Also: Comcast eyes $1B theme-park deal, Charter waives post-storm box fees, FCC turns down the volume, big changes at Pace

May 31, 2011

2 Min Read
Netflix, YouTube to Ride Big OTT Revenue Wave

Happy Tuesday, cable guys and gals. Here's your post-holiday cable news snapshot.

  • Revenues from Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), YouTube Inc. , Hulu LLC and other over-the-top (OTT) video players will reach US$20 billion by 2016, when the number of online video viewers eclipses 1.3 billion, ABI Research projects. (See The 10 Over-the-Top Video Commandments .)

  • After Charter Communications Inc. customer service reps initially told subscribers whose homes were obliterated by tornadoes in Alabama that they'd face fines unless they found their set-tops, the MSO decided to waive fees for lost and damaged boxes.

  • Interesting to see how Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) responded on its corporate blog to an open letter from comedian Eugene Mirman, who panned the MSO for missing two appointments for a cable service install.

  • Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) will reportedly spend up to $1.5 billion for Blackstone Group's 50 percent stake in Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.

  • Japan's NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories is testing how to measure viewer interest using TV-mounted cameras. (See PrimeSense Makes a Cable Kinect-tion.)

  • The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued its proposed rules for the implementation of the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act last week, aiming to regulate the loudness of TV spots.

  • DirecTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV) is renaming The 101 Network on Wednesday to The Audience Network, which will feature content exclusive to the satellite TV giant.

  • Global set-top leader Pace plc has appointed Allan Leighton to non-executive chairman, succeeding the retiring Mike McTighe. Leighton, the former CEO of ASDA (a supermarket group that's now part of Wal-Mart) and former non-exec chairman of the Royal Mail, will be appointed chairman "over the summer months." (See Pace Snatches Moto's Set-Top Crown.)

  • ITV vet Rebecca Rusk Lim jumped from Starz Entertainment LLC to Turner Broadcasting, where she was named VP of interactive experience.

    — Steve Donohue, Special to Light Reading Cable, and Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable

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