Turner Takes on eSports in a Big Way
Packed stadiums. Thrilling matches. World-class players. Chanting spectators. No, this isn’t the World Cup or the Olympics. We are talking about eSports, or in other words, professional competitive video gaming, and it’s been catching CES attendees and the mainstream media by storm here in Las Vegas this week. But first, an introduction for the newbies. In eSports, professional video gamers play each other live at venues like Madison Square Garden, and fans shell out big bucks to watch. And now, just like traditional sports dominate television screens in every household, eSports has found a
How CES 2017 is Proving VR Won’t Go the Way of 3D TV
At the massive Las Vegas Convention Center, centered in one of the enormous cardinal halls, is collected most of the virtual reality and augmented reality technology at CES 2017. It makes sense that they share space because the technologies that run them and their primary consumer applications are so similar. But this section isn’t called Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality or VR & AR. It’s called Gaming & Virtual Reality. And this tells you everything you need to know about VR at CES and why the future of virtual reality is so completely different from that of 3D television. Home 3D
What We're Looking Forward to at CES 2017!
Another New Year, another trip to Las Vegas for CES – the Consumer Electronics Show. Put on by our friends at CTA, the annual technology bonanza is an opportunity for the world peek into the future and see what’s in store for digital devices in 2017 and beyond. On display will be everything from the latest TVs and web-connected devices to next generation washing machines and even cars of the future. For NCTA, it’s a chance to see what devices will be in the homes and offices of the not-too-distant future. We’ll be exploring tens of thousands of square feet of show space, asking ourselves,
Number of Original Scripted TV Series Reaches All Time High
If you’re like me, the end of the year means eagerly reading every “best of” list you can get your hands on. This probably also results in your “must watch” list tripling in length. That list might get even longer than usual this year. According to new figures released by FX Networks Research, the number of scripted original series in 2016 reached a record high of 455. That’s up from 421 scripted original series in 2015 and 389 the year before that. This increase surely speaks to the transformation in how we watch and engage with television. Shows compete for a place in our queues, not just
Presidential Primaries, TV Critics, and the Arctic Circle: The Best of Platform 2016
2016 comes to a close and it was an exciting one in the internet and television world. Live streaming broke records like never before, premium TV networks came out with award-winning programming once again, and internet speeds are faster than ever. Before we dive into 2017, we’d like to highlight a few of our favorite stories from this past year that reflect the innovative minds of our industry and the work that brought us to where we are today. Following C-SPAN on the Presidential Campaign Trail As we all know, the presidential election dominated for all of 2016. We were honored to accompany
Internet Speeds Continue to Climb Across the U.S.
We all know that the web is getting faster every year. But sometimes we don’t believe it until we see actual data demonstrating just how fast our internet networks have become. According to the latest State of the Internet report from Akamai, average peak connection speed in the United States continues its impressive progress and is reaching uncharted territory again. The country averaged 70.8 Mbps — up from 57.3 Mbps from the same time period in the previous year. The quarterly report looked at several different areas of internet speeds and trends in data over time. When it came to ranking
New Data Shows that Time-Shifting is TV’s Biggest Value
Nothing has had a more profound effect over the last 10 years on TV than time shifting. The ability to watch a show at any time has not just made watching TV easier, it’s made it more fun. It’s made it possible save up shows over the course of the week and watch them all on Sunday evening. It’s made the concept of binge watching possible. And it’s made scheduling time to watch TV with family and friends easier. Time shifting TV is possible through a variety of features and technologies. Recording shows on a DVR is one of them, but not the only one. According to a recent survey NCTA
HBO, FX Delivering Top TV Shows Competing for Golden Globes
The nominees for the 74th annual Golden Globes were announced today. Among the honored were 36 nominations for premium TV programs, more than last year. HBO came out strong once again with 14 nominations, the most for any TV network. FX also received nine nominations, followed by AMC with five. HBO’s Game of Thrones is back vying for best drama series, along with the network’s new science fiction western thriller, Westworld. In the best musical or comedy series category, FX’s Atlanta and HBO’s Veepcompete for top honors. In the category for the best limited series or motion picture made for
Was Your DVR Used in a DDoS Attack?
This past September, KrebsOnSecurity, a website dedicated to news and information on internet security, was struck by a record breaking denial of service attack. A month later, a similar attack took place against Dyn, an internet infrastructure company. Soon after, NCTA produced a helpful graphic explaining how a DDoS attack like the ones that struck KrebsOnSecurity and Dyn work by taking advantage of unsecured internet-of-things devices like cameras and thermostats to overwhelm and crash servers and infrastructure. It was widely reported that part of the cacophony of devices used in these
FCC Measuring Broadband Report Delivers High Marks for Cable ISPs
Last week, the FCC released its Measuring Broadband America (MBA): Fixed Broadband Report. The annual analysis looks at consumer fixed broadband performance in the United States by benchmarking connectivity and analyzing how the internet has changed or improved over the last year. The report gave high marks to U.S. ISPs, especially cable-based providers, showing improvements in speed and performance. Key findings from the report: Broadband speeds increased 22 percent year over year, from a median speed of 32 Mbps to 39 Mbps. Speeds for cable providers increased from 39 Mbps in 2014 to a median