DENVER — Thirty months after acquiring the distressed assets of IPTV provider MobiTV at auction for $18.5 million, Xperi and its TiVo brand are making moves with the business. 

The company used this week’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo to announce a new hardware partnership, with Denver-based Evolution Digital’s Evo Force 1 set-top and Fuse 4K streaming stick becoming the exclusive devices in North and South America for the ongoing MobiTV concern, which has been rebranded as “TiVo’s Managed IPTV Service.”

The move follows a similar arrangement with U.K. tech company Amino in Europe.

The deal marks only the latest collaboration between TiVo's software and Evolutions's hardware.  

“Our continued collaboration represents a significant milestone for both companies and a major leap forward in enhancing the streaming video aggregation for service providers’ broadband-only customers,” Marc Cohen, chief revenue officer at Evolution Digital, said in a statement. “Our combined expertise offers innovative, high-quality video solutions that set new industry standards.“

Added TiVo senior VP of global sales Jeffrey Glahn: “As a preferred development partner for Evolution Digital, we endeavor to provide solutions to the broadband market to stay competitive, retain customers, get to market quickly and minimize video costs.“

Evolution Digital said it will now integrate OpenSync, an open-sourced framework for Wi-Fi management software, into its Android TV-powered Evo Force 1 set-tops. 

Under the first phase of the integration, OpenSync will make information about customer Wi-Fi networks, including diagnostics and telemetry, transparent to operators via Plume's Frontline proactive support tools.

Comcast-backed Plume is the Wi-Fi tech company that developed OpenSync, along with Samsung.

Subsequent stages of the OpenSync integration will enable Evo Force 1 gadgets to simultaneously serve as Wi-Fi extenders, while also providing customers with network security and parental controls. 

“That’s exactly what’s on our roadmap — so operators will be able to reduce the amount of CPE in the home by enabling Wi-Fi extender capabilities on the Wi-Fi chipset within the set-top box,” an Evolution Digital spokesperson told Next TV.

“This isn’t available yet today, but these are our plans to expand upon the OpenSync agent on the STB,” the rep added. “Other roadmap functionalities include Plume features such as parental controls in order to block certain streaming apps from being used, for example.”

With the OpenSync Summit unfurling in Taipei, Taiwan, this week, this was the second major global announcement surrounding OpenSync. Earlier on Wednesday, RDK announced that the open-sourced framework will now be baked into its RDK for Broadband standards. 

“The marriage of Evo Force 1 and future Android TV roadmap devices with the OpenSync framework delivers a truly optimized experience for the end customer, and offers best-in-breed cloud intelligence to CSPs worldwide that are looking to deliver high-quality IPTV video offerings,” said Marc Cohen, chief revenue officer for Evolution Digital, in a statement. 

Added Liem Vo, chief OpenSync officer at Plume: “With in-home 4K UHD multi-streaming putting increased loads on home networks, service providers must turn to intelligent cloud-managed solutions to ensure optimal set-top box connectivity and an impeccable customer experience. By opting for OpenSync and Plume’s SaaS Experience Platform — including whole-home adaptive Wi-Fi — Evolution Digital has taken an important step in providing a future-proofed and highly scalable platform that will fulfill the consumers’ streaming needs into the future.” ■

The National Cable Television Cooperative said it has reached an agreement with Evolution Digital to make the WiFi and video solutions provider’s suite of broadband and Android TV products available to NCTC’s more than 700 service provider members. 

As part of the deal, NCTC member operators can access Evolution’s OpenSync certified devices as well as its line of Android TV hardware including eSTREAM 4K, EVO FORCE 1 and EVO PRO.

“This new agreement further builds upon the trusted and long-standing relationship between Evolution Digital and NCTC,” Evolution Digital chief revenue officer Marc Cohen said in a press release. “We are excited to continue our close partnership to enable best-in-breed services for the connected whole-home ecosystem. Evolution Digital’s acumen for delivering the latest innovative technology at a competitive price point, coupled with NCTC’s reliability and efficiency for managing materials and transactions, breeds reliability and promptness with the service providers that we jointly serve. We look forward to working closely with NCTC.”

News of the Evolution deal comes on the heels of an enhanced partnership agreement between the co-op and OpenVault that will bring technical solutions and data-driven analytics to NCTC members to help improve broadband business outcomes. 

As part of that agreement, NCTC members will have access to OpenVault’s lineup of tools to improve network performance, subscriber satisfaction and monetization. NCTC and OpenVault also will provide the NCTC-OpenVault Industry Trends and Analytics Report, a customized report containing leading indicators and analysis to help NCTC members make informed business decisions and stay ahead of broadband usage trends.

As part of the preferred partnership, OpenVault will drive value to NCTC members via:

“Since 2012, OpenVault and NCTC have had a great partnership. OpenVault’s tools enable our Members to make data driven decisions to better manage and monetize their networks as consumer demands rapidly change,” NCTC director, technology innovation Zach Cutrell said in a press release. “This new agreement only strengthens our relationship, expanding on the available feature set while introducing new pricing options for even our smallest Members.”

NCTC and OpenVault (Booth 315) will make the first edition of the customized OVBI report available at The Independent Show July 24-27 in Orlando, Florida. In addition, OpenVault CEO and founder Mark Trudeau, Cutrell and other NCTC members will discuss broadband usage trends during an NCTC-members webinar on August 18 (2 PM CT).

“NCTC members’ commitments to network performance and customer satisfaction have been huge contributors to broadband’s near-ubiquitous footprint,” OpenVault chief commercial officer Josh Barstow said in a press release. “Working more closely than ever with NCTC, we can deliver the solutions and expertise operators need to bring the full value of broadband to the communities they serve.”

Centennial, Colo.-based video tech company Evolution Digital touted a key customer win for its Android TV-based eStream 4K set-top, securing deployment with Madison, Wis.-based cable operator TDS Telecom.

TDS touts 1.2 million broadband, TV and phone connections across 24 states. Currently, the MSO is using CommScope’s Arris-branded set-tops with its TDS TV+ IPTV system, which relies on TiVo software running on an Android TV operator tier OS. (In April, CommScope unveiled a plan to spin off its struggling set-top and broadband gateway business.)

In addition to integrating the eStream 4K set-top into the TDS TV+ customer premises equipment portfolio, TDS will also deploy Evolution Digital's eDM back-office software-as-a-service solution (SaaS) product, which will enable the cable operator to monitor devices, perform diagnostics and compute analytics.

TDS joins an Evolution Digital client roster that also includes Liberty Latin America, Blue Stream, Cincinnati Bell, Grande, Metronet, RCN, Midco, Blue Ridge and Service Electric Cablevision. 

“As the popularity of streaming 4K UHD content, online gaming and other services continues to grow, customer premise equipment has increasingly had a larger role in meeting the consumer requirements for connected media experiences,” said Marc Cohen, executive VP of marketing and sales for Evolution Digital, in a statement. “Our Android TV offering, coupled with eDM, facilitate both enhanced customer satisfaction and streamlined OPEX, as operators like TDS can now avoid time and money spent towards truck rolls, equipment replacement and blind, reactive troubleshooting.”

Evolution Digital has announced the deployment of Evolution Device Manager (eDM), a new cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform designed to manage Evolution’s eSTREAM 4K Android TV set-tops.

Centennial, Colo.-based Evolution Digital said cable operators Midco, Blude Ridge and Service Electric Cablevision are among the first existing eSTREAM clients to sign on for the new cloud-based platform.

The eDM service enables operators to monitor device information, including location, internet connection status, app installations and storage. Device analytics include CPU temperature and utilization, WiFi and Bluetooth signal strength, network speed and response time, and RAM and ROM utilization.

Visit Next TV to read more stories like this one. 

Device control features include group reboot, lock, unlock and factory reset.

Device administration capabilities include API specification for all core eDM features, device group creation and provisioning, user/page authorities and settings.

“eDM offers an unparalleled solution for operators to anticipate the needs of the consumer, rather than relying on reactive approaches like fielding unanticipated customer service calls,” > said Evolution Digital COO Cash Hagen, in a statement. “As consumers increasingly transition towards all-IP video solutions, eSTREAM 4K, powered by Android TV, with eDM facilitate both enhanced customer satisfaction and streamlined OPEX, as operators can now avoid time and money spent towards truck rolls, equipment replacement and blind troubleshooting.”

Evolution Digital has announced the deployment of Evolution Device Manager (eDM), a new cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform designed to manage Evolution’s eSTREAM 4K Android TV set-tops. 

Centennial, Colo.-based Evolution Digital said cable operators Midco, Blude Ridge and Service Electric Cablevision are among the first existing eSTREAM clients to sign on for the new cloud-based platform. 

The eDM service enables operators to monitor device information, including location, internet connection status, app installations and storage. Device analytics include CPU temperature and utilization, WiFi and Bluetooth signal strength, network speed and response time, and RAM and ROM utilization. 

Device control features include group reboot, lock, unlock and factory reset.

Device administration capabilities include API specification for all core eDM features, device group creation and provisioning, user/page authorities and settings. 

“eDM offers an unparalleled solution for operators to anticipate the needs of the consumer, rather than relying on reactive approaches like fielding unanticipated customer service calls,” > said Evolution Digital COO Cash Hagen, in a statement. “As consumers increasingly transition towards all-IP video solutions, eSTREAM 4K, powered by Android TV, with eDM facilitate both enhanced customer satisfaction and streamlined OPEX, as operators can now avoid time and money spent towards truck rolls, equipment replacement and blind troubleshooting.”

NEW ORLEANS - Centennial, Colorado-based cable video tech provider Evolution Digital used the Cable-Tec Expo event today to announce its latest customer win, the deployment of its eStream 4K set-top in Midcontinent Communications’ new IPTV service, which is slated to debut early next year.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Midco will deploy the Android TV-powered eStream 4K devices, along with a TiVo user interface, giving users of the managed network service access to OTT apps in the Google Play Store. The cable operator will also use Evolution Digital’s Device Manager (eDM), a software platform that provides management, control, monitoring and analytics of devices, as well as the ability to deploy software, firmware and security updates to customer devices.

In July, it was reported that Buckeye Broadband and MaxxSouth, two cable operators owned by Toledo, Ohio-based Block Communications, have deployed app-based video services powered by Evolution Digital’s full IP-based platform.

This followed a similar deployment by Missouri’s Vast Broadband, which Evolution announced in June.

“As Android TV is becoming pay-TV providers’ chosen ecosystem, Evolution Digital provides the necessary ongoing elements that come with building, certifying and maintaining Android TV in-production, while helping operators, like Midco, build a strong foundation for current and future innovation to outcompete in the market for many years to come,” said Marc Cohen, executive VP of sales and marketing for Evolution Digital, in a statement.

Added Bill Chatwell, Midco’s director of video systems: “As we begin to make a major migration to cloud-based video, we trust Evolution Digital’s expertise to help lead us in to the future of streaming, providing our customers an unparalleled TV service at scale.”

We’ve been hearing about it for more than a year now, but the Android TV invasion of the U.S. pay TV business has officially hit our shore lines.

Just look at all the U.S. pay TV activity surrounding the platform that occurred in July.

In the coming weeks, AT&T will begin the beta deployment of “thin-client” set-tops, based on the Google OTT platform, powering the new IP-based AT&T TV pay TV service.

Meanwhile, Madison, Wisc.-based TDS Telecom, which is using TiVo’s Next-Gen Platform to transition its video business into IPTV delivery, is choosing the TiVo cloud-based systems’ option to deploy video to Android TV-based CPE, as well as iOS and Android-powered mobile devices. TDS will become the first North American operator to deploy Arris’ Android TV-powered set-tops, selecting the Arris VIP6102W UHD IP model device.

Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Midco said it’s following the same plan. It just signed onto use the TiVo Next-Gen Platform and will also choose Android TV clients on the CPE end.

It was also noted by MCN in July that Buckeye Broadband and MaxxSouth, two cable operators owned by Toledo, Ohio-based Block Communications, started advertising new app-based video services powered by Evolution Digital’s full IP-based platform. The Evolution platform delivers IPTV services to iOS and Android mobile devices, as well as branded versions of Evolution Digital’s proprietary Android TV powered eStream 4K device.

Sikeston, Missouri-based operator Vast Broadband has also signed onto the Evolution Digital IPTV solution and will begin deployments toward the end fo the year.

Android TV is used by a limited number of smart TV manufacturers, as well as OTT devices such as Dish’s AirTV, but it’s market share among the big OTT ecosystems sold through retail channels—Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, etc.— is pretty nascent.

However, the operator tier version of Android TV, which lets cable companies and other video service proprietors deliver highly customized managed services based on the technology, is thriving. Operators are able to deliver their branded, managed services, keeping control of their user data, to relatively inexpensive set-top hardware. They’re able to provide their customers access to most major OTT apps through the Google Play store. That now includes Amazon Prime Video, thanks to the detente recently carved out between Amazon and Google. Oh, and vMVPD service Hulu with Live TV will also soon be available on Android TV.

And these operators are also able to deliver voice control through Google Assistant technology.

In a U.S. pay TV business where Comcast’s X1 has helped make voice control and integration of Netflix, Hulu and other OTT apps table stakes, Android TV is providing a path for smaller operators that don’t have tech development labs to deliver next-generation video services.

The infiltration of Android TV is also being driven by the major video software suppliers, including TiVo, MobiTV and Evolution Digital and Amino, which have made Android TV compatibility a key component of end-to-end IPTV SaaS solution they’re providing to operators.

In December, a Google rep told MCN that 100 pay TV operators around the world were using Android TV. Shalini Govil-Pai, senior director of product management for Android TV, said the platform, designed to provide access to over-the-top apps on digital video players, is now being used by “tens of millions” of consumers, primarily in Europe and Asia.

By April, that number had increased to 140, a number that is certainly even higher still with all of the U.S. Android TV activity that was announced in July.

Android TV is making this push despite opposition from the biggest names in the cable business. Comcast, Charter Communications and Liberty Global back the rival Reference Design Kit (RDK), defines a different software stack for pay TV set-tops, network gateways and other CPE. 

Buckeye Broadband and MaxxSouth, two cable operators owned by Toledo, Ohio-based Block Communications, have deployed app-based video services powered by Evolution Digital’s full IP-based platform.

Centennial, Colo.-based Evolution Digital, which announced deployment of its IP video solution with Missouri’s Vast Broadband last month, would not confirm the client deployments. 

But an individual with knowledge of MaxxSouth TV and Buckeye’s StreamTV said the services—which deliver IP content to popular mobile and OTT and mobile devices, sans proprietary set-top—are based on the Evolution Digital technology.

Related: Evolution Digital to Deploy Full IP Video Platform with Vast Broadband

Evolution Digital’s eVue-TV content delivery system provides residential and business customers with app-based access to hundreds of linear channels, video on demand, network DVR and pay-per-view programming through platforms including Apple TV, iOS and Android Mobile. Apps associated with the platform are playable on Evolution Digital’s proprietary Android TV powered eStream 4K devices.

Buckeye, for example, is advertising a StreamTV bundle that includes the Big Four broadcast networks, along with around 26 basic cable channels. Households can have four streams at once, on a 4K-capable, Android TV-powered eStream set-top branded “Jetstream,” or on an Apple TV device. Viewers can also use iOS and Android-powered mobile devices.

Tier 2 & 3 operators are turning to robust IP-based video platforms offered by vendors including Evolution Digital, TiVo and MobiTV, as new video technologies such as 4K and app-based viewing emerge, but the will to handle major headend and CPE upgrades for video wanes. 

Video tech vendor Evolution Digital has struck a deal to deploy its full IP video solution with Sikeston, Missouri-based operator Vast Broadband.

Vast will deploy Evolution Digital’s eVue-TV content delivery system to provide its 57,000 residential and business customers with app-based access to more than 300 linear channels, video on demand, network DVR and pay-per-view programming through platforms including Roku, Apple TV, iOS and Android Mobile. The app is also playable on Evolution Digital’s proprietary Android TV powered eStream 4K devices.

Vast customers will also use Evolution’s eMerge user interface. The Centennial, Colorado-based vendor said its client will have its deployment completed by the end of the year.

Related: Evolution Digital Launches eMerge App-Based UI for Operators

"After careful consideration of the options available to us in the marketplace, we chose Evolution Digital as our trusted IPTV partner to lead our business and customers into the next generation of streaming content across the most popular managed and retail devices," said Vast CEO Jim Gleason, in a statement. "Evolution Digital's eVue-TV and eMerge offerings allow us to cost-effectively make the transition to IP with the aggregation of high-value IP content.”

Evolution Digital reps say they have several tier 2 operators almost ready to announce deployments of the full eVue-TV pipline. Others, the company said, are in trials. 

Evolution Digital is debuting its newest customizable app-based video user interface software for pay TV operators, eMerge.

Launching a year after Evolution’s similarly focused eVue-Now!, which is now being phased out, eMerge is designed to deliver the vendor’s eVue-TV pay-TV platform, along with various OTT services, on devices including Evolution Digital's 4K-capable, Android TV-powered eStream set-top. (eVUE-TV offers pay-TV operators’ full line-ups of IP video content, with advanced features and functionalities like network DVR recording, catch-up and start-over viewing.)

eMerge can also run on streaming players including Roku and Apple TV, as well as iOS and Android mobile devices.

The fully integrated software client offers operator-customizable menu categories, campaigns and featured programs. 

The software, which is priced on a pay as you go model, also provides deep linking and universal search across content.

Related: Evolution Digital Names Former WOW Exec Hagen COO

Centennial, Colorado-based Evolution has carved out a niche providing video system hardware and software to tier two and three pay TV operators looking to blend IP and OTT video with linear.

“eMerge is designed to empower operators to add creativity and innovation to the look and feel of their customers’ viewing experience,” said Brent Smith, chief strategy officer, in a statement. “Most user interface options in the marketplace today limit the operator’s ability to tailor the user experience to meet the specific needs of its subscribers. Evolution Digital’s eMERGE breaks this paradigm by enabling dynamic UI changes to incorporate new and compelling content from multiple sources, which is critical in the ever-changing world of video.”

Centennial, Co.-based vendor Evolution Digital has announced the hiring of former WideOpenWest executive Cash Hagen as chief operating officer.

Starting Oct. 1, Hagen will oversee Evolution Digital’s expansion of its IP-based video and broadband technology solutions for cable operators, reporting directly to CEO Chris Egan.

Hagen quietly departed as WOW’s COO in May, as the operator’s CEO, Teresa Elder continued to shake up upper management and build out her team. He had served as CTO for WOW from 2008-2016.

Related: Evolution Digital Launches Android TV-Based Box for MVPDs

“Cash’s experience as a senior executive at a large broadband and pay-TV provider is invaluable to Evolution Digital in this next stage of transitioning operators to IP video delivery and continued acceleration of broadband growth,” said Egan, in a statement. “He has proven to be a successful and trusted leader with a strong reputation for driving growth, enhancing profitability and efficiency while delivering long-term value for cable and telecommunications providers. I have unwavering confidence in Cash’s ability to build on Evolution Digital’s many competitive advantages.”

It’s the latest top-level management move for Evolution Digital, which in August made two key promotions, naming VP of engineering Panneer Ramalingam its new chief technology officer, while incumbent CTO Brent Smith moved to the newly created role of chief strategy officer.

Evolution Digital said it has made two key promotions, naming vice president of engineering Panneer Ramalingam its new chief technology officer, while current CTO Brent Smith moves to the newly created role of chief strategy officer of the IP video company.

In his new role Ramalingam is responsible for leading the engineering, development and support teams across the company. He is the founder of i-Velozity, which was acquired by Evolution Digital in 2015 and later became Evolution Digital's eVUE-TV® IP Video Platform.

Related: Evolution Digital Buys i-Velozity

Smith co-founded Evolution Digital in 2008 and has spearheaded its future product strategy. As chief strategy officer, he will continue to provide direction, as well as establish key client and partner advancements, working closely with the sales, marketing, product and engineering groups across the organization.

"We look forward to driving our continued growth as we best situate ourselves as cable operators' leading next-generation IP video solutions provider," said co-founder and CEO Chris Egan in a statement. "I am excited for Brent and Panneer to lead our innovation and better serve the needs of providers in this rapidly-evolving industry. Today's announcement allows us to improve upon our operational excellence, as well as pivot in taking a dominant role with our customers as they move to IP video delivery."

Related: Evolution Digital Expands Customer Roster 

Based in Centennial, Colo., Evolution Digital provides integrated IP hybrid devices and IP video solutions for the global cable industry. Its eVUE-TV Ip Video Platform has been deployed by more than 25 cable operators across the country.  

Tom Bracken, an industry vet most recently with Evolution Digital, has joined event cinema distributor Fathom Events as vice president of marketing.

Bracken’s move was one in a set of leadership announcements made Monday by the Denver-based Fathom Events, as it also appointed Nancy Silverstone as VP of programming, and promoted Daren Miller to VP of business affairs and strategy.

Silverstone was the principal at Millstone Partners LLC, a consulting firm she launched focused on TV and film content projects, and previously was VP of program acquisitions for Starz, and led international programming distribution initiatives at HBO and Fox Lorber.

Miller, who has been with Fathom Events since 2014, previously was with CenturyLink, Fox/Liberty Networks, Liberty Media Corp., and Tele-Communication Inc. (now part of Comcast).

In his new role, Bracken will head up Fathom’s advertising, event marketing, digital marketing, branding, sponsorships and public relations.

Bracken most recently was with Evolution Digital, a Colorado-based company focused on next-gen video products and platforms for independent, tier 2/3 cable operators. He’s also late of Comcast Technology Solutions, Technicolor and DirecTV.

RELATED: Evolution Digital Launches Android TV-Based Box for MVPDs

Fathom Events is an event cinema distributor that works with theaters in all 100 of the top DMAs. It’s owned by AMC Entertainment, Cinemark Holdings, and Regal Entertainment Group. 

While Comcast has netted some key tier-1 providers for its X1 syndication program, suppliers that are more focused on the independent, small- and mid-tier portion of the cable industry have been locking in on new devices that are powered by Google’s Android TV platform.

Under an apps-based approach, those Android TV devices are being made to support a cable operator’s pay TV service alongside integrated access to over-the-top content from sources such as Netflix, and woven together via a unified interface.

The offer of these Android TV-based devices — either for rent or for outright sale — is also becoming more prominent as pay TV providers continue to migrate to IP-based video platforms.

Android TV has clearly become an attractive option for several service providers, or vendors that support them, in the U.S. and in Canada, including TiVo, Evolution Digital, MobiTV and Telus. Even Dish Network is getting into the Android TV act for its hospitality business.

Among them, Evolution Digital just launched the eSTREAM 4K, a device based on Android TV that uses voice navigation and can support the pay TV provider’s service (via an OTT app or a managed IPTV service) and integrate with other premium apps offered via Google Play.

That device can be branded by the multichannel video programming distributor and offered for sale or for rent, or be presented as a managed device, whereby the box boots up directly into the provider’s video application.

Android TV is attractive in this instance in part because, “it essentially brings all of the key components on the OTT side,” Brent Smith, Evolution Digital’s president and chief technology officer, said in a recent interview. “Access to the high value OTT world is one of the compelling reasons for Android TV.”

Related: Evolution Digital Debuts App-Based OTT-TV Platform for Smaller Cable Ops

Colin Dixon, chief analyst and founder at nScreenMedia, said: “It makes a lot of sense for operators to look into [an Android TV option]. It gets them where they need to be, and very quickly.”

Dixon said Android TV also makes business sense, given its lack of license fees, though suppliers and MVPDs will still need to outlay the costs for the back-end services, content encryption, customer management and other components that make up the overall solution.

On Board With Android TV

Among the pay TV tech suppliers that have developed or are working on Android TV-powered platforms:

• Evolution Digital: Last month, the company introduced the eSTREAM 4K, a product that can be deployed in different modes, including as a managed device from the pay TV operator, or to be sold outright.

• MobiTV: Its Connect platform is designed for an operator-managed, IP-based, app-based platform. MobiTV, which recently announced a deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative, said it supports several platforms, including Android TV devices such as the Nvidia Shield.

• TiVo: The company is pushing ahead with a device-agnostic approach that will help its MVPD partners migrate to an IP-based multiscreen platform. That work includes a client that will run on an MSO-managed Android TV device expected to be launched by mid-2018.

• Telus: Pik TV, Telus’s new slimmed-down IPTV package, runs on smartphones and tablets, and also works with an Android TV-based “media box” that is being sold for C$100.

• CenturyLink: CenturyLink Stream — a virtual MVPD service that’s in the process of being shut down as the telco instead seeks out partnerships with other OTT TV providers — had been offering the CenturyLink Player, an Android TV device made by LG Electronics, for $89.99.

• Dish Network: Last June, Dish launched Evolve, a 4K-capable, Android TV-powered “set-back” box and interface that is tailored for hotels and other partners in the hospitality market.
• Update: As a reader helpfully pointed out, AT&T/DirecTV also has Android TV on its radar. Per FCC documents, DirecTV is developing an Android TV-powered box that will rely on OTT distribution and support voice search/navigation and the 4K video format.

--This story also ran in the March 5 edition of Multichannel News (subscription required)

While Comcast has netted some key tier-1 providers for its X1 syndication program, suppliers that are more focused on the independent, small- and mid-tier portion of the cable industry have been locking in on new devices that are powered by Google’s Android TV platform.

Under an apps-based approach, those Android TV devices are being made to support a cable operator’s pay TV service alongside integrated access to over-the-top content from sources such as Netflix, and woven together via a unified interface.

The offer of these Android TV-based devices — either for rent or for outright sale — is also becoming more prominent as pay TV providers continue to migrate to IP-based video platforms.

Android TV has clearly become an attractive option for several service providers, or vendors that support them, in the U.S. and in Canada, including TiVo, Evolution Digital, MobiTV and Telus. Even Dish Network is getting into the Android TV act for its hospitality business.

Among them, Evolution Digital just launched the eSTREAM 4K, a device based on Android TV that uses voice navigation and can support the pay TV provider’s service (via an OTT app or a managed IPTV service) and integrate with other premium apps offered via Google Play.

That device can be branded by the multichannel video programming distributor and offered for sale or for rent, or be presented as a managed device, whereby the box boots up directly into the provider’s video application.

Android TV is attractive in this instance in part because, “it essentially brings all of the key components on the OTT side,” Brent Smith, Evolution Digital’s president and chief technology officer, said in a recent interview. “Access to the high value OTT world is one of the compelling reasons for Android TV.”

Related: Evolution Digital Debuts App-Based OTT-TV Platform for Smaller Cable Ops

Colin Dixon, chief analyst and founder at nScreen Media, said: “It makes a lot of sense for operators to look into [an Android TV option]. It gets them where they need to be, and very quickly.”

Dixon said Android TV also makes business sense, given its lack of license fees, though suppliers and MVPDs will still need to outlay the costs for the back-end services, content encryption, customer management and other components that make up the overall solution.

To help fuel its IP video transition, Mediacom Communications will deploy Evolution’s “eBOX,” a hybrid IP/QAM set-top that will be powered by TiVo’s software and user interface.

Read More: Additional Coverage of the NCTC Winter Educational Conference

Mediacom, which has deploying a video offering that leans on TiVo’s platform since striking the original deal in 2012, will use the eBOX as its primary, next-gen, non-DVR device throughout its footprint.

RELATED: Mediacom Powers Up TiVo Play

Evolution Digital said Mediacom’s deployment of the eBOX will include Evolution Digital-enabled IP-based pay-per-view services.

“We are excited to bring Evolution Digital’s cost-effective eBOX to our customers and provide the best content available on an enriched and streamlined platform,” JR Walden SVP and CTO of Mediacom, said in a statement. “We have made the eBOX our primary next-generation non-DVR set-top box for households throughout our systems.”

The new agreement exposes eBOX to Mediacom’s base of nearly 1.4 million customers.

Examples of other operators that are deploying Evolution Digital’s eBOX include GCI, RCN, Wave Broadband, WideOpenWest (WOW!), and several operators that are tied into Evolution’s agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative.

Evolution Digital timed the announcement with this week’s NCTC Winter Educational Conference in San Antonio.

The latest eBOX deployment deal also comes on the heels of Evolution’s introduction last week of the eSTREAM 4K, an all-IP device for on tier 2/3 cable providers that’s powered by Android TV.

RELATED: Evolution Digital Launches Android TV-Based Box for MVPDs

Evolution Digital, the Colorado-based video tech company focused on tier 2/3 cable providers, has moved ahead with the launch of eSTREAM 4K, a device that is powered by Android TV.

That all-IP device is designed to support the MVPDs own pay TV service (via an OTT app or a managed IPTV service) and integrate it with the vast array of OTT apps and services, including premium video offerings, that are available via Google Play.

Evolution said eSTREAM 4K, which can be branded by the MVPD, is certified with Android TV’s Oreo 8.0 software, and comes with a remote that supports voice navigation. It’s also outfitted with 802.11ac WiFi with a 4x4 antenna configuration, can pair up with Bluetooth devices, and supports two bandwidth-saving codecs -- HEVC/H.265 and VP9

Evolution Digital, which has previously hinted at its plans for an Android TV device, sees a couple of MVPD deployment and configuration scenarios for eSTREAM 4K.

-An operator could sell or rent the device to the customer and offer its own standalone app.

-Present eSTREAM 4K as a managed device whereby the box boots up directly into the operator’s video application.

“This is really geared towards operators that still also want to play a role in having a managed device, but don’t want to deploy a box with legacy technology, like QAM,” Brent Smith, Evolution Digital’s president and CTO, said.

He said the new device also rounds up Evolution Digital’s hardware strategy, complementing the eBOX, its hybrid IP/QAM device.

“We’re not here to pick winners,” Smith said, noting that some operators want to take a gradual transition to IP video using a hybrid approach, while others want to move faster and have all new boxes entering the field be IP-only.

For operators that want to get out of the box business completely. Evolution Digital has also developed an app-based platform that can run on retail devices, such as Roku players, Apple TV boxes, as well as other products that run Android TV.

RELATED: Evolution Digital Debuts App-Based OTT-TV Platform for Smaller Cable Ops

“Even though we sell boxes, we’re also advocating a box-less future,” Smith said.

RELATED: Big Video Opportunities for Small Cable (subscription required) 

As for the new Evolution-designed, IP-only eSTREAM 4K device, Smith said Android TV is attractive in this instance in part because “it essentially brings all of the key components on the OTT side.”

But it’s also notable that cable operators will still need direct contracts with the premium OTT providers to support their services to eSTREAM, though this scenario is no different with other companies like TiVo and Comcast that are integrating those OTT offerings on their leased devices.

“But access to the high-value OTT world is one of the compelling reasons for Android TV,” Smith said.

Smith said Evolution has commitments for its new Android TV offering, but can’t name them yet.

Some of the company’s announced cable operator partners include Cablevision of Marion County, BELD, DTC, LHTC Broadband, Tullahoma Utilities Board, Valley Telecom Group, Gold Coast Broadband, GCI, TDS Telecom and WideOpenWest.

Evolution Digital is introducing eSTREAM 4K ahead the National Cable Television Cooperative’s Winter Educational Conference, set to run February 12-13 in San Antonio.

Evolution Digital, the Colorado-based video tech company focused on tier 2/3 operators, has rolled out a series of software enhancements and upgrades for eVUE-TV, a platform that enables partners to migrate to IP-based video services.

Updates to the platform’s user interface includes improved trick-play, frame overlay on video playback, operator-managed program categorization, enhanced adult filtering and automatic HD content filtering.

The new enhanced trick play capabilities, for example, let customers rewind and fast-forward through content at customized speeds, as well as screen captures that provide image-based detail about scenes as customers use those trick-play controls. For adult content, the new stronger filtering capability automatically moves adult selections into folders that are password-protected.

Evolution Digital is also rolling out a new backoffice operations console for eVUE-TV for managing linear and VOD billing systems. That console also allows for more monitoring and the reporting of customer viewing consumption patterns, the company said.

eVUE-TV supports IP-based VOD, linear, pay-per-view and network DVR services and applications. Last fall, Evolution Digital said 23 pay TV operators were on board with eVUE-TV following a string of recent deployments with MSOs such as Cablevision of Marion County, BELD, DTC, LHTC Broadband, Tullahoma Utilities Board, Valley Telecom Group and Gold Coast Broadband. GCI, TDS Telecom and WideOpenWest are also on its customer list.

RELATED: Evolution Digital Expands Customer Roster for ‘eVUE-TV’

“These upgraded features now available on our eVUE-TV platform offer consumers an exceptional viewing experience,” Brent Smith, Evolution Digital’s president and chief technology officer, said in a statement. “eVUE-TV provides our operators new opportunities to capture audiences who want to enjoy the best television functionalities available in the industry. In the competitive cable market, Evolution Digital strives to provide operators the tools that consumers want in a TV viewing experience to help retain and attract subscribers.”

eVUE-TV runs on Evolution’s eBOX IP/QAM hybrid device as well as integrated third-party hardware.

Last year, Evolution Digital also introduced eVUE-NOW!, an app-based platform that enables its partners to offer their own skinny TV bundles to OTT-powered, TV-connected devices as well as smartphones and tablets.

In an effort to help tier 2/3 cable operators create and deliver their own skinny TV bundles to OTT-powered TV-connected and mobile devices, Evolution Digital has launched eVUE-NOW!, a new, app-based platform that supports live TV feeds along with network DVR capabilities.

Colorado-based Evolution Digital said the app for eVUE-NOW!, to be branded by its MSO partners, will support iOS and Android mobile devices, as well as a variety of TV-connected retail platforms, including Roku players, Apple TV boxes and Android TV devices.

Evolution, said company president and CTO Brent Smith said, is also developing an Android TV-powered box that will carry the MSO’s brand, be leased by the operator, and auto-connect/default to the operator’s app when the device is turned on.

While cable operator partners are eager to support retail streaming platforms, some also want a leasable option that gives them more control of the device and the user experience, Smith said, adding that Evolution Digital’s Android TV box should be available by early 2018, if not sooner.

Smith said eVUE-NOW!, an offering that complements an IP-VOD service from Evolution Digital that’s being deployed by almost two dozen operators, enters play as operators ask for a way to more easily stand-up IP-delivered, multiscreen, slimmed down packages that can counter cord-cutting and compete with a growing mix of virtual MVPDs.

“Independent operators now have a way to more rapidly access and enter into the IP video marketplace,” Smith said. “This is our way to help the market find a solution and quickly defend themselves against the virtual MVPD providers.”

Being able to offer skinny TV packages tailored for broadband-first customers is becoming a priority for operators big and small. Of recent note, Comcast last week introduced a beta version of Xfinity Instant TV, a managed IPTV service, and the National Cable Television Cooperative has inked distribution deals with two vMVPDs – PlayStation Vue and fuboTV.

RELATED: Comcast Rolls Out ‘Xfinity Instant TV’ Beta

Smith said packages created with eVUE-NOW! will lean on the operator’s distribution rights with programmers.

The video recording component of eVUE-NOW! will initially offer an option for subscriber to store up to 20 programs per week. After a week, the system auto-replaces stored programs with the next available episode of a series or event, the company said.

Smith said Evolution’s storage platform uses a private copy model that is similar in many ways to the one pioneered by Cablevision Systems’ (now Altice USA’s) remote-storage DVR.

Under the initial model, the eVUE-NOW! platform, including components like encoding, transcoding, streaming and storage, will operate on the cable operator’s premises Smith said it could also be configured to run as a hosted solution that could be attractive to the smallest of the small cable operators, because they would not have to incur the on-premises costs.

Partners, he said, can integrate their own billing systems or use Evolution’s backoffice to tie in outside billing systems, including those that allow subscribers to pay and sign up with a credit card.

Smith said there’s some early stage testing underway with operators that can’t yet be named.

Several cable operators, including GCI, TDS Telecom, and WideOpenWest, are already working with Evolution to deliver IP VOD services.

RELATED: Evolution Digital Expands Customer Roster for ‘eVUE-TV’

When it comes to losing cable TV subscribers, the first quarter of 2017 was devastating. According toLeichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG), the top six U.S. cable MVPDs lost about 410,000 net video subscribers in 1Q 2017, compared to gaining about 10,000 subscribers in 1Q 2016.

Worse yet, “This marked the first time that the industry has ever had net subscriber losses in the first quarter of a year," said Bruce Leichtman, LRG’s president and principal analyst.

In the same time period, OTT streaming service Netflix gained 1.4 million subscribers domestically, growing its U.S. subscriber base to 50.85 million. Known for its popular original series House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, Netflix’s U.S. subscriber base has doubled in the last five years, according to a report by Fortune magazine. According to LRG, Netflix now has more U.S. video subscribers than the top six U.S. cable MVPDs, which have over 48.6 million.

That fierce online competition may explain why Comcast spent $39.6 billion over the past six years upgrading its cable network and CPE (consumer-premises equipment) to its proprietary XFINITY X1 (X1) IP-based delivery platform. The X1 platform is designed to deliver traditional cable channels, OTT content, Video on Demand, DVR recordings, internet access and telephone service to subscribers over IP.

The payoff was substantial: In 2016, Comcast’s subscriber base grew by 160,000, while most MVPDs saw their subscriber bases decline—all thanks to IP-delivered X1 content. By enabling IP distribution, X1 now also features apps, like Netflix and Pandora, directly on the X1 platform, making consumption of content across services easier than ever for viewers.

Of course, smaller Tier 2 and Tier 3 MVPDs cannot likely afford to invest Comcast-sized sums to move into IP. Fortunately, there are affordable IP video solutions that have been adopted by smaller U.S. MVPDs, such as General Communication Inc. (GCI), WOW!, Mediacom Communications, Blue Stream and Vast Broadband, with Evolution Digital’s highly acclaimed and cost-effective offerings: eBOX IP Hybrid Set-Top Box, powered by TiVo, (eBOX) and eVUE-TV IP Video Platform (eVUE-TV).

Evolution Digital’s solutions give MVPDs the ability to begin the graceful migration to all-IP distribution and move as many or as few of their existing video services to IP carriage as they want (keeping the rest on conventional QAM). eVUE-TV, available on eBOX, offers a deep library of IP Video on Demand content with capability for IP linear, network DVR and Pay-Per-View programming that can be viewed at home or on the go. At the same time, with TiVo’s world-renowned interface and functionalities on eBOX, these MVPDs can offer customers OTT services such as Netflix and Hulu.

“eBOX and eVUE-TV offer so many benefits to Tier 2 and Tier 3 MVPDs,” said Eric Hybertson, Evolution Digital VP of product development. “Both technologies harness the power and economy of IP to let MVPDs deliver more services more economically to their subscribers. Add the fact that IP delivery doesn’t suffer from the tight bandwidth limits that bind QAM—and that the Internet’s capacity keeps increasing substantially year after year—moving to IP is the smart play for Tier 2 and Tier 3 MVPDs to make.”

This is certainly the conclusion of GCI.

This MVPD, which services residents across the state of Alaska, is deploying the eVUE-TV platform and eBOX CPEs to provide GCI subscribers with an integrated selection of traditional cable channels, OTT content and the best Video on Demand and Pay-Per-View content. GCI, through eBOX, offers all of this content as a single point of user contact through eBOX with TiVo’s familiar and easy-to-use interface. Consumers can seamlessly navigate and discover programs through universal search across the entire ecosystem.

The provider is looking forward to leveraging the expertise and ability to provide a low-cost solution “to deliver GCI’s next generation IP Video on Demand service,” said Eric Powelson, GCI senior product manager of video.

Collectively, eBOX and eVUE-TV give mid-sized operators looking to deliver a competitive and robust viewing experience a cost-effective, practical migration path to IP, and the chance to start growing their subscriber bases as larger cable operators have, though without the prohibitive $39.6 billion price tag. 

Managed IP Video Solution for Cable Operators

This short video provides a simple, understandable summary of Evolution Digital’s eBOX and eVUE-TV solutions.

Additional Resources

Migrating to IP Video: How Cable Can Remain Competitive

This white paper explains why cable MVPDs need to move to IP now, what the process entails and how eBOX and eVUE-TV can help.

Understanding the Big Challenges Facing the Cable Industry

This article drills down into the reasons why cable TV is so besieged by OTT and other competing services and how IP delivery can keep cable competitive.

Case Study: Why and How WOW! Internet Cable Phone Is Moving to IP Delivery

This case study examines how adopting IP-enabled delivery can restore a cable MVPD’s competitive edge.

Evolution Digital CEO Chris Egan Explains How IP Can Save Small Cable

A video interview of Egan, recorded by the Denver Business Journal, which labeled Evolution Digital as one of the “Saviors of Small Cable.”

Alaska’s GCI will add an IP-based video-on-demand platform to its pay TV mix after striking a deal to deploy Evolution Digital’s managed eVUE-TV IPTV platform in “select service regions," including all markets serviced by GCI where VOD is available.

It's expected that GCI's eVUE-TV deployment will begin in the September/November 2017. 

That agreement follows one announced last November in which GCI agreed to deploy the eBOX, a hybrid IP/QAM device from Evolution that weaves in linear TV, OTT apps, pay-per-view service and VOD via a TiVo-powered interface. Evolution Digital noted that the latest deal with GCI currently encompasses eVUE-TV IP VOD, but added that eVUE-TV also supports linear IPTV services and that it hopes to announce additional affiliates soon.

RELATED: GCI Rolls Out Evolution Digital’s ‘eBOX’

The latest agreement comes as GCI is in the process of being acquired by John Malone’s Liberty Interactive for $1.1 billion.

RELATED: Liberty Interactive to Buy Alaskan Cable Operator GCI in $1.1B Deal

Evolution Digital said GCI is the fifteenth operator to sign a deal for eVUE-TV, a group that includes several Nation Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) such as Docomo Pacific, Antietam Communications, Frankfort Plant Board, Orbitel Communications, Easton Utilities, MTC Cable and Wyandotte Cable TV.  Others include WideOpenWest, Blue Stream, Vast Broadband, Click!, Westman Communications, Fidelity and Hiawatha/HTC.

RELATED: Evolution Digital Nets Video Deals With Seven NCTC Members

eVUE-TV, introduced by Evolution in February 2016, utilizes Conax digital rights management security/content protection system for connected devices and factors in technology that Evolution acquired in 2015 from i-Velozity, a startup that had developed a low-cost IP-VoD platform.

“We are excited to announce that GCI customers will have access to the best Video on Demand content through an advanced IP video platform with a pricing model that makes sense to the operator,” Marc Cohen, executive vice president at Evolution Digital, said in a statement. “Transitioning to an IP video platform sets the stage for GCI’s continued growth by capturing new revenue and expanding to new markets.”

RELATED: GCI Expands Its TiVo Reach

“We look forward to working with Evolution Digital, leveraging their expertise and ability to provide a low-cost solution that will deliver GCI’s next generation IP Video on Demand service,” added Eric Powelson, senior product manager of video at GCI. “Aggregating the most popular content available in the market today, including live Pay-Per-View, via a seamless and easy-to-use interface, eVUE-TV will represent the first step in our transition to IP video. Additionally, the solution plays a key role in our efforts to reduce costs by integrating Evolution Digital’s eBOX.” 

GCI ended Q1 2017 with 106,100 basic video subscribers.

Evolution Digital and Conax announced that Conax will provide its multi-DRM solution for Evolution Digital’s eVUE-TV platform, which is being made available on the National Cable Television Cooperative’s (NCTC) VU-IT! Platform.

eVUE-TV is a managed IP platform for linear and on-demand video, as well as network DVR and “catch-up” TV features, that Evolution Digital has been pitching to tier 2/3 U.S. cable operators. Last year, Evolution announced that eVUE-TV is the first offering to be introduced as an option for VU-IT!,” a platform that includes a solution for backoffice integration, OTT apps and “enhanced services” that enable IP-based linear and VOD services.

RELATED: Evolution Digital Notches Another NCTC Deal

Support for Conax’s content security system will enable partners to support multi-DRM technologies that utilize PlayReady, Widevine, FairPlay and Nagra PRM, as well as THE next generation Conax Connected Access security client that combines CA/IPTV/DRM functionalities, they said.

They added that the Conax Contego security back-end has been integrated with the eVUE-TV platform in hosted and on-premises models, and that the platform meets the MovieLabs Enhanced Content protection requirements for 4K/UHD.

“We have partnered with Conax to offer a best of breed comprehensive content security solution to our NCTC members with eVUE-TV,” Brent Smith, president and chief technology officer of Evolution Digital, said in a statement. “As cable operators move to IP distribution and begin offering a wide-range of content that can be viewed anywhere, Evolution Digital is committed to delivering content securely and providing operators with a low cost and hassle-free solution that eliminates complexities of technology integration.”

GCI of Alaska has joined a growing mix of mid-sized MSOs to deploy the eBOX, a hybrid QAM/IP box from Evolution Digital that’s being used to help operators make the transition to IP.

GCI is rolling out a version of eBOX powered by TiVo’s software and user interface. That falls in line with GCI’s current rollout of TiVo-made hardware as well as set-tops and gateways that have ported the TiVo experience, including the Pace (now Arris)-made XG1. Evolution also offers a version of eBOX that runs the eGUIDE, a UI that’s based on Fan TV, a platform that is also offered by TiVo following its recent merger with Rovi.

RELATED: GCI Rolls Out Pace Gateway With TiVo On Board

Evolution Digital noted that GCI will offer eBOX in “select service regions.”  GCI ended Q3 with 108,900 basic video subs, with 54,400 of them on a digital video tier.

Like other MSOs running the TiVo platform, GCI has been pairing its traditional pay TV offering with integrated access to OTT services such as Netflix and Hulu.

RELATED: GCI Adds Hulu on TiVo Platform 

Other operators that are deploying eBOX include WideOpenWest, which has a cloud DVR on its roadmap that will utilize the new device, as well as Mediacom Communications, Advanced Cable Communications and operators that are part of the National Cable Television Cooperative.

RELATED: WideOpenWest Rolls Hybrid ‘eBOX’

Evolution Digital has inked deals with five independent operators, all members of the National Cable Television Cooperative – have committed to deploy the vendor’s eVUE-TV offering on “VU-IT,” the co-op’s managed IP video solution.

Operators that signed on for those commitments include Advanced Cable Communications, Vast Broadband, Click! Cable TV, Schurz Communications and Westman Communications. That group, Evolution Digital said, are the NCTC members to commit to eVUE-TV and are starting to integrate it to deliver IP VOD content to its customers. Evolution said eVUE-TV plans to support additional components, including the delivery of IP linear channels, network DVR and TV Everywhere capabilities.

RELATED: Evolution Digital Notches Another NCTC Deal

The deals come a few months after Evolution Digital cut a deal with NCTC to distribute eVUE-TV as an option for members that operate the co-op’s VU-IT platform, which handles elements such as back office integration, OTT apps, and support for the TiVo interface. The VU-IT solution features TiVo Series 4 set-top boxes, Evolution Digital’s eBOX IP Hybrid Set-Top Box and other third-party hardware.

Introduced by Evolution Digital in February, eVUE-TV supplies “thousands” of hours of movies and TV shows on-demand while also integrating IP linear and VOD across a unified interface. Evolution’s future plans for the platform include cloud-based services, including a cloud DVR.

Set-top box functionality continues to get virtualized into smart TVs, specialized streaming players and mobile devices, but deployments of the boxes themselves continue on.

Case in point—Colorado-based Evolution Digital, a company that primarily caters to tier 2/3 MVPDs, said it has reached a milestone with 12 million digital set-tops shipped.

Evolution, which is helping its partners transition to IP with a mix of hybrid devices and an IP video platform, comes about eight years after its inception. The product mix includes standard- and high-definition digital transport adapters (DTAs), and the recently rebranded “eBOX” QAM/IP hybrid.

Though Evolution ships boxes to mid-sized providers such as WideOpenWest, Buckeye Broadband, Midco, Blue Ridge Communications and Metrocast, and has a deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative, it also counts larger MSOs, such as Comcast, Cox Communications, Cable & Wireless, and Mediacom Communications, among its customers.

RELATED: WideOpenWest Paves IP Video Path with Evolution’s ‘eVUE-TV’ Platform

“Building upon our success on the hardware side, we are now shifting our focus to deploying integrated software-based solutions like eVUE-TV, our IP video platform for delivering a complete end-to-end IP video solution. As a disruptor in the cable industry, we will continue to deliver cost effective, integrated solutions that meet the needs of the Tier 2 marketplace around the world,” Evolution Digital CEO Chris Egan said, in a statement. 

Over-the-top video, once considered an enemy of cable operators and other traditional pay TV players as their subscriber bases slowly eroded, has quickly become a key component of video strategies among MSOs both big and small.

This new form of thinking is clearly apparent at WideOpenWest, which is making OTT video services and applications an important centerpiece of its flagship, full-freight video offering, Ultra TV, as well as a SW!VEL, a slimmed-down pay TV package in the works that’s tailored to fit the needs of cord-cutters, cord-nevers and, more generally, younger millennial audiences.

Related:Marcus Helps Set WOW’s Winning Strategy

Instead of fighting the popularity of OTT options, WOW has opted to embrace these new services by integrating them into its pay TV platform. Consumers, after all, have shown a willingness to seek out those options with or without the help of the traditional pay TV provider.

“Overall, the strategy is to bring as much OTT content to the first-screen experience as we possibly can, because our customers, indirectly at least, are telling us that’s what they want,” Cash Hagen, WOW’s chief technology officer, told Multichannel News in an interview after Denver-based WOW was tapped as one of the magazine’s Independent Operators of the Year.

Hagen said that indirect desire is apparent in the way WOW customers use broadband — about 75% of all unicast Internet-protocol video streams delivered over the operator’s network originate from Netflix alone.

So instead of requiring customers to source that content from a smart TV, gaming console or Roku player, WOW is eager to keep those customers in its domain.

“We don’t want them to leave us,” Hagen said.

The initial phase of that strategy took form in WOW’s Ultra TV service, a whole-home DVR service based on Arris’s Moxi platform that delivers 200-plus channels, 15,000-plus hours of video-on-demand and a mix of OTT apps.

WOW is the first (and still only) Arris partner to integrate Netflix on the Moxi platform. WOW has deals in place to do the same with Hulu, YouTube and Pandora, the popular music-streaming service.

Meet MCN's Other 2016 Independent Operator of the Year:Buckeye: Building on Broadband

SW!VEL, Hagen said, is an extension of WOW’s overall strategy.

“We wanted to come up with a solution that would allow us to continue to hold the Internet customer … while, at the same time, bring something to our customers that is along the lines of what they cannot get in an over-the-top fashion — and that is primarily linear broadcast networks that are still, to date, not available in an OTT kind of way,” Hagen said, stressing that SW!VEL is not intended to compete with its flagship Ultra TV offering.

And SW!VEL will rely on a completely different platform, leaning on the “eBOX,” a new hybrid (QAM/IP) device from Evolution Digital that is powered by TiVo’s software platform and user interface. By extension, SW!VEL will support many of the OTT apps that TiVo already supports on its platform, a list that includes Netflix, Hulu and Vudu, among others.

That platform isn’t intended to supply all of the advanced services offered on Ultra TV.

SW!VEL, for example, will pair OTT with WOW’s limited basic lineup (about 30 channels, including the major local TV broadcasters) that is “as skinny as we could possibly skinny it,” Hagen said.

Also on the roadmap for SW!VEL is an IP-VOD offering (using Evolution’s new eVUETV platform) that will feature fare from ABC, Fox, CBS and NBC.

WOW also intends to add a cloud DVR to SW!VEL’s product mix in the first half of 2017.

WOW hopes to launch SW!VEL sometime starting this fall, starting in its northern and midwest markets — Chicago; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; and Detroit — which represent about 75% of the operator’s customer base. The remaining markets, including systems in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, acquired from Knology in 2012, are expected to come online by the early second quarter of 2017.

“Technically, the platform is ready,” Hagen said.

WOW has not announced pricing for SW!VEL (part of it will be based on the number of eBOX devices used in the subscriber’s home), but customers on that service must also take WOW’s Internet service. WOW won’t mix video options (a subscriber will either be on Ultra TV or SW!VEL), but it hopes to eventually unify its OTT offerings for both.

“Over time, there will be a continual roadmap of OTT content being added as we get deals done and the integration work gets done,” he said.

WOW’s new approach is a further indication that there’s a video renaissance of sorts underway among independent operators that previously were looking to de-emphasize pay TV as programming costs continued to skyrocket and, instead, apply more focus on higher-margin broadband service.

Hagen said he agrees with that to a point, noting that “we are de-emphasizing linear video” and that the trend has moved beyond a “numbers game” that was all about channel tonnage. Adding OTT as an option also opens the door to new opportunities and service models.

“It allows me to make different decisions for the linear content that I’m having to pay for,” he said. “The renaissance is accepting and embracing alternative means of content delivery. Whereas a couple of years ago, Netflix was a threat; it’s not a threat at all. Customers are going to get it anyway. Why not make it easier and more intuitive for them to get it?”

Brent Smith, president and chief technology officer of Evolution Digital, said WOW and other operators like it are gravitating to these new platforms because it allows them to start to migrate to lower-cost, and more flexible IP platforms.

In Evolution’s case, its hybrid eBOX works with the TiVo platform alongside a new flavor of it underway that will use “eGUIDE,” and interface that uses Rovi’s Fan TV offering. Rovi and TiVo are in the process of merging, which Smith believes will help to accelerate the introduction of new video products into the Tier-2 and 3 cable operator market.

“[WOW is] taking a very aggressive approach in embracing OTT and taking full advantage of the fact that the box has an IP connection in it,” Smith said. “It’s a much more dynamic platform. There is a groundswell of interest in IP that’s kind of unprecedented.”

And this new approach should also help independent operators expand their device options. Evolution’s eVUE-TV platform runs on the vendor’s eBOX, but is also agnostic in the sense that it can also run on third-party, retail devices such as Roku players and the Amazon Fire TV.

“If we can give them an affordable solution to go IP, it opens this Pandora’s box of devices,” Smith said. “I think that’s what’s really captured their attention.”

BEYOND VIDEO

Though the introduction of new video products are core to WOW’s strategy, that’s not the only fresh item on its plate. It’s also looking to bulk up its broadband offerings and to stoke other business growth engines such as commercial services.

WOW’s current high-end residential broadband service offers 300 Megabits per second (in the downstream), but the operator expects to launch a 600 Mbps service in the next 30 to 45 days to about 85% of its footprint using DOCSIS 3.0 technology.

WOW, Hagen said, is also moving ahead with a DOCSIS 3.1 strategy that will pave the way for a new 1 Gbps residential service. He expects WOW, which uses Arris network gear and cable modems, to launch 1-Gig in four markets in its southeastern territory in late 2016.

The operator expects to launch its new 600-Mbps service for about $90 per month, and 1-Gig for “just north of $100.”

“The Internet strategy for us is speed, at a disruptive price point,” Hagen said.

Though 1-Gig is the new high-water mark for most ISPs, Hagen has a longer-term, crystal-ball view that he’ll be able to deliver up to 2.5 Gbps to the DOCSIS home. “It’s pretty realistic,” he said.

WOW also intends to pair that new speed option with an advanced wireless router that will employ a mesh architecture that aims to boost the home’s broadband coverage and provide subscribers with a user-friendly software platform that gives them (and the operator) visibility into home network performance.

“The consumer has gotten to the point where they don’t measure us as wired vs. wireless; we’re just the Internet provider,” he said, noting that in-home wireless coverage has become just as important as the speeds being delivered to the side of the home.

WOW is also exploring Internet-adjacent products. In addition to the enhanced whole-home WiFi platform, it’s also looking into home security and automation products.

While home security is the “lead horse” for entering the smart home arena, home automation — HVAC control, lighting, door lock control and home camera systems — are “more exciting to us,” Hagen said. “We want to be the enabler.”

WOW expects to conduct a market trial later this year and, if all goes well, follow with an initial launch in the first half of 2017.

Another key growth area for WOW is business services, a category that has been receiving the most attention in terms of capital investment.

WOW, like other cable operators, started off by supporting small- and midsized businesses with services delivered from its HFC network, but has also been bulking up on fiber-based solutions as it moves upmarket.

Also key is a growing cellular backhaul business. In Chicago, for example, WOW has a deal with Verizon Wireless for a build that includes macro tower sites as well as small cell deployments that concentrate capacity using smaller antennas at bus stops, light poles and other high-concentration areas.

Evolution Digital said it has reached a deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) to distribute its eVUE-TV IP video-on-demand service to the NCTC’s membership of independent operators.

eVUE-TV, a platform introduced by Colorado-based Evolution in February, supplies “thousands” of hours of movies and TV shows on-demand while also integrating IP linear and VOD across a unified interface. Evolution’s future plans for the platform include cloud-based services, including a cloud DVR.

Evolution noted that eVUE-TV is the first offering to be introduced as an option for NCTC members for “VU-IT!,” a new platform that includes a solution for backoffice integration, OTT apps and “enhanced services” to enable IP-based linear and VOD services.

VU-IT will initially be available on TiVo-powered devices, such as Evolution’s recently re-branded, hybrid IP/QAM “eBOX,” but will also be deployed on other platforms, as well as mobile devices, Evolution said. Notably, GLDS announced Monday (July 18) that it had completed the integration of VU-IT! With its own BroadHub billing and customer management system, with Vyve on board as the first operator to deploy the integrated GLDS/NCTC solution. Vyve and TiVo announced their original partnership in February 2014.

As for the eVUE-TV approach, on-demand content is uploaded from the cable operator’s local VOD and transcoded, enabling an “exact replication” of the MSO’s VOD catalog in IP.

“Today’s agreement ensures that members of NCTC have access to the best on-demand content on one, easy-to-use platform at a price point that makes sense to the operator,” Marc Cohen, executive vice president of sales at Evolution Digital, said in a statement. “As a disruptor in the pay-TV industry, we are committed to driving growth for NCTC members and, with the deployment of eVUE-TV, we will provide an unparalleled viewing experience to customers.”

“We are pleased to offer Evolution Digital’s eVUE-TV on our platform, providing cable operators a low-cost solution to deliver VOD,” added Rich Fickle, CEO and president at NCTC.  “Evolution Digital continues to be a key partner for NCTC, from its pioneering of DTAs to now driving solutions that enable IP video services.”

Evolution’s latest NCTC distribution deal, announced ahead of next week’s Independent Show in Orlando, follows one with the co-op announced in February that centers on Evolution’s hybrid set-top box.

Among operators, WideOpenWest plans to use the Evolution/TiVo eBOX combo to underpin a new service called “SW!VEL” that will feature a skinny TV bundle that includes the major broadcast TV networks and a suite of OTT apps. WOW also plans to deploy eVUE and has put a cloud DVR on its product roadmap.

Update: Evolution’s agreement with WOW is separate from Evolution’s arrangements with the NCTC. But Evolution has “a number of irons in the fire” with tier-2 operators that are looking to take advantage of the NCTC accords, Brent Smith, Evolution Digital’s president and CTO, explained. Though Evolution will focus on the combination of its eBOX and eVUE platforms, he noted that eVUE is agnostic in the sense that the platform can be combined with other types of set-tops and CPE. 

Evolution Digital and WideOpenWest (WOW) have forged a distribution deal that will enable the operator to offer IP-VOD services alongside its  live TV offering.

WOW, Evolution said, is the first operator to deploy eVUE-TV, an IP video platform unveiled in February that offers “thousands of hours” of video-on-demand content.  Evolution introduced eVUE following its acquisition of IP-VOD specialist i-Velozity, a move that will help Evolution’s partners offer their own VOD and live TV services via a unified platform.

WOW will integrate eVUE-TV with its new “SW!VEL” service for the eBOX, a hybrid IP/QAM set-top that is powered by TiVo’s software, user interface and search platform. Evolution has also developed a version of eBOX that uses “eGUIDE,”  an interface that uses Rovi’s Fan TV platform.  TiVo and Rovi are in the process of merging under a $1.1 billion deal announced in late April. 

At last month’s INTX show in Boston, WOW chief technology officer Cash Hagen hinted at the operator’s next-gen video plans.

He said WOW operator will use the eBox to targeted a segment of the market that wants a slimmed down pay TV package. During the initial phase of the rollout, SW!VEL, he said, will include the broadcast basic channels and integrated OTT apps. Phase II, slated for a summer launch, will add IP-VOD to the mix (via eVUE), and Phase III, expected to launch early next year, will add a cloud DVR service.

“With the rise of OTT streaming service providers, eVUE-TV puts the power back into the cable operators’ hands with a full library of leading content that’s easily accessible and navigational for the consumer,” Evolution Digital president and CTO Brent Smith said, in a statement. “We are extremely pleased that WOW! is taking their entertainment experience offering to its customers one step further by offering an instant and affordable platform so viewers can take advantage of the full breadth of WOW!’s video offering.”

"Now, with eVUE-TV, our customers can easily find their favorite content to ‘binge watch’ from start to finish, without having to switch inputs and streaming providers to access that content,” Hagen added.

Boston -- IP-VOD and a cloud DVR are among the services that WideOpenWest is planning to add to a new hybrid QAM/IP platform it’s deploying in partnership with Evolution Digital and TiVo, WOW chief technology officer Cash Hagen said here during a brief interview at INTX.

WOW is the first MVPD to deploy Evolution’s eBOX, which is being outfitted with TiVo’s software and user interface.

Hagen said the rollout of the device will get underway in earnest to about 75% of WOW’s footprint on June 13.

WOW, he said, will target that product, which blends live TV with OTT apps, to a segment of the market that wants a slimmed down pay TV package that complements (and won’t replace) the operator’s  full-freight HD-DVR offering powered by Arris’s Whole Home Solution, which also supports integrated OTT apps.

WOW’s new offering, branded as “SW!VEL,” will include the broadcast basic channels and integrated OTT apps in the initial phase of the product, Hagen said.

Phase II, slated for a summer launch, will add IP-VOD to the mix (through Evolution Digital’s new eVUE platform), and Phase III, slated for early next year, will add a cloud DVR to the mix, he said.

WideOpenWest has become the first operator to rollout the eBOX, a hybrid QAM/IP device from Evolution Digital that is powered by TiVo’s software and user interface.

WOW is starting to deploy eBOX for its new “SW!VEL” service, which integrates the operator’s live pay TV service with over-the-top apps and services. It also gives WOW a new option that can complement a whole-home DVR offering based on an Arris-based platform that also allows for the integration of OTT apps such as Netflix.

Evolution Digital introduced the eBOX and WOW’s plans for it late last year, underpinning it with TiVo’s software, UI and search capabilities. Last week, Evolution Digital announced it would also fit eBOX with eGUIDE, an interface that runs on Rovi’s Fan TV software platform (Rovi and TiVo are merging under a $1.1 billion deal announced in April.).

Evolution Digital said eBOX can be configured to support an all-IP platform, including live linear, VOD, as well as a network DVR on a unified platform.

Brent Smith, president and chief technology officer at Evolution Digital, said his company is working on a cloud DVR product that would work with its “eVUE” IP video platform, which handles the ingest, streaming and content management for linear TV, VOD, and mobile services.

WOW is the first announced MVPD to launch eBOX. Smith said some “large” tier-2 operators have the device in their labs, and that he expects the company to move ahead with a “substantial number” of deployments of eBOX in 2016.

“We are thrilled to launch SW!VEL, as well as to become the first broadband provider to offer Evolution Digital’s eBOX, as integrated with TiVo’s cross-platform search capability, to our customers,” Cash Hagen, chief technology officer at WOW, said in a statement. “Entertainment consumption is evolving, and this solution helps customers find and enjoy content no matter what platform it is hosted on.”

“We are proud to partner with Evolution Digital to bring WOW! customers a great next-generation set-top box,” said Thomas Elam, vice president and general manager, TiVo North American Service Provider Business. “The TiVo user experience is unmatched, and we are excited to expand our offerings to include Evolution’s eBOX to cater to the changing needs of operators.

“We look forward to continuing our collaborative relationship with Evolution Digital to further the tremendous successes of WOW,” added Thomas Elan, VP and GM of TiVo’s North American service provider business. 

Evolution Digital, the Colorado-based supplier focused on independent MVPDs, has introduced a new user interface for the eBOX, its recently rebranded QAM/IP hybrid box, that runs on Rovi’s Fan TV software platform.

Evolution said the new eGUIDE supports and integrates multiple content sources, including live and on-demand video, network DVRs, as well as over-the-top services, and provides access to Rovi’s metadata for search and discovery. Further out, the new UI, which uses 16:9 HD graphics, will add features such as “360 Discovery,” critic reviews, catch-up TV services, caller ID apps and Fan TV’s voice-based Conversational Interface.

Evolution said eBOX with the Fan TV-powered eGUIDE will launch with its new eVUE-TV IP video solution.

Rovi, which acquired Fan TV in 2014 for $12 million, completed the integration of the company’s cloud-based video serach and recommendation engine last year, and announced Fan TV as a modular entertainment discovery platform for service providers and developers at CES in January.

Evolution, meanwhile, also offers eBOX with a platform powered by TiVo, which is in the process of being acquired by Rovi for $1.1 billion.

Evolution Digital has deals with the National Cable Television Cooperative and WideOpenWest to deploy a TiVo-based version of eBOX, but has not announced deployment commitments for  the new Fan TV-based version, but does anticipate to announce several deals for it in the coming months.

Fan TV’s platform “offers flexible APIs so we are able to integrate quickly on eBOX with eGUIDE, and provide our customers a solution today that fortifies our strategy as a business as we continue to develop products and software that help cable providers migrate to all-IP,” Evolution Digital president and CTO said in a statement.

“We are excited to further our relationship with Evolution Digital to offer cable operators eGUIDE, powered by Rovi’s Fan TV platform, which we announced earlier this year at CES,” said Michael Hawkey, senior vice president and general manager, discovery business group at Rovi.

“eGUIDE facilitates simplified search and discovery, as well as extensive program information. Our customers will be able to have a transition path from traditional STBs to Evolution Digital’s eBOX hybrid set-tops, while keeping and enhancing the Rovi Metadata they get today,” added Michael Hawkey, SVP and GM of Rovi’s discovery business group.

Evolution Digital, the Colorado-based company focused on independent MVPDs, has unveiled “eBOX” as the new brand of a QAM/IP hybrid box that is underpinned by TiVo’s software, and user interface and search capabilities.

The device, which supports live TV, VOD and over-the-top video and apps on one platform, was introduced last July, along with a deployment deal with WideOpenWest. In February, Evolution Digital announced a deal that enables it to offer the platform to members of the National Cable Television  Cooperative, a group that puts together programming and tech deals for many of the nation’s tier 2/3 MSOs.

Evolution said eBOX trials are also underway with “several tier 2 operators” that it expects to announce in the coming months.

“The rebranding of our IP Hybrid Set-Top Box reflects both the evolution of the company, as well as its vision for the future,” Brent Smith, president and chief technology officer of Evolution Digital, said in a statement. “Over the past year, eBOX has been recognized as the leading device that delivers a compelling entertainment experience for consumers. And by combining linear cable channels and the prominent OTT services with universal search, a unified guide and one HDMI connection into the TV, eBOX gives the consumer seamless search and discovery functionality to easily find their favorite content.”

In February, Evolution Digital introduced eVUE-TV, a soup-to-nuts platform to help MSOs deliver VOD and TV on a unified platform that will have access to a new UI. It runs off of the company’s central content distribution hub in Chicago or  can be distributed through the operator’s content delivery network.

Get complete coverage of the FCC's set-top proposal.

Evolution Digital, a supplier that works with a wide range of independent MSOs, said it looks forward to hearing more following the FCC’s vote to approve chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal for "unlocking" the cable set top, but that the company still has reservations about the potential economic impact it could have on tier 2 and tier 3 MVPDs.

“Evolution Digital looks forward to Chairman Wheeler’s presentation tomorrow regarding the FCC’s set top box proposal,” Brent Smith, president and CTO of Evolution Digital, said in a statement. “ However, the information that we have to date from Chairman Wheeler gives us pause, due to the implications to both small cable providers and their customers if this proposal applies to all MVPDs.”

Though Wheeler has said the proposal does not employ the “AllVid” concept, which would involve the use of a separate device, Evolution sees two options for smaller cable operators to comply with the rules. They would need to either:

1.Completely simulcast their current linear cable service in IP, in order to support a common interface for third party devices.

2. Add an additional device in the home (CPE) to enable the conversion of their proprietary QAM video content, into a “common” IP video stream that could interface with a third party device. 

Either option, Evolution Digital argued, would “incur massive costs for Tier 2 and Tier 3 cable operators” and result in price hikes – things that would run counter to the aims of the initiative.

Smaller MVPDs, the company noted, are looking to migrate gracefully to IP video, but the urgency of the rules would be “too great of a burden for small cable operators,” forcing them to rapidly “switch to all-IP in a timeline that is unfeasible with current resources and technological capabilities.”

“It is our hope that the FCC and Chairman Wheeler are exploring these issues with great concern,” said Smith, who was a member of the FCC-appointed  Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee (DSTAC) formed last year.

Evolution Digital said it has notched a deal to offer a TiVo-powered IP/QAM set-top powered by TiVo to members of the National Cable Television Cooperative, a group that assembled programming and technology deals for many of the nation’s independent cable operators.

Evolution Digital didn’t announce if any NCTC members are on board yet, but noted that it ported TiVo’s software onto its low-cost hybrid platform last summer. Notably, WideOpenWest (WOW) announced a joint development deal with TiVo and Evolution Digital last year that will enable the MSO to offer a blend of traditional linear TV and VOD services and over-the-top content via a new low-cost hybrid IP/QAM device and through Web and mobile apps powered by the TiVo platform.

Today, under “Bravo,” an NCTC platform that acts as an intermediary between tier 2/3 cable operators, co-op members can purchase the TiVo-based Evolution Digital hybrid devices “with full functionality at a lower cost,” the companies said. Those TiVo-powered devices from Evolution  Digital are also available to NCTC members that are not operating on the Bravo platform.

Evolution Digital said the hybrid set-tops can also be flipped to support an all-IP platform that supports live TV, VOD and network DVR apps on a unified, TiVo-based platform. Colorado-based Evolution recently introduced an IP video platform called eVUE-TV that stems from its acquisition last year of  i-Velozity.

“Our IP Hybrid STB powered by TiVo integrates the operator’s cable channel line-up with the leading OTT services to provide viewers with a seamless viewing experience,” Marc Cohen, executive vice president of sales at Evolution Digital, said in a statement. “Our great relationships with TiVo and NCTC now give operators with membership in the NCTC an affordable option for delivering our leading technology without integration fees, but with all the same innovative features TiVo offers.”

“NCTC is proud to partner with Evolution Digital to give our members another way to offer a superior entertainment experience,” added NCTC CEO and president Rich Fickle, CEO and president at NCTC. “We developed the Bravo platform to allow cable operators access to what their customers are asking for, but at a price point that is accessible for the provider.”

Evolution Digital and NCTC timed the announcement with this week’s Winter Educational Conference in Phoenix.

Evolution Digital, a Colorado-based company focused on independent MVPDs, has introduced eVUE-TV, an IP video platform that features “thousands” of hours of aggregated VOD content that can be mixed with live cable TV offerings.

The introduction of eVUE-TV, a product that arrives after last year’s acquisition of IP-VOD specialist i-Velozity and is part of a rebranding, will help cable operators deliver popular VOD movies and TV shows, plus live TV, on a unified platform, the company said.

eVUE-TV offers new release movies, shows from leading cable network, including shows and series from premium networks such as HBO and Showtime, and enables access on a wide range of devices, including set-tops, tablets and PCs.

eVUE-TV, the company added, provides partners with a low cost approach for IP linear and VOD content via Evolution Digital’s central content distribution hub in Chicago, or through a distributed platform inside the cable operator’s content delivery network.

Evolution Digital said eVUE-TV will launch a new user interface for multiple devices in the “coming weeks,” noting that the platform can present and recommend content using viewing preferences and viewing habits.

“Evolution Digital is pioneering technology in the cable industry to fit the needs of the consumer by providing cable operators cost-effective solutions to increase revenue and stabilize retention,” Brent Smith, Evolution Digital’s president and chief technology officer, said in a statement. “With eVUE-TV, cable providers can now combine the most popular Video on Demand titles with their live TV offerings onto one seamless and easy-to-use platform while avoiding costly infrastructure upgrades.”

Cox Communications has selected Cisco Systems and Evolution Digital as its initial sources for Digital Terminal Adapters that will fuel the MSO’s ambitions all-digital transition, multiple sources said.

Cox has keep its all-digital plans a bit closer to the vest, but two industry sources said the MSO has already selected Cisco Systems and Evolution Digital as its initial DTA suppliers.

Cox and the vendors in question declined to comment about the selection but a Cox official said the MSO expects to start its all-digital transitions in some markets later this year.

In an interview with Multichannel News in April, Kevin Hart, Cox’s executive vice president and chief technology officer, said the operator had selected two HD-DTA suppliers that would support an all-digital transition will help Cox reclaim about 60 analog channels, giving it some room to carve out spectrum for new and expanded services. At the time, he said Cox intended to start trials by the fourth quarter of 2014 and then deploy the initiative more aggressively in 2015 and 2016.

It was not known which DTA models Cox will use in the early going. Some of the newer models are hybrids that use QAM for regular broadcast video and an IP connection that could support an HTML5 browser and deliver online content and apps. The big question is whether hybrid DTAs will require a special waiver from the FCC that would sidestep the existing ban on set-tops with integrated security. The FCC has already granted a blanket waiver that allows MSOs to deploy QAM-only SD and HD DTAs with integrated security.

Regardless of the approach, a selection by Cox, a major U.S. MSO with about 4.3 million subs, is a big win Evolution, a company that has had most of its success with tier 2/3, and helps to maintain Cisco’s long-standing relationship with the operator.

The resulting all-digital effort will give Cox, which has already built out most of its plant to 1 GHz, access to a swath of fresh bandwidth. That could come in handy as Cox pushes ahead on a plan to start a market-wide deployment of 1 Gbps broadband services by the end of 2016.

More about Cox’s all-digital effort and how it compares and contrasts to the one that is underway at Charter Communications will be featured in the August 4 issue of Multichannel News.

A set-top waiver being sought by a relatively small cable operator is raising a sizable stink at the Federal Communications Commission.

While TiVo claims to be “supportive” of a waiver request from Buckeye CableSystem so long as it’s paired with multiple conditions, the MSO’s pursuit is also facing some outright opposition.  Still, Buckeye’s pursuit does have the backing of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. 

Buckeye, an Ohio-based operator with 130,000 video subs, issued its waiver request on March 3, asking the FCC to bless a new QAM/IP hybrid set-top box that uses both integrated security and a downloadable form, claiming that the device would serve as the “linchpin” to an all-IP transition.  

The box in question is to be made Evolution Digital (see image above) and outfitted with a downloadable security system developed by Azuki Systems, which is now part of Ericsson. As designed, the box would combine a unidirectional QAM-based digital transport adapter (DTA) with an IP video interface. The DTA side would rely on integrated encryption, while the IP portion would use the downloadable system. Because the device would use an integrated form of security, it needs a waiver that would allow it to sidestep the integrated security ban that took effect in July 2007.

Buckeye’s request comes after Charter Communications and Cablevision Systems requested, and were granted, FCC waivers allowing the use of dual-security setups that rely on integrated security systems and new downloadable versions.

TiVo Seeks Conditions

In comments filed March 27, TiVo sought conditions on Buckeye’s waiver while also urging the FCC to pursue new rules that would produce a successor to the CableCARD that could be applied to all multichannel video programming distributors, and not just cable operators. The cable industry has urged the FCC to kill the mandate altogether and to let market forces, not more government rules, decide the future.

Among its desired conditions, TiVo wants Buckeye to “state categorically” that its “product would lack any storage capacity (including cloud storage), any connection to a device other than a display, and any other advanced functionality.”  Further, TiVo said, Buckeye should be required to phase out its reliance on switched digital video (SDV) and ensure that retail devices can access all channels “without operator-supplied equipment.” Today, TiVo boxes require a separate Tuning Adapter device to receive channels delivered via SDV.

TiVo, which relies heavily on CableCARD technology today, argued that the FCC “should not embrace without proof the fiction that Buckeye’s ‘downloadable’ system would promise national interoperability comparable to CableCARDs.” Specifically, TiVo wants the FCC to hold off on a waiver until Buckeye shows how its IPTV system would interoperable with retail devices.

"We are supportive of Buckeye’s waiver request as long as some concerns are addressed,” Thomas Elam, TiVo’s vice president and general manager, U.S. operator business, said in a statement to Multichannel News, claiming that TiVo is seeking a “modest reduction in scope of the waiver.”

"Our primary concern is to ensure that there is a focus on a long term successor to CableCARD, while allowing operator like Buckeye to deliver a next generation HD-STB,” Elam added.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association also wants the FCC to create a CableCARD successor and is opposing Buckeye’s waiver request.

NCTA Backs Buckeye

In its comments, the NCTA said the FCC should grant the Buckeye waiver request and to reject TiVo’s “laundry list of conditions and restrictions that would sharply limit the benefit of the hybrid set-top,” including the ability to access network-based recordings or share content over home networks over secure links.

“TiVo’s response is to ask the Commission to erect a series of obstacles to Buckeye’s

waiver request, the net effect of which would likely be to scuttle Buckeye’s plans,” the NCTA wrote. “Arguably, TiVo is seeking these restrictions in order to steer Buckeye, and potentially other cable operators, towards use of a TiVo solution.” 

In Buckeye’s follow-up comments, it held that that TiVo is attempting to bury the waiver request “beneath a stack of other TiVo-related proceedings…and unnecessary TiVo-centric conditions.”

Buckeye said the IP side of the hybrid box is application based, and uses the type of digital rights management technology that secured video on a variety of consumer devices, including laptops, mobile phones, and Roku boxes.

Buckeye stressed that TiVo’s SDV condition is unrelated to its waiver request, noting that it has committed to continued CableCARD support and to transition at least 85% of its video services to IP within 36 months of receiving a blessing for the proposed hybrid box.

Charter Communications also weighed in, because TiVo aims to reintroduce its issues with the Charter waiver to the Buckeye proceeding, noting that it is “highly motivated” to continue supporting CableCARDS to current or new TiVo customers. “They are still cable customers,” the MSO explained.

Charter also argued that the “Commission should not be selecting one universal ‘winning’ solution, nor should it halt consumer-friendly, cable innovation while it considers action.” On that point, it noted that the market did not embrace the FCC’s mandates for the CableCARD or the requirement to include an IEEE 1394 connector in every HD set-top.