Elsewhere in cable land: Groupon may clip Hulu's chief, reviewer broils OTT boxes and Telenet unsheathes Moto's new upstream CMTS blade

February 16, 2011

2 Min Read
Liberty's 'Horizon' Video Gateway Hits a Snag

Good morning, cable gang. An update on Liberty Global Inc. (Nasdaq: LBTY)'s big box project in Europe leads off today's cable industry compendium.

  • The launch of Liberty Global's "Horizon" multimedia gateway is apparently further out on the horizon than originally anticipated. Broadband TV News reports that the box has been "delayed for several months," though no reason was cited. With the delay, speculation is that the Samsung Corp. -made box might not show up in the Netherlands, already ID'd as the first UPC Broadband market to get the broadband-powered box, until the second half of 2011. (See Liberty Global Reveals IP Gateway Partners.)

  • Consumer Reports isn't crazy about any of the over-the-top video set-tops it reviewed, including the Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) TV, Roku Inc. box, D-Link Systems Inc. 's Boxee Box and Logitech Ltd. 's Revue unit for Google TV.

  • But TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) CEO Tom Rogers warns that the threat from Internet video should have the cable industry "look[ing] over its should in a big way," telling the Cable Congress audience in Lucerne, Switzerland, that it "wouldn't take a whole lot for the consumer to go elsewhere."

  • Hulu LLC chief Jason Kilar may be jumping ship and landing at a hot startup. This report claims Kilar's been approached to head up worldwide ops for Groupon Inc.

  • Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC), which is waging an video navigation patent battle with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), signed a new interactive programming guide (IPG) licensing deal that will keep Rovi Corp. 's patent attorneys off its back. (See Cablevision, Verizon Brace for Court Collision .)

  • Telenet of Belgium is the first European cable MSO to unsheathe Motorola Mobility LLC 's new RX48 upstream-heavy cable modem termination system (CMTS) blade. No word yet if the operator intends to wield it for Docsis 3.0 upstream channel bonding or to beef up its single-channel upstream cable modem speeds. (See Telenet Wields Moto's Upstream CMTS Blade and New Moto CMTS Blade Paddles Upstream.)

  • The Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) peering spat is not the only area in which the cable industry and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) have found reason to team up. Comcast Spotlight , the ad arm of Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), is on board to sell local ads for U-verse in 21 markets.

  • You know IPG software has gone mainstream when a pay-TV provider hires top ad agency McCann Erickson to produce a commercial touting an app for navigating TV channels, as Verizon did in this spot for its new iPhone app for FiOS TV subscribers.



    — Steve Donohue, Special to Light Reading Cable

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