BRIEFS

CABLEWORLD STAFF

BigBand Networks is big on HDTV, and it has the deployments to prove it. The vendor announced last week that Susquehanna Communications will deploy BigBand's broadband-multimedia router (BMR) in its York and Williamsport, Pa., systems, passing more than 150,000 homes. SusCom is using the BMR to provision HDTV programming from various satellite and off-air sources and to maximize bandwidth efficiency. BigBand now has deals with eight of the top 25 MSOs.

In conjunction with Wavexpress, Hollywood.com has unveiled MoviePick, an Internet video-clip service that will offer a variety of entertainment options. Offered through Wavexpress's TVTonic broadband media player, MoviePick will show film trailers, interviews with film actors and host reviews and theater show times. TVTonic, only available to broadband Internet users, is offered free for a two-month trial and costs $1.95 a month thereafter. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

South American cable operator Intercable will look to SeaChange International to kick-start its VOD offering to customers in Caracas, Venezuela. Intercable will use SeaChange's video servers and VODcast pitcher-catcher system to offer a variety of content, including movies, TV shows and Karaoke videos. The country's largest MSO, Intercable serves about 1.2 million homes. It also uses SeaChange's spot ad insertion system to manage advertising traffic in 13 head-ends.

Discovery Networks International will install NDS Groups iRespond technology to simplify and speed the production and management of interactive content on different broadcast platforms. A server-based authoring tool that handles content over various broadcast platforms, iRespond allows programmers to create interactive applications in a matter of hours, not days. A content editor using the NDS tool can produce and publish interactive content, while the broadcaster retains control over what goes on air.