• Charter adding 8 HD channels to St. Louis lineup
By Traci Patterson
In May, Charter Communications expects to add eight new high-definition (HD) channels to its lineup in the St. Louis area.
In the past year, Charter has invested more than one billion dollars in capital to serve its customers and to enhance its service capabilities, the MSO said.
On Tuesday, Comcast said that it had added six new HD channels in the San Francisco Bay area (story here).
• Dish adds 3 more HD local markets
By Traci Patterson
Dish Network Corp. has added three more high-definition (HD) local markets to its tally: Baltimore, Md.; Columbia, S.C.; and Green Bay, Wis. With the additions, Dish Network now offers HD local programming in 46 markets, reaching more than 60 percent of U.S. TV households.
Dish Network recently added four other HD local markets: Cleveland/Akron (Canton), Ohio; Milwaukee, Wis.; Richmond/Petersburg, Va.; and Tampa/St. Petersburg (Sarasota), Fla. (story here).
In order to view HD programming, Dish customers will need to upgrade to a dishHD receiver, such as the ViP722 – a dual-tuner HD digital video recorder (DVR) that operates two televisions in separate rooms, one in HD and one in standard-definition (SD). The ViP722 can record up to 55 hours of HD content and up to 350 hours of SD programming, and it allows customers to pause, rewind and fast-forward live TV.
• Broadway Systems debuts reporting system for cable ops
By Mike Robuck
Broadway Systems introduced its Broadway Analytics system earlier this week, which is a reporting, data analytics and business intelligence system that was designed specifically for cable operators.
Instead of using various third-party or homegrown tools to help cable operators understand what is taking place within their businesses, the Broadway Analytics software architecture brings data warehousing and interactive reporting, analytic, scorecard and dashboard capabilities to deal, inventory and revenue analysis, the company said. Reporting can be categorized further by AE, network, daypart, selling title, program, inventory type or client.
Broadway Analytics is integrated with Broadway’s core business ad management platform and has been designed to interact with other ad management and business systems, even when Broadway’s other software modules are not installed.
• Enablence to acquire Wave7 for $10.5M
By Traci Patterson
Enablence Technologies – a supplier of planar lightwave circuit (PLC)-based components for the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), metro and long-haul telecom markets – is set to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Wave7 Optics for $10.5 million and nearly 2.1 million common shares of Enablence. All conditions pursuant to the agreement are expected to be fulfilled prior to May 15, Enablence said.
Wave7 is a global provider of FTTH systems that deliver voice, video and data services. The company is deploying a universal access platform – the Trident7 – that supports Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GE-PON) systems and Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) systems, as well as point-to-point Ethernet.
“In the FTTH market, vendors must meet the performance and volume requirements, as well as the price targets that service providers are demanding,” said Tom Tighe, president and CEO of Wave7. “The combination of our Trident7 system and Enablence’s PLC technology will benefit our current customer base and position us for the global growth in FTTH deployments.”
• FLO TV launches in San Diego on Verizon phones
By Traci Patterson
MediaFLO USA’s FLO TV service is now available in San Diego on select Verizon Wireless cell phones. Content available via the service includes full-length TV programming, breaking news and live sports.
More Broadband Direct:
• Comcast, Pando join on P2P ‘Bill of Rights’
• Programmers send letter to FCC opposing a la carte proposal
• Verizon seeks city-wide franchise agreement in NYC
• Mediacom extends agreement with CSG Systems
• Midcontinent deploys Scorecard Systems’ subscriber reporting suite
• Cable Hall of Fame Class of 2008 announced
• Pols wrangle over failed D Block spectrum
• Move Networks gains $46M in round of funding
• Ethernet Alliance names officers of IEEE 802.3 Ethernet working group