--Company Launches Online Entertainment Service, Fancast
--Teams with Panasonic on New tru2way (OCAP) Devices
US cable MSO, Comcast, generated a fair amount of interactive TV-related news at CES in Las Vegas last week:
- The company announced an initiative called "Project Infinity," which it says will "give consumers the ability to watch any movie, television show, user-generated content or other video that a producer wants to make available" on its VOD service, Comcast On Demand. In order to support the expansion and opening up of its VOD service, Comcast plans to create a system of library servers in several key locations around the country. The MSO says that a key factor in its decision to exponentially expand its VOD offering is that the latter is proving highly successful with its customers: it claims that the service, which offers around 10,000 selections per month, is being used 100 times per second, is generating 275 million views a month, and has generated a total of over 6 billion views since 2003. Comcast also announced that, starting next year, it plans to offer over 6,000 VOD movies a month, of which around half will be in HD (it currently offers around 1,300 movies a month); and that, by the end of this year, it plans to make available over 1,000 HD movies and TV shows a month.
- The company's Comcast Interactive Media arm announced a new online service, called Fancast, which allows users to view programming, search for video content (whether on Fancast itself, on the Internet in general, on TV, or in movie theaters), and manage their content choices. The service provides instant access to around 3,000 hours of free, streaming, full-length programming from broadcast networks and channels (including CBS, NBC's and Fox's Hulu, MTV Networks and BET Networks), as well as movie trailers and other short-form content. It also provides local program listings (including listings from competing pay-TV services), and a tool called "Watch it," that lets users know where (on Fancast, on linear-TV, on VOD, online, on DVD or in theaters) they can find a particular piece of content. In addition, the site features a search tool which Comcast claims allows searches of over 11 million Web pages that contain information on over 50,000 TV shows, 80,000 movies and 1.2 million people; a recommendation engine that suggests content based on end-users' past viewing behavior; and a feature called "Six Degrees," that allows users to "explore the connections between TV shows, movies, cast and crew." Comcast says that it is also planning a number of enhancements to Fancast. They include: the ability to program DVR recordings from the PC (slated for later this year); a feature, called "Watch List," that will "organize and catalog upcoming programming, set a personalized play list and send reminders to users about what they should watch in the future based on previous preferences"; and the ability for end-users to use their PC's to add content to a folder in their VOD menu (slated for 2009). "Our goal with Fancast is to make entertainment consumption amazingly simple," Amy Banse, president of Comcast Interactive Media, said in a prepared statement. "In this new age of interactive media, where entertainment is available everywhere, Fancast helps consumers find what they are looking for and manage their entertainment experience across multiple platforms. For people who want their content and information immediate and easy to find, Fancast is the ultimate one-stop shop."
- Together with consumer electronics giant, Panasonic, the company announced a series of new products powered by tru2way technology (i.e. OCAP--see article in this issue on the cable industry's move to rebrand OCAP as "tru2way"). The products include integrated plasma HDTV's, an HD DVR/receiver, and a portable DVR. "When we announced our plans to test and develop a fully interactive digital cable-enabled HDTV based on CableLabs' OpenCable technologies at CES 2007, we looked forward with anticipation and determination to the actual launch of this revolutionary product," Toshihiro Sakamoto, president of Panasonic AVC Networks Co, said in a prepared statement. "At CES 2008, we are pleased to announce that Panasonic is partnering with Comcast, a cable-industry leader, to meet that goal. Indeed, Panasonic will not only deliver a Panasonic Viera Plasma HDTV with tru2way technology later this year, we are also announcing the first portable DVR and digital cable set-top boxes powered by tru2way technology, all of which truly allow consumers to maximize their enjoyment of digital cable television programming." The new plasma HDTV's, which can access two-way interactive TV services without using a set-top box, represent the addition of tru2way support to selected models in Panasonic's Viera product line, and are slated for availability in retail later this year; the new tru2way HD DVR/receiver, which is currently in trials, is designed for use with non-tru2way-capable TV sets, and is scheduled to be delivered to Comcast later this year; and the portable DVR, dubbed the AnyPlay P-DVR and sporting a folding 8.5-inch LCD screen, is scheduled for availability in early 2009. The AnyPlay P-DVR, which was jointly developed by Comcast and Panasonic, comes with a companion docking station that functions as a tru2way-enabled set-top box, allowing the device to receive and record up to 60 hours of TV programs. It can also play back DVD's and audio CD's.
Published in Issue 7.58 Part 3 January 14, 2008 Subscribe: http://www.itvt.com
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