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Apple Bites Into Subscription Video

Streaming video buzz dominates today's cable roundup, including the unveiling of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s long awaited subscription video play and the expansion of Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) availability to Android and Boxee devices.

  • Apple will get a 30 percent cut of revenue from subscription videos, magazines and newspapers sold through iTunes, but only if publishers sell the content exclusively through its app store.

  • It's a big week for Netflix, which is finally available to Boxee users, will soon be available on Android devices, and was ranked as the No. 1 paid streaming video site by The Nielsen Co. (See 20 Million for Netflix and Security Snag Sacks Boxee's Netflix Rollout .)

  • No word on whether cable operators will get a cut of the TV-based commerce revenue Rovi Corp. and Delivery Agent will generate by allowing subscribers to buy products marketed directly through interactive program guides. (See Rovi Pushes Click-to-Buy IPGs and Canoe CTO: 'T-Commerce' Coming in 2011.)

  • Add Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) and Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) to the list of ISPs that will test their "readiness for the next-generation of Internet Protocol" on June 8 at World IPv6 Day.

  • Look for 3-D ads from movie studios and other media buyers to begin running on 3net, the new 3-D channel from Discovery Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) and IMAX, starting in April. (See DirecTV Set to Launch New 3-D Net .)

  • Wisconsin said no thanks to the $23 million the feds offered the state in broadband stimulus money since there were too many strings attached.

  • Federal Communications Commission (FCC) field workers may be visiting local telecom markets in four or five new Hybrid Chevy Tahoes, thanks to the $354.2 million in funding President Obama has proposed for the 2012 Commission budget.

  • Things are looking sweet across the pond lately. European cable operators saw revenue from digital video jump 17.4 percent in 2010, while broadband revenue rose 4 percent and telephony jumped 9 percent, according to Cable Europe.

    — Steve Donohue, Special to Light Reading Cable

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