Re: Digital TV Stats- STB Vendor Pioneer and MSO Time Warner
Thread- Here's a sample PR of the type of digital services MSO's are rolling out today by the millions. There appears to be an explosion of demand for digital MSO services. So much so, I don't think there is a MSO out there who hasn't complained about not being able to get enough STBs delivered. As you can see, for now, it's a mixed system that does both analog and digital.
IMVHO, the financial media still seems to be behind in understanding that digital TV marketplace is exploding. Probably because it's so hard to understand. And IMHO, they are also neglecting the rollouts of cable telephony. -MikeM(From Florida)
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Time Warner Orders 350,000 Pioneer Set-Top TV Boxes
By Jonathan Make New York, Aug. 1-- Time Warner Inc., the No. 2 U.S. cable-television company, said it ordered 350,000 set-top boxes for digital TV from Pioneer Corp., a Japanese maker of consumer electronics. Terms weren't disclosed.
Time Warner has an option to buy at least an additional 150,000 devices this year, and can use Pioneer's software on all its digital cable converters. Time Warner, with 12.7 million subscribers, previously purchased 400,000 Pioneer TV boxes.
Time Warner will probably pay at least $200 for each set-top box, or $70 million for its Pioneer order, said Jefferies & Co. analyst Fred Moran, who has a ``buy'' rating on Time Warner.
Cable operators such as New York-based Time Warner have been upgrading their networks for digital TV, which has hundreds of channels and improved sound and picture quality, to stay competitive with satellite broadcasters. Set-top boxes let standard sets connect to the Internet, send e-mail and receive digital broadcasts.
With software from Pioneer, customers can get weather forecasts, news and stock quotes at any time, access pay-per-view movies and use interactive program guides, which sort programs by time, date and subject. The software is made by Pioneer's Cable and Communications division, based in Long Beach, California.
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The Voyager digital cable terminal allows traditional analog features and advanced digital applications to coexist. Advanced features such as video decompression, superior picture quality, IP addressing, 32 bit processing and increased channel capacity enhance the overall viewing experience and provide a versatile portal for interactive entertainment such as video-on-demand training/education-on-demand, Web browsing, e-commerce and local information services. Pioneer's Passport software provides a navigation and applications software platform for digital set-top solution that includes a wide range of pay-per-view and other downloadable interactive applications, such as Web-browsing, VOD, email, chat, weather, sports, stocks and news. |
