Briefs

As it focuses more of its resources on Internet Protocol-based TV (IPTV), Optibase is restructuring its Media 100 division. It acquired Media 100, the floundering manufacturer of nonlinear editing systems, last year.

But Optibase CEO Uzi Breier decided the editing market doesn't offer substantial growth opportunities or fit into the company's IPTV activities. As a result, research and development will be significantly reduced in size, and staff will be trimmed. Optibase will continue to sell and support the existing Media 100 product line.

“The telecom industry is emerging from recession, and telco TV will become a mainstream business for carriers. TV-over-IP will no longer be held back by technology constraints and lack of infrastructure,” Breier says. “In order to seize this opportunity, we must focus our resources in this area.”

VOD isn't just for power players. Sunflower Broadband, a small cable operator based in Lawrence, Ky., will bring video-on-demand services to 30,000 cable subscribers. The system is based on SeaChange VOD technology and will offer more than 1,000 hours of movies and TV shows from such programmers as the NFL Network, Showtime and the numerous Scripps Networks.

Scripps Networks is launching HGTVPro.com, a Web site designed to meet the needs of professional contractors and builders. Ken Lowe, founder of HGTV and now president and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Co., says the site has been a decade-old dream.

“The broadband technology of today lets us deliver information to the building trades in a way it could not be done before,” he explains.

The content of the online network is geared to professional builders, remodelers and contractors. It includes professional-level best practices, business tips, new-product information and an insider's perspective on industry trends.

The site will launch with more than 100 videos and articles; Spanish-language versions will be added by midyear.