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Sony Signs Deal with Cable Operators; Could Eliminate Need for Set-Top Box

7:30 am on May 29, 2008 | Category: Business, Television

American consumers will soon have the option to buy TV sets with digital technology built in, allowing them to receive digital cable programming and features without a set-top box.

This is thanks to a deal between Sony Corp., and six major U.S. cable companies (Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision Systems, and Bright House Networks). It will allow operators to simplify installation and reduce costs, while enabling a new generation of digital TVs to offer services like Video On Demand, digital video recording, and interactive programming guides on a plug-and-play basis.

“This is a landmark agreement which will provide a national, open and interactive platform resulting in more choices of services and products for consumers,” commented Kyle McSlarrow, head of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, in a statement.

It is unclear what effect this agreement will have on set-top box manufacturers such as Motorola Inc., and Cisco Systems, the parent company of Scientific Atlanta. During an interview at the NCTA’s annual Cable Show, one Cisco executive expressed confidence that his company would continue to play a prominent role in the TV technology market.

“The set top box may go away, as we know it today, but I think it’s going to morph into something else,” said Dave Clark, a product director with Cisco’s set-top box division.

“You may have some device, whether hand-held or otherwise, and it may be located in a different part of the house, a long way away from the TV,” Clark predicted. “But it’s going to be providing the functionality coming into the house to be able to decode high-definition content, move it around the house, and ultimately, out to other places — your hotel room, or what have you.”

Whether Clark is simply putting on a brave face in the presence of a threat to his company’s business model, or if his predictions turn out to be correct, remains to be seen.

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