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–Agrees to Participate in CableLabs’ OpenCable Initiative

Interactive TV middleware and applications provider, OpenTV, has secured the first deployment of its middleware with a major US cable operator: the company said last week that it has signed a multi-year license agreement with Time Warner Cable that will see the latter using the OpenTV platform to deploy its advanced "Digital Navigator" EPG on Motorola set-top boxes. The initial launch of OpenTV’s middleware- -both on Motorola DCT2000’s and on more advanced Motorola set-tops (i.e. set-tops with HD and DVR capabilities)–is scheduled for late 2006. [itvt] asked OpenTV chairman and CEO, Jim Chiddix (note: Chiddix was formerly Time Warner Cable’s CTO), why he believes Time Warner Cable decided to adopt the company’s middleware: "We bring value in an area where they’ve got a particular issue they need a solution for: which is finding a way to quickly get their new electronic program guide onto Motorola set-top boxes," he explained. "They’re determined strategically to roll out a new EPG that they’ve been working on themselves for the past couple of years. To date, they’ve been very focused on building it for Scientific-Atlanta set-top boxes, because Scientific-Atlanta boxes account for most of their set-top base. They only really have one big Motorola system, which is Houston. However, there are a bunch of property swaps going on between them and Comcast, and the two companies are also divvying up various Adelphia systems. So, when the dust settles from all that, Time Warner Cable is going to have between three and four million Motorola boxes. They’re going to have most of Los Angeles, they’re going to have big new chunks of Ohio, Texas, New York State and Maine, and almost all of it is going to be Motorola set-tops. So suddenly they’re going to have this big base on which they’re going to want to roll out their new guide. In theory they could do that work themselves, but it’s a huge amount of work without having middleware. It means integrating the guide painstakingly with each model of Motorola box. And one of the additional virtues of a middleware like ours is it lets you roll out new applications quite quickly."

Among other things, the deal, whose financial terms have not been disclosed, also means that OpenTV’s interactive TV applications, as well as its infrastructure systems for application delivery, set-top messaging and two-way communications, will be available to Time Warner Cable divisions that use Motorola equipment. According to OpenTV, the deal will likely result in Time Warner Cable using its platform and its portfolio of applications to deliver such interactive services as VOD, video mosaics, customer service apps, games, voting, caller ID on TV, and local content such as news, weather and sports. In addition, OpenTV says that it will make applications available to Time Warner Cable–and also expects to write new, custom applications for the MSO–that will run not only on its own middleware platform, but on OCAP and other standards-based platforms. The company also believes that there is a possibility that Time Warner Cable will ask it to develop applications for its Scientific-Atlanta set-tops. According to Chiddix, OpenTV is confident that the new deal with Time Warner Cable will see it enabling a range of interactive services on the latter’s networks, not least because the point person it has been working with at the MSO is VP of interactive television, Joan Gillman, who also happens to be a prominent ITV industry veteran (note: Gillman, a recipient of a 2006 [itvt] Award for Leadership in Interactive Television, was previously president of OpenTV’s ITV games subsidiary, Static 2358/PlayJam): "Remember that the person in charge of interactivity at Time Warner Cable–the person we’ve been working on this with for the most part–is Joan Gillman," he said. "Joan worked at BSkyB and was also president of PlayJam, and she knows all about middleware and all about interactive applications. So it has not escaped her notice that, once our middleware is in place on these Motorola boxes, it will provide a good platform for interactive applications. So we’re already committed to deliver a number of applications to Time Warner Cable. And the applications that we deliver for Motorola, we’ll also support certainly on OCAP–and possibly on Scientific-Atlanta’s platform."

In other OpenTV news:

• The company said last week that it has agreed to participate in and contribute intellectual property to CableLabs’ OpenCable Project. The project was established by CableLabs (the latter is a research, development and standards body supported by US cable operators) and its member companies in 1997 to develop hardware and software specifications that enable interoperable digital cable devices: OCAP (which stands for "OpenCable Application Platform") is the project’s software specification. OpenTV’s participation in the project will see it licensing OCAP-relevant patents through the OCAP patent pool which is administered by Via Licensing. Its decision to contribute its intellectual property to the OpenCable Project is a significant boost to the latter, not least because OpenTV has over 450 issued patents around the world, the bulk of which are interactive TV-related. [itvt] asked Jim Chiddix why OpenTV, while having for a long time signalled support for OCAP, had until now seemingly resisted signing the OpenCable Contribution Agreement: "While, for a lot of companies, it would be no big deal, signing the agreement was a big step for us," he said. "When you sign that agreement, there are two things you’re committing to: one is that you’re committing to sending engineers to committee meetings, and to helping evolve the standard and so forth. That, obviously, wasn’t problematic for us. The other thing you’re committing to is, if you have patents that impact OCAP, you’re committing to licensing those patents on fair and reasonable terms. And for us it is not at all a casual step to contribute our patents." We asked Chiddix why the company had, after all, decided to contribute its patents to the OpenCable project: "In looking at the OCAP market, we’ve decided that we want to embrace that market fully," he explained. "So, on the one hand, we’ve done this deal with Time Warner Cable that has an OCAP element, and we’re also trying to secure similar deals with other US MSO’s. And, on the other hand, we’ve decided that we’re going to try to generate revenue out of OCAP by bringing our expertise on supporting middleware systems generally to the OCAP world. We’ve got more experience than anybody in the world in supporting this kind of platform–in terms of application servers, the porting of software to set-top boxes, and certification and testing."
• The company says that existing customer, Italian satellite TV provider, Sky Italia, has launched HDTV services using its middleware (note: in addition to using OpenTV’s middleware, Sky Italia uses the company’s PVR solution to support its mySKY PVR service). Sky Italia began deploying HD-capable set-top boxes early last month and, on May 17th, broadcast the UEFA Champion Leagues Final in HD (the broadcast was Italy’s first HD transmission). It is broadcasting coverage of the FIFA World Cup in HD and says that additional HD channels will launch on its platform, starting early next month. OpenTV’s middleware is enabling HD programs and applications on both the Pace and the Amstrad set-top boxes used by Sky Italia: the boxes support both high- and standard-definition channels broadcast in MPEG-4 and MPEG-2, using DVB-S2 (note: the latter is a new modulation scheme designed to enable a higher bit-rate than was previously possible on a satellite network). Sky Italia’s HD service supports 720p and 1080i video formats, and includes High Definition Copy Protocol (HDCP) for secure content delivery over digital HDMI connections.

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