Bendbroadband, Metrocast and Sunflower Broadband Join Buckeye Cablesystem as Beta Sites for ITV Applications Delivered via the Hits(TM) Axis Platform
Bend Broadband, Metrocast Communications and Sunflower Broadband join Buckeye CableSystem as beta sites for advanced interactive television applications that are being tested, launched and supported by the HITS™ Advanced Interactive Services ("AxIS") platform, the Comcast Media Center (CMC) announced today.
- Denver, CO (1888PressRelease) August 11, 2010 - NCTC Winter Education Conference
HITS AxIS provides cable system operators with additional revenue opportunities and a more competitive profile without incurring the significant capital outlays required to upgrade their cable system architectures in order to support advanced interactive television applications using the ETV/EBIF ( Enhanced Television-Binary Interchange Format) platform as well as the emerging tru2way™ platform.
"We feel that our relationship with the CMC is key to bringing rich interactive applications to our customers," said Frank Miller, BendBroadband's Chief Technology Officer.
"We are looking forward to the trial of Comcast Media Center's AxIS service," added Rod Kutemeier, General Manager of Sunflower Broadband. "We have been actively evaluating interactive applications. We see the AxIS service as a new opportunity to understand what customers want and what we need to provide through an interactive set-top box."
We're very excited to be a part of this trial and helping HITS AxIS to support the development of interactive video applications for systems like ours to utilize, " stated Bill Lee, Vice President of Engineering for MetroCast Communications.
Our work with CMC on the HITS AxIS project thus far has been successful and has provided us an opportunity to get a better sense of some of the ETV applications that are out there and how they might interact with our network," said Jim Brown, Director of Engineering, for Buckeye CableSystem. "It has also begun to give our testers an opportunity to provide us feedback on the applications. We hope to come away from this Beta test period with a good sense of the values the HITS AxIS platform brings to the table.
In commenting on these latest developments Gary Traver, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of the Comcast Media Center, said "The HITS AxIS beta sites are at the forefront of efforts to support the widespread deployment of advanced interactive services and we are very pleased to be collaborating with these industry pioneers on expanding their revenue opportunities through offering advanced interactive video services. By launching ETV applications that run on current cable system architecture, we can foster greater participation by the development community and collectively work together to realize the potential of the more robust tru2way platform.
In addition to its role in supporting cable system operators, HITS AxIS' robust centralized Infrastructure is helping to stimulate the development, launch and operation of interactive applications, such as gaming, advanced advertising, and other forms of personalized entertainment. Its product development services for advanced interactive application developers encompass business modeling, licensing, and application testing (standalone and interoperability).
Deployment services available to cable system operators from HITS AxIS include configuration, hosting, affiliate sales, contract management and product launches. Its operations management services consist of application and network monitoring, updates and upgrade management, billing services and customer support, security, 24/7/365 technical support, training and disaster recovery services, among others.
About HITS™
Beginning with the launch of HITS in 1996, the Comcast Media Center (CMC) has provided cost-effective solutions for offering advanced video and broadband services to cable and other multichannel households. Its suite of HITS services include HITS Quantum, an all-digital portfolio consisting of over 285 linear channels, including 21 HDTV channels using advanced MPEG-2 compression technology, which allows cable system operators to optimize bandwidth while maintaining competitive quality of experience, an SD service that offers feeds for nearly 70 widely carried basic and expanded basic channels for reclaiming bandwidth by converting analog channels to digital formats, and a Classic service featuring over 194 digital video and audio services for expanding the scope of sports, multi-cultural and other special interest channels; HITS QuickTake Plus, a cost-effective solution designed for delivering digital video services over analog cable systems serving smaller markets; HITS On Demand, which offers several options for adding video on demand programming, including VOD In a Box™, a managed video on demand service jointly offered with the ARRIS Group, that delivers up to 3,300 hours of HD and standard digital VOD content per month, or receiving the wider selection of HD and SD VOD content available via the CMC's national VOD content distribution platform, which delivers over 9,000 assets from nearly 280 content sources per month; HITS AxIS, a centralized resource to support the development, delivery and management of advanced interactive applications; and HITS Broadband, a carrier-class IP connectivity service.
Denver-based Comcast Media Center (CMC), a business unit of Comcast Cable, provides centralized content management and distribution solutions for cable systems, video content providers and advertisers "All From The CENTER." More information about the CMC is available at http://www.comcastmediacenter.com/.
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