RDK Management, LLC Announces Availability of Key DVB Components to Support Global Operators

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, June 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, at the Connected TV Summit 2014 in London, RDK Management, LLC announced that the Reference Design Kit (RDK) now provides key components for the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standard that is widely used throughout Europe and other parts of the world. The advancement was made possible thanks to significant contributions of software components by SeaChange International, Inc. (Nasdaq: SEAC) that will extend the RDK's applicability for use in DVB markets.

The RDK is a pre-integrated software bundle that provides a common framework for powering customer-premises equipment (CPE) from TV service providers, including set-top boxes (STBs), gateways, and converged devices. The newly available DVB-specific components support elements such as teletext and subtitles. The RDK Management, LLC is also working with the RDK community on a path to support the use of in-band DVB system information (SI) for European operators.

"DVB support has been on the RDK roadmap since the inception of our joint venture, and we're very pleased to announce continued progress on that commitment," said Steve Heeb, President and General Manager of RDK Management, LLC. "The RDK's applicability is global, and these enhancements will enable operators in Europe and other parts of the world to more easily leverage the RDK for deployment in their markets."

"SeaChange and its video gateway software customers have realized the advantages that the RDK provides in product development cycles and post-deployment in terms of speed to market and innovation," said Shiva Patibanda, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of SeaChange. "We're eager to help our colleagues in Europe garner these performance improvements with locally optimized versions of the RDK."

The RDK was created to accelerate the deployment of next-gen video products and services. It enables TV service providers to standardize certain elements of these devices, but also easily customize the applications and user experiences that ride on top. To date, the RDK has been licensed by more than 15 operators globally, including Liberty Global, Kabel Deutschland, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and others. The RDK now has more than 150 licensees including, CE manufacturers, SoC vendors, software developers, system integrators, and TV service providers.

The RDK is administered by the RDK Management, LLC, a joint venture between Comcast Cable, Time Warner Cable, and Liberty Global. The RDK software is available at no cost to RDK licensees in a shared source manner, and RDK community member companies can contribute software changes and enhancements to the RDK stack.

RDK at Connected TV Summit

At the Connected TV Summit in London on June 11, 2014 at 9:30am, Steve Heeb, President and General Manager of RDK Management, LLC will deliver a brief fireside chat on "How the RDK Improves Pay TV Agility." The fireside chat will immediately be followed by a panel titled "What RDK Means for Europe Panel" with speakers including Mr. Heeb; Matt Zelesko, Senior Vice President, Converged Technology Group at Time Warner Cable; Wolfgang Zeller, Vice President of Service Engineering at Kabel Deutschland; Lyall Sumner, TV Product Development at Liberty Global, and Jaison Dolvane, President & CEO of Espial. Details about the event are available here www.connectedtvsummit.com/

Additional information about the RDK is available at www.rdkcentral.com. 

About RDK Management, LLC
RDK Management, LLC is a joint venture between Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Liberty Global created to administer the Reference Design Kit (RDK). The RDK is a standardized software bundle designed to provide a common framework for powering customer-premises equipment (CPE) from TV service providers, including set-top boxes, gateways, and converged devices. The RDK is supported by 150 licensees including: CE manufacturers, SoC vendors, software developers, system integrators, and TV service providers. For more information please visit http://www.rdkcentral.com. 

SOURCE RDK Management, LLC