TiVo is leading the way in getting Internet programming to TV sets, CEO Tom Rogers said Wednesday at a Kaufman Bros. conference. About 85 percent of TiVo’s new HD customers immediately connect their devices to broadband, he said. “You can now get 30,000 titles through TiVo directly to your television set. Compare that to the average few hundred movies through cable video on demand.”
TiVo is leading the way in getting Internet programming to TV sets, CEO Tom Rogers said Wednesday at a Kaufman Bros. conference. About 85 percent of TiVo’s new HD customers immediately connect their devices to broadband, he said. “You can now get 30,000 titles through TiVo directly to your television set. Compare that to the average few hundred movies through cable video on demand.”
LONDON -- The trend to untie Internet radio from the PC continues as another tabletop receiver emerges with Wi-Fi connection to a home’s broadband network. Pure Digital promises to “make radio come of age” with what it calls the “first truly connected radio.” In 2003 the British company jumpstarted terrestrial digital radio sales in the U.K. with the first DAB receiver under $200.
LONDON -- Software bugs have put the “future of radio” on hold at least a month, the developer of the $500 Radiopaq Rp5 tabletop Internet receiver told us late Thursday. In a one-to-one briefing before a London party to “celebrate the launch of Radiopaq’s new home audio platform,” Radiopaq President Prash Vadgama admitted the Rp5 on hand was a dummy simulating software needed to access and display the existing Radiopaq portal, which carries global audio broadcasters to PCs.
Intel’s proposal that all HD set-top boxes have IP connections to spur home networking and use of interactive applications (CED July 28 p4) is gaining industry support. Executives think CE makers, cable companies, telcos selling TV and others can reach agreement on interoperability standards for Ethernet jacks at set tops’ backs. The FCC is “encouraged” by industry support, said an agency spokesman.
Intel’s proposal that all HD set-top boxes have Internet Protocol connections to spur home networking and use of interactive applications (CD July 25 p5) is gaining industry support. Executives believe consumer electronics makers, cable companies, telcos selling TV and others can reach agreement on interoperability standards for Ethernet jacks at set tops’ backs. The FCC is “encouraged” by industry support, said an agency spokesman.
Intel’s proposal that all HD set-top boxes have Internet Protocol connections to spur home networking and use of interactive applications (WID July 25 p7) is gaining industry support. Executives believe consumer electronics makers, cable companies, telcos selling TV and others can reach agreement on interoperability standards for Ethernet jacks at set tops’ backs. The FCC is “encouraged” by industry support, said an agency spokesman.
A federal appeals court ruling that Cablevision’s “remote DVR” service doesn’t infringe programmer copyrights (CD Aug 6 p6) is giving the Copyright Office pause. The office moved to Aug. 28 from Aug. 15 a deadline for comments on its notice of proposed rulemaking on section 115 of the Copyright Act. The office suggested that compulsory licenses -- perhaps set at a royalty rate of zero -- are required for incidental copies of songs, sometimes called buffer or server copies, made during Internet streaming. The office said in its Federal Register notice that it fielded requests for more time to comment due to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Cartoon Network v. CSC Holdings. That decision reversed a lower court ruling the Copyright Office cited in its section 115 rulemaking notice, the new notice said. “The Office agrees that the ruling in the Cartoon Network case may be pertinent to the issues raised in this rulemaking and that interested parties should be given sufficient time in which to consider and comment upon the implications of that ruling,” it said. The Copyright Office set a Sept. 19 hearing in its rulemaking.
A federal appeals court ruling that Cablevision’s “remote DVR” service doesn’t infringe programmer copyrights is giving the Copyright Office pause. The office moved to Aug. 28 from Aug. 15 a deadline for comments on its notice of proposed rulemaking on section 115 of the Copyright Act. The office suggested that compulsory licenses -- perhaps set at a royalty rate of zero -- are required for incidental copies of songs, sometimes called buffer or server copies, made during Internet streaming (WID July 18 p5). The office said in its Federal Register notice that it fielded requests for more time to comment due to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Cartoon Network v. CSC Holdings. That decision reversed a lower court ruling the Copyright Office cited in its section 115 rulemaking notice, the new notice said. “The Office agrees that the ruling in the Cartoon Network case may be pertinent to the issues raised in this rulemaking and that interested parties should be given sufficient time in which to consider and comment upon the implications of that ruling,” it said. The Copyright Office set a Sept. 19 hearing in its rulemaking.
Dish Network lent its support to a so-called quiet period so carriage disputes between broadcasters and pay-TV providers wouldn’t mean the loss of signals to viewers around the time of the digital TV transition. In an FCC filing Tuesday, the satellite-TV provider said it agreed with small cable operators, which first sought the pause, that retransmission consent disagreements shouldn’t be allowed to “undermine” the transition. The period “would maintain the status quo during the fragile period,” it said. The commission should approve a quiet period and change the retransmission consent process, which is “broken,” Dish added, citing “demands by broadcasters for exponential increases” in rates. The commission should require broadcasters to let pay-TV companies carry each affiliated TV station and cable channel individually and not only in bundles, it said.