AT&T exploring Deal to sell off DIRECTV.

[Juan]

I don't think it's a matter of bandwidth on the existing network. More a matter of swapping out the ~25% or so of STBs still in use at Comcast that aren't IPTV-compatible. (Most X1 boxes are hybrid QAM/IPTV devices while the most recent generation of X1 boxes they've been distributing -- the Xi5 and Xi6 -- are IPTV-only.)

Comcast is already running their entire TV service over IPTV. For past 18 months or so, in many areas Comcast has set up new broadband+TV customers as all-IPTV, with linear channels, on-demand, and cloud DVR all delivered as managed IPTV to their Xi5 and Xi6 boxes, or to the Xfinity Stream app on customers' own Rokus, smart TVs and smartphones. They've also added a few new niche upper-tier channels that are IPTV-only (meaning that folks with CableCARDs or pre-X1 STBs cannot access them).

At the point when they completely dump QAM TV, if not before, it's likely that they'll stream the most-viewed linear channels via multicast to conserve bandwidth (and channels can dynamically switch between unicast and multicast based on the number of current viewers in a given area). It's possible that they've already begun doing that in some places, I really don't know. In order to tune in IPTV multicast linear channels, the consumer will likely need a Comcast-issued broadband gateway (modem+router).

Found an internal Comcast slide deck from a few years back that referenced their plans to drop QAM and go all-IP. And those plans have been referenced in the industry media repeatedly over the years. Comcast has slowly been building toward that end.

Just this week saw a recent slide from a Cox presentation showing that they plan to dump QAM and go all-IP as part of their planned network upgrades about 2-3 years from now. I'd expect the Comcast transition to be complete by then, if not before.

Comcast is encouraging customers to use a roku or firetv...because they are not charging the stb fee for those devices

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[Bruce]

Comcast is encouraging customers to use a roku or firetv...because they are not charging the stb fee for those devices

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Yet.

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[Juan]

Yet.

Sent from my LML713DL using the SatelliteGuys app!

It is in beta testing for 2 years now

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[Scott Greczkowski]

Word I am getting is that AT&T is in deep talks with Amazon about the DIRECTV Assets.

Would be interesting if true.

 

[NashGuy]

Comcast is encouraging customers to use a roku or firetv...because they are not charging the stb fee for those devices

Yet.

Comcast's Xfinity Stream app is available for Roku and certain Samsung and LG smart TVs, but it's not available for Fire TV (or Apple TV or Android TV or Xbox or PlayStation).

At this point, I doubt that they'll ever charge anything to use their app on TV-connected devices. I think there would be a lot of consumer backlash and it might encourage some renewed FCC oversight into the whole matter, especially now that the CableCARD mandate is dead. I'm not aware of any MVPD or vMVPD that charges their customers to use their app on customers' own retail devices. (Instead, they just limit the number of simultaneous streams that can be accessed across all devices.) Now that that's pretty much ingrained in consumer culture, I don't see Comcast being able to change it.

Instead, Comcast's strategy seems to be to make sure the user experience on their app is significantly inferior to using their own X1 boxes (which cost $5/mo to rent), while also restricting the range of retail devices for which their Stream app is available. Most households probably only have 1 or 2 TVs that they watch much cable TV on and, IMO, you'd have to really be motivated to save that extra $5-10/mo in order to use their Stream app instead of just renting the X1 boxes and voice remotes that are custom-made for use with their service. For the TV in the guest room, sure, download the app on an old Roku you've got.

Comcast's game seems to be to say to the FCC and consumer groups, "Hey, look, we're giving customers a choice to save money and use their own streaming hardware instead of our boxes!" But in reality, Comcast sees those retail streaming platforms as competitors to their own X1. So they don't want to do *too* much to support them.

 

[Juan]

Word I am getting is that AT&T is in deep talks with Amazon about the DIRECTV Assets.

Would be interesting if true.

Dont think amazon wants a satellite network but a streaming network would be a perfect fit

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[NashGuy]

Dont think amazon wants a satellite network but a streaming network would be a perfect fit

I used to think the same thing but then Amazon had a perfectly usable vMVPD (i.e. streaming cable TV service) they could've bought on the cheap when PS Vue was in its death spiral awhile back. They could've grown the user base and merged the service into the Prime Video app ("Prime Video Live Channels") as an add-on.

I question whether Amazon is interested in getting into the vMVPD game. As for DTV satellite TV, I can't imagine what would interest them there, other than maybe the relationship with NFL Sunday Ticket.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Dont think amazon wants a satellite network but a streaming network would be a perfect fit

Actually from what I understand they are not looking to sell off the streaming side of things. But that does not mean Amazon cant start their own.

 

[NashGuy]

Actually from what I understand they are not looking to sell off the streaming side of things. But that does not mean Amazon cant start their own.

Yeah, can't see them selling off AT&T TV along with DTV. As long as AT&T has a significant home broadband business, they'll need a cable TV service to sell those homes. And they do, with AT&T Fiber available at about 14 million homes now, and subscribed to by about 4 million. Their rickety old Uverse TV system is built on an outdated software and hardware platform, so it was time to phase it out and replace it with something new. So even if AT&T never succeeds in transitioning many DTV satellite subs over to AT&T TV (as had originally been the plan), AT&T TV (or something similar) will still stick around to serve as a modern, cloud-based OTT replacement for Uverse TV.

 

[Inclined Orbit]

Bezos probably has enough pocket change stuck in his couch to buy DirecTV.

Word I am getting is that AT&T is in deep talks with Amazon about the DIRECTV Assets.

Would be interesting if true.

 

[slice1900]

Dont forget also alot of those smaller companies and even comcast are using cablecards in there boxes.... It will be a long while before it is gone

The FCC ruling lets them quit supporting cable cards for consumers without affecting the cable cards they use in their own equipment.

 

[slice1900]

I would be very very very willing to bet if they have deployed 3.1 at all it is in a very small
Footprint. That type of a equipment cost is a multi year almost decade process

Mediacom is barely able to push 60Mbps in some markets as there top package

Prove it, show us which market that is.

Entire Mediacom Communications Broadband Network to be Gigabit-Ready by Year End

Mediacom Communications today announced the company’s entire broadband network will be gigabit-capable by the end of 2016. Mediacom will become the fi

www.businesswire.com

 

[Claude Greiner]

As you probably know, the FCC killed the CableCARD mandate last week. So cable providers are no longer legally required to offer or support them. My guess is that you'll be fine on Comcast for quite awhile -- they're probably the most CableCARD-friendly operator -- although at some point in the next few years, they're finally going to completely dump QAM TV and switch completely over to IPTV. At that point, CableCARDs/TiVos will be completely useless with Comcast TV service. Hopefully that doesn't come until you've recouped your TiVo investment.

I’m sure Tivo would come out with a software update or find a way to record IPTV.

If Tivo can stream Netflix, I’m sure I can support multicast IP

 

[ncted]

Given they are selling IPTV solutions to cablecos, I don't see why Tivo couldn't make it work with existing hardware.

 

[slice1900]

I'm sure Tivo can make it work with existing hardware, and will for the MSO branded boxes. But that doesn't mean that cable companies would be willing to cooperate with Tivo to come up with a solution for consumer owned boxes. That's just added work for them with less revenue, when they are already de-emphasizing TV since they make more of their money from internet these days.

So I don't hold out any hope that my Bolt will someday be capable of working with IPTV delivered Mediacom (and if it did it would probably require updating to TE4 which is a non-starter for me) Whenever they drop cablecard, that will be the end of my Tivo, and the end of my subscription to Mediacom. I keep one eye on Tivo forums where people are already investigating other options. One good possibility looks like Channels DVR, which is able to record the live stream from the "TV Anywhere" provider logins for most cable channels.

 

[Yespage]

Me too. First it is confusing to people who do not follow the industry. For example when Thom Brennaman had his issue, there were self-appointeds calling on Fox to do something, except of course FSN-Ohio belongs to Sinclair, not Fox. But more importantly, why not? Why would you buy a major asset and keep the name of the previous owner? And why would the previous owner want to let you?

You mean why would SBC buy AT&T and call itself AT&T?

 

[Juan]

I’m sure Tivo would come out with a software update or find a way to record IPTV.

If Tivo can stream Netflix, I’m sure I can support multicast IP

It would be copyrite infringement to record a stream

 

[lparsons21]

It would be copyrite infringement to record a stream

Maybe so, maybe not. It is all about the contracts. I can see no reason a contract couldn’t be made to allow recording of a stream. Not easy to accomplish but certainly not impossible.

 

[jerseyfla]

All I care about is if the next buyer changes their system back to where “moving” is possible.

 

[Abanoub]

I remember DTV back when they were good in the mid 90's early 2000's. It would be nice if someone would buy the company and return it back to its former glory. Things seemed to start really going down hill when they started offering local channels. That was my experience anyway. That's around the time I dropped them anyway.