Private equity firm Permira has identified industry vet Yves Padrines and the designated CEO of a new company that will be formed from Permira’s proposed acquisition of Cisco Systems’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions business.

RELATED: Cisco Strikes Deal to Sell its Video Software Business

To say Padrines will be familiar with the new video software division being formed by Permira is an understatement. He most recently was VP of global service provider for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia at Cisco, and was also a long-time exec at NDS.

Padrines joined Cisco following its 2012 acquisition of NDS, the company where a good portion of the services and technologies Permira is acquiring from Cisco originated.

RELATED: Cisco Announces Deal to Acquire NDS for $5 Billion

The move will likewise reunite Padrines with Dr. Abe Peled, senior adviser to Permira, incoming chairman of the new company to be formed from the Cisco deal, and also the former CEO of NDS.

Cisco and Permira announced the deal in May. Under the plan, Permira will create a new, rebranded company focused on video products for the pay TV industry. The lineup will include Cisco’s Infinite Video Platform, cloud digital recording, video processing, video security, and middleware products and technologies.

“I am delighted and looking forward to working again with Dr. Abe Peled and Permira on this unique opportunity to help the company’s major DTH and Cable service provider customers embrace IP distribution to complement and expand consumer choice and convenience, as well as the company’s Telco customers and new entrants to Pay-TV take advantage of the new IP enabled distribution opportunities,” Padrines said in a statement. “At this pivotal time in the industry, the new company will build on Cisco’s SPVSS business, strong customer relationships and technology innovation to deliver an exciting next chapter for our industry, and I look forward to being part of it.”

“Yves is well known to many of the company’s major customers and is well positioned to ensure a smooth transition for Cisco’s service provider customers who will also become the new company’s video customers,” Peled added. “Furthermore, Yves will bring a wealth of experience, industry relationships and strategic vision to deliver on the significant opportunities we see for the new business.”

Las Vegas -- Comcast Technology Solutions, a unit of Comcast that targets multiscreen video distribution and ad-tech services, generally has cut its teeth in the domestic market, but is now looking to take an even bigger bite as it pursues more business around the globe. 

That’s one of the priorities being engaged by Bart Spriester, the industry vet who was gamed GM of video platforms at CTS earlier this year.

RELATED: Comcast Technology Solutions Hires Bart Spriester as GM, Video Platform

“We have a good brand domestically,” Spriester said of CTS, which also handles X1 syndication, during a visit here during this week’s NAB Show. But the opportunity is ripe, he added, to help the content community around the world deliver and monetize their content via OTT and other IP-based distribution systems.

A “critical” part of the mission there is to accelerate CTS’s ability to drive its tech and services to more industries. “I want to bring more of that out,” Spriester said.

Comcast launched Comcast Technology Solutions in the fall of 2016 as a division that combined three of its media and tech businesses – Comcast Wholesale, thePlatform and This Technology.

Another key priority for CTS is live services, including live event broadcasts, alongside with advanced ad insertion capabilities. Spriester said CTS will invest more in this area throughout the year.

RELATED: NAB 2018: Comcast Unit Offers Live-to-IP

CTS will also invest more in the automation of workflows that gets content ingested, prepared, packaged and distributed to multiple screen types. Part of that work, which aims to take the pain out of traditional manual processes, will mean implementing machine learning and artificial intelligence to those processes. CTS doesn’t necessarily own all of those building blocks, but does see itself helping to orchestrate how all of the pieces and components work together.

Another key focus is CTS’s multi-CDN strategy in a way that selects the right CDN based on components such as business rules and performance. In this arena, CTS recently announced a partnership with DLVR, a company that has real-time CDN switching capabilities that are integrated with Quality of Experience analytics systems.

“Customers should have [CDN] options,” Spriester said. Notably, CTS has its own video-optimized CDN.

Comcast also used NAB to trot out a set of new products and components this week.

In addition to the enhanced live-to-IP offering for efforts such as events, CTS introduced PDK 6, a new web-based video player that aims to bring a fresh turn to a segment of the market that the division believes could use some freshening up.

PDK 6, Spriester noted, is the result of work in which the player was developed from the ground up using HTML 5 to deliver faster start times and improved client- and server-side ad insertion capabilities.

Corporate cousin NBCU is among those that will be moving to the new player, which is part of CTS’s broader mpx video management system.

CTS also introduced AdStor, a new cloud-based ad delivery system that handles both storage and distribution as well as orchestration and management. That product is being targeted to programmers and other content providers, and to advertisers.

Among its claims, CTS said AdStor can whittle processes to minutes compared to what would typically take 24 to 72 hours using manual systems. 

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Comcast Technology Solution, a unit of Comcast focused on multiscreen video distribution and advertising technologies and services, has introduced an “enhanced” live services offering that includes a new live-to-IP capability that enables partners to reach consumers on a wide range of devices.  

CTS said the enhanced offering serves as way for video content providers and operators around the world to deliver linear and live events using a turnkey system that ingests content via satellite, fiber or over the internet, manages and protects the content, and then distributes it to targeted end devices.  

The offering also includes Linear Rights Metadata Management services that, it notes, ensures the accurate delivery, entitlement and representation of content across digital screens and live multichannel broadcasts. 

“Comcast Technology Solutions has years of experience delivering live content via broadcast and now we can enable customers to benefit from this expertise across all screens,” Bart Spriester, GM and VP of Comcast Technology Solutions, said in a statement. “With our broadcast-quality infrastructure and flexible, modular solution set, content providers are equipped to meet rapidly evolving consumer demands for live content.” 

RELATED: Comcast Technology Solutions Hires Bart Spriester as GM, Video Platform 

Among customers, ESM Productions, a company that specializes in music concerts and special events, uses CTS’s live services platform in support of events such as the Meadows Festival, Vic Mensa and Cardi B concerts, Reform 2018, as well as for the WNBA. 

Comcast launched Comcast Technology Solutions in the fall of 2016 as a division that combined three of its media and tech businesses – Comcast Wholesale, thePlatform and This Technology. 

RELATED: Comcast Snaps Up This Technology  

Consumer viewing continues to migrate to mobile devices as they slowly drift away from the TV screen.

Maintaining its double-digit growth path, mobile now makes up 60.3% of all video plays, according to Ooyala’s Global Video Index for Q4 2017, which based its findings on anonymized online video metrics of the bulk of Ooyala’s 500-plus customers around the world. That’s up from a previous high of 58.3% in the previous quarter.

Ooyala, a maker of multiscreen video software and systems, attributed the rate of growth, which ticked up 11% year-over-year, on a jump in tablet views alongside steady viewership increases on smartphones.

RELATED: What’s Next for Ooyala? (subscription required)

As a comparative look back at the rapid, increasing power of mobile video, Ooyala points out that mobile video plays made up just 17.14% of the total in Q4 2013.

The share of video starts on smartphones rose 1.7% to 47.5% in Q4, while views on tablets reached nearly 12.8% of all views in the quarter, a record for that platform, Ooyala said, noting that views on tablets jumped by more than 24% from Q3 and 67.7% from a year ago.

Ooyala also found that medium-form (5 to 20 minutes) and long-form content (20 minutes-plus) ate up more than half of all viewing time across all screens.

On connected TVs, long-form time viewed in Q4 chimed in at 98.9%, about the same from the previous quarter, and up from 96% in the year-ago period. Long-form viewing on tablets followed, at 62%.

Ooyala’s study also took a look at the multiscreen advertising landscape, finding that broadcaster pre-roll ad impressions on smartphones topped 54% in Q4, accelerating from 39% in Q3 and 29% in Q2. 

Completion rates of pre-roll ads varied by screen type. In Q4, completion rates in this category on PCs were 87%, up slightly from Q3, versus 91% for connected TVs (a number that’s been flat for three quarters), and 86% on smartphones, up from 84% in Q3.

Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), an industry consortium behind technical standards that are primarily used in Europe, is moving forward on an initiative that will look into commercial requirements for standalone linear TV services that are delivered over the internet.

The focus of that work, under the DVB-I (internet) banner, aim to complement DVB-S/C/T standards and managed IPTV services that are tied to service over dedicated access networks.  DVB-I will also look to borrow commonalities with existing DVB specifications.

Thomas Stockhammer of Qualcomm Technologies is chairing the DVB CM-I group, and Peter Lanigan of TP Vision is on board as vice chair.

Keying on the emergence of OTT-delivered TV services to internet-connected televisions and to mobile devices, the initial focus of CM-I will be to collect relevant commercial and technical requirements “in order to provide a user perception of a linear TV channel that can be discovered and consumed over the open Internet and by regular TV equipment and user interfaces.”

“With hybrid services, OTT and online distribution growing in importance, DVB is applying its expertise and know-how in this all-important domain,” Peter MacAvock, DVB’s chairman, said in a statement. “DVB-I will complement the current DVB standards that form the basis of the way consumers watch TV today.”

Telstra said it will recognize an impairment charge as it writes down its investment in Ooyala, the struggling online video firm that the Australia-based company acquired in 2014.

Telstra, in an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange on February 2, noted that the non-cash impairment and write-down will carry the value of Ooyala, which has been serving as its U.S.-based video tech business, to “zero.” As a result Telstra said it expects to recognize an impairment charge of A$272 million (US$215 million).

Telstra acquired 9% of Ooyala in 2012, and raised it to 98% in 2014 as it tried to take advantage of the surging online video trend.

Telstra said it identified “challenges” in that business 18 months ago and impaired the Ooyala business at the time of its 2016 financial results, but continued to make efforts to turn around Ooyala’s business.

Last April, Ooyala tapped Jonathan Huberman as CEO, a move that came about five months after former CEO Ramesh Srinivasan left the company. Huberman also came on board a couple months after Ooyala had reportedly laid off 14% of its workforce amid a restructuring that, it hoped, would lead to new jobs and product areas.

Ooyala’s business has been focused on three areas: ad tech, online video players and a workflow management system.

Ad tech, “has not performed well and we will therefore seek ways to exit that part of the business,” Stephen Elop, the group executive, technology, innovation and strategy at Telstra, and the chairman of the Ooyala board, said in a statement.

RELATED: Vudu Taps Ooyala for New Ad-VOD Service 

He added that Telstra does “see a future in other core parts of the Ooyala business,” namely the video player and workflow management components, but later stressed that the company “will remain alert for broader strategic options for Ooyala in a market fragmented across multiple providers.”

That market is made up of a mix of different sized tech players that focus on different parts of the multiscreen video ecosystem, including Comcast Technology Solutions, Amazon, Brightcove, IBM, NeuLion, Disney-backed BAMTech, Zype, and Kaltura, among several others.

RELATED: Ooyala Sues Brightcove

Telstra, Elop noted, acquired Ooyala “when the market dynamics were very different…When we announced the initial impairment 18 months ago we indicated that we would be working closely with the team to turn around the performance. We believed Ooyala remained a young and exciting company with leading offerings in intelligent video which were continuing to evolve and scale. While some of these initiatives have been successful, the market has continued to change.”

Ericsson Media Solutions and Bell Canada have inked an expanded multi-year deal that paves the way for the Canadian telco to build and launch a new multiscreen TV service powered by the vendor’s cloud-based MediaFirst platform.

The deal will bring personalized and converged multiscreen services to more than 1.5 million Fibe TV and Alt TV subs in Canada, they said.

Bell Canada has been using Mediaroom, the IPTV platform Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in the fall of 2013. MediaFirst is a next-gen, cloud-powered IP video platform that covers TVs as well as web browsers, smartphones and tablets.

“When integrated with Mediaroom, MediaFirst will deliver an agile, next generation TV platform with the necessary flexibility to easily incorporate third party apps,” they said.

Telus, another Canadian service provider that has previously used Mediaroom, is also upgrading to MediaFirst to augment Optik TV, its full-freight, managed IPTV service. Telus is also using Ericson’s MediaFirst platform to power Pik TV, an IP-delivered skinny bundle service that was introduced last April that runs smartphones, tablets and an Android TV-powered box sold by Telus for C$100.

RELATED: Telus Soft-Launches Skinny Bundle IPTV Service

Other announced MediaFirst customers include J:COM, Japan's largest cable operator, and Canada's SaskTel. 

A set of Canadian cable service providers – Shaw Communications, Rogers Communications and Videotron – are moving ahead with next-gen, multiscreen pay TV services that are powered by Comcast’s X1 platform. In the U.S., Cox Communications is also using an X1 syndication deal to underpin its new Contour pay TV service.

RELATED: Videotron to Use Comcast’s X1 Platform to Power New IPTV Service

Comcast Technology Solutions, a unit of Comcast focused on multiscreen video distribution and advertising, has formed a partnership with DLVR that aims to optimize the video experience across a wide range of devices.

RELATED: Comcast Launches New Tech Unit

CTS said the agreement, which will tap into DLVR’s real-time content delivery network (CDN) switching capabilities and Quality of Experience analytics systems, will add routing flexibility to its CDN-agnostic Origin service and enable a turnkey approach for multi-CDN deployments.

They also believe that the combination of the Comcast CDN and DLVR’s stream optimization and CDN switching capabilities will enable partners to simplify the management of multi-CDN approaches that help them manage peaks by load balancing.

RELATED: Comcast Technology Solutions Hires Bart Spriester as GM, Video Platform

An example is Crunchyroll, Ellation’s SVOD service focused on anime, which uses DLVR’s platform to measure the performance of its major CDNs, including the Comcast CDN, and routes video requests in real time to the optimal CDN for each user.

“Consumers today maintain incredibly high expectations when it comes to video content delivery —they want it at lightning fast speeds and the ability to access it whenever they want, on whatever device,” Bart Spriester, GM at Comcast Technology Solutions, said in a statement. "The Comcast CDN provides our partners with the flexible and reliable delivery platform they need to satisfy their consumers’ expectations and support their business’ expanding needs. In partnership with DLVR, we are better able to ensure that these needs are consistently met.”

Las Vegas – Thanks to the emergence of OTT and direct-to-consumer options, the viewing audience continues to fragment and put more and more pressure on the traditional TV world.

Though programmers and pay TV distributors must adjust to compensate for that trend, it doesn’t mean that consumers are watching less video, execs said here Wednesday during a CES keynote panel.

Read More: Complete coverage of #CES2018

Consumers are viewing that content in different places and on different platforms, and that is opening up the door to smart data that can help detect those patterns, said Kristin Dolan , the former COO of Cablevision Systems (now part of Altice USA) who is now CEO of 605 LLC, an audience and data analysts company.

“It’s more about platform-shifting than cord-cutting,” she said.

“Fragmentation is like gravity,” added Robert Kyncl, chief business officer of YouTube. "It just is…the internet ushered that into our world,” Kyncl added, noting that part of the answer is to super-aggregate content for the masses.

A&E Networks has also been witness to the impact of the internet on viewing habits. The top ten shows being viewed on its apps and owned and operated platforms aren’t the same as the top 10 shows that are being viewed on the programmer’s linear channels,  Nancy Dubuc, CEO of A&E Networks, explained.

That, she said, creates an “enormous opportunity” to serve different viewers with different tastes and different needs.

For advertisers, Comcast is dealing with this trend in part by re-aggregating audiences that can be established and maximize the value of that content and still take advantage of the scale that TV represents, said Marcien Jenckes, president of advertising at Comcast Cable.

“The reality is that people are watching more video than ever before,” Jenckes said. “They are consuming the same content in different ways,” so Comcast must evolve its products to support that.

Macro, a media brand focused on the voice and perspective of persons of color, stays ahead of the fragmentation curve by being platform-agnostic, company CEO and founder Charles King said.

Dubuc said it’s also important not to stand still and let change run you over.

“We’re not in the business of today,” she said. “We’re always trying to guess -- or second guess -- what might be around the corner.”

Panelists also weighed in on how audience fragmentation is affecting the TV ad model.

That could mean everything from changing the ad format, making the ads more relevant and using more data to execute. “It’s a necessary thing that we’re going to have to react to and adjust to,” Dubuc said.

Distributors and programmers are also answering this with new ad-free options, such as recent ones Comcast has developed and launched with FX Networks and AMC Networks.

RELATED: Comcast Launches FX+

“I think you’ll see more experimentation,” Jenckes said.

 Jenckes also stressed the importance of data and how a new “blockchain” partnership could help multiple parties tap into pools of different data that can help to garner key insights that are important when it comes to targeting ads to the right audience.

RELATED: Blockchain Technology Moving Into Cable, Advertising Sectors

Under that blockchain model, data holders control their own data, and keep it safe, but allow others to gain insights from it.

“It’s early days but think it’s needed for the industry to come together to break down silos on that data in a safe way,” he said.

YouTube, meanwhile, has been innovating with six-second bumper ads, and TrueView, an ad format where the OTT provider doesn’t charge advertisers if an ad is not viewed in its entirety.

 “This year we’ll innovate on that [TrueView] even more,” Kyncl said. “We're trying to innovate in ways so that advertisers can get their messages across to all of these large audiences...but doing it in a way that is not viewed as friction." 

In an effort to help its cable operators make the leap to IPTV, TiVo has introduced a next-gen, app-based platform that will enable TiVo to deliver its interface and overall user experience on a variety of retail streaming devices as well a client that will run on an MSO-managed device that runs Android TV.

Read More: Complete coverage of #CES2018

The new, underlying cloud-powered platform, to be demoed at next week’s CES in Las Vegas, is designed to allow TiVo’s cable operator partners to begin their pivot away from QAM-based digital video distribution systems and spark the transition to an IP-based video architecture, with options for VOD, DVR services as well as linear TV.

That migration can be deployed in several different forms, including hybrid QAM/IP approaches as well as IP-only scenarios for all video customers or those tailored to specific market segments, such as broadband-only customers or for services that are delivered on college campuses within the MSO’s traditional service footprint.

TiVo’s next-gen work centers on the backend control plane of the video service and factors in the company’s new UI, search across linear, OTT, VOD and DVR-recorded content, along with upgraded components such as voice search and navigation and a personalized recommendation engine.

For MVPD partners, TiVo will also integrate encoders and other video infrastructure components from third-party suppliers, explained Jim Denney, TiVo’s vice president of product and strategy.

An example of some of that early work is already taking place in Spain with Vodafone, which has combined TiVo’s new platform with network DVR technology from Ericsson, and was the first service provider to deploy TiVo’s new user experience.

RELATED: Ericsson Folds on Fabrix Systems For $95M

In addition to that backend work, TiVo work in the next-gen arena will also focus on streaming clients that will operate as apps on unmanaged retail devices such as the Apple TV box and Amazon Fire TV players. TiVo is also extending its next-gen platform to web browsers and apps for smartphones and tablets.  

TiVo, Denney said, is also developing a client to run on MSO-managed Android TV devices that will auto-boot to the cable operator’s experience when the box is turned on and extend more control to the operator, for those that want that option. This option will also enable cable operators to deliver their pay TV service on a platform that also supports the multitude of OTT apps that are offered on the Google Play store.

In both of those app-based scenarios, TiVo’s new fourth-gen UX (formerly code-named “Hydra”) essentially will be bridged to those retail and MSO-managed devices and support the same “design sensibility” that is delivered by TiVo on its more traditional Linux-based boxes, Denney said, noting that the approach allows TiVo to scale across different clients using a similar baseline code.

This isn’t the first time TiVo has tried to extend a bridge to third-party retail platforms. In 2015, TiVo introduced an app (in beta form) for the Fire TV that enabled users to watch shows and movies recorded to the DVR on the Amazon-made OTT device. AsZatzNotFunny reported Wednesday (January 3), TiVo retired that original Fire TV client app a few weeks ago, presumably to make way for the new app strategy being announced today.

RELATED: TiVo Flips on Fire TV App

TiVo’s fresh apps-based video approach for cable partners may ring familiar, as it shares some important similarities with new products for tier 2/3 MSOs that have been recently introduced by MobiTV and Evolution Digital.

RELATED: MobiTV, NCTC Forge Next-Gen Video Deal

TiVo has yet to announce if any of its current crop of MSO partners have committed to the next-gen platform. In the U.S., possible candidates include existing MVPD partners such as RCN Corp., Mediacom Communications, Armstrong, GCI, Grande Communications, Midco, and Atlantic Broadband, among others. Suddenlink is also a TiVo partner, though Altice USA, which acquired Suddenlink in December 2015, appears to be going in a different direction with its recently launched “Altice One” all-services platform.

RELATED: Altice USA Unveils ‘Altice One’

Ericsson said Telus is using the vendor’s new cloud-based MediaFirst platform to enhance and augment Optik TV, the Canada-based telco’s full-freight, managed IPTV service.

Among those enhancements, MediaFirst will add personalization features across devices (including TV and mobile) and enable Optic TV subs to watch TV, set recordings and watch VOD content on the Optik TV app using a unified interface. Those additions are now reflected in the Optik TV apps for iOS and Android.

The updated platform also taps into advanced analytics tools that help the service provider target relevant content and promotions to viewers, they said.

In the first phase, Telus has launched the enhanced version of the Optik TV app to almost 1 million customers in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec.

Optik TV was originally developed on Mediaroom, the IPTV platform that Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in the fall of 2013.

Telus is also using Ericson’s MediaFirst platform to power “Pik TV,” an IP-delivered skinny bundle service that was introduced in April that runs smartphones, tablets and an Android TV-powered box sold by Telus for C$100.

RELATED: Telus Soft-Launches Skinny Bundle IPTV Service

Other announced MediaFirst customers include J:COM, Japan's largest cable operator, and Canada's SaskTel. 

RELATED: J:COM Taps Ericsson for New Multiscreen Service 

T-Mobile isn’t announcing pricing and packaging for a pay TV service that will debut sometime next year following its proposed acquisition of Layer3 TV, but execs did drop a few hints about what’s in store… and what isn’t.

RELATED: T-Mobile Inks Deal to Acquire Layer3 TV

“We’re not going to give the world another me-too, copycat skinny bundle loaded with tradeoffs,” Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s COO, said on today’s conference call, soon after the deal was announced. “They [consumers] don’t want to be stuck with TV on a diet. They want the ability to feast if they want to." 

He said those coming packages will also be complemented by integrated access to OTT services and new ways to discover content that come from the social media and mobile worlds.

How T-Mobile moves forward next year will certainly skew differently and present options that aren’t completely centered on Layer3 TV’s current strategy, which has been focused on a concierge-style offering with large pay TV packages (with some OTT integrations) teeming with HD (its lineup today has 250-plus HD channels), access to a growing mix of live and VOD 4K content, and a service that runs on its own set-top boxes and relies on professional installs and a fleet of energy-efficient vehicles made by BMW and a few from Tesla that are being used in markets such as Longmont, Colo. 

RELATED: Layer3 TV Goes For The Big Bundle

And Layer3 TV’s packages, which include local broadcast channels and a heavy dose of national cable channels, have been deployed on a market-by-market basis rather than on a nationwide basis, and is not being delivered into homes via a pure OTT distribution model that so-called "virtual" MVPDs such as YouTube TV and SlingTV use today, but rather by a more managed approach on how video is prepared and delivered, at least up until the broadband ISP's last mile access network. 

RELATED: Layer3 TV: A Different Kind of Animal 

After the deal, T-Mobile will continue to support that legacy Layer3 TV product and deliver other packages and services that it can also offer nationally.

“We’ll continue to support the current model,” said Jeff Binder, Layer3 TV’s CEO, who will join T-Mobile’s leadership team and head up its integrated efforts in the TV and entertainment areas after the deal is closed. Binder added that all of Layer3 TV’s employees (there are about 200 of them) will be joining T-Mobile and that Layer3 TV’s Denver office will be maintained.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Opens its Denver Headquarters

“We’ll grow that across the country and we’ll add a variety of products that solve these pain points,” Binder said.

T-Mobile is expected to create national, contract-free packages that lean on Layer3 TV distribution rights deals that allow for that, and to extend service to a wide range of mobile and TV-connected devices, including Roku players, Apple TV boxes and smart TV platforms. 

“This is about an integrated home and mobile experience,” Sievert said. “We don’t intend to just be the end provider of mobile-only service, though we think mobile is a huge part of this.”

“The offer we will be deploying nationwide from a wireless standpoint is not part of what they  [Layer3 TV] do, but it's already contemplated and constructed,” John Legere, T-Mobile’s CEO, explained. “In the meantime, they've got a great, growing business that we'll continue to push forward." 

“We’re not going to force customers to go on a diet with a skinny bundle,” Binder said. “We're not going to force customers to take every channel in the universe. We'll find a mix that solves the pain points and build those out to make really terrific products that are going to make our competition sweat, and sweat hard." 

Update: Color AT&T, which operates DirecTV Now, an OTT TV service launched last November that now has more than 1 million subs, unimpressed with whatever TV services T-Mobile intends to muster. “Un-original – yet further validation that the industry is dynamic and extremely competitive everywhere you turn,” an AT&T spokesperson said in a statement about the T-Mobile/Layer3 TV deal. 

T-Mobile stressed that it will be pushing forward in the pay TV area ahead of its 5G upgrade/transition, and lean on its retail presence (roughly 16,000 stores nationwide) and its access to millions of mobile handsets that run its service.

“The last mile isn’t our issue because we are a nationwide, leading broadband provider even today,” Sievert said, noting that T-Mobile’s network currently delivers an average of 30 Mbps. The company will also take advantage of Layer3 TV’s use of HEVC encoding to keep bit loads down, even for HD and 4K content.  

With 5G on the horizon, “the traditional barriers between mobile internet and home internet are falling away,” Sievert added.

He also expects T-Mobile to generate a decent return on its new pay TV service in part using targeted advertising and by taking advantage of efficient acquisition costs and other synergies.  

As for the origins of the deal, Legere said T-Mobile and Layer3 TV were brought together by an investor in both companies. 

Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but the agreement “is definitely not a material part of our liquidity profile,” J. Braxton Carter, T-Mobile’s EVP and CFO, said. “This is…going to be another example of something that’s going to be highly disruptive, accretive to our business.”

Layer3 TV hasn't released subscriber numbers, but Carter noted that the Denver-based provider is being acquired during its "pre-revenue" phase. 

SeaChange International said one of its key customers, Liberty Global, will use the vendor’s Adrenalin multiscreen video platform to help power the MSO’s next-gen, cloud-based “Horizon 4” services.

SeaChange announced the deal on solid Q3 results. Shares were up 60 cents (21.43%) to $3.40 in after-hours trading Wednesday.

Financial terms of the new Liberty Global deal were not disclosed, but it keeps SeaChange firmly engaged with a major global operator with deployments across Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America.

The cloud-based approach will support a virtualized video platform architecture for Horizon, and enable Liberty Global develop and deploy services at a faster pace, SeaChange said.

“As video platforms transition to virtualized cloud infrastructure and enable advanced capabilities such as replay TV and network DVR to multiple devices, SeaChange will continue to support customers like Liberty Global to monetize their video assets and modernize their video delivery platforms,” Ed Terino, SeaChange’s CEO, said in a statement.

SeaChange, which has been undergoing a restructuring and facing calls by an investor to sell the company, announced the deal as it disclosed Q3 financial results.

RELATED: Investor Pushes SeaChange to Sell

SeaChange posted Q3 revenues of $23.4 million, up 17% year-on-year, and GAAP income of $900,000 (3 cents per fully diluted share), versus a year-ago loss of $8.4 million (24 cents per share). It ended the period with cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities of about $37 million, and no debt outstanding.

“SeaChange's financial performance in the quarter represents excellent progress in reaching our year-end goals more quickly. Across all metrics - revenues, gross margins and non-GAAP EPS - we outperformed our guidance,” CFO Peter Faubert said.

SeaChange expects Q4 revenues of $20 million to $24 million, and a loss from operations of $0.03 per basic share to operating income of $0.05 per fully diluted share.

For the full fiscal 2018, SeaChange raised expected revenues to the range of $77 million to $81 million, and a narrowed GAAP loss of 14 cents to 22 cents per basic share.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced a new AWS Elemental Media Services offering that is made up of five integrated services for its wide range of OTT and multiscreen video streaming partners.

AWS, which will use Media Services to tighten competition with companies such as Microsoft and Google, said its latest offering will lean on an on-demand, pay-as-you-go approach for video processing and storage capacity.

The five services comprising Media Services included three based on existing product lines from AWS Elemental and two new ones that “solve bigger challenges” faced by the market, Keith Wymbs, AWS Elemental’s chief marketing officer, explained in media briefing.

The first three include MediaLive (a live compression engine), MediaPackage (just-in-time packaging technology), and MediaConvert (a file-to-file transcoding engine).

Two total new components include MediaStore (video delivery from storage that is optimized for media), and MediaTailor, a targeted ad insertion platform.

MediaTailor, Wymbs pointed out, has been key to the ad delivery Amazon has been using for its streaming coverage of NFL Thursday Night Football.

All five components that make up Media Services can be integrated with third-party business and control systems, he said.

AWS is launching AWS Elemental Media Services about two years after acquiring Elemental Technologies.

RELATED: Amazon Paid $296M for Elemental Technologies

“We believe this is the first time such a deep set of capabilities for media processing and delivery resides in the cloud for native services,” Wymbs said in a statement. “They can be used by any company in the video ecosystem as a core building block for their, or their customers’, video offerings.”

AWS said more than 50 customers are already on board with AWS Media Services. Examples include corporate cousin Amazon Prime Video (including the Thursday night NFL streaming package); BT; Pac-12 Networks; Fox Sports Australia Pty Limited; Nine of Australia; M2A Media; Cinépolis; Imagica Corp. (a Japan-based post-production company for movies and TV shows); and fuboTV, the sports-focused virtual MVPD.

AWS introduced the new offering in tandem with its re:Invent event in Las Vegas.

Cisco Systems has put its video software unit on the block more than five years after the company bulked up in that area by acquiring NDS for $5 billion, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the situation.

Cisco said it doesn't comment on rumor or speculation. 

Cisco acquired NDS, a company focused on content protection/security and video software and user interfaces, in 2012. At the time, NDS fit strategically into a multiscreen platform/initiative called Videoscape at the time (Cisco no longer uses the Videoscape brand, as it now offers a suite of multiscreen video products under the “Infinite” brand).

RELATED: Cox Gasses Up its Guide 

The NDS deal came about six years after Cisco took over Scientific Atlanta, a maker of set-top boxes, conditional access systems and other video and networking technologies, for $6.9 billion.

RELATED: Cisco Announces Deal to Acquire NDS For $5 Billion

If Cisco is looking to unload the unit that came way of NDS, it would continue its selling-off of products that are or were once tied to its service provider video unit, which saw revenues drop 10%, to $227 million, in Cisco’s fiscal Q4. Service provider video represented just 2% of Cisco’s revenue mix in that period. Switching, at 28%, is the largest contributor.

In 2015, for example, Cisco closed its sell-off of a connected devices unit that made set-tops, cable modems and other CPE, to Technicolor, for $600 million. Tied in, Technicolor and Cisco struck a “strategic collaboration agreement” in which they will develop next-gen video and broadband technologies and cooperate on initiatives around the Internet of Things.

RELATED: Technicolor, Cisco Seal the Deal

And NDS might not fit into Cisco’s software-focused network strategy, which included a recent $1.9 billion play for Broadsoft, which makes cloud-based calling and contact center products for business customers.

Looking to expand its presence with some tier 1 providers and bulk up its video technology portfolio, Vecima Networks announced Monday that it has inked a deal to acquire Concurrent Computer Corp.’s content delivery and storage business for $29 million in cash.

Concurrent, a VOD server and software pioneer based in Atlanta, counts Charter Communications and Altice USA among its tier 1 MSO customers. Earlier this year, Concurrent took aim at tier 2/3 operators with a new platform aimed at helping that group upgrade and advance their existing video platforms cost effectively, covering services such as VOD, live TV and cloud DVR.

RELATED: Concurrent Pitches Video ‘Springboard’ to Smaller Cable Ops

Concurrent’s delivery and storage business employs about 100 people and generated revenue of $27.6 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017. Vecima said it expects to continue operating the business under the Concurrent brand.

Concurrent and Vecima expect to close the deal before the end of 2017.

In May, Concurrent sold its Real-Time business segment to Battery Ventures for $35 million in cash.

Concurrent is expected to have a debt-free balance sheet with about $67 million in pro forma working capital and “substantial retained tax assets” at the time of the deal’s closing with Vecima, Derek Elder, Concurrent’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

Vecima said it expects that its business will generate more than $5.5 million in annualized adjusted EBITDA after closing, capturing synergies that include the removal of Concurrent’s public company costs.

Concurrent is expected to file a preliminary proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within 30 days. It said that a group of stockholders representing about 17% of the issued and outstanding shares of Concurrent common stock have agreed to vote in favor of the proposed deal.

Canada-based Vecima has specialized in products such as video decoders, gear targeted to the commercial and hospitality industry, as well as DOCSIS 3.1, including nodes tailored for cable’s emerging distributed access architectures.

“Vecima believes that the rapid growth in IPTV delivery across both MVPD private CDNs and OTT providers will continue to accelerate,” Sumit Kumar, Vecima’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Concurrent is a recognized leader in storing, protecting, transforming and delivering media assets.  Adding their solutions to our industry leading broadband internet access platforms, will allow us to deliver an end to end, massively scalable video and data solution to the market.”

Multiscreen video software specialist SeaChange International said it has made changes to its board of directors, including the naming of a new chairman and the appointment of two members, “in response to shareholder feedback.”

William Markey, the company said, has been named chairman of the board, and previous chairman, Steven Craddock, “has decided to retire from the Board.”

Markey, formerly a director of the SeaChange board, is also president of Relevant C Business Group (RCBG), a private consulting firm he founded in 2002, and is a co-founder of Ucentric Systems, a software company acquired by Motorola in 2005.

Joining the SeaChange board are Mark Bonney and Andy Sriubas.

SeaChange said Bonney is “in independent director with substantial experience in turn-around and merger and acquisition situations,” and that his appointment follows an agreement with one of SeaChange’s largest shareholders, VIEX Capital Advisors.

Sriubas, who started his career with Citibank, has been an advisor to the SeaChange board since May 2016, and has chaired the company’s Advisory Board that works with the management team on strategic and technology matters, SeaChange said.

Bonney’s appointment will be presented to shareholders for a vote at the company's 2018 annual meeting, and Sriubas' appointment will be presented for a vote at the company's annual meeting in 2019.

The board-level changes come a few weeks after a SeaChange investor, Roumell Asset Management, scolded the board for the SeaChange’s “poor operating results and weakened balance sheet” and urged the board to pursue a sale of the company. SeaChange, now under new CEO Ed Terino, is in the middle of a restructuring that aims to return the company to profitability. 

RELATED: Investor Pushes SeaChange to Sell

“We are very pleased to have strengthened our board with the addition of Mark and Andy, both of whom bring skillsets that we believe will be important to enabling SeaChange to continue its transformation and growth within the evolving media marketplace,” Markey said in a statement. “Being responsive to our shareholders is important, and I appreciate that we have developed a constructive relationship with Eric Singer at VIEX as part of this effort…At the same time, we are grateful to Steve [Craddock] for his five-years of service on the board of SeaChange, and his many contributions in assisting in the company’s progress.”

"I believe the actions the SeaChange board has taken around reconstitution will ensure the best governance framework to support the company's progress in achieving higher value for all shareholders," Singer added. 

Leadership changes are afoot at Comcast Technology Solutions, a division focused on multiscreen video distribution and advertising technologies and services.

Comcast confirmed that Matt McConnell, formerly SVP and GM of Comcast Technology Solutions, recently left CTS. Ken Klaer, now SVP, strategic infrastructure at Comcast, is heading up CTS on an interim basis.  Klaer, a former Cisco Systems exec, joined Comcast in 2014 as SVP, premises technology.

In an unrelated move, Barry Tishgart, a former vice president of Comcast Technology Solutions, left CTS a few weeks ago and has joined BAMTech as senior vice president and general management, tech services. BAMTech, a competitor to CTS, is the Disney-owned tech services and video streaming operation originally spun off by MLB Advanced Media.  

RELATED: Disney Set to Launch Direct to Consumer Services

Comcast launched Comcast Technology Solutions last fall as a division that combined three of its media and tech businesses – Comcast Wholesale, thePlatform and This Technology. In January, Comcast Technology Solutions introduced a direct-to-consumer platform for content providers, and has tapped two vendors – Accedo and You.i TV – as user interface/experience partners.

RELATED: Comcast Launches New Tech Unit

Comcast said it’s 100% committed to Comcast Technology Solutions and continues to grow the business.

An investor in SeaChange International submitted a letter to the company’s board of directors urging the multiscreen video technology company to seek a sale while the company remains in a position that would be attractive to potential suitors.

“It should be obvious to the Board that SeaChange's small, sub-$100 million revenue base is insufficient to warrant remaining an independent going-concern,” Roumell Asset Management, explained in a release about the letter. “We have talked to industry participants and believe the demand for SeaChange's assets would provide shareholders a meaningful premium to the company's current share price.”

Selling SeaChange is hardly a new idea. SeaChange has been the subject of M&A rumors for several years. TiVo and Rovi, which merged last fall, were once among those that were poking around SeaChange.

Roumell Asset Management, which says it owns 1.2 million shares of SeaChange or roughly 3.3% of outstanding shares, also shared some harsh words about the company’s “poor operating results and weakening balance sheet” and placed a good portion of the blame at the feet of the SeaChange board.

SeaChange has been asked for comment about the letter.

SeaChange, under new CEO Ed Terino, is in restructuring mode amid a plan to return the company to profitability. As part of that, SeaChange, which counts Liberty Global as its sole 10% or greater revenue contributor, has been cutting back staff and transferring its engineering responsibilities from the Philippines to Poland and pivoting some of its professional services capacity to third parties.

RELATED: SeaChange Pushes Back Restructuring Wrap Up

Terino was named CEO in April 2016 after the board ousted previous CEO, Jay Samit, who orchestrated SeaChange’s troubled $24.5 million acquisition of Timeline Labs, a social media analytics company, in late 2014. SeaChange later discontinued and shut down Timeline Labs.

Roumell Asset Management is also expressing its views after long-time board director Tom Olson, resigned, effective July 18. According to this July 13 SEC filing, Olson, a member of the SeaChange board since 2001 and a past CEO of National Cable Communications, received 13.2 million votes for election, and 16.6 million against.

 That vote, the investment firm suggested, is an indication that “shareholders are finished with the company's ‘business as usual’ culture.”

“We believe the Board needs further reconstitution,” it added. “Candidly, individuals who participated in some of these glaringly inept decisions should consider stepping down. It's clear to any independent observer that new blood is needed in the boardroom.”

SeaChange’s current board includes chairman and former Comcast exec Steve Craddock; Terino; William Markey, president of consulting firm the Relevant C Business Group (RCBG); Mary Cotton, previously CEO of VT iDirect and a former exec with SAP; and Ed Wilson, the co-founder and executive chairman of Timeline Labs, a founding partner at New Form Digital, president and CEO of Dreamcatcher Broadcasting, and a media exec late of Tribune Broadcasting, Fox Television, NBC, CBS and Sony.

Roumell Asset Management had praise for Terino, citing his landslide re-election to the board and his decision to streamline and to build the tech team in Poland, and said SeaChange’s base of customers for Adrenalin (its multiscreen video backoffice platform), relationship with Liberty Global and its equity investment in Layer3 TV “are enviable assets.”

“We believe Mr. Terino's approach of protecting the company's balance sheet by reducing expenses, while focusing on discrete market opportunities, is the correct one and will ultimately position the company for a successful sale,” the investor noted.

Shares in SeaChange dropped 7 cents (2.48%) to $2.75 each Thursday. It has a market cap of about $97.15 million.

Eyeballs continue to migrate to smartphones and tablets in greater numbers, but the TV screen still remains a key conduit in the over-the-top video era.

Roku players, Apple TV boxes and other TV-connected OTT devices now lead the way in terms of online ad view share, according to a new report from FreeWheel, the Comcast-owned multiscreen advertising company.

RELATED: Comcast Wraps FreeWheel Deal

FreeWheel’s Video Monetization Report for Q1 2017, noted that OTT has ballooned from 2% to 32% in a four-year period amid heavier investment by publishers and programmers on the TV.

Ad views on smartphones and tablets were steady during that span as they declined on desktops.

In Q1, nearly all the device growth came way of OTT devices and set-top VOD, which FreeWheel dubs as the “new living room” platforms. Ad view composition and growth on OTT devices surged 45% year-on-year, and 33% for set-top VOD, and while dropping 5% on desktops/PCs.

FreeWheel, which based its report on 200 billion video starts in 2016 and 59 billion video starts during Q1 2017, also found that 29% of all programmer ad views originated from “syndicated” platforms, which include “long-tail” web sites and multichannel video programming distributor platforms (TV Everywhere and virtual MVPD services).

 A deeper dive into FreeWheel’s latest study will be featured in the Next TV section of the June 19 edition of Multichannel News.

Multiscreen video specialist SeaChange International expects to wrap up a restructuring program a quarter or two later than originally expected, but doesn’t believe the delay will affect its grander plan to return to profitability.

“We now anticipate that some restructuring actions will be delayed into Q3 and Q4 of fiscal 2018,” Ed Terino, SeaChange’s CEO, said Tuesday on the company’s fiscal Q1 call.

Originally, SeaChange hoped to complete the restructuring by the end of fiscal Q2.

RELATED: SeaChange Eyes End of Restructuring Process

“While there may be some slippage in cost savings in fiscal 2018, we do not believe that our goal of achieving profitability in the second half of fiscal 2018 is in risk due to these delays,” he said.

When the program is complete, SeaChange expects to have about 300 employees (versus the 660 it had at the end of fiscal 2016), and to have transferred more of its engineering responsibilities from the Philippines to Poland and shift to some of our professional services capacity to third parties.

SeaChange posted fiscal Q1 revenues of $16.7 million and a GAAP loss of $5.5 million (16 cents per share), versus year-ago revenues  $21.6 million and a loss of $9.6 million (28 cents per share). Q1 GAAP result  included charges of $3.8 million, primarily comprised of severance and other restructuring costs.

Liberty Global was SeaChange’s lone 10% or greater revenue customer in the quarter, representing 28% of revenues in the period. International revenues accounted for 58% of total revenues.

On the product front, Terino said SeaChange is ahead of schedule for NitroX, its multiscreen user experience for set-tops and connected devices that was introduced last year.

The first half of the year, NitroX wrapped support for the iPad, Android tablets, certain smart TVs, Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV, with support for Apple TV, Roku and web browsers on deck for the second half of SeaChange’s fiscal year.

The exec said SeaChange is also moving ahead with upgrades to Adrenalin, its multiscreen backoffice platform, to include time-shift TV and network DVR.

Bigger picture, Terino said SeaChange is seeing more opportunities with mobile carriers and expects to “close several of these greenfield opportunities in the next several quarters.” He said the company also has about 30 opportunities in the pipeline for OTT deals, with quotes out for about half of them.

Verizon confirmed that it is testing “new advanced TV features” for Fios with a select group of employees and customers.

Citing an offer from Verizon to a small set of customers, DSL Reports said this week that the service provider was beta-testing an IPTV service, and offering those subs a free year of voice, broadband and TV service for joining the trial.

"You’re invited to be part of a select group of consumers to participate in a trial of some of our newest in-home entertainment features," Verizon told those customers in an e-mail, according to DSL Reports.  "This is a unique opportunity to test-drive these exciting new TV features in advance of general availability to the public."

Verizon isn’t detailing the precise nature of the TV trials, but in March Light Reading reported that the company was showing off a next-gen, IP-powered version of Fios TV at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Spain. Verizon reportedly is looking for the new IP-only platform to succeed its current hybrid QAM/IP system and also enable a new, more personalized  user experience for set-tops and mobile devices.

Light Reading  also reported then that the new platform leans on a revised gateway/client architecture.

RELATED: Verizon Shows Sneak Peek of New Fios TV Platform at MWC

Verizon confirmed that trials are underway, but is not discussing any product details yet, with an official adding that “there is no guarantee that the products, services, features, equipment, or content from the trial will become available.”

RELATED: With Intel Media, Verizon Paves Path To Set-Top Independence

Though the features being tested are tied to Verizon’s primary Fios TV service, company chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam told an investors conference last month that Verizon also plans to kick the tires on a new over-the-top video offering.

“The platform will be in place to do an over-the-top sort of play…and we’ll go out and test it,” McAdam said then, noting that its acquisition of AOL and its pending one for certain assets of Yahoo will fit into the OTT initiative. “But we have not committed to a launch date or anything. We’re going to see how this evolves.”

Offering another technology option for a small but growing group of cord-cutters, Plex has added a free Live TV component that’s available to all customers who subscribe to its Plex Pass service.

That live TV component, accessible by tying the Plex app to a video source such as a digital over-the-air TV antenna or a digital tuner, is now capable of integrating local HD broadcast channels that can be played back on iOS devices and Android TV devices, starting with the Nvidia Shield. Plex plans to add Android mobile devices and Apple TV boxes soon, followed by other streaming platforms. Outside the new live TV scope,

At launch, Plex’s live TV service, which includes an integrated programming guide, is compatible with several antenna and digital tuners, including the WinTV-dualHD, WinTV-HVR-955Q, Digital TV for the Xbox One and all SiliconDust HDHR models for North America, as well as several for Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia, including the TVButler 100TC, SiliconDust HDHR, and Freeview HD TV for Xbox One, among others.

Plex also views its new feature as a solid successor to Microsoft’s discontinued Windows Media Center product and as a complement to SVOD services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Notably, Plex’s system also supports digital tuners with CableCARDs, such as HDHomeRun Prime from SiliconDust, for customers who do get a pay TV service from a cable operator.

According to Keith Valory, Plex’s CEO, the addition of a live TV component has been the most asked for feature among subscribers, a service that costs $4.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $119.99 for a lifetime pass, and includes access to a DVR service with remote access of recordings that is currently being offered in beta, as well as offline playback. Plex users can set recordings from the TV as well as its app.

About 55% of Plex users are based outside the U.S., hence the reason to have broad tuner support, Valory said.

Plex, a privately held company that enables users to organize and stream content on multiple devices, won’t reveal its subscriber numbers, but the company has more than 13 million registered users.

Plex is also expanding into its own content following the recent acquisition of Watchup, an ad-based streaming news service that aggregates content from a wide range of sources.

RELATED: Plex Makes a Content Play

With the addition of live TV, Plex puts itself into a category that is being targeted by other suppliers of devices that bring local TV to an array of screen types, including Nuvvyo (Tablo and the just-launched Tablo Dual), Dish Network (AirTV Player), TiVo (Roamio OTA), and ChannelMaster (DVR+), among others.

Ooyala, the Telstra-owned multiscreen OTT specialist, has filed a federal lawsuit against rival Brightcove over allegations that the company and certain employees of Brightcove “engaged in deliberate and willful misappropriation of proprietary trade secrets.”

Per the suit, Ooyala claims that those trade secrets and proprietary info spans customer contact lists, confidential sales pitches and pricing, marketing plans and corporate strategies.

Ooyala held that the alleged misappropriation was being used to undermine and exploit Ooyala’s business dealings and sales efforts for Brightcove’s benefit throughout Latin America.  

Ooyala said it is seeking a court trial and an injunction against Brightcove in federal court in Boston, and is asking the company and its employees to return all proprietary materials and to destroy all customer information stemming from the allegations.

The six-count filing also includes allegations of deceptive business practices, tortious interference and breach of contract, Ooyala said, noting that it gave Brightcove notice once it uncovered the evidence tied to those allegations and that it believes that Brightcove continued to use that information after notice was given.

Brightcove said it reviewed the assertions made by Ooyala in good faith, but that Ooyala “disengaged” from those discussion and pushed ahead with the lawsuit. Brightcove’s full statement is as follows:

"We are aware of Ooyala's assertions concerning the alleged misappropriation of trade secrets. When first alerted to these assertions by Ooyala, we reviewed them in good faith and reached out to Ooyala in an effort to address its concerns. Ooyala disengaged from that conversation and then filed this suit. Brightcove believes that this lawsuit is entirely without merit. We are working to resolve the matter, which is narrowly focused on a particular region and does not concern our products, services or technology."

Ooyala said it has made “significant investments in Latin America,” including an R&D office in Guadalajara, and sales, marketing and channel efforts in Argentina, Brazil, the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Peru.

Update: The complaint, filed May 22 in the U.S. District Court for the  District of Massachusetts by Ooyala, identifies Brightcove and two Brightcove employees, Darío Pérez Real and Raúl Francisco García Domínguez, who were formerly with Ooyala, as defendants.

Per the compliant, Ooyala alleges that Perez “surreptitiously sent to Brightcove a wealth of Ooyala’s confidential and trade secret information” in his final three months of employment as a senior sales exec at Ooyala and while he was being courted to join Brightcove.

Ooyala further claims that Garcia, a former vice president of Ooyala and current head of Brightcove’s Latin America division, coordinated the alleged misappropriation of trade secrets.

The complaint alleges that Perez, prior to resigning from Ooyala on Feb. 23, 2017, had already signed an employment contract with Brightcove and was working with Garcia to send confidential client data to Brightcove and to solicit Ooyala’s current and prospective customers on Brightcove’s behalf.

Ooyala also holds that it has already lost one account to Brightcove and others that were required to be renewed at a lower average contract value “to counteract Brightcove’s misappropriation of Ooyala’s confidential and trade secret information.”

Ooyala didn’t name which of its current and prospective clients were impacted by those allegations, but did point to an April 19 press release from Brightcove announcing “key customer wins,” including Grupo Televisa, Expansión, and Grupo Nación Paraguay, and plans to open an office in Mexico City. Garcia, GM, Latin America at Brightcove at the time of the announcement, is one of the execs quoted in the release.

Turner’s TBS and TNT this week have issued major big updates to their streaming apps for some mobile and TV-connected platforms, and have added other platforms to their streaming mix.

As for the legacy, the updates arrive on their apps for iOS and Android mobile device, and Apple TV and Amazon Fire devices, as well as the TBS.com and tntdrama.com websites.

Their digital footprint is expanding with launches on Roku devices, the Google Chromecast and Vizio SmartCast products. TBS and TNT plan to extend support to gaming consoles and connected TVs later this year.  

Among those “top-to-bottom” updates, include integration of Vizbee technology that lets users cast content from a mobile device to any connected screen. Epix recently added Vizbee technology. 

TNT and TBS are also adding “instant-on” access and pre-login “freeviews” for major programming events. The freeviews will let viewers watch up to five minutes of any VOD program or 10 minutes of any live event, including sports, before being required to authenticate.

Other app and website enhancements include Spotlight, which allows for limited sampling across the two networks and the ability for users to switch easily from one device to another without losing their place in a program.

"Our digital and mobile upgrades reflect TBS & TNT's renewed commitment to transform traditional TV viewing into an experience that truly redefines what it means to 'watch TV,'"  Jesse Redniss, chief innovation officer for TBS and TNT, said in a statement. "By including industry-leading casting technology and instant-on previews, as well as an overall premium environment, we're creating better experiences for both our fans and advertising partners."

Ooyala, the online video publisher owned by Telstra, said it has hired Jonathan Huberman as CEO, effective April 18.

Former CEO Ramesh Srinivasan left Ooyala last November, with Issac Vaughn, Ooyala’s SVP, corporate development and general counsel, stepping in as acting CEO as the company conducted its search for a successor.

RELATED: Telstra To Acquire Ooyala

Huberman also comes aboard a couple months after Ooyala reportedly laid off 14% of its total workforce tied to a restructuring that would eventually create new job openings focused on new product areas.

Prior to Ooyala, Huberman was the CEO of Syncplicity, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company for enterprise file collaboration that was acquired in February by Axway. Before that, he was CEO of Tiburon, a public safety software provider (acquired by TriTech in 2015), and was president of EMC’s Consumer and Small Business Division.

Though some of Huberman's recent exec slots have resulted in M&A activity, Ooyala talked up his track record in driving growth. 

“Mr. Huberman has a standout record of delivering profound growth for cloud-based technologies in complex industries and is a well-suited leader for Ooyala,” Stephen Elop, said Ooyala’s chairman, said in a statement. His dedication to customer satisfaction and keen attention to matching the right solutions to the right challenges in the industry will help drive Ooyala’s next phase of growth.”

Ooyala is in a highly competitive market that is also becoming increasingly commoditized. Competitors include a mix of large media companies and startups such as Comcast Technology Solutions, Brightcove, IBM, NeuLion, BAMTech, Zype, and Kaltura, among others.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  Studios has hired Sam Toles to the new post of SVP, digital and new platforms, where he’ll head up efforts around digital native and short-form content development and distribution.

Toles will report to Kevin Conroy, MGM’s president, digital & new platforms and will be based in Los Angeles.  Toles will also be tasked with using MGM’s existing intellectual property and creating new IP, working with theatrical, scripted, unscripted and distribution teams, that can be offered on new digital platforms.

Toles most recently was SVP/GM of Vimeo’s Entertainment Group, where he helped with the launch of Vimeo’s first slate of original programming including HBO’sHigh Maintenance, the Emmy-nominatedGarfunkel and Oats: Trying to be Specialand the Oscar-nominated animated shortPear Cider and Cigarettes. 

Toles’ career started in theatrical marketing at New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers, followed by home entertainment marketing roles at Paramount Pictures and Rhino. He then joined Fremantle Media as VP of business development, overseeing media licensing for their extensive stable brands includingAmerican Idol,America’s Got TalentandThe Price Is Right. Toles also served as VP of content strategy for Gaiam, which distributes a digital SVOD service.

“Sam’s experience in digital media will accelerate our efforts in developing and creating compelling new content for today’s digital platforms, and will help to shape our company’s strategy as new platforms emerge,” said Conroy, in a statement.

“I am so glad we could attract Sam to join MGM. He is an innovative thinker and has his finger on the pulse of what’s next. We’re all about what’s next,” added Mark Burnett, MGM’s president, television group & digital. 

Switzerland-based The Quickline Group has picked SeaChange International to provide the key tech underpinnings of a new multiscreen TV service that offers catch-up TV, network DVR and personalization components.

The service, called Quickline TV, will run on SeaChange’s multiscreen-capable Adrenalin video backoffice platform and tie into set-tops outfitted with Nucleus, SeaChange’s set-top box software that uses RDK-V, the video-facing version of the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the software platform for gateways being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications (via its acquisition of Time Warner Cable).

SeaChange said it also helped with the deployment of Android and iOS apps for the Quickline TV service.

On the personalization end, the new multiscreen service will also support individual subscriber profiles.

Quickline uses a centralized video platform to support 25 independent regional cable operators that serve about 400,000 homes.

“With Quickline’s groundbreaking achievements in personalization, ease of enjoyment and RDK implementation, we believe the eyes of the media world will be on Quickline TV as a new ideal for video service provider evolution,” SeaChange CEO Ed Terino, said in a statement.

Comcast Cable said it has appointed former Amazon video exec Euan McLeod to the post of vice president, IP video engineering.

McLeod most recently served as global head of video of video at Amazon, where he headed strategy and development for projects and initiatives that included Amazon Video, Amazon Prime and Amazon Music. McLeod reports to Jason Press, SVP, video engineering and operations for Comcast Cable.

In his new role, McLeod will lead Comcast VIPER (Video IP Engineering & Research), the Denver-based engineering team that designs, develops and deploys the software Comcast uses to deliver IP video to TVs, smartphones and connected devices. McLeod will also guide Comcast’s ongoing migration to IP-based video delivery across all devices and platforms, the company said.

RELATED: Comcast Prepping Q3 Launch of ‘Xfinity Instant TV’

VIPER is also part of the Technology and Product Organization led by Tony Werner, who was promoted last year to president, technology and product at Comcast Cable.

RELATED:  Comcast Promotes Werner, Kotay

“Euan is a brilliant technologist with a proven track record of delivering world-class video experiences to customers,” Press said, in a statement. “His unique combination of experience, passion and technological prowess makes him the perfect fit to accomplish Comcast VIPER’s ambitious mission of building and deploying a next-generation IP video platform.”

Prior to Amazon, McLeod was VP of content platforms with Turner, where he oversaw development and operations for digital video content for networks such as CNN and TNT. He also McLeod founded Mobile Platform, a mobile video company that counted  customers such as BBC, Turner and Sky.

RELATED: Comcast to Launch ‘Xfinity Stream’ App on Feb. 28

McLeod earned his bachelor of engineering degree from Edinburgh Napier University and his MBA from Heriot-Watt University. He also studied marketing innovative technologies through Harvard Business School’s executive education program.

Midco, a cable operator that serves more than 385,000 residential and business subs in parts of Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, is upgrading its VOD platform with Adrenalin, SeaChange International’s multiscreen backoffice platform.

Midco has been delivering VOD services on SeaChange’s legacy backoffice product, Axiom. The MSO plans to shift to Adrenalin by the first half of 2017, as it looks to centralize its on-demand operations for set-top boxes, and pave the way to deliver VOD to smartphones, tablets and other IP-based devices.

SeaChange said Midco is also set to deploy the vendor’s AssetFlow content management software, which automates the ingest, tracking and metadata handling for on-demand content, including movies and TV shows.

“We’re pleased to continue our longstanding collaboration with SeaChange to continue Midco’s popular ON Demand services and have the ability to expand our foundation for advanced capabilities in the future,” Bill Chatwell, Midco’s video systems manager, said in a statement.

In December, SeaChange said more than 20 customers had been “quoted for upgrades” to Adrenalin.

Russell Arons has been named general manager of Machinima, the multiplatform service focused on gamer and fandom culture that Warner Bros. acquired late last year and added to its digital networks group.

RELATED Warner Bros. Deals for Machinima

Arons most recently was SVP of worldwide marketing for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

In her new role Arons will head up Machinima’s creative, marketing services, data analytics and business development and operations, as well as the Machinima multichannel network.

Arons, who joined Warner Bros in 2009 and previously was head of marketing for Electronic Arts’ EA Play division, will also work with Chad Gutstein, Machinima’s current  CEO, on a multi-week transition plan, after which he will be leaving Machinima to pursue entrepreneurial projects, the company said.

“Russell is a terrific creative executive with exceptional audience experience and brand building capabilities,” Craig Hunegs, president, business and strategy, Warner Bros. Television Group, said in a statement. “With deep knowledge in gaming, she speaks the same language as our Machinima creators, community and team, and has the proven ability to build and unlock strong consumer relationships.

“I’d also like to thank Chad for his many contributions over the last three years,” Hunegs added. “He’s done a great job leading Machinima’s team as they’ve strengthened their creator network, improved audience engagement and launched a content studio.  I know he’s eager to take on a new venture, and everyone at Warner Bros. wishes him great success.”

Machinima’s distribution partners include PlayStation Vue, Amazon Prime, Verizon’s go90, China’s Sohu and The CW Network, among others. 

Arons, who is also late of InfoSpace and Mattel, is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Lake Forest College in Illinois with degrees in Business and Philosophy.

AT&T said it has signed actor and entertainer Mark Wahlberg to appear in an ad campaign that will tout the company’s multiscreen video service capabilities.

Under the exclusive deal, the ad campaign is scheduled launch in April, with Wahlberg said to appear in a series of TV and digital ads “celebrating the ways AT&T lets you take your entertainment everywhere you go.”

The deal comes more than three months after the debut DirecTV Now, AT&T’s OTT TV service. AT&T also offers pay TV and multiscreen offerings through DirecTV’s satellite TV service and U-verse TV, its IPTV platform.

Wahlberg and AT&T are scheduled to start production this week, the company said.

RELATED: Sling TV Spots Take Aim at 'Evil' Promotional Pay TV Rates

The deal Wahlberg follows a recent agreement between AT&T and Taylor Swift on an exclusive VOD service called Taylor Swift NOW, and an ad-supported VOD channel with Reese Witherspoon, called Hello Sunshine, that also involves Otter Media (the AT&T/The Chernin  Group OTT joint venture) that will that debut later this year for customers of  DirecTV and DirecTV Now.

Actor Rob Lowe was featured in a series of popular DirecTV ads prior to the satellite TV giant's merger with AT&T. 

Syncbak, the broadcaster-backed company that specializes in streaming live, in-market broadcast TV signals on connected devices, said its streaming platform, SimpleSync, now powers 2.5 million hours of live TV programming on an annual basis.

It said its technology now covers 90% of U.S. homes, and is currently ingesting more than 400 TV stations across 161 markets that represent 51 broadcast groups, and all major broadcast networks, including CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC and the CW. CBS All Access, the network's standalone subscription service that supports live local feeds (represented in the image), are among the apps that rely on Syncbak's technology.

Syncbak's platform, which aims to simplify the workflow for live OTT feeds using a multiplatform, cloud-based architecture, has also been integrated with Nielsen in a way that measures local audiences on connected platforms.

RELATED: Syncbak Syncs Up With Nielsen

Syncbak said the milestone shows that its platform can scale as virtual MVPDs and other forms of online video distributors continue to pursue services that can support live local TV feeds over-the-top.

“Gray is 100% ready to provide our signals to any network app, OVD or vMVPD,” Jason Effinger, chief digital and technology officer, at Gray Television said, noting that SimpleSync gets Gray’s signals to the cloud in one step.

Syncbak’s strategic investors include the National Association of Broadcasters, the Consumer Technology Association, CBS, Gray Television, Morgan Murphy Media and Northwest Television.

Verizon is demonstrating the next-gen, IP-powered version of its Fios TV platform at this week’s Mobile World Congress confab in Barcelona, Spain, reports Light Reading’s Mari Silbey. 

Verizon isn’t offering any official comment on the platform or its current plans to launch it, but people involved with the company’s new Exponent business unit is showing off some of the goods across the pond.

[Image source: Light Reading, used with permission.]

Per the report, the new IP-based video platform and user experience will succeed its current hybrid QAM/IP approach and will eventually underpin the baseline Fios TV service and support other multiscreen devices as well as IoT apps, a strategy that is very similar to the one Comcast is using with X1. The new interface is also being made to support voice navigation, integrate OTT services and bake in other personalization capabilities.

The new platform will also implement a revised gateway/client architecture that relies on smaller devices, including a wireless client that is “about the size of a deck of cards,” Silbey reports.

Verizon hasn’t confirmed deployment timing, but an exec at the show told LR that it’s in beta trials with an expectation that it could be launched by the end of Q1.

But the demo represents the progress Verizon has made with its next-gen IPTV system, which has tied to the company’s acquisition of the OnCue assets acquired from Intel Media in 2014. At the time, people familiar with Verizon’s strategic interest in OnCue said that an important goal was to secure more control of its hardware and software products and technology roadmap that would eventually power a next-gen IP video platform that would put it into better competitive positioning with Comcast’s X1 platform.

RELATED: With Intel Media, Verizon Paves Path To Set-Top Independence

Variety reported earlier that Verizon was developing its next-gen platform under the code-name “Mallard” that was initially expected to launch last year. That followed earlier word from LR that a new IP client box from Verizon has passed through the FCC.

Soumya Sriraman has been appointed president, North America of BritBox, an SVOD service that’s expected to launch in the U.S. in Q1.

The coming SVOD offering is a joint venture of BBC Worldwide and U.K.-based broadcaster ITV. AMC Networks, which has a J.V. with BBC Worldwide for cable net BBC America, is on board as an investor in BritBox with a non-voting minority interest.

RELATED: ‘BritBox’ to Hit U.S. in Q1 2017

Sriraman was most recently was EVP of franchise and digital enterprises at BBC Worldwide North America. Her successor will be announced in the coming weeks, the company said.

In her new role, Sriraman will head up the overall strategy and operation of BritBox, with a focus on bringing British content to the service through a mix of acquisitions, licensing, co-productions, and partnerships.

Prior to joining BBC Worldwide North America, Sriraman was CEO of Palisades Tartan, a British/American film distribution company, and is also late of Universal, Warner, and Vivendi.

“Soumya has an outstanding historical knowledge and familiarity with British content. This, coupled with her creativity and excellent business acumen makes her the ideal executive to fill this role,” Ann Sarnoff, president, BBC Worldwide North America, said in a statement. “I am confident that Soumya is going to make this service a success, as she has done in all her endeavors for the last five years at BBC Worldwide North America.”

"I have personally waited a long time for a service with an offering like this - one with a breadth and depth of compelling content from powerful content producers like the BBC and ITV - all in one place," added Sriraman.

Ooyala, the Telstra-owned online video company, has laid off about 70 people, or 14% of its total workforce, amid a restructuring that will open up jobs focused on new product areas, Dan Rayburn, EVP of StreamingMedia.com and principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan, reported Tuesday, citing a memo to employees that announced the changes.

Ooyala, acquired by Australia-based telco Telstra in 2014, did not confirm the headcount figures, but did confirm that it had “reduced part of its workforce” as it looks to create headroom, reinvest in the business, and hire in new areas of expertise tied to its media logistics and ad-tech products that are “above and beyond its continued investment in its OVP [Online Video Platform] business.”

RELATED: Telstra To Acquire Ooyala

The restructuring of its global software and services organization also aims to place more sales and support resources in the field “to streamline customer adoption and deployments of its comprehensive suite of video software and services,” a company official told Multichannel News via email.

Ooyala issued this statement from acting CEO Issac Vaughn:

“We are fortunate in that over the last two years we've made significant headway across all of our product lines. The next phase must be about realizing the potential of our R&D investments. The restructure we announced today will put more specialized product, sales and channel resources in the field, and significantly grow our technical support staff to improve customer enablement and long-term customer success."

Rayburn reported that Ooyala plans to rehire about 7% new employees in pursuit of its plan to focus on areas outside of its OVP product line. A major focus, he said, be on selling a suite that includes the Ooyala Flex (workforce automation) and Ooyala Pulse (advanced/programmatic advertising) products.

Citing the memo, Rayburn said Ooyala’s decision comes as the online video market is “becoming more commoditized by the number of competitors and large enterprises entering the business.”  

Ooyala’s online video competition includes companies such as Comcast Technology Solutions, Brightcove, IBM (which recently acquired Clearleap and Ustream), BAMTech, and Kaltura, among others.  Notably, Telstra’s BigPondTV service tapped thePlatform (now part of Comcast Technology Solutions) a few years ago to serve as its central video management system.

Update: Ooyala said BigPond has since migrated back to Ooyala's technology platform.  

RELATED: Michael Paull Named CEO of BAMTech

SeaChange International disclosed this month that it is making deeper cuts as the multiscreen video tech and software company moves ahead on a plan to return to profitability.

In an 8-K document filed Feb. 3, SeaChange said it was implementing cost-savings moves tied to its North American operations and a workforce reduction that will result in annualized cost savings of about $8.1 million, once complete. Those actions will also result in restructuring and severance charges of about $1.5 million, the filing added.

SeaChange did not say how many people were to be affected by the reduction mentioned in the 8-K, but SeaChange CEO Ed Terino told the Worcester Business Journal that the company has cut more than 200 jobs on a global basis within the past year. He said SeaChange now has fewer than 500 employees, down from the more than 700 that were with the company when Terino took over the CEO post in April 2016.

RELATED: Terino In, Samit Out as SeaChange CEO

SeaChange on Wednesday issued this statement from Terino to Multichannel News:

“The actions over the past year associated with our turnaround, including recent reductions in the US, will provide anticipated cost savings of over $30M as we continue to keep our focus on video service providers, while improving operations and targeting a return to profitability within our current fiscal year.”

SeaChange is trying to pull off that turnaround amid an ongoing tough stretch. In  December, it announced a 31% drop in revenues driven largely by lower service revenues, but said then that more than 20 customers were “quoted for upgrades” to Adrenalin, a multiscreen video backoffice that succeeds SeaChange’s Axiom platform. Terino also noted then that Rave, SeaChange’s OTT platform, has about 30 opportunities in the pipeline, and that the company recently NitroX, a multiplatform system that delivers a common UI across multiple devices, including set-tops, Android TV-powered boxes, smartphones and tablets.

The 8-K also detailed the recent promotion of Jonathan Rider to SVP and COO that includes an annual base salary of $325,000 per year, a one-time equity award of 100,000 stock options, eligibility to participate in an annual bonus program worth up to $260,000 and a change-in-control severance agreement.  

Comcast has set the February 28 launch of “Xfinity Stream,” a new app that will succeed the Xfinity TV app and unify the customer's access to content that is authorized for viewing in the home and out-of-home, along with other features in common with the MSO's X1 video service on set-top boxes. 

The free app for iOS and Android smartphones  and tablets and Web browsers will allow Comcast pay TV subs to obtain full access to the in-home TV service, as well as providing out-of-home access to more than 200 live channels, the ability to access and program their DVRs, and a VOD library of about 40,000 titles.

That mix of add-ons and new features will bring an “X1-like experience” on smartphones, tablets and laptops, Comcast said. 

Comcast customers will be able to download the new app for iOS and Android devices on Feb. 28, and those with the latest version of the Xfinity TV app already installed will see it transition to the new app via an update at the end of the month.

Comcast has been asked how this new app related to Stream TV, a new slimmed-down, in-home IPTV service bundle for mobile devices that’s being used as a save tactic and to target cord-cutters, and being tested in Comcast's Boston and Chicagoland markets. 

RELATED: Comcast: Stream TV Is Not ‘OTT’

Update: A Comcast official said the company still expects to roll out the in-footprint Stream TV package nationally later this year, though it will likely be rebranded to help provide some clarify between the new Xfinity Stream app and the name of the slimmed-down TV service package. However, customers who sign on for that soon-to-be-rebranded package will use the Xfinity Stream app to access their subscriptions.

“We’re focused on creating the best entertainment experiences across platforms and continuing to give Xfinity TV customers more choice in how, when and where they access their content,” said Matt Strauss, executive vice president and general manager, video and entertainment services at Comcast Cable, said in a statement. “With the Xfinity Stream app, we are giving customers access to the best content in and out of the home with a growing list of advanced features and capabilities that make the mobile experience nearly identical to the cable experience they enjoy at home.”

Lynn University of Florida has joined a growing list of schools to launch Xfinity On Campus, an IP-based video service from Comcast that is powered by the operator’s X1 platform.

The service, available to on-campus students at the Boca Raton-based university, supports apps for Web browsers and iOS and Android tablets and smartphones, and certain Amazon Kindle devices.

As of the fall of 2016, Lynn University had 2,842 students, including 2,095 undergrads.

Per the announcement, Xfinity On Campus offers nearly 80 live cable channels and is available to students living on campus at no added cost. Those students also have access to a range of authenticated TV Everywhere apps, such as WatchESPN and FXNow, that can be viewed when they are on the go.

Last fall, Comcast said it signed up 36 more schools for Xfinity On Campus, including the University of Notre Dame, Temple University, and Villanova, while also extending features such as a Cloud DVR. Comcast said more than 60 schools are now on board with Xfinity On Campus.

Following a trial period, Comcast launched Xfinity On Campus commercially in August 2014. 

Petrichor Networks, a startup led by a group of cable engineering execs late of Time Warner Cable and Arris, is taking aim at a major challenge faced by MSOs – accelerating the migration to an all-IP video world.

Founded in 2016, Boulder, Colo.-based Petrichor Networks believes that the platform it’s developing can speed this shift without requiring cable operators to toss out millions of older, non-IP set-top boxes.

Petrichor is also taking on a significant operational issue that this migration entails as MSOs continue to tend to and feed their legacy digital video platforms while also support a separate, parallel IP video network that is being used to ship video to tablets, mobile devices, Web browsers and TV-connected devices.

Petrichor aims to converge those silos with a hardware-agnostic, scalable software platform that enables cable operators to unify their video platform in such a way that they can use a single source of video to serve all devices, including those that are IP-connected as well as older set-tops that rely on QAM/MPEG video.

“By bringing our software solution, we knock down those silos,” said John Carlucci, Petrichor’s president and chief strategist, an engineering exec who is late of  Alticast, Clearleap (now part of IBM), Time Warner Cable and PolyCipher, a downloadable conditional access system initiative that was once a J.V. of Comcast, Cox Communications and TWC.

RELATED: CableLabs Takes Over DCAS Project From PolyCipher

That platform presents “an opportunity to accelerate the movement from where the operators are today into the IP space,” added John Boland, Petrichor’s CEO, a former Arris exec who took the helm of Petrichor Networks last month.

Petrichor Networks currently has eight employees and plans to expand on that. Other members of its leadership team include chief technologist Bill Helms, most recently VP of subscriber networks at TWC, and company chairman Mike Hayashi, the industry pioneer who last served as TWC’s EVP of architecture, development and engineering.

RELATED: Mike Hayashi Sets Exit From TWC

The core of Petrichor’s platform is called DROP (Dynamic Rate Optimization Processor), a real-time media processing software engine that can run on non-proprietary, off-the-shelf hardware. DROP is not a new codec, but uses a combination of algorithms that “enhance” existing codecs.

That system is comprised of the DROP Media Server and the DROP Set-Top Box.

The DROP Set-Top Box is designed to create a remote IP port that resides on the network. That, the company explains, enables IP video delivery to legacy video devices by housing some key functions of the set-top box in the cloud. That works in tandem with the DROP Media Server, which is designed to support standard interfaces like HTTP Live Streaming, multiple codecs (MPEG-2, HEVC, etc.) and interoperate with traditional QAM and edge QAM technologies.

Carlucci said the platform requires no changes to the set-top client software or the device’s navigation system, because the certain functions of the STB are virtualized in the cloud and “transparent to the existing software.”

More detail about Petrichor Networks, including how it shares and differs from the philosophies and technologies of other vendors focused on cable’s IP video transition, its trial activity with cable operators and its next steps will be features in the Feb. 6 issue of Multichannel News. The story also explains what inspired the company name, but in the meantime spool up this YouTube clip for a hint: 

Get complete coverage of CES 2017

Keeping an eye on how TV will morph and evolve in the years to come, Cisco Systems is using CES to introduce Infinite Video Platform Labs, an initiative focused on service providers that use the vendor’s line of cloud video products that carry the “Infinite” brand.

Get complete coverage of CES 2017

Cisco said IPV Labs will let participating customers test new features with users before they become commercially available. Those participants will also have the ability to provide feedback on those new features and influence Cisco’s product roadmap.

YES, a provider based in Israel, has joined IPV Labs as a premiere customer, Cisco said. YES has already designed and tested a new feature that provides a personalized user interface to different audience segments.  Cisco and YES are demonstrating that handiwork this week at The Wynn Hotel.

“Gone are the days of costly professional services engagements to make minor changes with high downtime. Being able to provide immediate feedback, and adapt the functionality accordingly is a critical success factor in the new video world,” Yitschak Elyakim, CTO of YES, said in a statement.

“We are releasing new features for IVP every two weeks,” added Rajeev Raman, senior director of product and strategy, Service Provider Video Software, at Cisco. “IVP Labs demonstrates our commitment to a common code that continuously expands capabilities while improving quality. Our aim is simple: to create a community where our customers – and their customers- can directly contribute to shape the IVP roadmap, and help define the future of video.”

Looking to expand its market opportunities, You.i TV has launched a “out-of-box” platform that enables programmers and distributors to build and deploy video interfaces for a variety of screen types using a single codebase.

With that pre-packaged/pre-configured product, called You.i Engine One,  the company claims it can halve the development effort needed to bring on-demand and TV Everywhere services to smartphones, tablets and TV-connected streaming platforms.

You.i TV said it also allows partners some customization and configuration options, including core views, animation, search ratings and recommendations, using Adobe After Effects.

The approach could open the door to more deals for You.i TV, which already works with Turner Broadcasting, Sony, Rogers Communications, Corus Entertainment and the Canadian Football League, among others.

You.i TV, a company based in Ottawa, secured $15 million in funding last fall.

Cable Onda, a service provider based in Panama City, Panama, is developing a next-gen multiscreen video service that will rely on a unified backoffice and integrated content management and advertising systems from SeaChange International.

For the deployment, Cable Onda will upgrade to SeaChange’s Adrenalin backoffice and deploy the vendor’s AssetFlow content management and Infusion advanced ad solution for a service that will integrate its traditional pay TV service and OTT offerings and support apps such as a network DVR. Cable Onda’s been running its VOD and ad business on prior-gen SeaChange technologies and systems since 2009.

“By upgrading to SeaChange as our unified and centralized back office foundation and ad revenue engine, Cable Onda will unite operations for HFC, OTT and IPTV service to achieve our vision for a Next Generation Subscriber Experience that keeps subscribers entertained and engaged across all their video devices,” Charlie Brown, Cable Onda’s SVP of operations, said in a statement.

On its Q3 earnings call, SeaChange CEO  Ed Terino said the vendor has more than 20 customers “quoted for upgrades” to Adrenalin, a multiscreen video backoffice that succeeds SeaChange’s Axiom platform.

Shares in SeaChange International were down about 9% Wednesday morning after the multiscreen video software company reported the day before that Q3 revenues dropped 31% year-over-year driven largely by lower service revenues.

Speaking on Tuesday’s call, SeaChange CEO Ed Terino said the dip was in part to customer delays tied to the deployment of video and gateway platforms and a reduction in support and maintenance revenues “related to several tier 1 operators.” SeaChange was also stymied by lower product revenues attributed to delays in decisions by several customers he said.

The Q3 results arrived amid a reorg and cost-cutting initiative aimed at helping SeaChange return to profitability. SeaChange said it has reduced its operating cost by close to $30 million so far in its fiscal 2017.

On the positive side, Terino said the company has more than 20 customers “quoted for upgrades” to Adrenalin, a multiscreen video backoffice that succeeds SeaChange’s Axiom platform. Among them, there’s a “seven-figure booking” for Adrenaline with a customer in North America that is replacing its legacy video backoffice.

He said Rave, SeaChange’s OTT platform, has about 30 opportunities in the pipeline. The company has two announced Rave customers: BBC and Filmbankmedia, an international non-theatrical distributor of films and TV shows.

RELATED: SeaChange Banks OTT Deal

Terino said SeaChange’s largest customer (believed to be Liberty Global) is working with the company to deploy a cloud-based of the Adrenalin backoffice that will enable the operator to run it in one data center for 17 different countries. But he also stressed that they have not finalized commercial terms on that deal, but noted that the expectation is that the customer would start to transition to a virtualized environment sometime in the second half of 2017.

“This project will enable our customer to maintain and upgrade all 17 countries at a significantly lower cost with far more frequency than is possible today,” he said.

SeaChange recently released NitroX, a multiplatform system that delivers a common UI across multiple devices, including set-tops that run on the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the integrated software platform for IP-connected set-tops and gateways being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications, as well as Android TV-powered boxes, legacy set-tops, and smartphones and tablets. Service providers and OTT players are among the targets for NitroX.

Looking ahead, NitroX’s roadmap for the first half of fiscal 2018 will include support for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Comcast (X1) and Samsung’s Tizen platform, Terino said.

SeaChange posted Q3 revenue of $20 million and a GAAP loss of $8.4 million, or 24 cents per basic share.

In Q4, the company expects revenues in the range of $22 million to $24 million and a GAAP loss of 13 cents to 18 cents.

Tele Columbus, the German MSO with about 3.6 million cable-connected homes, has introduced “advanceTV,” a multiscreen pay TV offering that will integrate over-the-top video, support 4K video and rely on RDK-based boxes from Humax with Espial’s ‘G4” client.

Espial, which is also baking in its cloud-based Media Services Platform, also served as the master system integrator for the platform, which is also powered by products from Cisco Systems, Verimatrix, and Elemental Technologies (now part of Amazon Web Services).

Update: Also tied to the advanceTV project is Metrological, which is helping to deliver several apps at launch, including Vimeo, Flickr, DailyMotion, Google Maps, wetter.com, Wikipedia, Deezer, TuneIn, and Deutsche Welle, among others. 

RELATED: Tele Columbus Takes RDK Route to Next-Gen Video

advanceTV, a service that will become available in January 2017, will be integrated with maxdome, one of Germany’s top SVOD-OTT services, and tie in Web apps. The service’s new UI provides integrated access across the MSO’s live TV and VOD services, DVR recordings, and maxdome library.

Tele Columbus, which acquired PrimaCom last year, introduced the new offering Monday (Dec. 5) at a media event in Berlin.

Tele Columbus’s plan is to migrate to the new platform by making advanceTV available to all new customers and introduce campaigns aimed at upgrading legacy video subs to the new platform.

Tele Columbus is also the third European MSO in Europe to implement the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software platform for video and broadband gateways being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications (via its acquisition of Time Warner Cable).  In Europe, Liberty Global is also deploying RDK, as is NOS of Portugal, which is also working with Espial. Tele Columbus’s rollout will include full unicast support of DVB-C

RELATED: Espial Seals Deal For Arris’s Whole Home Solution Platform

DramaFever, the U.S.-based OTT subscription VoD service that specializes in Korean TV and films and other international fare, said most subs use mobile devices to stream its content, but it’s also seeing the tide rise a bit on TV-connected platforms.

Through the first quarter of 2016, viewing on those platforms has doubled. Overall streaming on TV-connected systems represented about 5% at this time year, but has risen to about 10%.

Additionally, viewing data shows that DramaFever subs view twice as many minutes on TV-connected platforms compared to mobile devices, Tim Lee, director of licensing at DramaFever, said, hopeful that new, high-production movies and series coming exclusively to the service, likeGoblin: The Lonely And Great God, a 16-episode fantasy melodrama, will fit particularly well with that increasing of apps tailored for TV screens.

With that trend in mind, DramaFever has been expanding its reach on TV-connected platforms. Today it supports several, including the Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PS4, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV devices, Samsung and LG smart TVs. An app for Xbox One is on the roadmap for early 2017, Lee said.

Of that TV-connected group, nearly 60% of DramaFever TV-based viewing is on the Roku platform, followed by PlayStation (18%), Samsung Smart TVs (10%), Android TV (5%), Fire TV (3.5%), Xbox 360 (2.5%), LG (1%), and Apple TV (less than 1%).

DramaFever, acquired by Warner Bros. earlier this year, is also in talks to integrate its SVOD service on MVPD set-tops. Comcast’s X1 platform, which today supports Netflix and will soon integrate Sling TV, would seem a logical candidate.

RELATED: Sling TV to Stream to Comcast’s X1 Platform

It also hit on the big screen streaming trend for Black Friday and through Cyber Week, teaming up with Roku on a promo that lets customers get a $25 discount on a DramaFever “Superstar” subscription for a year (normally $100) and a free Roku Streaming Stick.

Lee said DramaFever has seen a lift from the promo, though the company declined to reveal its sub base. However, about 22 million users reach DramaFever’s various Web and social outlets on a given month.

“We sold more in a single week than we have ever in the past,” Lee said.

DramaFever’s app for Roku also recently added a curated, live, ad-free feed that it uses as a subscriber acquisition tool. It also offers that live feed via its Web site.

DramaFever, a service that skews to an ethnically diverse audience of young women (it’s largest group is millennial women in the 18 to 25 age group) is also seeking growth on Amazon Channels, Amazon’s SVOD aggregation service.

That offering, called DramaFever Instant, runs $3.99 per month and offers a subset of the SVOD’s full offering.

Lee said that offering gives a smaller sampling of the service, with the hope that it could give consumers an opportunity to try it out and move up to its main offering.

He said DramaFever’s pleased with the results on Amazon Channels, but acknowledges that they point represent a fragment of the service's overall subscriber base. 

Multiscreen video specialist SeaChange International said it has hired industry vet Mark Tubinis as SVP of engineering and global services.

Tubinis most recently was SVP of strategic solutions at Savant Systems, a IoT and home automation systems company. Prior to that, he was CTO and SVP for Cedar Point Communications, an IP voice pioneer that was acquired by Genband in 2011. He is also late of Alcatel, Innovative Telecom, Summa Four and Charles River Ventures.

He comes aboard as SeaChange moves ahead with a cost-cutting initiative and as the company introduces a new range of products related to OTT and its multiscreen video backoffice platform.

“Mark is extensively accomplished and deeply connected with SeaChange’s core video service provider market,” Ed Terino, SeaChange’s CEO, said in a statement. “With his background in continuous development methodologies, cloud products and IP networks, I anticipate Mark will quickly enhance the ability of our global engineering and service operations to optimize performance and produce new capabilities for our customers.”

RELATED: Terino In, Samit Out as SeaChange CEO

Tubinis also serves as an advisory board member for Airfusion, PeerApp and Starscriber.  He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Boston University and an M.S. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  

Tech titans such as Amazon, Facebook and Google are redefining the digital video market. They are putting pressure on the future of the traditional media and entertainment (M&E) industry by pushing a new content aggregation and distribution model – “super platforms” - that deliver a wide array of digital services, backed by large user communities and large amounts of cash. 

Fueling this market disruption is the huge demand for digital video. The popularity of over-the-top (OTT) cannot be denied. More than 35% of North America Internet traffic during prime hours comes from Netflix. Nearly every week there is an announcement about a new service trying to carve out its own piece of the digital video pie. Just recently the NFL made a deal with Twitter to stream Thursday night NFL games online.

While these developments are great for consumers—less cost, more choice and convenience, and no iron-clad pay TV contacts—they threaten traditional content providers (TV and cable networks) and aggregators (cable and telco companies) who lack the infrastructure of a super platform. Without a viable digital play, these parties risk diluting their prominence and relevance to the modern viewer.

What can these providers and aggregators do? There is no one solution that fits all. It’s about applying the methodology that bests helps them leverage their strengths. A successful digital business model should have scale, monetization and personalization. That can mean building a direct business-to-consumer digital service from the ground up, or working with affiliate partners who are already have those digital and customer credentials in place, enhancing the editorial, quality of experience, and packaging capabilities of traditional M&E companies. The clock is ticking though.

Battle Plans

Despite the pressure from these new competitors, traditional M&E companies have some distinct advantages in editorial voice and market penetration that can serve them well in the digital realm. For content providers looking to go digital, there are four key strategies they can employ:

1. Work Across Digital Content Aggregators While Maintaining Affiliate Relationships

Content providers need to work with digital content aggregators to have some influence on how consumers experience their content on those platforms while benefiting from their scale and consumer relationships. It will be important to strike mutually beneficial relationships to target digital audiences while being flexible to diversify across a number of platforms to better match where the market is going.   This requires adding capabilities to provide marketing and advertising initiatives across multiple channels and the ability to quickly pivot based on which platforms provide the most value.

2. Move Fast

Speed of service is everything in digital. Turn to digital platforms that can handle multiple customer loads at scale and at a cost advantage, and agile, continuous delivery-based product engineering to allow new services to be rolled quickly.

3. Stay Close to the Consumer

Where possible, strike one-on-one relationships with consumers by leveraging available analytics tools to better cater to their needs while embedding those insights into every touchpoint the consumer engages with, even if provided by a digital platform. This is difficult for some M&E companies who have traditionally transacted over B2B relationships in the value chain – but a required capability for any B2C digital business.

4. Support Multiple Digital Models

No one digital business model will suffice. Be able to quickly launch, test and adjust multiple models that cover the wide variety of old and new customers coming aboard digital platforms of content aggregators and your own.

The strategies for aggregators that support the content distribution channel are somewhat different but still hit on the major themes of scalability, personalization and monetization; leveraging some advantages unique to them:

1. New Packaging Models

Content is the draw so repackage traditional content into appropriately priced bundles that offer targeted programming at affordable prices with optimized margins. Digital gives aggregators the luxury to test and adjust bundles to find the one that works the best.

2. Scaling Up

Aggregators need to maintain parity with super platforms that offer significant scale and service agility. They can do this by launching streaming services alongside their traditional distribution channels, or bundling different services from across their business, similar to a triple-play offer.

3. Leverage Consumer Insight, Maintain their Trust

Aggregators have a unique advantage in understanding customer behavior and preferences across numerous providers. They can use this insight to build stronger consumer relationships in the digital realm and use it as a draw to enable content providers to be profitable on their platforms. The key to maintaining this advantage is to put safeguards in place that protect privacy and security, two key concerns for digital consumers.

4. Leverage their Advantage in the Living Room

The living room is still a prized space to own in media. Aggregators have an advantage through consumer premise equipment – especially if it can provides numerous services, not just entertainment. Future opportunities lie in the Internet of Things and smart home initiatives. Aggregators should promote development tools and interfaces that produce innovations in these growth areas, creating relationships across numerous digital services providers, starting of course with media.

The battle for the digital content consumer continues to escalate, but traditional M&E brands are not down for the count. They can still compete or partner with newer, digital entrants if they invest in the appropriate capabilities that take advantage of and extend their current strengths and use those advantages to carve out their place in the digital market, capturing growth while driving profitability in their traditional business.

Youssef Tuma is a Managing Director and Global Lead for the Accenture Digital Video Business. He can be reached at  youssef.d.tuma@accenture.com.

In a deal that brings more consolidation to the multiscreen video app sector, Accedo and Digiflare have inked an agreement to merge.

Financial terms were not announced, but the combined company will keep the Accedo brand and will be led by Michael Lantz, Accedo’s current CEO. Fredrik Andersson, SVP of business development at Accedo; and David George and Mano Kulasingam, Digiflare’s co-CEOs, will take on senior leadership positions within the merged company.

The deal combines two companies that are focused on multiscreen video services and apps.

Accedo, a Sweden-based maker of multiplatform publishing systems and user interface products, was founded in 2004, and has a customer base that includes Netflix, NBCU, Spotify, Fox, Disney, Telefonica and HBO, among others.

In June, Accedo announced it has secured up to $10 million in additional capital to use toward growth initiatives and to expand product development while also enabling earlier investors in the company to exit. Accedo is also a licensee of the Reference Design Kit, the preintegrated software stack for video and data gateways being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications (via its acquisition of Time Warner Cable).

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Toronto-based Digiflare was founded in 2008, and has a customer roster that includes Bell Media, PBS Kids, Rogers Communications, Charter Communications, Univision, Hearst, Verizon, CW Seed, PBS, Starz, and Vimeo. Of recent note, Digiflare announced it would integrate Penthera’s Cache&Carry managed video downloading platform with its cloud-based video app publishing platform, Videa.

“Accedo and Digiflare share the same vision for our industry and a similar entrepreneurial history,” Lantz said in a statement, noting that the companies have “highly-complementary products, a strong market position, and an impressive portfolio of customers and partners, who will directly benefit from our combined video experience solution offering.”

Add “Dust” to a growing group of multiscreen services that is focused on short-form sci-fi fare from both emerging and established filmmakers.

Dust, a service from Gunpowder & Sky, is launching today across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and the web.

The offering, billed as a “destination for binge watchable sci-fi featuring short films, series and behind-the-scenes content,” is launching with an exclusive debut of a thriller called Where The Shadows Fall that’s directed by Kate Phillips and written by Will Welles.  DUST has also begun production of Product Wars, its first original.

Dust, which has tapped the help of producer Steve Tzirlin (late of Lucasfilm and Fox Filmed Entertainment), said it is starting off with a curated selection of more than 100 sci-fi films. It’s also producing factual programming around sci-fi and technology topics.

Dust is just the latest multiplatform OTT focused on the genre. Last month, a service called Recursor launched with a focus on short-form, “hard” science fiction fare developed by independent filmmakers and content creators.

“Sci-fi shorts, as well as the overall sci-fi culture, is reminiscent of the renaissance in music videos at the dawn of MTV in the 80s,” Van Toffler, CEO of Gunpowder & Sky, said in a statement. “Dust is yet another great avenue for Gunpowder & Sky to partner with emerging as well as established filmmakers paving the way in the sci-fi genre.”