Digital set-tops launched at cable show

Scientific-Atlanta and Thomson Consumer Electronics (RCA) used this week’s Western Cable TV Show to launch advanced featured digital set-top boxes that will take cable television to a next level of interactivity.

S-A unveiled its Explorer 8000, the latest version in its digital family, and said primary customer Time Warner Cable has signed purchased orders for undisclosed numbers.

The 8000 builds on an Explorer legacy and offers MSOs a migratory path with such features as dual tuners, a personal video recorder (PVR) and tape-and-view built into the box, said S-A chairman/CEO Jim McDonald.

The new feature set will allow cable operators to attract new subscribers by building on the 1.3 million subscribers already using S-A’s digital set-tops.

“What you really want to do is interconnect the applications,” McDonald said. “We have the footprint.

“Interactive things are boldly rolling out at a pretty rapid rate,” he added, pointing to video-on-demand (VOD) as a base interactive application that is becoming widespread.

“The next logical step to move the cable bill up is to move demand,” he said. “The more rapidly you deploy digital video, the more your average bill goes up.”

S-A’s deployment model still rests on selling products to MSOs like Time Warner. Thomson’s consumer electronics foundation gives it a different focus -- retail.

“We think market conditions are right for Thomson to come and play a significant role” in digital television, said Carl Bruhn, Thomson’s general manager-Broadband Cable Profit Center.

Thomson’s box can handle VOD, interactive television, personal video recording (PVR) and high definition TV (HDTV) via cable. The third feature, Bruhn said, will become important as the box moves out into the retail space.

“The fracturing of the traditional (cable vendor) duopoly is continuing,” he said, taking aim at Motorola and S-A. “We can drive people to retail by using a cross-promotion.”

Retail will still take time to evolve as CableLabs continues to work on an OpenCable standard of digital TV interactivity, he admitted.

“By the end of 2001 I think there will be effective solutions in place,” he concluded.