[opendtv] Starz Hosts First Satellite Transmission Using OCAP(TM) Platform

  • From: Bill Sheppard <Bill.Sheppard@xxxxxxx>
  • To: "OpenDTV (E-mail)" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 01 Nov 2004 18:58:56 -0800

New Applications Based on the OCAP(TM) Specification Developed by CableLabs(R)
                      Will Open Gates for Interactive TV

    ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The first satellite transmission
of an OpenCable(TM) Applications Platform (OCAP(TM)) application was
successfully completed from the headquarters of Starz Encore Group LLC
(Starz).  The broadcast was downlinked and verified by CableLabs.

    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041101/LAM103)

    OCAP is a middleware software layer specification developed by the cable
industry consortium CableLabs(R).  OCAP enables the development of interactive
television services and applications that will run interoperably on any cable
television system in North America, independent of set-top or television
receiver hardware or operating system software choices.

    The transmission of an OCAP-based application from the Starz uplink
facility was the first use of OCAP outside the laboratory environment.  It
followed an Aug. 2 event at the CableLabs headquarters in Louisville, CO, in
which some 24 companies demonstrated a wide range of interactive TV
applications capable of running on the software.

    "The successful transmission of an OCAP application from uplink to headend
to end user is a major step forward in creating an environment in which
interactive TV, long a blue sky promise, can become a reality," said CableLabs
President and CEO Dr. Richard Green.

    Starz president and COO Robert B. Clasen added "Starz was happy to provide
the facility for the first out-of-the-lab demonstration of OCAP and looks
forward to the era of interactive television."

    This broadcast makes Starz the first programmer to embed OCAP
functionality within a US broadcast.  The interactivity consists of making a
branded "mini-guide" part of transmission and letting our viewers select
information about "What's On Tonight," "Saturday Premieres," and "Movie
Extras" about new hit movies.

    Starz used the TSBroadcaster headend server provided by UniSoft
Corporation to schedule and integrate the one-way OCAP application into the
transmission stream.  ADB's i-CAN3200 set-top box was used to decode the
video.  ADB's OCAP stack was supplied by Osmosys.

    Additional information on OCAP can be found at the CableLabs website
http://www.cablelabs.com.

    Starz Encore Group (SEG) is the largest provider of premium movie services
in the United States with approximately 164 million pay units.  SEG offerings
include the Starz Super Pak(R), with up to 13 digital movie channels and more
than 750 movies per month, Starz On Demand(R), the only on-demand pay TV
subscription service available on the cable and satellite platforms, and its
broadband equivalent, STARZ! Ticket(SM).  SEG also offers a suite of advanced
video offerings, including STARZ! HD(SM), Encore(SM), and Starz On Demand
HD(SM).  Starz Encore Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media
Corporation (NYSE: L 
<http://studio.financialcontent.com/Engine?Account=prnewswire&PageName=QUOTE&Ticker=L>,
 LMCb), http://www.starz.com.

     Contacts:   Tom Southwick              Eric Becker
                 (720) 852-5821             (720) 852-4065
                 tom.southwick@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:%20tom.southwick@xxxxxxxxx>    
eric.becker@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:%20eric.becker@xxxxxxxxx>

SOURCE Starz Encore Group LLC
Web Site: http://www.starz.com
Photo Notes: NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041101/LAM103 AP

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Sheppard                                  Industry Marketing Manager
bill.sheppard@xxxxxxx                   Consumer and Mobile Systems Group
(408) 404-1254 (x68154)                            Sun Microsystems, Inc.

 
 
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