@FierceCable RT @bcbeat It turns out Pace is the vendor behind the Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) four-tuner Xfinity Spectrum set-top box, revealed in FierceCable yesterday. It's also participating in Comcast's small but notable trial in Augusta, Ga. Story | Follow @FierceCable
> On the subject of set-tops, while Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) flounders pre-CES, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is nearing the 1 million sales mark for its Apple TV boxes that let consumers connect to a television and rent HD movies through iTunes. Of course the box also lets subscribers stream movies from their personal computers, but that's a bit more complex at the moment. Story.
> While Apple is hitting the 1 million box mark, Comcast is reporting that it had 18 billion on-demand views since the service was launched in 2003. Right now, the service averages about 350 million views every month and will garner more than 4 billion in 2010. Story.
> Demonstrating that it's a small world after all, French cable operator Numericable is reportedly losing subscribers on a pace that mimics its American cousins, averaging about 10,000 defections a month. Story.
> Here's a strange one for anybody who spends any viewing time in front of a DVR. A Nielsen poll claims that nearly half of DVR viewers aged 18 to 49 watch TV commercials on their recorded shows. Why? Story.
And finally ... while we're overseas, word is that the voracious Liberty Global (Nasdaq: LBTYA) is mulling a bid for German's third-place cable company, the roll-off-your-tongue Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg GmbH & Co KG. Story.