Verizon to offer Big Apple TV service

BASKING RIDGE — Verizon Communications Inc. has reached an agreement with city officials to provide television service throughout New York City that would compete with cable and satellite companies.

Officials of Basking Ridge-based Verizon said they intend to build over the next six years a high-speed fiber-optic network, opening a potential market of 3.3 million homes in the city's five boroughs.

Sales of the service in Manhattan, marketed under the FiOS brand name, will start later this year, they said.

The network would give the company capacity to package TV, high-speed Internet connections and phone lines to compete with Time Warner Cable, Cablevision Systems Corp. and other companies.

"With the introduction of direct competition among cable companies, prices and service levels would reflect real market forces, and New York City customers would be the beneficiaries," said Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber, president of the city Economic Development Corp.


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Verizon To Cut Off FiOS TV Analog In Massachusetts

Verizon Communications will eliminate analog versions of local broadcast channels for FiOS TV customers in Massachusetts on May 12, continuing its transition to all-digital operation as part of an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission.

Verizon provided the duplicate channels to allow digital subscribers to view local programming in an analog format without using a set-top box. It has already stopped analog TV service in other markets, for example, shutting off analog TV channels in New York on April 21.

The telco pledged to the FCC to eliminate analog channels before the Feb. 17, 2009, digital TV transition in order to receive a temporary waiver to the agency's ban on set-tops with integrated security functions.

FiOS TV customers will need to install a Verizon-supplied set-top box to continue to receive the service on each TV in their home.



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Duke Realty Selects B2B-TV to Provide Satellite TV to Commercial Office Tenants

B2B-TV, a leading provider of television distribution systems to commercial properties, announced today that it has formed a strategic partnership with Duke Realty Corporation, one of the nation's largest commercial real estate companies, to bring satellite TV programming to tenants in Duke buildings throughout the US.

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Macrovision Stockholders Approve Gemstar-TV Guide Acquisition Proposal

Macrovision Corporation (NASDAQ:MVSN) (the "Company") today announced that at its special meeting of stockholders held earlier today, its stockholders approved the share issuance to complete the proposed acquisition of Gemstar-TV Guide (NASDAQ:GMST). Gemstar-TV Guide stockholders also approved of the sale of Gemstar-TV Guide to Macrovision at a special meeting held earlier today.

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Miniweb launches 'TV Key' service on Sky Digital

Miniweb Interactive has launched a new 'TV Key' service on the Sky Digital TV platform, making TV Key enhanced programming available to over 8.8 million Sky users and all TV channels.

The company also announced a content acquisition programme, aimed at providing the services required to enable advertisers, brands, channels and content owners to quickly, easily and cost-effectively launch video rich interactive applications on the Sky platform.

"Today's launch on Sky makes TV Key functionality available to over 8.8 million TV viewers in the UK and can be used by any broadcaster or channel on Digital Satellite. It is the first step on our interactive road map," said Ian Valentine, CEO, Miniweb Interactive. "Our mission is to change the economics of interactive TV so the industry can deliver video rich interactive services over broadband to multiple types of TV device.


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Gol TV Nets Rights Deals

Gearing up for its upfront presentation to advertisers, Gol TV is buttressing its futbol roster with deals for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches for three top European sides.

The soccer-centric service has netted deals for qualifying games involving the Italian, Spanish and German national teams, the third-, fourth- and fifth-ranked teams in the world, during 2008 and 2009, leading up to the World Cup in South Africa, said Gol TV founder and CEO Enzo Francescoli.

Gol, which offers both English- and Spanish-language audio feeds, also gained rights to the March 26 "friendly" between top-ranked Argentina and Egypt, the African Cup winner.

The deal with Germany, terms of which were not disclosed, gives Gol TV, which counts some 16 million subscribers, exclusive U.S.


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Virgin Media and BBC to bring iPlayer to TV

Virgin Media has announced a partnership with the BBC to launch BBC iPlayer onto its platform, making its customers the first in the UK to get the popular service via a TV platform. Viewers using BBC iPlayer on Virgin Media will be able to watch full screen pictures at full quality on their television set without the need for downloading.

As of today (30th April), Virgin Media customers will be able to catch up on their favourite BBC programmes by pressing the red button on any BBC channel. Access to BBC iPlayer through Virgin Media's EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) menu is due this summer.

BBC iPlayer allows viewers to catch-up on over 350 hours of TV programmes from the past seven days, at no extra cost. This includes shows such as Eastenders, Doctor Who, Gavin and Stacey, Top Gear and The Apprentice.



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