Google has released an update for Android TV devices around the world that brings their user interfaces more into line with the Google TV operating system that the company is building its long-term video strategy around.

Starting in early February, smart TVs, OTT players and dongles and other Android TV devices have a new UI. The update changes the home screen to look more like that found on the new Chromecast with Google TV device. 

On their home screens, updated Android TV devices now have three main menu items on top of their home screens: “Home,” which features the content and apps a user deploys most often; “Discovery,” which very similar to the “For You” tab on Google TV, surfacing user recommendations; and “Apps,” which includes whatever applications the user has downloaded to their device.

The update now features a scrolling carousel of snapshots from featured content on top of the screen, behind the three main menu items. 

Google said that this is not an OS update. Google TV, which overlays search and discovery features on top of Android TV, is generally designed to run on Android 10 and above platforms. This latest UI update can run on lower iterations of Android TV. 

Ultimately, Google’s expressed strategy is to slowly migrate the global base of Android TV devices to Google TV, including the brand name, and make a major push for market share in the global OTT device ecosystem, now largely controlled by Roku and Amazon. 

The update started rolling out Wednesday in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany and France. It will expand to more countries in the coming weeks, Google said.

In a move that will get TiVo out of the hardware-making business, the company announced that it has signed a “major” device manufacturer to serve as its direct-to-consumer box partner.

Tied in, this partner, yet unnamed, will also take over retail sales of TiVo products outside of TiVo.com, including outlets such as Amazon and Best Buy, Enrique Rodriguez, TiVo’s president and CEO, said Thursday on the company’s Q1 earnings call.

TiVo, he explained, won’t produce or contract directly for the manufacturing of TiVo’s retail devices, but will secure the volumes needed from its new partner for sales made via TiVo.com.

RELATED: TiVo Refreshes Retail Lineup With Voice-Powered 'Vox' Devices

“In that sense, we’re acting as a distribution channel,” Rodriguez said. With respect to sales through other retail channels, “we’d be completely out of that transaction.”

For consumers, there will be no material change, as products will continue to be branded as TiVo and run the TiVo experience, he added.

TiVo has already made a similar move on its MSO partnership business, as its software and experience have been ported to devices made by Arris.

On the MSO front, TiVo has completely transitioned out of the hardware business, as Q1 was the last with MSO hardware revenue, as TiVo has completed fulfillment of orders made last year, Rodriguez said.

On the software front, Rodriguez reiterated that TiVo’s new platform, TiVo Experience 4, was released to the retail market in Q4 2017, and is becoming broadly available to MSO customers this quarter. In the MSO realm, TiVo is using that new platform to help partners embark on IPTV transitions and as a catalyst to migrate MSOs from legacy Rovi guides to the higher-end TiVo experience.

RELATED: TiVo Goes Device-Agnostic with New Platform for MVPDs

Service Electric Cable TV is already on board, as is RCN Corp., which will be the first to roll out an IPTV service using TiVo Experience 4 using an Android TV device. Mediacom Communications recently renewed and extended its deal with TiVo.

TiVo is also preparing to launch a new advertising product that provides sponsored, in-guide recommendation results for relevant programming. A mid-tier MSO with coverage across “multiple, large DMAs” is signed on to deploy this on mobile devices and set-top boxes, Rodriguez said.

That capability will be deployed within TiVo’s personalized content discovery suite, he added, noting that it enables TiVo’s anonymous viewership data to be matched with other anonymous first- and third-party information.

TiVo had no new detail to share about its ongoing exploration of alternatives aimed at driving shareholder value that could include M&A or taking the company private.

RELATED: TiVo ‘Exploring All Alternatives’ to Drive Shareholder Value

That process is ongoing, though TiVo expects to be ready to provide an update when it announced Q2 results, Rodriguez said.

There’s also no significant movement with respect to TiVo’s ongoing litigation with Comcast.

RELATED: Comcast Wants to Speed Up TiVo Case at ITC

“Getting a license [with Comcast] remains one of our top priorities,” Rodriguez said, holding that he’s “confident” that Comcast will eventually come to terms.

TiVo posted Q1 revenues of $189.83 million, down 7.7% year-over-year, driven by drops in its legacy TiVo solutions IP licenses and hardware line items.

TiVo, which merged with Rovi in the fall of 2016, said it reached its goal of realizing $100 million in integration synergies, and expects to complete its extended goal of $110 million by the end of Q2.

Following a rollout on web browsers last fall and a mix of tests on other platforms, Hulu said it has rolled out its live TV guide and live TV “destination” on a handful of other streaming platforms.

RELATED: Hulu Optimizes Web Platform for Live TV

The latest to get those features include Xbox One consoles, Apple TV boxes (4 gen and higher), Amazon Fire TV devices, and the Nintendo Switch.

The expansion comes about a year after Hulu introduced its live TV service.

Since that launch, “[W]e’ve learned a great deal about how our viewers like to enjoy their live TV,” Richard Irving, Hulu’s VP of product, explained in this blog post. “One thing, in particular, we've heard from you is that at times it can be difficult to see what’s on another channel or flip between two channels you’re watching simultaneously.”

Hulu brought its live guide to the Web last fall, and found that it helped fulfill the need for viewers to get to the live TV offering in one click and have the ability to channel surf, he added.

On platforms with the new live guide/live TV destination, a lightning bolt icon will take Hulu subs to live playback on their most recently viewed channel. Users can also personalize the live TV guide by sorting by “All Channels” or “Recent Channels,” which present the last ten channels watched.

Irving said Hulu plans to roll out the new live TV-focused features to more devices/platforms “soon.” 

Hulu has more than 20 million subscribers, a number that includes its SVOD and live TV service. 

Toys “R” Us failed to invest in its own digital transformation so, after 65 years, they are closing their doors for good.

Among other things, the company cited the ongoing threat of Amazon, Walmart, and Target as contributing to its demise. That these companies allegedly helped suffocate the American retail giant underscores the ruthlessly competitive environment that is the retail industry.

The TV industry is going through a digital transition of its own and some major players will inevitably become victims of disruption in the market. According to the Video Advertising Bureau’s Q1 2018 report, the number of households using only over-the-top streaming services and devices has tripled since 2013, rising to 14.1 million homes (11% of all U.S. TV households).

So what can media companies learn from Toys “R” Us to ensure their businesses don’t follow suit?

Complacency Kills

To survive in the highly competitive world of retail, Toys “R” Us needed to be more than a place to buy toys. Customers wanting the lowest price could go to Walmart. Customers wanting a unique gift or personalized guidance could go to a local boutique (where they would gladly pay a bit more for great service). Toys “R” Us didn’t provide the best value or the best experience, and they didn’t keep up with the times.

Toys "R" Us missed the opportunity to develop its own online customer experience early on. In the early 2000s, Toys “R” Us management didn’t buy into the future of the internet and outsourced their fulfillment to Amazon. This led to people buying toys on the internet in an Amazon world and not a Toys “R” Us world. When Toys "R" Us finally updated and streamlined the user experience for their website in 2017, the damage was already done.

Toys “R” Us CEO Dave Brandon admitted: "Some organizations recognize faster than others there are shifts in the ways customers want to be communicated with and the way customers want to purchase products. It probably took us a while."

A World of Competition, Choice, and Convenience

In the TV industry, there have never been more options. Not only can consumers watch what they want, when they want, where they want, but even from the service they want.

This is where I believe networks need to pay attention.

Toys “R” Us stopped providing customers with a reason to go into their stores and do business directly with them. They offered nothing more than what any customer could get from Amazon, and even pointed them in that direction. By the way, don’t underestimate Amazon as a threat in the TV space either.

If you’re a publisher and I can get your content via Amazon Channels, fuboTV, Sling TV, Pluto TV, or DirecTV Now, why would I used your owned and operated apps? As an Amazon customer, it is easier for me to just get your content through their platform with my existing payment account, and watch all content via a single interface.

Distributing your content to Amazon and other OTT aggregators can be a very successful part of your overall OTT strategy, but it should not come at the expense of your direct-to-consumer apps.

In world of unlimited choice, competition, and convenience, how do you create an experience, so valuable that customers would forgo choice and even convenience to do business directly with you?

Figure this out and direct customer relationships, higher margins, and valuable data and insight await. Don’t figure this out, your company risks becoming the next Toys “R” Us.

Experience is Everything. Get it Right

According to PwC’s Experience is Everything: Here’s How To Get It Rightsurvey, 73% of global respondents point to experience as one of the key drivers that influence their brand loyalties.

“65% of US consumers find a positive brand experience to be more influential than great advertising,” David Clarke, PwC principal and experience consulting leader, explained in the study. “The ‘experience economy’ has ushered in a new B2C mindset, steering brands beyond emphasising products and services to selling rich consumer experiences. Our findings quantify the potential ROI [return on investment] on experience investments, upwards of 16%.”

Bad experiences are driving away customers faster than you think. In the US, the survey results show that even when people love a company or product, 59% of customers say they will walk away after several bad experiences, and 32% would stop doing business with a brand they loved after just one bad experience. In Latin America that number is even higher-- 49% say they’d walk away from a brand after single bad experience.

Final Word

Your OTT brand has more value than the content you own and the number of households you're distributing to. It's time you rise to the occasion, own the experience you create for your customers, and embrace emotional connections, not just commercial ones.

Don’t lose sight of why your brand matters to the world.

Kirby Grines is the founder of 43Twenty, a strategic consulting and intelligence company focused on the OTT ecosystem 

Cisco Systems has agreed to sell its Service Provider Video Software Solutions (SPVSS) to Permira, a private equity firm with ties to Dr. Abe Peled, the former chairman and CEO of NDS.

Financial terms were not announced, but Bloomberg said Permira is acquiring the SPVSS unit from Cisco for about $1 billion, a fraction of the $5 billion Cisco spent to acquire NDS, a maker of video software and video security technologies, about six years ago. Cisco isn't commenting on the financials or how many employees are part of the unit that's subject to the sale. 

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

Reports that Cisco’s video software unit was on the block surfaced last fall.

RELATED: Cisco Looking to Sell Video Software Unit

Under the deal announced Tuesday, Permira Funds will create a new, rebranded video software company focused on the pay TV market. Peled, an adviser to Permira Funds, will serve as chairman of the new company.

As part of its acquisition of Cisco’s SPVSS business, Permira will obtain Cisco’s Infinite Video Platform (a multiscreen video platform that was formerly branded as Videoscape), and as well as products that include cloud-based digital video recording, video processing, video security, video middleware and some services groups focused on this area.

Update:Reuters reported that the U.K.-based unit that Permira is acquiring has about 3,500 employees. Peled told Reuters that the business being acquired is profitable but didn’t elaborate on those details. “They [Permira] see opportunity for creating value through innovation and growth,” Peled told Reuters.  

Cisco said it will retain video and media technology tied to its “core business” in networking, multi-cloud, security, data, and collaboration.

The sale represents another alteration in Cisco’s service provider business, which was down about 5% in the company’s fiscal Q2 period. In late 2015, Cisco sold off a connected devices unit that made set-tops, cable modems and other consumer premises equipment, to Technicolor, for about $600 million.

RELATED: Technicolor, Cisco Seal the Deal

Examples of customers that use Cisco’s Infinite Video Platform (IVP) include Vodafone (for its GigaTV service in Germany), Canada’s Eastlink, and Israel’s YES. 

Of recent note, Cisco has been using IVP to head up an initiative that targets service providers that deliver pay TV services with Mediaroom, the IPTV platform acquired by Ericsson in 2013. Ericsson has since sold a majority stake in its Media Solution division, which includes Mediaroom, to One Equity Partners. 

RELATED: Cisco Attacks Ericsson’s Mediaroom Market

Cisco’s board has approved the sale of the SPVSS business. The deal is expected to close during Cisco’s Q1 for fiscal 2019.

“I’m very pleased to say that one of the major reasons for the selection of Permira is the belief that they are the right investor to benefit our customers and employees,” Yvette Kanouff, SVP and GM of Cisco’s Service Provider Business, said in this blog post about the transaction. “At the same time, Cisco will be able to clearly focus on its core priorities.”

"This is a unique opportunity to lead and shape the video industry during its transition with the flexibility as a private company," Peled said, in a statement. "The new company will have the scale, technology innovation, and world-class team to deliver outstanding go-to-market execution, customer engagement, and new end-user experiences.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as financial adviser to the Permira Funds and provided committed financing; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobsen LLP and Clifford Chance LLP acted as legal advisor to the Permira Funds.

Adding an enhanced content discovery feature for smartphones, Netflix has begun to introduce a mobile preview capability on mobile devices that follows a similar feature that Netflix already offers on TV-connected platforms.  

RELATED: Netflix Adds 7.41M Streaming Subs in Q1 

The new feature for mobile -- launching today on iOS, with Android on deck -- delivers 30-second trailer-like previews of shows and movies in the vertical screen format.  

Those previews are presented like a slideshow, allowing users to tap play or add a title to their playlists, or swipe or tap the screen to advance to the next preview.  

“One of the best ways to know if you’ll like a new series or movie is to watch a quick trailer,” Cameron Johnson, Netflix’s director of product innovation, noted in this blog post. Mobile previews present members with a fun, simple, and easy way to learn about all the new content on Netflix -- and find something great to watch even faster.” 

Netflix brought video previews to its TV experience last year, and found that it helps subscribers discover and zero-in on content quickly and results in less browsing.  

TiVo is sunsetting the standalone Fan TV app for mobile devices and the web, as many of the search and recommendation capabilities housed there have been integrated into the new TiVo Experience 4 platform for retail devices and its MVPD partnerships.  

TiVo will be notifying Fan TV users of the decision in stages over the next 24 hours, and expects to remove the apps in the mid-April timeframe, according to Chris Thun, TiVo’s vice president of product.

TiVo doesn’t disclose active users for Fan TV, but said the Fan TV app has been downloaded millions of times during the years.

Rovi, which merged with TiVo in September 2016, acquired Fanhattan, the company behind the Fan TV product/platform, about two years earlier for about $12 million. In addition to the standalone app, Fanhattan, for a brief period, also developed partnerships with Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable by which the Fan TV user interface and experience was built into IP streaming devices and a touch-based remote control.

RELATED: Rovi Halts Sale of Fan TV Boxes to TWC

The Fan TV app enables users to browse from more than 1 million shows while also guiding them to the sources of that content, including pay TV providers, programmer-run apps as well as pure OTT services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, making recommendations, and enabling users to build personalized watch lists.

TiVo, which is in the process of evaluating options that could lead to the company going private or into M&A-related activities, was not monetizing Fan TV through advertising or other means, but it has been serving as an important research tool as TiVo’s been gleaning value from usage data and incorporating those learnings into its new Experience 4 platform.

Along those lines, TiVo in January introduced a device-agnostic, app-centric platform for MVPDs that will bring the TiVo experience to a wide range of retail streaming client devices and help those pay TV partners move ahead with their IPTV transitions.

RELATED: TiVo Goes Device-Agnostic with New Platform for MVPDs

The timing of the transition to the new TiVo platform, which includes voice-based navigation, is up to the individual MVPDs, but that work is already underway, Michael Hawkey, TiVo’s SVP and GM, UX, said.

TiVo Refreshes Retail Lineup With Voice-Powered 'Vox' Devices

There’s a “common vision and functionality” between that new, more cloud-driven TiVo product and the Fan TV app, Thun said, noting that much of the rework done for the new platform’s graphical user interface can be traced back to Fan TV.

Sling TV, Dish’s OTT TV service, has unleashed a mix of updates and enhancements for its app on Roku devices, leading off with in-app upgrades that enable subs to purchase add-on packages, premium channels and the service’s relatively new cloud DVR option.

UPDATE: Sling TV, which ended 2017 with 2.2 million subs, confirmed that it will roll out these features to other supported TV-connected platforms such as Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Android TV at a future date, but here’s a quick rundown of what else is part of the Roku upgrade:

-Add VOD to MyChannels: Subs can add VOD “channels” from programmers such as Nat Geo Wild and Fandor, as well as from NBC and Fox (for Sling Blue customers who don’t live in a market where the local live  TV feeds from those networks are available.

-Quicker access to channels set as “Favorites,” indicated by a heart in the guide, which are now appearing first at the top of the service’s grid guide and on the left of the channel guide, and the new Micro Guide.

-A new Micro Guide that that reduces the size of the guide that appears while a sub watches a show.

-Updated arrow controls that are part of the updated full-screen video navigation functionality. Pushing up on the D-pad will bring up the Micro Guide, and pushing down on it will call up the old guide.

-Safe Exit: Pressing the exit button on the Roku remote will issue a pop-up that gives subs the option to go back to their show or movie instead of leaving the service.

-Binge On: In an apparent homage to a term originally coined by T-Mobile, the updated player view for Sling TV on Roku will automatically go back to a show’s “franchise page” after they’ve completed an on-demand show title.

Virgin Media’s long-standing relationship with TiVo appears to be in line for a bit of a change.

Speaking at this week’s Cable Congress event in Dublin, Tom Mockridge, Virgin Media’s CEO, reportedly dropped a hint that the operator has plans to transition over to the “Horizon” user interface used by parent company, Liberty Global, but stressed that TiVo’s technology will remain in the picture.

“It’s no secret that Liberty Global has its own Horizon UI at the moment and you can expect that we will transition to that on the V6 box and we’ll do that in co-operation with TiVo,” he said, according to Broadband TV News. “They are very understanding of our desire to do that and will help us do that.”

A Virgin Media official said the company had nothing to add beyond Mockridge’s comments about using the Horizon UI. “There’s no changes to announce at this time and all UK set-top boxes continue to use the TiVo platform today,” the official said in an email.

TiVo has also been asked for comment. Last fall, TiVo announced it had renewed and extended its products agreement with Liberty Global, which included a multi-year extension for the MSO’s use of TiVo’s intellectual property and patent portfolio that covers all Liberty global subsidiaries, including Virgin Media, which has been using TiVo’s software and interface for its recently launched V6 box.

RELATED: Virgin Media Rejuvenates Video Platform

Virgin Media reported last month that more than 1 million subs, or 27% of its U.K. video base, have taken the Arris-made V6 box (pictured) since its launch in December 2016, and that V6 subs have “meaningfully higher” Net Promoter Scores.

Questions about the longer-term relationship between Virgin Media and TiVo also comes up as TiVo looks to explore alternatives that could lead to M&A or taking the company private.

RELATED: TiVo ‘Exploring All Alternatives’ to Drive Shareholder Value

fuboTV, the sports-focused OTT TV provider, said it has issued an upgrade for its experience on Apple TV that includes an enhanced EPG, network-focused pages, and some new trick-play capabilities.

The EPG enhancements include a new vertical design that also allows viewers to look up to seven days ahead.

RELATED:fuboTV Exits Beta Phase on Roku

In the network page view, subs can see all available live and VOD content from specefici channels on the lineup (this feature is also offered by fuboTV on web browsers). The video snippet below shows how this component works:

fuboTV’s updated app for Apple TV devices also lets viewers pause live streams and resume at any point.

fuboTV noted that it saw a 53% boost in average hours streamed per user per month on Apple TV in December 2017 versus November 2017.

The OTT TV provider announced in October that it had surpassed 100,000 subscribers. Consolidated Communications is the first MVPD to pitch fuboTV to broadband subscribers via an agreement that stems from an agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative.

RELATED: NCTC Reaches Pact with fuboTV

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Adding a new focus on linear TV feeds from its content partners, Amazon has released an update for Fire TV devices that features a new “On Now” row and an integrated live channel guide.

The update, offered to subscribers to Amazon Channels (Amazon’s aggregated collection of subscription OTT video offerings), provides quick access to live TV streams to programmers such as HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and Starz. 

The update also supports Amazon Alexa, enabling users to navigate and tune into those live feeds with their voice by uttering, “Alexa, tune to HBO Family,” or “Alexa, go to Showtime,” for example.

The On Now row offers a glance at what is currently on and allows users to watch a preview of the live channel. Selecting a channel instantly launches the live player on the Fire TV device.

Among other additions, a new “Recent” row now captures the last live channel and VOD titles that the user viewed. The integrated channel guide lets viewers browse what shows are live and what will be coming to those channels in the next 14 days.

You.i TV, a company that specializes in video apps and interfaces, said it is extending its work around React Native to a range of TV-connected platforms, including Roku devices, gaming consoles and smart TVs.

React Native is a Facebook-backed open source JavaScript project/development framework.

RELATED: You.i TV Revs Demo for Facebook-Backed React Native Project

You.i TV said it will use CES 2018 (at the C-Space exhibit at the Aria) to demo how this approach, underpinned by the You.i Engine One, can bring a high-end user experience to 10-foot platforms (including Roku) using the same code portability and efficiently that React Native enables on mobile platforms.

“While React Native is proving its worth in mobile, limitations on app scope, device reach and UX workflows lessen its value in broader cross-platform environments,” Andrew Emmons, VP of product for You.i TV, said in a statement.

“Roku stands as an integral part of any successful direct-to-consumer strategy,” added Jason Flick, CEO and co-founder of You.i TV.  “We believe that bringing React Native and Roku  together is a breakthrough for 10-foot cross platform strategies that can immediately improve the consumer experience.”

Last fall, You.i TV announced a $12 million "B" round led by Time Warner Investments. 

Hulu said it has rolled out several enhancements that are tied to an effort to optimize its live TV experience on web browsers.

Chief among those additions is one-click access to Hulu’s live TV service, which was launched in beta form in May.

“The way you use Hulu on your phone or Roku is much different than the way you do on your computer, which is why we’ve been building out a live TV experience that is distinctly optimized for the Web,” Richard Irving, VP of product at Hulu, explained in a blog post. “We’ve heard that, at times, getting to live programming is not as quick or simple as you’d like it to be, so we’ve created a dedicated ‘Live’ section that lives at the top of your page. When you click into Live, you’ll be taken straight into live programming. When you leave, we’ll remember the last channel you watched.”

Irving said Hulu has also altered the Home screen for the service on web browsers, adding more “collections,” including a curated one focused on Fall TV. The details page for the web is now an overlay that lets users access info about the title and quickly toggle back to browsing.

For the web, Hulu has also added a dedicated Browse menu that lets users pick from specific genres.

TiVo’s business has been rapidly shifting from hardware to software, and that business shift was clear as day in the company’s third-quarter results.

“TiVo has moved well beyond a hardware company and is now an innovative entertainment technology company,” Thomas Carson, TiVo’s president and CEO, said on the company's earnings call Thursday (Nov. 2). “To that point, 95% of our revenues this quarter came from software, services, advertising and licensing.”

Though it’s not a core focus, TiVo is still keeping its hand in the retail hardware business amid the launch of a new lineup of Vox-branded products that add voice navigation and a new user interface.

RELATED: TiVo Refreshes Retail Lineup With Voice-Powered 'Vox' Devices

TiVo said Q3 revenue rose 29%, to $197.9 million, driven by the merger between TiVo and Rovi that closed last fall. That was paired with a net loss of $17 million, versus net income of $49.9 million a year ago that factored in a $83.4 million tax benefit. TiVo expects full-year revenue in the range of $810 million to $830 million, with about $35 million coming from hardware sales.

Carson, who plans to retire from the company (a search for a successor is ongoing), reiterated that TiVo’s business now covers three categories: Platform Solutions (user experience software for pay TV operators in developed and emerging markets); Software and Services (metadata, advanced search and recommendations, voice search and advertising); and Licensing.

Though TiVo has made progress on that last category, having signed recent deals with AT&T and Liberty Global, the overhang continues due to the lack of a deal and a protracted legal battle with Comcast.

RELATED: TiVo Shares Soar on Prelim ITC Ruling Against Comcast

Getting Comcast under license “remains one of our top priorities,” Carson said. 

Regarding the pending action at the International Trade Commission, Carson said TiVo expects a final determination to be issued on Nov. 9.

Hulu said it has taken another step to help drive more live TV viewing on web browsers, announcing Wednesday that the UI for that platform has tacked on a feature that behaves a bit more like a traditional channel grid guide. 

That addition shows what’s on now and what’s next and a way to easily change channels via the grid.

Among features on the new web component, users can access the guide during live playback by selecting the icon on the lower left corner of the screen, or hover the cursor near the left side of the browser window. That opens up a scrollable list of channels along with access to a filter that lets users sort programming by sports, news or kids programming.

Hulu’s new “dynamic guide” is breaking out first on web browsers, “and we are eager to learn how you use it before we roll it out to additional platforms in the coming months,” Ben Smith, Hulu’s head of experience, explained in this blog post, noting that changes were made in part from user feedback.

The new guide view emerges as Hulu seeks out ways to drive more live TV viewing, delivered via an OTT TV service that was launched in beta form in May.

During the early months of the service, Smith acknowledged that some of Hulu’s live content felt “hidden” at times, so the first step was the live TV only web experience launched in August. That followed by a change in how the Hulu UI that centers on using recommendations to surface live TV. Smith said recent changes have boosted live viewing on Hulu by 70% since the start of August. 

Zodiac Interactive and ActiveVideo are pitching a joint solution that, they claim, can help pay TV of all sizes bring a next-gen interface/experience to any installed set-top box.

They said the joint offering builds on prior customer-specific ActiveVideo-Zodiac collaborations. Notably, Charter Communications’s Spectrum Guide for legacy set-tops as well as newer ones with IP connectivity use both ActiveVideo and Zodiac technologies. ActiveVideo operates as a joint venture of  Charter and Arris.

RELATED: Arris, Charter Close $135M ActiveVideo Acquisition

The joint solution being introduced this week and timed with the IBC show in Amsterdam, combines the cloud virtualization capabilities of ActiveVideo’s CloudTV platform with Zodiac’s PowerUp Stack software and AMS cloud platform.

Cable Bahamas, which delivers service to about 250,000 set-top boxes, is on board to rollout the new joint solution in the second quarter of 2018, and will include a mosaic guide that displays live content from multiple channels, and unify an experience across multiple devices.

“Using the integrated solution, small or large pay-TV operators around the world can deliver the industry’s most advanced services to every subscriber in a matter of months,” Zodiac CEO Brandon Brown said in a statement.

Comcast has unleashed another batch of changes and enhancements, with a focus on new functionality, to its cloud-powered X1 guide for set-tops.

Among the additions are a Notification Center that relays new account-related info to the TV screen, and a “Free-to-Me” guide view that lists only the channels that a customer subscribes to.

In addition to selecting the Free-to-Me option alongside other guide view types (sports, trending, movies, etc.), customers can also set it as their default view.

X1 also lets customers refine their search through DVR recordings by segmenting them into five categories: TV, Movies, Kids, Sports and News. The full list of recordings can still be viewed on a chronological or alphabetical basis.

RELATED: Comcast Testing ‘Manage Channels’ Feature on X1

Comcast is also starting to add new parental control locks for individual apps that are integrated with X1, including Netflix, Watchable (Comcast’s ad-based short-form OTT video service), Pandora,  sports, and voicemail.

Per this blog post from Peter Nush, VP of product management at Comcast Cable, also new are two customer-requested accessibility features.

Customers can control and increase the rate (Regular/Default, Fast, and Fastest)  at which text is spoken when Voice Guidance is enabled.  Comcast commercially launched its X1 Talking Guide, for the blind and visually impaired, in 2014.

RELATED: Comcast’s ‘Talking Guide’ Goes Live

Customers also have the option to turn on the first of several new sound cues within the X1 talking guide via Comcast Labs. When turned on, customers navigating the guide will hear a brief sound when the end of the screen is reached and they cannot navigate any further in that direction.

At the end of Q2, about 55% of Comcast’s residential video subscriber base was on X1.

If a move toward field trials offers any indication, TiVo appears to be inching toward the wider rollout of a new user interface code-named “Project Hydra.”

Margaret Schmidt, TiVo’s chief design officer and vice president of product development, recently tweeted that the company was seeking people to try it out, directing them to a web page with more detail about the field trial and a way for consumers to sign up for it.

If you haven't owned/used @TiVo in the last 10 years, we'd love your help testing something new: https://t.co/XwHGYAGMzT

— TiVo Margret Schmidt (@tivodesign) June 6, 2017

A TiVo official confirmed that this is for a beta trial of the Project Hydra user interface. Vodafone España was the first operator partner of TiVo’s to deploy the interface for a new 4K-compatible set-top box.

TiVo has not announced a date for the wider launch and expanded availability of the new UI, but the beta test site notes that TiVo is targeting a new software release for “late 2017.”

Update:Gadget blogger Dave Zatz points out that the release timing is far behind the original schedule: 

Late 2017 only puts it one year behind schedule. ;) https://t.co/Yt6L3agCG8

— Dave Zatz (@davezatz) June 9, 2017

TiVo presented some details on its redesigned and streamlined interface in February, noting that operators will have the ability to customize it with their branding and through the use of different colors. It will offer a more unified look and feel across different devices.

This video overview from Schmidt explores some of the features, noting that operators can customize the menus, and that a new strip along the bottom of the UI presents recommended programming that’s based on viewing behavior by time of day and the day of the week.  

Also included is something Schmidt refers to as a “trade-up experience” in which the viewer can use the arrow keys to drill down into content. Clicking right shows what programming the other tuners on the box is pulling in, left pulls up the user’s favorite channels, down presents the prediction strip, and up offers a presentation of what’s on different channels, including what’s on now and what’s coming next.

The new UI also borrows a page from TV’s past with support for a standard grid guide, an option that Sling TV recently added to its interface.

RELATED: Sling TV Gets a Grid Guide

Old school is colliding with new school as Sling TV adds a traditional grid guide option – one of several new user interface features that the Dish Network-owned OTT TV service is introducing.

Sling TV has made the grid guide option available on all its Android platforms, with support for more devices coming soon.

Ben Weinberger, Sling TV’s chief product officer, acknowledged in a blog post that the addition of a grid guide “isn’t revolutionary,” but noted that, following DVR, “the grid guide has consistently been our most requested feature from Sling TV customers.”

Sling TV also plans to add new “Featured” content ribbons for TV shows and movies in the coming weeks, holding that the addition will make it easier for consumers to sift through the service’s VOD library.

Sling TV is also adding smarts to its “On Now” feature by showing the most popular events and shows first using a new, more intelligent live content sorting system.

Also on the way in the next few weeks is a new screen dedicated to TV shows that lets users find series based on genres such as drama, lifestyle, comedy, crime and science fiction.

Hulu is adding some new features just weeks after the OTT specialist launched a new experience alongside the beta debut of a live TV service that includes a cloud DVR component.

RELATED: Hulu Launches Live TV Beta

Hulu said it will trot out new features and improvements on a semi-regular basis, but here’s part of the latest round of updates available now or coming soon, per this blog post from Hulu VP of product Richard Irving:

-Viewing Progress: Via the My Stuff section, the app now tells subscribers if they are “All Caught Up” or have a new episode to view from a particular show. That’s available now on all of Hulu’s platforms.

-New Episode Badging:  Following the live TV beta launch, a badging element will tell customers if there’s something new to watch, including a green “New Episode” marker in the customer’s Lineup, Home or Browse Collections or in My Stuff views. The new badging will be rolled out next week to all platforms that support the new Hulu experience, Irving said.

-Disable Autoplay:  Though Autoplay is a tool for binge-watchers that spools up the next episode without manual intervention, Hulu subs using iOS, Apple TV and Xbox One can now toggle off that feature, with Android on deck.

Hulu has also moved the “Cast” button, for use with Google’s Chromecast technology, higher in the navigation to make it easier to find.

Tian Lim, Hulu’s CTO, recently discussed some of the challenged faced as Hulu prepared the beta launch of its new live TV service and offered some hints about what’s on Hulu’s roadmap, including  improvements and enhancements for the service’s personalization algorithm.

RELATED: Hulu’s Aim: Modernizing the TV Experience (subscription required)

ActiveVideo, the cloud video joint venture of Arris and Charter Communications, said it has notched a deal to help Japan’s J:COM roll out a new “web-like” VOD interface for the operator’s already deployed set-top boxes.

They said the new user experience will feature snappier response times and integrate personalized searches, without requiring J:COM to change out its set-top boxes.

J:COM is enabling it using ActiveVideo’s virtualized CloudTV GuideCast technology, which renders the HTML5 user interface in the cloud and delivers it to boxes as an MPEG video stream that can be supported by QAM-only or IP-capable boxes that are outfitted with the CloudTV Nano client module.

RELATED: ActiveVideo Gives VTR’s VOD Platform a Boost

The J:COM deployment is a significant one for ActiveVideo, which was acquired in 2015 by an Arris-Charter joint venture and also works with other MVPDs such as Altice USA, Liberty Global and Deutsche Telekom. Arris holds a 65% of the J.V. and serves as the sales channel for ActiveVideo's CloudTV platform outside of sales to Charter.

RELATED: Arris, Charter Close $135M ActiveVideo Acquisition

J:COM serves about 5.28 million homes in the Sapporo, Sendai, Kanto, Kansai, and Kyushu-Yamaguchi regions. It's been a known customer of ActiveVideo's, but today's announcement marks the deployment phase of their relationship.

“The user interface is the customer’s point of entry to our on-demand library,” said Masaaki Agaya, GM, service planning division at J:COM, in a statement. “The power of the cloud has enabled us to offer our subscribers a next-generation UX that overnight is opening the door to engaging new viewing experiences on the same familiar set-top boxes.”

“J:COM’s success is further proof of how STB virtualization allows operators to rapidly transform user experiences for every subscriber by enabling delivery of faster, larger and more intuitive user experiences,” added Jeff Miller, president and CEO of ActiveVideo.

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.

Vodafone Spain this week introduced Vodafone TV, and will become the first service provider to rollout TiVo’s next-gen user interface/experience.

The new TiVo-powered offering, which includes a set-top with 4K video capabilities, will be launched in March.

RELATED: TiVo Introduces New User Interface

The offering will deliver about 120 TV channels and integrate content from HBO Spain as well as from Netflix. About 20,000 pieces of content will be accessible on the new platform, which also supports a new personalized recommendations engine that is partly based on the customer’s viewing habits.

Vodafone acquired Spanish MSO Ono in 2014.

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.

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).

RELATED: Aceedo Building RDK-Capable App Store

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.”

Looking to broaden participation from OTT providers as it nears the launch of its new “TV” app, Apple plans to reduce the revenue it takes from subscription video apps from 30% to 15%, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the decision.

RELATED: Apple Unveils ‘TV’ App

The cost reduction could help Apple expand the number of video OTTs that are part of a new TV app for the Apple TV, iPhone and iPad that will launch later this year. The aim is to provide integrated, unified access to TV shows and movies that are offered on a multitude of individual  video apps.

While unity is being sought, the aim will likely be falling short early on, as key OTTs such as Netflix and Amazon aren’t yet in the mix. It will also be key for Apple to bring as many TV Everywhere apps from both programmers and MVPDs to its new offering.

Bloomberg said the expanded offering of a reduced price, already offered to some video partners, is a “move to appease partners whose movies and TV shows are vital to the technology giant’s video strategy.”

It also comes as Apple looks to smooth out its occasionally contentious relationship with the pay TV industry. Apple’s brash negotiation style did not sit well with some broadcasters and other programmers when Apple was trying to build its own pay TV service, according to The Wall Street Journal. The recent addition of former Time Warner Cable exec Peter Stern to the Apple fold, with a focus on subscription services, may help out in that area.

Apple is also looking to drum up more MVPD support for its new single sign-on initiative for Apple TV.

RELATED: Few MVPDs Part of Apple’s Single Sign-On Mix

TiVo’s patent infringement lawsuits against Comcast are moving ahead, but the company is still hopeful that it can get a deal done without having to take those cases to the bitter end.

RELATED: Rovi Sues Comcast and MSO’s Set-Top Suppliers

“Our approach has been to do our best to try to avoid litigation and to get a reasonable deal done,” TiVo president and CEO Tom Carson said Thursday on the company’s earnings call, pointing out that TiVo and Samsung have come to terms and will avoid a court showdown.

RELATED: TiVo, Samsung Bury The Hatchet

With a renewal with Dish Network (including Sling TV) completed done following the completion of the TiVo-Rovi merger in September, the maker of user interfaces and supplier of metadata services now has deals salted away with nine of the top 10 U.S. pay TV providers.

"Frankly I have a hard time seeing how Comcast doesn’t take a license,” Carson said. “I would hope that all of the deals we have now sends a message to Comcast that the industry I set in terms of what the rates are…We're very, very open to trying to come up with a creative solution with Comcast like we have with everybody else.”

Samir Armaly, TiVo’s VP, intellectual property and licensing, said the expectation that the International Trade Commission case will go to trial by mid-December, and the pending district case likely won’t reach that stage until mid-to-late 2018.

On the financial front, TiVo posted Q3 revenues of $153.1 million, up 33%  year-over-year, reflecting the recent closing of the merger and the Dish licensing renewal.  TiVo posted Q3 net income of $49.9 million, versus a year-ago net loss of $18.5 million.

Service provider revenue was $126 million, up from $94 million a year earlier. Service provider revenues represented 82% of all revenues, versus 16% from the consumer electronics market, and 2% “other.”

TiVo said it’s comfortable with its $100 million-plus synergy target from the merger, and expects to exit 2016 with over $40 million of run-rate cost synergies, putting it ahead of plan to achieve 65% of its target within 12 months of the closure of the Rovi-TiVo deal.

RELATED: Rovi Seals Deal for TiVo

While integration is a near-term focus, Carson said there’s a longer-term significant growth opportunity for the company as it looks to strike deals for 17 million homes on legacy iGuide and Passport EPGs to the higher-end and higher ARPU TiVo experience.

“This will take some time, but operators around the world are migrating toward IP or IP hybrid solutions,” he said, noting that a TiVo-branded platform mixes OTT with an operator’s VOD and linear TV offerings. 

Programming distributor and OTT service provider Olympusat and Float Left, a maker of TV Everywhere and OTT video app systems, said they have scuttled their merger and will now pursue their longer-term business goals independently.

They didn’t specify why they killed the merger, but noted that the decision followed a six-month trial period. Olympusat and Float Left announced their merger agreement in April.

“Float Left and Olympusat will continue informal collaborations as opportunities are identified. This decision will allow each organization to remain focused on its core mission,” they said.

In tandem with the merger-related announcement, Float Left also announced that its opening an office in Toronto, and has appointed Scott Murrow to VP of sales for the North America region. Morrow most recently was VP, distribution for AMC Networks.

Float Left counts clients such as AMC Networks, Red Bull, Crackle, CBS Sports, and Viacom. It used the INTX 2016 show to debut Flicast, an interface/UI for connected devcies.

TiVo said it has renewed its product and intellectual property licensing deal with Panasonic.

The deal, which follows the recent merger of TiVo and Rovi (the combined company is keeping the TiVo brand), includes a multi-year extension of its products for the Japan market, including G-Guide, G-Guide HTML and G-Guide xD, as well as a multi-year worldwide license renewal to Rovi’s entertainment discovery patent portfolio. Financial terms were not disclosed.

RELATED: Rovi Seals Deal for TiVo

“Our continued collaboration with Panasonic further reinforces the need for technologies and solutions to power next-gen entertainment services while enhancing the overall user experience,”Michael Hawkey, senior vice president and general manager of user experience at TiVo, said in a statement. “Our innovative products help companies like Panasonic deliver seamless navigation experiences that help users find the content they want to watch no matter where they are or what device they are watching from.”

TiVo, which remains at odds with Comcast over licenses and patents, is scheduled to announce Q3 results on Thursday (Nov. 3).

Comcast said it unleashed another batch of updates and enhancements this summer to X1, its cloud-powered video platform, per this blog post from Peter Nush, Comcast Cable's VP of product management.

Here’s a rundown of those tweaks and additions:

-X1 has added filters for SAP (Secondary Audio Program) and Video Descriptive content that can be accessed via the guide’s live and upcoming TV listings, and as a “Featured” tile in the On Demand menu. Viewers can also speak “SAP” into their voice remotes to pull up SAP content options.

-Comcast has added new capabilities and actions for its voice remote, including support for new phrases such as “What should I watch?”, “What’s recommended for me?,” as well as the ability to pull up remote settings and the box’s power save and restart functions. Also, when “What can I say?” is uttered, X1 will pull up a Tips & Tricks area dedicated to voice commands.

-X1 has also added a settings area for management of the remote control, offering access to the device’s battery level, remote type, and a list of paired devices.

-X1’s Sports App has added a Soccer section and personalized NASCAR leaderboards.

-In time for the recent Summer Games in Rio, X1 added an Athlete Gallery Rows element that lets users browse by specific athletes competing for various teams, nations, or sports. The feature can also be applied to a viewer’s favorite actor and musician.

-Viewers can now track their favorite teams by setting up Team Reminders with options to for live events only, all live programming (including pre/post game shows), or all programming associated with a specific team. X1’s Auto Extend feature is now the default setting for recordings of games associated with the NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR as well as NCAA men’s Football and Basketball.

-X1 is now set up to receive live streams from cameras attached to Xfinity Home, the MSO’s home security and automation service.

-Following an initial spin as a lab feature, X1’s Default Guides component is now an official offering. It enables users to customize which Guide View (such as sports, kids channels or movies, for example) to display when the Guide button is pressed.

-The X1’s Comcast Labs section is kicking the tires on a new setting called "Auto Pad Recordings," which sets all recordings to automatically begin one minute early and end three  minutes late. Also on trial is a “Guide Readability” option that lets users modify the look of text, with the caveat that the change will require a box reboot.

The changes come as Comcast, which has been deploying about 40,000 X1 boxes per day, expects to have about half its video sub base on the platform by year-end. Cox Communications and Canada's Shaw Communications are the first announced MSOs to license the platform.

Google Fiber has upgraded the interface of its Fiber TV service that, it says, represents the biggest update it has made to that platform since its launch in 2012. 

In addition to a general new look and feel that aims to help viewers more easily navigate the lineup and discover content, the update also features a reorganized area for DVR recordings and the addition of Rotten Tomatoes ratings that are integrated with program descriptions.

Other enhancements include a new recommendations and search engine, and an improved “Smart Search” component that lets viewers find shows and movies by title, keywords, and the actor’s name, or even a sports team.

Google Fiber added Google Cast capabilities to Fiber TV earlier this year, and “there’s much more to come,” Lawrence Kim, product manager at Google Fiber, said in a blog post.

Fiber TV isn’t powered by Android TV, but the company is working on integrating the Android TV apps experience into the service, Multichannel News has learned.

Citing U.S. Copyright Office data, MoffetNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said Google Fiber ended Q2 2016 with 68,715 video subscribers, up 66.6% year-over-year, with Google Fiber responding that it is “very pleased” with its pay TV growth.

Google Fiber started the service sign-up process this week in Morrisville, N.C., the first stop in a broader rollout happening in the state’s “Triangle” region.

Google Fiber offers or is deploying  service in parts of Kansas City (Missouri and Kansas); Provo, Utah; Austin, Texas; Atlanta, Ga.; Charlotte; and Nashville, Tenn.; and is planning rollouts in San Antonio; San Francisco (already offered to some apartment buildings). It’s also exploring expansions into Los Angeles, San Diego, Irvine, San Jose, Louisville, Tampa, Jacksonville, Phoenix, Chicago, Dallas, and Portland (Oregon). 

You.i TV, a maker of user interfaces for a wide range of video platforms, said it has landed a $12 million “B” round led by Time Warner Investments.

Tied in, Turner, a unit of Time Warner Inc., has begun to standardize their application development on the You.i Engine platform, the company said. Scott Levine, managing director, Time Warner Investments, is joining the board of Ottawa, Canada-based You.i TV.

You.i TV has raised about $21 million (C$15 million and US$12 million), following a round raised last year led by Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors. Kayne Partners and new investor Vistara Capital Partners also participated in the B round.

You.iTV said the new strategic investment will be used to help it meet demand, enhance its app designer workflow intellectual property, and expand its partner channels.

The You.i Engine is already powering video apps for Sony Crackle; shomi, the SVOD service from Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications; Corus Entertainment; as well as Turner’s TNT, TBS, and FilmStruck, a direct-to-consumer SVOD service from Turner Classic Movie that’s expected to launch later this year.

“Delivering video directly to consumers is becoming vital to the media industry, and offering a compelling user interface & app experience is an important piece of this value chain,” Levine said, in a statement. 

In a deal that expands its video software expertise and market share, Espial on Friday (August 19) said it has closed its acquisition of Arris’s Whole Home Solution platform.

RELATED: Espial Swings Deal for Arris’s Whole Home Solution

Terms and conditions of the deal were not disclosed, but Ottawa, Canada-based Espial said in June that it expects the acquisition to add $7.7 million annual revenues as it moves ahead on a plan to spur growth with “video-as-a-service” offerings.

Arris and Espial said they will collaborate on integration and co-marketing activities, and are creating a reseller agreement. Arris is now Espial’s preferred partner for gateways, but Espial is free to work with other hardware partners.

The deal also covers WHS’s infrastructure, client and server software products, a development and operations team primarily located in Kirkland, Wash., and a network operations center and two WHS cloud data center operations.

Espial also announced that Ron Miller will transition from Arris to lead the business as general manager.

The deal effectively transfers some key video software expertise to Espial from Arris, the world’s largest maker of set-top boxes -- , a position established through its acquisition of U.K.-based set-top maker Pace plc. in January, and its purchase of Motorola Home in April 2013.

Arris’s WHS originated from its $20 million acquisition of the Digeo set-top and software business from Paul Allen in 2009. MSOs that have deployed Arris’s WHS include Shaw Communications, WideOpenWest, Buckeye CableSystem, EastLink, Comporium, Consolidated Communications and Service Electric Cable TV.

Espial has previously said it will support current roadmaps, and look to accelerate future product roadmaps, for more than 40 service providers that use WHS in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.

Espial CEO Jaison Dolvane said when the deal was announced that there are more than 2 million boxes deployed that are powered by Arris’s WHS platform. He said the growth plan includes expanding the reach of WHS at existing customers, upselling others, and selling and deploying the offering to new customers.

"Espial gains a broad base of new customer relationships and further scales our world-class integration, operations, and software development teams,” Dolvane said in a statement.

The agreement will pit Espial against others that are looking to help MVPDs transition to IP video and next-gen video services, Evolution Digital, for example, is targeting that opportunity with its eVUE-TV platform. Comcast, meanwhile, is trying to syndicate and license its X1 platform. Cox Communications and Shaw Communications are already on board.

Having run into a brick wall trying to build an OTT-TV service with national reach and access to local broadcast TV feeds, Apple is now working on a new “digital TV guide” for Apple TV boxes and other Apple devices that would service as a smart aggregation point for other video and TV apps, Recode reported.

The idea, Recode said, is to help users search and access what’s on from individual programmers and MVPDs without having to open up the individual apps.

In many respects, this sounds a lot like what Roku is already doing with its interface/streaming platform via a universal search function that can currently pull app data from more than 50 sources, including ABC, Comedy Central, Crackle, Disney Channel, Google Play, HBO Go, Tubi TV, Netflix, Vudu, and even the TWC TV app (now part of Charter). Expect Comcast’s Xfinity TV app to join that mix as it moves ahead with an integration deal with Roku.

Word of Apple’s new angle emerges after the CE giant failed to cut the deal needed to build its own national pay TV service in large part because programmers and broadcasters balked at Apple’s demands and assertive negotiating style, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“Apple just wants too much,” an industry source familiar with those discussions told me last year.

According to Recode, the current plans also stem from a new single sign-on (SSO) authentication system for TVE apps that Apple will be making available on the Apple TV as well as iOS-powered smartphones and tablets. Adobe and Synacor, which provide authentication systems for programmers and MVPDs, have already announced they are getting behind Apple’s SSO initiative.

Apple, the report said, has been in talks with programmers about obtaining the metadata needed to build the new guide.

Apple CEO Tim Cook cropped some hints about the company’s TV plans on last month’s fiscal Q3 call.

“Theintroduction of Apple TV and tvOS last Octoberand the subsequent OS releases and what’s coming out this fall…think of that as sort of building the foundation for what we believe can be a broader business over time,” Cook said. “But you shouldn’t look at what’s there today and think we’ve done what we want to do.”  

 Additionally, Apple’s Eddy Cue, in an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, chatted up Apple TV’s ability to stream content from other distributors and tossed cold water on skinny bundles. 

Rovi has introduced i-Guide HD R32, a high-definition version of its set-top guide with a refreshed user interface.

Rovi said Click! Network, a competitive cable provider run by Tacoma Power in Washington, is the first operator to deploy the new version of i-Guide.

In addition to the HD spruce up, the new guide also adds features such as “HD Auto-Tune (automatically tunes from a channel’s standard-def feed to the HD version) and a refreshed TV listings grid.

Rovi, which is in the process of acquiring TiVo for $1.1 billion, said i-Guide HD R32 is available for MSOs with Arris set-top boxes in North America, and expects that operators with Pace boxes (Arris acquired Pace in January) will have access to it later this year.

“We are dedicated to serving our customers, especially as they develop next-generation guides and introduce advanced entertainment services,” Michael Hawkey, senior vice president and general manager of the discovery business group at Rovi, said in a statement. “i-Guide demonstrates our ongoing commitment to our customers in the face of rapid technology developments and subscriber demands. Our customers are gaining a competitive edge by providing new and user-friendly experiences for entertainment discovery.”

Offering further evidence that Comcast is more eager than ever to migrate its entire base to its next-gen X1 platform, the MSO has opted not to push forward with a planned upgrade for the “A31” guide on its legacy Motorola digital set-top box platform.

“Recently a decision was made to not move ahead with the upcoming release that was previously referenced,” Comcast noted on its customer forum. “This was a very difficult decision because there were multiple benefits in the release but the [decision] was based on numerous factors and the desire to focus on the future. We have almost 50% of our deployed set tops running on our X1 platform and we are adding about 40,000 more boxes every day on the X1 platform.”   

Comcast, the post added, plans to implement “a simpler and more surgically deployed guide release for A31 legacy set tops” to address some issues on that guide, but noted that those changes likely won’t come out until early 2017.

“We will certainly continue to support our legacy platform for some time,” the post read, adding that most of the MSO’s energy and resources, with respect to the on-screen guide, is going toward X1.

Benefits and enhancements that were on tap for the upgraded A31 release included come code efficiency improvements, bug fixes, repairing a delayed tuning issue on some boxes, as well as some self-service options that would let customers “self-diagnose and self-heal some minor issues.”

And Comcast tried to assure customers that it’s not abandoning the legacy platform, and will continue to support it and make it an option, even as the operator becomes increasingly fixated on X1.

“We are targeting fixes and enhancements for our older cable boxes, just the pace for that has always been much slower (due to many reasons),” the MSO noted in response to questions posted by customers. “These legacy guide code releases are not a huge priority as we continue to have less and less of these boxes in customer homes and we have an alternative solution in place (at the same monthly price) that is a vastly improved experience. We will continue to have legacy cable boxes available (and support for them) for some time for any customer who chooses that option.”

Though X1, which now supports a popular voice remote, is superior to the legacy interface in almost all respects, some customers on the thread were still disappointed to hear news about the decision not to push the A31 upgrade and some remain reluctant to move to Comcast’s new platform.

As for concerns about past problems about X1, Comcast noted in the post that new, cloud-based platform addresses issues and introduces new features on X1 via weekly releases and updates – “something that took 18 to 20 months to fix or correct on our legacy platform.” 

Just weeks after debuting its new UI on Apple TV, Sling TV has followed with the launch of its new platform for the Roku platform.

Among the updates is “My TV,” a new personalized home screen that lets users select and pin favorite channels for the “My Channels” ribbon up top for one-click access to the subscriber’s most viewed channels. My TV also includes a “Continue Watching” ribbon to rejoin shows, and the option to add most-watched shows, series and movies in the UI’s “Favorites” ribbon.

Sling TV’s new UI for Roku also features a Sports view, and a curated On Now view based on what’s currently airing live in categories such as sports, lifestyle and action.

Sling TV said it will roll the new UI to other supported devices throughout the year.  Dish’s OTT-TV service also runs on Amazon Fire TV devices, Xbox One consoles, Android TV devices, Web browsers, iOS and Android mobile devices. 

Accedo, a maker of multiscreen interfaces, said it has landed up to $10 million in additional capital through a partnership with SEB Private Equity of Stockholm that will be used to accelerate growth and expand product development.  

Accedo said the deal will allow earlier investors in the company, including Industrifonden and Acacia, to exit.

Updated: Accedo has raised about $16M in total, an official said.

Accedo also appointed video industry vet James Ackerman as chairman of the board. Ackerman is late of A&E, BSkyB, OpenTV, and the Documentary Channel. Ackerman recently served as executive chairman of Broadway Systems, an advertising management software company that was acquired by SintecMedia in 2015.

“We’re excited to partner with SEB Private Equity to go to the next level, Michael Lantz, CEO and co-founder of Accedo, said in a statement. “They share our vision of the market development and what a company like Accedo can deliver to truly transform the way consumers experience video services. We firmly believe that we’re still only in the beginning of the transformation of video consumption as we know it and we’re looking forward to continue our 12-year growth trajectory in the future.”

“It’s rare to see a transformation of an industry such as what we’re seeing in the TV industry at the moment,” added Ackerman. “The traditional value chain is evolving with new and existing players embracing OTT technologies to reach consumers and monetise video content in new and innovative ways.”

Stockholm-based Accedo has raised $11.27 million, according to CrunchBase. It was founded in 2004. 

Accedo's customers include OSN (a pay TV provider in the Middle East and North Africa); Cinépolis, a cinema chain based in Latin America; Sky Deutschland; and maxdome, an SVOD service in Germany.

Online video distributor FOTV TV Networks (Film On TV and CinemaNow) is expanding its online streaming footprint with the purchase of video portal OVGuide Inc.

OvGuide was launched in 2007 and allows browsers to search for videos across various platforms, including 10,000 ad-supported movies and TV shows, as well as short-form content.

FOTV says OVGuide also has millions of downloads of its video app on Android and iOS platforms, as well as a 19 Roku channels.

Sounding like FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler pushing his competitive navigation device proposal, FOTV says OVGuide's goal is to put surfers "one click away from virtually any digitally distributed movie or TV show, including ad-suported VOD and services from Amazon Prime, HBO Go and iTunes."

“With OVGuide, the FilmOn ecosystem expands to offer everything the consumer could want,” said FOTV CEO Alki David in announcing the addition of OVGuide to its FilmOn platform.

FilmOn says it has big plans for OvGuide through strategic partners such as Lenovo and expanding the distribution of original content, including films, talk shows and holographic content.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video software and apps firm Alticast said it will highlight its role in Videotron’s 4K service rollout as well as its ‘AltiView 3’ user interface at next week’s INTX: The Internet & Telecommunications Expo in Boston.

Alticast (Booth 611) announced last month that its middleware and UI handwork played a role in Videotron’s 4K deployment. The MSO  introduced its 4K/Ultra HD set-top last August, initially offering it for C$399 and providing access to a menu of VOD titles. The Samsung-made DVR, with multi-room capabilities, can record eight shows at once. The Canadian MSO began to carry live sports in the Ultra HD format in February. 

AltiView 3, meanwhile, enables search, discovery and navigation across linear, on-demand, online and the subscriber’s personal content, Alticast noted.

Among other demos, Alticast will show how its handiwork has enabled an operator in the Asia Pacific region to deploy a platform that features network DVR apps and IP-to-tablet delivery, and how Korea’s KT Skylife is using the AltiView 2 platform for a multi picture-in-picture mosaic, and a YouTube “Leanback” app.

Patrick Donoghue, an award-winning cable and programming exec vet who last headed up user experience efforts for Cablevision Systems’s Optimum product line, has left the operator to start up a digital-focused consulting company called Next Stop Willoughby Inc.

The aim of Donoghue’s new company is to consult with the cable and entertainment on digital media strategies and new product development.

When contacted about the new endeavor, Donoghue said via email: “I am focused on merging art and technology to create emotional connections with the user and diving deep into the emerging space between storytelling, video games, VR and filmmaking to create new and innovative experiences. After spending my early years as a cinematographer/editor and helping the industry establish the web and interactive television, I am ready to combine that knowledge to invent a new type of digital entertainment.”

As for that company name, it’s seemingly a playful homage to an episode from The Twilight Zone (“A Stop at Willoughby,” and apparently one of Rod Serling’s favorites) about Gart Williams, an “ad agency exec” who’s in a “desperate search for survival” (watch the whole episode on Vimeo).

Following a stint at Time Warner Cable to head up that MSO’s interactive television strategy,  Donoghue returned to Cablevision in 2008 as senior vice president of strategic product development, and most recently served as SVP, user experience and emerging products.  Cablevision, which is in the process of being acquired by Altice Group, has not announced who is succeeding Donoghue, who also served in exec roles at  Showtime, Viacom and Extend Media, and, in the late 1990s, cofounded ITV specialist Big Band Media. 

Sling TV, Dish Network’s OTT-TV service for cord-cutters, has rolled out “phase one” of a new and improved  user interface to the Roku platform, a move that follows similar UI updates for Sling TV on Amazon Fire devices, the Xbox One, the Android TV platform, Web browsers and Android and iOS smartphones and tablets.

“Similar to our previous UI updates, this means Roku subscribers will experience our new channels guide, giving you faster access to our thousands of hours of on-demand content, plus easier navigation through our live channels,” Ben Weinberger, Sling TV’s chief product officer, explained in this December 1 blog post.

Among the additions is a “filter ribbon” that lets viewers find channels by category from the UI’s mini guide view, and changes and enhancements for the Roku remote, which now features a Sling TV button. 

For example, Weinberger noted that Roku no longer allows app developers to assign functions to the remote’s “star” button, so users can now press the “OK” button from the full screen to pull up the Sling TV menu. 

You.i TV, a Ottawa-based company that specializes in advanced user interfaces for a variety of video platforms, has closed a $15 million round of capital led by Kayne Partners.

You.i TV said the funding will help the company create a channel of partner agencies to build multiscreen apps for its You.i Engine SDK (software development kit). The You.i Engine, the company said, powers apps across iOS, tvOS (the OS for the new Apple TV box), Android, Amazon Fire, Xbox, PlayStation, Roku, smart TVs and set-tops that use the Reference Design Kit, the integrated software stack that’s being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Time Warner Cable.

You.i TV’s announced partners include Sony Crackle (for its Roku app), the TreeHouseGO app for iOS and Android, Corus Entertainment, and shomi, the multiscreen SVOD service from Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications that recently became available to all Canadians. Privately held You.i TV was founded in 2008.

“This is a unique moment in the evolution of television,” Jason Flick, co-founder and CEO of You.i TV, said in a statement.  “Even Apple agrees, saying during its tvOS event last week that ‘the future of TV is apps.’ Everyone in the industry is racing to build direct-to-consumer relationships via applications, but the technical environment is so fragmented that traditional approaches just don’t scale. Our You.i Engine is the missing ingredient broadcasters need to launch truly immersive applications on every screen.”

Complementing its global base of video and music data, Gracenote is expanding into the wide, wide world of sports stats and information through the acquisitions of Infostrada Statistics B.V. and SportsDirect Inc. for a combined $54 million.

The transaction also includes Covers Media Group, which runs Covers.com, a North America-focused provider of sports scores, odds and matchups data, and analysis and news.

In concert, Gracenote, a unit of Tribune Media Company that counts Rovi among its competitors, said it has launched a new unit called “Gracenote Sports.”

The deals will provide Gracenote and its partners, which include several MVPDs, stats and other data from sporting events around the world that can be applied to advanced user interfaces running on set-top boxes and tablets and other connected devices.

Infostrada Sports, based in the Netherlands, focuses on data tied to the Olympics and European football, spanning 250 sports in 17 languages. SportsDirect of Halifax, Nova Scotia, cultivates sports data from more than 50 leagues and 2,000 teams across the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, National Hockey League, NCAA, soccer, golf, auto racing and tennis. Its clients include Thomson Reuters and USA Today, as well as fantasy sites, sports books and ad networks, Gracenote said.

Gracenote made the acquisitions as its partners, which include consumer electronics companies, MVPDs and music services, expressed interest in the sports vertical. MVPDs, in particular, were interested in sports data they could integrate into their new UIs and drive tune-in capabilities, John Batter, Gracenote’s CEO, said.

That trend is already well underway, with examples that include Comcast and its Sports App for the X1 platform, and Dish Network, which has integrated an app from Thuuz Sports on its Hopper platform that tells viewers when sporting events are trending based on excitement level ratings. Amplifying this trend is OneTwoSee, a Philadelphia-based startup that specializes in interactive apps that sync up contextual data with live sports broadcasts; its partners include Fox Sports, LG Electronics, NBC Sports, YES Network, and Comcast, which uses OneTwoSee’s platform to power its Sports Extras app, also delivered on the IP-capable X1 platform.

Gracenote will look to differentiate in this area with a sports data service that spans the globe.

“To be in the sports business we needed a global data footprint for our customers,” Batter said, adding that Gracenote viewed its acquisitions of Infostrada Statistics and SportsDirect as “strategically connected.”

In addition to providing real-time scores in an MVPD’s UI, Batter said its access to global sports data will also enable its MVPD partners to drive tune-ins based on the excitement level of a sporting event, an approach that is seemingly competitive with the focus of Thuuz Sports’s Ultimate Sports Guide.

“The guide really becomes your interface to everything that is connected to what the fan is interested in,” Batter said.

Gracenote said its new bevy of sports data will also enable it to deliver statistical overlays on mobile devices and connected cars.

Batter said both Infostrada Statistics B.V. and SportsDirect are profitable and that about 350 full-time and part-time employees will be joining Gracenote through the deal, expanding Gracenote’s workforce to about 1,500.

aioTV, a Denver-based maker of video software and HDMI “pass-through” boxes, said it has scored a patent for metadata normalization and video playback, elements that can help MVPDs and other providers offer a blend of linear, on-demand and OTT video.

The patent (U.S. No. 9,027,065) describes a “Method and system for creating video channels for delivery of content from multiple platforms,” was filed on March 18, 2014, and issued on May 5, 2015. 

“The system includes a package generation module by which a service provider may define a package of both traditional and OTT channels to offer to subscribers in a unified programming interface,” the patent filing notes. “When a user uses the interface to select a set of video channels, the system compiles the set of the video channels in a subscriber package of both television and OTT channels.”

According to Mike Earle, aioTV’s CEO, MVPDs are struggling with the massive amount of metadata coming at them from an increasing number of sources.

“This patent and the associated methods in our metadata normalization engine are key to solving an industry wide problem that has immediate attention on it all the way to the C suites in these companies,” he said.

Last fall, aioTV and Midcontinent Communications  announced they were working on a “strategic project” that will enable the MSO to pair traditional live TV services with a new UI that will also support over-the-top video applications and services. Under that plan, Midcontinent will link legacy,  QAM-only set-tops (many from U.K.-based supplier Pace plc) to aioTV’s Android-powered, IP-connected “PassBox” via an HDMI cable. 

Espial, a supplier of video software and user interface technologies, has launched G4, a fourth-gen set-top box client for cable operators, telcos, satellite TV and other types of video service providers that can weave together linear, on-demand and Internet-based content into a uniform interface.

G4, the Ottawa-based company said, can integrate third-party recommendation engines and run on most set-top box platforms, including devices outfitted with the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for IP and QAM/IP hybrid set-tops and gateways that’s being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global.

Three unnamed operators – one “major” MSO in North America and two in Western Europe -- have selected G4 for their next-gen video platform, Jeff Huppertz, Espial’s vice president of marketing and business development, said. All three operators in question have at least 1.5 million subs, and about 8 million between them, he said, noting that they are also discussing G4 implementations on the RDK.  

Of Espial’s trio of MSO customers committed to G4, the one in North America is tapping the platform to power an new all-IP platform, while the two in Europe will use it for their respective hybrid QAM/IP networks.

Operators, Huppertz said, can use the HTML5-powered G4 platform to develop and roll out fluid, customized interfaces, and continue to add and tweak the look and capabilities of the interface.

“The operator owns the look and the experience…and making changes to [the UI] is as easy as changing Web pages,” Huppertz said, noting that pay TV operators have been stepping up their video interface development amid over-the-top competition and as programmers continue to enhance their own apps and launch or develop new stand-alone services.

But Espial has plenty of competition, including TiVo, which has had success with mid-sized tier 1s in the U.S. and some major ones in Europe, as well as from the operators themselves – Comcast and Charter Communications, for example, have developed next-gen video platforms largely through in-house projects. Time Warner Cable has also developed a cloud-based interface based on HTML5 that will run on the RDK.

Huppertz said the addressable market for G4 includes operators of all sizes that are still developing next-gen video strategies. “We think it’s a wide-open opportunity,” he said.

While G4 is a set-top box-focused client, Espial’s also has solutions operators can tap into to bring similar experiences to multiscreen devices.

Founded in 1997, Espial posted 2014 revenues of $20 million, a year-on-year increase of 59%. Mike Hayashi, the long-time TWC engineering exec who announced his retirement last year, recently joined the Espial board of directors.

Mike Hayashi, the former long-time Time Warner Cable engineering exec who announced his retirement last fall, has been appointed to the board of directors at Espial, a maker of video software and user interfaces.

Espial -- headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with R&D centers in the Silicon Valley and the U.K. -- develops UIs powered by HTML5 and has licensed the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for IP-capable set-tops and other video devices that is being managed by Comcast, TWC, and Liberty Global.

Espial announced last month that a “major,” but unidentified European cable operator with more than 1.5 million homes passed had selected Espial’s RDK platform, including its client software for DVB/IP set-tops, user experience and backoffice service management platform. Espial, which has RDK-facing deals with another MSO in Europe and a “tier-1” in North America, has a list of customers and partners that includes Vodafone, KDDI, Com Hem, Sagecom, Pace, Arris, Cisco Systems, Panasonic Technicolor and Samsung, among others.

Hayashi, a 36-year-cable industry vet who most recently served as TWC’s executive vice president, architecture, announced in September 2014 that he would retire from the MSO at the end of that year. Espial’s announcement said Hayashi’s retirement from TWC became effective in March 2015.  At TWC, Hayashi was a leading developer of next-gen cable products and services, including advanced analog, digital video, cable telephony, and video-on-demand. 

“Mike is one of the most innovative and respected technology executives in our industry, and we're excited to have him join Espial’s board of directors," said Jaison Dolvane, CEO of Espial, in a statement. "Mike’s insight, experience and industry knowledge will be invaluable to Espial's future plans." 

“Espial has developed impressive solutions that enable network operators to create an immersive, personalized user experience for their subscribers,” Hayashi added. “Their leadership and customer momentum around RDK is a key success ingredient for our industry in this critical time of growing competition. I'm excited to work with Jaison, Espial’s board, and the leadership team as they help major operators around the world launch compelling new video services.” 

Hayashi, who played a key role in Warner Cable’s pioneering, seven-year “Qube” interactive TV project (read this story about the group’s reunion in 1998), is also late of Scientific-Atlanta (now part of Cisco Systems) and Pioneer Communications. Hayashi graduated from St. Joseph College (Yokohama, Japan) in 1974, earned a B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College in 1978, and an MBA from The Ohio State University in 1986.