A recent article from TV Week brought a home a realization, an epiphany, if you will.  The article discusses how the different channels airing the March Madness games are all but sold out of ad space.  March Madness is upon us.  College basketball team will soon be all over your TV.  so you’ve got to ask yourself, is your TV ready for March Madness?

Sure, the physical representation of your TV is in question.  Is your screen large enough to truly enjoy each and every game you can possibly catch over the next month?  Size does matter, but so does quality and that’s where we switch from your actual television to your provider.  Are you setup to catch every game?  Does your provider offer all the channels?  Do you currently subscribe to all those channels?  You better get on the ball.

According to TV Week, Mach Madness college basketball games will be shown on CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV.  TruTV?  Yes, college hoops will be shown on the network formerly known as Court TV.   It seems like the majority of those channels would be included in your basic cable channel lineup.  However, your digital switchover box may not tune into every channel.    That may be an error or a glitch in the box, but it  could also be your subscription, or lack thereof.  Either way, it makes sense to call up your provider to make sure you can access all the games no matter the channel.

For that matter, it may be a good time to make the jump from over the air digital signals to subscription based programming.  Depending on you area, you’ll have to decide which product is best for you:  cable TV providers, satellite TV providers or telco based products like AT&T U-Verse or Verizon FiOS.  Whatever you choose, do it soon.  Tipoff is just around the corner.

In an effort to break into one of the fastest growing entertainment sectors in recent history, Amazon has launched its own online video service.  It’s an obvious attempt to try and capture some of the revenue and traffic associated with a service that has been largely dominated by Netflix at this point, but competition seems to bring about the best in innovation.

A letter addressed to customers has been posted on Amazon.  The letter, from Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos,  says Amazon Prime members will have unlimited access to the 5,000 movies and TV shows in the Amazon library.  Amazon Prime membership currently requires a $79 annual fee and allows members to use “free” 2 day shipping on most Amazon products.  The letter also states that Amazon’s online video service will not be an additional fee, so if you’re an Amazon Prime member check it out.

Of course, there are a couple of side notes.  First, if you’re not an Amazon Prime member you can always join.  Second, you’ll need the technology.

In order to stream video through Amazon Prime, you’ll need a high speed Internet connection and a compatible viewing device.  you can see the rather exhaustive list of acceptable devices over at Amazon’s video page.

I heard from a friend, who heard from a friend . . .

Anders Bylund, over at The Motley Fool investing news site, cited Zatz Not Funny as the source for this story picked up from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).  Apparently, Verizon Director of Consumer Product Development Joe Ambeault told Zatz Not Funny that the future of Verizon TV is the Internet, and only the Internet.  That’s right, Verizon will be IPTV all the time and that could mean cutting the cable TV cord for consumers coast to coast.

For consumers, the move to Verizon IPTV would be relatively painless.  The story claims the majority of the heavy lifting will be on Verizon’s end, so consumers won’t have to make a ton of technology upgrades.  Another plus for consumers would be choice, an option not many have had in the realm of cable TV providers.  If the speculation is correct, an Internet based Verizon TV service could launch coast to coast without the restraints of physical cables and connections.  Your Verizon TV service could technically be piped into your house over your Comcast cable TV or Time Warner Cable high speed Internet connections.

That also means that satellite TV companies like DIRECTV and DISH Network wouldn’t be th only national pay TV players anymore.  I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again today.  These are interesting itmes we live in and we are seeing the future of TV evolve right before our eyes.

According to an article on Multichannel News, the folks at the Discovery channel are pursuing legal action against DISH Network satellite TV for sending its content over the Internet.

The issue involves DISH Network’s Slingbox enabled setup.  Using the Slingbox device, DISH Network subscribers can access their DISH Network service from pretty much anywhere, including mobile and Internet devices.  Discovery contests that DISH does not have their permission to send its content over the Internet.

The article claims Discovery is “considering the implications of the Dish technology and the appropriate manner to resolve those implications.”

The big question is, “Why?”  From the outside looking in it would appear that DISH Network was not simply sharing the Discovery content freely over the Internet.  The shows were only available to DISH Network satellite TV subscribers just as it is if those same subscribers were watching TV in their living rooms.

If you took a look at the year in Review for cable and satellite TV, this kind of action is nothing new.  Content providers and rebroadcasters have been at each other’s throats all year and there is no end in sight.  Look for more of the same in the year to come.

Here’s some interesting news from the world of satellite TV providers.  The two largest satellite TV providers, DISH Network and DIRECTV, are suing the state of Utah.

According to an article by John Eggerton on Broadcasting & Cable, “Dish and DirecTV, joined by a subscriber, have filed suit in a Utah district court against what they argue is a tax break that only applies to its cable competition and cable sees as an effort to equalize the tax burden on cable and satellite.”  DIRECTV and DISH Network claim their customers are the victims of a discriminatory tax based on the economic advantages created when companies use the “public rights-of-way” to deliver broadband.  In short, because their customers ditched cable for satellite they’re subject to higher taxes, because satellite TV companies don’t use teh same local resources as cable companies.

The satellite TV companies are challenging similar taxes in multiple other states, including Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Tennessee.

While satellite TV providers continue to make steady gains with the digital TV consumers, there seems to always be one complaint.  Why can’t I bundle satellite TV with phone and Internet?  Well, you can.  Not to toot our own horn, but Allconnect, in some areas, can already help you set up a satellite TV bundle along with your new TV and Internet service.  Of course, satellite TV providers also want to be able to provide you phone, TV Internet bundles and they continue to work toward that goal.

According to multiple sources, DIRECTV has conducted test with Verizon LTE to provide satellite TV and Internet bundles in the Pennsylvania area.  Multichannel News reports that the Verizon LTE wireless service is capable of  reaching millions of customers in 38 separate markets with  a speed of 5 to 12 mbps.  That’s not too shabby.  Coupled with DIRECTV satellite TV you home would be quite the entertainment powerhouse.

Of course DISH Network would also like to bundle satellite TV and Internet services.  The Sky Report claims DISH Network filed for approval from the FCC to allow Liberty Bell to accept investment capital from DISH.  That would obviously give Liberty Bell reason to offer up its Qwest based network for bundling options.

We’ve discussed the potential for watching TV everywhere several times.  We’ve also discussed the benefit of the Slingbox.  Now, how about a big name satellite TV provider partnering with Sling in order to truly bring you TV everywhere?

Dish Network has just released its DISH Remote Access app.  The app allows you to control pretty much every aspect of your Dish Network satellite TV.  Using your Sling enabled satellite receiver, you can watch every channel you subscribe to – live.  You can watch whatever’s on your DVR and manage recordings – add, delete, etc.  The really amazing part is that you do all of this using your mobile device as the remote!

There’s always been one big roadblock standing between satellite TV providers and global domination.  The one back door that cable could always count on to keep satellite TV out of the picture – apartments.

For many, DIRECTV for apartments has been all but unobtainable.  Not for lack of signal quality or any real fault of DIRECTV.  It’s always been based on the installation of multiple satellite TV dishes.  The thought of hundreds of satellite dishes dotting the roofs and balconies of your complex has been too much for property managers to handle.  Finally, DIRECTV is addressing the issue.

With a new product called DIRECTV D2 Advantage, DIRECTV is offering satellite TV for apartments, condos, town homes and any other multi-dwelling units (MDU).  According to their website,  DIRECTV D2 Advantage uses a “centralized signal distribution system which distributes DIRECTV service to each resident on the existing coaxial cable that is wired to each unit. All the residents need is a set-top box.”  It’s the same principal as your existing cable TV service.

While DIRECTV D2 Advantage is not available in every area just yet, look for a national roll out early next year.

With the October 31st deadline fast approaching, Dish Network satellite TV provider and Fox Networks finally came to an agreement Friday afternoon that kept the Fox local channels on air and brought back the Fox channels dropped at the beginning of the month.  More importantly, the deal will finally end the very public PR battle which had the two companies bad mouthing each other for weeks.

Dave Shull, Senior Vice President of Programming for DISH Network, sums up the battle with a word of thanks, “We thank our customers, our retail and channel partners, and our employees for their support through these negotiations, which we believe resulted in a fair deal that reinforces DISH Network’s position as the best value in television.”

However, Evie Haskell of Sky Report appropriately comments on the finality of the argument by stating, “And so the battle ends.  For now.  Because there will be a next time … and a next … and a next until (and unless) the FCC and/or Congress take another look at what is, inherently, a rigged negotiations process.  Caught between retrans, must carry and the free ‘public’ spectrum granted to broadcasters, cable operators, satellite folks and telcoTV players have negotiating power about on a par with a high school football team facing the mighty Steelers.”

So what about Cablevision and other cable TV providers?  Where does the Dish Network victory leave Cablevision in its battle against Fox Networks?  Well, they renegotiated a retransmission contract that would allow Cablevision customers to finally catch the World Series, but they weren’t happy about it.  According to a statement released by Cablevision, the cable company ultimately agreed to pay Fox an ”

unfair price for multiple channels of its programming including many in which our customers have little or no interest.”  Meaning, its customer have access to Fox sports and local Fox programming, but Cablevision is also forced to pay for lesser viewed channels that don’t appeal to many viewers.

The ongoing battle between Dish Network satellite TV and Fox Networks seems to be getting uglier and uglier.  As an outsider looking in, Dish Network’s “stop bullying the little guy” image seems to be legit and Fox Networks isn’t helping overcome that image.  In fact, they seem to be proving Dish Network’s point, over and over again.

As noticed last week, Fox is puling no punches with its dump Dish Network web site, GetWhatIPaidFor.com.  The site specifically asks Dish Network customers to find new satellite or cable TV providers.

Today, the Sky Report has noted another “strong arm” tactic from Fox.  The report claims that “FOX has apparently muscled the NBA and the NHL into backing its position.  Note, for example, this statement from an article  on the NHL LA Kingswebsite:  ’If DISH refuses to reach a fair agreement with Fox soon, there’s a good chance DISH customers will miss the Kings’ entire schedule of games on FOX Sports West … As you can imagine, DISH’s competitors are ready, willing and able to make great offers to DISH customers that don’t want to miss their Kings games.’  With sharp elbows flying, the piece goes on to list those competitors. ”

Sure, consumers want to watch their favorite teams, but should those teams be joining in the fight between a network and a satellite TV provider? Did Fox ask them to voice an opinion?  Regardless, the Kings seem to be overstepping their boundaries there.