Microsoft Has Layoffs In Itv Unit
Byline: Anthony Crupi
Microsoft announced last week that it would lay off about 60 people in an attempt to jump-start its stalled ITV unit. Ed Graczyk, director of marketing at Microsoft TV, said the Redmond, Wash.-based colossus would now focus on delivering software for VOD services and for new “media center” devices, which offer a number of applications, including DVD playback and music storage.
Microsoft’s new strategy reflects a retreat from its hard-line stance of developing wildly complicated software for expensive set-top boxes (the Motorola DCT-5000 comes to mind).
“We’re organizing the Microsoft TV division around these opportunities and will better leverage existing technologies to deliver Microsoft TV solutions,” Graczyk said in a prepared statement. “Everything we do will now start with the value proposition we can deliver to the customer, the network operator.”
The reorg, along with the shuttering of UltimateTV, casts a pall on the ITV experiment, although Graczyk says the company remains “hugely committed” to ITV.
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