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Viodi View Newsletter - August 3rd, 2005

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For years, I have wanted to turn the Viodi View into more than just the written word and something more representative of its title (VOD and View). This issue is the closest yet in terms of mixing video throughout these online pages. Video over the Internet is still in its infancy, but, as you will see in Roger Bindl’s clever video, there is at least one tool that easily bridges the Internet and television. In an audio-only interview with Bruce Eisen, I had a chance to discuss some of the new trails that CinemaNow has been pioneering. Finally, Ed Moura of SoHo Wireless shows that the last mile path does not always mean a connection of physical media.

Virtual Boston

Viodi's feet on the street, Roger Bindl, missed OPASTCO in Boston last week as he was diverted to Milwaukee. He participated in the 24 hour film competion at the Milwaukee Art Museum / Int'l Film Festival. His film "Building Towers" was one of the winners selected for screening on Thursday, July 28th.

The feedback I have received from one attendee suggested this year’s OPASTCO convention was relatively well attended considering the next event is the Hawaii Winter Conference. The sessions on VoIP deployment were extensive and provided a great level of detail regarding independent telco success with VoIP. These sessions provided progress updates from sessions that had been provided at an earlier OPASTCO conference – another reason why its important not to miss one of these events. There was apparently a great deal of interest in video from the independent telcos attending the show. There was also positive feedback regarding the video checklist [a two page summary of items a new video entrant should consider] that the OPASTCO Video and Broadband committee created.

From Boston to Philly

Another conference, held last week that I wanted to attend, but missed was CTAM. A couple of friends of mine who did attend provided some interesting insight into last week’s event in the City of Brotherly Love. It was suggested that there was, “a bit of tension in the air,” between the traditional cable companies and the telcos. The cable marketers apparently had a much greater focus on and fear regarding telcos as compared to last year’s show.

Thanks to things like the Internet, which offers programmers the opportunity to cut out the middleman, and operator consolidation, which gives the larger operators more clout, there appears to be a growing chasm between the interests of the programmers and the cable operators. These trends will be good fodder for future issues of the Viodi View.

The Akimbo Video Review

Another reason Roger missed OPASTCO in Boston last week was his video review of Akimbo’s service. In other words, he was watching television for the benefit of the Viodi View readers, instead of enjoying a lobster bake with OPASTCO colleagues. Akimbo provides VOD content for watching on TV, and uses the Internet for delivery. This is a timely review, as Akimbo announced that they are offering their service to cable companies to help them capture the “long-tail” of video on demand. Click here to view Roger’s review, which provides a mix of video, animation and commentary.

Hi Def, Downloads & More at CinemaNow

One of the companies that has been pioneering the concept of Internet television since the late 1990s is CinemaNow. Last week, I had a chance to talk to CinemaNow’s President, Bruce Eisen, regarding some of the recent developments in delivering video over the Internet. In this audio interview, he discusses the re-launch of their site, the demand for High Definition content and their success in pioneering the download-to-own video content model. Click here to listen to Eisen's perspective and learn from him how many CinemaNow customers are watching their service via the television.

Howard Stern – This Generation’s Milton Berle?

Milton Berle was one of the early stars who helped establish television in the hearts and living rooms of America. Fast forward fifty-plus years and, once again, what could really establish Internet Television is an anchor celebrity, like a Howard Stern (hmm, like Berle before him, Stern sometimes dresses up like a woman). So the idea of, Howard Stern bringing his television program directly to his audience on an on-demand basis is old news as this was suggested in these online pages last October. That it would firmly establish an Internet to TV service, like an Akimbo, CinemaNow, DaveTV, Movielink or Video Without Boundaries, is also probably a given.

What is interesting is that there have been reports in the last few weeks that Howard Stern is considering bringing his television show [he did not review with E!] to a VOD format [conventional wisdom suggests this would be via regular cable television distribution]. Evidence that a VOD approach could work for Stern is provided by Bridge Ratings and their analysis that suggests that 23% of his audience will definitely subscribe to Sirius, which translates into approximately 4 million potential subscribers. Even if only a quarter of this audio audience were willing to pay for a subscription video on demand version of Howard Stern, this would represent an audience of 1 million subscribers; a significant boost for any Internet TV venture.

FirstMile – An Advocate for Ubiquitous Big Broadband

Surely, there must be better uses for bandwidth than delivering Howard Stern to his loyal fan base. FirstMile and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) are partnering to find those better applications and will be educating the public and communities about how broadband can improve all facets of life, including entertainment, healthcare, transportation, environment and education. As stated by Larry Smarr of Calit2, “our institute's mission is to accelerate the extension of the Internet throughout the physical world. We believe that FirstMile.US is tackling a critical part of this extension - big broadband." This partnership is another indicator that broadband is becoming the new universal service – whatever that means in a world where the effective definition of broadband is changing with every advance of technology.

Public Access & Ensign’s Legislation

Senator Ensign’s proposed legislation attempts to be technology-neutral, while providing a level playing field between competitors. I am interested to hear from my lawyer friends out there whether his legislation advances the idea that broadband should be treated as a universal service. A book could probably be devoted to the potential impact of this legislation, but, in this issue, I am going to focus on one rumor that has been floating level around the Internet.

The rumor is that Public Access channels could be in jeopardy with Senator Ensign’s new bill. My quick read and interpretation of the bill suggest that franchising authorities will not be allowed to mandate more than a total of four public, education, or government channels per franchise. To level the playing field, existing franchisors will have to comply with this rule as well. Potentially, this could mean that communities with more than four PEG channels, which would tend to be in larger metropolitan areas, could potentially see a reduction in the number of channels. Again, I welcome feedback from experts in this area.

The Wireless Option

Wireless is clearly going to play a role in the broadband infrastructure. In the previous issue of the Viodi View, Alarm.com and their use of wireless to monitor residential alarm systems was mentioned as a new feature that could be incorporated into a broadband network. There is definitely a scenario where Alarm.com and Vonage, their marketing partner, could cozy up a little bit closer and use wireless as a transport mechanism for voice and alarm data, as well as other bundled communications services.

Click here to see my video interview with one service provider that is already offering bundled communications services via wireless (802.11). What is notable about this interview is that one of the links connecting our Packet8 video phones was a six mile WiFi connection.

People on the Move:

This may be old news to many of you, but it was news to me, so here are some recent changes that people you may know have made. I was pleased to hear that Dr. Robert Pepper, formerly Chief of the FCC Policy Bureau, is now at Cisco. I also heard that his OPASTCO presentation was very well received by the attendees at the OPASTCO Summer Convention. Congratulations to Jodi Benassi, formerly of Minerva Networks, for her new role as Vice President of Sales at NetCentrix.

The Korner – Right Banner Ad, Wrong University?

One of the more interesting developments occurred several weeks ago when Cdigix announced that they had signed on to be the exclusive broadband distributor of music and entertainment content to the University of California and California State University systems. Their system allows students to download licensed music and video over the universities’ broadband networks. With a nephew about to enter the Cal State San Luis Obispo, I found this article to be of particular interest.

Cdigix has been around for a number of years, but this has got to be their single biggest win as these universities represent hundreds of thousands of new students. Part of the reason the universities are doing this is to give their students a legal alternative to the illegal download systems that used to proliferate on campuses. By going after the student demographic, Cdigix is securing a customer-base early in its product life cycle. It reminds me of the strategy the Wall Street Journal and other publications use to secure long-term relationships with college students. Of course, in order for this strategy (assuming it is Cdigix's strategy) to be successful, Cdigix will also need to secure licensing with content owners that includes residential rights, so that they continue selling to them long after they leave school.

Appropriately enough, the UCLA Bruin online student paper provides a very good analysis of the service that Cdigix offers. I found the banner ad on the top of the UCLA publication a bit inappropriate, as it seems like it would be a better fit, so to speak, on the web site of UCLA’s cross-town rival, the USC Trojans.

Click here to see the UCLA article and, hopefully, they will not have rotated this interesting banner ad that offers UCLA students "free shipping, largest selection, private & discrete and 10% off."

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