Giant Increases Bid to $3.40 Per Share
By: Mike Farrell May 21 2013 - 11:42am
Wireless Giant Increases Bid to $3.40 Per Share

Sprint Nextel raised its offer for the 50% of Clearwire it doesn’t already own to $3.40 per share Tuesday, prompting the Wi-Max pioneer to postpone a scheduled shareholders meeting to review the new proposal.

The new Sprint price is 10 cents above a competing offer from Dish Network that was made in January.   Dish, which is also pursuing an acquisition of Sprint Nextel for $25.5 billion, has largely been thought to have abandoned the chase for Clearwire.

AT&T AdWorks Pitches Ad Targeting ‘Blueprint’

Mixes Anonymous Online, Mobile and TV and Third-Party Data to Cut Down on 'Irrelevant Ads'
By: Jeff Baumgartner May 21 2013 - 7:32am
Mixes Anonymous Online, Mobile and TV and Third-Party Data to Cut Down on 'Irrelevant Ads'

AT&T AdWorks, the telco’s New York-based advanced advertising division, is pushing ahead with a new audience targeting system that uses anonymous AT&T data from a mix of online, mobile and TV users that’s overlaid with data supplied from third party providers.

The resulting platform, called AT&T AdWorks Blueprint, aims to deliver the most relevant messages to consumers while reducing the amount of “irrelevant ads” that pop up when they're using browsers on PCs and mobile devices or watching TV.

Spike TV To Air 'Xbox Reveal'

Will Broadcast Multiplatform Coverage of Microsoft's Unveiling of the New Xbox
By: George Winslow (Broadcasting & Cable) May 21 2013 - 5:56am
Will Broadcast Multiplatform Coverage of Microsoft's Unveiling of the New Xbox
 

As Microsoft prepares to show off the next generation of its gaming console, Spike TV has announced that it will provide exclusive live multiplatform coverage of the "Xbox: A New Generation Revealed" announcement from Microsoft's corporate headquarters on May 21.

The May 21 announcement will be closely watched by the gaming community, as Microsoft reveals for the first time key features of the next version of its gaming platform.

Dish, Sprint Begin Due Diligence

Wireless Carrier Gets Waiver From Softbank
By: Mike Farrell May 21 2013 - 12:26am
Wireless Carrier Gets Waiver From Softbank

Dish Network’s month-long attempt to acquire Sprint Nextel moved a step forward Monday after the wireless giant said it had received a waiver of various provisions in its merger agreement with Softbank that would allow it to conduct due diligence discussions with the satellite TV service provider.

Charter Gains Big in ACSI Survey

MSO Leaps 8% to Finish Strong Second Behind Cox
By: Mike Farrell May 21 2013 - 12:01am
MSO Leaps 8% to Finish Strong Second Behind Cox

Charter Communications, leaped 8% in the American Customer Satisfaction Index in the past year, finishing the period with an overall benchmark score of 64 out of a possible 100 and placing a strong second to perennial cable ACSI leader, Cox Communications.

CSN Houston: Carriage Meeting with Suddenlink, Houston Mayor a 'Positive Step'

Suddenlink CEO Kent, CSN President Hutchings, Astros Owner, Rockets CEO Convene with Parker over Stalled Distribution
By: Mike Reynolds May 20 2013 - 10:09pm
Suddenlink CEO Kent, CSN President Hutchings, Astros Owner, Rockets CEO Convene with Parker over Stalled Distribution

Houston Mayor Annise Parker and top executives from Comcast SportsNet Houston and Suddenlink met face-to-face on Monday to discuss carriage for the regional sports network.

The meeting was aimed at jump-starting affiliate negotiations between the RSN, a joint venture of MLB’s Houston Astros, the NBA’s Houston Rockets and Comcast’s NBC Sports Group, and the cable operator, which controls systems in the service’s TV territory encompassing Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and New Mexico.

MSO Deals Lift TiVo’s Subscriber Boat in Q1

Adds 277,000 MSO Subs; CEO Tom Rogers Says Liberty Global Getting 'Increasingly Comfortable' with TiVo's Value
By: Jeff Baumgartner May 20 2013 - 6:22pm
Adds 277,000 MSO Subs; CEO Tom Rogers Says Liberty Global Getting 'Increasingly Comfortable' with TiVo's Value

MSO partnerships highlighted TiVo’s fiscal first quarter, as the DVR pioneer added 277,000 subscriptions through pay TV partnerships, marking its largest quarterly subscription gain in the category in more than seven years. MSO revenues, meanwhile, jumped 98% year-over-year, TiVo said.

Virgin Media represented the bulk of those subscriber gains, as the U.K.-based MSO added 172,000 in the period, extending its total to 1.5 million, or 40% of the MSO’s base.

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