HBO GO Gets Some AirPlay on Apple TV

Also: Comcast lets subs watch Fox in and out of the home; GCI stages TiVo invasion; Liberty expands Horizon TV; Suddenlink does a decade

Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor

February 13, 2013

2 Min Read
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Welcome to the broadband and cable news roundup, Hump Day edition.

  • HBO GO has landed on the Apple TV, albeit in a roundabout way. HBO now offers AirPlay support on its popular TV Everywhere offering, a decision that will let subscribers stream HBO GO titles from an iPad to an Apple TV device, company President and COO Eric Kessler announced Tuesday at the AllThingsD conference. For now, HBO GO (and the companion MAX GO service) won't be offered via a dedicated app on the Apple TV, reports NewTeeVee. Kessler also repeated HBO's stance that it has no immediate plans to offer the service on a stand-alone, over-the-top (OTT) basis domestically, as it's now doing via the recently launched HBO Nordic joint venture. But the door isn't shut. "The economics today are not particularly compelling," he said of HBO's interest in an OTT-only model for the U.S. "Now that doesn't mean that may not change." So you're telling us there's a chance... (See HBO Goes Nordic.)

  • Comcast Corp. and Fox Networks have struck a new carriage deal that bakes in a bunch of VoD and TV Everywhere components for Fox's broadcast stations and cable network properties, including FX Movie Channel, Fuel TV, National Geographic Channel, and Fox Business Week, among others. The latest deal gives Comcast key out-of-home access rights to Fox's TV fare.

  • ZatzNotFunny spots that General Communication Inc. (GCI) of Alaska has begun to take reservations ahead of the launch of its TiVo Inc.-powered platform, noting that the first markets to get it will be Anchorage, Chugiak, Girdwood, Eagle River, Wasilla and Palmer. GCI is expected to offer the TiVo Premiere Q four-tuner gateway alongside the IP-only Mini set-top and the TiVo Stream, a transcoding device that can ship and share live and recorded programming with tablets and other mobile devices. GCI also intends to offer the Pace plc XG1, an HD-DVR/headed gateway that will bake in the TiVo platform. (See GCI Picks TiVo.)

  • Liberty Global Inc.'s Swiss UPC Cablecom unit has launched Horizon TV across its digital video footprint, reports Broadband TV News. Liberty has also launched Horizon TV, the operator's new IP-capable video gateway/next-gen video platform, in the Netherlands, with Germany and Ireland on tap. (See Liberty Global Embarks On New TV Horizon.)

  • Hey, Suddenlink Communications turned 10 on Tuesday, and it only seems like a decade has passed since Jerry Kent & Co. started the journey by taking over Classic Communications, an operator with a mere 300,000 subs. Following a string of subsequent acquisitions, Suddenlink now serves 1.4 million video subs, making it the seventh-largest incumbent U.S. MSO. — Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable

About the Author

Jeff Baumgartner

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X and LinkedIn.

Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers.

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