Cox Launches TEDTalks On Demand
Cox Communications has launched TEDTalks On Demand, a service that will give Cox customers access to lectures and talks from renowned scientists, authors, designers and storytellers at no additional charge.
"We're excited to be collaborating with Cox to provide TEDTalks on demand," said June Cohen, Executive Producer at TED in a statement. "The TEDTalks show format is perfect for television and key to our goal of reaching new audiences that are hungry for thought-provoking content."
TEDTalks, which have been viewed online more than 750 million times, are being introduced on cable in themed collections that allow audiences to browse TED "shows" across a wide variety of topics such as Building Wonders, Rad Invention, Space Trek, Music Revolution and more. TED will introduce fresh TEDTalks and new shows for cable audiences throughout the year.
TED director of content distribution Deron Tiff said the company is testing other genre-based packages like comedy (TEDTalks Smart Laughs) and children (TEDTalks for Kids)
TED is a non-profit organization that started out as a series of conferences in California and has offered its content online for free for several years. Past speakers at the TED conferences include Bill Gates, Frank Gehry, Jane Goodall, Al Gore, Billy Graham, Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, Quincy Jones and Bono.
Cox is the first MSO in the United States to offer and TED on demand offering, Tiff said, adding that the company is in talks with several other MSOs and expect to grow the systems it is serving in the coming months.
TED also is in talks with operators around "TV Everywhere" opportunities including VOD, broadband and IPTV.
"We anticipate having announcements on this front soon," Tiff said.
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