TUESDAY, April 27, 2021 Volume 32 | No.079 Cablefax DailyTM WHAT THE INDUSTRY READS FIRST Come Together: OpenID Next Step work with third-party measurement providers, like VideoAmp… Nielsen, ComScore, a bunch of others… who have the ability to in Cross Platform Collaboration conduct measurement to the ID level, then you start to unlock The stars are aligning in cross platform measurement like the capability of tying your linear viewership data to your digital never before with TV ad consortium OpenAP gearing up to viewership data on the campaign—your linear measurement introduce OpenID as a way to better match audience segments. to your addressable measurement.” “We’ve been very focused on how can we make it as easy Levy said OpenID’s not quite to the point where they’re ready to buy a sophisticated audience as it is to buy 18-49 today. to announce all the cross platform use cases it will enable, but We’ve been steadily trying to work on how do we operation- he described it as the foundation on which everyone across ally lower the burden for advertisers so that when they want the TV industry can collaborate on. to transact with a sophisticated audience, they can do it at CBS has been a partner of OpenAP and VAB from early scale,” OpenAP CEO David Levy said during a TV of Tomorrow on, and it’s thrilled with the momentum. “I think when they Show panel on Tuesday. write the history of television… we will look back and really Enter OpenID, which OpenAP is unveiling this week. Levy see this as a fundamental turning point or breakthrough mo- described it as taking first- or third-party data and matching it ment… All kinds of silos that have existed are breaking down to consistent ID sets (OpenIDs). “That represents everybody between publisher and publisher, between programmer and in the US for the most part. Not just linear viewers, not just programmer, between addressable and linear, between TV and streaming viewers,” he said. The plan is to use OpenIDs to digital. That’s what makes this so momentous and so power- consistently create the linear segment by matching against ful,” Radha Subramanyam, CBS chief research and analytics linear viewership data and using that same set of OpenIDs to officer, said during the panel discussion. “This is setting up create a digital segment and work to also create an address- the framework for a multi-currency universe, where the client able segment. can pick the currency, whether it’s somebody’s internal data “The idea is that if you start by defining your audiences as a or one of the various third parties.” set of ideas that goes across all viewing, then you can create It’s significant from an MVPD perspective as well. With audiences for execution that are all based off the same ID Comcast Advertising vp of strategy Claudio Marcus saying set,” Levy said. “And what that gives you the ability to do is his company understood the importance and value of anony- as you move through towards execution, one, all the publish- mized census level viewing data, but needed a way to make it ers are working with the exact same audience. But two, if you Riding the Technology Contour 8 Contour Technology the Riding July 2014 July 2016 Tech Innovation 8 Tech Stream for All 7 All for Stream July 2018 July 2017 7 Precision Tech Personalizing the Screen 10 Screen the Personalizing July 2013 > > > Connecting All 12 Connecting Smooth O Smooth vorite 10 vorite Fa Fan > A Quiet Leader Remembered 16 Remembered Leader Quiet A perator 10 perator > A Lifetime in the Field 16 Field the in A Lifetime > > Alaskan Advocate 19 19 Advocate Alaskan cablefaxmag.com Excellerate 22 > ANNOUNCING Exc cablefaxmag.com 15 EXP eptional cablefaxmag.com cablefaxmag.com ’ cablefaxmag.com > Still WOWing 29 Still s > > Steadfast Strategy21 Steadfast > Historic Cable Legacy 20 Legacy Cable Historic > 22 Up Me BEAM Chro O m P PS top opsf ebooks TO Saluting Cable & Broadband Excellence or K or > i d 17 s Let’s Be Frank 28 Frank Be Let’s > Danny Boy 26 Boy Danny DEBT RELIEF Mediacom has paid down a lot Your of debt and is reinvesting. p6 Broadband Buddy Serving the BIG BUSINESS Community Cox carves out niche in enterprise. p8 Poised for Nominations FOR THE PEOPLE the Future Cincinnati Bell gets creative with bundles and mobile app. p14 TO. p14 P TOPSaluting Cable & BroadbandOPS Excellence OPS Saluting Cable & E TICKET Broadband Excellence The Top Ops categories recognize excellence in a variety Cable ONE turns heads with internet-first approach. p6 The Content ZookeepersFUN RIDE FAST LANE STARTING LINE REV YOUR ENGINE TOP CHEF SUMMERACA celebratesLOVING 25 years servingWELL DONE Comcast puts customer Pack Leader Indie Alpha Layer3 TV is in position and Shentel’s transformation to UnCaged Cox Comcast owns the Time Warnerindependent Cable’s Sandy operators. relief p18Comporium has faith in its experience in driver’s seat. p6 Cable ONE smartly looking to pass. p8 a triple-play provider This mid-size op thrives Comcast’s tech efforts make a big difference p12 indie strategy p18 . p18 innovation grill p6 forages a customer- in the competitive innovation continues STEP RIGHTp18 UP of areas, including marketing, technology, finance, with X2 and beyond p8 friendly future habitat p6 ImOn puts local connections front and center. p20 01_CFAX_0716_TopOps_Cover.indd 1 7/18/14 1:03:04 PM 01_CFAX_070114_TopOps_Cover.indd 1 01_CFAX_0717_TopOps_Cover.indd 8 7/13/16 4:35:16 PM 7/12/17 3:30 PM 7/19/13 8:35:19 AM lifetime achievement, customer service and community 01_CFAX_TopOps2013_Cover.indd 1 involvement. Nominations are open to all operators. It’s free to enter – but you must submit your entries by April 30! Help Cablefax choose the MSO and Independent Operator of the Year! The Independent Operator of the Year Award (IOY) is presented in conjunction with ACA Connects and NCTC Submit Today at: www.CablefaxTopOps.com Questions: Contact Mary-Lou French at [email protected] or 301.354.1851. © 2021 Access Intelligence, LLC. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized www.cablefax.com reproduction by any means and imposes fines of up to $150,000 for violations. TUESDAY, April 27, 2021 Cablefax DailyTM useful. He credited VAB chief Sean Cunningham with helping COX BUYING SEGRA COMMERCIAL UNIT to bring everyone together. “It has taken some push from the Cox Communications will acquire the commercial services larger digital platforms for us to join together and see the segment of Segra, one of the largest privately held fiber infra- importance of collaborating,” he said. “By being able to unify structure providers in the US. Segra’s commercial unit covers across linear TV, digital and addressable, we’ll see that the enterprise and carrier customers in nine states in the Mid- impact that we can bring. And we can produce incremental Atlantic and Southeast through a dense metropolitan fiber net- efficiencies, particularly around the duplicate reach and being work. As part of the transaction, EQT Infrastructure will retain able to target for incremental rates.” ownership of Segra’s fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) residential and BLACKSTONE SNIFFING AROUND HOTWIRE small- to medium-sized business segment in Virginia and North Investment firm Blackstone Group is in talks to acquire Carolina and accelerate the plan to expand broadband services about a 50% ownership stake in fiber provider Hotwire Com- to neighborhoods and markets throughout their regions. Cox munications, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with described the transaction as another milestone in its pursuit the matter. Hotwire, Cablefax’s 2020 Independent Operator of strategic infrastructure investments, which have included of the Year, is a fiber-focused operator covering a wide swath EasyTel, EdgeConneX, InSite Wireless, StackPath, Unite Private of the North and Southeastern US, including Pennsylvania, Networks and ViaWest. Segra’s existing management team will Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and New York. In addition to continue to lead the enterprise and carrier organization fol- a strong MDU base, it is a CLEC, franchised cable operator lowing the acquisition. And the business will retain the Segra and leases a municipal fiber system in Salisbury, NC. Hotwire brand and operate as a stand-alone business within the Cox and Blackstone declined to comment. Bloomberg reports the family of companies. While Segra will operate independently, investment would come from the firm’s infrastructure and tacti- there may be opportunities to use its infrastructure to support cal opportunities funds—which could signal future expansion Cox Business customers and vice versa. More details likely for Hotwire through capital investment. Hotwire competes with once the deal closes following necessary regulatory approvals. Charter and Comcast in a number of markets. Assuming TURNER SPORTS WELCOMES NHL the deal happens, it’ll be the latest in a flurry of investments That Turner Sports-NHL deal is official, with the Warner- in fiber. Just last week, global investment firm KKR joined Media division paying a reported $225 million a year in the MetroNet’s long-time partner Oak Hill Capital, with each seven-year pact. It kicks off with the 2021-22 season, with making new investments to help accelerate MetroNet’s growth Turner getting up to 72 regular season games and the Stanley in building and connecting FTTH data, TV and phone service Cup Final in three of the seven years (marking the first time to homes and businesses. the championship round will air exclusively on cable). The What TV detective series began every episode’s title with the word “Mr.”? CLICK HERE TO ANSWER Last week’s answer: Defunt cable net TechTV was sold by Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures to G4 Media in 2004.