• AT&T's U-verse TV Targets Comcast in Detroit
• Gov. Crist Signs Florida Franchise-Reform Bill
• RCN Expands Into Milton, Mass.
• Citigroup Upgrades Cable View
• Cartoon Launches Fantastic Four Sweepstakes
• Tech Companies Tout VOD Advances
• XM Readies POTUS ’08 Channel

• Illinois Lawmakers Eye Tribune Deal
• Travel Channel Site Buys Online Mag
• Fellows Joins Anadigics’ Board

• YouTube Puts On Some Funny Shorts
• Crowded Friday-Night Subway for YES Network
• AT&T Dumps Cingular Wireless Signs

AT&T's U-verse TV Targets Comcast in Detroit
AT&T began marketing its U-verse TV service in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich., Tuesday morning, challenging incumbent cable operator Comcast. Boasting that it offers more high-definition programming than its cable rivals, AT&T said its U-verse TV packages began at prices of $44 monthly, plus an additional $10 for HD programming. The telephone giant is also pitching packages of high-speed Internet access, telephone service, digital video recorders (including remote DVR access) and video on demand programming. U-verse TV contains more than 25 HD channels. The Detroit and Ann Arbor U-verse TV rollouts follow recent deployments in the Los Angeles area http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6438386.html and Dallas-Fort Worth http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6430372.html. click to read more...
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Gov. Crist Signs Florida Franchise-Reform Bill
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (http://www.flgov.com) signed a franchise-reform bill (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6438318.html) for his state that will allow new competitors to apply for statewide franchising by July 1. Incumbent operators can also opt in to state regulation on that date. Franchising will now be handled by the Florida Department of State, which will have 30 days to approve state applications. According to the bill, any local franchise requirement that is in excess of the state rules is now void and unenforceable. click to read more...
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RCN Expands Into Milton, Mass.
RCN (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6441116.html) will expand its coverage area to include the town of Milton, Mass., which will join 16 other communities in the state currently receiving RCN service. Comcast is the incumbent cable operator in Milton. click to read more...
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Citigroup Upgrades Cable View
Citigroup Investment Research analyst Jason Bazinet (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6409564.html) upgraded Comcast and Time Warner Cable to buy/medium risk from hold/medium risk and boosted price targets on those stocks, as well, citing investor sentiment. Bazinet said cable operators’ capital expenditures will likely “remain at elevated levels” while they continue adding paying customers for video, Internet and phone services. But the impact of that spending -- it cuts into free-cash-flow growth -- is something marginal investors seem willing to absorb so long as the customer growth is there. click to read more...
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Cartoon Launches Fantastic Four Sweepstakes
Cartoon Network kicked off a sweepstakes promotion to back the new Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie from News Corp.’s Twentieth Century Fox. The Turner Broadcasting System-owned network said it is running promotional spots this week aimed at getting viewers to watch its Toonami programming block (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6366061.html) this Saturday. Cartoon said viewers who tune in for the Toonami block will see a custom spot revealing the Silver Surfer character from the movie, and they’ll then be prompted to call a toll-free phone number to win prizes. click to read more...
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Tech Companies Tout VOD Advances
New York -- At a panel discussion here titled True Stories: Early Indicators from the Real World, executives from technology providers pitched their individual business models for refining video-on-demand advertising. SeaChange International director of advanced advertising Terri Swartz told the story of Lawrence, Kan.-based Sunflower Broadband (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6439442.html), the first operator to offer dynamic ad insertion in VOD. The cable operator in 2006 deployed SeaChange’s Ad Pulse VOD -- a technology enabling last-minute ad insertion when a customer orders a VOD stream. Swartz said the experiment had been successful to date with local programming such as music, sports, home improvement, cooking and news, and the operator is now looking toward ad insertion into nationally originated VOD content. Other available ad-insertion technologies include ads produced into VOD content and ad “stitching,” which is done at the VOD site. Swartz added that many cable operators and content providers weren’t on the same page yet when it came to recognizing advertisers’ need for better VOD ad insertion. click to read more...
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XM Readies POTUS ’08 Channel
XM Satellite Radio is teaming up with C-SPAN and other media outlets on a POTUS ’08 channel dedicated to coverage of the 2008 presidential election. The 24-hour, commercial-free network will launch as a preview channel in June, featuring rebroadcasts of presidential primary debates. It’ll formally debut in September, XM said. click to read more...
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Illinois Lawmakers Eye Tribune Deal
A majority of the Illinois congressional delegation -- but not the state’s junior senator, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama -- signed a letter urging swift action by the Federal Communications Commission on temporary media-ownership waivers sought by Chicago-based Tribune. “We believe that prompt consideration of the merits of Tribune Co.’s applications is the public interest and would be very grateful if you would give this matter your personal attention and act upon these applications in a timely fashion,” the letter, signed by 14 of the state’s 21 members of Congress, said. Real estate mogul Sam Zell engineered an $8.2 billion deal to take control of Tribune, which owns 23 TV stations and many big-city newspapers. FCC rules ban the common ownership of a daily newspaper and a TV or radio station in the same local market. click to read more...
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Travel Channel Site Buys Online Mag
Travel Channel.com said it purchased online travel magazine World Hum and that founding editors Jim Benning and Michael Yessis will now also contribute regularly to TravelChannel.com. click to read more...
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Fellows Joins Anadigics’ Board
Former Comcast chief technology officer David Fellows was appointed to Anadigics’ (http://www.anadigics.com) board of directors. Prior to Comcast, Fellows served as CTO at AT&T Broadband and MediaOne Group. click to read more...
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