Michael's Insight

Gmail bug causing users to lose email

Google probing lost Gmail messages, contacts [CNET News]

If you're a user of Google's Gmail, there's a very small chance that you may be missing some of the emails in your inbox. According to Google, around 0.08 percent of Gmail users are affected by an unknown bug that has casued them to lose access to emails, contacts and folders stored in their Gmail account.

While eight-hundredths of one percent may sound like an especially tiny number, consider that there are millions of Gmail users, so even a small percentage of users impacted means that there are thousands that may be missing email. Also, that's a number that was revised downward after the bug initially affected over three times as many users.

Google indicates that its engineers are working to retrieve the lost email of its Gmail users. 

Consumer group pushing proposal to have Netflix contribute to USF broadband

Consumer group wants to tax Netflix to pay for rural broadband [Hillicon Valley]

The Universal Service Fund (USF) is an $8 billion fund to subsidize phone services in rural and high-cost build-out areas. Recently, the FCC has begun a process to transition the fund from phone service to broadband service.

Using the fund for broadband is good public policy, but migrating to broadband also raises interesting questions about who should be contributing to the fund.

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) has stated that it believes Netflix should be forced to pay into the fund. In the CFA’s opinion, Netflix and other companies that eat up large amounts of bandwidth are just as responsible for funding broadband deployment as the providers themselves.

Mark Cooper, the director of research for CFA, compared Netflix to phone service tolls. Although they were not service providers, phone tolls paid into the USF because of the costs they imposed on phone service. Cooper believes Netflix imposes a similar toll and should be charged a similar tax.

Blair Levin, a former FCC official, stated that he wouldn’t be opposed to demanding contributions from companies like Netflix, but he stressed that before the contribution debate took place, the FCC needed to iron out the distribution process for USF funds. Levin worries that muddying the contributor debate with the distribution debate will end up in a “political stalemate” and the USF will remain the out-of-date fund it is today.

Rural phone companies are obviously in favor of contributions from high-bandwidth websites like Netflix. According to the chief executive of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, Netflix uses up roughly 10 percent of each provider’s bandwidth and they should be required to contribute for that high level of usage.

Google demotes search results for a second retailer this month

Google Penalizes Overstock for Search Tactics [Wall Street Journal]

Speaking of the real gatekeepers on the Internet...Overstock.com has been demoted in Google’s search results for taking measures to boost its Google search results ranking.

Recently any Google search for basic retail products seemed to turn up an Overstock entry as one of the top search results. However, now similar searches have Overstock on the fifth or sixth page of search results, drastically impacting the likelihood of someone clicking the link. This drop in search result ranking is Google’s reaction to tactics by Overstock to inflate its rank.

Overstock created a program to encourage college and university websites to post links to Overstock pages where students and faculty members could receive discounts on the sites. Though Google’s search algorithm is a trade secret, many experts believe that having web addresses ending in “.edu” linked to a commercial site could result in a very significant surge in Google’s rankings, due to the fact that very few educational sites tend to contain commercial links.

Google has a strict policy against artificial boosting of a site’s ranking. The practice of inflating search rankings is referred to as search engine optimization (SEO) and is employed by many companies to enhance their position in various search results. Some companies even hire services that specialize in SEO.

Google made its case clear to Overstock, who did dispute the allegations. Overstock claims it shut down the practice before Google reached out, but that many of the links have not yet been removed by the webmasters of the colleges and universities.

This is Google’s second search result demotion of a large retailer this month. Earlier in February, Google dropped J.C. Penney’s rating for tactics employed by a hired SEO consultant.

Slingbox mobile app for iOS now includes video out feature

Slingbox iPhone, iPad Apps Enable Video Out [Zatz Not Funny]

Several months ago, Slingbox launched its iPad and iPhone apps allowing Slingbox users to access their TV lineups from their Apple mobile devices. The app quickly became one of the highest grossing apps.

Now Slingbox has taken its app a step further by allowing for video out capabilities. That means that you can hook your iPhone up to a friend’s TV, access your home television via your mobile connection, and watch a program that’s saved on your home DVR.

Slingbox essentially gives you complete remote access to your home television setup allowing you to watch live TV, access DVR programming, or view an On Demand movie. The new video out feature allows you to remotely view these programs on screens larger than those of the iPhone or iPad.

The SlingPlayer app is available in the iTunes app store, but you will also need an advanced Slingbox installed at home to stream video to your iOS device.

Federal court issues injunction, shuts down ivi

Court Not Impressed With ivi’s Legal Loopholes, Shoots Online TV Broadcaster Down [TechDirt]

Did ivi find a loophole in the law allowing it to stream copyrighted broadcast programming online? Not according to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which has given a big thumbs down to ivi’s legal strategy and issued an injunction preventing the company from providing its video service. The Court argued that ivi was actually trying to thread two loopholes that contradict each other.

The company was capturing the over-the-air signals broadcasters air and transmitting the content over the internet for $4.99 per month.  The only problem was that ivi didn’t get the rights to stream any of the copyrighted content.

The company said that it was operating within a legal loophole in Section 111 of the Copyright Act. That section of the law provides a “compulsory license” to cable system operators to rebroadcast network programming. Ivi believed that it fell within the definition of “cable system” as interpreted in that Section of the Copyright Act.

The Court apparently didn't have a problem with allowing ivi to be a “cable system” as defined by the Copyright Act, but found that ivi could not also resist being defined as a cable system under the Communications Act. That law imposes FCC regulations that all cable operators must follow. The loophole ivi tried to work through was to fit within the Copyright Act definition, but stay out of the regulations imposed by the Communications Act. The Court didn’t agree with ivi’s theory and has shut down its operations.

ESPN expanding Masters 3D coverage

ESPN 3D is bringing five days of Masters coverage in April [EngadgetHD]

The 2010 Masters was one of ESPN’s first forays into 3D and it appears ESPN wants to build on that launch with the 2011 Masters this April.

ESPN has announced expanded 3D coverage of this year’s Masters tournament with two hours of 3D coverage on each of the five days. The Masters Par 3 contest takes place on Wednesday, April 6 with the tournament itself airing from Thursday through Sunday. ESPN will also, of course, be providing full HD coverage of the tournament with 4.5 hours per day, which they have done since 2008.

After announcing its plans for a 24/7 3D channel in January, ESPN has continued to invest in its 3D programming.

LG Introduces 3DTV with passive glasses

LG starts shipping new ‘flicker free’ 3D TVs with passive glasses [Engadget]

One of the most significant barriers to increased adoption of 3DTV is whether viewers can get comfortable wearing specialized and expensive glasses to watch television.

LG has now introduced a new 3DTV line that promises to alleviate the high cost, manufacturer-specific glasses that many current 3DTVs require. These sets have a special film over the front of the LCD screen (no plasmas are included in the line) which makes it possible to view 3D by using “flicker-free” or “passive” glasses, which are far less pricey than their battery-powered, active glasses used by most 3DTV manufacturers.

The more expensive 3D glasses are equipped with active shutter technology. While this does enhance the overall resolution of the images, it makes the glasses very expensive and limits users to using the glasses specifically made for the TV brand they have bought.  Active glasses also require either replaceable or rechargeable batteries.

LG’s new TV’s are scheduled to hit the U.S. in March. Vizio previously released a similar line of 3DTV’s that can be used with passive glasses. However, LG is claiming their sets are the first with “third-party endorsed ‘Flicker Free’ 3D images.”

Like a mini beta vs. VHS battle, TV manufacturers are divided into two camps over this issue.  However, this time, a dark horse technology may ultimately prevail -- a 3DTV that needs no glasses at all.

Netflix strikes deal for CBS programming

Netflix Signs 2-Year Partnership With CBS [Mashable]

Netflix has signed a two-year deal with CBS to bring the network's programming to the company's streaming service. In completing the partnership, Netflix has managed to secure deals with all four major broadcast networks to stream their content prior to Hulu. Hulu only has shows from FOX, ABC and NBC.

CBS content is also available on the network's web site and on TV.com.

Netflix's deal with CBS is non-exclusive, which means that other services may also ink deals with the network to stream its programming. 

If you're a Netflix subscriber, you should start seeing shows like "Cheers," "Medium," "Frasier," and episodes from the Star Trek franchise on the service starting in April.

Programmers paying attention to viewers' social media habits

TV Industry Taps Social Media to Keep Viewers’ Attention [NYT Bits]

As more viewers are turning to social media as a companion to their television viewing, programmers are looking for ways to cash-in on this activity. A perfect example can be seen in ABC’s Oscar plans. The network will be launching a new website where it hopes viewers will turn to find behind-the-scenes videos and chat about the awards with other viewers.

All of this is a reaction to the increasingly important role Facebook and Twitter are playing in television watching habits. Onw needn't look too hard to clearly see the correlation between social media trends and television viewership. Viewers are talking about what’s on TV and leading others to tune in to the shows they’re watching. It’s a way for viewers to feel as though they are in the same room as other viewers, sharing the program or witnessing a big event. Television programs are always well-represented in Twitter’s trending topics during evening hours.

Broadcasters used to worry that the Internet was takling viewers away from conventional television viewing.  In fact, the correlation between social media and television seems to be leading to higher ratings. Big events, like the Grammy Awards, are getting more viewers due, at least in some part, to the constant chatter on social media sites that occurred during the show. Smaller programs are also benefiting as social media is helping them find a larger audience.

In many ways, social media has provided a stronger water-cooler effect than the water-cooler itself, leading many viewers to feel as though they have to watch certain programs in order to take part in the conversation.  It's just that the conversation isn’t happening with a couple co-workers in the office, it’s happening online with millions of other viewers.

Programmers and social media companies are now looking for new ways to turn this correlation into capital. It feels as though there is a race to determine the best way to turn this multitasking into a new, enhanced viewer experience.

Many of the attempts at creating a new viewer experience are starting with cable programs, as networks are a little less likely to experiment with new services. Bravo, for instance, has started hosting online viewing parties for some of its shows, which have led to significant rating increases.

Whether it’s viewing parties or program-specific iPad apps, television will continue to be a popular topic for social media and social media will continue to enhance the television viewing experience.

Amazon launches streaming service for Prime customers

Amazon Launches Streaming Video Service [Broadband Reports]

Amazon already offers a streaming video service that provides a-la-carte, pay-per-view viewing of television shows and movies. Now, it's expanding that offering for it's Amazon Prime customers with access to 5,000 pieces of content that can be viewed without the a-la-carte pricing, similar to Netflix.

The service is a value-add for Amazon Prime customers, who have paid the company for a year's subscription to free, expedited shipping on orders placed through the online retailer. Now, in addition to shipping, Amazon Prime customers can stream movies through their television or an Amazon enabled set-top box. That includes a number of Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and Vizio televisions as well as Google TV devices, Roku and TiVo.

I wrote yesterday that Redbox also annouced plans to debut a similar service by the end of this year along with a technical partner. While Amazon could be the partner Redbox is working with on their streaming product, clearly both have a long way to go in this space against Netflix's 20 million current subscribers.  Although Netflix's growth is impressive, their space is getting very crowded. It remains to be seen how robust a market there really is.

Is Apple looking to manufacture a television set?

Apple could be working on television [CNET News]

Apple has been in the broadband-connected TV set-top for several years now and released the second version of its Apple TV  last fall. Now, a blog that covers Apple news and upcoming products has found some evidence that the company is working on making a television.

9to5Mac has published an article detailing a job posting from Apple for a person to work on "next-generation power supply technology." In the posting, the job description indicates that the power supplies involve standalone displays and TV. Because the description delineates the company's current LED computer displays from TV, it appears that Apple is at least exploring the creation of a television line.

Observers have wondered whether Apple would eventually transition its Apple TV product into an actual broadband-connected television with it's own integrated iOS. Given its success entering a new market with the iPhone, creating a new market with the iPad and the fact that Apple already manufactures display technology, there are many reasons in addition to this job posting that the company could be considering creating a television set. 

Redbox confirms plans to launch streaming service

Redbox's Streaming Service To Rival Netflix Still In The Works [Multichannel News]

A couple of years ago, we barely knew what Redbox was. Then it became the symbol of how rapidly the media world was changing by challenging powerhouse video rental icons like Blockbuster and now it's transforming itself into an online service just to stay alive.

The DVD and Blu-ray rental service with the ubiquitous red vending machines confirmed that it is working on a streaming video service that will compete with Netflix. According to the CEO of Coinstar, the company which owns Redbox, they are evaluating several potential partners to work with for the product because the price of going it alone was too steep.

Redbox's streaming product is now apparently in development, and is expected to launch before the end of this year. For now, Netflix holds the lion's share of the market in the streaming space, but Redbox has the potential of presenting a formidable competitor.

The company's red vending machines are in nearly 25,000 location nationwide, and have rented more than 1 billion DVDs. 

Don't be surprised if, in the not-too-distant future, the DVD joins the ranks of vinyl records.

Apple and Google release dueling subscription payment plans

Google announces One Pass, rival to Apple's subscription service [CNET News]

Earlier this week, Apple rolled out a new subscription payment plan for its iOS App Store for publishers to charge users for content like newspapers and magazines. Any content creator can create an application for an iOS device like the iPad or iPhone, but before this announcement, there wasn't a model that allowed them to charge and bill users for a subscription to ongoing content. 

Apple's subscription plan allows publishers to set the price for their content and the length of the subscription period. For subscribers that sign on through the publisher's site, then all revenues go to the publisher. But for subscribers that sign on through the App Store, the revenue is split 70/30 between the publisher and Apple respectively. 

Google followed-up with its own subscription payment plan one day after Apple's was announced. Calling it Google One Pass, it is set to provide publishers a rival product on which to sell subscriptions to content. While Google does not have a large base of tablet users like Apple has with it's iPad to lure publishers, it is offering them a better cut on their revenue sharing. Instead of Apple's 70/30 split, Google One Pass publishers receive 90 percent of all subscription revenue.

Google also allows publishers to retain their subscribers' data, something that Apple's subscription payment plan does not provide for.

Both plans offer content creators - namely newspaper and magazine publishers - an opportunity to create a revenue stream by charging users to access their online content. As publishers look for ways to stem the tide of decreasing traditional subscribership and sagging traditional revenues, these programs offer a real potential remedy to their otherwise dying business model.

U.S. House votes to defund net neutrality enforcement

House votes to stop FCC funding for net neutrality [Washington Post]

The FCC's network neutrality rules are already the subject of a lawsuit filed by Verizon and MetroPCS seeking to overtun them on jurisdictional grounds. As of Thursday, they're also under assault in Congress, as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to deny funding to the FCC for the rules' enforcement budget.

The House voted 244 to 181 in approving an amendment to a spending bill that denied the FCC funding for net neutrality enforcement. The measure was championed by the Republican majority in that chamber, and the vote was largely along party lines.

Of course, for the measure to become law it must be approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Obama. It faces an uncertian future in the Senate. Republicans in that body have filed a similar measure, but they don't have a majority, although there might be enough Democrats to make it a horserace. Even so, President Obama, a supporter of the FCC's actions on net neutrality, would be unlikely to sign a bill that effectively overturns the new rules.

Study shows average broadband connection is over 9 Mbps

InStat: Average U.S. Connection 9.54 Mbps [Broadband Reports]

InStat, a research firm that publishes annual data on broadband speeds in the U.S., has released their latest batch of research showing a continued increase in the average U.S. broadband connection speed.

According to this data, broadband connections across the U.S. achieved an average of 9.54 Mbps downstream in 2010. This is an impressive 34 percent higher than the 7.12 Mbps average found in 2009, and a significant increase from the 3.8 Mbps average speed in 2007.

At the same time, the average cost for broadband connections in the U.S. has increased only 4 percent from 2009.

InStat points to cable broadband and fiber-to-the-home as being the strongest drivers of these broadband speed increases, particularly with more and more cable operators moving to DOCSIS 3.0 technology. InStat also mentions that broadband competition, including mobile wireless broadband growth, is a significant cause in the continued increases in U.S. broadband speeds.

Defining a net neutrality violation & how that created a Comcastic opportunity for mischief

FCC tries to define net rule breach [Politico]

I’ve spent plenty of time on this blog discussing the FCC’s journey toward a net neutrality ruling. There has been detailed coverage of the various FCC agendas and hearings, as well as the various parties who have expressed their support or opposition to the policy.

One thing that hasn’t been determined through all of this back-and-forth is what truly constitutes a violation of the FCC’s net neutrality rules.

The FCC’s goals are pretty clear. They want to prevent ISPs from behavior that could hinder competition and innovation. What that behavior looks like, however, is not so clear. Why?  Because no one really knows how to define all the theoretical bad things ISP's could do.  Instead, the Commission wisely decided to provide ISP's with a rough idea of what they can and can't do and then to review behavior on an individual event basis.

Indeed, the first claim of violating net neutrality has already been filed against MetroPCS for allegedly unfairly capping usage of some applications in some of the provider’s pricing plans. MetroPCS then fired back by challenging the net neutrality regulations themselves in court.

But much more interesting was when a net neutrality claim was made against Comcast (though it never rose to the level of a formal complaint by Level3), one of Comcast's backbone providers. What happened was that Level3 altered its relationship with Netflix, resulting in a huge increase in traffic into Comcast's network.  Level3 claimed that Comcast sought to unfairly improve its economic relationship with Level3 when the traffic flow changed. 

Here's the real scoop.  Most ISP/backbone agreements anticipate approximate relationships between inbound and outbound traffic.  It has always been the industry standard to review those assumptions on a fairly regular basis and adjust the payments from one to the other accordingly.  When Level3 and Netflix altered their distribution agreement, the balance between sending and receiving data between the Comcast network and the Level3 backbone was so dramatically changed that Comcast simply sought, in the normal course of business, to reset their fee structure with Level3.  

Despite all the wild accusations, this was never about Comcast trying to block Netflix from Comcast's network; it was simply an attempt to have their existing economic relationship updated to reflect a significant change in usage patterns.  And it's simply a fact that their acquisition of NBC couldn't have come at a better time giving a group of opportunists a great chance to try to take advantage.

AllVid proponent advocates for double standard

Lobbying for an Unlevel Playing Field [Multichannel News]

Todd Spangler at Multichannel News has a good post about the FCC's proposed AllVid standard and the double standard of one of its advocates.  AllVid is the FCC proposal to replace CableCards and require all cable, satellite and phone companies to install a device designed accept and combine multiple streams of video for distribution within a premise.  It's a perfect expample of government intervention in the marketplace.

Enter Public Knowledge.  During the highly publicized approval of the recent deal between Comcast and NBC Universal, the non-profit interest group that claims to defendintellectual property rights, competition, and open internet, applauded the federal government's conditions on the deal that would "lead to equal treatment of online video and cable or satellite video" with regards to program distribution.

However, when it comes to Public Knowledge's stance with regard to AllVid their standard was reversed.

John Bergmayer, attorney for Public Knowledge, has gone on the record saying that online video distributors (Netflix, Apple, etc.) should not be held to the same standards and restrictions as cable and satellite providers. Bergmayer’s explanation seems to be that both cable and satellite providers are given “special privileges under the law” that online video distributors do not receive.

What are these special privileges? According to Bergmayer, cable and satellite providers enjoy the legal privilege of negotiating retransmission agreements with broadcasters. Bergmayer goes on to claim that because of these privileges, “it is entirely justified to treat cable differently.” 

Mr. Bergmayer, trust me.  If you want your online buddies to have the "privilege" of being forced to negotiate retransmission agreements with broadcasters as we are, not one cable or satellite operator would object.  Go for it!!

In other words, Public Knowledge for some reason feels that although online distributors should have the same access to broadcaster programming, they shouldn’t have to open their video services to the new FCC technical standard of AllVid.

It's clearly a double standard. An open standard should mean open for all providers, both traditional and online. But that doesn't appear to be the intent of AllVid advocates. To them, open means open for one set of video providers but not for traditional providers who would not have that same privilege, should online providers begin producing their own programming.

They may claim to represent the public, but many "public interest groups" receive large sums of money from companies.  And then they argue, unabashedly, seeking the help of the government to give their donors a leg up in the free market.

Swiss cable provider tests 1.37 Gbps broadband

Cablecom Achieves 1.37 Gbps On HFC Plant [Cable360.net]

I've chronicled the various tests being conducted with DOCSIS technologies to reach unbelievably high broadband speeds. These tests stretch HFC (hybrid fiber-coax) cable to new limits of internet speed.

In a window to the future, Swiss cable provider cablecom, recently was able to reach speeds as high as 1.37 Gbps through a basic HFC. The test did not do anything to alter the state of the coaxial cable itself, instead focusing on the modem and other new equipment provided by Cisco.

Again, these are merely tests.  Modems that are currently in the marketplace are not equipped to handle speeds this high. Laptops, network equipment, and other devices don’t have the ability yet either. For this test, Cisco developed new technology that could achieve the high broadband speed.

But it does confirm that the HFC platform will remain competitive and robust for many years to come.

Google allows users to block sites from search results

Google unveils anti-content farm Chrome tool [CNET News]

The New York Times published a story this weekend about how one prominent retailer used so-called "black hat" methods to improve its standings in Google's search results. That story was among several others recently that focused on how many companies are gaming the search giant's core business, which prides itself on an algorithm that operates independent of human intervention. The problem that Google faces: a committed group of search engine optimization specialists are hard at work every day reverse engineering that algorithm in order to move specific pages higher in Google's PageRank.

Google is fighting back. In addition to manually adjusting their results to demote the retailer highlighed in the Times' reporting, the company has also just released an extention for its Chome browser that effectively lets users make similar manual adjustments to search results.

Called the Personal Blocklist, users can specify sites that they don't wish to show up in their Google search results. For instance, users searching for how-to information on the web can opt to block any number of content farm sites from their results using the extension. Users can unblock sites at any time from the extension's settings.

Google claims to be studying the sites that users block for potential inclusion in their search algorithm. 

Netflix expanding to Android devices

Netflix Streaming Coming To Android [Broadband Reports]

It appears the next generation of Android devices will be equipped with new Snapdragon processors that will allow Netflix streaming.

Netflix has been open about their struggles to gain the security and content protection needed to offer the streaming video service. The issue boiled down to getting adequate DRM to satisfy Hollywood studios. DRM (digital rights management) is the technology that can limit the use of digital content. Think of it as the digital manifestation of copyright protection.

Apple has had Netflix streaming availability for iOS devices for some time now. It’s not surprising that it took Android a little longer considering the open nature of Android. Apple’s walled garden, along with their familiarity with DRM, undoubtedly gave them an upper hand on securing the DRM needed for Netflix streaming. There were also challenges presented by Android fragmentation on a number of devices.

Qualcomm, the producer of the Snapdragon processor, will be showing the Netflix capabilities of Android at an event at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Don’t be surprised if these devices are available as early as second quarter this year.

Bing gains on Google's search share from December to January

Bing continues to grab more searches [CNET News]

When it comes to search market share, Google is still in position of huge unquestioned dominance, but recent numbers released by net metrics firm comScore indicate that Microsoft's Bing is making small gains against the search giant. According to comScore, from December of last year to January, Google lost one point of search market share, dropping from 66.6 to 65.6 percent. At the same time, Bing moved from 12 percent to 13.1.

While a point of search share may not seem like a lot, consider that web users in the U.S. performed 16.9 billion searches during January. That's nearly 170 million monthly searches moving from Google to Microsoft. 

Experian's Hitwise report for January tended to confirm the comScore data, showing a drop in traffic to Google and an increase in Bing's.

House subcommittee holds hearing on broadband stimulus oversight

House Hearing: Political Divide Over Broadband Stimulus [Broadcasting and Cable]

The 2009 economic stimulus included $7.2 billion to fund two programs aimed at expanding the adoption of broadband. Last Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee held a hearing aimed at discussing the program's oversight and results.

Of the $7.2 billion, $4.7 billion was assigned to the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) overseen by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The other $2.5 billion was managed by the Rural Utilities Service’s (RUS) as the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP).

Part of the hearing's testimony centereed around the use of stimulus funds to overbuild existing broadband providers. One of the witnesses, Eagle Communications President and CEO Gary Shorman, discussed how the government had provided over $100 million to a recipient to build out broadband in areas his company and AT&T already serve in western Kansas.

One member of the panel, Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois mentioned an instance in his district that involved a grant to a wireless provider that overbuilt an existing wireline broadband provider. The existing provider's broadband speeds were also faster than the wireless overbuilder.

The broadband stimulus was proposed to provide broadband to Americans without access, not to subsidize broadband deployment in places that are already served. Last week's hearing served as the beginning of an important discussion about the program, its goals and results. 

FOX threatens affiliates with programming blackout if they balk at programming fee increases

Fox Takes Hard Line With Affiliates In Tussle Over Fees [WSJ]

I've written with increasing frequency about the problems inherent in the current retransmission rules that govern negotiations between broadcasters and video providers. What’s not discussed often enough is the role that the networks often play in those negotiations, even when they're not the station owners.

The local broadcast affiliates and their owners are the ones who collect retransmission fees from cable and satellite distributors, but many times it's the national broadcasters (NBC, FOX, ABC, CBS) who are, behind the scene, demanding higher programming fees from local affiliates. This is part of what leads to local broadcasters demanding huge increases in fees from distributors who are forced to pay to continue being able to provide these channels to their customers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that News Corp, which owns FOX (and the Wall Street Journal, for that matter), is unabashedly promising to drop any local FOX affiliates that refuse to pay increased programming fees to News Corp. In other words, if WDRB in Louisville refused to pay an increased fee, News Corp will simply cut WDRB off from receiving FOX programming.

Because national broadcast programming and live sporting events are some of the most popular programs local affiliates broadcast, local affiliates are largely at the mercy of the network when it comes to a demand of this nature.

On last week’s earnings call for News Corp, COO Chase Carey unveiled a plan by which FOX plans gain an additional $1 billion in annual earnings over the next two years through fees collected from local affiliates, who then attempt to pass on those costs to cable and satellite providers and ultimately end up costing customers.

Apparently Carey believes that $1 billion of additional revenue is worth exploiting the network's relationship with affiliates that broadcast FOX’s programming and the cable and satellite customers who are their viewers. Further, it’s not as though News Corp is looking at $1 billion gains because their programming is in higher demand or they’ve expanded their viewership and ad revenue. They want to gain an additional $1 billion by simply hiking their programming fees regardless of how they are doing in the ratings.

As I’ve stated before, this is a broken system. There are no natural market checks on broadcasters, who are allowed to negotiate exclusive rights to major events like the Super Bowl or March Madness and then use those monopoly-like powers to force distributors, and ultimately consumers, to pay up or lose their favorite programs.

NCAA Tournament television schedule announced – cable nets to have major presence

Cable will make TV Madness less maddening [USA Today]

Last April, Turner Sports and CBS announced they were teaming up as broadcast partners for the NCAA's marquee event, the men's basketball tournament. The deal, which covers 14 years and cost $10.8 billion, means that each tournament game will be broadcast live for the first time in the 73-year history of the event.

At the time of the announcement, Greg Shaheen, the NCAA's interim executive vice president of championships and business strategies, said, “I think people won't understand until March how prominent their (Turner's) role is going to be in this agreement."

After yesterday's television schedule announcement, I think they may begin to have a better understanding much sooner than that.

The schedule reveals that three of Turner’s cable channels (TBS, TNT and truTV) will host all 4 play-in games, 24 of the 32 first round games (including many of the higher seeded games), 9 of the 16 second round games and half of the Sweet 16 games. In all, 41 of the tournament's 69 games will be seen exclusively on a cable channel.

One of the things that stands out about the announcement is, based on the brackets, a viewer wouldn’t see an advancing tournament #1 seed on CBS until the Elite 8. And if the seeding turns out as several of the “bracketologists” have predicted, it looks likely that several of UK, UofL and OSU’s tournament games may be on cable.

All of this signifies a tremendous shift in how we’ll be watching one of the most popular events in all of sports this March. It also demonstrates the continued development and growing influence of cable networks across all programming platforms, especially when you consider that the tournament’s title game will begin alternating between Turner’s cable channels and CBS in 2016.

As the individual games are announced, we’ll be sure to have the channel lineup handy for customers on our website at SportsOnInsight.com.

And when March Madness does kick-off, don’t forget to tune into the only daily program dedicated to Kentucky sports, Kentucky Sports TV with Matt Jones airing each weeknight at 7:30 pm and 11:00 pm on Insight’s cn|2.

We know how much our customers love sports, especially college basketball. In fact, the Louisville television market led the nation in NCAA tournament viewing last year (averaging a 16.6 rating through the first 2 rounds) and has led the country in average viewership for the NCAA championship game in each of the past 10 years.

Insight has always worked to provide our customers with the best sports coverage and this announcement is further reflection of that commitment.

Netflix reports that one third-party streaming device responsible for large increase in API hits

Which Box is Making All Those Netflix API Requests? [Zatz Not Funny]

In the past four months, Netflix has experienced a large jump in their total API (application programming interface) requests. In other words, the total number of times the Netflix interface was accessed in order to request content increased drastically since October of 2010. An API request occurs whenever a user's third-party device (like a Nintendo Wii, an Internet entabled TV or a Roku box) communicates with the Netflix service.

In fact, there was one undisclosed Netflix streaming device in particular that was responsible for around 50% of all API requests during that period. Unfortunately for Netflix, the drastic increases on this device have not correlated to similar jumps in overall streaming traffic for Netflix. Since there are more requests but not proportionally higher traffic levels actually using their streaming service.  It is likely that signals on this particular device are being dropped, resulting in a greater number of API requests required to access the content -- in other words, a technical breakdown. 

Netflix is taking a close look at its API to see if there are improvements that can be made to improve efficiency. While they’re looking for ways to tweak their API, Netflix also plans to lower the amount of bits delivered for each request.

All of this is not to say that the amount of traffic associated with Netflix viewing has not grown in recent months or that it won't continue to grow at a rapid pace in the future, it's just that one third-party device is overcommunicating with the Netflix API.

Even though the company reported the issue on its technical blog, Netflix is keeping quiet about which streaming device or box is frequently dropping signals resulting in the API request spike.