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NEWS Monday December 13th to Friday December 17th 2004
Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
| Tuesday | |||||
TW will pay about
$210 million to the US Justice Department to settle allegations that AOL gave
companies money to buy adverts on its website to inflate the company’s
revenue. The remainder of the settlement will be paid to the US Securities
and Exchange Commission which has yet to approve the settlement. In addition
Time Warner has agreed to allow an independent monitor to oversee compliance
at AOL. The company, which neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing, has
also agreed to change some of its internal controls as part of the settlement.
About $150 million of the Justice Department payment will go into a compensation
fund to pay for settlements of civil lawsuits. The company has already restated
about $190 million in AOL revenues and financial results from 2000 and 2001
at AOL Europe. TW declined to comment on the settlement.
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Telewest has
launched an independent probe into sales commissions by the in-house unit
which sells television advertising on stations in which Telewest has a stake.
Telewest said of its IDS division of its Flextech channels business had paid
£5 m (E6.9m) from 2001 to date and that it did not expect a material
impact on results. Management alerted the committee to the matter. The cable
operator said in a statement the sales house paid commissions to media buyers
without its knowledge.
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The French broadcasting regulator CSA has issued a call for candidates for six new DTT channels. This follows the cancellation earlier this year by the Council of State of six authorisations that had been awarded to the Canal+ /Lagardère pairing. The new call does not specify whether the channels should be free to air or pay channels (one of the cancelled authorisations was for a free channel, the remainder for pay channels).Two of the channels are on the R2 multiplex and 4 on R3. This follows the CSA's consultation on the use of the remaining available multiplex (R5).
The closing date for submitting applications is 18 February 2005 at midday. The list of acceptable candidates will be published on 1 March and the list of channels selected will be published on 19 April. After this, the CSA will negotiate the details with the channels selected. Finally, the authorisations will be issued on 17 May. These authorisations are for ten years and can be renewed without going through the call for proposals procedure once, for up to five years.
The call for
candidates states that applications should be from nation-wide channels (a
call for proposals from local channels is still being awaited), that may be
either full time or part time (shared channel), may have local opt-outs up
to a maximum of three hours a day and can be FTA or encrypted with access
control. The local opt-outs are not allowed to carry advertising or sponsorship.
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Ofcom announced final connection and rental charges for Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) services, to come into effect from January 1. It opts for reductions of 60% for transfer of an existing line and 36% for providing a new line - greater cuts than were proposed previously.
For shared access,
the connection and rental charges will be reduced by 70% compared to BT's
charges as of May, when Ofcom's review began. The watchdog's chief executive
Stephen Carter salutes BT's "constructive engagement" in the process.
Ofcom also reveals there are now over 26,000 unbundled lines, up from 12,000
in May. The target is 1m by summer 2006.
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Broadband Internet access has soared across Europe during 2004, according to the latest Strategy Analytics report, 'Broadband Subscriber Market Forecast: Europe.'
Nearly half of Internet households now access the Internet using broadband, and the broadband subscriber base is predicted to reach 38 million households by the end of 2004, an increase of 61 percent over 2003. The report concludes that service providers must deliver lower prices, faster speeds and bundled services in order to remain competitive. It also predicts that more than half of all European households, or 88.4 million, will have broadband service by 2008.
As usual, broadband
adoption varies significantly from one European country to another. The leading
market today is the Netherlands, where 45 percent of all homes will have a
broadband connection by the end of 2004. By contrast, Germany, Ireland and
Greece will still have penetration rates below 20 percent. Strategy Analytics
concludes that the countries with the fastest adoption rates are those with
the greatest levels of competition between service providers.
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Pace Micro Technology
reports set-top box shipments exceeded forecasts at 2.1m units for the half-year
to November, more than doubling the year-ago figure. Revenues are also ahead
of last year at £150m (E217), Pace says in an update ahead of its interim
results on January 10. But it also anticipates second half sales falling short
of expectations by as much as £25m (E36.2).
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The report says that revenues for conventional private television stations increased by over 10% in 2003, to $1.3 billion (Cdn$2.1 billion dollars). Pay, pay-per-view and specialty services had revenues of $1.5 billion (Cdn$1.9 billion dollars) in 2003, an increase of more than 10%.
Canada has two measurement systems using People Meters and, in some regions, paper diaries. Because of using different technologies in their People meters, the two systems do not agree on the total average viewing hours, with Canadians are watching an average of 21.7 hours of television per week according to the BBM Fall 2003 survey, while Nielsen pegs the weekly average at 26.1 hours.
There are presently 11 transitional digital television stations, located in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver. And the current Canadian ethnic television landscape includes 4 over-the-air television stations, 5 analogue specialty services, 21 launched Category 2 digital pay and specialty services and 30 Category 2 services that are licenced but are yet to be launched. To complement these services, the Commission has authorized the distribution of 19 third-language foreign services.
On the distribution level, there are currently 1,985 cable companies, 2 Direct-to-Home satellite distribution undertakings, 29 multipoint distribution systems, and 12 subscription television systems in Canada.
In 2003, cable garnered 76% of basic service subscriptions; DTH, 24%; and MDS and STV combined, 0.6%. DTH subscribers rose to 2.2 million, an increase of 9.8% over the previous year.
Total revenues for the broadcasting distribution industry were more than €3.3 billion (Cdn$5.4 billion dollars). Revenues for Canadian cable undertakings rose to $2.5 billion (Cdn$4.2 billion) in 2003, up 7.7%, while those of DTH, MDS and STV combined hit more than €731 million (Cdn$1.2 billion), representing growth of 27.2% over the previous year.
In June 2004,
4.3 million Canadians were receiving digital services, 19% more than in June
2003.
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Nagravision is
to migrate Cyfrowy Polsat to its new generation conditional access platform.
This is the extension of a five year relationship between the companies. The
new system will be integrated with an Harmonic digital headend.
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Conax AS, a supplier of conditional access technology for digital TV, has announced the moving of its China office from Shenzhen to Beijing to be closer to the central authorities and decision makers of the industry. The office in Beijing includes both sales, technical, marketing and PR Personnel.
“Conax is
involved in several large projects in China and sees a great potential in
this market”, says Ernst Thue, President & CEO of Conax AS. “Our
partnership with Star Communication Co. Ltd. has already been fruitful and
resulted in contracts with Shengli and Binzhou, and we expect that new contracts
will soon be announced.”
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The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has launched a new legal campaign Tuesday targeting the BitTorrent and eDonkey file-swapping networks, which are widely used to trade movies online.
The Hollywood trade group is working with law enforcement agencies in the United States and Europe to target and arrest network personnel. Criminal actions have already been filed in Europe, including the seizure of seven Net-connected servers.
"These people are parasites, leeching off the creative activity of others," said John Malcolm, the MPAA's director of worldwide anti-piracy operations.
The movie industry fears that BitTorrent and eDonkey will become to films what Napster initially was to the record labels. Each technology is designed specifically to speed downloads of very large files, and has been used widely to distribute full-length movies, computer games and software.
The MPAA estimates
that the studios lose about $3.5 billion (E2.61 billion) annually to physical
piracy such as bootlegged DVDs but has not as yet compiled a figure for Internet-related
losses.
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French ISP Free (part of the Iliad group) has started to test HDTV via its ADSL service. The move comes one year after it began operating its commercial ADSL TV service - Freebox TV. In the last few weeks it has begun to roll out ADSL 2+, which enables the bandwidth to be increased to 15 Mbps, sufficient for carrying the larger bandwidth TV signal.
The HDTV experiment consists of two channels, using material from French public service channels (France 2, France 3, France 5). Freebox TV now offers a total of 110 TV channels in standard definition, as well as the two HDTV channels.
Free is working
with a range of partners on the trial, including coding specialist Envivo,
Metracom (with Tandberg and ST Microelectronics) and Philips. It has also
worked in conjunction with the technical teams of France Televisions. Free
is hoping to provide HDTV via ADSL as a commercial service as soon as HDTV
content is available on a regular basis.
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French electronics
and media services group Thomson has expressed interest acquiring BBC Broadcast,
the corporation’s channel transmissions and programme play-out unit,
following the announcement that the BBC planned to dispose of selected commercial
operations.
Thomson has already approached the BBC about the future of the division, according
to Media Guardian. Thomson is re-focusing on media technology, systems and
network services, and recently expanded its play-out capabilities by acquiring
UK-based Corinthian Television Facilities.
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UK digital terrestrial service Freeview has broken into the top 10 digital TV operators worldwide, according to recent findings from IMS Research. In its new report, The Digital Plans of the Top TV Operators, IMS Research compiled profiles of the top TV operators worldwide, based upon total subscribers.
“While at this time Freeview is a unique case, it has proven that it is possible for DTT to go head to head against cable and satellite operators,” commented Jack Mayo, market analyst at IMS Research.
IMS Research forecasts Worldwide DTT households to grow to 15.5 million in 2005. IMS Research estimates that DTT accounted for only 3.9 per cent of the total worldwide digital TV households in 2003. By 2009, however, IMS Research anticipates DTT to account for 19.8 per cent of the worldwide digital TV households.
US digital satellite platform DirecTV tops IMS’s rankings with 11.14 million digital subscribers, ahead of US rival EchoStar’s dish network on 9.785 million, with Comcast Cable’s 8 million subscribers heading the cable sector. BSkyB is Europe’s leading digital operator with 7.274 million. IMS suggest that Freeview’s 3.5 million subscribers place it ninth.
UK communications
regulator Ofcom released figures December 14 that suggest that Freeview household
numbers have grown to around 3.915 million by the end of November.
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Time Warner Cable is raising the speed of its broadband Internet offerings to 5 and 8 Mbps without increasing prices. According to AP, the higher speeds have been available in New York City from December 14 and will roll out to the rest of the country in January.
Road Runner,
the company's broadband service, has been running on speeds of 3Mbps and its
premium service on 6 Mbps - generally faster than the competing DSL, or digital
subscriber line, technology but slower than some services offered by fellow
cable MSOs. Cablevision Systems Corp, Cox Communications, Comcast Corp and
RCN Corp all raised speeds earlier this year to between 4 Mbps and 7 Mbps.
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UK terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4 has lost the television rights to England's home Test matches to digital satellite operator Sky, a move that is likely to see the disappearance of live coverage of the sport from terrestrial TV after nearly 70 years.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that Sky Sports will gain exclusive rights to the live broadcast of all home international and domestic cricket in England and Wales, while commercial terrestrial service Five has gained the rights to show highlights of home international cricket on prime time television - action from every day's play, apart from day/night games, will be shown at the peak time evening slot of 7.15pm-8.00pm.
BBC Radio retains its exclusive radio commentary rights to all home international cricket as well as the non-exclusive rights to cover domestic county cricket. The Wireless Group, owners of TalkSPORT, has been awarded the non-exclusive rights to provide live commentary of Twenty20 Cup matches.
These commercial deals will bring a total of up to £220 million (E319 million) to cricket over the four year period, an increase of up to 10 per cent in real terms on equivalent deals struck from 2002 to 2005. The current three-year deal with BSkyB and Channel 4 is worth £150 million and expires September 2005.
David Morgan,
ECB Chairman, called the contract award “a very good deal for cricket.
We have guaranteed a wide accessibility to cricket across a number of media
platforms and have financially secured the future of the game. We have guaranteed
uninterrupted ball-by-ball coverage of all international cricket, coverage
which will not be restricted by other scheduling pressures. This will be on
Sky Sports with its fast growing subscriber base.” He added that the
mobile rights agreement, when concluded, would allow people to access information,
pictures and highlights of the cricket via their mobile phones.
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Chinese cable
operator Shenzhen Topway Video Communication, part of Shenzhen TV, has selected
digital pay TV solutions provider NDS's end-to-end digital broadcasting systems
to enhance digital TV service to its subscribers in the region.
Shenzhen is one of the first three trial cities selected by the State Administration
of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) to implement digital broadcasting. According
to SARFT policy, the three trial cities are required to migrate from analogue
to digital TV services by 2005. Topway develops, operates, manages and provides
infrastructure for the delivery and transmission of digital TV services in
the special economic zone.
The digital upgrade will see Shenzhen Cable TV’s programming package extended to more than 100 channels. It currently broadcasts to more than 670,000 subscribers, passing more than 950,000 households in the region.
Recently, Topway signed contracts worth RMB500 million (E45 million) to purchase 1 million set-top boxes to implement digital cable TV services on the network. The set-top boxes will be manufactured by TCL and other leading Chinese consumer electronics manufacturers.
According to
Gary Zhou, General Manager of NDS China, the deal further strengthens NDS's
presence in the China digital broadcasting market. Under the terms of the
contract, NDS will supply its VideoGuard conditional access solution, NDS
StreamServer digital broadcasting management solution and NDS Scheduler for
the control of dynamic scheduling and conditional access.
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Interactive TV and mobile services specialist Two Way TV is teaming up with interactive gaming solutions specialist Zone4Play to launch two fixed odds interactive TV services - The Winner Channel and The Roulette Channel - across the UK on the ntl and Telewest Broadband digital cable platforms in the New Year.
The channels will provide digital cable viewers with their first opportunity to take part in many popular instant win, fixed odds games, as well as a customer loyalty programme and a variety of ‘special events’. The addition of these two new channels will build on Two Way TV’s experience of running skill-based games channels on ntl and Telewest Broadband. These have proven to be a substantial revenue earner for Two Way TV.
Guy Templer, commercial director of Two Way TV, said that the fantasy casino-style games the company had been running for the last year had proved remarkably popular, “so creating real betting services is a natural extension for us. Digital cable TV is virgin territory for these types of service and we believe that there is significant unmet demand”.
David Thatcher,
Director of Television at ntl, noted that Two Way TV’s premium interactive
services had been amongst the operator’s most popular services to date,
while Eric Tveter, president and chief operating officer of Telewest Broadband,
added that together with Two Way TV and ntl, maximum use was being made of
the ‘always on’ connection and the multiplayer capability of cable
set top boxes. Idan Miller, SVP of Marketing and Sales at Zone4Play suggested
that interactive betting had proven to be “the most successful genre
of applications on iTV in the UK and internationally.”
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“For the Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha and for our democracy in its collectivity, today is a red letter day,” declared Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat launched Doordarshan-RS, while Lok Sabha speaker Somanth Chatterjee launched Doordarshan-LS at separate functions in Parliament. The telecast commenced with the speech of India?s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on the Independence Day, August 15, 1947.
The new channels
from state-run Doordarshan are expected to reach out to reach some 200 million
people across the country.
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Pay-TV platform MultiChoice Africa, has agreed a deal with satellite operator Eutelsat for capacity to enable the service to expand its DStv pay-TV offering in sub-Saharan Africa.
Using seven transponders on Eutelsat’s W4 craft, MultiChoice Africa has built a subscriber base of over 170,000 homes which can receive over 50 television and 30 radio programmes catering for English, Portuguese, Indian and French-speaking communities.
In order to support the continued expansion of DStv, Eutelsat has reconfigured its SESAT 1 satellite, which is co-positioned with W4, so that subscribers can receive additional services through the same antenna. MultiChoice Africa has taken a lease of two transponders on SESAT 1 in order to offer up to 36 television channels in French and Portuguese targeting, in particular, Angola, Mozambique and French-speaking countries in Central Africa.
Olivier Milliès-Lacroix, Eutelsat’s Commercial Director said that by reconfiguring SESAT 1, Eutelsat was demonstrating its high levels of in-orbit flexibility and its commitment to meeting individual customer needs.
Ian Tennant,
CEO of MultiChoice Africa, confirmed that the pay-TV platform was also planning
to include a number of commercial free-to-air channels from East and West
Africa on the DStv services to strengthen the local feel of the DStv bouquet
in these regions.
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Mark Schneider, a co-founder of pan-European triple-play operator UGC is stepping down from the company and as an officer of its European subsidiary, chellomedia, at the end of the year, but will assume a consulting role, focusing primarily on media and content services. Shane O’Neill, President of chellomedia, will assume Schneider’s day-to-day responsibilities in the European media and content services division.
Schneider said
that UGC had made “significant progress” over the past few years,
and was back on top of the European broadband business.
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Canal
+ chief proposes TPS merger
From Colin Mann in London
Canal+ president Bertrand Meheut has raised the possibility of the digital satellite platform merging with TPS, its domestic rival. In an interview with Le Figaro newspaper, Meheut admitted that the fact that there were two satellite platforms in France was not viable economically, as other distribution methods such as ADSL and digital terrestrial being developed.
“One day, they will have to be rationalised,” he said, and he was open minded about whether this would be through acquisition or merger. “Today, we’re looking at these issues without any sense of superiority. It’s all up for discussion.” Meheut accepted that TPS would need to be convinced. “You need two to have discussions. For now, it’s just us, but I think that one day TPS will come round to my point of view.
Meheut made no secret of his wish for one satellite operator to emerge in France, and implied recent award of all the French League 1 football rights exclusively to Canal+ has heightened the logic for one player. Without football, which it currently shares with Canal+, TPS is unlikely to make significant additions to its subscriber base. Equally, Canal+ has paid what some analysts consider a huge premium for the exclusive, three year deal (E600 million a year), and will need to attract between 700,000 and 800,000 additional subscribers to recoup its costs.
Meheut suggests
that the available market for new subscribers is one million homes. “If
we capture thirty per cent, that’s 300,000, that’s fine,” he
claimed. Any merger would add 1.5 million TPS subscribers. Analysts suggest
a TPS buyout would cost at least E2 billion, a sum Meheut considers “overpriced”.
He nevertheless reckons that Canal + has the means to pull off such a deal.
“Canal + is completely debt-free. As for our shareholder, Vivendi Universal,
it has almost wiped out its debt and posted a capitalisation of E25 billion.
We have much greater resources than any other competitor.”
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French cable operator Noos is to put a new digital cable decoder into service on December 16, the Noos Advance II. It features an 80 GB hard disc to provide PVR functions (recording, pause of live TV, viewing previous 30 minutes, etc) and a double tuner for recording one channel while watching another.
Subscribers using this decoder in the Paris region will have access to an additional service during the first quarter of 2005, "push video on demand", for no extra charge. It will provide them with instant access to a library of programmes (including films, documentaries and cartoons). A dedicated channel on the Noos network will be used to update the service. The Noos Advance II will rent for E15 a month. Noos launched its first PVR decoder, the Noos Advance, last year, at a rental price of E10 a month.
Patrick Leleu,
President and CEO of Noos and UPC France, speaking at a conference in Paris
on Friday on the future of the media, organised by Les Echos, said that Noos
had got past its difficult patch. It now had a new major shareholder, and
had heeded the advice of the telecoms regulator ART two years ago, which had
called for the cable operators to band together the reach a critical mass.
The future of Noos, he said, lay in VoIP, video on demand and HDTV.
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The service promises
a downlink transmission speed of around 1 Mbps, several times faster than
current norms, and mobile reception at up to 60kmph.. An official from SK
Telecom told media that the combined spending of all three companies in the
project is estimated to be US$2.83 billion.
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Ensequence
teams up with Press Red
Ensequence, a leading provider of interactive TV (iTV) authoring software,
announced it has teamed up with iTV advertising services company Press Red
to build interactive advertisements (i-Ads) for some of the UK's largest brands.Press
Red will use the Ensequence on-Q(TM) Create v3.0 iTV authoring suite to produce
sophisticated dedicated advertiser location (DAL) i-Ads, which allow advertisers
to deliver exciting, interactive brand experiences with rich graphics, dedicated
video and audio.
DALs offer viewers
a wide range of product information and associated lifestyle experiences,
allowing brands to establish a direct and measurable interaction with consumers
most likely to buy products.Press Red has enabled over 100 of the UK's top
advertisers to broadcast more than 150 campaigns during the last 12 months.
i-Ads developed with on-Q Create will begin to air in early 2005. "Press
Red has a proven track record delivering i-Ads that allow advertisers to reach
their target demographics despite increasingly fragmented TV audiences,"
said Dalen Harrison, Ensequence president and CEO. "Press Red will now
take i-Ads to new heights of consumer engagement."
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Nagra and Netgem integrate MediaGuard
As the digital
terrestrial television and the ADSL television markets develop in France and
Europe, Nagra France, a Kudelski Group company, and Netgem announce an agreement
to integrate the MediaGuard conditional access system into Netgem’s
DTT and ADSL digital decoders.
Both companies
will now be able to propose complete solutions allowing operators to offer
pay-TV services through subscription, new television services through prepaid
and disposable cards, and a range of pay-per-view services.
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The Canal+ Group has beaten off competition from digital satellite operator TPS and France Telecom and won all the broadcast rights tendered by the French National Football League. Canal+ Group will offer its subscribers exclusive rights to view all League 1 championship matches for three seasons, starting with the 2005.
According to the league, the broadcaster will pay E600 million a year. The three-way bidding war for the exclusive 2005-2008 contract brought about a substantial increase from the previous three years, when the TV rights sold for E375 million. Both Canal Plus and TPS currently have rights to show first-division games.
"Tonight, it's soccer that comes out winning, and our first division is going to reap its value," League Chairman Frederic Thiriez told reporters. "Our soccer was undervalued, but it's beginning to catch up." The deal surpasses the English Premiership's E1.65 billion three-year deal agreed with BSkyB and the BBC in 2003.
Jean-Rene Fourtou,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of C+ owner Vivendi Universal, commented
that he had asked C+ Chairman Bertrand Meheut to invest an amount “that
was both reasonable in view of the size of Vivendi Universal and that would
allow us to achieve our goals, in other words, invest for the future. And
the future will show us just how decisive this day is for the ongoing development
of Canal+ Group."
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Augsburg based cable operator EWT, has taken over the BN Breitbandnetze broadband network of Robert Bosch.
No financial details were released. The acquisition makes EWT the second largest independent cable operator in Germany behind TeleColumbus with over 2 million connected homes.
Meanwhile, according
to German news reports, Kabel Deutschland has become a shareholder in ish.
In October KDG stepped back from its plan to acquire all its three former
sister companies including ish after the cartel office made clear they would
not accept the deal.
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Channel 4 has
threatened to pull the plug on its loss-making coverage at the end of next
year, unless the sport helps to fund the broadcaster's TV rights and production
costs.
Channel 4 head of sport David Kerr said its coverage was no longer sustainable
because viewers were too old to attract enough advertising. He said there
was an additional financial limits because TV coverage of the sport could
not be sponsored by bookmakers under Ofcom rules. A Channel 4 spokesman confirmed
it was considering ending its coverage, pointing out that in most other countries,
the horse racing industry pays broadcasters to televise the sport.
"We spend several million pounds a year on production costs and rights.
If the racing industry want us to carry on covering the sport, they are going
to have to pay for it,” said the channel.
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In 2004 just six programmes attracted an audience of more than 15 million people in the UK this year. This is in contrast to 2003, when as many as 50 programmes pulled in between 17 million and 20 million viewers.
The change in viewing patterns over five years is even more dramatic. In 1999, 177 programmes had more than 15 million viewers. "It does seem extraordinary that there has been such a significant drop from 2003 to 2004," said Doreen Dignan, the head of consumer insight at media buying agency MindShare.
Blockbuster programmes
have been declining steadily each year. In 2000 82 programmes were watched
by more than 15 million viewers; in 2001 there were 35. The figures for 2002
were not recorded because Barb, the TV ratings agency, changed its audience
panel, which resulted in unexpected absences of data.
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Publishing group Beijing Media Corporation (BMC) is to raise US$115 million for its expansion plans, including entry into the TV business. BMC's initial public four-day offer in Hong Kong will conclude on December 16.
The company has marked US$32 million on a new TV business in Beijing and US$26 million on acquisitions.
The development
follows Tom Group, the media arm of Hutchison Whampoa, acquiring 35 per cent
stake in production company Huayi Brothers International for a consideration
of US$10 million.
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Video Networks announced it is working with 7 Digital Media to launch the first TV to download music service. The service will allow HomeChoice customers to purchase tracks as they watch them on Video Network's V:MX music channels. In addition, the company will also launch a full online download store via the V:MX website.
The TV download
service will allow HomeChoice customers to use their mobile phones to buy
music tracks as they appear on screen. Each song will have its own unique
number which customers text to receive a download code. The song can then
be downloaded at www.vmx.co.uk.
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BSkyB is to extend
the reach of its digital text service, Sky Text, by making it available on
the digital terrestrial television service, Freeview, for the first time.
The launch of Sky Text on Freeview, scheduled for later in December, will
add a further 3.7 million households to the potential audience for the service,
which offers a wide range of news, sport, finance and weather content.
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Transponders on the Intelsat-Americas-7 satellite have been tested, are performing normally and are available to be put back into service.
Until the IA-7
investigation report is completed, Intelsat has temporarily delayed the launch
of its IA-8 satellite. Given the current condition of IA-7, Zeus Holdings
Limited, Intelsat's prospective acquirer, would have the option not to consummate
the acquisition of Intelsat if the loss is not remedied in accordance with
the terms of the agreement with Zeus. Zeus has been advised of Intelsat's
decision to delay the launch of IA-8 and continues to evaluate the extent
to which the IA-7 anomaly and the IA-8 launch delay could impact the pending
acquisition.
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Communications group Singapore (SingTel) and Korean IP communications service provider Samsung Networks have signed an IP-VPN (Internet Protocol – Virtual Private Network) distribution agreement which will see Samsung Networks resell SingTel's IP-VPN services in South Korea.
Yoo Sang Seop,
Vice President of Strategic Planning, Samsung Networks, said that the decision
to partner with Asia's leading telecommunications giant was based mainly on
the high quality and robust global network infrastructure as well as the critical
in-country knowledge and support that SingTel offered. “By partnering
SingTel, we are now in a better position to help our customers to venture
outside of Korea. Samsung's managed and value-added services, coupled with
SingTel's strong global coverage, will further enhance our offering to our
customers.”
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Multichannel
TV at risk from ad dip
Multichannel TV could
be more vulnerable to change than traditional commercial TV, a major report
has found. Media regulator Ofcom says that although multichannel TV will drive
advertising revenue growth, it could suffer because its advertising rates
are much more sensitive to price fluctuations, compared with terrestrial TV.
"Multichannel is more vulnerable to changes in the market but in positive
ways and negative ways - it cuts both ways," said Tom Hoehn, economics
partner PricewaterhouseCoopers, which compiled the report for Ofcom. "Ad
spend on traditional TV is stagnant, it's not growing but it's not in decline,"
he said.
The report found that fragmentation of TV audiences as more channels were
created would not harm TV overall advertising revenues. "TV advertising
revenues are set to achieve significant real growth over the next decade,
but little, if any, of this growth will come from the traditional commercial
channels. Instead, the new multichannel services will drive growth, as they
increase their share of viewing."
The report predicts that the multichannel share of advertising revenue is
likely to double over the next decade. PwC built an economic model that predicts
future advertising growth for Ofcom. The media watchdog will use the model
when it renews the ITV licences next year and when it concludes its ongoing
review into the future of public service broadcasting.
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RTL Group has announced changes to its Board of Directors : Chairman of the Board Juan Abello, has resigned, with immediate effect, and Siegfried Luther, who is currently the Vice Chairman, will replace him.
Martin Taylor, currently a non-executive director and member of the audit committee and Chairman of the nomination and compensation committee, will take over the responsibilities of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors; Jacques Santer, who is currently Chairman of the Board of CLT-UFA, a subsidiary of RTL Group, was co-opted on to the Board of Directors of RTL Group, with immediate effect.
Gerhard Zeiler,
Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group, said “We are extremely grateful
for all of the help and advice that Juan Abello has provided to RTL Group
since his appointment in July 2000. We wish him well in his continued business
activities.”
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French
CNN in 05
France is to finally launch a French-language news channel next year in an
attempt to challenge the dominance of the American view of world affairs,
the prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, said.
The government will provide E30m in start-up funding for the channel, The
CII (International Information Channel) project, better known in France as
"CNN à la Francaise", was first announced shortly after President
Chirac’s 2002 re-election.
Derided in France at first, now, after it's outspoken opposition to the US-led
invasion of Iraq the channel is seen as a valuable tool in promoting France's
language and its view of global affairs.
The leading private broadcaster, TF1, and its state television group, France
Télévisions, will mount a 50-50 venture that will employ 240
people and make use of the existing networks of AFP (Agence France Presse)
and RFI (Radio France Internationale).
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US entertainment
channel, ABC1, is on Telewest Broadband as it signs a multi-year deal with
Walt Disney International.
Abc1 first appeared in September when it was launched on Freeview, making
it the first channel from the Disney stable without Disney branding to be
launched outside of the US.
Simon Bailey,
deputy managing director of Disney Television for the UK and Ireland said:
“Abc1 has performed well.
This is the beginning of the next phase of abc1’s evolution and continues
Disney Television UK’s good relationship with Telewest Broadband.”
Since its launch, Abc1 has increased its viewer share to 1.8% of digital Freeview
customers in its transmission hours of 6am to 6pm, according to BARB.
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No
exclusive contract for content: TRAI
From Shveta Malik in New Delhi
Broadcasting regulatory body Telecom Authority of India (TRAI) has released
its Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection Regulations
2004, stressing on restriction on TV channels to “engage in any practice
or activity or enter into any understanding or arrangement, including exclusive
contracts with any distributor of TV Channels that prevents any other distributor
of TV channels from obtaining such TV channels for distribution.”
The TRAI states
that every broadcaster shall provide on request signals of its TV channels
on a non-discriminatory basis to all distributors of TV channels. Multi-system
operators (MSOs) also have a similar obligation towards cable operators.
“A broadcaster or his/her authorised distribution agency as well as MSOs
would be free to provide signals of TV channels either directly or through
a particular designated agent or any other intermediary. Provided that where
the signals are provided through an agent or intermediary the broadcaster/Multi-system
Operator should ensure that the agent/intermediary should act in a manner
that is consistent with the obligations placed under this regulation and is
not prejudicial to competition,” says TRAI.
Furthermore,
no broadcaster or multi-system operator shall disconnect the TV channel signals
to a distributor of TV channels without giving one month notice. “In
order to give consumers information such notice should also be published in
the newspapers or carried as a scroll in the concerned channels. However,
in the case of unauthorised re-transmission of TV channels, the signals may
be disconnected by giving a notice of two working days,” states TRAI.
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MTV
launches VH1 in India, to be distributed by Zee Turner
From Shveta Malik in New Delhi
The new channel launch spree continues in India. Latest to join the bandwagon is MTV Networks India, which has entered into a distribution agreement with Zee-Turner Limited, the distribution arm of Zee Telefilms and Turner International India, for the launch of VH1.
The channel has been priced at US$.06 per subscriber per month, and will be also distributed by Dish TV, the first DTH platform ASC Enterprises. In India, VH1 will be a 24-hour pay channel that will cater to the 16 - 44 SEC AB demographic.
“This launch makes it the third 24-hour VH1 channel in Asia and the 18th channel to join the MTV Networks family in the Asia Pacific region. It also makes India the second country, after Australia, in Asia that carries all three MTV, Nickelodeon and VH1 on a 24-hours platform, providing our clients and viewers with the greatest breadth of advertising and viewing choice for young people from 2 to 44 years old,” said Frank Brown, president, MTV Networks Asia Pacific.
VH1 follows
the recent launch of Star One, Zoom from Times Group, Discovery Travel and
Living, kids channel Hungama TV. Disney has already announced that it will
launch its two channels on December 17.
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Jeff Shell has
resigned as CEO of Gemstar-TV Guide International. The company named Rich
Batista as its new CEO, effective immediately. Battista was most recently
executive vice president of business development and strategy for Fox Entertainment.
Gemstar said Shell has agreed to remain with the company during a transition
period. In addition, Gemstar said Anthea Disney has been appointed executive
chairman of the board of directors. Also, Lachlan Murdoch has resigned his
position as director.
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Lagadere Networks has signed a new distribution agreement for MEZZO, the European classical music and jazz TV channel, with CANAL+ CYFROWY, the operator of the leading Polish satellite platform CYFRA+ (with more than 650,000 subscribers), starting 1st December 2004.
Available free-of-charge to the entire CYFRA+ subscriber base during December 2004, MEZZO will be offered as of 1st January 2005 to all CYFRA+ subscribers for 4 Zlotys extra per month (equivalent to less than 1 Euro), as a complement to their existing subscription.
In addition to
this new distribution via satellite, MEZZO is already available on all major
cable networks in Poland, notably UPC Polska, Aster City, TKP, and reaches
over 900,000 Polish cable subscribers.
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Marcel Fenez, Chairman of the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) announced that Jonathan Spink, the CEO of Home Box Office Asia, has been elected as a Director of the Association for a two-year term. Re-elected to the CASBAA Board of Directors 2005 for two-year terms are Peter Jackson, CEO AsiaSat (CASBAA Treasurer) and William Pfeiffer, CEO Celestial Pictures.
Remaining on
the CASBAA Board of Directors 2005 for the second year of their two-year terms
office are Michelle Guthrie, CEO Star Group, Francois Theron, COO of cable
operator UBC of Thailand, Alexander Brown, President & CEO of CNBC Asia,
Steve Marcopoto, President of Turner International Asia Pacific and Richard
Cunningham Senior Vice President
of MTV Networks Asia Pacific. Neville Meijers, EVP and MD Discovery Networks
Asia stepped down from the CASBAA Board after two-years in office.
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