Cable Industry Terrified By Set Top Box Competition

The Cable Industry Is Absolutely Terrified Of Set Top Box Competition

from the hey-we're-innovatin'-over-here dept

TechDirt | February 2, 2016

[...] Despite the reality that most cable boxes (and many executives) are outdated relics of a dying era, the cable industry stuck to one central theme last week: the FCC's plan is "big tech's" attempt to thwart all of the amazing innovation occurring in the cable industry. A "diverse" group of cable companies and broadcasters calling itself the "Future of TV" coalition quickly launched to deride the FCC's "attack on innovation," with one press release circulated by the group going so far as to suggest that Google has been holding secret meetings at the FCC that undermine the cable industry's relentless thirst for...diversity:
"...Secrecy and subterfuge shouldn’t be tolerated and professional staffers who know the ropes and are unlikely to be swayed by a flashy demo and a Golden Ticket. The AllVid scheme being flogged by Google and the FCC is unfair and destructive to values held far too dearly on Capitol Hill – undermining free market competition and putting a government thumb on the scale for powerful incumbents like Google, and making it harder for those serving communities of color and providing diverse and independent programming to make the video ecosystem work. [...]

“STBs [Set Top Boxes] are facing a mounting challenge to their role at the dominant pay TV video consumption device because of operators’ growing emphasis on supporting multiscreen devices,” said Daniel Simmons, senior principal analyst for TV technology  at IHS. “However, operators are continuing to deploy STBs in order to manage the compatibility between their delivery networks and the consumer electronics devices that consumers are increasingly using to view content now. As pay-TV operators rush to accommodate changes in delivery platforms and in video formats—including the adoption of high definition (HD)—STB shipments will continue to rise, hitting record levels for the next few years.” Source: https://technology.ihs.com/438415/defying-multiscreen-challenge-set-top-box-market-to-achieve-record-shipments-in-2013

<more at https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160128/09440833451/cable-industry-is-absolutely-terrified-set-top-box-competition.shtml; related links: http://futureoftv.com/news-item/future-of-tv-coalition-launches-to-promote-diverse-high-quality-programming-app-driven-innovation-and-consumer-choice-in-video/ ("Future of TV Coalition" launches to promote diverse, high quality programming, app-driven innovation, and consumer choice in video. January 27, 2016) and http://futureoftv.com/news-item/secret-google-field-trip-to-demonstrate-technology-the-fcc-says-doesnt-exist/ (Secret Google Field Trip to Demonstrate Technology the FCC Says Doesn't Exist. January 27, 2016); further: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/tv-industry-group-hints-google-860356 (TV Industry Group Hints Google Has Inside Access at the FCC. January 29, 2016)>