QUICK HITS

ESPN 3D Network Lines Up First
Three College-Football Games

BRISTOL, CONN. — ESPN 3D will kick off its college football
coverage with games in each of the season’s first three
weeks.

The first pits No. 2 Boise State, entering the contest
with a 14-game win streak, against No. 5 Virginia Tech, on
Monday, Sept. 6, at 8 p.m. (ET) from FedEx Field, home to
the Washington Redskins, in Landover, Md. The rankings
are according to an ESPN.com pre-season poll.

On Sept. 11 at 3:40 p.m., defending Big Ten Conference
champion Ohio State, ranked No. 3 in the poll, will square
off against the No. 19 Miami Hurricanes. This marks the
second time the Buckeyes have been featured in 3D;
ESPN tested the technology when the squad played USC
on Sept. 9, 2009.

The third week of the season features Clemson visiting
Auburn on Sept. 18, with the kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.

All told, ESPN3 plans to televise a baker’s dozen of college
football games this season, concluding with the
Tostitos BCS National Championship Game on Monday,
Jan. 10, at 8:30 p.m.

Arris Posts Flat Sales,
Cites Short-Term CMTS Decline

SUWANEE, GA. — Arris Group’s second-quarter revenue was
flat with the year-ago period, and net income dropped,
although sales to Comcast and Time Warner Cable — its
two biggest customers – rebounded “considerably” from
the previous quarter, chairman and CEO Bob Stanzione
said on the company’s earnings call Wednesday.

While Arris expects strong sales of DOCSIS 3.0 cable
modems and other customer-premises equipment to
continue, the company anticipates a short-term decline in
revenue from cable-modem termination systems.

Revenue for the quarter ended June 30 was $280.4
million, roughly flat versus $278.5 million in second-quarter
2009 and up $13.7 million sequentially. Net income
dropped 14%, to $19.8 million for the second quarter.

Comcast’s orders for DOCSIS 3.0 CPE were higher in the
June 30 quarter, and Arris won a significant share of Time
Warner Cable’s CMTS business for the year, Stanzione said.

Arris shipped almost 1.4 million DOCSIS 2.0 and 3.0
units in the second quarter, up 18.4% from the previous
quarter — and the highest level in the past six quarters,
according to Stanzione. DOCSIS 3.0 devices accounted
for 24.5% of units shipped in the second quarter, up from
14% in the first three months of 2010.

“We’ve been waiting for this DOCSIS 3.0 [consumerpremises
equipment] business to take off, and it’s a good
sign,” Stanzione said.

Campus TeleVideo Buys X-Wires Broadband

GREENWICH, CONN. — Campus TeleVideo, which provides
cable TV, data and voice services to colleges, has acquired
X-Wires Broadband, an Internet management, resource
and support services company specializing in higher education
and other multiuser environments.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Cedar
Rapids, Iowa-based X-Wires Broadband, to be rebranded
as Xwires Communications, provides custom cable TV,
data and voice solutions to more than 175 buildings for
more than 40 off-campus student housing property
owners.

Campus TeleVideo, founded in 1984 and based in
Greenwich, Conn., is reportedly itself being considered
for a sale, Multichannel News reported last week. The
company provides customized services, including programming,
design, installation, maintenance and technical
support, to more than 220 campuses nationwide.

X-Wires Broadband founder Ben Anderson has assumed
the position of director of data services for Campus
TeleVideo and the Xwires division. Xwires will continue
to operate out of Cedar Rapids.