Month: April 2016

Is it time to say goodbye to cable companies’ set-top transmission boxes, the monthly charges that come with them, and a possible entertainment content choke point? The FCC has approved a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to allow consumers to access cable and cable programming through other means, not just cable companies’s set-top boxes. The FCC had released a fact sheet in January that detailed the reasoning behind this shift. The agency says that “99% of pay-TV subscribers are chained to their set-top boxes,” that they pay “on average $231 in rental fees annually” per household, and that these new rules will “tear down anti-competitive barriers and pave the way for software, devices and other innovative solutions.” Like what? Seeking greater access The FCC says it plans to create a new framework to permit audiences to access their subscription services however they wish. For instance, there is a Time Warner Cable app on the Roku digital media player that would allow users to access all of their paid Time Warner content through the Roku player. These are they types of new access possibilities that the FCC seeks to foster. The agency has identified “three core information streams” that cable and satellite companies must give to those creating new devices or apps. Service discovery: Information about what programming is available to the consumer, such as the channel listing and video-on-demand lineup,...