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Tag: Intel Cable TV

  • Verizon to Acquire Intel’s IP TV Initiative

    In 2012 it was revealed that Intel was looking to enter the TV industry in force, bringing streaming IPTV and a change to the way cable subscriptions work. Like Apple’s rumored TV plans, however, Intel’s TV ambitions were thwarted by cable companies currently very comfortable with their regional monopolies.

    Today it appears that Intel has given up on IPTV for good. Verizon today announced that it will acquire Intel Media, Intel’s clould TV products and services division. The terms of the deal, including Verizon’s offer, have not been revealed but the transaction is expected to close sometime “early in the first quarter of 2014.”

    Through the purchase Verizon will receive all of the rights to Intel’s OnCue IPTV platform. The former Intel Media will continue to be operated out of its current Santa Clara location and will be run by Intel’s current management. Verizon has stated that it will make offers to the estimated 350 Intel employees currently working at Intel Media.

    As part of its statement on the purchase, Verizon stated that Intel Media will be used to accelerate its plans for IPTV video over its FiOS network. The OnCue platform will be combined with Verizon’s new network video-delivery services to expand the provider’s video offerings, perhaps even through its mobile network.

    “The OnCue platform and team will help Verizon bring next-generation video services to audiences who increasingly expect to view content when, where and how they want it,” said Lowell McAdam, CEO and chairman of Verizon. “Verizon already has extensive video content relationships, fixed and wireless delivery networks, and customer relationships in both the home and on mobile. This transaction provides us with the capabilities to build a powerful, capitally efficient engine for future growth and innovation. We will have the opportunity to enhance, expand, accelerate and integrate our delivery of video products and services to better serve audiences on a wide array of devices.”

  • Intel TV Service Delayed by Cable Companies

    Intel‘s new push into the cable TV arena could be delayed significantly, if cable companies have their way. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Intel’s plan to offer cable TV over the internet is on hold until content-licensing agreements can be ironed out with cable companies.

    Citing unnamed “people familiar with [Intel’s] plans,” the journal reports that the new cable service might be available by mid or late 2013.

    Content negotiations with cable companies are rumored to have been a stumbling block for Apple’s HDTV device as well. In September 2012 it became clear that a fall launch of the Apple TV set would not pan out. Cable companies were rumored to be insisting that Apple devices be rented to consumers through cable companies, and that they have a hand in the development of the software running on the device – a point on which Apple almost certainly won’t budge.

    For Intel, the holdup could be the company’s plans to offer TV channel subscriptions a la carte, rather than exclusively in bundles. Cable companies have enjoyed content monopolies for years, shoring up less-viewed channels and niche programming with the package deals. By once again preventing cable TV from catching up to technology, the companies risk losing out to a burgeoning world of content networks and studios popping up online.