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 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.