There has been a debate brewing for decades about the importance and the role of networks who provide content and that of those who transmit it to end-users.  Each side, of course, supports its own self-interest.  Over the past few days, several fairly heated discussions have occurred between companies on both sides.  Most notably, Viacom recently threatened to pull some programming from Time Warner Cable.  In light of these problems, the news of CBS and Time Warner Cable reaching a fresh broadcasting deal without major fireworks led to a large sigh of relief from the industry and all of us as consumers.  

Cable companies have also been increasing their rates, a move parallel and related to these discussions.  As we’ve mentioned, Comcast (Gallop Forum) is planning to raise rates in February, and today Time Warner Cable (Gallop Forum) announced a planned increase in fees as well.  A spokesperson for the company explained that the move is required in order to overcome higher fees from programmers: “The programmers, we are wholesaler distributors of them, we have to purchase their product, biggest expense”.

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©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Today, Apple, Inc announced that by March 2009, all 10 million songs sold through their iTunes (Gallop Forum) Music Store will be free from all Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions.  This will enable consumers to enjoy content they’ve purchased on all devices throughout their homes, vehicles, workplaces, and handheld devices without being limited by Apple or the supplying music studios.

As we’ve covered before, DRM can severely curtail consumers’ use of media throughout their lives.  In addition, it can hold consumers hostage to their media providers - when the provider goes out of business, or decides that maintaining DRM access is no longer a viable business service, the consumer is left without access to their music, movies, or other content.

UPDATE (9:05p EST): According to the Apple press release on these these changes, previously-purchased DRM-laden files can be “upgraded” to the newer non-DRM format for 30 cents per song, or 30% of the cost of an album file.  While that could add up for users with large music libraries, the value of removing Apple’s shackles on the content that was purchased could certainly outweigh the financial cost.

©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

A spokesperson from Comcast (Gallop Forum) has recently confirmed that the company’s television subscribers will see rate increases in February 2009. Although the average increase will only be 3.2%, compared to 4% in previous years, any bump at all will be felt more this year as the economic situation in the US tightens wallets nationwide.

We’ve included a brief summary of the announced increases below.  However, your actual cost may differ depending on local taxes, promotional values, and other factors.  As always, check with your local Comcast representative to confirm.

The rate increase, when combined with the slowed economy, could drive subscribers to seek out new alternatives, including Hulu (Gallop Forum), Joost (Gallop Forum), and even the venerable (and versatile) Netflix (Gallop Forum). While the rate change is not slated to affect Comcast’s Internet or phone plan rates, it could trigger bundle consumers to scale back monthly payments by considering VoIP phone services like Vonage (Gallop Forum).

©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chances are that if you’re reading this, you might be like me…too tired to go out, unable to find a babysitter, saving money or just too cold to go out…and you’ll be ringing in the New Year from the comfort of your own couch.  Though I’d like to pretend that I’m a newbie at skipping the festivities, I’d be lying.  I’m certainly no grinch of New Year’s eve but for one reason or another, I’ve too often enjoyed a glass of champagne or something bubbly in front of the TV while my wife traditionally is asleep before they even start the countdown to the ball drop.

Sure, part of me is envious to those outside, reveling in the streets of Washington, DC, enjoying the blistering cold with lots of other generally drunk parents pretending they’re still in their twenties, but I can say I’ve been there and done it at least once (that I remember anyways.)  What’s still on my lifetime “to-do” list is going to go to New York City to see the ball drop without having the TV commentators give me their version of why the year was an important one to them or suffering through ridiculous commercials trying to get those last few dollars from me that I might not have spent over Christmas.

Though this isn’t the year I’ll spend in New York, Hulu (Gallop Forum) decided to bring me closer to my wish by offering a live stream straight into Times Square.  So if you’re one of those who will be on the couch as the ball drops and following it through Hulu - one of our top 10 technology services providers of 2008 - here’s a toast to technology bringing us closer together and helping us reach our dreams.  See you next Year!

©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Which technology services made a significant, positive impact on you as an individual in 2008? Which most impacted the market as you see it? We performed an in-depth evaluation of the services we covered this year and combined it with your feedback to compile a list of the cream of the crop.

Vonage: VoIP has taken the market by storm. Switching to Vonage (Gallop Forum) can result in amazing monthly cost savings, and the provider shines amidst the competition thanks its features, price and reliability.

Netflix: Implementing the first mainstream DVD-by-mail model was impressive enough, but Netflix (Gallop Forum) did not rest on its deserved laurels.  It is constantly working on new ways to deliver content to your TV set - as well as the other screens in your home.  It has formed an impressive number of partnerships this year to to improve their video-on-demand offerings.

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©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

We spend a lot of time comparing available delivery options for watching content, especially when it comes to digital downloads. While it is possible to tune in to the right TV station at the right time to catch your favorite show, you can also download digital copies of the content and watch them at your convenience. iTunes (Gallop Forum) is currently the poster-child for this philosophy, and by now you are likely very familiar with what is possible and how it works. But did you know that you can do the same with videogames?

Instead of ordering your games from Amazon or picking them up from a brick-and-mortar store, you can buy a digital copy of the title of your choice, download it, and install it without leaving your couch. Two of the biggest players in this ring are Direct2Drive and Steam. I’ve personally used both and don’t have anything bad to say about either. Steam is more centered around its community of over 1 million users, making it easy to maintain online friendships that span more than one game. In the world of online gaming, the value of a game is often linked to the friends you’ve made along the way, and Steam helps spread that value to the other games you might want to play.

In a nod to Steam, Electronic Arts (EA) has just added some of its biggest hits to the online store, including Spore, Warhammer Online and Mass Effect. As an added bonus, the games will be stripped of any third-party DRM. This is quite meaningful, as the EA brand became strongly linked with the general unpopularity of DRM mechanisms when the much-hyped game Spore was released this fall laced with invasive DRM. EA is no doubt hoping that this will appease some of the angry gamers that had not only been boycotting EA games but also giving it a whole lot of bad press every chance they got.

©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Predominance in the wireless market has become a top priority of almost every communications provider. As technology as a whole evolves to encourage digital streaming content over hard media, the missing piece of the profitability puzzle becomes allowing users to stay connected whenever they go at high speed. We’ve recently seen evidence of this with AT&T (Gallop Forum) expanding its wireless footprint and Cox Communications (Gallop Forum) purchasing wireless licenses.

Sprint (Gallop Forum) is also working hard on the same issue. It announced yesterday that in three days, on December 21st, it will start selling a dual 3G and 4G USB wireless modem. Although Sprint already rolled out a 4G network in Baltimore in September, it’s safe to say that the 4G capability is mostly for publicity, at least for now. Although many major cities now have 3G coverage, the rest of the country is still behind. It will be a while until 4G is a widely available network.

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©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.