Concurrent Computer Deploys Start Over for Bright House Networks

Video-on-Demand Vendor’s Service Allows Viewers to Go Back to Beginning of In-Progress Program

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/28/2008 12:59:00 PM

Video-on-demand vendor Concurrent Computer is upgrading and expanding cable operator Bright House Networks’ VOD offerings. The large deal includes the launch in the Tampa Bay, Fla., market of “Start Over” service, which was initially developed by Time Warner Cable and Concurrent in 2005 and allows viewers tuning into an in-progress show to jump back to the beginning.

The Start Over deployment in Tampa Bay is a first for Bright House, which has some 2.4 million customers in California, Alabama, Michigan, Indiana and Florida. According to Concurrent, it will also be the largest Start Over installation to date with more than 23,000 streams supported.

Bright House Networks Tampa Bay deployed Concurrent’s MediaHawk 4500 server platform, featuring the company’s Gatling Resilient Streaming Technology, which automatically detects failures and instantly routes stream demands to alternate resources in order to prevent any loss of VOD sessions.

For content storage, Bright House is using the MediaCache 1000 solid-state storage solution. Concurrent and other VOD vendors have been pushing solid-state storage as an alternative to disk for popular content that is streamed often.

“Concurrent’s MediaHawk On-Demand Platform has enabled Bright House Networks to successfully launch the Start Over product,” said Jeff Chen, senior vice president of advanced technology for Bright House parent Advance/Newhouse Communications, in a statement. “Start Over provides a breakthrough approach to the TV-watching experience, which differentiates our ability to give the public what they want, when they want it.”

Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, is expected to launch its own Start Over service later this year.