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Sezmi is Expanding its Markets – It's Available in 15 New Cities
Mon Aug 02, 2010 at 10:00 AM ETTags: High-Def Retailing, Industry Trends, High-Def Broadcasting (all tags)
This television company is taking a different approach, which just might work out nicely for some folks in Detroit, Portland, Orlando and Seattle among other cities.
Sezmi is a pretty strange service as far as these things go. It's not exactly cable, but it's not quite OTA. It's got a little bit of video streaming mixed in for good measure, and it's dirt cheap.
For $200 up front and $4.99 a month, with no contract required, you can get yourself a Sezmi unit with an incredibly capable DVR that can record up to 1,400 hours of programming. The channel selection is admittedly limited, consisting of the same locals that you could get over-the-air.
If you kick that subscription fee up to $19.99 a month, you'll get access to a pretty strong lineup of cable channels. It's not going to compare to what you get from a cable or satellite company, but it's also a lot cheaper.
The device also comes packed with access to web content like YouTube, and both free and paid On Demand programming.
Source: Sezmi
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Over Fifty Percent of Homes Have HDTVs, Less Than Fifty Percent Have an HD Signal
Mon May 03, 2010 at 12:30 PM ETTags: High-Def Broadcasting, Industry Trends (all tags)
Is this an indicator that people are still buying HDTVs while not understanding HD programming, or that high definition television just doesn't matter to some people?
The latest numbers from Neilson leave things ambiguous. 53 percent of homes are equipped with an HD television, but only 46 percent "are able to receive an HD signal." That means 7 percent of US homes have HDTV, but don't subscribe to an HD cable or satellite service.
What's not accounted for in the numbers, is whether these people have access to HD through other means. Game systems like the Xbox 360 and PS3 are high definition sources. Blu-ray players, of course, put out an HD signal, as do internet stream and download services.
So it could be that there are a lot of people out there that just don't care about HD programming, or, sadly, don't understand it. It could also be that a lot of people out there just don't care about HD television. Hopefully we'll get a nice breakdown sometime in the future.
Source: Nielsen
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Over The Air Television Is On The Rise In L.A.
Tue Jan 19, 2010 at 09:00 AM ETTags: High-Def Broadcasting, Industry Trends (all tags)
Rabbit ears are coming back as residents in southern California are ditching cable for the cheaper antenna alternative.
It’s been a long time since many of us have watched broadcast television that’s actually being broadcasted. Cable and satellite services have dominated TV watching for years.
According to the San Jose Mercury news, the over the air tradition is coming back, especially with minority viewers. 20,000 Asian-American homes in the Los Angeles area are currently getting TV through antennas, and another 8,000 African American homes. Nearly a quarter of Latino homes get TV the old fashioned way. That’s around 440,000 homes, and over a million people.
There are over seventy over the air channels available in L.A., around half of which are in English. The rest are aimed at Latino, Asian, and Eastern European viewers. Around a dozen of the channels broadcast are in high definition, and viewers state that the clarity of signal is impressive.
While some users are using the over the air signal as their primary source of entertainment, others supplement that with services like Netflix and Hulu. “It's the best-kept secret around here,” says Orange Country resident Mike Mahan.
Source: Mercury News
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New TV Bill Seeks More Local Channel Availability
Mon Jul 13, 2009 at 02:00 PM ETTags: Industry Trends, High-Def Broadcasting (all tags)
Aims to help orphan counties get home town programming.
In a recent bill introduced to the House of Representatives, Mike Ross of Arkansas is pushing to make more local options available to people who otherwise wouldn’t have them. Those living on state borders are often lumped into satellite and cable packages that don’t offer their specific local programming. Mike Ross’ Television Freedom Act looks to change that.
If successful, the bill will allow satellite and cable companies to provide adjacent market local TV stations in these split markets. Sounds good for the consumer, but content providers aren’t as excited. They say that allowing local channels to be carried over like this would create duplicate programming; except DirecTV that is, who are standing in support of this bill.
Not mentioned at the moment is whether the bill targets HD channels or not, and what that might mean for signal quality and pricing. More information, as well as a copy of Ross’ letter sent to fellow congressmen about his intentions can be found here.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
New TV Bill Seeks More Local Channel Availability
Mon Jul 13, 2009 at 02:00 PM ETTags: Industry Trends, High-Def Broadcasting (all tags)
Aims to help orphan counties get home town programming.
In a recent bill introduced to the House of Representatives, Mike Ross of Arkansas is pushing to make more local options available to people who otherwise wouldn’t have them. Those living on state borders are often lumped into satellite and cable packages that don’t offer their specific local programming. Mike Ross’ Television Freedom Act looks to change that.
If successful, the bill will allow satellite and cable companies to provide adjacent market local TV stations in these split markets. Sounds good for the consumer, but content providers aren’t as excited. They say that allowing local channels to be carried over like this would create duplicate programming; except DirecTV that is, who are standing in support of this bill.
Not mentioned at the moment is whether the bill targets HD channels or not, and what that might mean for signal quality and pricing. More information, as well as a copy of Ross’ letter sent to fellow congressmen about his intentions can be found here.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
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