Top 6 TV Moments of 2015
From artistic and powerful storytelling to inspiring characters, fictious and real, television pretty much covered it all this year. As 2015 comes to a close, we’d like to look back at some of the news and entertainment moments that grabbed our attention. Here are a few of our favorites: THE WALKING DEAD SEASON FIVE FINALE Last Spring, the season final of The Walking Dead drew 15.8 million viewers. with all 16 episodes of the season ranking in the top 50 telecasts across all of television in a beloved and hard-to-attract demographic, adults in the 18-49 age range. TV by the Numbers cited this
The Second Screen Brings Us Back to the Communal Days of Television
Humans crave companionship, and one of the most popular physical representations of this can be seen through the act of watching television. In the early days of television, the television set was the communal spot for family and friends to gather and share in an entertainment experience. While this still happens, especially on big game nights or for premieres for shows like Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, the advent of viewer personalization services like DVRS, video on demand and TV Everywhere brought on more flexibility and choices for people to find their own content specific to their
What Makes for a Good Gaming Experience?
Not into the gaming scene? Seems like there’s never been a better time to find out what all the hype is about. Gaming isn’t what it used to be. Thinking back to 15, 20 years ago, gamers were usually stereotyped as kids who were glued to their Sega or Nintendo boxes. Fast forward time, and the shift from console-based gaming to online gaming, largely due to developments in broadband capabilities, has opened up a myriad of opportunities in the multiplayer gaming world and led to some serious changes in the audience demographic. But what can these advancements in the market be attributed to? Avid
[VIDEO] NCTA President & CEO Michael Powell on C-SPAN's The Communicators
NCTA President and CEO Michael Powell appeared on C-SPAN’s “The Communicators” this week. He talked about issues ranging from a lawsuit challenging the FCC’s Open Internet Order, Net Neutrality, the upcoming spectrum auction, set top boxes, and the potential harms of LTE-U technology on Wi-Fi. You can see the full video here: This blog also appeared in CTAM SmartBrief.
Cable Looks to Make a Splash at Golden Globes, SAG Awards
Cable came out strong this week as two major accolade-awarding organizations in the television industry, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, released the list of shows and actors competing for honors in early 2016. The Golden Globes nominations included 27 for cable. HBO and Starz scored the most for cable shows, earning seven and six nominations, respectively. HBO’s Game of Thrones returns for recognition in the drama series category, and Starz’s Outlander snatched a spot in this area as well. Showtime’s The Affair, which won last year, was not nominated this year, but Maura
INTX Call for Speakers Needs YOU!
Our connected world is ushering in rapid transformation and redefining the consumer communications experience. Everything in media and entertainment is being reexamined. How do the thought leaders of today and tomorrow keep up? And more importantly, how do you make sure your finger is on the pulse of change? The answer is INTX: The Internet and Television Expo. INTX is the annual event that represents the entire online entertainment and technology ecosystem in one place. It’s speakers, workshops, events, and exhibits on everything from IoT to OTT, second screens to skinny bundles. But just as
Spotlight: ARRIS Brings Connectivity to Latin America
We talk a lot about the cable industry within the United States, but what about the trends and challenges going on in regions beyond the U.S.? I recently spoke with German Iaryczower, senior vice president of sales at ARRIS for the Caribbean and Latin America regions to find out a little bit about the work they are doing with cable operators in the region and how their market differs from ours in the United States. ARRIS provides cable operators with high-speed data, video and telephony systems for homes and businesses, but in the Latin American market, the state of the economy creates a fork
Latest Data Reveals Unexpected Trends in DC's Relationship with the Internet
In Google’s largest consumer survey ever, Onward Internet asked over 100,000 people to quantify their feelings about the Internet. Onward Internet is a special project from NCTA designed not only as a way to learn more about American’s relationship with the Internet, but to provide a freely accessible data resource for anyone curious about shifting Internet sentiments. The nine question survey (you can still take it here) wasn’t just about the things Americans love about the Internet, but the thing they most want to see change as well. The survey’s data has revealed surprising trends in an
The Net Neutrality Saga Moves (Again) to the Courts
Tomorrow, the DC Circuit Court will hear oral arguments on the FCC’s Open Internet (aka Net Neutrality) Order, which reclassified broadband as Title II service subject to public utility-style regulation. We strongly believe that the reclassification of broadband under Title II was wrong as a matter of law and potentially disastrous as a matter of policy. Tomorrow’s argument will consider the former issue – whether or not the FCC had the legal authority to impose Title II common carrier regulation on ISPs as a basis for adopting Net Neutrality rules. The argument is not about preserving an open
Saying Goodbye to the Integration Ban
The old adage that it is harder to eliminate rules than pass new ones largely stands the test of time, but Friday, December 4 will mark an important victory for consumers and innovation when a FCC rule called the Integration Ban will be sunset. Why Friday? Because that was the date established during last year’s reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2014, also known as STELAR. The Integration Ban was an unnecessary technology mandate from the late 1990’s that cost billions of dollars with no real consumer benefit. We’d like to take a moment to recognize how