Skip to Content

Massively looks at the best free to play games
AOL Tech

franchise posts

TheaterXtreme franchises going strong after corporate namesake goes under

by Steven Kim posted Feb 8th 2009 at 7:12PM

TheaterXtreme logoHere's a story that's all too rare amid all of the recent news of store closings, layoffs and corporate exits -- now-independent TheaterXtreme franchises are doing well in the wake of the parent company's Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The linked story tells a story of entrepreneurial franchise owners who broke from the parent company after experiencing evaporating support, and have since adopted a "customers first" attitude on their way to growing business. We can't imagine why the corporate offices didn't take the advice to get into products central to custom home theaters like lighting control and distributed audio, but thankfully these franchises had an eye on the ball and decided to break ranks. Kudos to these owners who focused on delivering quality to customers and came out on top.

Courts favor AT&T / Verizon, back new video franchising rules

by Richard Lawler posted Jun 27th 2008 at 8:41PM Breaking News

While Verizon and AT&T try to work their FiOS and U-verse services into new areas, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth circuit in Cincinnati handed them a victory today by ruling that the FCC's new rules setting time limits for local authorities to act on new franchise applications are within its authority. The new ruling at the heart of the debate gives local jurisdictions 90 days to act on apps by providers that already have access to city land to run connections, and 180 days for new entrants to citeis or towns, and bar them from mandating new requirements the FCC finds unreasonable, like building a community swimming pool. While we're big fans of municipal pools, we're also into competition and consumer choice, so if you've been waiting to get TV via telco breathe easy knowing the path just got a little smoother.

Read - Reuters
Read - Verizon's response

Verizon gets one step closer to stringing FiOS TV to New York City

by Darren Murph posted May 27th 2008 at 1:31PM


After Windexing our spectacles and finding that Verizon actually was on a mission to bring FiOS TV to New York City, we still yearned for more proof that a formidable opponent was indeed looking to take on TWC / Cablevision in the Big Apple. Announced today, NYC's Franchise and Concession Review Committee (FCRC) has "voted unanimously to approve a proposal by Verizon to provide TV service to all five boroughs of the city." From here, the proposed agreement "must be confirmed by the Mayor's Office of the City of New York and the New York State Public Service Commission." Mmm, so close you can taste it, can't you Manhattan?

NYC reaches cable TV agreement on FiOS

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 29th 2008 at 3:16PM

While that 150 HD channel-future isn't yet guaranteed, Verizon's plans for expanding FiOS service throughout all of NYC took a big step forward, as the city has reached an agreement with the telco for a cable TV franchise contract. Pending approval by the city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee at a public hearing May 20, New York residents can expect full fiber coverage by 2014, with nearly a third of households receiving service by year end. Want some of that uncompressed HDTV? Head out and make your voice heard May 20.

Technicolor, CinemaNow team up to sell online movie stores

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 15th 2008 at 9:55PM


Looking to get into the online movie business? Well sit down because CinemaNow and Technicolor have a deal for you, since they've hooked up and are offering a "better way to deliver the digital content consumers are demanding". Basically the plan is to take the internet movie store CinemaNow has developed franchise, and allow other companies to introduce their own marketplace without having to develop their own encoding, encryption, DRM, hosting or other necessary technology -- and it sounds like a good one to us. Technicolor brings not only its infrastructure, but also plans to collab with CinemaNow on projects like adding additional HD movies to its 10,000+ database of titles. Of course CinemaNow's compatibility with the Xbox 360 and other devices is part of the package (though we wonder if those DVD burning issues have been resolved) -- potentially turning competition like Netflix, Blockbuster or Wal-Mart into partners.

[Via Reuters]




    AOL News

    Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

    Joystiq
    Download Squad
    The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
    BloggingStocks
    Joystiq Xbox
    Autoblog
    Big Download
    Fanhouse NFL Blog