A cable network has room for only so many channels, and in 2007 every operator wanted more of them in high definition. BigBand Networks sold the equipment that made the room. Its gear sent a channel down the wire only when someone in a neighborhood was actually watching it. That freed space for more HD channels and faster internet. Founded by Amir Bassan-Eskenazi and Ran Oz, the company had engineering roots in Israel.

Only the Channels You Watch

The old cable model broadcast every channel to every home all the time. BigBand's switched digital video turned that around. When a viewer tuned in, the system sent that channel to that part of the network. When nobody watched, the space went to something else. Cable operators facing satellite rivals and phone companies bought it to add HD without rebuilding their plant.

A Sale for Its Cash

BigBand priced its IPO at $13 a share in March 2007 and raised $139 million on Nasdaq as BBND. Sales depended on a handful of big cable customers, and orders swung from quarter to quarter. The stock sank well below its offering price. In October 2011 ARRIS agreed to buy BigBand for $2.24 a share in cash, about $172 million. Net of BigBand's cash, the price was about $53 million.

Cover: Untitled (Brass Band), Unknown artist. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a brass band (BigBand).