01 Mar MobiTV enters Chapter 11, secures $15.5M to stay afloat | Light Reading
Facing a major cash crunch, MobiTV has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the pursuit of a process that could result in the pay-TV tech vendor selling most of its assets.
MobiTV said it has secured some critical financing to facilitate the restructuring along with assurances that its customers, which include T-Mobile and dozens of small and midsized cable operators, will continue to be served as the process plays out.
MobiTV’s filing, made with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, comes more than a week after Light Reading reported that MobiTV was in financial straits and in need of additional funding or a buyer to keep the lights on.
Although MobiTV said it will continue “to serve customers in the ordinary course” during its restructuring, how it will all end is hazy at best. MobiTV said it has received a commitment for $15.5 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing for a restructuring that could include a “going-concern sale” under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, which could lead to the sale of substantially all its assets.
If MobiTV’s new facility is approved by the court, the company said it will be able to continue operating. That includes payments of employee wages and benefits, providing service to existing platform customers, and making ongoing payment of other obligations during the Chapter 11 period.
“The Company is committed to working with its lenders and stakeholders towards a speedy and successful resolution of the case,” said MobiTV, a company that has raised more than $200 million.
MobiTV’s initial bankruptcy filings show that the company owes millions to dozens of creditors, including video tech vendors, tech licensing firms and several programmers. Here’s a sampling of that list:
Table 1:
| Creditor | Unsecured Claim |
| Rackspace | $4 million |
| Silicon Valley Bank | $3 million |
| MPEG LA | $2.9 million |
| Cybage Software Private Ltd. | $1.35 million |
| ATEME | $1.09 million |
| Bear Cloud | $1.04 million |
| Elemental Technologies (Amazon) | $558,186 |
| Rovi Guides (Xperi/TiVo) | $512,149 |
| ABC Cable Networks Group | $362,230 |
| Fox News Network | $349,800 |
| Koravus | $343,980 |
| Persistent Systems | $341,961 |
| Kwan Intellectual Property Law | $255,368 |
| Globecast America | $161,100 |
| Trigapps | $150,400 |
| EPB Fiber Optics | $150,206 |
| NTT Global Data Centers | $105,202 |
| Telia Carrier US Inc. | $96,705 |
| GuidePoint Security | $89,750 |
| A&E Television Networks | $89,726 |
| Level 3 Communications (CenturyLink) | $89,287 |
| Comcast Cable Communications | $85,856 |
| Digital Reality Trust | $85,785 |
| MTV Networks | $84,000 |
| Discovery Communications | $82,735 |
| RPX Corp. | $79,246 |
| KPMG | $76,981 |
| ValueLabs | $75,053 |
| Amino Technologies | $75,000 |
MobiTV’s filing also lists dozens of security shareholders. Oak Investment Partners XII holds 44.48% of MobiTV’s common stock, 45% of its Series AA convertible preferred shares and 45% of its Series BA convertible preferred stock. Others with sizable holdings include Ally Commercial Finance and Homathko River Partners.
Partners include T-Mobile, C Spire, Cable One
MobiTV provides both a managed, cloud-based product/platform and on-premises options that enable cable operators, telcos and other service providers to offer pay-TV streaming services. MobiTV has largely focused on a subscription-based, hosted streaming platform enabling partners to launch branded apps that package and deliver a lineup of national cable networks alongside local broadcast channels for which the service provider has rights. Sources said MobiTV has been operating under a pay-as-you-go model on a per-subscriber basis, without setting minimum subscriber requirements and commitments. That lack of minimum requirements is one of the big holes in MobiTV’s business model, sources said.
It’s unclear at this point what a sale of assets will mean for MobiTV’s partners, which include T-Mobile, which is using MobiTV’s platform for its new TVision service. Other MobiTV partners include Consolidated Communications, MCTV, Vast Broadband, Windstream, C Spire and EPB, among several others. Dozens of operators have inked deals with MobiTV through an agreement negotiated with the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC), an organization that strikes product and programming deals on behalf of hundreds of cable operators and telcos.
Additionally, Cable One teamed with MobiTV in January on a new IPTV service called Sparklight TV that was to launch in select markets in early 2021 and in all Cable One markets by year-end. As of last month, Cable One said it was continuing its launch of Sparklight TV as planned. Sparklight TV did not come up on Cable One’s Q4 2020 earnings call last week.
Light Reading has asked Cable One, NCTC and T-Mobile for additional comment on the MobiTV situation.
FTI Consulting and FTI Capital Advisors have been retained as MobiTV’s financial advisor and investment banker, subject to approval of the Court, to assist in the negotiation of strategic options. Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP and Fenwick & West LLP are serving as MobiTV’s legal advisors.
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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading
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