When it comes to how consumers opt to launch a TV/video session, smart TV apps have caught up with and even slightly surpassed set-top boxes in a remarkably short time. According to Hub Entertainment Research’s latest annual “Decoding the Default” study, 32% of viewers now report that they initially use a smart TV app when they start watching video content — up 10 percentage points from the 22% who said the same in 2021.
Access Europe GmbH has launched Access Twine for TV Operators (T4TO) that is designed to: Provide TV and telcos with the simplest route to enhance their customer offerings, combining a […]
Xperi Holding Corp. announced today at IBC 2022 (RAI, Amsterdam, Sept. 9-12) the launch of Vewd OpX for Android TV Operator Tier. With this version, Vewd OpX — a cloud-managed, […]
Nex, Amlogic and SEI Robotics are cooperating to launch the Motion Entertainment Set-Top Box. It integrates Nex Motion content, 4K, HiFi 5 DSP, Dolby ATMOS, DTS, HDR10/10+, Android TV OS, Google Assistant […]
NetRange MMH, a global provider of white-labelled, turnkey smart TV and OTT ecosystems, has partnered with IK World, a Chinese OTT Set-Top Box (STB) ODM. This collaboration provides IK World with a […]
Exclusives
As ACR Grows, Set-Tops Shrink And TV Measurement Gets Even Trickier
Alan Wolk: The number of set-top boxes is shrinking, while the number of smart TVs is growing at a similarly steady rate. This is likely to make measurement harder to calculate in the years to come.
Nagra, a worldwide provider of content protection and multiscreen television solutions, today announced that SITI Networks Ltd., an Essel Group Company and one of India’s largest multi-system operators, has selected […]
The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau is taking aim at video set-top boxes, including those that stream content from the internet, over growing concerns about models being marketed and distributed that don’t meet commission requirements.
On The NAB Exhibit Floor: ABOX42
ABOX42 | Booth SU13006CM| www.abox42.com ABOX42 provides set-top box platforms suitable for any operator or service provider. M35 Series Smart STB — ABOX42 will demonstrate its new M35 Series high-end smart […]
Today, the vast majority of customers still need to rent a box to get full service from cable providers, and often-promised box-replacing apps remain elusive. Here’s what happened.
A proposal to let consumers replace set-top boxes with apps “remains an unnecessary regulatory threat to the content creation and distribution industries,” House Republicans argue.
A new Air TV set-top box from Dish’s Sling TV combines an ability to stream Sling and other OTT platforms like Netflix with live over-the-air channels. The company revealed the device, possibly by accident, on Tuesday.
The fight to ditch the cable box appears to be over, thanks to Donald Trump.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler says the commission is working hard to protect your privacy and allow you to watch pay-TV programming without renting a set-top box.
Independent programmers continue to vent their frustration over FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s refusal to release his revised cable set-top box final rule. They don’t know what’s in it, which they say makes their discussions with FCC officials almost meaningless. “It’s like negotiating against a mime,” said Victor Cerda, an SVP at the independent Spanish-language network Vme, in describing discussions with FCC officials on the secretive proposal.
A collection of 76 progressive groups, including organizations ranging from Public Knowledge to Daily Kos to Consumers Union, have written the FCC’s five commissioners, urging them to move on proposals to regulate leased pay TV set-tops and broadband privacy. The groups also asked the FCC to move forward with its informal investigation of zero-rating policies by ISPs.
On Friday, the commission lifted the sunshine restriction on its set-top-box proceeding, after legislators and various groups asked the agency to allow stakeholders to comment on the proposal. Also, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated an updated proposal to reform the Business Data Service.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) is calling on FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to release the FCC’s latest proposal on rules for pay television set-top boxes.
In canceling a scheduled vote Thursday, Chairman Tom Wheeler said commissioners ran out of time to discuss last-minute changes to the proposal, but he stressed that he intends to “get something done” before the end of the year.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s’ proposal to overhaul the market for TV set-top boxes remained on a knife’s edge a day ahead of a scheduled vote by the commission on Thursday.
When the FCC announced a plan this year that would free people from having to rent cable set-top boxes, the cable and television industries balked and lobbied hard to forestall the proposal. But it turns out the biggest threat to the plan, which the commission is expected to vote on Thursday, is a low-profile Democratic commissioner within the agency itself, Jessica Rosenworcel,
A group of more than 60 House Democrats on Thursday said that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the commissioners should launch a formal proceeding where the public — and industry — could comment on the text of Wheeler’s new proposal. to open up the market for television boxes.
The FCC’s newly revised plan to enable consumers to watch pay TV without cable boxes could boost piracy, according to the Association of National Advertisers.
At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Thursday, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said she doesn’t think the agency has the legal authority to pursue a part of its proposal to reform the market for television set-top boxes and cast doubt on whether Chairman Tom Wheeler has the votes to pass the plan.
The FCC is trying to make it easier and cheaper for you to watch TV. But the plan to unleash pay TV service from the set-top box that has been its delivery mechanism for decades has opponents — notably, the Big Cable lobby — raising their fists.
The FCC chairman tells a Senate oversight hearing that the commission “will soon release for discussion and comment transition models to calculate the order and schedule of station relocation efforts” and they will reflect input from broadcasters, wireless companies, tower crews, equipment manufacturers and others.
FCC Wants To Create TV Content Commission
Seton Motley: “FCC Chairman [Tom Wheeler] wants to end all that pesky free market content creation and explosive growth — and shrink it all back down to one government bureau. He is doing all of this via a pay TV set-top-box power grab. What non-problem is his grab alleged to be “solving?”
Opponents of the FCC’s set-top box market reforms are putting more pressure on Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, seen as the swing vote on the hotly-contested item. In a filing on Friday, a set of programming companies disclosed that they spoke with Rosenworcel last week and said that “any arrangement in which they are required to allow their content to be distributed on terms or conditions to which programmers would not agree would be tantamount to a compulsory copyright license, which the Commission lacks authority to impose.”
The FCC lacks authority for its new plan to enable consumers to stop renting set-top boxes, cable providers and other opponents say. Opponents to the plan, including Comcast, AT&T and the Motion Picture Association of America, are now arguing that the licensing scheme proposed by the commission is illegal.
Why You Should Tune In To The STB Debate
There’s already a considerable amount of disruption affecting broadcast television, including an auction intended to repurpose the spectrum of what used to be known as the VHF and UHF channels on a TV dial. However, stations need to find some metaphorical bandwidth to dedicate to the set-top box. Regulatory changes, coupled with innovations like voice-activated navigation, have significant potential to further disrupt television’s current business model.
Wheeler Outlines Proposed New Set-Top Rules
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wants consumers to be able to say goodbye to their cable set-top boxes. In a Los Angeles Times op-ed piece published today, Wheeler is proposing a new rule that would require cable and satellite video companies to offer consumers the option to receive their channels through apps that provide streaming video over the internet.
Documents filed late last week suggest the FCC has been selectively previewing a radical new proposal to replace its original set-top box plan, which would have forced Hollywood and pay TV companies to offer their programming and subscriber data free to any new STB manufacturer. Instead, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is now considering the creation of a copyright licensing office within the FCC, replacing complex separate arrangements with device manufacturers with a single contract overseen and possibly written by the commission’s staff.
Policy battles that have been mounting for months are poised to engulf the FCC in the final months of the Obama administration. Thursday marks the deadline for Chairman Tom Wheeler to say whether he will bring any of three major policy proposals to a vote at the commission’s meeting in September. Major corporate players have a stake in all three debates.
The FCC may be plotting a significantly different course on pay-TV set-top boxes than it originally intended, according to several recent agency filings from top content companies.
