For 2 New Shows, Fox Cuts Back on Ads

LOS ANGELES Fox is shaking up the commercial TV model with "Remote-Free TV."

At its upfront presentation Thursday, the network announced it will air two new drama series, J.J. Abrams' Fringe and Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, with dramatically reduced commercial breaks.

"It's a simple concept and potentially revolutionary," Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Liguori said. "We're going to have less commercials, less promotional time, and less reason for viewers to use the remote. We're going to redefine the viewing experience."

Both shows would have network commercial loads of about five minutes per hour, about half the usual. The commercial pods would also be shorter and they would have about half the promo load as well.

In an interview after the presentation, Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly acknowledged that "Remote-Free TV" was a risk but there needed to be a "paradigm shift" in network TV.



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Pace Americas Announces Family of Next-Generation MPEG-4 Set-Top Boxes for Cable

BOCA RATON, Fla. & NEW ORLEANS, BUSINESS WIRE -- Pace Micro Technology plc (LSE:PIC), the leading independent developer of digital TV technologies for the global payTV industry, today announced a new family of next-generation Click for the lowest price on dmnobieblankmpeg');" onMouseOut="setTimeout('hideLayer()',500);" class=hotlink2>MPEG-4 advanced video compression set-top boxes for cable operators in North and South America. The announcement was made at the cable industry's premier convention, The Cable Show - '08, being held May 18-20 at The Ernest Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

The Pace family of Click for the lowest price on dmnobieblankmpeg');" onMouseOut="setTimeout('hideLayer()',500);" class=hotlink2>MPEG-4 set-top boxes provides cable system operators with solutions to meet their subscribers' increasing demand for both linear HD (high definition) channels and bandwidth intensive HD VOD (video on demand).



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Govt approves digital TV plan

Prague, April 28 (CTK) - The Czech government Monday approved a plan for the switch to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting which sets the date for the end of analogue broadcasting on most of the Czech territory as of Nov 11, 2011.

The government also agreed that an interministerial commission be set up to find a way for toughening conditions for imports and registration of used cars.

In two regions, namely Zlinsky and Jesenicky, analogue TV broadcasting is to continue until June 2012 due to technical problems.

The plan is voluntary and its implementation cannot be forced. It is necessary that Czech TV, TV Nova and TV Prima exchange their current analogue frequencies for digital ones. If they agree, each of them will get one more digital licence in exchange.


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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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