Remember way back in around 2017 or so, how skinny bundles were supposed to be the cure to a mildly concerning phenomenon called cord cutting? They were going to provide a cheaper, slimmer online version of the traditional cable bundle, and it seemed like a smart way to keep a relationship with increasingly disaffected customers, paying something for traditional “TV.”

Virtual MVPDs, as the industry awkwardly calls them, even held the promise of offering new kinds of TV programming bundles, better targeted to specific niches of viewers, like those who loved lifestyle and reality shows but didn’t care about sports. 

So how’s that going these days? The question arose again this past week, after T-Mobile summarily shuttered its five-month-old skinny bundles, collectively called T-Vision, and swapped in partnerships with two incumbents, Philo and YouTube TV.

One can’t help wondering what new CEO Mike Sievert’s brain trust was thinking as they prepared to launch T-Vision last year. Days after launch, media partners roasted the wireless carrier over which tier their networks got position, with conglomerates like Discovery unhappy with confined of their channels to the $10-a-month “Vice” tier. 

T-Mobile backed off quickly, but that unforced error called into question the venture’s economics, and whether T-Mobile even knew how to run a TV service. 

That was certainly a good question to ask regardless. It’s not like wireless carriers have had unbridled success running content services and aggregators. Just look at Verizon’s ill-fated forays with Go90, AOL, Yahoo, Huffington Post and Tumblr. 

Similarly, AT&T just unwound part of its ill-fated $49 billion acquisition of satellite service DirecTV, selling a minority stake to TPG at a  sharply discounted enterprise valuation of just $16 billion. Presiding over a two-thirds plunge in value in less than six years is some kind of achievement, but not one you’d think anyone wants to replicate. 

Of course, we’re still waiting to see how the $85 billion Time Warner deal works out for AT&T. HBO Max had a crummy launch last year, further complicated by the early days of the pandemic, but seems to be finding its feet. 

But it may take years before HBO Max makes money. In the meantime, AT&T must keep building out an extraordinarily expensive 5G wireless network while paying down $150 billion in debt. 

So, the best thing to say about TVision is that T-Mobile quickly killed off a bad idea, and signed deals to offer discounted services from two companies that actually know what they’re doing. 

The YouTube TV deal expands an existing relationship with Google, knitting T-Mobile further in with one of the world’s largest advertising and technology companies. 

The Philo deal is new, sending bargain-hunting customers to a small, smart and nimble indie that’s kept its main tier trim and affordable, just like what skinny bundles originally were supposed to be. 

But T-Mobile’s smart pivot still doesn’t paper over the bigger problems facing the skinny bundle business.

Cord cutting accelerated during the pandemic, plunging pay-TV household penetration rates to 1990s levels. And that plunge accelerated despite the addition of several million skinny bundle subscribers. Advertisers followed eyeballs, especially on in-app advertising on connected TVs, according to new figures from Google.

Those aren’t good trends for the future of traditional TV, even virtual versions of it. 

As analysts LightShed Partners pointed out in a January post, “Unless there is an ulterior motive to your vMVPD ambitions (such as YouTube TV’s goal of bringing more ad buyers into the YouTube ecosystem or Hulu Live’s goal of inflating ESPN’s subscriber base), it is increasingly clear that a standalone vMVPD is simply a bad business.”

To begin with, any chance of rebuilding the channel bundle from scratch—that long-ago dream—is now largely gone. Big media companies have used their leverage through broadcast retransmission agreements and the most sought-after cable networks to force vMVPDs to look more like MVPDs, with all the lesser channels most audiences don’t care about. 

Worse, prices are creeping up, undercutting skinny bundles’ other main attraction. Networks keep raising prices, and service providers can’t afford not to pass along the costs to consumers.

Prices for the leading services now sit around $65 a month, with largely similar collections of channels. Worse, for the services that feature some sports networks (none have all of them), prices are about to get a lot higher as new rights deals roll in. 

The lone exception is Philo. As LightShed suggested, the company “has stuck to its unique offering of general entertainment networks, without any expensive sports networks (no retrans, no national or regional sports networks) at a $20/month price point.”

But the discipline shown by Philo’s operators is uncommon. Most of Philo’s competitors have been force-fed a fattening, expensive diet of unnecessary channels, made worse by those sports programming costs. 

And all of this is happening amid the greatest threat to all MVPDs, traditional or virtual: the flight of the best content from networks on the traditional bundle to streaming apps owned by the same companies or their big tech competition. 

Netflix this week signed a whopping $450 million deal for two sequels to the hugely successful Knives Out film from last year. Apple paid a record amount for Sundance darling CODA two months ago. Amazon has been splashing large checks around too.

And as competition hits new levels, NBCUniversal may pull its licensed shows on Netflix and HBO Max early, to put them on Peacock, Bloomberg reported. 

That potential move suggests the urgency with which media companies are moving to get distinctive, differentiating shows onto their own streaming services, rather than just counting the easy money of licensing revenue. 

If companies are willing to do that to lucrative deals with outside partners, think how aggressively they’re likely to be harvesting the most attractive shows from within their own corporate families. 

And more generally, that’s the long-term challenge of the now-mesomorphic bundles amid a step change in the ways we watch television. The literal bottom line:  If big streamers are giving you more high-level shows, with more flexibility and roughly the same price or less, why would you bother with a skinny—or even a pudgy— bundle at all?

CenturyLink shed more light on its over-the-top video plans, noting Wednesday on its Q2 call that those coming products will feature “skinny” bundles that include the local broadcast TV networks.

CenturyLink has been conducting a small OTT pilot under the Prism Stream brand, but plans to move ahead soon on “more robust trial,” Glen Post, president and CEO of CenturyLink, said on the earnings call.

Post said those skinny bundles, delivered to connected devices via an app, will include the broadcast networks, “which is a little different from a lot of…the offers that are out there today. We think that will be a differentiator as we bring those local channels with the over-the-top cable channels.”

That bigger pilot, slated for launch toward the end of 2016, aims to “really test the market in terms of pricing” and to penetrate areas that complement CenturyLink’s more traditional Prism TV offering, added Dean Douglas, the company’s president of sales and marketing.

CenturyLink is cutting separate distribution deals for the OTT product. Programming deals for CenturyLink’s Prism TV service are purchased through the telco’s partnership with the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC), a group that cuts programming and technology deals for an array of largely independent MVPDs.

“They key for getting the skinny bundles to work is having the right level of programming agreements in place,” Aamir Hussain, CenturyLink EVP and CTO, explained. “When we launch our TV over-the-top offering, that offering [is based on] new agreements with the broadcasters. And those agreements are not bound by any caps or by franchise agreements. So these are non-franchise-type agreements. They allow us to pretty much have a nationwide reach.”

Hussain also stressed that CenturyLink’s core skinny packages will be complemented with access to multiple genre-based packages. “That will have a very, very positive impact on our ARPU at a cost point, which makes sense for the consumer,” he said.

CenturyLink is just one of several service providers that plans to launch or has launched OTT services. Dish Network has Sling TV, and today announced new skinny-focused options under the “Flex Pack” brand for its satellite TV platform. AT&T, meanwhile, is preparing to launch a set of DirecTV-branded OTT services in the fourth quarter. Comcast has argued that the economics of an OTT service don’t add up. But the MSO will have an indirect line into the OTT arena as Hulu, which is partly owned by Comcast, prepares to launch a live streaming TV service early next year.

CenturyLink will use OTT to deliver video services outside its traditional footprint. Today, CenturyLink is bundling DirecTV where it does not offer Prism TV.

CenturyLink ended Q2 with 311,000 Prism TV subs, up from 258,000 in the year-ago quarter. It has launched Prism TV in markets such as Minneapolis/St. Paul; Seattle; La Crosse and Platteville, Wis.; Columbia and Jefferson City, Mo.; Tallahassee and central and  southwest Florida;  Las Vegas; central N.C.; Phoenix; Omaha, Neb.; Denver and Colorado Springs, Colo.; Portland;  and Salt Lake City.

CenturyLink dropped 65,000 broadband subs in Q2, ending the period with 5.99 million.

Post said broadband numbers dropped in part to a focus on acquiring “higher-value bundled customers and less emphasis on standalone broadband customers.”  

He said a “significant percentage of the churn” came from standalone broadband customers that are “less loyal than our traditional bundled customers.”

On the financial end, CenturyLink posted revenues of $4.4 billion, down from $4.42 billion in the year-ago quarter, alongside net income of $196 million (36 cents per share), up from $143 million/26 cents.

The company expects Q3 revenues of $4.35 billion to $4.4 billion, and earnings of 52 cents to 57 cents per share. 

Vidgo, a virtual MVPD in the making, came out of hiding in January at CES with claims that it would soon offer low-cost pay TV bundles and VOD services over-the-top, including local TV, sports fare and premium services.

But it didn’t offer much in the way then of what programming it will offer, how it will be priced, and which platforms it will support early on.

Not all the questions are answered yet, but Vidgo did shed some more light this week on what’s apparently on the way.

Per its announcement, Vidgo will feature “build your own programming packages” that will include access live linear local broadcast TV channels – including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS -- in “select initial markets” that  include New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Miami and San Francisco.

The service will also offer some national content from Disney/ABC, Discovery, as well as ESPN, NFL Network, and some still-unannounced local sports content.  

Also on offer: first-run movies, a cloud DVR, and access on several platforms, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, PCs, and iOS and Android mobile devices.

Still missing from the picture: its full programming options, pricing (it will be “affordable,” which is subjective, so take your best guess), and a specific launch date. Notably, Vidgo said each of its packages will allow for multiple simultaneous device streams.

It’s already delayed. In January, Vidgo said the plan was to launch its contract-free, self-installable service in 15 U.S. markets in the first half of 2016, with national coverage to follow by Q4. Former DirecTV execRobert Kostensky is Vidgo’s president and co-founder, and Shane Cannon, president of Cannon Satellite TV (a Dish Network authorized dealer), is the startup’s chief marketing officer.

We’ve reached out to Vidgo for an update and will follow up with more details as they become available.

But Vidgo is coming on the scene as OTT distribution rights continue to open up.

Among recent examples, Sony PlayStation Vue offers the local feeds of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in all of their respective owned-and-operated markets. Sling TV, Dish’s skinny-bundle OTT-TV service, has also begun to offer local TV options in select markets.

Adding a key platform to its mix, Sling TV, Dish Network’s OTT-TV service for cord-cutters, has launched on the apps-friendly, fourth-gen Apple TV.

The announcement, made today at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), paves the way for Sling TV to offer its mix of live TV and VOD fare, including its single-stream and beta multi-stream offerings, on Apple’s platform.

Sling TV and Apple are also connecting on a promo whereby consumers can by the 32GB version of Apple TV when they prepay for three  months of Sling TV’s single-stream or multi-stream service.

Apple TV is also the debut platform for a new Sling TV user interface that features more customization and personalization. In the first phase of the rollout, Sling TV subs that access the service on Apple TV will get access to “My TV,” a new personalization feature that lets customers pick their favorite channels, resume watching where they left off on select programs and set favorite shows and movies with one click. Sling TV is also refreshing a “mini guide” that takes up less space than the previous version and lets users filter content by favorite channels and genres. Additionally, the guide’s On Now view is automatically curated based on what’s being aired by categories such as sports, lifestyle, and kids, and its Series view is designed to allow for easier binge-viewing. 

Sling TV’s launch on Apple TV adds to a list of platforms and devices that already include iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, Web browsers, the Amazon Fire TV box and stick, Roku players and Roku TVs, Google Chromecast, Android TV devices, Channel Master, and the Xbox One.

Update: Also on Monday, Apple announced that it has also added Fox Sports Go to the Apple TV app lineup, an upgraded iPhone remote app for the device, voice search, and a single sign-on feature for authenticated TV Everywhere apps. Apple also introduced a “live tune-in” feature that enables users to quickly move between live streaming channels, B&C reported, noting that Apple TV now supports 1,300 video channels and about 6,000 native apps.

Its app for Apple TV was just one of several announcements made by Sling TV Monday.

The OTT-TV service also said it launched 12 Viacom channels on its beta multi-stream and single stream service, including Comedy Central, BET, Spike, MTV, and Nick Jr., among others.  That comes on the heels of a new carriage deal between Dish and Viacom announced in April that included distribution on Sling TV. 

Tied in, $20 per month single-stream service now includes Comedy Central as part of its core, while other Viacom networks are now available via Sling TV’s single-stream Extra packs, which cost $5 more per month.

Additional updates for add-on packages for Sling TV’ single-stream subs: 

-“Kids Extra” includes Nick Jr., NickToons, TeenNick, Disney Jr., Disney XD, Boomerang, Baby TV and Duck TV.

-“Comedy Plus Extra,” a new add-on pack, debuts with MTV, Spike, MTV2, Logo, CMT, TV Land and truTV.

-“Lifestyle Plus Extra” (formerly branded as Lifestyle Extra) includes VH1, BET, Cooking Channel, DIY, FYI, WE TV and Lifetime Movie Network.

Sling TV’s beta multi-stream service, also $20 per month, now includes Comedy Central, Nick Jr. and BET. Sling TV also announced that FS2 and on-demand content from FXX and Nat Geo Wild are now available to subs on its beta multi-stream service. 

Sling TV also launched three extra packs for its multi-stream customers, which cost an additional $5 per month:

-“Kids Extra – Beta”: NickToons, TeenNick, Boomerang, Baby TV and Duck TV.

- “Comedy Plus Extra – Beta”: MTV, Spike, MTV2, Logo, CMT and TV Land.

-“Lifestyle Plus Extra – Beta”: VH1, Cooking Channel, DIY, FYI, WE TV and Lifetime Movie Network.

Add Samsung Electronics to a growing list of companies that are apparently eyeing OTT multichannel TV services that would compete with cable operators and other traditional MVPDs.

Samsung, a major supplier of smart TVs and smartphones, is in “preliminary talks” with media companies about an online TV service, Bloomberg reported, citing multiple unnamed people who are familiar with the plan.

Bloomberg said Samsung is talking to programmers about what they would charge for streaming rights, and that Samsung’s interest is ambitious as it also is asking thinking about an online TV service that could be offered globally.

The report notes that the talks are in the early stages and that Samsung might pull the plug on the idea, anyway.

But if Samsung were to move forward, it would represent a massive shift in its smart TV strategy, which today is focused on providing a platform for apps from other content partners, including Netflix, Hulu, which is developing its own virtual MVPD offering, and Comcast, which will soon offer its Xfinity TV app on Samsung TVs  that supports the MSO’s full pay TV service, including live, VOD and its cloud DVR offering.  

Samsung is the first TV maker to join Comcast’s new Xfinity TV Partner Program; Comcast was demoing its Xfinity TV app on a Samsung TV at this week’s INTX showin Boston.

And Samsung appears to be trying to downplay any interest in developing its own virtual MVPD service, telling Bloomberg: “Our approach is to continue to develop strategic collaborations with content partners rather than compete with them.”

But if Samsung decided to pull the trigger, it would enter a market that is becoming increasingly crowded with virtual MVPDs. Today’s examples include Sling TV, Sony PlayStation Vue, fuboTV, and BitTorrent, which this week introduced BitTorrent Live, a P2P-powered service that is starting off with a free lineup of programming but plans to expand into paid offerings.

At INTX in Boston this week, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts reiterated that Comcast currently has no plans to offer an OTT-TV service outside the cable operator's footprint. 

Google’s has been the subject of OTT-TV rumors for years, but Bloomberg reports today that its YouTube unit is building a pay TV service called “Unplugged” that could launch as soon as 2017.

An exec with a top national programmer confirmed that YouTube has such a project in the works and has reached out about cutting distribution deals for it.

According to Bloomberg, YouTube is in talks with most major programmers and media companies, including NBCUniversal, Viacom, Twenty-First Century Fox and CBS, but has yet to lock up any deals. However, YouTube wants to offer a base service that costs about $35 per month, with options to add thematic tiers for smaller monthly fees, the report noted.

Bloomberg said YouTube has working toward a cable-like OTT-TV service since at least 2012, but said those plans have taken on increased urgency in recent months. Notably, the sector is becoming flush with OTT-TV options, including Sling TV from Dish Network, Sony’s PlayStation Vue, and a skinny TV offering from Hulu that’s expected to launch sometime next year.  Apple and Amazon are also rumored to be working on pay TV offerings, though Apple’s been running into a wall in its pursuit of a slimmed-down service that would offer broadcast TV channels on a national basis.  Meanwhile, other programmers, such as CBS, Starz, HBO and Showtime, have all launched direct-to-consumer services that are piped in over high-speed Internet connections.

YouTube’s interest in a pay TV service would also follow last year’s launch of its YouTube Red subscription service, and its large array of individual subscription “channels.”

FuboTV, the “sports-first” virtual MVPD, has expanded its lineup with the addition of One World Sports.

The addition adds in live and exclusive coverage of sporting events including England Cricket National Board matches, PRO Rugby, IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships, Kontinental Hockey League and the Chinese Basketball Association. One World Sports also features exclusive soccer club channel programming from Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC, FC Barcelona, FC Bayern Munich, Juventus FC, a NASL Game of the Week and all New York Cosmos home and away games.

FuboTV recently surpassed 50,000 subscribers and supports several platforms, including Web browsers, iOS and Android mobile devices, Amazon  Fire TV, Roku players and Roku TVs, Google’s Chromecast adapter, and the new Apple TV.

One World Sports is distributed to more than 30 million homes via a mix of cable, telco, satellite and OTT distribution partners. 

Hulu is looking to expand its repertoire with a new virtual MVPD service that will feature skinny TV packages, but there’s still plenty of life left in its traditional over-the-top SVOD service.

Hulu, which competes with Netflix and Amazon on the SVOD front, is announcing at its Upfront presentation in New York today that it is nearing 12 million subscribers in the U.S. amid annual growth rate of more than 30%. Hulu expects to reach that subscriber milestone by the end of the month. 

“Over the past year, we’ve propelled Hulu by adding an extraordinary array of original series, hit broadcast and cable shows and blockbuster movies to our content portfolio -- all of which has led to incredible growth in subscribers and engagement,” Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins said, in a statement. “In 2016, we’re going even bigger and bolder. We’ll expand our offering with more premium content and brand new ad measurement products that will continue to make Hulu the leader in choice for seamless entertainment and advertising experiences.”

Hopkins made not of Hulu’s coming OTT-TV service at the Upfront, but didn't offer more detail. 

The OTT specialist also announced the launch of Hulu Documentary Films, and its exclusive acquisition of The Beatles: Eight Days A Week  (working title) from Director Ron Howard, and a deal with BrightLine that will make Hulu “the first streaming service to deliver interactive advertising units built exclusively for the living room. Hulu expects to launch interactive ad units this summer. 

The Ron Howard film, the first documentary feature to premiere exclusively on Hulu following its theatrical run, will focus on the time period from the early Beatles’ journey in the days of The Cavern Club in Liverpool to their last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1966, Hulu said. 

Hulu also inked new partnerships with Nielsen and Millward Brown to deliver  new measurement tools. Hulu said the collaboration with Nielsen that will enable digital ad measurement through Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings to capture OTT viewing in the living room environment for the first time, offering a way to deliver accurate viewership measurement beyond the PC.  Hulu said support will be extended to all “Hulu-enabled living room devices,” including Roku players, and PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles. 

Hulu said it will also deliver increased advertising effectiveness insights and tools through a new partnership with multinational market research firm, Millward Brown, noting that Magna Global, along with clients such as Arby’s, Aveeno, BMW, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts, FCA US LLC and IHOP, are on board as beta partners for the initiative. 

“Hulu offers brands the most effective way to reach the streaming audience, at scale, in the living room,” Peter Naylor, Hulu SVP of advertising sales, said in a statement. “The partnerships we’ve announced today with Nielsen, Millward Brown and BrightLine point to the future of television and everything that's possible in a connected TV environment -- and we are happy to be leading the way in both creativity and measurement.”

Hulu said it inked season renewals for originals The Path and The Mindy Project, and announced a new election special from Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog that will premiere later this year.

Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins confirmed to The New York Times that the online video hub is indeed developing an over-the-top pay TV service that will deliver a slimmed-down bundle of broadcast and cable channels.

Details on how Hulu will price and package these services is still in the works, but the paper confirmed earlier reports that it will cost in the area of $40 per month and that it’s part of an initiative by Hulu owners – 21st Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company and Comcast’s NBCUniversal – to “rethink” the future of TV. More details are expected today when Hulu makes its Upfront presentation in New York.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Hulu was working a planned Q1 2017 launch of the new service and was in on distribution deals with Disney and Fox. NBCU is actively negotiating with Hulu about a proposed multichannel TV service, an industry source familiar with the negotiations told Multichannel News.

Hopkins, the long-time TV industry exec who took the helm of Hulu in the fall of 2013, told the Times that the plan for the new service is coming together as broadband speeds rise and as there are increased instances in which programmers are looking to license programming through OTT distribution channels.

“There’s a paradox of choice that is out there today with the number of channels that are available. It is not intuitive or easy always to find them, particularly on your mobile device. We are going to try to solve that by making it more personalized.”

Hopkins also brushed off the suggestion that an OTT-TV service would be viewed as a “declaration of war” on traditional MVPDs.

“It is not a declaration of war on anyone,” he said. “I don’t think we are designing this for people that are really happy with their pay TV service. This is designed for the people that the marketplace is concerned are falling out of love with pay TV. We want to have a product for them.”

Hopkins agreed that Hulu does compete for content rights, “but I am not sure I would say we are rivals just yet.”

He said Hulu has not yet decided if it will let viewers skip commercials or opt for a commercial-free version of the OTT-TV service. Hulu introduced an ad-free version of its SVOD service last September.

When Hulu does introduce its offering, it will have an installed base to target – its current SVOD service has about 10 million subs.

Update: Hulu announced today that it is nearing 12 million U.S. subs, touting year-on-year growth of more than 30%. 

NBCUniversal is actively negotiating with Hulu about a proposed multichannel TV service that would be delivered over-the-top, a person familiar with the negotiations told Multichannel News on Monday.

The source noted that Hulu had only recently approached NBCU about the virtual MVPD service that it is developing.  

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Hulu is looking to complement its SVOD offering with a new virtual MVPD service that would bundle live feeds from a mix of broadcast TV networks and popular cable channels.  The paper noted that Hulu is eyeing a Q1 2017 launch, with Hulu co-owners The Walt Disney Company and 21st Century Fox closing in on distribution deals for it. Hulu is owned by 21st Century Fox, Disney and NBCU.

Hulu has not commented on the reported plan. Official word of Hulu’s intentions could emerge Wednesday morning during Hulu’s Upfront presentation at New York’s  Madison Square Garden.

Notably, NBCU already has a distribution deal with Sony PlayStation Vue, an OTT-TV service that recently launched a national set of “slim” multichannel service packages that offer access to dozens of live cable channels and next-day access to shows from most major broadcast networks, as well as access to a cloud DVR. PS Vue’s multichannel service with live broadcast TV channels is currently limited to seven markets – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas and Miami.

BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield weighed in on Hulu’s reported plan in a blog post (registration required) yesterday, holding that programmers are caught in a Catch-22 as they consider direct-to-consumer, OTT distribution options.

“Hulu offers its owners the potential to take control of their own destiny by creating a direct-to-consumer offering, while maintaining the consumer value/stickiness of a bundle,” Greenfield wrote. “However, programmers who participate in a Hulu vMPVD should be prepared for the blowback they are sure to receive from legacy distributors.”

As a case in point, he pointed to comments made by Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge in January, who said networks that do go direct to consumer “lower their value to us, which is ultimately good for our cost structure.” 

Hulu is looking to expand beyond SVOD with an over-the-top, virtual MVPD offering that would bundle feeds from popular broadcast TV and cable channels, The Wall Street Journalreported Sunday.

Hulu is eyeing a Q1 2017 launch, with co-owners The Walt Disney Company and 21st Century Fox closing in on distribution deals for Hulu’s developing service, according to the report. ABC, ESPN,  Disney Channel, Fox’s broadcast network, Fox News, FX and its Fox’s national and regional sports channels are among the offerings that could be part of a package, the WSJ said, noting that Comcast-owned NBCUniversal has not yet agreed to license programming for the planned OTT-TV service.  Hulu is owned by 21st Century Fox, Disney and NBCU.

Update: NBCU is actively negotiating with Hulu as part of the new product the OTT provider is developing, a person familiar with the negotiations said, noting that Hulu has only recently approached NBCU about the service that it has in mind. 

Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger speculated last month that Hulu could be working on a skinny TV offering that could be delivered over-the-top and fetch about $40 per month. “The appeal of Skinny Hulu, we suppose, would be: if skinny bundles are gaining popularity, the major network owners should take their product directly to consumers, capture the opportunity (and the margin, and the asset value) themselves, and ensure their networks are part of the theoretically) most widely distributed skinny bundle offering. Leave the nonsense networks out," Juenger wrote in a note issued on April 22. 

If Hulu’s purported plan is successful, it would join a growing mix of virtual MVPD providers that include Sony PlayStation Vue, Dish Network’s Sling TV, as well as offerings such as fuboTV, a “sports-first” service that has more than 50,000 subscribers.  AT&T, meanwhile, is working on a set of DirecTV-branded OTT services, including DirecTV Now, a service that will be a close cousin to the packages offered via the traditional satellite TV service. Amazon and Apple are among others that reportedly have been eyeing OTT-TV services.

Word of Hulu’s interest in expanding beyond an SVOD service that competes with Netflix and Amazon Prime and a new stand-alone Amazon subscription streaming service would also rise amid an expanding number of standalone OTT offerings from CBS, HBO, Showtime and, most recently, Starz.

Though Comcast has corporate ties to Hulu, a pay TV bundle from the online video specialist could apply pressure on cable operators and telco TV providers to assemble services that can be delivered outside their traditional footprints.  

Speaking on last week’s earnings call, Comcast Cable president and CEO Neil Smit said there’s no reason why Comcast couldn’t offer an out-of-footprint OTT service, once it had the distribution rights to do so, but said the economics don’t add up.  “We, thus far, haven't seen an OTT model that really hunts,” Smit said.  “But we'll continue to stay tuned into the market and be prepared to respond accordingly." 

Hulu was not immediately available for comment Sunday, but WSJ speculates that the service Hulu has in mind could run about $40 per month and possibly include a cloud DVR.

A multichannel service from Hulu would seemingly compete with other pay TV offerings. Hulu, however, has been cozying up with MVPDs with its SVOD service. Last month, Cablevision Systems was the first MVPD to distribute Hulu to pay TV customers. AT&T, Armstrong, Atlantic Broadband, Mediacom Communications, Midcontinent Communications and WideOpenWest (WOW!) also have deals in place to distribute Hulu.

Sling TV,  Dish Network's OTT TV service for cord-cutters, said it has followed the recent launch of its Fox-anchored, multistream trial with a “Best of Spanish TV” beta offering that will cost an additional $5 per month and also allow subs to stream to multiple devices at the same time. 

The new add-on features upcoming soccer matches from Copa America Centenario, La Liga de España, La Liga MX Clausura and Major League Soccer, as well as movies and news. Individual programing partners on board for the Spanish-focused beta offering include Azteca, Azteca Corazon, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Cinelatino, CineSony, De Pelicula, De Pelicula Clasico, Pasiones, Teleromántica, UniMás, Univision, Univision Deportes and Univision tlNovelas.

Best of Spanish TV-Beta lets subs stream on up to three Sling TV-supported devices, Sling TV said.

Other Extra packages available to multi-stream customers include Hollywood Extra-Beta, Lifestyle Extra-Beta and World News Extra-Beta, for $5 more per month each, plus Cinemax-Beta for $10 more per month, and HBO for $15 more per month.

Sling TV said it will be taking feedback throughout the beta period. 

Sling TV’s new Fox-anchored multi-stream tier is still in the beta phase but the OTT-TV service is already looking to expand the offering. 

“We expect, through the beta phase of it, we may add some more channels, and probably keep it in beta maybe up to a couple of months,” Roger Lynch, CEO of Sling TV, said Wednesday on Dish Network’s Q1 earnings call.

Some of those plans came to light Thursday amid a new multi-year carriage deal between Viacom and Dish that allows for “select” live channels and VOD content from Viacom to join Sling TV’s single- and multi-stream offerings. Viacom nets including Comedy Central, BET, Spike, MTV, Nick Jr. and “many other” will be offered via Sling TV in the “coming months.”

Sling TV launched the multi-stream trial earlier this month. The $20 per month service is anchored by channels from the Fox Networks stable, including the Fox broadcast network (in owned-and-operated station markets), along with networks such as AMC, A&E, and YES Network, among others.

At the time, Disney and ESPN, which do offer channels on Sling’s single-stream offering, said it’s in active talks about the multi-stream trial. Sling TV currently offers ABC in the O&O markets via an add-on tier that sells for $5 per month and also features Univision and UniMás.

“We’re desirous of putting ESPN in multi-stream, which will drive the price of multi-stream up,” Dish chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen said, noting during the call that customer feedback shows that most of them want a multi-stream product. “They [Disney/ABC] are our first OTT partner so they get preferential treatment.”

“We would welcome ESPN and Disney into the multi-stream product,” Lynch added.

Dish no longer breaks out Sling TV subs (a report from The Wall Street  Journal in February put it at more than 600,000) but the company did shed some light on churn rates for the contract-free OTT service that also lets people in to try it out for free.

“The customer lifecycle for Sling is very different from satellite,” Lynch said, referencing the typical longer-term contract for the Dish product. “The switch from free trial to pay, if you want to think about it as churn, is the highest churn that you'll have [with Sling TV].”

But churn rates go down the longer that Sling TV subs stay with it. “Once customers have been with you six or seven months the churn rate is quite a bit lower overall,” he said.

He said Sling TV is also seeing a “pretty decent percentage” of customers leave and come back a few months later as a paid subscriber. “To us, the more people we get to try the service the better because they either roll to pay, which most of them do after the free trial, or we find that a good percent come back a few months later as a paid subscriber.”

Ergen was also asked to respond to the competitive impact posed by AT&T and its plan to launch a set of DirecTV-branded OTT services in Q4.

He said AT&T’s decision to go with OTT products is “logical,” hopeful that they will advance the industry.

“And I think that Dish thought about it five years before they did. I think we're well-positioned to compete against whatever it is they come up with,” Ergen said. “But I think AT&T is well-positioned. I think their acquisition of DirecTV gives them scale in video and gives them the ability to do some things with video that other people in the wireless industry can't do.”

Ergen also was asked if he believes OTT competition will force cable operators to go out-of-footprint with their own OTT products.

“That might be a logical move for them. That's not something that the cable industry has chosen to do in the past but perhaps they would this time,” he said.

More than five months after announcing a distribution deal with Disney and ESPN, Sony PlayStation Vue has moved ahead with the launch of the Longhorn Network for subscribers in Texas and Oklahoma.

For qualified subs, the University of Texas sports net is offered on PS Vue’s “Core” multi-channel plan starting at $34.99 per month.

ESPN said the following channels will be added “soon” to PS Vue’s lineup: ESPN3, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN Bases Loaded, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Classic.

The launch of the Longhorn Network also comes on the heels of PS Vue’s debut of “slim” multichannel TV packages that are offered nationwide and feature dozens of live cable channels and next-day access to shows from most broadcast TV networks. PS Vue’s multichannel service packages that include live broadcast TV are still limited to seven markets – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas and Miami.

“ESPN is committed to Longhorn Network and serving Texas sports fans wherever they consume content,” Stacie McCollum, ESPN’s senior director, Longhorn Network Programming & Acquisitions, said in a statement. “The network’s launch on PlayStation Vue further expands LHN’s availability to fans within Texas and Oklahoma. It is a prime example of consistent distribution growth year over year for the network since launching in 2011.”

“The University of Texas is delighted that the Longhorn Network is making this launch,” added Mike Perrin, University of Texas Men’s Athletic Director. “We have a great relationship with the network, and additional distribution of content remains a hallmark of success.”

PlayStation Vue currently supports the PlayStation 4 and PS3 consoles, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick,  its app for the iPad and iPhone, and via the Google Chromecast streaming adapter (through compatible iOS devices).

fuboTV, a “sports-first” virtual MVPD, said it now has more than 50,000 subscribers, after adding 15,205 subs in Q1 2015, a 47% increase versus the year-ago quarter.

fuboTV said had 47,392 subs as of March 31, 2016, and has since eclipsed the 50,000 mark. By comparison, Sling TV, the virtual MVPD operated by Dish Network, has more than 600,000 subs, according to February report from  The Wall Street Journal(Dish no longer breaks out Sling TV subscriber figures).

Launched in January 2015, fuboTV said its subs base jumped by 43,651 (1,167%) on a year-over-year basis. fuboTV has raised $20.6 million so far, helped along by a   $15 million Series B round led by Sky and 21st Century Fox.

Of recent note, fuboTV entered the TV Everywhere game by providing access to authenticated content from beIN Sports. The millennials-focused service starts at $9.99 per month and offers live sporting events via distribution deals with partners that also includes GolTV, Univision Deportes and Benfica TV. It also has distribution deals with Univision Communications, Pivot and Revolt Media & TV that added another 15 networks to fuboTV’s lineup.

fuboTV supports several platforms, including Web browsers, iOS and Android mobile devices, Amazon  Fire TV, Roku players and Roku TVs, Google’s Chromecast adapter, and the new Apple TV. 

FuboTV’s coverage of Saturday’s La Liga matchup between FC Barcelona and  Real Madrid (via BeIN Sports), a game between rival clubs commonly called “El Clasico,” appeared to run into sign-on trouble and other streaming-related  issues as subscribers took to Twitter to let off steam.

Some examples:

@fuboTV@beINSPORTS#ElClasico Your feed is terrible. Low res, if working at all. #fail

— Kevin Swan (@TheiSwan) April 2, 2016

Yep @fubotv app been horrible! Missed the goals because keeps going in and out. https://t.co/CNiE64iBi5

— Stephen Rodriguez (@SRod_PR) April 2, 2016

@fuboTV The most important match ever, and the streaming is horrible. :(

— SuperSteff (@SuperSteff) April 2, 2016

Many of FuboTV’s responses on Twitter looked like this:

@d_kings83 We're extremely sorry for the streaming issues today! The team is working on a fix as we speak. You'll get an email from us.

— fuboTV (@fuboTV) April 2, 2016

Hey guys,

Tech are closing in on resolving the login issue some of you are facing, we'll update you.

Thanks & sorry for the trouble!

— fuboTV (@fuboTV) April 2, 2016

FuboTV later tweeted that subscribers on PCs should try to use the Chrome browser or Chrome Incognito to login, which seemed to work for  some subscribers.

Multichannel News has asked an official with FuboTV for more detail about the technical issues that arose during the game.

Update: fuboTV issued this statement: "Due to high demand we had an unexpected technical issue yesterday that led to an interruption in service for some of our users. The issue lasted approximately 1.5 hours, which unfortunately coincided with a popular El Clasico match, and it was resolved as soon as possible. We are giving a credit to all subscribers who were impacted, and making significant investments into our infrastructure, taking all necessary steps so that this never happens again. It is the company's highest priority to ensure that our service is reliable and to provide a positive experience for our customers."

FuboTV subscribers will receive a $15 credit that will be applied in $5 monthly increments through July.

Though the timing of a streaming issues is never good for subscribers, this one happened to come during a matchup with significant global appeal. (Real Madrid won the match, 2-1, with a late goal from superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.)

fuboTV, which bills itself as a“sports-first” virtual MVPD, recently raised a $15 million Series B round led by Sky and 21st Century Fox.

fuboTV, which has a subscriber base of  40,000-plus, has raised $20.58 million so far, according to CrunchBase.

 The millennials-focused service starts at $9.99 per month and offers live sporting events via distribution deals with partners such as beIN SPORTS, GolTV, Univision Deportes and Benfica TV. It also has  distribution deals with Univision Communications, Pivot and Revolt Media & TV that recently added 15 networks to its lineup.

Sling TV, Dish Network’s OTT-TV service for cord-cutters, is expanding its Sports Extra pack with the addition of Outside Television.

Sports Extra, which costs $5 per month on top of Sling TV’s core $20 per month package, also features ESPNU, beIN Sports, The SEC Network, ESPNNews, ESPN Bases Loaded, ESPN Buzzer Beater and ESPN Goal Line and Univision Deportes.

The addition of the channel, which features shows about outdoor sports and extreme activities such as surfing, kayaking, BASE jumping and climbing, comes about seven months after Dish Network and Outside Television announced a carriage deal, which paved the way for the lifestyle sports network to be added to Dish’s premium Multi-Sport Pack.

As Sling TV adds Outdoor Television to Sports Extra, it’s shedding one as well – Universal Sports Network, which is shutting down.

Sling TV, Dish Network’s OTT-TV service for cord cutters, is tacking on some college sports programming with the addition of Campus Insiders to its Sports Extra pack.

Campus Insiders, also offered on Verizon’s new “mobile first” Go90 service, provides access to hundreds of live college sporting events, including the inaugural NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl (on December 29), the Seth Davis Show, and sporting events from the Mountain West Conference, Patriot League, West Coast Conference and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).

Sports Extra, which sells for $5 per month on top of Sling TV’s core $20 TV package, also features SEC Network, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Bases Loaded, Univision Deportes, Universal Sports Network, and beIN Sports.

“People flock to Sling TV for live sports and we have seen incredible viewership on sports channels every Saturday, as college football ramps up,” said Roger Lynch, CEO of Sling TV. “ Campus Insiders deepens our college sports offering with conferences that, until today, have been underserved when it comes to watching games live. Everyone deserves the chance to root for their favorite team on the big screen, and we are proud to be the first to offer these fans that premium experience with Sling TV.”

“With our commitment to covering the world of college sports and delivering the live games of our conference partners to a wider audience, Campus Insiders’ growth is a testament to the insatiable appetite of the more than 100 million Americans who call themselves college sports fans,” added Brooks Boyer, CEO of Silver Chalice, the digital sports media unit that owns and operates Campus Insiders. 

Sling TV, Dish Network’s OTT pay TV service tailored for cord-cutters, said has expanded its core, $20 per month package, as well as its $5 per month “Hollywood Extra” pack.

Sling TV said it has added Polaris+, an exclusive linear offering for the OTT provider from Maker Studios that features long-form original programming on topics such as gaming, pop culture, comic and live-event programming. Polaris+ is an extension of Maker’s Polaris brand, which attracts more than 3 billion monthly views. Sling TV also offers the Maker channel in its baseline $20 per month package.

Sling TV has also added Turner Classic Movies (TCM) to its Hollywood Extra pack, which is available to subs for $5 per month on top of the core $20 package. Launched in March, Hollywood Extra also features the live feeds of EPIX, EPIX2, EPIX3, EPIX Drive-In, and Sundance TV. 

Sling TV was launched nationally on February 9. Dish hasn’t revealed subscriber figures, but Re/code reported in June that it had about 250,000.

Sony used its presser at E3 Monday night to announce that it is launching PlayStation Vue, its over-the-top pay TV service, in two more markets: San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House paired that with word on new national a la carte offerings that won’t require a multichannel bundle, starting with Showtime (announced last week); a channel from Machinima (more than half of Machinima’s U.S. audience owns a PlayStation platform, according to a statement from Machinima CEO Chad Gutstein); and Fox Soccer Plus, a premium service that’s also offered today through MVPDs such as DirecTV, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, AT&T U-verse, Verizon FiOS, Frontier Communications and Cablevision Systems, among others.

House also announced that PlayStation Plus subscribers will also get access to discounts on programming packages, but did not elaborate.  

The PS Vue launches in Los Angeles and San Francisco (more detail about the lineup of regional sports channels in those two markets was not immediately known) follow the service’s initial debut in March in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Update: Sony revealed pricing on its initial slate of a la carte options and provided more detail on its TV lineup in San Francisco and Los Angeles. 

Early on, Sony’s OTT-TV service features three tiers -- “Access” for $49.99 per month; “Core,” which includes local sports channels, for $59.99 per month; and “Elite,” an offering that includes everything in Access and Core plus more than two dozen additional channels. To prime the pump, Sony lets new, qualified users try PS Vue for free for seven days.

PlayStation Vue is currently supported on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 and via a recently launched app for the iPad.

Expect to hear more about PlayStation Vue this Thursday (June 18), when Dwayne Benefield, vice president and head of PlayStation Vue, speaks at the Multichannel News/Broadcasting & CableNext TV Summit & Expo at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.

An updated operating system for iPhones and iPads (and Macs), a new music streaming service, and perhaps a next-gen version of the Apple TV device are expected to be among the announcements highlighting Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference next week in San Francisco.

What’s not expected to make the cut: a “skinny” pay TV service that Apple reportedly wanted to launch this fall.

According to Re/code, Apple is delaying the announcement because it still hasn’t finalized its licensing deals with programmers.  Apple was keen on a fall launch, “[b]ut the debut got bogged down by negotiations over financial terms and new technology that would be required for broadcasters to deliver local programming to Apple’s Web TV service,” the report added, noting that the service might not see the light of day until later this year or sometime in 2016.

Apple, a source has confirmed, was indeed eager to introduce a service that includes live TV broadcast channels and is also available on a national basis, rather than in select markets, but said Apple would be “hard-pressed” to launch a meaningful pay TV service by this fall because of the aforementioned lack of distribution deals with some major programmers.

Apple’s expected plan could help it differentiate itself from other recent launched “virtual” multichannel video programming distributors such as Sling TV, which got off the ground in February without broadcast TV (though it plans to offer a tier that includes broadcast TV feeds, eventually), and Sony PlayStation Vue, which has launched service in three markets (New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia) with Fox, CBS and NBC (but not yet ABC) in the channel lineup.  (Shameless plug: Expect an update on the Sony service on June 18 at the Multichannel News/Broadcasting & CableNext TV Summit & Expo, when I get an opportunity to discuss the service with head of PlayStation Vue Dwayne Benefield at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.)

As for Apple’s approach, not everyone thinks it’s a good move. Colin Dixon, founder of nScreenMedia, outlined four reasons why Apple should abandon its local TV focus, noting in part that it will bog down Apple’s ability to launch the service, which is already apparent, and saddle it with “archaic business rules.”

And digital rights issues could create a complicated mess for consumers. “And we know what consumers do when they can’t figure it out – they sit on their hands,” Dixon said.

With an eye on Hispanics, YipTV has launched as the latest over-the-top service capable of bringing Spanish-language offerings to U.S. Hispanics without the need for a cable or satellite-TV provider.

Marketing itself as “Your Individual, Personalized TV,” YipTV is being introduced to U.S. Latinos for a subscritipn price of $14.99 per month, contract-free. Users can access YipTV (https://www.yiptv.com/) via smart TVs, laptop or desktop computers and Android- or iOS-powered smartphones. Apple TV and Google Chromecast can also support YipTV.

YipTV is launching with 50 channels from across the globe. Among the Spanish-language offerings are beIN Sports, Mexico’s Azteca, Spain’s Antena 3, Colombian news channel NTN24, pan-Latin American network Canal Sur, and Argentina’s TyC Sports.

YipTV promises to add additional Spanish-language channels “in coming months.”

Michael Tribolet, CEO and co-founder of YipTV, said Internet-based OTT technology allows for an explosion of channel options catering to some 40 million U.S. consumers that do not have cable or satellite services in the home.

"Advancements in technology have made the world seem smaller and smaller," Tribolet said. "YipTV is now using the latest technology to expand entertainment options and provide value to the customer.  We are not just reorganizing the way people access channels that have been available for years. With YipTV, people can watch programs that they are familiar with at a reasonable price. They can watch live news broadcasts from the city where they grew up, or share an experience with loved ones back home.”

Tribolet is a former president of voice-over-Internet protocol telephony pioneer Vonage Holdings who's based in West Palm Beach, Fla., and New Brunswick, N.J., and has been working toward the YipTV launch for more than three years.

Layer3 TV, the “next generation” cable operator based in Denver, said it has added programming vets Lynne Costantini and Sean Riley to its content advisory board, a group that is led by the company’s recently named chief content officer Lindsay Gardner.

Costantini is the president of business development at TheBlaze, which runs a 24/7 linear television network and TheBlazeTV.com, a direct-to-consumer video streaming subscription service. Costantini previously EVP of affiliate sales and marketing for Scripps Networks Interactive, and was with Time Warner Cable for 12 years in roles that included chief business affairs officer and senior vice president of programming.

Riley is the founder and president of his own content distribution and TV sports consulting firm bearing his name, and is a business development executive at 1 Mainstream, a multiscreen video specialist started up by former Roku, Apple, and TiVo execs. Riley previously was SVP of distribution at Fox Networks, where he led a team that negotiated carriage deals for Fox’s portfolio of networks, including its regional sports nets, the Big Ten Network and MundoFox, among others. Riley, who worked with Gardner at Fox, was also part of the original Hulu launch team.

They are joining the content-facing board as Layer3 TV prepares to launch its service later this year, though the startup has been relatively mum about how its coming service will be packaged and priced, whether it will partner with other cable operators or deliver services on a direct-to-consumer basis. But Layer3 TV, which also operates out of Boston, is emerging amid a new class of  "virtual" MVPDs that include Sling TV, Dish Network's slimmed-down OTT service for cord-cutters, and Sony PlayStation Vue, a fuller-freight pay-TV service that has launched in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. 

“It is in Layer3 TV’s DNA to build collaborative and exciting partnerships with our content providers,” Gardner said, in a statement.  “Sean and Lynne joining Layer3 TV’s family brings decades of insights into the needs of consumers, programmers and cable operators.”

“I’ve worked with and for some of the most innovative cable and satellite providers and am energized by Layer3 TV’s ambition to be a next generation cable operator that delivers a superior consumer experience,” said Costantini.  “I look forward to bringing my knowledge and sensibilities to the table in guiding Layer3 TV’s programming efforts.”

“I welcome the opportunity to work with Lindsay once again and participate in Layer3 TV’s launch and growth,” added Riley. “I’ve worked closely with nearly every mid-sized cable operator in the US and I hope to share my insights and expertise with Layer3 TV based on those interactions."

Brian Brady, president of Northwest Broadcasting president, National Association of Broadcasters board member, and Fox Affiliate Board Chair Emeritus, was named to Layer3 TV’s content advisory board in  February.

Sling TV, Dish Network’s new OTT service that launched nationwide in February, is generally considered additive to the pay-TV pie because the single-stream service is crafted for cord-cutters and smaller service bundles.

But based on comments made by Dish chairman Charlie Ergen Wednesday on CNBC, there might be much more to it…eventually.

"It will cannibalize our business, there's no question about that," Ergen said. "It's an innovator's dilemma. Do you not take…the best of new technology to protect your old technology? We view it that we have to do that. We have to reinvent our self; we have to transform the company.”

Still, the potential for cannibalization appears to be a longer term effect, as Ergen also acknowledged that the vast majority of Sling TV customers are new to the pay-TV universe, making them incremental to Dish's business and to its programming partners.

“Better yet, it’s a better advertising model for them [programmers] because it’s a one-to-one relationship with the consumer, so we can introduce ads that are one-to-one.”

Dish hasn’t released any subscriber figures for Sling TV (though there are estimates that the service has drawn 100,000-plus registered users in the early phases), but Ergen said the early results are “encouraging.”

Ergen was also asked to riff on OTT competition, including Sony Vue and a purported skinny TV service being developed by Apple, and injected some network neutrality into the discussion.

“As long as the Internet is open…I think it’s a very generic business that is now mature with the big bundle, there’s going to be a ton of competitors coming, and there’s going to be different segments,” Ergen said, noting that Sony has a “nice product” that is using a bigger bundle to target a different audience than Sling TV.

And Apple? “A betting man would say that’s going to be a good product,” said Ergen, referencing other OTT services from HBO, Nickelodeon and CBS that have launched or are about to launch. 

But he’s not yet ready to declare that the big bundle is dead, noting that it still holds tremendous value for families and will remain the better deal for many.

“But if you’re that college student or getting your first job and moving into your first apartment, then you’re going to go after a [skinny] package because you just can’t afford $100 per month…In the future there’s going to be offerings for you that appeal to your budget and appeal to your taste," Ergen said. 

Following an invitation-only period that has involved thousands of consumers, Sony will launch its new virtual MVPD service, called PlayStation Vue, in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia within two weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Those market deployments, which would meet Sony's announced plans to launch the service sometime in the first quarter of 2015, will come ahead of a planned nationwide rollout by the end of the year, the report added, citing Andrew House, president of Sony Computer Entertainment.

“PlayStation Vue has a great potential to help complete the redefinition of what the PlayStation platform is all about,” House told the WSJ.

Sony has not yet revealed pricing on the service, but PS Vue is emerging amid a small but growing cord-cutting trend and the emergence of other over-the-top alternatives such as Sling TV, the recently launched broadband-delivered multiscreen service from Dish Network that starts at $20 per month for a slimmed-down package of programming.

Sony has also not announced a specific launch date for PS Vue but did put forth several details about it in November, revealing a range of program partners, including Viacom, Scripps Networks Interactive, CBS, Discovery, NBCU, and Fox, that allowed the company to start off with a beta version that offered about 75 channels per market. The service will initially be supported on PS3 and PS4 consoles, though Sony said it plans to extend access to iPads as well as more Sony and non-Sony devices. At the time, Sony also mentioned Los Angeles among its test markets and said it expected to launch PS Vue commercially sometime in the first quarter of 2015.

Sony has yet to announce a deal with other major programmers, including Disney/ESPN, but House told the paper that discussions with others are “ongoing and are moving forward positively,” 

Dish Network has yet to release any specific registration and subscription figures for Sling TV, its new slimmed-down OTT pay-TV offering tailored for tech-savvy millennials and cord-cutters, but evidence continues to mount that it’s in six-figures territory.

Re/code reported that “at least 100,000 people” have signed up to try out the service, which starts at $20 per month and was launched nationwide on February 9.

That number is absolutely believable considering that Roger Lynch, CEO of Sling TV, told Broadcasting & Cablein January, ahead of the service’s launch that “hundreds of thousands of people” had pre-registered, noting that few of them were existing Dish customers.

What’s not known is how many people who register for Sling TV are sticking with it.

Sling TV is offering a seven-day free trial to anyone who wants to try out a no-contract service that they can drop at any time. To keep customers locked in for a bit longer, Sling TV has recently launched promos offering discounted or free streaming devices from Roku and Amazon, if customers agree to prepay for three months of service. It’s expected to offer a similar 50% discount on the Android TV-powered Nexus Player soon, according to GigaOm.

In the meantime, Sling TV sweetened its core package earlier this week with the addition of AMC and IFC. 

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based startup billing itself as a next-generation cable operator, said Northwest Broadcasting founder and CEO Brian Brady has joined its Content Advisory Board.

In that role, Brady will spearhead Layer3 TV’s partnerships with top local broadcasters, and report to Lindsay Gardner, the former Fox Networks exec who was named chair of Layer3 TV’s content-focused board last October, the startup said.

“Brian is a leader in the television industry, trusted by his NAB board colleagues and network affiliate station owners across the country,” Gardner said, in a statement. “We look forward to Brian’s expertise and counsel as Layer3 TV pursues local broadcaster partnerships.”

“Layer3 TV’s next generation cable systems will support and strengthen my fellow broadcasters,” added Brady, who has served on the NAB board since 2009 and had served on the FOX Affiliate board for nine years. “It’s a credit to Layer3 TV that they sought me out as an advocate for local stations.  I’m looking forward to sharing more with my broadcasting friends and colleagues.”  

Brady is also President of Eagle Creek Broadcasting, owner of the CBS affiliate in Laredo, Texas, and serves on several boards of public companies and startups including IZEA, Inc., a social media sponsorship company, and SumTV, a marketplace for brands to meet emerging and professional creative talent.

Founded in 2013 by cable vets Dave Fellows and Jeff Binder, Layer3 TV opened its new Denver headquarters on Sept. 15, 2014, and also operates out of Boston. The startup has raised about $21 million and has been secretive about its specific plans and approach, but is expected to launch services later this year.

Of recent note, Layer3 TV picked SeaChange International as a key vendor for its coming in-home platform, which evidently will include a 4K-capable IP set-top.

Erik Huggers, the former Intel Media exec who headed up OnCue prior to its sale to Verizon Communications last year, is still a big believer in over-the-top video and its ability to change and disrupt the pay-TV landscape.

Huggers (pictured), now a member of the supervisory board at Germany-based mass media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, expressed as much this week in a column that also provided a dim view of the traditional pay-TV market and its future prospects.  

For starters, he recalls pitching streaming media to the original Endemol Entertainment board in the mid-1990s as he tried (and largely failed, apparently) to convince them that “TV was going to be just another application on the Internet.”

Fast-forward to today, and that view is prescient, as OTT is all the rage, as Nickelodeon, HBO, CBS, Dish Network (via new Sling TV service), and John Hendricks’ new offering, CuriosityStream, to name just a few, launch or prepare to introduce direct-to-consumer, broadband-fed offerings.

“It’s amazing that it took this long, but we are finally witnessing changes that will unleash the perfect storm,” noted Huggers, who departed Verizon a few months after the telco snapped up the OnCue assets.

And that’s not great news for the pay-TV industry, he added, pointing out that  his two kids don’t watch any linear television as they are drawn to sources like Netflix, Amazon and YouTube, and “could not be less interested in” Comcast’s TV service.  

OTT services such as Netflix and Amazon “have stripped most channel brand attribution and have commoditized its value,” he explained. “Combine that with big original programing budgets from those same players and you can see the writing on the wall for the decline of linear PayTV services.”

He also talked up the shift to digital advertising, and wondering if shifting TV ad budgets will continue to gravitate toward premium video content. On that note, check out our special section in this week’s issue on programmatic TV, where we offer a variety of examples (subscription required) of how digital-like automation is coming to the TV ad scene.

And he's definitely not on the cable industry's side when it comes to recent regulatory activity, holding that the FCC’s decision to redefine broadband as 25 Mbps (downstream) and the plan to reclassify broadband as a Title II “will safeguard OTT services.”

While his original vision for OnCue remains in question as Verizon figures out how those assets will factor into its own virtual MVPD offerings, it’s quite clear that Huggers still believes that the pay-TV market faces its biggest challenge yet.

Sling TV, Dish Network’s new OTT subscription TV package that starts at $20 per month, is a commendable and ambitious attempt at creating a service that’s tailored to fit the needs of so-called cord-cutters and cord-nevers.

While the variety of programming packages offered therein will need to evolve and expand to ensure that they can appeal to different segments of this small but growing group of consumers, I found that the technology underpinning Sling TV to be solid and reliable, backed up by a slick user interface that is easy to learn and navigate.

But that’s not to say that Sling TV is saddled with some initial limitations (no unified trick-play support, for example) that could lead to customer frustration. More on that later.

For the purpose of this review ahead of Sling TV’s commercial launch (expected to happen in the next couple of weeks), Dish set me up with a set of credentials that provided access to the core service, a 12-channel package it calls “The Best of Live TV,” as well as channels included in its  “Kids Extra” and “News & Info Extra” packs, which will each cost an additional $5 per month.

With all of those factored in, here’s what I had access to: (ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS, HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel , CNN, HLN, Bloomberg Television, Cartoon Network, ABC Family, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Boomerang, Baby TV, and Duck TV),  plus a video-on-demand library.  For this multi-hour review of the service, I ran it on my own iPad Air and a Roku 3 unit that Dish loaned out.

Signing On: Easy Peasy

Once the Sling TV app was downloaded to those platforms, the sign-on process was Netflix-simple. I just plugged in my user name and password, and I was streaming live TV channels moments later. No calls to customer support to have my diaper changed; no truck roll required. Again, a very easy process.

Sling TV uses adaptive bit rate streaming (a capability EchoStar acquired through its $45 million purchase of Move Networks back in 2011), meaning that the bit rate and quality/resolution of the video fluctuates based on the amount of bandwidth available. That’s particularly helpful here because the Sling TV service (like all OTT services) runs on unmanaged, best-effort broadband connections that aren’t in Dish’s control.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, I found that the service worked best over my home WiFi network (running 802.11n from a high-speed cable modem connection) on the Roku and the iPad than it did when I accessing it via tablet using LTE.

WiFi Vs. LTE

When accessed at home on WiFi, the video stream spooled up quickly and filled up the screen with HD goodness. Generally, it took two to three seconds to switch channels – not perfect, but not annoying, either.

On LTE, it sometimes took longer for streams to build, to switch channels and for visual elements of the UI to populate on-screen. On occasion, when the service had to buffer due to a lack of LTE bandwidth, the screen would go black and post a message telling me it was “catching up.”

That message never appeared in my few hours with the service on my home  WiFi network – it always seemed to run smoothly. Outside of some rare stuttering of the audio, the live TV and VOD streams generally looked vivid, crisp and bright on my Samsung 1080p HDTV set. I could activate and deactivate the closed captioning with a touch of a button.

Sling TV’s interfaces for the iPad and the Roku have been developed to support their respective platforms while sharing a similar look and feel. How to scroll and swipe my way around the service was intuitive, and I never felt like I was lost.

I also checked to see if Sling TV’s single-stream policy per account was in play. And indeed it was. While watching Sling TV on the Roku, I fired up the app on the iPad, and moments later the following message appeared on the TV screen: “Your video has been stopped because content is being viewed on another device.”

Sling TV’s VOD offering is a work in progress as it will be made to offer on-demand access to some TV shows from its linear TV partners. It has lots of potential, though I doubt it will cause subs to flee from SVOD services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video or cause them to drop electronic sell-through offerings from Amazon, VUDU or M-GO.

For my kick of the tires, I had access to a large library of VOD movies, broken down by categories such as New Releases, Most Popular, Collections (Car Chases, Gumshoe Movies, New Year’s Eve Movies, Horror Comedies, among them), Movies from BIGFlix, Action & Adventure, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Foreign Films, Horror, Kids & Family, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thriller, Classics, Romance, and War & Westerns.

A nice touch is a feature that lets users filter the VOD library by parental ratings, HD-only, and Rotten Tomatoes rankings (to steer myself away from the dreck, I could tell the VOD system,  for example, only to pull up titles that have a freshness ranking of 90% or better).

Limitations

While Dish’s initial version of Sling TV has lots of potential, the service does come with some limitations that extend beyond its relatively tidy live TV lineup.

Support of trick-play functions and the ability to start a show currently airing from the beginning is not uniform. While users can pause live programming and restart shows from Duck TV, BabyTV and those from the Scripps Networks stable, I couldn’t do the same on channels like ESPN and Disney Channel.  While those limitations are likely tied to Dish’s distribution rights for Sling TV, they do represent things that Sling TV users will need to learn about and contend with as they go along.

And while Sling TV will give users the ability to watch some TV shows on demand after their original airing (without allowing users to fast-forward through the ads), the lack of a DVR option could be a turn-off for some potential consumers.

Another quibble: As is the case with many authenticated TV Everywhere services that are delivered OTT, Sling TV’s live feeds appear to be a few minutes behind the broadcasts delivered by a traditional MVPD.  That could present some spoiler potential should a Sling TV user like to follow social media during live sporting events.  

I’m not in the demographic that Dish is targeting with Sling TV, so it’s hard to say if the initial core offering and add-on packages will be enough to appeal to many consumers in that group.  But it does provide a piece of the puzzle for a targeted segment that will likely look to other stand-alone subscription services like Hulu Plus and/or CBS All Access to gain access to popular TV shows offered on broadcast TV. And there’s no option HBO, though that won’t be an issue when HBO launches its standalone OTT service later this year.

The Bottom Line

Sling TV is an admirable first step toward a service that could make sense for cord-cutters who can live with access to just one stream and have interest in Sling TV’s initial programming lineup. As designed, it won’t attract families and other multi-member households, so I don’t expect it to cannibalize Dish’s legacy pay-TV base or put much of a dent into the larger traditional pay-TV universe.

While the amount of live TV offered in the baseline package for $20 per month delivers value, I suspect (as Dish has readily acknowledged) that most of its customers will require OTT fare from elsewhere (and maybe invest in a set of digital rabbit ears) to color in their video needs.

The technology that drives Sling TV worked smoothly on the iPad and the Roku 3, and, in most instances during my limited time with the service, supplied a lovely HD image that is comparable to what I get from Comcast.

But it still comes down to pricing and programming. The success of Sling TV will hinge on how creative Dish can get with programming packages and how flexible it is allowed to be as it secures more rights that can be applied toward the new service.

It’s already moving in that direction as Sling TV gets set to add content from Maker Studios, a new “Sports Extra” add-on pack, and a broader access to VOD content from the existing channel lineup.

So, all-in-all, Sling TV is an impressive technological effort that, based on its current slate of content and capabilities, will have limited appeal…but I suppose that’s what it’s designed for. 

It will be interesting to see how many consumers who take the one-week free trial stick with the program, and if Dish can gain and retain a subscriber base that’s large enough to make much of an impact in the early going.

While the success of Sling TV is not assured, credit goes to Dish for developing and introducing an offering that represents an important moment for the pay-TV industry. 

And I suspect it’s just the start. As Dish learns more about the market it’s targeting and as more programmers decide to play ball, it’s sure to develop and evolve content offerings it can place on top of the technology foundation that it has built.

But I won’t be surprised at all to see other MVPDs, including major cable operators, jump in with similar offerings this year. 

Taking aim at studios, TV networks, sports leagues and MVPDs, SeaChange on Wednesday introduced Rave, a platform designed for “premium” over-the-top video.

SeaChange said Rave, which will support the company’s data analytics and advanced advertising technologies, will cover a variety of OTT apps and services, including video-on-demand, time-shifted, live and downloadable content.

According to the company, the Rave platform will support a presentation layer for multiple devices and operating systems, a unified subscriber experience via a component called Rave Unite, and a services layer spanning content preparation, analytics, advertising, social integration, personalization, as well as live and on-demand video, time-shifted TV, and network DVR capabilities.  

The product seemingly expands the business scope for SeaChange, which has been traditionally focused on the MVPD sector via products such as Adrenalin, its multiscreen video backoffice platform, and Nucleus, an in-home gateway software platform that will play a key role at Layer3 TV, an emerging “virtual” MVPD. Adrenalin is also part of the Rave platform, the company confirmed.

SeaChange said Rave is backed by its Professional Services organization, and that its platform has already been picked by BBC Worldwide for the BBC Store, a service scheduled to launch in 2015. Algar Telecom of Brazil is also a Rave customer, using it to expand a cloud video services trial. SeaChange is in discussions with others. 

The rollout of Rave also appears to place SeaChange in more direct competition with premium-focused online video publishing and management companies, such as Comcast-owned thePlatform, Ooyala, and Piksel, as well as Vubiquity, which also provides content aggregation services, Cisco Systems (Videoscape), and Ericsson, which recently upgraded the Mediaroom product it acquired from Microsoft and introduced a cloud-based, OTT-facing product called MediaFirst.

“Until now the OTT phenomenon has mainly been about reaching the biggest possible audience, not about getting the most revenue from the TV and video content that consumers most prize,” said Jay Samit, SeaChange’s recently appointed CEO, in a statement.

SeaChange announced Rave as it prepared to release fiscal third quarter results. 

Update: SeaChange posted Q3 revenues of $30 million and a GAAP loss of $5.9 million (19 cents per share), versus revenues of $37.8 million and net income of $500,000 (2 cents per fully diluted share) in the year-ago quarter.  SeaChange expects fourth quarter revenues to be in the range of $30 million to $34 million. 

Layer3 TV has selected SeaChange International as a “key vendor” for the in-home platform that will power the startup’s coming “next-generation” cable service, which apparently will be capable of supporting 4K/Ultra HD video.

Denver-based Layer3 TV hasn’t revealed a lot of details about that service, but said Monday that its in-home platform will be based on SeaChange’s Nucleus video gateway software, and that Layer3 TV has engaged SeaChange Professional Services for the integration of Nucleus and testing of Layer3 TV’s “chosen 4K IP set-top.”

As reported in this week’s Multichannel Newscover story on the emergence of “virtual” multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), Layer3 TV expects to launch services sometime in 2015, but has not announced any set-top partners and which markets it will target first. 

Layer3 TV’s selection of Nucleus appears to shed more light on the startup’s technology direction. As described by SeaChange, Nucleus is an “implementation” of the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for IP-capable set-tops and video devices that’s being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global.  Among that group, Comcast already uses RDK-based boxes for its widely deployed X1 platform, Liberty Global will lean on the RDK for a new cloud-based version of its Horizon TV platform, and TWC has already selected Humax to develop the MSO’s first RDK-based box – an IP-only client.

As for Layer3 TV, a number of current job postings, including one for an embedded systems engineer/architect and another for an embedded applications developer (both to be based in Boston), highlight the RDK among the specific technologies and abilities that Layer3 TV is interested in.

Update: SeaChange confirmed that RDK is an optional component of Nucleus. 

SeaChange’s Nucleus platform is pre-integrated with Adrenalin, the vendor’s backoffice for multiscreen video services, supports several set-tops and gateways, including the Arris XG1 and DCX3600, the Pace Xi3 and RNG150, and the Technicolor DCI1807, and several “connected device” types, including the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, iOS and  Android tablets and smartphones, and select smart TVs and Blu-ray players.

SeaChange said Nucleus positions Layer3 TV “for rapid innovation of cloud-based services,” including the ability for consumers to search, stream and store TV shows, movies and personal video, and tap into “powerful applications including whole-home DVR.”

“Nucleus is helping Layer3 TV hit the ground running with an array of capabilities that can quickly evolve with consumer habits and preferences,” said Layer3 TV CEO Jeff Binder, in a statement. “Building our in-home strategy with SeaChange’s software and systems integration expertise puts us in control of our gateway hardware options and lets us keep our focus on innovating at the service layer for high-impact subscriber engagement across devices.”

“Layer3 TV is preparing to transform video services and SeaChange is thrilled to be its partner in delivering a breakthrough service-oriented IP gateway,” added Jay Samit, the recently appointed CEO of SeaChange.  “Nucleus puts our customers in the best possible position for capturing the opportunities raised by disruptive technologies. We’re eager to support Layer3 TV as it enhances the programming and distribution ecosystem with vastly differentiated entertainment experiences.”

Layer3 TV, founded in 2013, recently opened its new Denver headquarters and has raised about $21 million so far. 

Hat tip to tech blogger Dave Zatz for spotting the coming MobiTV “Connect” HDMI streaming stick as it passed through the FCC for testing. Far as I can tell, this is the first time the device’s form factor has popped up in some public documentation. Previously, MobiTV has been sharing a doodle representation of its new doodad.

As Zatz points out, the version that made its way through the Commission looks more like a Google Chromecast than Roku Streaming Stick or the Amazon Fire TV Stick, which started shipping last week.

Among the documents posted at the FCC, there’s some internal and external views of the MobiTV Connect, as well as a user’s manual that shows some set-up screens for how to pair the streaming stick to an iOS- or Android-powered device.

What the documents don’t spell out is how MobiTV’s U.S. mobile service partners (AT&T, Sprint, US Cellular and Verizon Wireless are among the possibilities) will use the white-label Connect device to deliver video to the living room.

In a recent interview, MobiTV execs told Multichannel News (subscription required) that the Connect will debut sometime in the first half of 2015, with an expectation that partners will use the device in tandem with MobiTV’s platform to deliver a curated array of live TV channels, as well as on-demand video, music and games. That makes it sound like the device could end up fueling a new set of so-called “virtual” MVPD offerings that could be delivered over-the-top.  

MobiTV has also lined up some partners to get the device built and distributed. Jabil Circuit is making the Connect device, while Amlogic is supplying silicon that provides the chipset-layer security integration needed to get HD video to the big screen. Brightstar, a logistics and supply chain company that’s a subsidiary of Sprint parent Softbank, has signed on to help MobiTV get the device into the wireless retail and consumer distribution machine.

Taking aim at the traditional pay-TV market, Sony on Thursday unveiled PlayStation Vue, an over-the-top subscription TV service that will start off with about 75 channels per market.

Offered initially through an invite-only beta preview later this month, the cloud-powered  service will run on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 consoles.  Sony said it will reveal pricing and packaging details when it launched PlayStation Vue on a commercial basis, but noted that the no-contract offering will offer the service at a “fair and competitive price that is transparent with no hidden fees or charges.” The New York Post reported in October that Sony was aiming to sell a lineup of about 100 channels for up to $80 per month. 

During the beta preview period, Sony said it phase in the service this month, starting in New York, followed later by Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.  Offered initially on PS3 and PS4 consoles, Sony noted that it will extend access on iPads as well as more Sony and non-Sony devices. 

Sony said it will launch PlayStation Vue commercially during the first quarter of 2015. 

The new service will feature a mix of live and on-demand content from the following content partners:

-CBS: At launch, will offer the live linear signal from CBS Television Network's owned-and-operated TV stations in select leading markets in addition to on-demand prime-time programming.

-Discovery Communications: Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Discovery Family Channel and 11 more brands.

-Fox: Fox Networks Group's portfolio of national entertainment programming services, including FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD. Additionally FOX Sports' national and regional programming services: FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, BTN, Fox's regional sports networks, including YES Network and Prime Ticket. The agreement also covers Fox's owned and operated television stations. 

-NBCUniversal: All local offerings from NBC, Telemundo and regional sports networks as well as Bravo, CNBC, E!, NBCSN, Oxygen, Sprout, Syfy, USA Network and more.

-Scripps Networks Interactive – HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network and Cooking Channel.

-Viacom: BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, PALLADIA, Spike, VH1 and more.

Noticeably absent from the list at this stage are networks from AMC Networks, Time Warner Inc. (including Turner Broadcasting) and the Disney stable, including ESPN and ABC, but Sony said it will announce more programming partners in the future. 

The service will feature catch-up and VOD services, an “Explore” function that lets viewers filter live and on-demand programming, and a recommendation engine based on viewing habits and what’s trending.

With a nod to the cloud DVR model, it will also support a component that makes the past three days of “popular programming” available without needing to schedule recordings. Viewers can also save shows to the cloud “without storage restrictions or scheduling conflicts,” but customers will have 28 days to view them. 

"Everyday TV is about to become extraordinary with our new cloud-based TV service, PlayStation Vue," said Andrew House, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment and group executive in charge of the Network Entertainment Business, in a statement. "PlayStation Vue reinvents the traditional viewing experience so your programming effortlessly finds you, enabling you to watch much more of what you want and search a lot less. PlayStation Vue brings the best of live TV and a robust catalog of the latest content, always keeping you connected to what's popular, new and trending. Today's announcement builds on the historic success of PlayStation 4 and demonstrates what our company is capable of when we embrace disruption and stay true to gamers."

Lindsay Gardner, a pay-TV vet late of Fox Networks and Cox Communications, has been named content advisory board chair of Layer3 TV, the Denver-based startup that’s billing itself as a next-generation cable operator.

Layer3 TV said Gardner is on board to help the company recruit core programming talent and strike partnerships with programmers and other content providers. Gardner, who is also a senior advisor to Oaktree Capital Management, reports to Layer3 TV CEO and company co-founder Jeff Binder.

During his cable career, Gardner led distribution at Fox Networks for eight years through 2007, eventually rising to president, affiliate sales and marketing. He also spent six years at Cox, including as executive director, programing; and also served as executive director, planning and new business at In Demand, the MSO-backed provider of pay-per-view and video-on-demand services.

He joins Layer3 TV almost a month after the company opened its new Denver headquarters. Founded in 2013, Layer3 TV has about 50 employees across its Colorado and Boston locations, and has recently hired other industry vets, including former Comcast and Charter Communications engineering exec John Roy, and Bob Scheffler, a former Motorola and Broadbus exec who is the startup’s head of architecture.

Layer3 TV, which has raised about $21 million so far, has said little about its approach and how it might compete with or complement more traditional cable operators and other MVPDs.  The company has previously described itself as a “technology platform” that will deliver “a differentiated video consumer experience while fitting squarely within today’s programming and distribution paradigm.”

Layer3 TV has not revealed a launch date, but it will happen sometime next year, according to Deadline.com.

The company also has not announced any deals with programmers, but this is apparently where Gardner will fit in.

“Lindsay’s 25 years of leadership in the industry provides Layer3 TV with knowledge and experience from a Hollywood veteran who also understands how to innovate without having to disrupt the existing distribution paradigm,” said Binder, in a statement. “He has a fantastic entrepreneurial spirit, which will help to power the next generation cable ecosystem we are bringing to market.”

“Layer3 TV has assembled an extraordinary team and is poised to execute an innovative vision collaborative with the content community,” Gardner added. “I’m thrilled to help this world class team forge the next generation of mutually beneficial programming partnerships.”

Layer3 TV is on a hiring spree. Open jobs in Denver include director of field operations, DRM and content security engineer, senior director of customer care, and VP of finance. In Boston, it’s seeking an iOS engineer, an embedded systems engineer, a speech scientist, a senior director of search/recommendations, and a senior user experience designer, among others.

Sony’s over-the-top subscription TV service could serve up to 100 channels and fetch up to $80 per month, the New York Post reported Sunday (October 5), with sources telling the paper that the CE giant “got creamed in [carriage] negotiations.”

The paper, citing another unnamed source, indicated that the package could sell for a bit less – between $60 to $65 per month, putting it in-line with a traditional basic cable package. Of course, those potential monthly service fees don’t factor in the cost of the broadband service required to get the OTT service into the house.

But, if those numbers turn out to be correct, it’s yet another indication that breaking the traditional pay-TV model is continuing to prove difficult even as over-the-top, multiscreen video services continue to gain in popularity and a new wave of “virtual” MVPDs prepare to enter the market.

Sony “had huge ambitions of breaking up the bundle and being the champion of the consumer, but they’ve had no success in doing that and they’re licking their wounds,” a source told the Post. 

That might sound familiar. With its eye originally fixed on creating more flexible, "smart" bundles, Intel Media had similar ambitions with OnCue and, according to sources, had even secured the carriage deals it needed to pull it off. But Intel ultimately balked at those requirements, eventually punting on the idea and selling those assets to Verizon Communications.

Sony, meanwhile, declined to comment on the report in the Post, noting that it has not announced any pricing or packaging for its coming service. But a spokesman said the company still plans to start public testing of the new service before the end of the year.

Sony announced that plan in January at the CES confab. In June, Shawn Layden, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, told Re/code that the new service, which he billed as “revolutionary,” was “on track” to debut sometime later in the year “in some capacity.”

Sony has announced one carriage deal for the new OTT service, with Viacom. That agreement covers "at least" 22 Viacom cable channels at launch, as well as access the Viacom's full on-demand package.

Dish Network is also developing a virtual MVPD service that, based on recent trademark filings, might carry the brand “nutv.”  Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen said in August that he expects to launch a single-stream OTT offering by the end of the year.

Dish has already announced that it has secured digital streaming rights with Walt Disney Co., Scripps Networks, and A+E Networks, but hasn’t announced details on how it will price and package its service, though it’s believed that Dish intends to sell it in the range of $20 to $30 per month.

Variety reported late last week that Dish wants to offer local broadcast TV channels on a separate, premium tier for its new OTT service, but it’s unclear if Dish is having success trying to obtain the rights to pull it off.

DENVER -- Layer3 TV, a startup that is billing itself as a “next-generation cable operator,” opened up its Denver-based corporate headquarters on September 15, and now employs a total of about 50 people across its Colorado and Boston locations, company officials confirmed here this week.

Its Denver headquarters is located on the 8th floor of 1660 Wynkoop Street, an 11-story building in the city's vibrant LoDo district, placing it nearby venues such as Union Station and Coors Field.

Founded in 2013, Layer3 TV now operates in three locations – its Denver headquarters, a distribution facility in the Denver area, and an office in Boston.

Layer3 TV announced in May that it would make Denver its home base while retaining its presence in Boston. At the time, the company said it plans to offer 312 new jobs in the Denver area, offering an average wage of $92,083. In support of the expansion and corporate relocation, the state of Colorado awarded Layer3 TV $2.9 million in job growth incentive tax credits and workforce development and technical assistance. Layer3 TV is also one of the companies featured in this campaign video from Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper.

Layer3 TV, the topic of much chatter at this week’s SCTE Cable Tec-Expo in Denver, is still being coy about its specific strategy and how that might compete with or complement more traditional multichannel video programming distributors. The company, which has raised $21 million so far, also has not announced when it intends to launch its service offering.

What is clear, though, is that Layer3 TV is in hiring mode, and has recently added some recognizable industry names to its lineup. During a visit to the company’s headquarters this week, Layer3 TV CEO Jeff Binder said John Roy, the former VP of national operations at Comcast who is also late of Charter Communications and Adelphia Communications, joined Layer3 TV as senior vice president of operations.

Additionally, Bob Scheffler, a co-founder of Broadbus Technologies (where Binder served as CEO before it was acquired by Motorola in 2006), recently joined Layer3 TV as head of architecture. During his subsequent time at Motorola, Scheffler continued his work on multiscreen backoffice systems and network/cloud DVR technologies.

While Layer3 TV has been somewhat quiet on its specific strategy, the company has been shedding some light on that during recent meetings at the FCC.

As this ex parte filing shows, Layer3 TV execs visited with members of the Commission on September 10 to discuss the company’s approach to multichannel video program distribution. During that meeting, the topic of the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal came up, as did the topic of network neutrality.

According to the filing, Layer3 TV “took no position at this time on whether the merger should be allowed,” but did offer net neutrality “safeguards” that the FCC might consider if the mega-merger was approved with conditions.

Layer3 TV didn’t list them out at the meeting, but did so in the ex parte filing. On its list:

-The ability to interconnect, for a reasonable price, at locations proximate to the customer base a company is trying to serve.

-Data caps, while appearing to safeguard a network from overload, present a challenge for companies serving video streams to the end user.

-From a business side, Layer3 TV offered that “bundling discounts” need to reflect some basis in cost differential, such that they are not used to discriminate use of  the high-speed data service for competitive video purposes.

-Layer3 TV respectfully suggested that the FCC might consider some cap on peering charges based upon the total payload in a given month, whereby the costs  are not so prohibitive as to prevent potential video competition.

Layer3 TV’s discussion at the FCC also went beyond the scope of “the potential for strict access to the Comcast network,” noting that Comcast-owned content “must be sold to competitive companies at a reasonable price,” and any rights to content owned by Comcast must be on par with those granted to the cable operator itself with respect to areas such as network DVRs, the ability to preload content on a DVR, and TV Everywhere apps.

WebTuner, a startup run by a group of cable and video tech vets, is joining a small yet growing group of companies that is working on a next-gen IP video platform that, it claims, will be capable of serving up a mix of live TV, video-on-demand and over-the-top video services.

Founded in 2010 and based in Redmond, Wash., WebTuner will base its “virtual MVPD service” on a cloud-based infrastructure that is being paired to a colorful line of miniature IP video clients and a fancy user interface that runs on Android.

But rather than building a “virtual MSO” that would sell services directly to consumers via broadband, WebTuner intends to partner up and integrate with large and small multichannel video programming distributors, including incumbent cable operators.  

That approach appears to share similarities to one being pursued by Layer3 TV, a company founded last year by several execs from the cable industry that is billing itself as a “next-generation cable provider.”

WebTuner’s baseline device/adapter that will run video services securely over WebTuner’s platform is outfitted with a dual-core ARM-based processor, an HDMI port, as well as integrated dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee wireless connectivity, according to the company, which will be tooting its horn at next week’s NAB show in Las Vegas.

Although this adapter will be capable of streaming video, it’s really “a plug-in computer” that provides security at the chip level and will perform all the key functions found in a traditional set-top box, said WebTuner CEO and co-founder Bernee Strom, a “serial entrepreneur” who is late of companies such as Gemstar–TV Guide (now part of Rovi), Priceline.com, and Infospace, among others.

WebTuner is pairing that device up with a remote control with seven buttons on its front side, a full QWERTY keyboard on the flipside, and the ability to speak both IR and RF.

The device and the UI will also support an audience measurement system that could be used to deliver addressable and interactive advertising, Strom said.

Because WebTuner’s intention is to partner with MVPDs, it will rely on a bring-your-own programming and content rights model “for the most part,” she said, noting that WebTuner is also working on its own content deals.

And it’s already holding talks with cable operators and industry organizations, including the National Cable Television Cooperative, a buying agent for about 1,000 independent cable operators.

 “WebTuner is arriving at the right time, as MVPDs need a better more modern option to deliver video to their customers,” said NCTC president and CEO Rich Fickle, in a statement. “A dramatically improved user experience, lower cost consumer devices and Internet access for content across multiple screens  are essential elements for our members to remain competitive. We are in discussions with WebTuner and encourage innovative companies like them to bring innovative options to our members.”

But how MVPDs or others will work with WebTuner is an open question and will be dependent on their distribution rights. That could pave the way for a full suite of services delivered over IP, or set up new types of “lite,” more personalized video tiers that are tailored to college students, cord-cutters and other consumer segments.

As for WebTuner’s readiness, she said the company will have its UI completed by May (they’re open to licensing it), with its video adapters ready by the end of this summer. Its full platform will be set for launch by the second half of the year, she said.

WebTuner has raised $12 million of an anticipated $20 million round of funding. It has 15 employees, with developers in Toronto, Ukraine and Israel.

More detail about WebTuner and its approach will be covered in the April 7 issue of Multichannel News. In the meantime, here's a promotional video about WebTuner.