• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Cable Firms To Test Microsoft Tv Software

Posted on: Tuesday, 22 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

The nation's two largest cable operators will test Microsoft Corp.'s digital television software with some of their subscribers under agreements to be announced today.

Although limited in scope, the trials by Comcast Cable and Time Warner Cable could serve as a beachhead for Microsoft TV as it attempts to take on the TV Guide Interactive software that dominates the digital-cable market. Microsoft hopes the trials will lead to broader agreements with the companies and others.

"There's a potential here to do something Microsoft hasn't been able to do up to this point, which is to actually prove that their television products are going to be useful in the U.S. cable business," said Josh Bernoff, principal analyst at Forrester Research. "It's a necessary first step."

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is expected to announce the trials during a speech this morning to a gathering of the national Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing in downtown Seattle.

One of the deals comes with a local twist. Comcast plans to conduct its trial of the Microsoft TV Foundation Edition software with a limited number of subscribers in the Seattle market starting this fall. The Foundation Edition software, unveiled last month, allows cable companies to provide specialized content, including on- demand video and information.

Subscribers involved in the Seattle trial will also use Microsoft's interactive program guide, rather than the usual TV Guide Interactive system, to get details about programs and choose among channels.

Microsoft unveiled its interactive program guide a year ago, as part of a shift in strategy toward providing software for the types of digital cable boxes already in many homes. The company focused in the past on software for much more advanced cable boxes, but those ultimately didn't take hold in the industry.

The deals with Comcast and Time Warner reflect that shift, although the company still needs to translate the trials into something broader and more permanent.

"From a revenue perspective, we're still in the early days as an incubating business, but from a strategic perspective, it's very big," said Ed Graczyk, director of marketing and communications for Microsoft TV.

Comcast said last month that it would run a trial of the Foundation Edition software, but the company didn't previously say where it would take place. Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, entered the Seattle market through its acquisition of AT&T Broadband last year.

The Philadelphia-based cable company also plans to run a trial of Microsoft's interactive program guide, in standalone form, in another part of the country not yet disclosed.

Separately, Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest cable company, plans to run a trial of Microsoft's interactive program guide in Beaumont, Texas. It's Microsoft's first deal with the cable company.

Two smaller cable companies in Oregon, Uvision LLC and Willamette Broadband LLC, rolled out Microsoft's interactive program guide across their systems this year.

Microsoft TV also has deals with cable systems in Latin America and Europe.

P-I reporter Todd Bishop can be reached at 206-448-8221 or toddbishop@seattlepi.com

More News in this Category