These days, more and more consumers are interested in consuming TV outside of the big screen. The idea that content can come from multiple sources is something that has become completely transparent to consumers.

At The Cable Show 2012, Minerva Networks (News - Alert), a provider of software platforms for the delivery of television services to IP connected devices, demonstrated solutions for cable operators to offer advanced television services over their existing plants.

“Cable is evolving very quickly toward IP,” Jean-Georges Fritsch Ph.D., GM & EVP Products for Minerva Networks, told TMCnet at the show. “With our platform, cable operators have the benefit of being able to take the cable plan into an IP environment.”

The new solutions, which range from hybrid Cable-IP to pure IP implementations, are based on the Minerva iTVFusion 5 platform and enable cable MSOs to blend their traditional QAM linear content with compelling IP services like TV Everywhere, dual-screen navigation, cloud-delivered Video on Demand (VOD), and Social TV. Minerva iTVFusion 5 incorporates the latest Internet technologies, including Adaptive Bit-Rate (ABR) streaming, Quality of Experience (QoE) monitoring and high-performance embedded browsers, to provide a toolkit for operators to compete with Over-the-Top (OTT) players.

“By embracing the latest Internet technologies, cable operators can enhance their current television offerings with new services, increasing customer value and retention,” said Mauro Bonomi (News - Alert), CEO at Minerva Networks. “Instead of ceding their network bandwidth to OTT providers with no financial return on increased costs, MSOs can utilize the new Minerva-powered solutions to provide more compelling television services.”

With Minerva iTVFusion 5, cable operators can deliver a broad programming line-up, whether linear, on-demand or Internet-sourced, through a unified user interface to multiple screens.  The platform blends traditional QAM-delivered content with IP-based video streams to provide a quality television service over existing cable networks.

 “Cable operators are under significant pressure to compete with emerging OTT providers,” said Yaron Raz, Director, Digital Video Solution at Harmonic (News - Alert), Inc. “Harmonic’s Digital headend solution for both IP and traditional broadcast video combined with Minerva’s iTVFusion 5 platform enable MSOs to deliver compelling TV-over-IP services, such as TV Everywhere, dual screen navigation, and cloud-delivered VOD.”

With Minerva, the consumer has a unified user experience. Content can come from the local cable network while other complimentary channels can come from other areas. As a result, to the consumer, he access to all of the content through one program guide.

“The whole idea is that the service provider has the ability to provide a unified user experience and simplify access to content,” Fritsch said.