INTERACT FORUM

More => Old Versions => Media Center 12 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: JimH on February 20, 2008, 03:46:23 pm

Title: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: JimH on February 20, 2008, 03:46:23 pm
We're expecting them to release a version of our player.  It looks like it's here:

http://www.charter.net/provisioning/index.php?provider=musicnet&class=left_nav_cont&package=168

But we can't log in to see.
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable?
Post by: skeeterfood on February 20, 2008, 04:57:09 pm
I do.

Can't get more than a very limited flash preview without actually signing up for the service.  I can tell it's using MC only because of the Action Window shot.

I might have to consider this depending on how the Yahoo Music -> Rhapsody transition is handled...

$9.99/month with portable support is a lot less than Rhapsody-to-Go.

Will this install along side MC12?

-John
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable?
Post by: JimH on February 20, 2008, 05:02:05 pm
Thanks, John.  Yes, you can run it alongside MC.

After I wrote this, I got confirmation that Charter did launch with our player today.

Charter is the third largest cable company in the U.S.  They have 5.7 million subscribers and U.S. $5.8 billion in sales.

We now have versions of our player deployed by companies that have 50 million subscribers and U.S. $50 billion in sales.
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable?
Post by: gappie on February 20, 2008, 05:05:17 pm
congratulations!
 :)
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable?
Post by: KingSparta on February 20, 2008, 05:18:42 pm
oh my
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: datdude on February 20, 2008, 11:55:27 pm
And yet most people have and may still never hear about this MC thingy.

I like this path from a user/fan perspective.  We likely won't get the crazy trolls here on the boards like say if it were as well known as itunes, and it won't get homogenized like say Winamp, yet it's starting to look like MC isn't going to just go away one day like so many small tech companies do overnight.  It's the perfect marriage for us users.  Lets hope it's till death do us part!
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: brentk on February 21, 2008, 12:35:49 am
But what's it going to do? Are they just replacing their interface with MC or is it some separate service that they're going to charge a monthly fee for that offers no advantages over the $40 one time purchase of MC and locks you into some form of DRM if you use it as your DVR?
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: bil1010105 on February 21, 2008, 01:25:24 am
Can you spell "imminent corporate buyout"?  ?
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: gappie on February 21, 2008, 01:33:15 am
Can you spell "imminent corporate buyout"?  ?
no.. http://www.jrmediacenter.com/partnerplayers.html
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: bil1010105 on February 21, 2008, 01:41:38 am
no.. http://www.jrmediacenter.com/partnerplayers.html

Well that's a relief... I always get very nervous whenever a small company who produce a great product starts getting used by big corporations. Sooner or later those corporations want complete control over the direction of the product. The easiest and cheapest way for them to do that is to buy the company... and then it slowly becomes bloated pants. Happens all the time.
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: skeeterfood on February 21, 2008, 08:44:44 am
But what's it going to do? Are they just replacing their interface with MC or is it some separate service that they're going to charge a monthly fee for that offers no advantages over the $40 one time purchase of MC and locks you into some form of DRM if you use it as your DVR?

The $9.99/month fee is for the Charter Music service, which from the extremely limited information provided before signing up is a Rhapsody-to-Go clone using the Microsoft Plays-for-Sure DRM with an MC interface.  If I wasn't still in my free year of the Buy-1-get-1-free Yahoo Music Mastercard deal, I'd be trying it out right now.  It's guaranteed to have a better interface than Rhapsody, or Yahoo Music Unlimited (which is going away sometime soon).

-John
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: JimH on February 21, 2008, 09:07:08 am
The $9.99/month fee is for the Charter Music service, which from the extremely limited information provided before signing up is a Rhapsody-to-Go clone using the Microsoft Plays-for-Sure DRM with an MC interface. 
Correct, but the music is from MediaNet Digital (http://www.medianetdigital.com/), formerly MusicNet.  They provide the back end service for Yahoo and Microsoft, among others.
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: jgreen on February 21, 2008, 11:25:25 am
Quoting bil1010105:

"Can you spell "imminent corporate buyout"?"

I can barely spell "IBM".  However, it's worth noting that MC is up $1.11 today, to $20.92 on the NYSE.  Is the secret getting out?
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: MadJewDisaster on February 21, 2008, 03:59:00 pm
i like very much the CDigix look

http://www.jrmediacenter.com/images/PlayerImages/CDigixLarge.jpg

there is a skin for MC 12 like this one ?
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: skeeterfood on February 21, 2008, 04:06:11 pm
Correct, but the music is from MediaNet Digital (http://www.medianetdigital.com/), formerly MusicNet.  They provide the back end service for Yahoo and Microsoft, among others.

The fact that MediaNet Digital's website wants me to install the horribly outdated Flash 7 (I have Flash 9 installed) before it will show me anything isn't very confidence inspiring...

-John
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: JimH on February 22, 2008, 07:53:48 pm
Here's the press release we put out yesterday.  A lot of (no apologies) chest thumping on our part.

http://www.jrmediacenter.com/press54.html
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: darichman on February 23, 2008, 04:11:04 am
Quote
“We have helped more companies build their digital offering than any other player software company,” said Jim Hillegass, JRiver's CEO.

Really? That's great! Well done Jim, and everyone else at J River
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: JimH on February 23, 2008, 07:39:17 am
Really? That's great! Well done Jim, and everyone else at J River
Thanks.  It's true.
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: rjm on February 23, 2008, 12:48:05 pm
Great strategy. Congratulations.

Very nice to see confirmation that good things come to people who do good things.

MC is amazing and your team deserves to profit from their creation.
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: BullishDad on February 23, 2008, 06:38:18 pm
Congratulations, Jim and team, for adding Charter to an already impressive list of corporate clients.  :)

If you can manage just 10 cents per month from each of those 50 million subscribers, you're talking about $60 million per year annual revenue.  Not bad!!!  Of course, I realize the percentage of subs who use the service is fairly low at this time, but you certainly seem to be on the right track.
Title: Re: Anyone use Charter Cable? They're using MC now.
Post by: benn600 on February 25, 2008, 07:50:40 pm
Quote
you're talking about $60 million per year annual revenue.

Careful or they might stop moving forward!  Shhh.