Cable

To create a more competitive market in the United States, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 required cable operators to open up their specifications. The result was OCAP, the Open Cable Applications Platform, recently rebranded "tru2way". Any device with a tru2way compliant receiver can receive premium cable TV programming on any operator's network with the appropriate cable card. This means any STB vendor can build a tru2way-compliant device and compete for cable operators' business, and CE manufacturers can embed them in TV's or other devices for retail.

While Many Have Rung Its Death Knell, the Pendulum Is Swinging Back to TV.

Sometime in the months ahead, somewhere in the United States, someone watching TV will reach for the remote control and - for the first time - order a pizza using only the buttons on the remote. No need to rise off the couch or reach for the phone.

Digital video recorder pioneer TiVo reported Wednesday that its first-quarter net income more than quadrupled as operating costs, most notably for marketing and research, declined.

It's still unclear if the digital home will be a consumer-controlled environment or a carrier-controlled one.

Time Warner Cable plans to let subscribers tap into Internet video on their TVs...and offer wireless in-home networking via a cable modem.

Turner Broadcasting plans to introduce a new advertising system designed to match commercial messages with the content of its programming. Turner calls the system “TVinContext” and says it has been in development for more than a year.

Americans pile DVD players, video game machines, surround sound amplifiers, TiVo recorders, and cable or satellite boxes under their televisions, but there is only so much space to stack them. (And there are only so many remote controls that people will tolerate). The company that can combine many of those services into one single box can control the living room, and reap the financial rewards.

Unilever made a bit of an advertainment splash last year with its online series "The Rookie." Sponsored by Degree deodorant, The Rookie featured a counter-terrorism plotline, and ran for six episodes at three- to five-minutes each. This year's series -- returning to DegreeRookie.com with brand elements intact -- will also air on DirecTV and Comcast On Demand. Fox, which produces the shows, is appealing to a niche: the desirable 25 to 34 year old male demographic who won't think to ask why Jason Blaine is still a rookie in Year Two. (Yes, yes, I know -- it's a fictional compression of time thing.)