A novel digital video and data delivery system makes possible the delivery
of digital video content, bi-directional data services such as Internet
data, and plain old telephone service (POTS) to an end user over a
communications channel. The channel is typically the copper wire pair that
extends between a telephone company central office and a residential
premises, but may be any communication medium that supports the
communication of compressed digital video, bi-directional data, such as
Internet data, and POTS, and indeed, may be a wireless connection. The
digital video and data delivery system capitalizes on a bus, or broadcast
backplane, created by circuitry contained within the central office. The
broadcast backplane enables a plurality of video program data to be
available to each end user, and allows a plurality of end users access to
a plurality of video programming content without the necessity of
delivering the entire program content to each end user. A user requests a
particular program and, if authorized, receives at least that program over
the communication channel. Simultaneous with the digital video content
supplied on the channel is both bi-directional data service (such as for
example, Internet data) and POTS.