MobiTV Purchase Plan in the Works from Cable Co-op NCTC

MobiTV Connect streaming stick
(Image credit: MobiTV)

Cable TV cooperative NCTC is pitching a plan to help finance a prospective purchase of bankrupt video technology company MobiTV.

"We believe the best outcome is the continuation of MobiTV," reads a National Cable Television Cooperative proposal, first obtained and reported on by LightReading

NCTC has proposed contributing as much as $1 million to help fund the purchase of MobiTV.

The company makes app-based technology used by numerous NCTC members, including Vast Broadband, MCTV and EPB of Chattanooga 

Emeryville, Calif.-based MobiTV filed for bankruptcy in Delaware in early March, reporting that it lost $34 million last year. 

May 7 is currently the deadline for potential MobiTV suitors to enter qualified bids for the company. If multiple bids are put in, an auction would take place on May 12. 

MobiTV notified the California Employment Development Department last month that it could shut down by May 2 and lay off all 86 of its employees. But the consultant handling the company’s restructuring said that the EDD filing was merely a requirement of its bankruptcy proceedings, and that it has no plans as of now to cease operations. 

In addition to NCTC’s smaller cable operator members, Cable One uses MobiTV tech in its recently launched Sparklight TV video product. More notably, T-Mobile based its recently scuttled TVision service off MobiTV’s tech. T-Mobile has also loaned MobiTV $15.5 million to keep operating as it restructures.

Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!