NCTC Accelerating OTT Content Packaging for Cable Ops

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Washington, D.C.—"OTT is driving a resurgence of customer expectations" for video delivery, which is prompting the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) to develop distribution deals for its member cable companies, NCTC president and CEO Rich Fickle said Wednesday during an opening panel at the American Cable Association's Summit.

"We hope to make a proposal in the next 45 days, he said, adding that NCTC, an organization that negotiates programming and technology deals on behalf of its membership of independent cable operators, has received responses from 20 members so far that are looking for "fresh ideas" for IP delivery of video content—possibly without use of a conventional set-top box.  

In a follow-up interview, Fickle declined to identify the OTT suppliers, but indicated they range from major movie/entertainment packagers (which would suggest Netflix, YouTube or Amazon) to ethnic/language, political and special-interest channels such as comedy, travel or other OTT TV program sources, including content prepared for Sony's PlayStation Vue service.

"OTT is vitally important," Fickle emphasized. "We're going to see its impact on the commercial market side."

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Gary Arlen
Gary Arlen

Contributor Gary Arlen is known for his insights into the convergence of media, telecom, content and technology. Gary was founder/editor/publisher of Interactivity Report, TeleServices Report and other influential newsletters; he was the longtime “curmudgeon” columnist for Multichannel News as well as a regular contributor to AdMap, Washington Technology and Telecommunications Reports. He writes regularly about trends and media/marketing for the Consumer Technology Association's i3 magazine plus several blogs. Gary has taught media-focused courses on the adjunct faculties at George Mason University and American University and has guest-lectured at MIT, Harvard, UCLA, University of Southern California and Northwestern University and at countless media, marketing and technology industry events. As President of Arlen Communications LLC, he has provided analyses about the development of applications and services for entertainment, marketing and e-commerce.