Cable Show Lunch -- Engaging the Consumer: Opportunities and Challenges in the Evolution of TV

Going to the Cable Show?

Join research firm Parks Associates at a lunch presentation, Engaging the Consumer: Opportunities and Challenges in the Evolution of TV, on Thursday, April 2 at 12:45.
Sponsored by Macrovision and Hosted by Parks Associates

Moderated by: Jayant Dasari, Research Analyst, Parks Associates

Speakers include:
Bob Benya, Senior VP, Video Product Strategy, Time Warner Cable
Jeff Bonin, Vice President & GM, Alticast
Richard Bullwinkle, Chief Evangelist, Macrovision
David Grubb, VP Business Development, Motorola
Steve Necessary, VP Video Strategy, Cox Communications

REQUEST INVITATION TO ATTEND:
http://parksassociates.com/cableshow/

This special lunch session, sponsored by Macrovision, discusses the challenges for operators as they develop and deploy innovative services and business models. In addition, the participants will address the impact of open standards such as tru2way, both in the short term on operators’ ability to develop interactive applications and their long-term influence on the evolution of the TV viewing experience.

DTV Switch to happen sooner than expected.

The Congress finally agreed to a delay in the mandatory switch over until June after much debate and heartache to the likes of Verizon, AT&T and Qualcomm. However, in yet another turn in events, more expected than unexpected, the broadcast stations have decided to switch over to pure digital transmission much sooner than the mandated date in June. 40% of the local broadcast stations i.e. 2 in out every 5 have expressed their intention to switch as soon as possible. The major factor in that decision is the ability to save on costs by not having to simultaneously broadcast in digital and analog format. Why would the local stations be so desperate to save on their operational expenditure? The answer to that question lies in the fact that most local/regional network have experienced a steep decline in their ad revenue and are forced to conserve costs. As a result, analog TV viewers will likely be left in the dark after all.

On a separate note, the concept of a unified residential gateway seems to be making its way back. gizomodo.com reports that AT&T has an STB-Femtocell combination box in the making.