Supplying whole-home DVRs with fancy user interfaces and access to a menu of over-the-top content represents just a portion of TiVo’s relationship with Atlantic Broadband.
Atlantic Broadband, a subsidiary of Canadian cable operator Cogeco Cable, is also working with TiVo on the development on a TV Everywhere portal that is targeted for launch before the end of 2013, David Isenberg, Atlantic Broadband’s chief marketing and strategy officer, said.
He said the operator’s initial slate of TV Everywhere fare will feature authenticated content from more than 30 networks, including premiums HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Encore, and Movieplex, as well as access to shows from several popular national cable channels from the A&E, Turner and NBCUniversal, and Fox properties.
The coming portal will highlight the Atlantic Broadband brand and look a lot like TiVo interface that’s powering the MSO-supplied boxes. “We think what’s unique is we’re offering a consistent look and feel across all screens with TiVo,” Isenberg said, noting that the MSO’s legacy platform uses boxes from Cisco/Scientific Atlanta and Arris/Motorola.
Atlantic Broadband is the first cable operator to announce the deployment of TiVo’s T6 platform, which is the operator version of the hardware for TiVo’s retail-focused Roamio Plus DVR. Among the cable-tweaks in the T6: Atlantic Broadband’s version will use Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) technology to distribute live TV and recorded content to TiVo Mini client boxes over the home network, and it has been integrated with the MSO’s own video-on-demand service, which relies on Arris video pumps and video backoffice.
The box will also support many of the retail-facing aspects of the Roamio, including recommendations and a quick view of what’s popular on live TV.
At this juncture, Atlantic Broadband will not offer out-of-home streaming, a feature that TiVo just added to the Roamio. “In the near term, our primary focus for out-of-home consumption is the TV Everywerhe home page,” Isenberg said. “Out-of-home streaming capability is still something brand new and something we’re evaluating carefully.”
Atlantic Broadband will also offer a mix of over-the-top content on the TiVo platform, including YouTube, AOL On and a TiVo Hotlist with curated Web videos.
Netflix support? Not yet. “Clearly with 30 million subscribers there are lots of folks who have Netflix and enjoy Netflix…and most of that consumption is on people’s TVs,” Isenberg said. “As an industry, when we have found ways to deliver what customers want and add value to their TV experience, it’s been a win for us and a win for customers. Finding a way for us to bring some of these other services to our customers in an integrated fashion would fit that assessment, if we’re able to do so.”
Atlantic Broadband launched its TiVo offering on Tuesday in Cumberland, Md., offering it with six different produce bundles, including three double-play packages (TV plus broadband) and three triple-play packages.
The MSO expects to debut TiVo in Miami, Fla., and Aiken, S.C., later this year, and follow with additional market launches in early 2014. Atlantic Broadband, which serves more than 230,000 customers, also operates systems in western Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland and Delaware.
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