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Home » Lighter Topics » Television (besides The Office) » next generation cable box vote Sep 29, 2016
next generation cable box vote Sep 29, 2016
| September 12th, 2016 at 4:29:22 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 | The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first significant overhaul of United States telecommunications law in more than sixty years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. The Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, represented a major change in American telecommunication law, since it was the first time that the Internet was included in broadcasting and spectrum allotment. One outcome of the 1996 Act was the standardization around CableCARDs which were meant to open up the cable box industry. In theory televisions with Cable Card slots would eliminate the box entirely, but the idea was dropped by manufacturers quickly.  Twenty years later the replacements for CableCARD's is being proposed by the FCC. The latest proposal follows:
Unlocking the box: Free apps will give consumers choice to access content on a variety of devices Apps will liberate consumers from set-top boxes: The new rules will require pay-TV providers to offer to consumers a free app, controlled by the pay-TV provider, to access all the programming they pay for on a variety of devices, including tablets, smartphones, gaming systems, streaming devices or smart TVs. Consumers will no longer have to pay monthly rental fees for a box: While consumers will still pay their monthly subscription fees for the service, they will be able to download an app to devices they purchase or already own to access pay-TV service, so they are no longer forced to rent boxes from their pay-TV provider. Of course, a consumer may choose to keep their set-top box and enjoy their pay-TV programming as they do today. Availability for innovators: Pay-TV providers must provide their apps to widely deployed platforms, such as Roku, Apple iOS, Windows and Android. Doing so will spur competition in the marketplace to develop new competitive products like next-generation streaming devices, smart TVs and tablets. Integrated Search: Consumers will be able to search across all pay-TV content Real cross-platform search: Pay-TV providers must enable consumers’ ability to search the content in their service, both linear and on-demand, alongside other video services accessible through the device. This means consumers will be able to search their programming options in one place whether from their pay-TV provider, an over-the-top service or a programmer’s standalone app. No discrimination in search: Pay-TV providers may not require a platform or device to promote the pay-TV app over other sources of programming in the search function. Ease of access: Pay-TV providers must provide consumers with an equivalent ability to access content via the pay-TV app as they have in the set-top box. Pay-TV providers must also make it as easy for a subscriber to access programming inside a programmer’s app, including authentication of the subscriber, as it is to reach programming inside the pay-TV app. Independent and minority programming: Smaller and independent programmers will be better able to reach broad audiences under the new rules, even if they are not carried by cable or satellite, because their content will be easily searchable on the same device as pay-TV content. For those programmers already on a pay-TV system, their channel position, advertising and contracts remain in place, since the pay-TV provider will control the content end-to-end. Protecting Copyrights & Contracts: Honoring the sanctity of contracts through pay-TV control of the app and related software Pay-TV content will only be opened by the pay-TV app, thus using the robust security protocols already built in to pay-TV apps. In addition, programming will continue to be controlled by the pay-TV provider from end-to-end, protecting content and maintaining all contracts and agreements currently in place. The pay-TV’s software will manage the full suite of linear and on-demand programming licensed by the pay-TV provider. Maintains strong protections for copyrighted content: Copyrights and licensing agreements will remain in place. The proposed final rules maintain important aspects of the traditional video distribution regime by leaving the control of the app and related software in the hands of the pay-TV providers. Existing content distribution deals, licensing terms and conditions are unchanged. Since the pay-TV provider controls its own app, deals made between pay-TV providers and content providers are not affected by this proposal. As pay-TV providers continue to oversee the delivery of content to consumers, all arrangements regarding channel lineups, advertising and distribution remain intact. Pay-TV companies retain their customers and will still receive a monthly subscription fee for the content they provide – consumers will simply have new ways to access that content. Standard License: The proposed final rules require the development of a standard license governing the process for placing an app on a device or platform. A standard license will give device manufacturers the certainty required to bring innovative products to market. Programmers will have a seat at the table to ensure that content remains protected. The license will not affect the underlying contracts between programmers and pay-TV providers. The FCC will serve as a backstop to ensure that nothing in the standard license will harm the marketplace for competitive devices. Technology-Neutral Standards: Removing barriers to innovation, speeding products to market Open standards: The proposed rules do not mandate a specific standard for app development. Rather, the rules would require pay-TV providers to make software available on all widely deployed platforms, such as Roku, Apple iOS, Windows and Android. Pay-TV providers can provide the software for their apps to these platforms in a variety of manners, including HTML5 or native apps. Consumers should get to choose from a wide range of devices to access the content for which they’ve paid, and apps on common consumer devices will enable this choice. Flexibility, not mandates: Pay-TV providers will have flexibility in how they comply with the rules. They may choose to develop apps themselves or provide the necessary code to a thirdparty developer to develop an app on behalf of the pay-TV provider. Enforceable timeframe: Large providers will have two years to fully implement the new requirements, medium sized providers will have an additional two years to comply. Limiting burdens on smaller providers: Smaller operators (those with fewer than 400,000 subscribers) will not have to comply with the requirements, but may provide apps or software as appropriate for their business. Consumer Protection: Emergency alerts, privacy and accessibility The proposal seeks to ensure that important consumer protections like emergency alerting, privacy and accessibility will apply by requiring compliance as a condition of the license and requiring third parties to make pledges to consumers to enable enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission and State Attorneys General. Emergency Alert System (EAS): Because the service from the pay-TV provider is unaltered, consumers will have the same access to EAS alerts that they would using a rented set-top box and third-party devices will be prohibited from blocking the alerts Privacy: The FCC has a long history of protecting the privacy of consumers of communications services. Following the Federal Trade Commission’s input, the proposed rules would require that the privacy protections that exist today for consumers of pay-TV providers will be preserved no matter what device is used. Accessibility: Pay-TV apps must provide at least the same accessibility functions for people with disabilities that a set-top box provides. Third party devices may not block such functions and must adhere to the Commission’s accessibility rules. |
| September 14th, 2016 at 3:41:24 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 | No interest in this thread so far. The Cable company (RCN) rents us a 6 tuner DVR with a 1 TB drive and TiVo software for $20 a month. Right now we are getting two slaves controllers for free. Although TiVo was primarily a retail company, they now have contracts to work directly with the following cable companies.  RCN rents a CableCARD™ for $2.00 per month. You have the option of purchasing a box where the CableCARD™ can be inserted. The following box pictured below only costs $100 and is very limited in functionality, but in theory you can always buy something with a reasonable payback time compared to renting equipment.  What the cable companies and FCC have been saying is that CableCARD™ is 1990's technology, and they would like to replace it with an app. Of course, standard dumb televisions have no processing power and nowhere to install an app, so CableCARD™ will probably remain in fairly widespread use for another decade. |
| September 14th, 2016 at 4:35:51 PM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 | My cable is exceedingly simple. It's just the tiny box that tunes the programs, and a coaxial cable to the TV (still, and I suppose I don't get HD this way). No TiVo, no TiVo-like gadget, no output to the PC, no WiFi, no cards; it may as well have come straight out of the 1600s or so :) Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
| September 14th, 2016 at 5:24:41 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
Does it give you Video On Demand (either free or pay per view)? This box is the simplest one I've seen. It doesn't deliver HD, it's digital input but purely analog output, and it has no CableCARD. It does have a coaxial RF out, but it also has RCA jacks for composite output.  This box is rentable now for $2 a month from my cable company. |
| September 15th, 2016 at 8:06:20 PM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
That's exactly what I have in my room. The remote's a bit different, though.
No clue. If you punch the "MENU" button, the very first item onscreen is "ON DEMAND" but I've never tried it. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
| September 16th, 2016 at 7:22:40 AM permalink | |
| ams288 Member since: Apr 21, 2016 Threads: 29 Posts: 12531 | I just went through my yearly "call the cable company and threaten to leave unless they give me a new promotion" routine last month. It worked like a charm as always. I have ATT Uverse, which I have been pretty happy with. But my promotion was ending and my bill was going to rise to over $220 a month, so I called... The first guy was clearly in India and offered me some crappy new deal. I said, "At this point I think Comcast would be better for me..." and he immediately transferred me over to a customer retention specialist located in Columbus who got me a great new deal.... With their new deal with DirecTV, I think ATT is slowly phasing out their Uverse TV service and pushing customers towards keeping their internet and switching TV service to DirecTV. I fear next year when I go through this process again I'll have to switch to DirecTV. “A straight man will not go for kids.” - AZDuffman |
| September 16th, 2016 at 1:28:09 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
In the USA, Video on Demand was originally called "pay-per-view" and the first high profile event was Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in September 1975. Sugar Ray Leonard brought in a lot of money with his fight in 1980 with Roberto Durán and on September 16, 1981, when Sugar Ray Leonard fought Thomas "Hitman" Hearns for the World Welterweight Championship. The first pay-per-view football game on October 16, 1983 and movies were available starting in 1985. In 1999 digital video recorders were introduced and quickly began to replace video cassette recorders. While initially DVR's were only sold retail, they were popular enough that nearly all the cable companies will rent them as an option. As DVRs make it much easier to skip commercials, network television became much more interested in encouraging people to keep watching commercials. "Pay per view" expanded to include network television (usually 12 hours after it was broadcast) and the phrase was modified to "video on demand" (VOD) to signify that most of it was free viewings. VOD has all the pause and rewind functions, but they tend to disable the fast forward button so you can't FF through commercials. People are less careful about recording shows, so by watching them on VOD instead, they end up not being able to skip the commercials. Hulu is now charging $8 a month for TV with commercials, and $12 a month for TV with no commercials. On average the TV companies would rather collect $4 in cash than trying to sell commercial time. |
| September 16th, 2016 at 2:24:57 PM permalink | |
| Face Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 61 Posts: 3941 |
Do you sell these services? Might be cheaper for me to hire you than to track down Jeff Bewkes and waterboard him for the next eleventy eternities =p Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it. |
| September 17th, 2016 at 12:28:33 AM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
No they don't get High Definition. They were introduced by Motorola in 2005 and sold to cable companies for $79 apiece, which was considered an extremely low price for a box that could be used with digital transmission. Cable companies in the USA bought millions of them and they were a workhorse for about 2 years. After 1 July 2007, the new FCC rules went into effect cable companies were required not to issue any new boxes with "integrated security. The non-integrated security circuits are on the CableCARD, which can be inserted into many kinds of devices including retail devices. The Motorola DCT-700 could be reused as long as they function, so the cable companies cannot issue new ones. You can rent a CableCARD from your cable company, and FCC says they typically rent between $2 and $4 per month.  Because the ban has been in place since July 2007 in the USA, I think boxes that deliver High Definition television all require a CableCARD. I don't think the SCT in Mexico requires the cable companies to use such CableCARD, and Motorola still sells the Motorla box in Mexico. |
| September 17th, 2016 at 8:41:38 AM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
Oh, I know what it is. The name's have even evolved the same way "Pago por evento," is now "video en demanda." I've just never used it.
In 1995, the cable company removed all the network channels from the US, rendering its offering worse than useless (it still cost money, you see). By 1996, though, they added channels that had network shows. These go by names like "Warner" "Sony" "FOX" "Universal" "AXN" and a few others. But they also rerun their own first-run shows so much and so often, that any kind of recorder isn't necessary. I never used my VCR to record much, mostly to watch movie rentals. So when the DVRs came along, I wasn't interested. Take The Big Bang Theory. It's on Tuesdays at 9 pm, first run, but they'll rerun that ep Saturdays at 7 am and 3 pm. They also rerun older season in strip, every day at around 9 am and 3 pm. What need to record it? I do have Netflix Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |