• Rentrak inks deal with Cox, completing service to Top 10 MSOs
By Traci Patterson

Rentrak Corp. has entered into yet another multi-year measurement deal, this time with Cox Communications, enabling Rentrak to provide aggregated census level on-demand TV data and insight for all of the major MSOs in the cable industry. The addition of Cox completes Rentrak’s service to the Top 10 U.S. MSOs.

Cox joins a long list of operators working with Rentrak, including Bresnan Communications, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Insight Communications, Time Warner Cable, Suddenlink, Verizon FiOS and WOW.

Rentrak processes daily, aggregated, census-level on-demand data representing 51 million set-top boxes from 27 MSOs, with the company’s on-demand data being used by more than 100 content provider partners every day.  Rentrak processed more than 3.3 billion transactions from its operator partners in 2007 – representing a 52 percent increase compared with the same period for 2006.

• TVN to invest $28M in 2008 to support file-based delivery services
By Traci Patterson

TVN Entertainment has announced that it will be investing $28 million this year in infrastructure, technology and business processes to support its advanced suite of file-based delivery services.

The new investment plan allows TVN to expand its research and development (R&D) activities, as well as increase storage and distribution capacity.

To support the growing needs of distributors and content providers, TVN’s R&D activities continue to focus on advanced interactive services. The company’s recent introduction of an interactive video-on-demand (VOD) management tool allows programmers to make menu changes and update metadata fields, such as price and end-dates, based on actual consumption patterns.

• Navic’s HyperCast Network compatible with latest industry standards
By Traci Patterson

Navic Networks announced that its HyperCast Network is now compatible with the latest industry standards, and the company said that this makes it the most comprehensive back office solution for delivering and managing interactive content across platforms and operators.

HyperCast streamlines the processes for managing end-to-end campaigns across platforms and operators. It now also supports EBIF user agents and delivery systems, and it is now compatible with other back office systems using SCTE-130 standard interfaces.

“HyperCast was developed from the ground up as a cross-operator service platform for the delivery and operation of multi-format advertising content,” said Matthew Emans, VP of product management for Navic Networks. “Our goal was to develop a distributed services architecture that addresses the need for nationally targeted interactivity without isolating the individual operators from the control and function of their systems and their data that they enjoy today.”

• OpenTV’s Participate solution chosen by NBCU for iTV apps
By Traci Patterson

OpenTV’s Participate solution has been selected by NBC Universal to power, centralize and manage cross-platform interactive television (iTV) applications – for the Web, mobile and set-top box – for NBCU’s broadcast and cable networks. The programs that will feature the interactive services have not yet been announced.

OpenTV Participate is a server-based system that can process several thousand transactions per second in real time, delivering a personalized interactive experience to viewers on any platform – cable, satellite, terrestrial, mobile or Web. OpenTV Participate also allows for virtually unlimited value-added content, such as trivia, fun facts, sponsor messages and interactive advertising.

Last year, NBC.com used the OpenTV Participate solution to power live, Web-based interactive services for the series “Heroes.” The two-screen interactive services were created, scheduled, managed and analyzed with OpenTV Participate’s production tools and then synchronized with the “Heroes” broadcasts.

• Seagate intros Showcase storage solution for DVRs
By Traci Patterson

Seagate Technology has introduced its Seagate Showcase storage solution, a new series of products that extend the storage capacity of digital video recorders (DVRs). Seagate also announced that the Showcase family of products will be designed to be compatible with Motorola’s e-SATA-capable high-definition (HD) DVR set-top portfolio.

With initial capacities up to 1 Terabit, consumers will be able to keep up to 200 hours of additional HD movies, or 1,000 hours of additional standard-definition (SD) TV programming.

“As consumer video consumption continues to increase at exponential rates, Motorola strives to provide flexible and cost-effective solutions,” said Larry Robinson, VP of set-top product management at Motorola. “By demonstrating interoperability with the Seagate Showcase storage solution, we are offering consumers additional compelling storage options for their entertainment content.”

• Former Cedar Point CEO lands at Headwaters MB
By Mike Robuck

Headwaters MB announced that Andrew Paff, the former CEO of Cedar Point Communications, has joined the firm as a managing director with a focus on IP media subsystem (IMS) telecommunications technology.

“Andy has helped build some of the world’s leading telecommunications companies, and his knowledge and understanding of the technology drivers of the industry are second to none,” said David S. Maney, co-founder and chairman of Headwaters MB. “His strength complements our existing telecom practice beautifully and will help Headwaters deliver exceptional advice to our middle-market clients.”

Denver-based Headwaters MB is a middle-market investment banking firm that provides strategic merger and acquisitions advisory and corporate finance services to privately and publicly owned companies.

• Sandvine adds FairShare to traffic optimization portfolio
By Traci Patterson

Sandvine has announced the addition of Sandvine FairShare to enhance its suite of traffic optimization solutions.

FairShare enables fair usage in the shared access network, with advanced techniques to ensure equitable allocation of network resources during periods of congestion. The solution also helps improve network efficiency and overall subscriber quality of experience (QoE) with a wide range of policy options, including a fully application-agnostic approach.

Innovative developments in new and popular Internet applications and ongoing investments by broadband service providers are fueling dramatic growth – both in broadband adoption and overall traffic levels. Sandvine said that it is introducing FairShare to augment its widely deployed traffic optimization solutions with new and enhanced congestion management capabilities.

More Broadband Direct:

• Cable Show: Comcast to try win-at-any-cost retention program 

• Cable Show: Cable ops take divergent paths to offering business services 

• Charter picks Digeo's Moxi HD DVR for deployment 

• Cox selects Juniper's MX960 Ethernet Services Router 

• Former Moto exec to head up Sonus Networks 

• Netflix bows $99 STB for movies, TV shows 

• Thomson showcasing new, old products at Cable Show 

• Targusinfo helps MSOs weigh potential value of SMB customers 

• Level 3 serves up services to independent cable ops 

• Ovum: Market for managed IP-based services continues to grow 

• Broadband Briefs for 5/20/08