Five companies that want to break up your cable bundle
photo: HarshPatel;Photographer
Want to get rid of your big and expensive cable bundle? So does your cable company. And in that quest, it is joined by some unlikely frenemies. Read more »
Q4 Earnings roundup: Verizon, Apple move iPhones, Google gets clicks
How did the most important public companies on GigaOM’s radar fare in the fourth quarter? Here’s our roundup of quarterly report cards. Read more at GigaOM »
FIOS TV exec: Cord cutting is growing, and changing the TV biz
Many cable TV operators still argue that cord cutting doesn’t exist, but Verizon’s FIOS TV director Maitreyi Krishnaswamy thinks it’s real, and growing. But that’s not all: Krishnaswamy is also arguing that it might change the industry by putting pressure on studios. Read more »
paidContent turns 10: A brief history of digital media
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do — that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002. Read more »
Verizon/Redbox video service has name and exec team, begins testing
The joint venture will operate under the name “Redbox Instant by Verizon” and will be headed by former Verizon FiOS executive Shawn Strickland. It’s still unknown as to what kind of programming it will offer and at what price. Read more »
DoJ to investigate cable companies; will cord cutters get a respite?
The Department of Justice is looking into the power that cable providers have over how and where consumers can access television content via the Internet. It’s a step that acknowledges the vertical integration of cable as well as their control over the last mile. Read more at GigaOM »
Verizon’s Redbox service: more Netflix than TV Everywhere
Speaking at an investor conference Wednesday, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said his company’s joint venture with Coinstar’s Redbox will seek to leverage the DVD-rental kiosk operator’s 30 million customers and not so much on Verizon FiOS’ nearly 4.4 million customers. Read more »
Verizon stands up for its users in copyright lawsuit
Verizon Communications has had a history of standing up against publishers seeking to subpoena information about its subscribers and their downloading habits, so it’s not a big surprise to see Big Red telling John Wiley’s lawyers to stuff it. Read more at GigaOM »
For Comcast, data equals big dollars
Comcast, the largest broadband provider in the US is getting bigger and bigger. During the first quarter of 2012, the company added 439,000 net new high-speed Internet customers to bring the final tally to 18.58 million and had broadband revenues of $2.32 billion. Read more »
Want to see how close TV and broadband are? Check out this chart.
Congress, along with many in the content industry, are wondering about the fate of television in an Internet Age. I think the future is broadband, and I’d like to offer this chart from Sandvine, showing that the future is already here. Read more »
Woman sues Verizon for lying about Internet speed
A California woman claims that Verizon talked her into buying a faster internet plan even though it didn’t have the technological capability to deliver what it promised. Read more »
The Good And Bad News From The Latest Pay TV Subscriber Figures
photo: Shutterstock / artenot
The good news for the traditional subscription TV industry: subscriber counts across the cable/satellite/telco television services industry… Read more »
Why Verizon Is Killing DSL And Cheap Broadband
photo: Flickr / pasukaru76
The slow death of DSL will cause the rapid rise of expensive broadband for underserved areas if Verizon’s Fusion home broadband service is a… Read more »
It's Baaaack. Net Neutrality To Get Its Day In Court
photo: Flickr / Mom Smackley
Like some hideous policy monster that won’t go away, network neutrality is hitting the headlines again. Verizon and Metro PCS, the two opera… Read more »
Can't Say We Saw It Coming: Redbox Re-Ups Universal Deal With 28-Day Window
photo: Eddie Does Japan
Yesterday, we suggested that video-rental chain Redbox might have to cave on its demand for 28-day release window with Universal, and wind u… Read more »
Why Redbox Might Have To Agree To 56-Day Windows, Too
photo: Eddie Does Japan
The last year has been pretty good to Redbox. The rental kiosk chain is about to embark on a new streaming venture with Verizon, and has bee… Read more »
Cord Cutting Can Wait: Subscription TV Added 343,000 Subs in Q4
photo: Shutterstock / artenot
Correction: A previous version of this story reported an increase of 343 million subs. We apologize for the error.
With the rise of Netflix… Read more »
Verizon’s LTE Outage Problems Just Won’t Stop
Verizon’s continuing struggle to keep its LTE network running consistently has landed it in the news again. Wednesday morning, Verizon Wirel… Read more »
A New ‘Stream Team’? Verizon And Redbox Take On Netflix
photo: Eddie Does Japan
Offering perhaps the most defined threat to streaming movie leader Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) so far, Verizon and Redbox parent company Cointstar… Read more »
Report: China Telecom Will Finally Get The iPhone 4S In February
Another piece in Apple’s worldwide expansion looks like it might at long last be coming into view: the leading CDMA operator in China, China… Read more »
Verizon Says More Than 600 Websites Used In Cybersquatting Scam
In a case that shines light on the world of professional cybersquatters, Verizon is suing a website and a domain name registrar that placed… Read more »
AT&T: The iPhone Was Good, But Not Good Enough To Hold Off A Q4 Loss
photo: Flickr / NontrivialMatt
A set of quarterly results today from AT&T (NYSE: T) that underscored some of the aftershocks the carrier is feeling in the wake of its fail… Read more »
Media Buyers: Plenty Of Ads Still Unsold For First Streamed Super Bowl
The ultimate “big game” will get its first live video presentation on personal computers, tablets and mobile phones when NBC (NSDQ: CMCSA) a… Read more »
Verizon Moved 4.2 Million iPhones In Q4 But Costs Higher Than Expected
In the first quarter that Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) was on board with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) for an iPhone launch event, the company sold 4.2… Read more »
Carriers Have Only Around 100 Million Pay-TV Users, Less Than 60% Via IPTV
photo: Shutterstock / alexmillos
Some numbers out today that underscore the challenge telecoms operators have had in attracting customers to their pay-TV platforms, includin… Read more »
'The Daily': No Longer Just For iPads (But Not For All Androids, Either)
photo: ContentNext composite
The Daily is finally available in Android, sort of. The News Corp. (NSDQ: NWS) tablet tabloid, which has been iPad only since birth, is not… Read more »
@ CES: The Smartphones, They Are Everywhere!
The first day of CES 2012 was a mobile one: dozens of new smartphones and tablets were announced as traditional PC companies and rising smar… Read more »
What To Expect At CES: Tablets, TVs, And Transition
photo: CES
The biggest spectacle in the tech industry kicks off Sunday evening, when an estimated 150,000 people will flood into Las Vegas not to place… Read more »
Can Investors Still Win Big On China's Google Or Facebook? Probably Not
photo: Corbis
Investors who missed out on the biggest gains from U.S. innovations – internet search engines, online job listings and cell phone populari… Read more »
TiVo Nets At Least $215 Million From AT&T Patent Settlement
Set-top box maker TiVo (NSDQ: TIVO) announced today that it would rake in hundreds of millions from licensing three of its patents to AT&T (… Read more »
Why Are Free Games More Popular On iPhones Than On Android Devices?
photo: Flickr
Some research out from Xyologic today on app store download trends in 2011 indicates that while games have remained a popular category acros… Read more »
Rhapsody Now Has One Million Music Subs In The U.S. Next Stop: Europe
It’s taken ten years, and a last leg up by way of an acquisition of a competitor, but Rhapsody says that it has finally reached one million… Read more »
Verizon Hit With DOJ Investigation Over Spectrum Deals With Cable Companies
Now it’s Verizon’s turn in the government spotlight. The U.S. Department of Justice plans to look into the recent deals that the wireless co… Read more »
NFL Will Stream Superbowl For First Time
This year’s Superbowl is in Indianapolis and it’s a sure thing the hometown Colts will not be playing. But, luckily for the Colts and the re… Read more »
Three Makes A Trend: Bugs Cropping Up In Galaxy Nexus
Maybe now it makes a little more sense why the Galaxy Nexus took so much longer to arrive in the U.S. then originally anticipated: a spate o… Read more »
Signal Failed: Winners And Losers From The Death Of AT&T's T-Mobile Deal
photo: Shutterstock / SERHAT AKAVCI
One of the most audacious and controversial mergers in mobile history is dead, and give AT&T (NYSE: T) at least a little credit for understa… Read more »
Can Apple Shake Up TV Like It Has Mobile With Its iPhone?
photo: Falling Pixel
The anticipation and speculation surrounding what could be the next product on the cards for Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) — Apple TV — raises some q… Read more »
Verizon Cuts Another Cable Spectrum Deal, $315 Million To Cox
photo: Flckr
Verizon has found more wireless spectrum in the cable industry. It has signed a deal with Cox to acquire wireless spectrum in exchange for $… Read more »
France Telecom's Orange Looks To 3D And Xbox For New TV Bells And Whistles
photo: Orange UK
With the growth of over-the-top services that let users access the video they want over the internet (and often, for free), those companies… Read more »
Stars Align For Thursday's U.S. Launch Of Galaxy Nexus On Verizon
It has been almost two months since Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Samsung executives gleefully revealed the Galaxy Nexus, the best Android smartph… Read more »
