Entone's Hydra HD IP video gateway has been chosen by Valley TeleCom Group for their IPTV service rollout. Valley Telecom Group delivers advanced digital telephone, Internet and IPTV services to its customers in Arizona and New Mexico.

Shipments of set-top boxes are expected to peak this year, at least in mature markets, and then commence a gradual decline. However the rolling series of analog TV shutoffs in countries around the world, combined with the strong uptake of high-definition TV sets, mean that HD STBs will form a growing fraction of the total market. HD STBs are expected to account for about 30% of all STB shipments as soon as 2010.

NeuLion and the American Hockey League announce live streaming plans for the 2009 Calder Cup Finals. NeuLion is the exclusive online carrier of AHL Calder Cup finals through www.ahllive.com. The final round of competition between the Hershey Bears and Manitoba Moose concludes the 2009 Calder Cup Playoffs coverage. AHL Live provides fans access to live games, extended pre- and post-game coverage, highlights, video on demand and live chat. As part of AHL Live, a newly designed video portal gives fans a customized user experience allowing Hershey fans and Manitoba fans to select their home team player skin while watching finals coverage.

EchoStar and Asia Satellite Telecommunications announce the formation of a joint venture for the delivery of a direct-to-home satellite television service to Taiwan and other targeted regions in Asia. The satellite TV service will broadcast from AsiaSat 4, providing a wide variety of audio and video channels in an all digital format distributed directly to consumer homes via a small satellite antenna and a digital set-top box.

The IP set top box market grew 55 percent in 2008, but such breakneck growth will not continue, reports In-Stat. Many telcos have already launched TV services, so there are fewer new customer prospects. In addition, the economic climate is sapping investment in new telco TV systems.

COMEDY CENTRAL's on-air half-hour late-night series featuring all original broadband programming from Atom.com is returning to the television screen to continue its second season with four new episodes. New episodes of "Atom TV" return to COMEDY CENTRAL on Monday night, June 15 at 2:30 a.m. on COMEDY CENTRAL.