StatMux(TM) Receives Patent
Compression Labs (NASDAQ/NMS:CLIX)of San Jose announced today that the Company has been allowed a patent for its statistical multiplexing technology called StatMux(TM), which is part of its MPEG-2 Magnitude(TM) encoder product. Magnitude is the only MPEG-2 encoder with this capability available today operating in a major multichannel environment .
Statistical multiplexing enables broadcasters to enhance the video quality of existing services and add more services in the same bandwidth thus vastly improving network economics.It allows broadcasters to dynamically allocate bandwidth among the multiplexed video channels depending on the picture complexity.
Fast-moving sporting events demand the most bandwidth to achieve high picture quality. The Magnitude encoder can borrow encoding bits from a channel which is currently in a low motion sequence and use them where they are needed. The net result in a broadcast system is the ability to add 20 percent more content (channels) in the same bandwidth. The technology is ideal for digital television. It also allows cable, satellite and telephone operators to add additional channels and improve video at minimal cost.
Magnitude is an MPEG-2 product family consisting of modular video and audio encoders and a choice of decoders for the delivery of entertainment and information services over telephone, cable and satellite networks.
Magnitude complies with the worldwide standard, MPEG, an image-compression scheme for full motion video developed by the Moving Picture Expert Group under the direction of the International Standards Organization (ISO).
CLI is a leading designer and manufacturer of solutions for digital video communications including broadcast and videoconferencing products.
HomeStar: Another Canadian DBS Startup
Shaw CommunicationsPresident J.R. Shaw says the company's application for a direct to home satellite license before Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commssion regulators is a serious bid to enter what it sees as an important new market.
HomeStar is 25 percent owned by Shaw Communications, and is expected to be profitable in about four and half years after its planned launch in September of 1996. The operation was begun with an initial C$30 million investment, and would be profitable by signing up some 240,000 subscribers. Homestar will compete with Canadian cable companies.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commssion has opened hearings on direct-to-home satellite service and there are two other groups seeking licenses. The first group is Power DirecTV, owned by Power Corp of Canada and GM Hughes Electonrics Corp. The second group is Express Vu, owned by Tee-Comm Electronics Inc., BCE Inc, Western International Communications Ltd and Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. Shaw's Homestar group also includes Videotron Groupe, Cogeco Cable Inc and several other smaller cable companies.
The Homestar service is expected to launch with 79 video services plus 35 digital audio channels. The subscriber would get a dish to receive the signals plus a set-top box which would also allow users to pick up other channels through cable or antenna. Subscribers will be allowed to either purchase the equipment for around C$1,000 or rented it for about C$45 a month. Good luck competing against DSS pirate smartcards with a raster of depressing Canadian programming.
Motorola to Supply Cable Modems
Motorola will supply up to 350,000 high speed modems to three major cable TV firms by April 1996. The modems cost $500 each, making the total deal worth $175 million. Tele-Communications Inc is buying 200,000 modems, Comcast Corp is buying 100,000 and Time Warner Inc 50,000. Industry consultants say that the new modems will give cable companies a large edge over telcos in providing online and internet services. Some experts say the online industry, which is now worth about $2 billion per year could double in size to $4 billion.
The modems sit on top of personal computers, not televisions. They are not designed for interactive TV. They will feed those PC;'s the huge data capacities of the cable networks. For the 30 million or so Internet and online service users in the U.S., this could be a great advantage. It could also lure millions of new cybersurfers. The modems will be leased to users for $10-$15 a month.
Motorola's cable modems deliver 100 times the data volume of ordinary phone modems and 25 times that of Integrated Services Data Network (ISDN) lines which are the fastest phone lines currently found in homes. The full potential of the high speed modems require cable upgrades.
U.S.S.B. to go Public
United States Satellite Broadcasting Co. Inc., of St. Paul, MN says it will offer up to 8.3 million class A common shares. The company estimated the initial offering price at $24 a share, with proceeds expected to reach $229.1 million, if 1.245 million additional shares are sold by underwriters to cover any unanticipated demand.
The company says it plans to use up to $80 million of the proceeds from the offering for marketing and promotional expenses and the balance for general corporate purposes, including debt repayment.
U.S.S.B. began commercial operations in June of 1994 and it now has 525,000 paying subscribers, who receive TV programs via the DSS digital satellite system. USSB was organized in 1981 as a subsidiary of Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., a radio and television broadcast company. When the offering is complete, Hubbard and its units will hold about 51 percent of USSB's outstanding capital stock and 56 percent of its voting power, it said.
G.I. Finds no Evidence of PLUS Break
Jim Hill, VP of G.I.'s C-band division has told TVRO Dealer (December issue) that it is investigating, but has found no evidence of the PLUS break, first announced by Satellite Watch News.
NFL Gets Injunction Against 30 Buffalo-Rochester NY Area Bars
The NFL has been successful in obtaining injunctions against 30 bars in the Buffalo, Rochester, NY area. The 30 were sued for showing blacked out Buffalo Bills games and for showing NFL Sunday Ticket games without a commercial agreement.
Most of the bars have reached a settlement with the NFL in the area of $5-8,000 in the lawsuits and the injunction is to prevent them from showing any more prohibited programming. The NFL is making their enforcement division a profitable enterprise. They use the settlement money to launch more investigations and reach more financial settlements.
According to the NFL they have also targeted offendors in Canada, Tampa and San Diego.