Equipment provider Terayon’s technology is making possible Fox’s massive HDTV programming initiative to carry up to six football games a week in high definition, and the technology vendor said the solution could be used by cable networks to deliver targeted national ads.
That’s because the Fox HD solution relies on a splicing system, provided by Terayon and integrated by Thomson, that minimizes the amount of bandwidth needed to deliver the six-pack of games and to insert local information such as commercials and a station’s logo.
Terayon said it is now marketing that capability to cable programmers to allow them to deliver localized on-screen graphics or more personalized advertising in local markets. “The idea is more around the localization or targeting of branding or the logo overlay,” said Andrew Steele, VP, business development, for Terayon’s Digital Video Solutions Group. “A cable network could come to us and acquire that technology and install it in the cable headend as a corollary or add-on to their distribution agreements with cable operators. … This gives programmers the ability to target at the level of granularity that cable MSOs can already do for their avails.”
OnStar, Court TV Sign VOD Deal
Court TV has signed a deal with OnStar to advertise in its on-demand service, marking the network’s first video-on-demand agreement with an advertiser. The Court TV VOD service has been available since June 2003, includes 10 hours each month and is currently available on Time Warner and Comcast systems. OnStar is a vehicle assistance and information service installed in some automobiles. OnStar ads will begin running shortly.
Comcast Outlines VoIP Portability
During a session at a Forrester Research conference in New York last week Comcast Chief Operating Officer Steve Burke outlined his vision for voice-over-IP phone service, which the cable operator will be deploying aggressively in 2005 and 2006. “You will have a phone that’s inside your home working on your high-speed connection, and when you leave, it will turn into your cellphone, allowing you to leverage broadband, be untethered, have voicemail in one place,” he said. “Ultimately, that type of portability is what consumers will demand.” The issue of how the company gets there is not entirely clear yet. “Do we pick one wireless company or pick several? We’re not sure,” he said.