Avid skipping NAB

Avid Technology is skipping this year's NAB in Las Vegas. This is a pretty huge change in marketing strategy for Avid, considering that they are usually one of the higher profile exhibitors at the event. The reasoning they are giving is that they have lost touch with the local television station market. Apple's Final Cut has been making serious inroads on Avid's territory in recent years and this past year's release of Final Cut Server, which gives local television a really affordable end to end Final Cut Pro solution, may have been the final straw for Avid who is doing poorly enough that they recently laid off 129 people. With local tv stations looking to cut costs as more and more advertising dollars migrate to the web, it's time for Avid to sit down with their core customers and remind them why Avid is so much better than Final Cut and why it cost so much more. Not sure how easy that's going to be.

Check out this Broadcasting & Cable article for more details

AT&T says Aloha to the bidding

The government isn't auctioning off the wireless spectrum being vacated in the digital television conversion until this January. But AT&T got a head start this week giving Aloha Partners a whopping $2.5 BILLION dollars in cash for two 6-Megahertz channels in the 700-MHz band that reach 196 million people in 281 U.S. markets. There has been wide speculation that this band will be used by AT&T and other potential bidders (Verizon, Google et al) for broadcasting mobile video. One analyst in this B&C MultiChannel News article believes that AT&T has other plans because mobile video hasn't show enough potential to warrant this kind of expenditure and I completely agree with him. Another analyst in the article believes mobile video isn't the answer because of AT&T's agreement with Qualcomm's MediaFlo subsidiary, who has been also been buying up spectrum recently. I disagree with this reasoning. This is AT&T, they are smart enough (see LTE project) to realize the infinite number of services that could come from high speed wireless broadband. Mobile video will undoubtedly be one of these services but probably not the one that will end up yielding the highest ROI.

This also represents a strategic shift towards wireless rather than fiber iptv from AT&T. Verizon is spending a ton on FiOS (recent FiOs news on Engadget). AT&T was expected to follow suit with U-Verse. * With FiOS not a smashing success yet, or at least not looking profitable for the foreseeable future, AT&T may shy away and look more towards wireless and catching up with Sprint whose forthcoming Xohm wireless broadband service is already generating a lot of hype.

*Note: While AT&T was expected roll out its UVerse IPTV service almost aggressively as Verizon is pushing FiOS, they've made it clear that they are not planning on investing in fiber all the way to home like Verizon, which is extremely costly in terms of infrastructure (and risky given the pace of wireless technology innovation)

CNN + user gen = "News to Me"

CNN is debuting "News to Me" on Saturday, May 19 at 12:30pm. They claim, according to their press release, that this is the "first cable news program comprised of user-generated video." Apparently they've never heard of (or prefer to ignore) Current TV which is a cable news channel consisting ENTIRELY of user gen content. While CNN, its competitors, and other traditional media outlets, including the NYT, have widely accepted amateur video as relevant for almost a year now (Virginia Tech anyone?) this is still a significant story. I feel that previously CNN and the like saw user gen as a necessary evil in order to get the most sensational and behind the scenes footage. I see "News to Me" as an opportunity to get reports on mainstream news stories from the perspective of correspondents who didn't just step off the red eye an hour ago. This is not a novel concept, its the entire idea behind Current, but its good to see an outlet as mainstream as CNN embracing it.

Users can submit reports through the “Send Your I-Report” link on CNN.com or by emailing it to ireport@cnn.com

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Comcast to try out IPTV, Verizon quietly curls up into fetal position

Verizon built an ultra expensive, ultra fast all fiber network that they thought would be "future proof" (up to 100 megs a second, ooh! aah!) and give them an upper hand on the cable MSO's in delivering video with more interactivity. They use a closed network IP infrastructure (similar to the Internet but proprietary) for their FiOS service which allows for a direct connection to headend which theoretically makes more interactivity possible. Comcast says "i don't think so beeyotch" and plans to use a new high speed cable technology called DOCSIS 3.0 that will allow them to utilize their current infrastructure to do the same shit. It is commonly known and recognized that Verizon took a huge gamble with their investment in fiber. The main reason being that advancements in compression and wireless technologies could render its speed obsolete before it is even fully deployed. Another problem they've had is communicating to customers what exactly is so great about IPTV. It looks like that problem may be the least of their worries.

On a side note, Comcast is pretty badass, and will soon be launching cell phone service to compete with Verizon's inevitable "Home Run" package of video, internet, home phone and cellular on one bill (already available in parts of Florida).

Article from B&C's Multichannel news

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