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GTEM,MEMY,VION,DNDN TA advise please?
GTEM,MEMY,VION,DNDN TA advise please?
COLLECTION OF BUY OUT ARTICLES !!!
Terayon share price skyrockets on acquisition rumors
FEBRUARY 18,2007
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000184092&fid=942
Moto & Cisco Joust for Terayon FEBRUARY 15, 2007
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=117548&site=cdn
Hoping for Harmonic FEBRUARY 13, 2007
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=117258
And Then There Were 3 JANUARY 19, 2007
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=115015&site=cdn
Terayon Preps for Likely Auction JANUARY 17, 2007
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=114888&site=cdn
Motorola, Cisco Bidding for Terayon DECEMBER 11, 2006
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=112584&site=cdn
http://www.cedmagazine.com/article/CA6400431.html?title=Article&nid=2797
Analyst: Motorola, Cisco, Harmonic all want Terayon
December 11, 2006
http://www.cedmagazine.com/article/CA6398900.html?text=terayon
Motorola, Cisco and Harmonic in Bidding War for Terayon?
08 December, 2006
http://comminns.blog.gartner.com/blog/index.php?itemid=1789
NO BUYOUT SO WHAT TARGET PRICE STILL SET FOR $4 THIS YEAR
http://www.knobias.com/story.htm?eid=3.1.014792f7add5ac0edafd799efe723eb8a3c73a5bd1030e8e51bd6c66fcc...
NORTEL ARTICLE
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=115412&WT.svl=news1_1
CHECK PAGE 21 OF NORTEL PDF. What equipment are they interested in ? YES SIR. TERAYON.
http://www.nortel.com/corporate/events/2006b/cis_inform2006/collateral/9_cis_inform_iptv.pdf
CHECK CISCO WEBSITE what equpment are they testing
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6902/products_implementation_design_guide_chapter09186a0080645...
WORLD IPTV FORUMS. Every company is there besides Terayon. Why?
http://www.iptv-forum.com/content/view/15/27/
No i didn't give up. There just isn't too many posters so it's just slow. Co should be bought out in Feb/Mar hopefully not in May. I held if for a year already so to me the quicker the better, but it's personal thing. Good luck buddy.
Hercules. IMO there are two patterns devoloping right now. Cup and Handle (longer term)when you look at 1 year graph and we had 3 white soldiers candle sticks (short term). Both are bullish. Stock has been trading like there has been a leak looking at the direction and the volume. I just noticed that there MIGHT BE...operative word is MIGHT be unconfirmed earnings on Nov 30 so maybe they will surprise us and post restatment that they struggled with. Good luck but I believe time has come. Just my opinion. http://www.knobias.com/individual/public/quote.htm?ticker=TERN
Snap what do you see in TUTS ?
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=TUTS&p=D&yr=0&mn=3&dy=0&id=p55480615286
Snap. ADX3 and AROON 8 green has crossed over which tells me this is going up tommorow. I am more worried about this being stompped by 200MA line which almost always happens. When and if that happens it might go to that 1.12 level you are talking about however it it blows threw 200MA line then this will confirm for me the cup and handle pattern and then blow up should occur. Just my opinion but please tell me what you think. Thank you for your input and follow up.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=TERN&p=D&yr=0&mn=3&dy=0&id=p55480615286
Terayon looking for employees with Cisco certification.
WHY does Terayon looking for employees with Cisco certification and WHY does Cisco using Terayon's Cherrypicker 6400 instead of Scientic Atlanta's equpiment for which they paid $1B.
http://www.terayon.com/tools/careers/view.html?phase=show&id=1163740458&tool_id=10&cat_i...
Req# 404 Technical Support Engineer
Type: Full Time:
Location: Santa Clara
Description: Primary responsibility will be post-sales telephone and email support of Terayon’s advanced Digital Video Systems. Other responsibilities include development of troubleshooting guides, application notes and technical tips to help customers help themselves, assist with sales presentations and product demonstrations, identify, document and provide feedback to engineering relating to field HW/SW issues. There will be some after-hours duties as well – wages will be augmented to compensate for the after-hours work.
Requirements: BSEE/CS or equivalent combined with 2-4 years of related experience including the following protocols: MPEG, DVB, TCP/IP and SNMP. Understanding of basic Linux or UNIX commands a must. Excellent oral and written communication skills a must. Scripting knowledge is a plus. RF and cable industry knowledge and experience is a plus.
Preferred Experience: Experience with Cable or Satellite Headend and/or IP routing equipment is highly desirable. Experience with MPEG analyzers, playback devices, or encryption equipment a bonus. Cisco certified is a strong asset.
Job #: 404
Requisition #: 404
TERN: Another article about Merger & Acquisition.
http://www.cable360.net/cfax/regulatory/national/20485.html
Friedman Billings says their recent industry checks suggest that TERN may be getting closer to filing audited financial statements with the SEC. They believe the filing would reflect restatements of FY04 and FY05 financials in the wake of improper revenue-recognition practices during 2004. The firm thinks such a filing would clearly be a positive for the shares, as it would finally lift a major overhang on the entire co and could suggest an eventual return for the shares to the NASDAQ national market. Perhaps more importantly, the firm thinks this could represent a step toward reopening M&A discussions with interested parties, as they believe an earlier sale process has been on hold pending the finalization of the audit.
M&A is short for Merger & Acquisition.
ARRIS eyeing competitors as acquisition targets
http://www.cedmagazine.com/article/CA6388757.html
ARRIS looks to fuel acquisition war chest
By Jeff Baumgartner, CED
November 6, 2006
ARRIS said it plans to raise $225 million in a proposed offering, with the proceeds to go toward general corporate purposes, "including the funding of future acquisitions."
Although ARRIS is already well positioned with VoIP gear as well as modems and headend equipment that support the advanced DOCSIS 3.0 specs, it's most obvious long term need is the addition of digital video technology and equipment to its menu.
The most often-rumored acquisition target for ARRIS is nearby Concurrent Computer Corp., a key maker of video-on-demand servers and backend software.
In addition to Concurrent, ARRIS "may also continue to be eyeing other acquisition opportunities in the space," according to recent research from ThinkEquity Partners that points to other possible, publicly-traded examples such as Terayon Communication Systems, C-COR Inc. and Harmonic Inc.
ThinkEquity also suggested that ARRIS "may be holding out for a more-favorable stock price," when it comes to the possibility of making a play for Concurrent. "We believe ARRIS is a very cheap company with a bargain attitude. We like that."
As for ARRIS' planned offering, the $225 million of convertible senior notes would be due 2026. ARRIS said it will also grant underwriters a 30-day option, solely to cover over-allotments, to purchase up to an additional $33.75 million of the notes.
IMO Cup an Handle technical pattern is forming. Bullish.
Here is 1 year graph of TERN
Here is how technical cup and handle looks like. Notice how very similiar it looks.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cupandhandle.asp
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cupandhandle.asp
Restatment of finances to be completed by the end of the 2006 calendar year.
TERN: Plans to Restate Financial Statements
http://www.knobias.com/story.htm?eid=3.1.4aaa07658d3a7885bf42a8c7607fdf97aa925e5a63a70fd8a000d5d22b4...
Wednesday, November 08, 2006 09:18ET
By Scott Taylor, staylor@knobias.com
Terayon Communication Systems, Inc. (TERN) announced that the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, upon the recommendation of management, has concluded that the Company's consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2000 and for the quarters of 2003, 2002 and 2000 should no longer be relied upon. The restatement of financial statements for 2003 will correct errors primarily relating to the recognition of revenue, cost of goods sold and estimates of reserves. The restatement of financial statements for 2000 and 2002 will correct errors primarily relating to the need to separately value and account for an embedded derivative option associated with the Company's 5% convertible subordinated notes issued in July 2000, and other accrual estimates.
Management currently expects the audit, re-audit and restatement process, as well as the filings of its periodic reports with restated financial statements, to be completed by the end of the 2006 calendar year.
Terayon wins a TECH EMMY !!!
FU CISCO AND SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6388416.html?display=Search+Results&text=Terayon
---------------------------------------------------------------
By Todd Spangler 11/6/2006
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences last Thursday announced the winners of its 58th annual Science, Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for Broadcast Television as well as nominations for its Science, Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for Broadband and Personal Television categories.
NATAS also bestowed a lifetime achievement award on Eddy Hartenstein, the former president and CEO of DirecTV, which he had headed from its inception in 1990.
Here are the winners in each of the six Broadcast Television categories:
Pioneering Development of On Screen Display for Setup, Control and Configuration of Consumer Television Equipment: RCA.
Streaming Media Architectures and Components: Microsoft, Adobe Systems, Real-Networks, Apple Computer.
Pioneering Development for Combining Multiple Transport Streams Which Are Already Encoded, Using Rate-Shaping and Statistical Remultiplexing: Terayon Communication Systems.
Development and Implementation of Automatically Assembled Dynamic Customized TV Advertising: Visible World, The Weather Channel.
Technology Advances in Serial Digital Interface Solutions, Enabling Over 20 Years of Seamless Studio and Broadcast Infrastructure Migration: Gennum Corp.
Privately Owned and Operated International Satellite Company Primarily for International Video Services: Rene Anselmo of PanAmSat.
NATAS also announced nominations in seven Broadband & Personal Television categories. Among them are:
Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for the Synchronous Enhancement of Original Television Content:
DirecTV’s Interactive Sports, HSN’s Shop by Remote, NBC Olympics Now by Biap Systems.
Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for the Non-Synchronous Enhancement of Original Television Content: CNN Enhanced by Turner Broadcasting System, Fantasy Football Tracker by BIAP Systems, NBC.com’s Passions Vendetta, “Sopranos: Crime. Organized” by Deep Focus, “The Cultivated Life: Thomas Jefferson & Wine” by NetBlender, Nickelodeon’s The-N.com Video Mixer.
The technology and engineering Emmy awards will be presented formally at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show, held on Jan. 8 in Las Vegas.
LOOKS LIKE NAKED SHORTS HAVE COVERED their short position therefore the volume. Come on to bring the stock from $2.00 to 0.08 cents is EVIL work of NS...don't you think?
CISCO USING TERAYON'S EQUIPMENT FOR TESTING OPERABILITY ON CISCO ROUTERS.
WHY? They bought about 6 months ago Scientific Atlanta which also makes this type of a equpiment. Why doesn't CSCO USE FOR TESTING Scientic Atlanta equipment? HA?
http://cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6902/products_implementation_design_guide_chapter09186a0080645acd....
Also few more threads when you search CISCO site.
1. go here http://cisco.com/pcgi-bin/search/search.pl
2. Type in Terayon in search box and press enter.
Third-Party Equipment
Third-party equipment is included to test the functionality of the Cisco routers/switches used in the solution. Table 1-1 lists the third-party hardware and software components that were tested.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Note Cisco cannot guarantee support for the third-party equipment used in the solution.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 1-2 Third-Party Hardware and Software Tested
Component Vendor and Model Software Release Hardware Release
Multiplexer,
Ad splicer/groomer
Terayon DM 6400
netcp4.1 build 16
N/A
BigBand Networks BMR1200
suite 2.11.1
Edge QAM device
Motorola SEM v8
6.1.1
N/A
TERAYON nominated for Tech Emmy Award for pioneering development for combining multiple transport systems that are encoded using rate-shaping and statistical remultiplexing;
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6387904.html?display=Breaking+News
Tech Emmy Awards, Nominations Announced
----------------------------------------------------------------
By Linda Haugsted 11/2/2006 5:32:00 PMEddy Hartenstein, former vice chairman of DirecTV Group, will be honored with the lifetime achievement award for technology and engineering during the 58th Annual Science, Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards presented by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Hartenstein will receive his honor during ceremonies at next year's consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
During that ceremony, six Emmy Awards for achievement in technology and achievement, as selected by a peer-group panel, will be presented. These honorees are:
• RCA, which will be honored for pioneering development of on-screen displays for the setup, control and configuration of TV sets;
• Microsoft, Apple Computer, Adobe Systems and RealNetworks, for streaming-media architecture and components;
•Terayon Communication Systems, for pioneering development for combining multiple transport systems that are encoded using rate-shaping and statistical remultiplexing;
• Visible World and The Weather Channel, for the development and implementation of automatically assembled dynamic customized TV advertising;
• Gennum, for technology advances in serial-digital-interface solutions; and
• Rene Anselmo of PanAmSat, honored among privately owned and operated satellite companies offering international video services.
The Academy also announced the nominees for seven categories of interactive, on-demand, personal-media display and presentation technology. Those awards will be selected by a panel of judges. The nominees are:
• Outstanding achievement in advanced media technology for the synchronous enhancement of original TV content: DirecTV Interactive Sports; HSN Shop by Remote; and NBC Olympics Now powered by BIAP Systems.
• Advanced achievement, nonsynchronous enhancement of TV content: CNN Enhanced; Fantasy Football Tracker by BIAP Systems; Passions Vendetta at NBC.com (www.nbc.com); Sopranos: Crime. Organized by Deep Focus; The Cultivated Life: Thomas Jefferson & Wine, NetBlender; and The-N.com (www.the-n.com) Video Mixer.
• Best technology for nontraditional programs or platforms: Entriq Mobile Technology, Switched Broadcast Is Transforming TV, by BigBand Networks; Sling Media’s Slingbox; and Vid-Wave by Boxx Communications.
• Best personal-media display and presentation technology: Screen 3, by Hill &Knowlton/Motorola; Sectional Navigation Architecture, GoTV Network; and Xcross Media Box, Sony.
• Best on-demand technology over closed networks: Guided TV (ABC TV on Demand), Disney ABC Television Group; Moxie Adelphia On Demand Browser, Digeo; and Time Warner Cable's Start Over, by Time Warner, Concurrent Computer, BigBand, Harmonic and Scientific Atlanta.
• Best on-demand technology over public Internet: ABC.com (abc.go.com) full-episode streaming player, Disney ABC Television Group; AOL Music's Top 11 Countdown Show; GameTap, Turner Broadcasting System; Revver.com (one.revver.com); Stim TV by NPOWR; and Vongo by Starz Entertainment Group.
• Best use of commercials in nontraditional platforms: ABC.com full-episode streaming player; Ravenstoke, Turner; and TiVo Interactive Advertising Platform.
The 58th Annual Science, Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards will be presented formally at the Consumer Electronics Show Jan. 8 in Las Vegas.
TERN.PK What do you see here?
Here is one year chart and I see possibility of Cup and Handle forming. Any insight would be appriciated.
TERN.PK What do you see here?
Here is one year chart and I see possibility of Cup and Handle forming. Any insight would be appriciated.
PLEASE DELETE. DUPLICATE.
Terayon for sale article dated 31 Oct 06 12:57
http://www.globes.co.il/serveEN/globes/docView.asp?did=1000147589&fid=1176
Terayon, as mentioned earlier, is another company on the ‘Scandal-Sale’ exit route, at least to judge by the rumors and the trading on the market. Since plummeting to a low of $0.74 at the end of July, and its subsequent delisting from Nasdaq and transfer to the Pink Sheets, Terayon has doubled its price, ending last Friday’s session at $1.50. The doubling in price was seen in large volumes, even though the company has yet to give an indication as to the date for the publication of its restated results for previous years, without which it cannot re-apply for listing on Nasdaq’s regular market.
Who could possibly be interested in Terayon and what it has to offer, after its collapse from a company with a multibillion market cap to one worth less than $100 million? Video is the key word here. At a time when the entire world is talking about video broadcasting over the Internet and on cellular handsets, someone apparently took note of Terayon’s video technology, which is sold primarily to cable television companies.
As cable, fixed line telephony and cellular companies battle for the supply of video to private consumers, there are those which apparently want to get a toehold in the hot field of Internet protocol television (IPTV) equipment. They appear to have taken an interest in Terayon’s flagship product called “CherryPicker,” and some people say it still has key technological advantages in video signal compression. It is believed that once it has put the restatement of its past results behind it, Terayon will be up for sale to the highest bidder.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 31, 2006
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2006
Marshy. Could be nothing or it could be very big. It's hard to say since every time we think it's big it turn out to be absolutly nothing, however it's been so soooooooooo long so we will see. I hope they go to major exchange, report earnings, report in huge profit and then annouce 1B buy out....lol but then again it's only my wishfull thinking and more often then not i'm wrong. I know one thing. When stock was at $4 NO INSIDER sold ONE SHARE and they also did not buy ONE SHARE WHEN IT WAS LOWER THEN $1 which tells me they either couldn't due to some material news (like buy out or just bad finances) or they simply hold for much higher cashout.
I SMELL NEWS ON MONDAY. Did something leak?....
to cause this 16% jump today. Let's take this all the way to resistance line (MA200)@ $1.58 and see what happens then.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=TERN&p=D&yr=0&mn=3&dy=0&id=p55480615286
06/22/06 TERAYON CEO interview at EXPO showing products.
http://event.on24.com/clients/default/presentation/default.html?titlecolor=&eventid=25089&se...
Terayon's inside pictures of Building, CEO, Employees and Network Operation Center
http://www.flickr.com/photos/belleville/59572780/in/set-929734/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/belleville/73367704/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/belleville/59235046/
Also I updated charts.
<The Safe Harbor Statements on the bottom of every PR protect GTE>
LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. Dude. No they don't and I will prove it to you very simply. Enron had Safe Harbor Statements also and they were charged with fraud and will go to jail for it. Bankruptcy was announced and shareholders like you lost all their money. As for lawsuits take years you better pray they don't since then will liability of those lawsuits be on your head every day. Of course there is "MERIT" to the class action lawsuits filed because there are 5 different law firms suiting GTE. Open your eyes bro cause floodgates of corruption and fraud had finally been opened. Sharks are smelling the blood in the water and taking action. All support has been broken with last support line being $1.33 on very high volume of 6.3mil shares, +197% compared to the typical daily volume over the past 6 months. High Volume alert had been issued. Typical daily volume is 2.12mil shares over the past 6 months. TRANSLATION:THIS IS SINKING EVEN MORE. AFTER HOURS PRICE IS $1.03.
TCR7309 EXCEPT 3 CLASS ACTIONS LAWSUITES.
I would have agreed with you if there was NO 3 class action lawsuits pending on GTE shoulders. I believe and seems so does Motley Fool and 3 law firms that GTE committed fraud by making fraudulent statements to mislead investors into buying stock and facts as Dow Jones news has found out that Internafta is a warehouse of a metal-producing company named Metalloinvest-Market and that is the proof that will burn GTE. Read here: http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=11034694
Now having said that in my opinion GTE will be found guilty and bankruptcy might happen destroying all your money so your buy in price of .98 is a huge mistake in my opinion and in case you were laughing at American bulls at least they are very accurate and stated: "The previous SELL recommendation was issued on 03.31.2006 (39) days ago, when the stock price was 2.5300. Since then GTE has fallen -45.45%" .If you would have sold at SELL you would have prevented 45% LOSS and you would have a chance to get back in NOW if that is what you would want to do. The last laugh is mine dude. LOL.
$0.96 HIT TODAY. I TOLD YA SO MANY TIMES !!!
This is going to be next Enron due to Fraud managment has commited. Now all bets are off. Who knows what the bottom will be. This is NO man's land right now. Good luck.
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10628341
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10644456
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10760456
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10880119
LAW FIRM RESEARCH ON GTE RUSSIAN DEAL !!!!
Read what law firm's research showed on GTE deal with Internafta.
"On May 1, 2006, GlobeTel announced a formal default with Internafta. Also, according to Russian newspaper Vedomosti, as reported by Dow Jones, Internafta was registered as a company on November 30, 2005, exactly one month before it entered into the deal with GlobeTel, and has only $369 in charter capital according to tax authorities. According to Dow Jones, the address given for Internafta by the Federal Tax Service contains only a warehouse of a metal-producing company named Metalloinvest-Market, which claims to never have heard of Internafta or its managers." - http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/060509/0128206.html
So I guess Sebass and Seth was telling you naked truth all along. The cencorship has prevented you to get naked truth, so how was that cencorship beneficial to you members? Also how was Ignoring me beneficial too? Think about it. It was ignorant and price for ignorace is always high. I hope Huff will go to jail for this one. Your money is at stake tommorow. You should have listned to me and you would have been better off. Just my opinion but tommorow pain will come if you hold this stock. Good luck.
Will Alcatel-Lucent Seek Foothold in Cable Next?
Despite Merger, New Telecom Colossus Still Lacks Major Presence in Key Market
http://www.cabledatacomnews.com/may06/may06-6.html
MAY 01, 2006
By Michael Harris and Alan Breznick, Cable Digital News
April's mega-merger between Alcatel and Lucent Technologies will create a telecom equipment giant with an unmatched customer footprint in the telco and wireless carrier segments. While the combined Alcatel-Lucent will generate $25 billion in annual revenue, the colossus will be decidedly weak in a key market segment: cable.
Through its purchase of Scientific-Atlanta, Cisco Systems is now the undisputed cable kingpin. And where Lucent has tried and failed for years to make a major splash in cable, Nortel has succeeded handsomely selling Class 5 switches, IP telephony and metro optical infrastructure to MSOs. Even Siemens has made inroads with its PacketCable VoIP solution.
Will Alcatel-Lucent remain content to operate as a cable also-ran? Not likely. But what to do about it? The obvious answer is to acquire and there are two solid choices. Plan A: snatch up BigBand Networks before it goes public. BigBand's CMTS and video switching infrastructure would help Alcatel-Lucent gain a foothold in the heart of MSO networks. BigBand's video products would also play well with the giant's telco customers moving into video. Plan B is an "assemblage." Acquire ARRIS, the top supplier of E-MTAs and a stronger player than BigBand in the DOCSIS CMTS segment. And, scoop up Terayon, a solid video-only play now smarting after its NASDAQ delisting. Or, if Terayon's accounting mishaps create too much uncertainty, consider start-up RGB Networks or Tandberg Television on the heels of its Skystream acquisition.
Alca-cent may argue it can successfully partner to address the cable market. Maybe Motorola is game to find a bigger buddy in its battle against Cisco and S-A, despite its announced alliance with Juniper in cable. Not likely though, given Moto's rivalry with Alca-cent in wireless. Anyway, cable alliances have proven easy to announce and difficult to execute.
Cisco built its cable beachhead in the trenches, starting with its first-generation CMTS product, and leveraging that platform to sell core routers, optical gear and VoIP solutions to MSOs. Then Cisco boldly bought S-A for $6 billion to cement its cable leadership. There are no shortcuts. With a real cable access play to round out its portfolio, Alca-cent could assemble a formidable offering for MSOs, including its IPTV, edge routing and IMS solutions. The question is whether the giant has the courage, or available attention span, to make a daring, quick leap into cable.
Picking your Spots - CEDMAGAZINE
By Brian Santo, Senior Editor
May 1, 2006
http://www.cedmagazine.com/article/CA6329422.html
Merchants spend tens of billions of dollars on advertising in the U.S. Cable operators are of the opinion that they deserve a bigger piece of that pie, but until they can more accurately target potential customers, advertisers aren't going to be very accommodating.
Most of the major cable operators last year implemented a way to target ads by regions sometimes as small as metro zip code areas, but that measure was largely preparatory for what comes next.
Comcast Cable, Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable and other operators are now testing various technologies that will enable them to target audiences with a finer granularity, from zip codes to neighborhoods of a few thousand subscribers and beyond to individual set-top boxes—the ultimate target in targeted advertising.
Telcos, with their fiber-based switched video services, are in a position to ship specific ads to specific set-tops the moment they hook up a subscriber. For now, the issue is that they haven't hooked up nearly enough customers to attract an appreciable amount of business from major advertisers. That won't be the case for long.
For competitive reasons, operators want to be first in the traditional TV world to offer the ability to target customers and simultaneously have enough customers to attract advertisers. The expectation is that within six months, cable operators will start rolling out the capability to aim ads at neighborhoods and smaller groups of potential customers, and that within two years, most will be zeroing in on individual set-tops, one way or another.
In addition to subscriber numbers and the technological capability, the other elements necessary for attracting national advertisers are verification and the availability of demographic data. When advertisers spend money to reach consumers, they like to have assurances those consumers actually saw their ads and have a high likelihood of becoming customers.
Viewership numbers (verification) and demographics have long come from Nielsen Media Research. Advertisers have been grumbling for years that Nielsen's TV viewership numbers are unreliable, and if they weren't before, the proliferation of devices that enable ad skipping and ad zapping now justifies the complaints.
Figure 1: Cable operators install Digital Program Insertion (DPI)
systems in hubs to enable the capability of splicing local ads in digital program streams.
Scientific Atlanta uses its DCM (Digital Content Manager) to splice ads into program streams.
The availability (or lack thereof) of verification and demographic data goes a long way in explaining why advertisers have been shifting their ad spending from TV to the Web. Spending on all advertising was up 4.2 percent in 2005, but spending on Web advertising was up 23 percent, by far the fastest growing category, according to Nielsen.
With ads on the Web, advertisers know not only that people saw their ads, but they can also identify the specific PCs the ad was delivered to, determine if the person behind that PC clicked on their ad, and also get some details about that person's online behavior. That data can then be cross-referenced with other information (e.g., zip code) to render a demographic profile.
When national advertisers buy TV ads, they overwhelmingly buy ad time directly from networks—CNN, Disney, etc. Although verification is weak, the networks can still offer millions of viewers with definable group demographic characteristics.
National advertisers are key, because they're the ones with the biggest ad budgets. National advertisers rarely buy ad time with individual local cable operators (ignoring for the moment that some MSOs also own national programming networks), mainly because they're not big enough (with a very small number of obvious exceptions), but also because demographic and verification is rudimentary, especially in comparison with the Web.
What cable operators get to sell are the ad slots the networks reserve for them in their program feeds. Operators sell them primarily to regional and local advertisers.
Local/regional advertising is nothing to sneeze at. Those advertisers spent over $5 billion with cable operators in 2005, and even with rudimentary regional targeting, most expect that can double or even triple by the end of 2007.
But once cable operators can target individual set-tops, they believe they'll be significantly more attractive to national advertisers. While operators might siphon some national ad dollars from the networks, they are more likely to attract the "spend" that advertisers are shifting away from network TV and print (now being diverted to the Web), and to also grab a good share of any increase in spending.
In the last year, most of the major cable operators have upgraded to digital distribution. By distributing digital program insertion (DPI) capability throughout a system, typically at neighborhood nodes, operators have enabled themselves to aim ads at viewers on at least a regional basis at a fairly low cost.
In this configuration, an operator can have as many ad zones as it has nodes equipped with DPI. From the cable operator's perspective, that might be overkill, however. There's no economic justification for selling a single ad slot in 20 different zones to 20 different advertisers.
For the local advertiser, that's also frequently too fine a dice. Rarely will an advertiser have as many as four or five different ads (or variations of a single ad), and in demographic terms, one only needs a few geographic divisions before getting to a point of diminishing returns.
The more common scenario in regional targeting is for a cable operator in, for example, San Francisco, to sell an ad slot to a local auto dealership in Marin County and show that ad only in the northern half of San Francisco, and then sell that same ad slot to a local dealership in San Mateo and show that dealer's ad only to the southern half of San Francisco.
Boosting accuracy
Conley
There's limited ability for verification in this system, and even when monitoring is in place, it's still inaccurate, according to Eric Conley, CEO of Mixed Signals. "Failure rates are higher than embedded monitoring systems say [they are]," Conley says.
Problems include everything from improper insertions to incorrect metadata to compromised audio, video or both. Many of these problems don't manifest themselves until the signal is sent downstream.
Mixed Signals' "Sentry" is a box that sits in headends and monitors video signals after they are transmitted by the video servers but before they hit QAM modulators. The Sentry then provides full audit reports. The system is being used by Comcast, Cox and Time Warner.
With solutions for verification becoming available, the next targeting step is to aim at individual set-tops, standing in for the consumers behind them.
Terayon Communication Systems also envisions a scheme in which multiple ads would be transmitted, and the set-top would be equipped with the capability to select the single ad most appropriate for that viewer. Terayon says it is working with a number of set-top box companies to create the necessary software. The technique would allow operators to target individuals until the operators begin switched transmission, a la the telcos.
Mixed Signals’ Sentry device monitors video signals before they
hit QAM modulators, and provides full audit reports.
BigBand Networks advocates jumping right to the switched broadcast model, and several operators are considering that advice, according to the company. It says several partners are testing its switched broadcast technology. The vendor would not disclose specific partners, but Time Warner and BigBand did co-author a paper on the subject at last month's National Show in Atlanta.
Cable operators could start, if they chose, with a multicast model of switched transmission. If one person in a system is watching Lifetime, for example, the operator would still send it as a multicast signal. If a second person tuned in, a server at the edge would join that viewer in to the multicast, thus conserving bandwidth, explains Paul Delzio, director of broadband systems at BigBand.
The next step is unicast, which not only allows operators and advertisers access to individual set-tops, but also to conserve bandwidth. If they know that only 80 channels of the 150 they have available are being watched by at least one person, that's 70 channels they know they don't have to transmit. Bandwidth reclamation in a unicast model might be less efficient than it is in a multicast approach, however.
"Cable operators are up against the telcos," Delzio says. "Fiber gives the telcos unlimited bandwidth. In a switched environment, operators can compete by better managing their bandwidth."
The switched model is compatible with the approach described by Terayon earlier in which set-tops are enabled to select an ad from among several streamed simultaneously to the box.
Delzio predicts cable operators will support up to 10 million cable homes with switched broadcast by the end of this year, and predicts that Time Warner will have migrated entirely to switched broadcast by the end of next year, at a fraction of the cost of adding bandwidth.
Putting ads on-demand
A parallel development in the TV ad market is the insertion of advertising in video-on-demand.
Today, ads are stored directly with specific VOD content. The problem is that VOD content can sit on a server for weeks (sometimes months) before getting refreshed or rotated, which means any accompanying ads have to be valid for at least that long. That rules against ads for imminent events, sales, or anything else that could go stale.
Advertisers want to decouple ads from VOD content, so that they can refresh ads more often, and do so in a more targeted manner.
One approach to ad VOD is to overlay interactive capability. Viewers might see a banner ad or be presented with a short version of a video ad. If viewers want more information, they can click on the ad, which triggers a VOD session, in which the server retrieves the requested content. The practice is commonly called telescoping.
Interactivity typically requires software on the set-top. The interactive approach is being championed by companies such as GoldPocket (now part of Tandberg TV) and Navic Networks.
Charter is using Navic's Addressable Advertising Service in Riverside, Calif. Charter is testing the technology not only for advertising, but also for polling, and other interactive functions.
The other approach is to use a decision manager. VOD programs are encoded with "bumpers"—spaces for ads at the beginning and end. When a subscriber orders a program, the decision manager tells the server which bumper ads to play. The server then retrieves the ads and the program and streams them to the subscriber. A program stream built this way is referred to as a playlist.
An advertiser can associate specific ads with specific content—always send the latest ad for beer with this film, for example. But the decision rules could be set to depend on the demographic character of the subscriber—send the traditional lager ad if the viewer of this film fits one demographic profile; send the ad for the microbrew if the viewer fits the other demographic profile.
It appears that Comcast will be the first MSO to roll out ad VOD across its entire digital footprint (about 9 million homes) starting in June. The capability will initially be available in only three less prominent VOD networks (SuccessTV, Music Spy Videos and DriverTV), but the experience will be instructive for all involved. Comcast is using Tandberg Television's AdPoint system.
Additional storage might be required for this approach, and bandwidth usage has to be managed carefully, but can be implemented in software with existing VOD servers.
Atlas on Demand—which honed its ad-delivering skills on the Web—is one company providing software that can provide rapid decision-making for ad VOD. Atlas SVP and GM Scott Ferris says the company's software works on VOD servers from any vendor, including those from C-COR Inc., Concurrent Computer Corp., and SeaChange International.
With Atlas, C-COR notes, it can provide verification in spades. "I can tell if someone watched an ad, fast-forwarded through, skipped it, or paused it," explains John Boland, C-COR's VP of market development.
Figure 2: Cable operators can target ads by installing more DPI systems farther downstream.
Every DPI system in every node is capable of splicing in a different ad from every other,
effectively creating ad zones. The decision of which ad goes where can be
based on demographic information about the area served.
Some advertisers are said to be considering an ad VOD model in which they give viewers the option to not watch ads, or to get significantly briefer ads. They would charge, for example, $3.00 for a program with ads and perhaps $3.50 for the same program without ads or with shorter ads.
Whether an operator opts for the interactive approach or the decision manager approach, if an operator has already migrated to digital with Gigabit Ethernet transport, the cost of implementing advertising VOD is "at the noise level," according to C-COR's Boland.
A potential hitch is a lack of standards for formats and metrics. On the latter, "a view from SeaChange/Comcast might be defined differently than a view from Concurrent/Cox," says Terri Swartz, director of advanced advertising for SeaChange.
There is no set protocol for what a playlist looks like, just as there's also no agreement on data interchange formats, a potential headache if advertisers want to aggregate information from multiple operators using different equipment vendors.
"Another key concern is ad skipping," says Tom Kennedy, senior director of marketing for Broadbus Technologies, which has a DRAM-based VOD server that can also act as a splicer. "Will operators allow ad skipping or not?"
Whether any of that hinders the proliferation of ad VOD will depend on how eager advertisers are to take advantage of the increased effectiveness of ad VOD.
One other issue: In the broadcast model, it's contractually clear who gets allotted which ad slots, under what circumstances. No such agreements exist for ad VOD.
"The technology is there," says SeaChange's Swartz. "We can do targeting and we can measure the audience. Now we just need the MSOs, agencies, and content providers to agree on how to split up the proceeds." Getting those agreements is just a matter of time, Swartz adds, and won't hold back the introduction of ad VOD.
When talking about targeted advertising, consumer privacy is always an issue, but the industry believes it has very clear rules about assuring viewer privacy, and any number of ways to conform to them.
Of course, there might be a dark side to targeted advertising. What if everyone watching the Super Bowl gets different commercials—what will everyone talk about the next day? Worse, what if you get so demographically typecast that no matter what channel you flip to, you always get the same commercial?
Labrador, Pitbull & andtheretheygo
Deal is dead IMO as any other deal they annouced dating few years back. Columbian deal never was officialy dead either yet year later nothing has materialized. Think of it this way. When you get suspended from job indefenitly you don't get officialy fired. You just never return to work again. That's the same thing GTE is exercising with all those deals. GTE will not mention anything regarding those deals again. Have you heard an update on Columbian deal ? or China deal, or German cities deal. Should I go on? I think you get the point. Check out my post on TA board too. Peace. Not sure why moderator deleted my post. It's my opinion. Whatever. Pain will come on monday. Good luck.
andtheretheygo. I've said what i needed to say and watched it as it unfolds. I've know sooner or later GTE will be suied.
$1.1x ON MONDAY. MY ANNOUCED PPS PRICES ARE COMMING TRUE.
As I said here
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10647029
And today after hours PPS is at $1.42. Monday morning you will see $1.1x price as I also said. After hours is just the begining of decline in PPS because press release came out after hours and majority didn't get a chance to dump. Expect shart decline with huge volume on Monday with PPS reaching prices of $1.1x
I also have been saying this for months now on GTE info board.
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message$_id=10880112
Labrador I've read that. Seem like I'm not the only one thiking Huff should belong in jail. The quicker the better.
Orlander that's what I've saying for months now and my inverpretation of info should be appriciated even thought it might not fit with others. If some of you want communistic point of view with just one opinion then open up your own communistic website.
America the land of the free....remember that.
GTE CORRUPTION
April 11, 2006
GlobeTel Acts Accordingly
A few hours ago Seth Jayson at the Motley Fool penned an extremely hilarious update on GlobeTel (Amex: GTE). Last month I pointed out how the company's claim to have received a document purporting to be a standby letter of credit from Banco Do Brasil was doubtful at best and untruthful at worse. The stock seemed to be manipulated; our clearing firm informed us that short positions were being called as the borrow on the stock was extremely difficult. We were forced to cover our short in the $2.40s and become a mere spectator in the GTE saga.
The short squeeze failed to produce any lasting gains as, in the past two weeks, the stock has come in from the $2.50s to close at $2.10. Seth Jayson's article crossed the tape at 3:54pm and it seems some people had yet to read it before the market closed because the stock is changing hands at $1.99 in the after-hours.
I continue to reiterate my position that this stock is too risky own. Shorting it is also difficult even if you could get the borrow. And the options that are listed on GTE are thinly traded and trade for sky-high premiums.
So what emerges is an unplayable spectacle of greed, intrigue and possibly corruption. Fun, isn't it?
PIT I THINK IT WILL DROP TO $1.1X
based on double bottom in all stocks and the news that Russian money will not be comming. Nothing wrong with acknowledging the facts and moving on. You can't hold this, just trade it if you have balls of steel. However for all the lies that have been said CEO should be locked up. Main thing to recognize is the pattern of CEO's PRs and that nothing has matterialized out of business plan based on his shareholder letters from the past. Just re-read them you will be blown away how much has NOT be acomplished. Good luck to you bro.
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Posted by: pitbull74
In reply to: None Date:4/20/2006 10:04:35 AM
Post #of 280
hey sebass
for once i am with you on the potential gte scam theory. this pos is at 6-month lows, and i am ashamed to have hyped this bs.
good luck to you, steve
Daily vs Weekly 200MA. Daily broke, weekly held up.
Weird that weekly 200MA is different then daily 200MA, it's still 200 avarage. Tommorow i think we will get a doji candle but monday come it will continue to sink.
That says how much you know about Stock market
<who in their right mind would be there to buy up the shares that people are dumping>
Market Makers !!! Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Wolfrun I agree 100% with your statment
<Still think the specialist should be investigated due to conflicting interest issues.>
Wolfrun I agree 100% with your statment and I would add to that Huff should be investigated by SEC for fradulent statments he made like: "moving to major exchange will be beneficial to shareholders".