Finding a cure for ‘App Fatigue’

Is your ability to find desired content drowning in a sea of apps?  Are you weary of searching through multiple sources to find programming of interest?  In this piece at Light Reading, Alticast technical product manager Susan Crouse discusses how the explosion in apps is causing “app fatigue” among consumers, and suggests that pay-TV’s unique position as the primary service provider can enable it to offer the streamlined experiences viewers are seeking. 

Ready or not, 4K’s on its way

It hasn’t gotten to the point where you’re going to be shunned by the neighbors if you’re not watching 4K UHD TV, but there’s no question that the new, improved viewing technology is taking big steps toward becoming part of the home entertainment mainstream.

While obstacles to mass adoption exist – among them a lack of content ubiquity and perceptions of incompatibility between 4K UHD and High Dynamic Range (HDR) – there are plenty of indications that 4K is poised for take-off. Service providers in Canada and South Korea have been particularly ambitious in leveraging 4K as a product differentiator.

Charles Meubus, senior director of video technology at Videotron, talked recently about how deploying 4K set-top boxes “future proofs our installed base.” Said Meubus at Light Reading’s Big Communications Event: “These set-tops” – which leverage Alticast’s expertise in middleware and UI enablement – “provide an exceptional end-user experience.”

Our own Jae Park added that deployment of 4K STBs in the South Korean market has exceeded expectations, and has spurred competition among multiple service providers.  Importantly, Park said that the South Korean experience was showing that – despite industry concerns – “we find 4K and HDR to complement each other.”

In this report on the Big Communications Event panel, Light Reading’s Brian Santo convey the panelists’ opinion that “little is going to impede the growth of the 4K market for long.”

Cable’s Shift to IPTV and New IoT Opportunities

For cable system operators seeking to take on OTT video competitors head-to-head, a shift to IPTV requires a balancing act between meeting existing consumer expectations and delivering new service enhancements.  In this video, our director of product management, Susan Crouse, envisions an IPTV future in which viewers can experience seamless, continuous viewing from one IP device to another as well as true “TV Everywhere” experiences in which authenticated content can be viewed without geographic market restrictions. Crouse outlines how the need to maintain service quality could spawn new IoT service opportunities that operators could offer to consumers, including “household firewalls” that could protect services and data and monitoring applications that would help consumers manage broadband usage within the home. 

STBs: “Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated”

Are set-top boxes (STBs) becoming a thing of the past? According to Light Reading's Mari Silbey, they aren't going anywhere. While the news of Cisco selling its beloved set-top unit to Technicolor is stirring up rumors about the death of the set-top business as a whole, we know that by giving operators a presence in the home, STBs offer several advantages.

Consumers may not need a STB for video streaming anymore, but having a special cable box in the home gives cable operators the opportunity to provide a hub for IoT devices and home security applications. With a surge of interest in IoT and what it means for the smart home, cable boxes could be the long-term solution everyone is looking for.

As technology continues to advance, consumers need something in the home that is capable of keeping up with the times. Operators, and consumers, can fortify existing cable boxes with inexpensive dongles that provide new functionality and enable new services. This method will not only save money, but it will ensure that consumers are getting the latest and greatest technology.

Silbey says it best: "Speed, latency and offline storage: these are all reasons why there's still a business in set-tops, even if it's one that demands greater vendor scale and delivers lower per-box margins."

To read her article in full, click here.

The Latest on Life After CableCARD

With the obligation to use the CableCARD security scheme now a thing of the past, the question is: what will replace it? This is the question examined in an article from Light Reading, “Who will own cable’s Content Security?.”

Alticast CTO and President, John Carlucci, was interviewed for this article, which gives insight into the issues with replacing CableCARD with downloadable security for set-top boxes and where the future lies. The FCC are in the process of creating  an advisory board to look into alternative security options and this article is well worth reading by anyone interested in life after CableCARD.  

What You Need to Know About Cloud DVR

If you’re at all thinking of rolling out a Cloud DVR service you need to listen to Light Reading’s recent webinar “Sunny Skies for Cloud DVR?”. Our CTO John Carlucci is one of several industry luminaries who examine the benefits and challenges of implementing a Cloud DVR service.

Even if you’re not already thinking about Cloud DVR, you really owe it to yourself to still listen to the webinar to understand its potential to reduce subscriber churn, trim capital costs and deliver a more personalized TV Everywhere viewing experience.

Some highlights include:

•       You don’t have to millions of subscribers to be successful.  An economically viable Cloud DVR service can have as few as 50,000 subs.
•       Unlike STB-based DVRs, which can only simultaneously record as many programs as they have tuners, there’s essentially no limit to how many simultaneous programs Cloud DVR can record.
•       Cloud DVR reduces subscriber churn – Telefonica has seen substantial reductions in churn which is attributed to their popular Cloud DVR service.
•        Providing content from the Cloud allows operators to take advantage of IP content delivery to HDMI dongles and other emerging CPE that are smaller, portable and which consume less power.
•       Local ad insertion doesn’t have to be affected by a Cloud DVR service, ensuring that this important revenue stream is maintained.
•       Cloud DVR can provide a personal vault for User Generated Content (UGC). As users increase the content they want to keep in the cloud, operator can add a new revenue stream by selling additional storage space.

The largest operators are setting the pace with Cloud DVR offerings while breaking ground by improving efficiencies, establishing best practices and driving down the costs. 

Cloud DVR is a future proof method for expanding viewer services. Planning for spinning up this service should be on the horizon for any operator that serves up content.

Light Reading Webinar on Cloud DVR

Alticast CTO John Carlucci will be participating in a webinar hosted by Light Reading on October 28th at 11AM EDT.  If you are interested in listening in, click here to register.

Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Time: 11:00 am ET

Following Cablevision's successful deployment of network DVR services throughout the New York metro area, Comcast is now rolling out its new Cloud DVR service across its U.S. footprint. At the same time, an increasing number of cable equipment and software suppliers are introducing Cloud DVR solutions to pave the way for more rollouts. In this webinar, we will take a close look at the growing Cloud DVR phenomenon, explore its revenue potential, examine the challenges that lie ahead for cable operators, and see how these challenges can be overcome.

About the Speakers

Alan Breznick, Contributing Analyst, Heavy Reading

Alan Breznick is a business editor and research analyst who has tracked the cable, broadband and video markets like an over-bred bloodhound for more than 20 years. As a senior analyst at Light Reading's research arm, Heavy Reading, for six years, Alan authored numerous reports, columns, white papers and case studies, moderated dozens of webinars, and organized and hosted more than 15 regional conferences on cable, broadband and IPTV technology topics.Before that, he was the founding editor of Light Reading Cable, transforming a monthly newsletter into a daily website. Prior to joining Light Reading, Alan was a broadband analyst for Kinetic Strategies and a contributing analyst for One Touch Intelligence.

Elad Nafshi,VP of Video Product Management, Comcast

Elad Nafshi comes to Comcast with a history and experience both inside and outside the cable industry. That diversity of background has served him well as he has managed the development and deployment of one of the company's largest single initiatives -- Comcast's all digital migration, which represents the world's largest transition to all digital media. In his current role as Vice President of Video Product Management he also leads the company’s key Cloud TV, cloud DVR and network based entertainment initiatives. Prior to this Nafshi held several product development and management roles at Comcast where he led several high-profile initiatives around Interactive Television, Addressable Advertising, Digital Set-Top-Boxes, On-Screen Guides and other key programs. Prior to coming to Comcast, Nafshi was with another cable concern, RCN Corporation, and led the product management and development group as this young company made inroads in a highly competitive industry. He launched a series of game-changing technologies including home security and monitoring, and various premium Internet subscription service that enabled the startup to capture share and consumer awareness against much larger competitors. Mr. Nafshi graduated from The Buchmann School of Law at Tel Aviv University in Israel with a focus on corporate and international law. He also holds a master's in business from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester in New York, where he specialized in electronic commerce and finance.

Peter Beecroft, VP Product Management, Alcatel-Lucent

Peter joined the Velocix team from Alcatel-Lucent immediately after completion of the acquisition in 2009. Prior to Velocix, Peter contributed to the strategy group for Internet Protocol Routing & Transport (IPRT) at Alcatel Lucent where he was jointly responsible for the initiative which led to the Acquisition of Velocix. Since, 2001 Peter has held a number of product strategy, product management, architecture, Technical pre-sales and solution deployment roles at iMagicTV, Alcatel and Alcatel Lucent. Peter started his career as a Technical Pre-Sales Consultant at a Cambridge based computer company, and has progressed his Telecommunications and Media career through Ionica and BskyB in the UK . Peter is based out of Cambridge, UK and holds a HND in Computing from Cambridge College, England.

John Carlucci, CTO, Alticast

John Carlucci is the Chief Technology Officer at Alticast where he leads product and technology development. John is a technology leader and entrepreneur focusing on digital media and communications including networking, digital multimedia, interactive television, content security, graphics, and grid computing. He contributed to the success of industry stalwarts such as Sony, DiviCom/Harmonic, BigBand Networks and Clearleap. Mr. Carlucci spent half a decade as Chief Network Architect for Time Warner Cable as well as led the engineering department for cable industry joint venture Polycipher as VP of Engineering. His work includes Emmy Award winning industry-leading designs for both Start Over/Network DVR and Switched-digital video. Mr. Carlucci founded social TV pioneer FreedTV, leading development of next generation user video user experience. He has been awarded more than 20 U.S patents. He holds a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and a Master's degree in electrical engineer, both from Cornell University College of Engineering.

David Grubb, CTO, ARRIS

David Grubb III is CTO of Cloud Solutions at ARRIS. In this role, he is responsible for focusing on the development of the technology strategy and architecture for the evolution of ARRIS’s multiscreen video, advertising and service assurance software product lines. He is also responsible for leading the end-to-end integration architecture for multiscreen IPTV solutions leveraging the ARRIS product portfolio.Grubb holds nine patents and has published numerous papers on fiber optics and HFC network technology. He has also published and presented at numerous industry conferences. He holds a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from Drexel University and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Rose Hulman Institute of Technology.

Alticast's HDMI Media Express is a Leading Lights Finalist

We got some exciting news here recently.  Alticast's HDMI Media Express is a finalist in the Best New Product (Cable) category for the Leading Lights Awards!

Awards will be handed out on June 17th so we will be crossing our fingers until then.