Digital program insertion (DPI) is one of the industry’s achievements and current areas of growth. The initial feat was nailing standards back in 2001 for cueing (SCTE 35) and splicing (SCTE 30). The standards and technology have grown since then. From discrete splicers and servers have emerged servers with integrated splicing functionality, encoders that can manage triggers and rate controls, video grooming processors with DPI capabilities, edge decoders necessary for the digital simulcast scenarios that have precipitated the current surge of activity surrounding DPI, and additional VOD-related technologies that can enable the forms of nonlinear advertising that Mike Robuck writes about in this month’s cover story. Indispensable to this flourishing of DPI technology is one of the smartest, nicest, yet busiest sources that we have ever encountered: Paul Woidke, vice president of technology for Comcast Spotlight and long-serving chairman of working group 5 of the SCTE digital video subcommittee. The upshot is that that once you get onto Woidke’s schedule, he gives you an interview worth saving, which we have done in this issue. Moving on to Cable IT, another category of technology that grows in importance by the day, we also offer insights from Millenium Digital Media’s Tom McCarthy on an operational data store model and thoughts from Sigma Systems CTO Brian Cappellani on moving into a world of multiple and differing applications. Back to classic CT fare, Ron Hranac discusses measuring upstream digitally modulated signals from cable modems and issues regarding the "zero span" method. In his column, Jay Junkus addresses both the methods and limitations of voice quality testing. Automated tests notwithstanding, cable’s technical teams still need accurate trouble-shooters. Jonathan Tombes Editor [email protected]

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Power of Partnership: ISPs Fed Up with Grant Processes

Those attending BCAP’s Pennsylvania Broadband Summit 2025 weren’t afraid to air out their resentment with the stagnation that seems to be attached to federal and state grant programs.

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