Toshiba - HD DVD - Apple - American Idol - Verizon - MediaBytes February 19, 2008

TOSHIBA has officially announced that it will stop producing and marketing HD DVD players. Shipments to retailers will cease by the end of March. The company said it “simply had no chance to win,” and that continuing the format would harm consumers.

APPLE has signed a multifaceted deal with American Idol, making iTunes the exclusive seller of Idol downloads. iTunes will also sponsor online streaming of the show on the Idol site and iPods will become the “official music players” for the series. iPhones will also be used as the official mobile phones for the show. In related news, iTunes will begin selling a limited number of BBC shows.

VERIZON has seen such rapid growth for its FiOS TV service that MOTOROLA is unable to keep up with its demand for HD set-top boxes and HD DVR’s. Verizon saw a spike in demand for HD boxes during the holidays, leaving Motorola scrambling to fulfill orders. Customers are now being forced to wait for their HD boxes to arrive as production catches up with demand.

NIELSEN says that 13 million homes are unprepared for the transition to all-digital television. Another 6 million households have at least one TV set that will be affected by the switch. The company believes that Hispanic viewers will be especially hard hit because they have the highest rate of over-the-air usage. Also, certain markets have a much higher percentage of over-the-air viewers - such as Portland, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Albuquerque. These markets will be among the most affected by the transition.

COMCAST and MOTOROLA are developing a cost-effective turnkey solution for small cable operators that will allow them to go all digital and begin offering VOD, gaming and other advanced services. The companies will outline their plans at this week’s National Cable Television’s Winter Educational Conference in Phoenix.