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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DiViT who wrote (38747)	2/1/1999 5:04:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Broadcast.Com's digital settop box.................................. zdnet.com Broadcast.com Plans Set-Top To Pipe HDTV Content By Steven Vonder Haar February 1, 1999 9:36 AM ET Broadcast.com is developing a set-top box prototype designed to receive digital television signals from local stations launching high-definition television services. The device, which could be available by fall, would pave the way for local stations to use their digital spectrum to deliver a broad range of products - from pay-per-view movies to audio books - that could be stored on a massive hard drive built into the PC-like set-top box. "There are different ways to deliver data to the home," said Broadcast.com President Mark Cuban. "This device creates a whole new last mile [for piping data to consumers]." Broadcast.com, best known as an aggregator and distributor of streaming media content on the Web, would license the design to independent computer retailers with the capability to manufacture PCs under in-house brand names, Cuban said. Retailers seeking ways to differentiate themselves in the market, such as CompUSA, would be natural partners to offer the set-top box, Cuban said. CompUSA officials did not return calls for comment last week. Broadcast.com aims to enlist the support of local broadcasters preparing to launch programming on high-definition television spectrum to promote the set-top box. The Web sites of local station partners would be programmed onto the set-top boxes as the default gateway to interactive services, Cuban said. By providing streaming media services for the stations and offering links to other Broadcast.com offerings on the station sites, the alliances would help expand Broadcast.com's exposure to consumers. "We don't care what delivery mechanism is used to deliver our programming," Cuban said. "We just want to build distribution." The boxes, which would cost less than $2,000 and offer the features of a standard PC, such as a modem and a digital videodisc player, also would create an audience for a broad array of digital services that could be offered by local broadcasters. In addition to TV programming, the broadcasts could use the spectrum to deliver any type of digital product that could be stored on a hard drive, such as software updates that could be beamed to PCs overnight. Broadcast.com's plans, however, may be overly ambitious in a market where industry giants like Microsoft and General Instrument already are fighting for position in the living room, said Jim Penhune, an analyst at The Yankee Group market research firm.