TiVo Corporation is expanding its existing intellectual property license agreement with TV brand and manufacturer, TCL, into North America.
The deal provides coverage for TCL North America’s television offerings including its line of TCL Roku TVs. TCL North America will also be able to incorporate TiVo’s entertainment discovery innovations into its TVs for the U.S., Canada and Mexico markets.
“Today’s consumer has an appetite for an immersive and engaging viewing experience, one that combines the latest technologies, intuitive interfaces, and exceptional picture quality,” Chris Larson, senior vice president at TCL, comments. “Our partnership with TiVo offers broad IP coverage and allows us to continue to push the envelope when it comes to driving innovation within the smart television space.”
In other TiVo news, the company announced that pay-TV provider, Dish, has concluded its migration to TiVo Metadata. The metadata migration process was completed in just under five months, TiVo reports.
TiVo’s metadata, including program information and image-based content, will be utilized by Dish across its product platforms, including linear TV, video on demand, and DVR.
“Through our long-standing collaboration with TiVo, we were able to integrate their enhanced metadata offerings and provide a cohesive and seamless entertainment experience across our product platforms,” Niraj Desai, vice president of product management at Dish, notes.
Verizon is in talks to buy up cable operator WideOpenWest’s Chicago-area fiber network.
Sources told Reuters WOW is working with a financial advisor to explore a sale of the assets. Reuters reports the deal could be worth more than $200 million.
Negotiations are not finalized, and another buyer for the unit could still surface.
In corporate filings WOW says it has built about 1,200 miles of fiber in the Chicago market since 2014 for a “leading wireless carrier,” that Reuter’s sources identified as Verizon.
Verizon, which recently stressed the importance of fiber for its small cell densification and spectrum expansion plans, uses WOW’s Chicago fiber system for backhaul, the news outlet reported.
America’s favorite Friday night lineup from the 1990s – TGIF – is coming to Hulu.
Hulu announced a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution that gives the OTT service provider exclusive streaming subscription video on-demand rights for over 800 episodes from TGIF.
The new agreement includes streaming rights for series including “Full House,” “Family Matters,” “Step by Step,” “Perfect Strangers,” and “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper.”
The full libraries will launch in the United States on Hulu Friday, Sept. 29.
“These shows are more than just beloved hits, they were part of a cultural tradition to tune in every Friday night,” Hulu’s SVP of Content Craig Erwich notes. “Now, it can be Friday any day of the week on Hulu.”
“With this acquisition, Hulu is making available to their subscribers one of the most popular comedy blocks of programming ever,” Ken Werner, president of Warner Bros., adds. “These hit family comedies have entertained viewers for decades and will now be available on SVOD.”
Windstream has closed on a deal to acquire Broadview Networks for $227.5 million.
Windstream says it anticipates the transaction will result in about $30 million in annual operating cost savings within two years.
“The addition of Broadview advances our strategy to differentiate ourselves by delivering a truly superior customer experience using disruptive technologies,” Tony Thomas, president and CEO of Windstream, comments. “Broadview’s innovative, award-winning unified communications solution, OfficeSuite, perfectly complements Windstream’s SD-WAN offering. Both are highly scalable, easy to customize, and less expensive to deploy than traditional solutions. We will move quickly to sell the combined solution across our national footprint.”
Broadview COO Brian Crotty has also been named president of the mid-market and small business division. He accompanies other senior Broadview leaders in joining the Windstream team, including: Mario Deriggi, senior vice president of sales; Stephen Farkouh, senior vice president of cloud technology and platform development; Sanjay Patel, vice president of platform development; and Tim Bell, vice president of integration management and Broadview operations.
