It looks like there has been yet another step in the independent movie industry going corporate as Cablevision has purchased the Sundance Channel. The sale set Cablevision back about $500 million and the channel is expected to join Cablevision's Rainbow Media programming along with IFC, AMC and WE tv.
Cablevision-related stories
Cablevision buys Sundance Channel
Continue reading Cablevision buys Sundance Channel
Out of the Blogosphere
What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.
- So how did Jesse L. Martin leave Law and Order the other night?
- I reviewed the Stingray DVD recently, and Jaime Weinman has some interesting facts about the show.
- Former NBC reporter Arthur Kent is suing Universal Pictures and the makers of Charlie Wilson's War.
- Cablevision might be buying The Sundance Channel.
- PBS' Jim Lehrer is recovering from heart surgery.
- Gary Coleman is going to appear on another daytime court show, this time with his wife.
- What were the best seasons of ER?
Don Hewitt brings Radio City Christmas Spectacular to TV
Who knew that after retiring from 60 Minutes that Don Hewitt, the show's legendary executive producer, would focus his passions on the Rockettes? Apparently he's had fond memories of the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, and he and NBC have decided to bring it to TV this holiday season, according to Jacques Steinberg of The New York Times.Steinberg tells the story of how Hewitt contacted Charles Dolan, chairman of Radio City Productions' parent company, Cablevision. He then called up NBC Universal president Jeff Zucker when his old network CBS, passed on the idea.
Continue reading Don Hewitt brings Radio City Christmas Spectacular to TV
Cablevision could help comptition launch network PVRs
While the world waits with baited breath for the outcome of the Cablevision networked PVR trial, xchange magazine went and looked at the implications the trial could have for other cable television providers.Comcast and Time Warner Cable executives say if Cablevision succeeds in its bid to overturn a ruling blocking the company's remote-storage personal video recorder service, those companies could offer their own networked PVRs.
Remote storage devices offer several benefits for cable providers. Customers get to record the programs they want to watch, but the cable company doesn't have to send a box to each subscriber. This cuts down on hardware costs, as well as maintenance.
A Comcast exec told xchange the company would definitely launch a network PVR if the courts rule in favor of Cablevision. A Time Warner executive wouldn't go that far, but he said the company does see the benefits of a networked system.
Cablevision appeals network PVR ruling
Look, there was absolutely zero doubt that Cablevision was going to appeal the federal court decision barring the cable service provider from rolling out its remote-storage PVR plan. But now that they've filed their appeal, the news is showing up in more newspapers and blogs than the original ruling.So let's review. Cablevision wants to allow users to record, pause, rewind, and fast-forward live television. But rather than sticking a box with a hard drive in the customer's living room, Cablevision proposed having a bank of hard drives in a central location.
Continue reading Cablevision appeals network PVR ruling
Federal court blocks Cablevision from launching network PVR
The U.S. District Court in Southern New York has ruled against Cablevision's plan to deploy a network-based PVR system. The company had planned to allow users to record, play, pause, rewind and fast-forward recordings. But instead of placing a set-top-box with a hard drive in the customer's home, Cablevision would have allowed viewers to store their programs on a Cablevision server.Fox, Paramount, Disney, Universal, and a whole slew of television networks sued Cablevision over the plan. They claimed that network PVRs would violate copyright laws by taking away content owners' right to distribute media in the way they saw fit. While Cablevision argued that a network PVR was just like a personal video recorder in a customer's house, the court didn't see it that way.
Cablevision may still appeal the case, and it could make its way to the Supreme Court.
New Jersey grants Verizon statewide cable license
Huzzah! That was my reaction when I read the good news that my home state, New Jersey, has granted Verizon a statewide cable license. That means that they are free to offer their FiOS television service to any town in the state that they wish. And Verizon plans to do just that, as they have been busily installing the fiber optics needed to carry the FiOS TV and broadband services all over the state. The first 100 towns should be able to go online next week. Verizon is taking advantage of a new law that streamlined the process for providing state-wide licenses, instead of the old model where exclusive rights were negotiated by individual municipalities. Three other states have such a law: Texas, Kansas, and Indiana.Continue reading New Jersey grants Verizon statewide cable license
What if the NFL broadcast a game and no one watched it?
Tonight, the NFL Network broadcasts its first game, pitting the Denver Broncos against the Kansas City Chiefs. It promises to be a hard battle, with two longtime and bitter rivals fighting to stay in the playoff picture. This will also mark Bryant Gumbel's return to sports play-by-play, something he hasn't done in many, many years (he was NBC's NFL studio host before he got the Today job; this may be his first play-by-play work since the seventies), and it will be fun to hear the always-opinionated Cris Collinsworth back in the booth. Should be a good game.Here's the problem: I won't be able to watch it. And neither will the majority of fans.
Continue reading What if the NFL broadcast a game and no one watched it?
Cablevision subscribers can now see more NBC shows on demand
Earlier tonight, I mentioned that networks like NBC are creating cable rerun windows in order to help people without TiVos catch up on their favorite shows (and shows like The Megan Mullally Show, heh). But another way networks are helping people catch up with their shows is by offering them to cable providers' on demand services.Well, at least NBC is. According to TV Week, they are extending the offerings they are providing to Cablevision's digital on demand service to include episodes of L&O:CI, L&O:SVU, and The Office, with Friday Night Lights and Las Vegas coming in October. Customers will be able to access these episodes the day after they air for 95 cents apiece. So it's not free, but it's cheaper than downloading the episode via iTunes. So you get ten or more times the screen size for half the price. Nice.
Previously on PVR Wire
New TiVo boxes could be available soon.- I was wondering about something like this just the other day: Cablevision to test remote storage PVRs.
- Speaking of, are PVRs going to destroy TV commercials?
- Coming from Sanyo: a 160 GB PVR/LCD combo!
TV Squad Ten: Cartoon women who should have Playboy centerfolds
Six Mad Men characters who are in limbo after the finale
Fact or Fiction: Big Bang, Brothers & Sisters and CSI
