![]() | This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage .(February 2022) |
Company type | Public |
---|---|
Nasdaq: HLIT S&P 600 Component | |
Industry | ICT - Broadcast and Media segment |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | Patrick Harshman, president and chief executive officer |
Products | Video servers and storage, broadcast and multiscreen encoders and transcoders, contribution encoders, stream processors, integrated receiver-decoders, media asset management |
Revenue | $624.96 million (2022) [1] |
Number of employees | 1148 (2012) |
Harmonic Inc. is an American technology company that develops and markets video routing, server, and storage products for companies that produce, process, and distribute video content for television and the Internet. [2]
Harmonic was initially incorporated in California in June 1988 as Harmonic Lightwaves, and reincorporated into Delaware in May 1995. Anthony J. Ley became chief executive in November 1988 after the creation of the company by co-founders Moshe Nazarathy, and Josef Berger. Co-founder Moshe Nazarathy led a research and development center named "Harmonic Data" in Israel starting in 1993, funded in part by the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation. [3]
Harmonic acquired the DiviCom business of C-Cube Microsystems in 2000 for about $1.7 billion in stock. [4] It acquired the video networking software business of Entone Technologies in 2006 for about $45 million, [5] Rhozet Corporation in 2007, and Scopus Video Networks, Ltd. in 2009, for $5.62 per share in cash, which represents an enterprise value of approximately $50 million, net of Scopus’ cash and short-term investments. [6]
Omneon Video Networks was founded in May 1998, with investors including Advanced Technology Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Accel Partners and Invesco. [7] Omneon co-founder Donald M. Craig designed products that won Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards in 1988 and 1996. On December 29, 2006 Omneon filed for an initial public offering, [8] [9] and tried again several times in 2007 [10] [11] and 2008 after dropping the "Video Networks" from its name, [12] but remained private. [13] On May 6, 2010 Omneon announced it agreed to be acquired by Harmonic for an estimated $274 million. [14]
Harmonic sold its line of fiber-optic access products to Aurora Networks in February 2013 for $46 million in cash. [15] [16]
On February 29, 2016 Harmonic acquired Thomson Video Networks. [17]
In January 2022, SBTVD Forum approved a selection of technologies for SBTVD 3.0 which include MPEG-5 LCEVC, V-NOVA & Harmonic’s submission. [18] [19]
Harmonic’s products fall into four principal categories:
Video production products are used to support video editing, post-production and finishing. Server systems are used to assemble and play out one or more channel systems. Video processing products are used by media companies, broadcasters, telcos, satellite operators, cable operators, and OTT operators to acquire and use different types and sources of video signals. Cable edge products are used by cable operators to deliver customized broadcast or on-demand and data services to their subscribers. [20]
The company supplies cable television headend or hub devices that receive digital video or data from the operator network, re-packetizes the video or data into an MPEG transport stream, then digitally modulates the MPEG transport stream onto a downstream RF channel using quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). [21]
Harmonic sells its products to cable, satellite and telco, and broadcast and media companies.
In 2012, United States customers included Cablevision Systems, CenturyLink, Charter Communications, Comcast Corporation, Cox Communications, DirecTV, EchoStar Holding, TRC Integration, Time Warner Cable, and Turner Broadcasting.
Customers outside the United States include Alcatel-Lucent, Bell Satellite TV, Capella Telecommunications, Globecast, Huawei Technologies, Klonex – VCS, Netorium, Rogers Communications, SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, Virgin Media, and Ziggo. [22]
Harmonic’s video infrastructure competitors include vertically integrated system suppliers, such as Motorola, Cisco Systems, and, in certain product lines, a number of smaller companies, including Envivio, RGB Networks (now Imagine Communications), Elemental Technologies and Appear TV and ATEME. In production and playout products, competitors include Harris (now Imagine Communications), Grass Valley, Miranda and Avid Technology. In edge devices, competitors include Motorola Mobility (acquired by Google in 2012), Cisco Systems, and Arris International. In late July 2017, Harmonic completed the acquisition of Thomson Video Networks that used to be one of its leading competitors in Europe and APAC.
MediaKind is a global video technology company providing MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-2 and HEVC encoding and decoding solutions, as well as stream processing, packaging, network adaption and related products, for Cloud, Contribution & Distribution (C+D), IPTV, Cable, DTT, Satellite DTH and OTT. The global headquarters are located in Frisco, TX, USA, with additional offices in Southampton (UK) and Rennes (France).
Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards are an International set of standards for broadcast and digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable and satellite networks. It is largely a replacement for the analog NTSC standard and, like that standard, is used mostly in the United States, Mexico, Canada, South Korea and Trinidad & Tobago. Several former NTSC users, such as Japan, have not used ATSC during their digital television transition, because they adopted other systems such as ISDB developed by Japan, and DVB developed in Europe, for example.
Neustar, Inc. is an American technology company that provides real-time information and analytics for risk, digital performance, defense, telecommunications, entertainment, and marketing industries, and also provides clearinghouse and directory services to the global communications and Internet industries. Neustar was the domain name registry for a number of top-level domains, including .biz, .us, .co, .nyc, and .in until the sale of the division to GoDaddy in 2020.
A digital video recorder (DVR) is an electronic device that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card, SSD or other local or networked mass storage device. The term includes set-top boxes (STB) with direct to disk recording, portable media players and TV gateways with recording capability, and digital camcorders. Personal computers are often connected to video capture devices and used as DVRs; in such cases the application software used to record video is an integral part of the DVR. Many DVRs are classified as consumer electronic devices; such devices may alternatively be referred to as personal video recorders (PVRs), particularly in Canada. Similar small devices with built-in displays and SSD support may be used for professional film or video production, as these recorders often do not have the limitations that built-in recorders in cameras have, offering wider codec support, the removal of recording time limitations and higher bitrates.
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, IPTV offers the ability to stream the source media continuously. As a result, a client media player can begin playing the content almost immediately. This is known as streaming media.
CableCARD is a special-use PC Card device that allows consumers in the United States to view and record digital cable television channels on digital video recorders, personal computers and television sets on equipment such as a set-top box not provided by a cable television company. The card is usually provided by the local cable operator, typically for a nominal monthly fee.
Conexant Systems, Inc. was an American-based software developer and fabless semiconductor company that developed technology for voice and audio processing, imaging and modems. The company began as a division of Rockwell International, before being spun off as a public company. Conexant itself then spun off several business units, creating independent public companies which included Skyworks Solutions and Mindspeed Technologies.
8x8, Inc. is an American provider of Voice over IP products. Its products include cloud-based voice, contact center, video, mobile and unified communications for businesses. Since 2018, 8x8 manages Jitsi.
Zoran Corporation was a multinational digital technology company, founded in 1981 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, that was predominantly focused on designing and selling SoC integrated circuits for consumer electronics applications. The name Zoran is derived from the Hebrew word for silicon. Zoran was incorporated in the state of Delaware and had offices in Canada, China, England, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the US. Zoran had strong ties with Israel, with a strong R&D presence and being the beneficiary of incentives from organizations such as Israel's Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards, or Technology and Engineering Emmys, are one of two sets of Emmy Awards that are presented for outstanding achievement in engineering development in the television industry. The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards are presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), while the separate Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards are given by its sister organization the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).
ISDB-T International, also known in Brazil as Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital, is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Philippines, Bolivia, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Uruguay, based on the Japanese ISDB-T standard. ISDB-T International launched into commercial operation on 2 December 2007, in São Paulo, Brazil.
Proxim Wireless Corporation is a San Jose, California-based company that builds scalable broadband wireless networking systems for communities, enterprises, governments, and service providers. It offers wireless LAN, point-to-multipoint and point-to-point products through a channel network. The company is a product of many mergers and acquisitions over the years.
DirecTV, LLC is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It also provides traditional linear television service delivered by IP through its U-verse TV brand and a virtual multichannel video programming distributor service through its DirecTV Stream brand. Its primary competitors are Dish Network, traditional cable television providers, IP-based television services, and other over-the-top video services.
C-Cube Microsystems, Inc., was an early company in video compression technology as well as the implementation of that technology into semiconductor integrated circuits and systems. C-Cube was the first company to deliver on the market opportunity presented by the conversion of image and video data from analog to digital formats enabling markets such as VideoCD, DVD, DirecTV, digital cable, and non-linear editing systems.
BigBand Networks was a corporation headquartered in Redwood City, California, that opened in 1999 and specialized in selling multimedia technologies to cable television multi-system operators. It had its IPO on the Nasdaq in 2007, which was met with controversy when a class-action lawsuit alleged that the company violated the Securities Act of 1933. The company was acquired as a division within Arris Group in 2011.
Lumen Technologies, Inc. is an American telecommunications company headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, that offers communications, network services, security, cloud solutions, voice, and managed services. The company is a member of the Fortune 500 and has been on the S&P 500 index since 1999.
Zayo Group Holdings, Inc., or Zayo Group, is a privately held company headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, U.S. with European headquarters in London, England. The company provides communications infrastructure services, including fiber and bandwidth connectivity, colocation and cloud infrastructure. Zayo's primary customer segments include wireless carriers, national carriers, ISPs, enterprises and government agencies. Zayo Group was built largely through acquisitions; it took over thirty companies from 2007 to 2014, including AboveNet and 360networks. The company completed an initial public offering of stock raising $600 million in 2014. In 2020, Zayo Group was taken private by global investment firms EQT Partners and Digital Colony Partners in a deal valued at $14.3 billion.
Thomson Video Networks (TVN) was a technology broadcast company that used to provide video compression, transcoding and processing solutions for media companies, video service providers, and TV broadcasters. The firm has offices in 16 countries and headquarters in Rennes, France. TVN has been acquired by Harmonic Inc. in 2016.
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