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NEWS Monday 17th - Monday 24th June 2002
Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
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Publishers bid for Kirch
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Publishers bid for Kirch
In a move to keep US studios at arms length from the country's TV market, German publishing groups Axel Springer Verlag (newspapers) and Heinrich Bauer Verlag (magazines) are to bid for the insolvent free-TV and media rights group KirchMedia, competing against Commerzbank. KirchMedia is one of the three main divisions of the Kirch Group which filed for insolvency in April this year.
The publishers
are seeking to acquire at least 51 per cent of Kirch Media's main assets
following the company's restructure and asset sale. They issued a statement
saying that, "The decisive criteria of this review are an attractive price
and the final structure of the new KirchMedia." Springer and Bauer have
said they would welcome other investors joining their bid.
Commerzbank has formed another group with US media group Colombia TriStar
to bid for KirchMedia.
Also being sold during the asset disposal is Kirchmedia's 52.5 per cent
stake in ProSiebenSAT.1, the largest TV broadcaster in Germany, and a
company in which Axel Springer is also a shareholder. Bauer also has a
31.5 per cent stake in RTLII which it would need to sell for regulatory
reasons if it succeeded in acquiring KirchMedia.
Fellow German publisher WAZ Gruppe, withdrew last week from discussions
with a consortium involving Commerzbank and Columbia TriStar to launch
a take-over of KirchMedia.
Sony spokeswoman Hiroko Saito, whose film studio affiliate Columbia TriStar
formed part of the consortium commented, "We are still interested in the
deal and are studying it, but nothing has been finalised."
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Video
clips via mobile
Finnish mobile handset company Nokia's latest mobile phone, the 9210i
Communicator, streams video trailers thereby allowing users to order movies.
Demonstrated at the Nokia Connection 2002 show in Singapore, the display
was the result of cooperation between Nokia and interactive TV (iTV) application
developer Orca Interactive, with Orca's iTV software streaming video over
Nokia's infrastructure.
Nokia says
it demonstrated full video-on-demand services via the Nokia D500 multi-service
access platform and the Nokia ASR 2020 intelligent edge router. This was
intended to show how video content can be multicast via an operator's
network, allowing multiple video streams to be delivered to multiple devices
such as TVs and PCs.
Nokia is seeking new outlets as growth in demand for handsets has stagnated
in the developed markets, with mobile phone sales not expected to rise
by more than 10 this year, down from earlier forecasts of at least 15
per cent (400 million to 420 million handsets compared to 380 million
mobile phones in 2001).
Profits, however, should not be affected and the company expects to retain
its 40 per cent market share for mobiles.
Next-generation services like multi-media messaging (MMS) are predicted
to persuade consumers to upgrade their phones, and mobile phone networks
to improve their hardware.
Nokia's Jorma Ollila believes that there will be 10 MMS-enabled telephone
networks available across Europe by the end of September, with users taking
holiday snaps with their MMS phones and send them back home.
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Brazil's
family affair over?
Organizacoes Globo, Brazil's biggest media company, run by the Marinho
family, announced on Wednesday (19/06/02) that it will restructure its
loss-making media holdings under a new company, giving it the ability
to pursue foreign partners.
A Brazilian constitutional amendment made in May allows media companies
sell stakes of up to 30 per cent to foreign investors and organise holding
corporations to engage in mergers, acquisitions and preferential shares
offerings.
Apparently Organizacoes Globo is not planing a radical change of image
or name. The new company will be called Globo SA. The objective is to
gather the television, radio, Internet and print holdings that had been
dispersed under various mostly family-owned groups.
Globo SA's new Chief Executive Henri Philippe Reichstul, said that by
the end of the year the company would be ready to look for partners in
capital markets, but that the timing of any initial public offer would
nonetheless depend on market conditions.
The move hasn't surprised the Brazilian market since Globo Organizacoes,
the Marinho's umbrella group, had already announced it would restructure
its operations to bolster its capital structure and reduce a debt pile
of about E1.55 billion.
Reichstul, former Chief of State oil giant Petrobras, has been working
with Globo since February to lead the process.
Juan Villanueva, Director of Latin American credit research at Merrill
Lynch in New York said, "This opens the door to the possibility of a recapitalisation
that may turn out to be very positive for bondholders."
"The company is financially stretched, so any sort of possibility of additional
capital from anyone is good."
Globo SA will be one of Latin America's largest media conglomerates with
estimated combined revenues of E2.6 billion last year.
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New
DTT launches in Spain
Veo TV, backed by the El Mundo newspaper, and media group Correo's Net
TV are Spain's two new national free-to-air digital terrestrial channels.
Two months ago five free-to-air DTT channels were launched, but legislation
required two national channels. Hence both are entering the digital arena
despite the current tough market conditions in which capacity is severely
limited.
Veo TV and Net TV are supposed to have 80 per cent coverage but they will
only be able to reach 90,000 Quiero subscribers in a country of 11.7 million
TV households, due to a lack of availability of MHP-capable set-top boxes.
Another drawback is that Quiero's subscribers are now migrating to the
Canal Satelite Digital DTH platform, following the DTT firm's closure,
leaving the new free-to-air operators with little or no audience.
Net TV director Jose Maria Martin Guirado admitted, "We've started [transmissions]
because we are obliged to, but we're not fully up to speed." The new channels
will also be unable to offer interactive services due to lack of capacity
on the multiplex, and the broadcasters even speculate that capacity limitations
might produce worse audiovisual quality than analogue in some areas.
Both operators have to broadcast a minimum of four hours per day and 32
per week following the law. The only solution the channels have so far
to avoid sinking immediately - is to offer a bought-in low-cost programming
line-up, with Net TV offering five hours of programming per day composed
of a half-hour current affairs magazine and the rest music video clips.
For its part Veo TV's line-up will replicate the financial channel Expansion
TV, produced by media group Recoletos.
According to one Veo TV source, "it is the best way to save costs and,
at the same time, meet our legal obligations."
It has been reported that Net TV will be initially 'trialling' the channel
until September, when it plans to offer a new programming line-up with
home-produced content and interactive applications.
Both DTT channels will have to pay E3.6 million for their signal to be
distributed by domestic broadcasting agency Retevision. Their only hope
to bring this price down is an appeal for the Spanish Telecommunications
Commission to intervene.
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Sofia/CanalPlus
partnership
CanalPlus Technologies of France has formed a partnership with Finnish
MHP application provider Sofia Digital to promote the roll out of DVB-MHP
applications.
CanalPlus Technologies (CPT) is reported by Europemedia to have integrated
two Sofia digital applications into its MediaHighway DVB-MHP compliant
middleware: Sofia Access Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) and the Sofia
Arena digital teletext service.
"Our partnership with Sofia Digital highlights our continued commitment
to DVB-MHP," said Jean-Marc Racine, CanalPlus Technologies' executive
vice-president marketing.
Sofia's Access software includes an EPG and various EPG-related services
which allow viewers to check the schedules and channel line-ups of all
TV programmes and other services offered by DTV operators. The company
says that Sofia Arena is designed as an 'always on' information service,
allowing iTV operators to provide viewers with the latest news, weather
forecasts, sport results, and business information. The service browser
can be downloaded or set as resident on an MHP terminal.
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Sigma supplies IP STB
German broadband operator HanseNet is using Sigma Designs'
EM8470 series of MPEG decoder chips in advanced set-top boxes from Swedish set-top box system developer Kreatel.
Kreatel says its IP-STB system is among the first IP-based systems being deployed for multimedia entertainment services in broadband networks.
The Kreatel IP-STB provides subscribers with access to IPTV, VOD and other network services using their existing TVs. Set-top box software can be updated online after installation.
The Kreatel IP-STBs which features Sigma's EM8470 silicon and streaming video software are to be deployed on HanseNet's ADSL and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband networks, supporting IPTV and VOD features.
HanseNet has approximately 20,000 DSL subscribers in Hamburg, with the first 5,000 IP units currently being deployed.
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MHP roll out in Finland
Advanced Digital Broadcast reported to be launching its new MHP compliant digital 'i-Can' TV set-top box in Finland by the end of the year at a retail cost of E400. Finland adopted the MHP standard last year and is upgrading its terrestrial broadcasting infrastructure, with the aim of deploying 100,000 DVB MHP boxes by the end of 2003.
ADB vice-president Rick Smith is reported in Europemedia as saying, "We are teaming-up with Rautelin, our distribution partner in Finland, for starting large-scale deliveries this coming autumn."
Trials have alread begun at broadcaster YLE, and media groups AlmaMedia (MTV3) and Sanoma.
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Pay-BBC proposed
The UK government opposition party, the Conservatives, have proposed shifting the revenue model for public broadcaster, the BBC, toward a subscription model, with a reduced licence fee retained for a narrowly-defined public service broadcasting element - excluding most sport, entertainment and drama. It is suggested that these genre could be covered by subscription or pay-per-view channels launched by the BBC.
Shadow culture secretary Tim Yeo suggested in an FT article that the current E3.42 billion a year licence revenue for a government broadcaster was an unsuitable model for the modern world of multiple channels and viewer choice, commenting, "To ensure the BBC eases rather than obstructs progress, three changes are needed. Public service broadcasting must be redefined; the BBC must be given freedom to exploit its own powerful brand name and assets; and viewers and listeners must be empowered."
Yeo doubted whether entertainment programmes could be viewed as forming part of the BBC's public service remit in the multichannel world - though suggested these could be covered by commercial services from the BBC.
The BBC's commercial arm BBC Worldwide, already co-owns some subscription channels and last week, the corporation bid for the digital licences freed up by the collapse of ITV Digital (see news archive).
Yeo described as "astonishing" UK Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell's ruling out of any changes to the licence fee when the BBC's charter comes up for renewal in 2006.
However, it is clear that the BBC would face increasing opposition from rivals if it were to fully unleash its brand and spending power on the commercial market. It has come under fire from BSkyB among others for developing a 24 hour news channel, and in a separate development this week, Jowell has just extended the deadline from July 5 until July 22 for responses to the BBC's Curriculum Online proposal which has been opposed by commercial rivals.
Companies lobbying against the move, via the Digital Learning Alliance, include Pearson Education, Harper Collins and software firm RM. They say they could lose up to E600 million over the next five years and some face collapse if the BBC is allowed to spend E234 million of licence-fee payers' money on building a service that rivals their own and is offered free of charge.
The BBC says its own proposals strongly reflect its public service remit, nonetheless it has pledged to spend 50 per cent of its education funds with external suppliers over the next five years. In addition, the government has said it will make a further E78 million available to commercial education firms if the BBC's plans are given the green light. However, the companies said the sum is not enough.
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Murdoch discuses Italian plans
Rupert Murdoch visited Italy this week and met with members of Italy's Telecommunications Authority on Tuesday (18/6/02) to discus News Corps' 50 per cent owned subsidiary Stream's proposed acquisition of Vivendi Universal subsidiary and rival pay TV platform Telepiu, to create a 2.4 million subscriber Italian pay TV monopoly.
Murdoch had already begun talks with his partner Telecom Italia about the planned E1.5 billion merger - which is still subject to regulatory approval. News Corp jointly owns Stream with Telecom Italia, a partly privatised national telco which has been seeking to sell its 50 per cent stake. "We haven't defined anything; we are negotiating to find a solution that makes the best economic sense," Telecom Italia CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera was reported as saying on Tuesday.
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Gibraltarian Sat slot dispute
SES Americom's plans to deliver a DBS service using a licence granted by the Government of Gibraltar at 105.5 degrees, a location between two slots used by satellite TV provider DirecTV, is being contested by DirecTV at US regulator, the Federal Communications Commission.
DirecTV President Roxanne Austin was quoted by SkyReport as saying that SES Americom is "trying to sneak in the back door," adding, "Our opposition to SES Americom's FCC petition is not about competition - we welcome the competition - it's about interference. A DBS service delivered from a satellite at the 105.5 degree orbital slot would cause our customers to suffer significant service interruptions and impede our ability to deliver local broadcast channels."
The 105.5 degree orbital position is 4.5 degrees from DirecTV's satellites at 101 degrees and 110 degrees which DirecTV says violates the principle of nine-degree spacing established by the International Telecommunications Union, which is used by all DBS systems in the Western Hemisphere.
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UPC gets waiver
Following Netherlands-based cableco United Pan-Europe Communications NV's (UPC) earlier announcements about its proposed recapitalisation, UPC announced this week that bank lenders and UnitedGlobalCom have extended until July 1, 2002 the waivers of the defaults arising as a result of UPC's decision not to make interest payments under its outstanding Senior Notes. The terms of the waivers remain unchanged from those announced on March 4, 2002.
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Tandberg on the big screen
Tandberg Television is providing transmission and delivery systems for a digital cinema project in China called D-Cinema network which will see 11 cinemas in seven cities across China gain the ability to show live high-definition digital television coverage of news or sports games on the big screen.
Tandberg Television's Beijing team and its China business partner NDT are working closely with SARFT (State Administration of Radio, Film and Television) to deliver this digital cinema footage across China.
The new D-Cinema network uses Tandberg Television high definition satellite encoders, descramblers and HD receivers to deliver the HD signal from other countries to Beijing, where CCTV will decode it. CCTV will then compress the HD source using Tandberg Television's E5821 HD encoders with BISS and QPSK options and then re-transmit the footage via satellite to the cinemas. Locally, the cinemas will receive the signal using Tandberg Television TT1220 receivers with BISS descrambling decode the transport streams with PMRX HD decoders, then play the action using digital projectors.
Tandberg has recently appointed Graham Cradock, Tandberg's Director of Business Development and an expert in digital broadcasting networks, to the role of General Manager of Tandberg Television Asia-Pacific. He will take up the position in August of this year.
Commenting on the D-Cinema project, Cradock said, "There has been much talk around the world about digital cinema. The use of this technology to deliver live sports and news footage to China is probably one of the most innovative uses of D-Cinema to date. We are proud to be working with SARFT and our business partner NDT to make this innovative project a reality."
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ESPN
enhances iTV offer
Disney's sports cable channel, ESPN and interactive television middleware
maker Liberate Technologies are working together to provide ESPN cable
customers in the US with new interactive and on-demand features.
'ESPN Today Plus VOD,' is the name of one of the packaged offerings. It
will feature interactive sports information and advertisements. Viewers
will be able to click through data feeds during sports broadcasts and
link to commerce and advertising pitches.
Liberate VOD middleware will have ESPN video-on-demand products integrated
in the Hub. With it viewers will be able to order short form and long
form VOD content and 'tailor' the extent of on-demand content they want
to download.
The enhanced features include sports stats and interactive ticker information
that viewers can see while watching ESPN's programming.
At the moment Disney Co provides some interactive content to subscribers
via direct satellite broadcaster DirectTV.
The current arrangement with cable provider Insight comes on the heels
of a similar VOD enhanced content package with Cablevision Systems which
ranks among the most aggressive cable operators in rolling out enhanced
interactive services.
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NTL Asia Pacific wins
NTL Asia Pacific has announced a series of contract wins, including upgrade, installation, consultancy and transmission contracts, in territories across the region for the first half of 2002.
NTL issued the following status update:
Malaysia
The building of 11 radio sites and studios for IKIM, and a 7 TV transmitter build for NTV7. NTL is also providing a 10-year complete outsourcing solution for operations and maintenance service of the NTV7 transmitters.
NTL is also involved, initially through consultancy, in a number of key digital terrestrial television (DTT) and digital audio broadcasting (DAB) implementation projects with a range of Malaysian broadcasters.
Brunei
NTL is conducting a feasibility study into the implementation of DTT for Radio Television Brunei (RTB), and has won a contract to upgrade RTB's radio automation system. The upgrade will involve new software as well as the installation of five on-air and five production studios with accessory equipment.
Thailand
Significant wins include upgrades of SNG 'fly-aways' for TV9, specialised replay systems for iTV's World Cup coverage and radio studios for Sukhothai University. NTL says it is also taking a key role in the implementation of DTT networks in this growth market.
Singapore
In Singapore NTL is working with ZeeTV to deliver a contribution feed to ZeeTV's playout facility in London via an uplink from Singapore and downlink to NTL's UK teleport. NTL has also recently been awarded a contract with a Polytechnic in Singapore to provide studio facilities to ensure that students have access to the latest technologies.
NTL has also been approved as an Affiliate of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.
Patrick Duffy, Managing Director of NTL Asia Pacific, commented, "I am delighted with what we have achieved so far this year, having entered into a number of relationships that bode extremely well for our future role in the region. Our core objective remains long-term operations and management contracts - areas where we are able to add most value to the customer - and our new status as an affiliate of the ABU is a mark of our commitment to the industry in Asia. The increase in rhetoric about digital television is another encouraging sign. Indeed this has been borne out by our exploration into its implementation across the region - Brunei currently being the most notable example."
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VOD economics remain tough
*'Return on investment for video-on-demand: Cable and ADSL VOD in Europe,' a report published by independent market analysts Datamonitor (DTM.L).
VOD in Europe will fail to achieve return on investment (ROI), according to the latest Datamonitor report* which estimates that by 2006 accumulative revenues from VOD (both Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) and Cable), will have fallen short of the mark by up to E2.5 billion.
ADSL VOD providers in Europe will struggle to make profits. VOD has already been rolled out in the UK by Videonetworks and KIT and in Italy by e.Biscom (BISC.F). The first year of large-scale VOD roll-out in Europe will be 2004 as the indebted state of the cable sector and lack of sufficiently high-bandwidth networks hamper rollout in the short term. As no proven business case exists, European operators are glancing over the Atlantic to learn from current roll-outs and wait for US VOD to demonstrate high take-up rates and returns before committing to implementing the costly technology.
ADSL VOD providers in Europe will accumulate negative returns of E2.6 billion by 2006 says the report. By the end of 2002, costs to deploy VOD will have reached E46 million and this will run into E3.76 billion in 2006. Datamonitor says ADSL VOD in Europe faces a prohibitive cost base resulting from decreasing, but still significant, network access charges and from higher technology costs, relating to bandwidth utilisation and load balancing over IP networks.
The Nordics will be the only region where ADSL VOD will be profitable. With the exception of only Germany, European cable VOD operators, on the other hand, will benefit from two-way digitised cable networks and will be able to position VOD as part of their high-speed Internet, telephony, and TV triple-play strategy, targeting an existing user base.
Consequently Datamonitor expects European cable operators to achieve a slight positive ROI of E184 million, after the third year of service launch. In Germany ADSL is catching up with cable VOD as the future of cable there is still undecided. With over 20 million cable subscribers, Germany is Europe's largest cable market. However in terms of cable VOD returns, it will be less lucrative than its European neighbours due to the uncertainty that looms over German cable. ADSL VOD therefore could become an important characteristic in Germany not least due to Deutsche Telekom's (DT) (DTEGq.L) strong focus on its multimedia content portal coupled with the acquisition of stakes in set-top box technology vendor BetaVision.
German cable VOD will start being deployed relatively late - in the second half of 2004 - and according to Datamonitor, revenues in 2006 will still be E26 million short of costs, accumulating an aggregate negative ROI of E117 million. As the only cable market in Europe to display a negative VOD ROI in 2006, the figures reflect the lower revenue potential of the German TV market due to:
*Liberty Media's (LMCa.F) failed bid to take over DT's (DTEGq.L) six regional cable licenses, hampering the speedy technology upgrade of German cable networks;
*a wide availability of free-to-air (FTA) TV channels;
*the immature state of pay-TV - the ratio of pay to FTA homes being about 50/50.
Due to Germany's relative immature state, a gradual rollout of VOD services is more realistic, where subscription VOD (SVOD) content will only be introduced at a later stage, once subscribers have grown accustomed to pay-per-view (PPV) VOD. Additionally, as free-to-air (FTA) content is widely available there will be less scope for bundling series and comedies into the SVOD concept because subscribers will be unwilling to pay for content which was previously free of charge. Consequently, SVOD revenues will only be 13 per cent of total cable VOD revenues by 2006.
The Nordics are the only region in Europe where ADSL VOD will be profitable suggest the report.
According to Datamonitor forecasts, while cumulative ROI will be negative at E45 million in 2006, year-on-year ROI for Nordic ADSL VOD hits the black, generating E46 million of surplus revenues during the same period. B2 Bredband (BREDF.PK) in Sweden and Elisa Networks (ELIAV.BE) along with Maxisat in Finland have both taken steps to deploy VOD in the near future. At the same time, satellite operators ViaSat (VSAT.F) and Canal Digital (TEL.OL) will be sure to take advantage of prospective consumer demand for broadband as Nordic governments pledge to subsidise the technology in order to make it
mass-market.
The Nordic market also has some innovative players on the cable side in Com.hem (TLIA.ST), UPC (UPEC.AS) and Teledanmark Kabel (TDC.CO) who are keen to see their revenues overtake those of satellite. By 2006, cable will be the leading digital platform in terms of installed base and revenues generated.
Overcoming initial service hitches as well as tailoring differentiated product offerings will be key in reducing churn and carving out market share. PPV and increasingly VOD will serve as sources of high-margin pay-TV income.
Datamonitor forecasts that the Nordic cable VOD market will generate revenues of E354 million in 2006, reaching a cumulative ROI of E100 million. Movies will be the most popular VOD content. In 2006, new releases will account for 40 per cent of PPV revenues whilst adult content will account for 28 per cent.
Datamonitor predicts that revenues from PPV VOD will reach E2.5 billion in 2006. Some 83 per cent of PPV VOD will be movie-based. VOD content will be primarily consumed on a pay-per-view (PPV) basis with movies being the most popular content type. New releases will command the highest price range and account for 40 per cent of revenues. Adult content meanwhile will make up 28 per cent. Library content of older films and classics are set to facilitate customer lock in - a rich content palette will keep users returning to VOD, thereby boosting take-rates over traditional PPV viewing rates. At the same time, this will pose major challenges for VOD providers to ramp up on their capability to store and distribute large amounts of media content.
As streaming technologies improve and operators extend their content libraries, VOD offers exciting opportunities to package content around themes in order to cater to individual viewing tastes and Datamonitor expects it will also generate a spin-off effect on other interactive areas such as T-Commerce by linking thematic viewing to personalised advertising and product purchases.
Dynamics of the VOD industry in Europe will change drastically with stand-alone operators either being snapped up or driven out of business altogether.
According to Datamonitor, whilst VOD over ADSL and fibre will benefit from first-mover advantages through early VOD service launch from standalone broadband operators, cable VOD will get a late start due to large-scale industry consolidation. However, by 2006 it will be the cable conglomerates like Callahan and Liberty (LMCa.F) that will rule the space.
Scale is very important to make VOD profitable and in Datamonitor's opinion standalone operators are likely to be snapped up by telcos or driven out of business.
Datamonitor analyst, Panni Kanyuk comments, "For sizeable cable operators, with a long-term investment view, VOD will form an important corner stone as part of an advanced interactive offering and will provide a significant source of value-added ARPUs at a time when new customer acquisition is proving increasingly difficult in the face of maturing pay-TV markets. VOD over the ADSL platform, however, faces a bleaker future and is only likely to become profitable for individual players such as major satellite operators like BSkyB (BSY.L) or ADSL providers in countries where cable has not reached significant penetration."
Panni Kanyuk is a managing analyst with Datamonitor and author of the report.
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No digital TV for 1/3 of UK
The number of people in a UK survey saying that they have no intention of ever switching to digital television has risen from one in three to one in five, with the rise attributed to the collapse of the ITV Digital digital terrestrial TV service.
The survey by advertisement buyer Mediaedge:CIA reports 29 per cent of respondents saying they would never switch from analogue, up from 21 per cent in the company's last study in October.
Almost one in three people said in a UK survey that they have, up from before the collapse. About a third of the population has digital TV, but uptake appears to be levelling off, despite the government needing to persuade the bulk of the remainder to switch to meet a 2006 to 2010 deadline for turning off analogue signals.
The number of people planning to upgrade to digital TV "in the next year" fell from 13 per cent to nine per cent, with 60 per cent of over-65s saying they would not switch from analogue.
David Fletcher, an analyst at Mediaedge:CIA, is quoted as saying "Analogue switch-off is dependent on economic, logistic and political barriers being overcome and these findings suggest that, on all three counts, the task is getting harder."
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CSA DTT hearings day 1
Report by Sotires Eleftheriou in Paris
It has been an eventful first day at hearings by the French broadcasting regulator of the 65 candidates for DTT licences - conducted on a channel by channel basis was.
Before proceedings even began, TF1, M6, Canal Plus and a number of TV Producers unions issued a joint press release calling for the suspension of the DTT attribution process until the French audio-visual scene has become stabilised and the economics of DTT verified.
This week the CSA will hear proposals from 25 candidates for free to air channels or services. The French DTT plan calls for around 15 free channels, eight of which have already been attributed to the public service France Television. Private channels TF1 and M6 get simulcast capacity plus an additional channel (which may be either free or pay) so there are only five channels up for grabs this week. The result will be announced by the end of October.
Jerome Seydoux opened the procedings in person for general entertainment channel TMC, now controlled by his Pathe group. The group intends to buy the remainder of the channel shortly. TMC was originally the Monaco terrestrial channel, where it is transmitted terrestrially and reaches the nearby French region. Seydoux said that his group believes strongly in DTT and would expand its programming if it gets the DTT licence. It also plans to increase its in-house production facilities, much of which are currently outsourced to Multithematiques (controlled by Canal Plus).
Ghislain Allon followed with his project for a Jewish channel. The channel is already present on TPS and cable networks. Allon insisted that the channel is not a 'gheto channel' but intends to reach a wider public. Unlike TMC, the application gave a distinct impression of having been hastily cobbled together, right down to not being sure whether it really wanted to be free or would have preferred to be encrypted as part of a basic pay package.
Allon also said that the channel would accept sharing a frequency with another candidate, the Catholic channel KTO. The share would be in three hour time-slots with each channel having a separate channel number. The 'down time' would not be a blank screen but interactive services using a low bit rate.
Corrine Ducrey put a well argued case for Telegenerations, a new channel for the over 50s. She argued that this target group is largely ignored but has increasing economic significance. This age group is economically active, alert, intelligent and curious, she said. The channel would co-operate with existing community and web channels for programming.
Mix TV is a planned music channel for the 15-35 age group from the prolific production company and channel supplier AB Groupe. Jean-Claude Azoulay, President of AB, explained that the channel need only obtain a 0.5 per cent audience share to break even and it aims to reach one per cent by 2010.
This was followed by TF1's presentation by its President Patrick Le Lay. TF1 is guaranteed DTT capacity for simulcasting so Le Lay didn't need to convince the regulator. Instead he used his time to slam into the whole concept of DTT, saying that television has been digital for years so it is not a case of modernising the infrastructure. People wanting additional channels are already able to take a cable or satellite subscription [although he forgot to mention that these are far from being free]. Nevertheless TF1 has to be present on DTT, even though it doesn't believe in it.
Nicolas de Tavernost, President of M6, attended to present the M6Music channel. Like Le Lay, he does not believe in DTT but has to be present. "We did not wait for DTT to launch M6Music," he said. "The channel is already on TPS and cable networks and we are negotiating its carriage on Canal Satellite. We expect much more from the real subscribers of Canal Satellite than from the virtual subscribers on DTT, but we want to be on all platforms." He added that M6 wants M6Music to be considered its "supplementary channel" attributed to the existing analogue broadcasters. The CSA has said in the past that it will attribute a supplementary channel as required by law but not necessarily the one specified by the operator. M6 has applied for a total of six channels.
The final candidate of the day was Sun TV, a new channel that would cater for people originating from French overseas dependencies as well as African countries, a potential of five million people, and their friends. It would co-operate with RFO, the French public service channel for overseas territories but not present on mainland France. He pointed out that the advent of satellite means that people living in overseas territories have ample news of mainland France, but the opposite is not the case. The channel would have a considerable amount of 'world music' programming.
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Telewest control tussel
A group of bondholders at UK cableco Telewest group is effectively launching a takeover bid by proposing a debt-for-equity swap in a move that would counter US investor John Malone's rejected bid for control of the company via a E369 million cash for bonds offer.
Telewest bondholders who are owed around E5.6 billion of a total E8.3 billion worth of debt, want to replace that debt with shares and thereby become the majority shareholders, with equity investors loosing the value of their investment.
The bondholder group wants to discuss its plans with Telewest and Malone's Liberty Media. Liberty owns 24 per cent of the company, and last week offered to buy at least 20 per cent of Telewest's bonds, but cannot not do so unless the bondholders want to sell. However, there are reported to be enough independent funds willing to sell to be able to give Liberty a blocking minority in any restructure. Liberty had already spent some E211 million in buying Telewest bonds before making its public tender. Separately (see news archive) Liberty has been negotiating to buy Microsoft's 23.7 per cent stake in Telewest, but without voting rights.
A Liberty-led restructure is seen by bondholders as unlikely to be in the best interests of bondholders as a whole, with bondholders willing to hold shares in a company that is described as running well as a business but weighed down by debt.
Telewest Chief Executive Adam Singer did not rule out a debt restructuring this year. Liberty has denied suggestions that it has been given any preferential treatment - particularly material information - from the Telewest board.
Malone has been driving European cable consolidation, and now owns a controlling stake in United Pan-Europe Communications, and previously made moves to control UK number one cableco NTL - which it is assumed in the UK will eventually merge with Telewest.
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Payback time for TF1?
Didier Mathus, a socialist member of the French parliament and author of the parliamentary report on DTT, writing in the Le Monde newspaper, outlined his view that the support provided by France's most influential TV channel TF1 for the Chirac campaign could well result in some kind of payback from the re-elected President.
Mathus notes that what TF1 wants more than anything is an abandonment of the DTT project. Recent declarations by the new Minister of Communications and Culture, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, are seen as preparing the terrain. Aillagon has called for a pause in the process of assigning the DTT licences while a new consultation process is carried out.
Mathus believes that the new government will use the cost of financing France Television's DTT plans for a range of free channels intended to drive DTT uptake, as an excuse to scupper the project. Chirac has already put a spanner in France Television's plan for a news channel; it is believed that this is because it was likely to be too independent in its approach for the Right's liking, according to Mathus.
Mathus goes on to say that the new Minister's plans go further than that - and would take the teeth away from the public sector's France 2. He would not go as far as to privatise it - that would be awkward for TF1. But could take away much of its impact by abandoning the idea that the nation needs a public sector channel with a big audience.
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Cosmopolitan to launch in Spanish
On July 1 Pramer SCA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp's Liberty Media International (LMI) and US based Hearst Corp premieres Cosmopolitan Television Latino America ,a 24-hour channel dedicated to young women.
The Hearst CorpTV channel is to broadcast to five million subscribers in Latin America, mostly in Argentina and Mexico. The channel has 24-hour programming for young women inspired by Cosmopolitan magazine. Hearst and LMI are equal partners in Cosmopolitan Television Latino America.
Although Hearst didn't provide financial details, the cost of the Spanish-language channel's launch is estimated at between E10 million and E15 million over five years
Cosmopolitan Television will be available on the basic line-up of most major MSOs and DTHs in Spanish-speaking Latin America. Hearst Entertainment & Syndication will be responsible for the channel's content, while Pramer will be in charge of all other services involved in the management of the network.
This is the second launch of a Cosmopolitan Television channel. The first was launched in Spain in 2000 as a partnership between Hearst and MultiPark Madrid SA and is currently the country's top-rated women's network.
"Cosmopolitan Television will be launched with very wide distribution throughout the region, plus strong advertising support. This combination, in addition to very solid programming, is our guarantee of success," said and Claudio Bevilacqua, CEO of Pramer SCA, adding, "The channel's profile is unique in Latin America and has enormous potential in terms of both subscription and advertising sales."
"Our partnership with Pramer and LMI in this venture allows the companies to attain mutually beneficial objectives," said Bruce Paisner, Vice President of the Hearst Corporation and Deputy Group Head of Hearst Entertainment & Syndication. "It provides Hearst with an ideal vehicle for growing the Cosmopolitan television network concept, while for Pramer it affords the opportunity to launch a product with great appeal for Latin American viewers."
Cosmopolitan Television's programming in Latin America will feature international hit series such as Sex and the City, Melrose Place, and European hits dealing with subject matter that appeals to women. The line-up will also include monthly specials highlighting Latin American figures and opinions, as well as original shows produced in the region.
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Quadruple launch for Americom
SES Global company SES Americom has signed two launch services contracts each for two launches, one with International Launch Services (ILS) for AMC-10 and AMC-11, and the other with Arianespace for AMC-13 and AMC-15.
Dean Olmstead, President and CEO of SES Americom, said, "We are demonstrating great confidence in our business potential by planning to launch four best-in-class spacecraft into strategic orbital positions giving us the capacity to offer our customers superior service throughout the Americas and beyond." He added, "When combined with our existing fleet and the other satellites we will launch during this same time period, the Americom fleet will have unparalleled diversity, redundancy and reach throughout the Americas, across the oceans and into Europe, Asia and Africa." The AMC-9, a hybrid C- and Ku-band satellite, is expected to be operational over North America in early 2003, and AMC-12, a C-band satellite providing transatlantic and regional services planned for service in the first half 2003.
Darlene Freeman, Vice President, SES Global Sourcing, said, "The execution of these contracts clearly demonstrates the synergies we expected through the combination of Astra and Americom as well as the advantage of a centralised Global Sourcing process. By integrating elements of existing Astra commitments into this set of contracts, we have maximised the benefit to SES Global through a harmonised combination of contracts with two exceptional vendors, ILS and Arianespace."
The two all C-band spacecraft are designed for the delivery of cable programming from their orbital positions of 135 degrees and 131 degrees West respectively. Based on the A2100 platform and being built by Lockheed Martin, both 'next generation' satellites will be launched from ILS' Cape Canaveral Station in Florida on Atlas IIAS launch vehicles. Planned for operation in 2004, AMC-10 and AMC-11 will replace Satcom C3 and C4. Major cable programmers have signed contracts to use these cable neighbourhood partners to reach over 80 million US homes. Already committed to AMC-10 and AMC-11 are Viacom, C-SPAN, CourtTV, Hallmark/Crown Media, iN DEMAND, Lifetime Entertainment, Scripps and The Weather Channel.
Being built by France's Alcatel on its Spacebus 4000 platform, the all C-band satellite will offer regional and transoceanic services and will be launched from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana in the second half of 2003 on the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. The satellite will deliver superior trans-Pacific services from its 172 degree East orbital position as well as connections into the Americas, Australia and Asia Pacific networks.
Based on the A2100 model and being built by Lockheed Martin, AMC-15 will feature America's first operating Ka-band payload along with 24 transponders of Ku-band capacity operating from 105 degrees West. To be launched aboard an Ariane 5 vehicle from Kourou in the second half 2004, the spacecraft has been designated to complement the DBS spacecraft proposed by SES Americom to be located at 105.5 degrees and provide Americom2Home service.
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Hot Bird to fly in July
Hot Bird 6, the broadcasting satellite built for Eutelsat by Alcatel Space - which is responsible for both the platform and the payload - has arrived in Cape Canaveral and is now being readied for planned launch at the end of next month on an Atlas booster delivered by ILS. The satellite was shipped from Alcatel Space's Cannes plant in southern France on June 12.
Based on Alcatel Space's Spacebus 3000B3 platform, Hot Bird 6 is fitted with 32 transponders (28 Ku-band, 4 Ka-band) and eight Skyplex units for onboard multiplexing. The satellite will be co-positioned at 13 degrees East with other Hot Bird satellites belonging to Eutelsat, and will enable the company to optimise and expand its service offering from this prime slot for TV broadcasting to cable and satellite homes in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It will also be the first satellite in Europe to combine Ka-band frequencies with onboard multiplexing for micro-television broadcasting.
The bird will weigh about 3,900 kg at launch. It will have beginning-of-life electrical power of 10,5 kW, and a design life exceeding 12 years.
*Eutelsat could find its flotation, planned for this year, further delayed if shareholders with a combined 51.1 per cent of the company find buyers for their shareholdings. France Telecom is reported to have held talks with Eurazeo, the investment holding company of Lazard Group of France to well its 23.1 per cent stake, while BT Group and Deutsche Telekom are also seeking buyers for their combined 28 per cent stake. The FT newspaper reports that private equity firms potentially interested include Kohlbert Kravis Robers, Permira and Apex partners.
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Vivendi investigation?
Colette Neuville, who heads the Association for the Defence of Minority Shareholders, has asked the French commercial court to appoint an expert to investigate Vivendi Universal's media acquisitions, such as Seagram, and what information was made available by the group's management, headed by Jean-Marie Messier, to the board of directors. The court is to consider the request on Friday and decide whether to launch an inquiry.
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Euro sales to Canada
European TV channels EuroNews, Paris Premire, planete and RFI (Radio France Internationale) have signed an agreement with Vidotron and COGECO, two major cable operators in Canada's French speaking province of Quebec. The launch will take place on today (Wednesday 19th June at 18:00 local time).
For the launch a joint marketing event will take place in Montreal and in the city of Quebec, with the support of the French Embassy.
The arrival of EuroNews, Paris Premire, planete and RFI, will allow Vidotron and COGECO to broaden their offer in the French language. The channels will reach 180,000 new subscribers.
EuroNews news channel covers world news from a European perspective and will be broadcast in French on Vidotron and COGECO Cable; Paris Premire offers varied programmes dedicated to the performing arts and events from Paris; planete is a documentary channel and Radio France Internationale International news radio station, broadcasts in French 24 hours per day, providing in-depth coverage of all countries receiving the station on FM, OC, OM as well as via cable and satellite. RFI Musique is a radio station dedicated to music, performing arts, culture and literature.
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Australian pay-TV piracy sting
A multi-million dollar national pay-TV piracy racket in Australia has been uncovered in a police sting operation in Melbourne reports the Herald Sun News.
Melbourne detectives launched an undercover operation to purchase sophisticated TV piracy equipment. And uncovered E6,000 worth of electronic pirating equipment.
So far only Foxtel has been positively identified as a major target of the piracy. One man is being held and further arrests are expected. Foxtel spokeswoman Fleur Treasure said, "It's subscription piracy which carries a possible five-year jail term and a E2,960 fine."
The Pirates offered customers a package to get pay-TV programs without paying the subscription fee, including a satellite dish, a set-top unit and a counterfeit access card for about E888.
The criminals obtained details of a legitimate Foxtel customer from Foxtel records and implanted the real customer details on to hundreds of blank smart-cards. The cloned cards and dishes were then sold to customers on the black market.
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Casbaa dates set
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has announced details of the ninth annual CASBAA Convention which this year will be held in Singapore, December 4-6.
The venue will be Singapore's new Theatres on The Bay complex, scheduled to open in mid-October.
The CASBAA Convention 2002 will run in parallel with the Asia Television Forum market and conference, the Asia Animation Week and the 'on-air' promotions-led Promax BDA conference.
"We believe the audience for the CASBAA Convention 2002 will be bigger and better than ever," said James Ross, the Chairman of the CASBAA Convention 2002 Committee. "The promotional opportunities provided by the Convention, including the Golf Day and CASBAA Ball, will be unrivalled for sponsors and exhibitors alike."
This year's Convention, called 'Blueprint for Success', will focus on the core business values of the pay-TV industry in Asia. CASBAA is bringing together a group of international speakers for the Convention. The project will encompass close relationships with Singapore government bodies such as the Economic Development Board and the Singapore Broadcasting Authority.
"We know that the CASBAA Convention is the pre-eminent regional forum for Asia's cable and satellite industries and we intend that this year's event will be even more relevant as we debate such issues as the Development of Digital Infrastructure, Advertising and Research, Local Production, the China Opportunity and Interactive Television Services. With our tradition of creating a complete broadcast event catering for all sections of our industry this is going to be a very exciting year," said Simon Twiston Davies, the CEO, CASBAA.
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Canal
Plus not quitting pay TV
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Canal Plus not quitting pay TV
Xavier Couture, Chairman of Vivendi Universal unit Canal Plus has stated that the company's sale of its Italian company Telepiu to News Corp Ltd for E1.5 billion is not an indication that the company plans to withdraw from the pay TV market.
In an interview in Le Figaro this weekend, Couture said the company would rather invest in more profitable businesses, hence it intends to develop its audiovisual production business in Europe, as it has developed its content activities while maintaining its technological ambitions.
"For Canal Plus the decoder is the main distribution element. It's thanks to this technology that we have developed a special relationship with subscribers," Couture said.
A new set top decoder will be launched at the end of the year with PVR functionality including allowing viewers to watch one programme while recording another.
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Tele 5 Austrian launch
The newly launched German TV channel Tele 5 will also distribute part of its programming into Austria.
From July 1, Tele 5 will provide two windows to the Austrian channel ATV, which acquired the first nationwide commercial TV licence in Austria earlier this year and will soon boost its distribution from about 2.5 million potential viewers to over six million - 75 per cent of the entire Austrian population.
The windows will be aired from 0:10 am to 10:45 am and from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Tele 5 also hopes to use this presence for promoting its channel with Austrian cable operators to get its own cable distribution from 2003 on. Both channels, ATV and Tele 5, are dominated by Germany's TeleMunchen Group, TMG, run by Herbert Kloiber who is of Austrian descendant. ATV Managing Director Tillmann Fuchs says that these synergies within the group not only make sense from a financial point of view they also provide the opportunity for ATV to expand the variety of its own programming and to expand its offers in attractive fiction.
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Telenor takes Canal Digital holding
France's Canal Plus is to transfer its holding in Canal Digital to Telenor, the Norwegian telecoms company reports Europemedia.
Disputes between the two companies had delayed the deal from being concluded earlier. Canal Plus reportedly wanted Telenor to pay cash for the 50 per cent stake in Canal Digital, while Telenor wanted approval from antitrust authorities prior to making payment.
Canal Plus has said that Telenor would pay E290 million for Canal Digital, not the earlier reported deal of E257million up front followed by a defferred payment of E66 million. Canal Digital provides digital pay-TV services in Scandinavia.
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Toshiba signs deal with TiVo
The semiconductor and electronic components businesses arm of Japan-based Toshiba has signed a licencing agreement with PVR set-top box manufacturer TiVo.
With this deal, TiVo says it could leap ahead of its competitors and accomplish its objective of establishing its technology and its digital video recording (DVR) technology as the standard for consumer electronics.
Farhad Mafie, Toshiba's Vice-President, said, "We see TiVo as the key to providing the latest technology and important product differentiation for our customers."
The deal states that TiVo will help Toshiba integrate DVR technology into chips that are to be launched in 2004. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
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Telewest chief 'misled shareholders'
Telewest's Chaiman Cob Stenham, has admitted misleading shareholders over boardroom pay at last week's annual general meeting.
He said that every director at the troubled cable company has had their salaries frozen to reflect the troubled times at the company. Since then Stenham has admitted that Finance Director Charles Burdick - who was present at the meeting and didn't say anything - had received a pay rise of E60,000 to E600,000.
A Telewest spokesman was reported by the Sunday Times as saying that the Finance Director's pay rise happened at a different time from all the other pay negotiations and this was the reason why it wasn't included in the annual salary review.
Shareholders have seen the value of their investments fall by 90 per cent over the last two years and reacted angrily at suggestions they had now been misled. Telewest has some E8 billion in debts yet its senior executives received bonuses totalling E1 million.
At last week's Liberty Media of the US expressed its intention to buy Microsoft's 23.6 per cent stake in Telewest, which could signal a change in Telewest's ownership structure. Liberty already has 24 per cent of the shares and three directors on the board.
In an bid to get around the take-over panel's rule that any investor with more than 29 per cent must launch a full take-over bid, Liberty said that what it wanted is the 'economic rights' of Microsoft's equity, without the voting rights.
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Phoenix' ATV bid
Phoenix TV - the satellite-delivered entertainment and current affairs network aimed at mainland Chinese viewers - has provoked concern in Hong Kong after its Chairman announced plans to take a controlling stake in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China's second terrestrial network.
Phoenix TV's Chairman Liu Changle wants to buy out Asia Television's (ATV) CEO and director Feng Xiaoping in a deal that would give the latter 46 per cent of the station.
Under Hong Kong law non-residents have limits on the percentage of the SAR's terrestrials they are allowed to purchase, although the government can look at applications on an individual basis.
In Hong Kong concerns have been raised about the transaction because Liu, a former People's Liberation Army soldier, is said to enjoy close relations with senior Chinese leaders. As Hong Kong approaches the fifth anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China on July many in the SAR are concerned that ATV will be controlled by pro-Beijing businessman.
Sin Chung-kai, Chairman of the broadcast regulatory panel within the Hong Kong legislature commented, "I think that the government should tighten its legislation, instead of relaxing its control further."
However others support the transaction. ATV is a perennial loss-maker and takes around 15 per cent of Hong Kong's terrestrial audience, compared to rival Television Broadcasts' dominance of the market. Supporters of Liu's intervention say the change will allow ATV to continue in business at the very minimum.
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Optus suspends iTV trial
Australian pay TV platform Optus has put its interactive ambitions on ice with the announcement that it will not extend a six-month trial of the technology, or offer a date when it will start as a fully-fledged commercial service.
Singapore Telecom-owned Optus said that 3,000 Sydney homes that had been receiving iTV at a cost of $7 a month will continue to receive it, although it will not be extended to the 250,000 subscribers of the platform.
Optus' possible alliance with Foxtel, which Australian regulators are set to rule on by the end of June, and concerns about the interoperability of Optus' iTV boxes with Foxtel, are two of the reasons advanced for putting the project on hold. Ironically, while Optus believes that the business model of the service needs to be re-engineered, the offerings have been popular with viewers.
These include news, weather, property information, games and dating sites, as well as near video on demand. Optus estimates that 85 per cent of users have purchased NVoD-delivered movies once or twice a month. In addition, 80 per cent of trialists used the electronic programme guide.
Optus has also developed a music-focused superchannel that combines several video streams with text information into a single channel combined with digital radio. An interactive version of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation/BBC co-production Walking with Beasts and an interactive laundry detergent commercial will debut in June - the last scheduled innovations.
Consumer and multimedia marketing director with Optus, Scott Lorsen, had said that the trial produced twice as much demand from users as he had expected. But after admitting that the trial was being suspended he commented "Before you launch a product like this you need a degree of certainty around the commercial environment and the technical platform."
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DTT bidders go FTA
It is reported that the 'dark horse' bidders for the UK digital terrestrial TV licences - Digital Television Broadcasting (DTB), and SDN - have both based their proposals on free-to-air services.
DTB intends to offer 21 free non-premium channels funded by a combination of advertising revenue and transmission charges.
SDN, which has run its own multiplex since 1998, will charge content providers a carriage fee. SDN intends to initially provide 20 free channels, potentially adding a 10 to 12 channel pay-TV offering.
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Viacom 'considers' ITV
US TV giant Viacom's Mel Karmazin is reported to have had introductory talks with both UK ITV companies Carlton Communications and Granada.
Viacom is seen as one of the most likely potential investors in the newly deregulated UK broadcasting industry which is being opened up to non-EU buyers under the new broadcasting act.
Senior executives of other major foreign media companies are also reported to have held similar 'UK broadcasting briefing' discussions in recent weeks.
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New Kirch bid
German publishing giants Axel Springer Verlag and Heinrich Bauer Verlag plan to make a counter-bid for the core assets of broadcasting group KirchMedia in an attempt to block the E2 billion offer from the consortium of Commerzbank, Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar International Television and the WAZ newspaper group according to a Hollywood reporter account.
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CSA/French
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CSA/French
government DTT coordination
The new French Minister of Culture and Communications, Jean-Jacques Aillagon,
has requested the broadcasting regulator CSA to carry out detailed consultations
with the Ministry of Culture and Communications to clear up a number of
aspects of the DTT project that were left hanging by the previous government.
These include some legal, economic and technical aspects. He pointed out
that questions of timetable, restructuring the frequency plan and financing,
need to be studied carefully.
The President of the CSA, Dominique Baudis, has said that this will take
place after the public hearings of the 66 DTT candidates (see Advanced-Television
archive), which are to be held from June 17 to July 1.
All of this work, including analysing the vast volume of information already
supplied by the candidates which the CSA has distilled down to 2,500 pages,
takes time. Accordingly, the CSA has put back the date for announcing
the results to October 31. The initial launch date, Christmas 2002, had
been set a year and a half ago, said Baudis. It has already slipped while
the government decrees were awaited.
Catherine Tasca, the Minister of Culture and Communication under the previous
government, has been reported to have been indignant about the new delay.
She pointed out that DTT has been under detailed study since 2000, so
is surprised to see that her replacement needs more study. She went on
to say that the new Minister has been particularly attentive to powerful
anti-DTT lobbying by TF1 and M6.
Meanwhile, Avicam, the cable operators' association, was pleased by the
new delay, stressing that it is important to consult, not only for TV
but also for telecoms services and broadband.
On the other hand, the three producers' associations SPFA, SPI and USPA
issued a joint press release to protest about the constant playing down
of DTT during the last few weeks by various cable and satellite operators.
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MTV Networks Europe is to launch a second bespoke music television channel
for the Polish market, 'MTV Classic', a new 24-hour music television channel
targeting viewers aged 25 to 40, to be launched at midnight on 29 June
2002.
The company says that MTV Classic will focus on 'greatest hits' from the
past 40 years, and will feature popular international and Polish artists
and music with its programming predominantly in Polish. The channel launch
follows the successful launch of MTV Polska, MTV's Polish language music
channel, whose output targets a younger demographic.
The new channel will replace Polish transmissions of 'VH1 European', the
English language channel which is currently broadcast in Poland. At launch,
MTV Classic will reach more than 1.5 million households, via Poland's
biggest cable networks, including UPCtv, Aster City and Dami, and via
the digital DTH platform Cyfra+.
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UK
DTT bids in
Last week (13/6/02) the UK TV regulator, the ITC, received applications
from six bidders for the three digital terrestrial TV transmission licences
(B, C, D) surrendered by collapsed DTT pioneer ITV Digital, with award
of the licence due on July 4 following a week's public consultation ending
June 21.
The BBC has put in an application for licence B, under the label Free-to-View
Ltd, linked to that of transmitter operator Crown Castle applying for
licences C and D, which would include a free-to-view service with three
channels from BSkyB.
ITV and Channel 4 have formed the Digital Terrestrial Alliance (DTA) to
bid for two of the licences (B,C) to offer a free-to-air service. Its
applications are dependent on the third being given to Freeview Plus,
headed by former Sky bosses David Chance and Ian West, which would provide
a low-cost pay TV service. ITV and Channel 4 described their plan as being
focused on achieving a strong, robust signal with better coverage and
"attractive, complementary free-to-air channels," and a low cost set-top
box. Some 60 per cent of the population would receive the new signal through
their existing aerials; a further 20 per cent could receive it with a
new aerial. The ITV/Channel 4 bid is reported to include a new ITV Extra
channel utilising ITV's sports rights such as European Champions League
football. For about £10 (E15.5) a month, viewers could receive a further
seven pay-TV channels, such as Sky One, E4, Nickelodeon and National Geographic.
A new company Digital Television Broadcasting Ltd sponsored by financiers
Apax Partners, is bidding for all three licences, and is reported to be
engaging ONDigital founder Stephen Grabiner.
SDN, a consortium consisting of United Business Media, NTL and Welsh S4C,
the commercial arm of the Welsh services S4C has put its own application
for all three licences.
The BBC issued a statement saying, "We plan to offer some 11 million households
a true digital alternative - digital TV without pay. Through the purchase
by consumers of a digital adaptor for under £100 (E155) or an integrated
digital television, these plans will bring the greater choice that digital
offers within reach of everyone in the UK In turn this will help to achieve
the policy supported by all three main political parties of achieving
digital switch-over for the whole country.
"The new channels available free-to-view will include three channels from
British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) - Sky News, Sky Sports News and Sky Travel
- as well as a new channel from UKTV - UK History, showcasing quality
programming on a subject which has grown enormously in popularity in recent
years."
Other channels expected to be available to both the BBC and ITV bids include
Turner ClassicMovies, Boomerang, CNN International, the Community Channel,
a music channel and a family entertainment channel. The service would
also include all eight of the BBC's exiting digital channels, including
children's channel CBeebies and the rolling news service provided by BBC
News 24. Both envisage a reduction of channels from the 36 offered by
ITV Digital, to around 24.
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Top
up phone via iTV
Canal Satellite subscribers in France can now top up SFR mobile phone
accounts via their satellite terminal, using the terminal's in-built modem
and bank-card reader.
The user does not need to get hold of recharge coupons nor phone the SFR
voice server. The service is available from 6 am to 10 pm. The user goes
to the appropriate interactive channel (156), types in the mobile phone
number to be credited and inserts the bank card into the terminal. A few
seconds later he gets a text message confirming that the operation has
been carried out.
The service has been the result of co-operation between Canal Satellite
and SFR, both of which are part of the Vivendi Universal group. It hinges
on the presence of a secured bank card reader in the Canal Satellite terminals.
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Foxtel
to open up network
Australian pay TV provider Foxtel is being forced to undertake a E263
million investment in digitising its network and give its rivals access
as the price of a channel sharing agreement with Optus.
Leaks from the Australian capital Canberra where the regulator the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is set to announce its views
on the proposed alliance between the first and third-ranked pay platforms.
The conditions appear to be a compromise between the polarised views on
both sides of the issue.
Foxtel announced in February that it wanted to allow Optus to carry its
channels and that it would take on around E316 million worth of content
deals held by Optus. In addition Foxtel would lease 14 transponders on
an Optus satellite and in a separate announcement, Foxtel's 50 per cent
owner Telstra said that it would bundle the pay TV service to consumers
along with telephony and the Internet.
The proposals have attracted almost universal criticism from Australia's
other media players. They are concerned that the proposals would create
a monopoly of pay TV, that Foxtel would be the largest wholesale buyer
and seller of TV programming in Australia and that Foxtel and Telstra
would control access to the network to the exclusion of any competitors.
The ACCC has to tread a fine line between the pay TV camp and the rest
of the media sector. Optus has threatened to pull out of pay TV altogether
unless the union is approved, while Foxtel claims it cannot invest in
a digital upgrade of its network unless it is guaranteed a return on the
outlay.
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CASBAA
sponsors Emmys voting
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) is sponsoring
the 2002 International Emmy Awards regional voting on July 16th 2002 in
Hong Kong. The Hong Kong regional voting is being hosted by CASBAA-member
company Media Financial Services (MFS) and supported by CASBAA member
Bloomberg Television. The International Emmys are organised by the New
York-based International Council of the National Academy of Television
Arts and Sciences and the 2002 awards will be made November at the United
Nations headquarters in New York City.
"This is a great opportunity for CASBAA to work with a global body that
promotes the highest standards for TV production in the world", said Simon
Twiston Davies, the CEO, CASBAA.
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US DBS slots not contested
US regulator, The Federal Communications Commission, has conducted a revision of rules and policies governing DBS service.
Most significantly, the FCC decided not to adopt rules that would put ownership limits on the US' three DBS full-Conus slots - satellite orbital locations that can serve dish customers across the country.
"Because we continue to view DBS as offering a strong competitive alternative to cable systems, we have not found any competitive problems with allowing a DBS operator to operate in more than one full-Conus orbital position, and indeed allowing such operation may enable DBS operators to better compete with cable systems in the future," the FCC said in its order.
EchoStar and DirecTV currently control the full-Conus slots and if they conclude their merger, a single entity would dominate the slots. The FCC order released last Thursday (13/6/02) would make it easier for a merged company to keep the orbital locations. The full-Conus slots are at 101 degrees, 110 degrees and 119 degrees.
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