Cablevision Systems and Zodiac Interactive issued an announcement today acknowledging they’ve been working together on a variety of interactive TV (iTV) initiatives. There had been rumors that Cablevision had selected Zodiac’s EBIF user agent to provide Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) applications, but today’s release indicates a much broader relationship, which includes an anticipated remote-storage DVR.

Zodiac’s PowerUp Platform has been deployed in digital set-top boxes across Cablevision’s entire tri-state service area. PowerUp is helping Cablevision to offer interactive digital TV products and services, including interactive ads, Web browsing, classifieds, social media integration, and t-commerce for both existing and next-generation ecosystems.

"We provide the service footprint for the legacy and current offering as well as next generation," said Brandon Brown, CEO of Zodiac Interactive. "That next generation is tru2way-based."

As far as legacy set-tops go, Brown added, "There are various STB footprints in the Cablevision ecosystem." He indicated that the soon-to-be-acquired Bresnan system was taken into consideration as well.

Brown said PowerUp is a brand name that encompasses a variety of products and services, including middleware and client-presentation engines for EBIF and tru2way as well as apps and cloud-based solutions.

Canoe Ventures, of which Cablevision is a founding member, is working with CableLabs’ EBIF for its first stab at iTV advertising.

Additionally, Zodiac’s PowerUp AMS, a patent-pending solution for messaging and stream transformation, is being leveraged by Cablevision for Web and mobile integration with set-top boxes.?

RS-DVR?

Cablevision and Zodiac also are working together on remote-storage DVR.

Cablevision originally attempted to launch remote-storage DVR in 2006, but was sued by programmers concerned about copyright infringement. In 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of Cablevision. The MSO said it would deploy network-based DVR service throughout its footprint by the end of 2010. And now, apparently, it’s working with Zodiac to do just that, although timeframes and technical details were not provided.

-Linda Hardesty

The Daily

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