12/29/2009

Top Cable Tech Trends Of 2009

Top Cable Tech Trends Of 2009

Out with the analog: Cable operators this year advanced their digital agendas to make room for more DOCSIS 3.0 and HD.

MSOs also pushed ahead on the wireless front, and it was the year interactive TV (finally) began to bloom for cable, even though Canoe's initial crack at advanced advertising was a bust. Looking to the future, operators pondered the potential of IPTV, and at the tail end of 2009 we saw the first glimpses TV Everywhere--cable's bid to extend the video-subscription model to the Internet.

Here's a recap of the year's biggest technology trends, with representative stories from the pages of Multichannel News:

Migrating toward all-digital:

• Comcast: 50% ‘All-Digital' in 2009
• Comcast To Hit 100-Mbps In Augusta, Ga., After Going 100% Digital
• Cablevision Seeks To Encrypt Broadcast Basic Channels
• FCC Vacates MSO Fines Over Switched Digital Video
• Insight Completes Digital Simulcast Upgrade, Adds HD Channels

DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts:

• Time Warner Cable Queues Up DOCSIS 3.0 In NYC
• Comcast Expands DOCSIS 3.0 Reach In Northern California
• Comcast Ups DOCSIS 3.0 Target To 40 Million Premises In 2009
• Cisco To Take DOCSIS 3.0 Modems Over 300 Mbps
• Mediacom: The Fastest By A Smidge 
  
• Cablevision To Blast Out 101-Mbps Internet Service
• BendBroadband Adopts DOCSIS 3.0 To Drive 60 Mbps
• Suddenlink Takes DOCSIS 3.0 To Texas

Interactive TV & advanced advertising:

• Cablevision's Interactive Ads Click With Four Marketers
• Comcast Hits 8 Million EBIF-Enabled Homes
• Canoe Scraps Initial Zone-Ad Plans
• Starz, Showtime Get Interactive TV Bugs
• Cablevision Launches 'Quick View' Channel Mosaics

IPTV for cable: 

• Assessing Cable's IPTV Future
• Cisco Debuts 'Blue' IPTV Guide For Cable
• IPTV for Cable: Arris Is Totally Into Bondage
• Motorola To Acquire IPTV Vendor BitBand
• Bullish on IPTV Over Cable

TV Everywhere:

• Comcast Counts To 'Xfinity'
• Comcast, Time Warner Inc. Try To Blend Online TV Models
• CableLabs Seeks Common Approach For 'TV Everywhere'
• Dish Files To Trademark 'TV Everywhere'
• Satellite, Telcos In 'TV Everywhere' Camp
• Rogers Bows 'TV Everywhere' Service With 1,000 Hours Of Video
• Nielsen Targets TV-Plus-PC Ratings By August 2010
• CIMM Founders: We're Not Nielsen's Enemy

Wireless:

• Comcast: Mobile Voice, Video In The Cards
• Cox Kicks Off Test Of Mobile Phone, Data In Three Markets
• WiMax Blooms In Chicago, Seattle, Dallas
• BendBroadband Touts U.S.'s Fastest Wireless Service
• Cablevision Lights Up Wi-Fi On Long Island
• Clearwire Outages Hit Six Markets Overnight

Source: http://www.multichannel.com/article/441832-Top_Cable_Tech_Trends_Of_2009.php?rssid=20077