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NEWS Monday July 19th to Friday July 23rd 2004
Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
| Tuesday | |||||
Liberty Media is to exchange certain cable programming assets, plus $545 million in cash, for some of its stock held by Comcast, the US largest cable operator.
Under terms of the deal, Liberty will acquire 120.3 million shares of its Series A common stock that Comcast had acquired as part of the purchase price for its stake in home-shopping network QVC Inc.
The transaction, eliminates concerns over a possible sale of the shares by Comcast, which didn't consider its Liberty stake strategic. It also allows Liberty to shed assets, such as its 10 per cent stake in cable network E! Entertainment, that had been assigned next to no value by investors.
In exchange, Comcast will receive Liberty's stake in E! Entertainment, its 100 per cent ownership interest in International Channel Networks, all of Liberty Media's rights, benefits and obligations under a contribution agreement with Internet music concern TCI Music, and about $545 million in cash.
Liberty and Comcast
also said the deal will resolve all litigation regarding the TCI Music contribution
agreement, which Comcast inherited as part of its acquisition of AT&T
Broadband in November of 2002.
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French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has confirmed that DTT will be launched as planned in March 2005 for the FTA channels and that the standard used will be MPEG-2.
This comes at the end of an ongoing disagreement after industry minister Patrick Devedjian announced during the 8 July launch of the HDTV forum that he wanted MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 to co-exist on DTT.
While this found favour with the TF1 and M6 groups (which want to delay the launch of DTT), most of the other players were against the measure. Canal Plus wrote to the CSA at the end of June saying that it was about to order a large number of decoders for its future pay-DTT service, and wanted the question of standards to be settled. It wanted the reply by July 20 so that it could place the order.
Raffarin also said that he had asked Daniel Boudet de Montplaisir, who is drawing up a report on the introduction of MPEG-4 on the various platforms -cable, satellite ADSL as well as DTT - to bring forward by one month, to 30 September, the date when he issues his report.
The CSA announced, during its monthly press briefing on 21 July, that it had adopted a series of observations on DTT, HDTV and MPEG-4. It considers that MPEG-2 should be used on DTT for both free and pay services and that HDTV should be the subject of experiments on cable and satellite. It adds that it is monitoring the progress of MPEG-4, saying that when it arrives at maturity it will find its natural place on the broadcasting scene.
The CSA added
that the proposition to modify the DTT decree to authorise the use of MPEG-4
alongside MPEG-2 was premature, not appropriate and heavy with consequences.
The standard is not finalised, consumer decoders would not be available for
some time, it would create uncertainty in the minds of consumers, manufacturers
and channel suppliers, and it would involve restructuring the multiplexes.
No country plans to use MPEG-4 for DTT. In short, it would involve completely
reworking the DTT project, delaying it considerably.
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The UK Government has distanced itself from its earlier pledge to switch over to digital television by 2010 after warnings from industry figures that the target was unrealistic.
The Government acknowledged that broadcasters believe that 2012 is a more appropriate cut-off date. Sources at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said that the 2012 figure was likely to be written into the BBC's royal charter and that the date would form the basis for a firmer timetable on digital switchover.
Mark Thompson, the DG of the BBC, said in his inaugural speech last month that he did not believe a 2010 switch-off was achievable and that he favoured a postponement of two years.
Ministers had planned to pave the way to digital switch-over with a £300 million public information campaign masterminded by a dedicated industry body ‘SwitchCo.' But it is understood that the campaign was dropped after the DCMS was advised by the Treasury that the funding could not be made available.
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell told parliament that the process of switching off BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five's analogue services could start in some regions as soon as 2007. "While broadcasters have not yet reached a full consensus on the optimum timetable, some - including the BBC - have suggested that 2012 may be the most appropriate date for the completion of switchover. This could mean beginning the switching sequence as early as 2007," she said.
Jowell also announced
an initiative to ensure all new sets have a ‘sell-by' date label to warn
consumers the TVs will have a limited lifespan. A new ‘switchover' logo
will appear on all television sets in high street stores from September.
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The Advert Channel, a new entertainment TV channel dedicated entirely to adverts, is to launch on UK digital satellite in September.
The new channel will feature contemporary adverts, as well as samples from the last four decades. Its founders say there is a big public appetite for ads, with 4,000 downloaded from the internet every day.
Viewers will be able to take part in gameshows and phone-ins relating to TV adverts. Themed shows will focus on commercials of a certain era and segments, such as ads from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, late night adverts, sports and celebrity adverts.
Co-founder Chelsey Baker commented that some viewers found ads more interesting than TV programmes. "Adverts are absolutely infectious and until now there's never been a home for anybody to watch them," she said.
"We watch
hours and hours of adverts as a nation and compared to what they used to be,
adverts are now something of an art form," she added.
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Richard Sambrook, the BBC's Director of news, is to become Director of the corporation's World Service & Global News division, responsible for developing the BBC's overall global news strategy across radio, TV and new media.
BBC DG Greg Dyke and Chairman Gavyn Davies both resigned in January following the Hutton Enquiry's criticism of the BBC's editorial procedures, and many observers expected Sambrook to follow suit.
Sambrook has
refuted suggestions that the move is a demotion, or linked to the Hutton report.
“People will try to make a link, but even if Hutton hadn't happened,
this would have been an obvious next move for me,” he said, adding that
it was “hard to see how taking over the word's premier news organisation
is in any way a demotion.”
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Romania's telecoms regulator, the MCTI, has outlined its plans to award four 3G licences later this year. Each licence is being sold for $35 million and will be valid for 15 years.
The candidates
will be required to have access to the necessary capital for the construction
of a network. The eliminatory criterion is the turnover, which must be over
E300 million in the field of electronic communications. In addition, the candidates
will have to demonstrate that the respective companies have certain experience
and expertise in this field.
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American operator US Digital Television, an over-the-air subscription TV service provider, announced a technology partnership with LG Electronics and LG Innotek to supply fifth-generation 8-VSB chips and ATSC tuners for use in USDTV's set-top boxes.
LG's DTV reception
technology, developed and tested with its US subsidiary, Zenith, is designed
to enhance terrestrial broadcast digital reception capacity and strengthen
viewing potential in difficult reception areas, such as in apartments and
urban areas. USDTV will begin to include the LG components in set-top-boxes
planned for shipments beginning in Q4 of 2004.
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BBC Broadcast,
one of the commercial arms of the BBC, has won a five-year deal with Channel
Four to provide all its access services: subtitling, audio description and
signing following an open, competitive tender. By January 2005, BBC Broadcast
will be providing tailored services on all Channel Four channels from the
Broadcast Centre in West London.
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Korea's CJ CableNet has selected SCM to supply CableCARD removable security modules to protect its DTV broadcasts. CJ CableNet plans to deploy the CableCARD modules to its DTV customers in Korea in the fourth quarter of 2004. SCM's CableCARD security modules for CJ CableNet incorporate the NDS VideoGuard broadcast security system.
Robert Schneider,
CEO of SCM Microsystems said: “As one of the leading operators in Korea,
CJ CableNet's decision to purchase Digital TV CableCARD modules from SCM demonstrates
that momentum is gathering for the new Korean DTV security standard based
on the OpenCable specification.”
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Growing demand for advanced wireless telephony equipment and VoIP systems,
helped Lucent Technologies, the US telecommunications equipment maker, report
it best quarterly results for four years, the FT reported.
The company, reported net income of $387 million, in the third quarter compared with a net loss in the year-ago quarter of $295m, or 7 cents a share. Sales in the quarter ended June 30 increased by 11 per cent from last year to $2.19 billion, mainly reflecting strong growth in the group's wireless unit.
Lucent, which
recorded gross profit margin of 43 per cent, said it now expected sales for
the 2004 fiscal year to be up on a percentage basis in the mid-single digits.
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Ericsson has reported its third consecutive quarterly profit, helped by ongoing job cuts and the fastest growth in sales in over three years. The company posted a net income of $709 million and a rise in sales of 18 per cent to $4.4 billion. Gross margin increased sequentially to 47.8 per cent.
Carl-Henric Svanberg,
President and CEO of the mobile phone operator commented: "Confidence
has returned to the industry. 3G rollouts, GSM capacity expansions as well
as EDGE upgrades creates momentum for us."
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The European Commission is demanding that France Telecom (FT) repay back-taxes amounting to E1.1 billion plus interest to the French state. However, the company will not have to repay the E9 billion in state credit the French government gave the firm during its 2003 financial crisis.
European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said: "This decision shows that to be efficient and fair the control of state aid must capture the different modes, sometimes creative, with which a state supports companies through aid that is incompatible with European competition rules."
In response, the telco said it will refer the case to the Court of First Instance of Luxembourg to have the Commission's decisions repealed.
"The Commission appears to have made its decision without precision, in a climate of confusion fuelled by many leaks, rumours and public announcements that have been premature to say the least," the company argued and added: "In reality, the decision lacks any economic or legal basis: France Telecom has not received any State aid . In particular, it should be noted that the incriminated business tax regime established 14 years ago and practised until 2002 has globally led to the massive over-taxation of France Telecom, in excess of E1.7 billion. This was several times indicated …by the French authorities to the Commission."
FT's statement continued: "These decisions therefore contradict economic reality and amount to a serious violation of EU law. They endanger several principles essential to the common market's legal security, in particular the principle of neutrality between private and public property established by article 295 of the Treaty, the principle of prescription and the principle of legitimate expectation. They go against European case law, as confirmed in a very recent ruling of the Court of First Instance of Luxembourg (Salzgitter ruling of 1 July 2004), which once again repealed a Commission decision on State aid for its misappreciation of the principle of legal security."
According to
FT, the French State has also decided to appeal against the decisions taken
by the Commission.
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The report also pointed out that technology will lead the competition between operators.
On both sides of the Atlantic, cable, satellite and terrestrial TV operators will seek to differentiate their services through technology. In the US Datamonitor expects HDTV, VOD and PVRs to be the weapons of choice. The cable operators will try to offer a superior service by offering all three technologies, while the satellite operators will focus on HDTV and PVRs.
In Europe, Datamonitor does not expect VOD to be a driving force, because of the poor cable infrastructure and lack of investment in new equipment, nor will HDTV, resulting from the high price points of the necessary consumer equipment. Instead, PVRs will become more prevalent.
IPTV, which has
recently experienced a spate of launches in Europe, such as MaLigne tv in
France and Imagenio in Spain, could yet rise to become a measurable competitor
to the three traditional broadcast mediums. To date, these IPTV services are
typically offering VOD and some content from the local pay-TV operator over
a DSL line. Although an interesting alternative, pricing and content might
limit demand in the near-term, suggests the report.
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Judy McGrath has been appointed as Chairman and CEO of MTV Networks. McGrath, who will report directly to Tom Freston, Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Viacom, was previously MTV Networks Group President, responsible for MTV, MTV2, VH1, CMT, Comedy Central and the recently announced Logo, set to launch in 2005.
McGrath takes on Freston's previous role, which includes overall responsibility for the networks named above as well as Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Spike TV, TV Land, Noggin, The N, MTV Networks Digital Suite, MTV Networks International and all of the company's related consumer products and digital businesses, as he moves to his new post at Viacom. Freston was named co-COO of Viacom last month following the resignation of Mel Karmazin.
The company also
announced that, Mark Rosenthal, currently President and COO, MTV Networks,
has made the decision to leave the company.
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MMO2 won more
than 600,000 new customers in the second quarter and raised its full-year
guidance on the back of building momentum in its core UK home market.
Peter Erskine, CEO of MMO2, commented: "As we expected, competition in
our markets intensified in the first quarter, but we maintained our momentum,
and grew our customer base, particularly in higher ARPU market segments. In
the UK, we now expect to see full-year service revenue growth of 7-10 per
cent, higher than we had previously anticipated. In Germany too we have maintained
our momentum, and continued to add substantial numbers of new customers, and
to generate market leading ARPU. In Germany and across the rest of the Group
we remain on track to deliver our full-year targets".
The mobile phone operator added 261,000 new users in its UK home market. Blended ARPU climbed to E445.5, a rise of more than eight per cent compared with the year-ago quarter.
MMO2 also saw robust growth in Germany, where it recently entered a joint venture with Tschibo, the German coffee house chain. The group's German customer base grew by 336,000 - a rise of 5 per cent. Blended ARPU rose to E367 from E348 one year ago.
In Ireland, MMO2
added 4,000 new customers to bring the total number of users in the country
to just under 1.4 million. ARPU rose to 1 per cent E556.
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Two-thirds of the British public believe the BBC should not receive all its funding from the licence fee, according to an opinion poll commissioned by the government as part of its review of the royal public service charter. The poll formed part of a four-month public consultation and research effort into perceptions about the BBC, published yesterday by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The research was conducted among 5,500 people through a series of seminars, e-mail and telephone calls and a Mori poll.
Participants were asked how the BBC should be paid for, with the licence fee being seen as the "least worst" option. Thirty four per cent were in favour of keeping the licence fee as it was, the rest said that the money should either come from general taxation or from advertising.
Separately, former independent television executive Barry Cox, the government's digital TV adviser, urged the BBC to come up with a 'plan B' alternative to the licence fee in case the growth of broadband and other digital media erodes traditional TV watching habits faster than expected.
Writing in political
and cultural monthly Prospect magazine, Cox said the corporation could be
left 'high and dry" if watching TV on computers became a reality, because
a licence fee is only required for viewing on a TV set.
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Jordan Telecom, an affiliate of France Telecom, has chosen Tandberg Television to provide a carrier-class iTTV broadband delivery platform to enable the operator to offer broadcast TV and VoD over its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) Integrated Multimedia Service Platform (IMSP).
The IMSP, which
is being trialed to homes in Amman, is a 'triple play' services over an IP
network.
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US-based AETN International, a division of A&E Television Networks, has named Sean Cohan to the newly created position of Director, International Business Development.
Cohan is working on the strategic development of the AETN brands outside of the US, including the company's efforts to secure international partnerships to launch The History Channel and The Biography Channel around the world
"We are aggressively moving to expand the global footprints of both The History Channel and The Biography Channel, particularly in Europe and Asia," Steve Ronson, Senior Vice President, AETN Enterprises commented.
Cohan joins AETN
International from Primedia, where he was Manager, Corporate Strategy and
Operations, managing strategic and operational projects for the company's
consumer publishing, television and Internet units.
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Digital-TV equipment maker DVN (Holdings) is planning to triple its set-top box sales this year as Chinese the market accelerates the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting. DVN CEO Terry Lui said that the company expects sales of 500,000 set-top boxes this year, compared with 150,000 last year, adding the central government is looking to increase subsidies to TV stations buying set-top boxes.
"The government wants to extend the subsidy programme to 50 cities from the three there are now. In Qingdao, for example, we are targeting 150,000 subscribers over the next six months. The government has made very aggressive plans for the migration to digital TV broadcasting," said Lui. State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has ordered banks and financial institutions to provide loans to TV network operators to buy set-top boxes from makers such as DVN.
SARFT has announced
plans to attract 30 million cable subscribers to digital TV in the next few
years. Motorola, which backs DVN, had announced a $33 million investment in
DVN in May, through its wholly owned unit Motorola-Dragon Investment.
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T-Mobile has launched its 3G mobile service in the UK aimed at business users. The operator will initially provide access to its 3G network with a PC data card at speeds of 128 kbps. This will be increased to 384 kbps over the coming months.
The data card combines 3G and Wi-Fi technologies and means users will not only have access to 3G but also to Wi-Fi hotspots capable of much faster speeds. T-Mobile has over 500 hotspots in the UK including places such as coffee houses and train stations.
The combined 3G/Wi-Fi package costs £199 (E298.5) plus a monthly fee of £70, based on a 12-month contract, and includes unlimited data access on 2.5G, 3G and Wi-Fi. The service is free for the first three months.
Rivals Orange
also launched its Mobile Office 3G data card service this week, which covers
66 per cent of the population. Unlimited access to the service will cost £75
per month while the data card itself will cost £85.
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According to German news reports, former German state telco Deutsche Telekom (DT) aims to quadruple the number of DSL subscriptions in Germany -up to 20 million - by 2008.
"Fixed line telephony is getting cheaper all the time. You only can earn money by distributing huge amounts of data as generated i.e. by multimedia services", a member of DT's supervisory board is quoted as saying. Until now, DT CEO Kai-Uwe Ricke has targeted 10 million subscriptions by 2007. Early this year, DT announced it had 4.1 million broadband clients.
Despite competition,
DT remains the largest player in the domestic telephone market
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Microsoft plans to return more than $75 billion in cash to shareholders over the next four years. The company will begin by paying a one-off dividend worth $32 billion, or $3 a share, in December this year.
The return of capital will be the biggest by a US company and comes after investors increased pressure on Microsoft to use its massive cash pile.
Chairman Bill
Gates is expected to be in line for a $3 billion payout. He said he would
give his share to charity.
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Turner Broadcasting System's Cartoon Network is to feature on the third generation phones of Italian mobile operator '3'. The deal will enable 3's users the opportunity to watch a daily block of Cartoon Network programming on their videophones.
"This agreement
once again confirms how the value of the Cartoon Network brand and its characters
are fully integrated into contemporary culture. Our cartoons are able to reach
targets of every age in different ways: from TV to consumer products, from
PC to telephony and to all new communication means," commented Mitch
Lazar, Vice President wireless & emerging technology for Turner Broadcasting
System International, adding that Cartoon Network was dedicated to bringing
the best animated entertainment to its audience "As wireless technologies
evolve, it is the next logical step to provide our channel direct to mobile
users in this way."
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Japan's DoCoMo has announced that the number of subscribers to its 3G Foma service surpassed the five million mark, reaching the figure in less time than it took to make the leap from three to four million subscribers at the end of this past May.
DoCoMo attributes the rapid increase to the growing popularity of its latest 3G models in the 900i series, as well as its enhanced service area. During the past two months, DoCoMo released the P900iV, D900i, and N900iS models, as well as the Bluetooth-capable F900iT.
Foma service
reached 99.7 per cent of populated areas by the end of June. The number of
indoor base stations has increased to about 2000, which includes all subway
stations within both the Tokyo Metro and Toei subway networks.
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France Telecom' ISP Wanadoo will start selling a computer router next month that gives home broadband users wireless Internet access and eventually voice calls and video-on-demand. The move is in line with France Telecom chairman Thierry Breton's stated aim for the telco to build on its status as a full service operator by offering video services across a range of platforms and networks.
Wanadoo has also unveiled Livebox, an £80 (E120) computer router for home Internet broadband customers, the latest push to bring an internet-voice-entertainment box into the living room. The device will enable multiple computer users within a 30-metre range of the box to access the Net at broadband speeds of 512 kilobits per second. Livebox will be sold in the UK and France starting next month, with Spain and the Netherlands to follow.
In the future,
Livebox customers will be able to use their Internet connection to make phone
calls using VoIP technology and VoD.
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Leading players from computing, consumer electronics and Hollywood are teaming up to promote a cross-industry effort that develops, promotes and licenses technology designed to enhance digital entertainment experiences.
IBM, Intel Corporation, Microsoft, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Sony, Toshiba, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. Studios have formed Advanced Access Content System License Administrator (AACS LA). The initiative's resultant technology is aimed at facilitating the ability to enjoy new, flexible entertainment experiences for consumers in stand-alone, networked home and portable devices.
AACS LA is developing Advanced Access Content System, a specification for managing content stored on the next generation of pre-recorded and recordable optical media for consumer use with PCs and CE devices. Advanced Access Content System will complement new innovations in the next-generation of optical discs, and enable consumers to enjoy next-generation content, including high-definition content.
AACS LA will
deliver the system as a generally available, licensable specification later
this year. Having suggested that its focus is "market enablement",
the group is seeking to engage in industry review and collaboration on the
specification prior to completion.
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Global satellite operator PanAmSat Corporation (PAS) has expanded its long-term agreement with the Fox Entertainment Group to include two additional transponders on the C-band platform of PAS's Galaxy 13 craft.
Fox Entertainment Group's Fox Cable Networks division will utilise the new capacity to distribute Fox Sports Net HD (FSN HD) and other future High-Definition (HD) services. Earlier this year, Fox signed a multi-year, multi-satellite, multi-transponder deal with PAS, consolidating its entire suite of US programming onto the satco's global fleet and as well as a significant portion of its international traffic.
Joe Wright, president and CEO, PanAmSat, said that high definition was "rapidly becoming the preferred choice of television viewing for Americans" and that PanAmSat was proud to have the nation's first and leading HD neighbourhood on Galaxy 13. "It is made even more valuable with the addition of Fox Cable's HD services as they join the top names in HD programming."
Fox Entertainment
Group is 82 per cent owned by News Corp; PanAmSat is 80.5 per cent owned by
the DirecTV Group, which in turn is 34 per cent owned by Fox Entertainment
Group.
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AT&T Wireless,
the third- largest US mobile phone network operator, is expected to announce
the launch of third-generation high-speed data services in four metropolitan
city markets this week.
The company will be launching the 3G service in San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix
and Detroit.
AT&T Wireless has been investing heavily to switch its network to GSM technology and roll out higher-speed data services. It had said it would press on with this investment at the time the Cingular Wireless takeover bid – worth $41billion - was agreed.
When the AT&T Wireless deal is completed, Cingular is expected to overtake Verizon Wireless to become the largest mobile network operator in the US. Cingular plans to begin upgrading the combined network to offer 3G voice, data and video services during the following year.
Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless, whose network uses rival CDMA technology, is already upgrading it with a 3G technology called EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimised). The company is spending $2 billion on the new 3G technology and has promised to begin a nationwide roll-out this summer. It plans to expand its high-speed service to a third of its network by the end of this year and across the country by the end of next year.
The company,
a joint venture between Verizon Wireless and Vodafone of the UK, is expected
at first to target the 3G service at corporate customers using a PC data card
in a notebook PC and charge $80 a month for unlimited use.
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UK virtual mobile network operator Virgin Mobile has cut its indicative price for the initial flotation later this week by more than half, after investors said the stock was too expensive.
Virgin was planning to float between 37 and 45 per cent of the stock for a price of between 235p to 285p per share. This has now been reduced to just 25 per cent and a price of between 200-220 pence per share.
This move values
the company at around $1 billion before debt considerations of around $580
million.
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Personal television infrastructure provider Entone Technologies and content security solutions specialist Widevine Technologies are to offer an integrated solution for secure VOD solutions to operators of broadband IP video services throughout the world.
Entone has integrated Widevine's Cypher solution with its StreamLiner video server. The combined solution enables video service operators to provide the level of content security required by Hollywood studios in order to access premium content for on-demand services.
Steve McKay,
CEO of Entone Technologies, said that there was a need to be able to accelerate
the efforts of its customers in getting access to premium content with short
release windows, and that the Widevine deal would help with that effort.
Brian Baker, president and CEO of Widevine Technologies, said that the flexibility
allowed by the secure storage and distribution solution enabled broadband
operators "to grow their services and take advantage of new innovations
in the video over IP market."
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The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has introduced an anti-trust investigation into Korea's major broadband Internet firms on suspicion of price collusion.
If the monopoly suspicion proves true, it is expected to bring down overall broadband Internet connection fees, which are typically set at a flat rate every month. KT and Hanaro currently levy over 30,000 won (1 USD = 1163.6 Korean won) on households for monthly high-speed Internet usage fees, but service operators provide the same offerings at less than 30,000 won.
KT accounts for
50.8 per cent of Korea's 11.62 million broadband subscribers, followed by
Hanaro (23.9 per cent) and Thrunet (11.1 per cent) at the end of June.
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Germany's top commercial television broadcaster, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, has bought the TV rights to films and programmes made by movie Hollywood studio DreamWorks between 2006 and 2010.
"The deal concerns German public TV rights to all movie productions and some television series," the firm said in a statement, extending a previous agreement.
DreamWorks, founded
in 1994 by film director Steven Spielberg, has produced hits such as 'Shrek',
as well as Academy Award-winners 'Gladiator' and 'A Beautiful Mind' in collaboration
with Universal Studios.
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Following the recent carriage deal between ESPN Star and PCCW's Now Broadband cable service, rival Hong Kong Cable Television has announced the launch of two new soccer channels to fill the void created by the departure of Asia's leading sports channels ESPN and Star Sports from its bouquet.
This would be
in addition to the three channels - Super Soccer, Sports and Odds Express
- that Cable TV is already offering. Cable TV is a subsidiary of i-CABLE Communications.
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UK set-top-box vendor Pace Micro Technology is set to break into Spain's digital TV retail market, starting with the launch of digital satellite set-top boxes. As part of this move, Pace has appointed Antenas Malaga to handle its Spanish distribution.
Antenas Malaga
will distribute Pace's digital satellite set-top boxes including the Pace
Puma – an integrated dual decoder and twin tuner satellite, which enables
households to watch two separate digital programmes on separate TVs or record
one live programme to VCR whilst watching another using only one smart card
reader.
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MTC-Vodafone, a network partner agreement between Mobile Telecommunications Company and Vodafone, has introduced Middle East's first live TV to mobile services in Bahrain. The new service allows customers to download and view music videos, movie trailers and other audio and video content on their handsets as part of the World of WoW entertainment offering.
Mobile Integrated
Solutions is providing a state-of-the-art live TV and media distribution system
to MTC-Vodafone. Subscribers have the option of selecting entertaining programmes
and local news from Bahrain Television, live regional Arabic news from Al
Arabiya, music Video Clips from Rotana among others.
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Following its recent deal with BT Broadcast for broadband satellite services, Eutelsat has been selected by NetHope as a supplier for two-way satellite broadband connectivity for aid organisations in over 100 locations in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America.
NetHope is a
collaborative organisation formed by the world's largest humanitarian aid
organisations that provides IT equipment and solutions in countries where
its members execute their programmes and projects.
Skylogic, a 100 per cent broadband affiliate of Eutelsat, based in Turin (Italy)
will co-ordinate logistics, installations, operations, after-sales service,
and QoS management for NetHope's participating member sites in more than 40
countries, from Paraguay to Nepal.
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Apple Computer has unveiled the next-generation version of its iPod digital music player, with an improved navigation device and a reduced price. The company also announced that Hewlett-Packard will resell iPod and the iTunes music service as part of its digital entertainment strategy.
The new iPod features a new navigation device called the "Click Wheel," on which Apple has a patent pending. The wheel continues to provide the continuous scrolling of previous devices and adds five pushbuttons for one-handed navigation.
The battery life
of the iPod is extended from 8 hours to 12. A new item on the main menu is
"Shuffle Songs," much like the random feature on many CD players.
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Axesat is using
Intelsat's managed broadband service, including space segment on the IS-805
satellite located at 304.5ÕE in conjunction with a broadband hub located in
Bogota, Colombia, to provide the expanded services.
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Interactive content developer ICTV and Zone4Play, a content provider of interactive games on multiple platforms, announced an agreement for the deployment of Zone4Play's suite of iTV games on ICTV's HeadendWare platform.
Under the agreement,
Zone4Play will become an Elite Solutions partner for games of Skill and Chance
on HeadendWare, and will create a channel of popular titles that includes
Blackjack, Slots, Video Poker, Caribbean Poker and Roulette.
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A cross-certification initiative by satellite service provider Europe*Star and SWE-DISH Satellite Systems will enable SWE-DISH'sIPT Suitcase terminal to be optimised for use with the Europe*Star 1 satellite.
Richard Ward, Europe*Star's Engineering Sales Support Director, suggested that broadcasters and military customers had "an improved route to using the two together, and we expect considerable interest".
Brussels greenlights music mega merger
European competition
regulators have approved the 50:50 merger of Bertelsmann Music Group and Sony
Music. The decision – which came without the EC imposing any concessions
or structural remedies -creates the world's second-largest recorded music
company, controlling more than 22 per cent of the global music market with
combined annual sales of about $8 billion.
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The telecoms and cable TV company tried to sell the business - no longer seen as a core interest - two years ago while it was in the middle of a radical financial restructuring.
The business, which consists of nearly 2,000 TV and mobile phone masts, is not officially up for sale, but NTL management is understood to have been approached by a number of private equity companies about a possible sale.
Potential buyers are thought to include Apax, Texas Pacific and Permira.
Meanwhile, shareholders
NTL and Telewest, the UK's second biggest cable company, are said to be urging
the companies to begin merger negotiations this autumn - to form a company
with a market value of $7 billion. Both companies have now finished their
financial restructuring.
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Nigel Hall, 3G launch Director for Orange UK, said: "We believe there are still some issues in ensuring the maximum consumer experience and our intention is to launch [handsets] later on this year when the devices and network components all come together."
To date, only Hutchison Whampoa's '3', with no other network to promote, has been aggressively marketing its 3G service.
Orange and 3's
other rivals have 'soft-launched' 3G services - beginning with data cards
for business laptops and localised consumer handset launches. Vodafone has
launched 3G consumer services in big population centres in Germany and Portugal,
using Samsung phones, and is launching in Sweden this month. T-Mobile has
launched its 3G services in Germany with Nokia handsets.
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Software giant Microsoft announced the formation of a new group within the company to help focus efforts and further develop relationships with the media and entertainment industries. The company said that newly formed group - Media/Entertainment & Technology Convergence Group - will consolidate and drive Microsoft strategies for the digital convergence of home entertainment technologies, personal computing and media, particularly in the areas of business and market development, technical and IP policy, and industry-standards initiatives.
Blair Westlake, former Chairman of the Universal Television & Networks Group, will join the company and head up the new group as corporate vice President.
"The creation
of the Media/Entertainment and Technology Convergence Group and Blair Westlake's
appointment underscore Microsoft's strong commitment to delivering cutting-edge
products for the digital networked home and continuing to build mutually productive
and profitable relationships with the media and entertainment industries,"
said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft.
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Telewest has awarded its Chairman Cob Stenham a £3.4 million pay deal and more than a million share options just as the cable company completes the restructuring that almost wipes out former shareholders, the Telegraph reported.
Stenham, would also receive a pay-off of £450,000, shares worth almost £3million, and see all his options vest if, as many predict, the cable company merges with NTL and he steps down. Despite cutting its debts, Telewest admits in a filing to the US Securities and Exchanges Commission that it does not expect to generate enough cash to be able to repay its remaining debts of £2 billion. It will therefore "need to refinance a substantial proportion" of the debt before it falls due in December next year.
The news of the veteran's payment, are bound to infuriate former Telewest shareholders who have been left with just 1.5 per cent of the company after its £3.9 billion debt-for-equity swap.
As the newly constituted Telewest Global begins trading on Nasdaq - at an expected price of $13.70 a share - the old London-listed shares will be converted at a rate that values each at about two cents. In contrast, a further filing shows that Stenham's salary will leap from £175,000 to £450,000 a year, with a potential bonus of about £120,000.
He will receive a 'signing bonus' of around £137,000 immediately to boost his pay for the year so far to the new level. He has also been given 367,500 restricted shares, and 1.23 million options priced at $13.70. These shares and options vest if unspecified "performance goals" are met annually over five years, but Stenham can also exercise them if there is a change of control and he is asked to leave.
Such a deal would
also trigger jackpots for Telewest chief executive Barry Elson, who has been
employed on an unusual nine-month contract, the filing reveals.
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The move is certain to further antagonise rivals who told a recent government investigation led by former newspaper executive Philip Graf that the BBC had originally proposed spending £21 million a year on new media developments - but ended up spending £100 million.
In an interview with MediaGuardian, Highfield outlined one of his ambitions as using the BBC to further the government's idea of bridging the 'digital divide' between those who have web access and those who do not. Highfield believes one way of combating this could be the corporation's involvement in bringing to market a low cost PC terminal with bundled broadband access.
While still in the planning stage, he revealed that he has already had meetings with other interested parties to see if the BBC could invest in the service - in much the same way it entered the nascent home computer market with the BBC Micro.
"Twenty-two
years ago we did intervene in the market with the BBC Micro. And only a couple
of years ago we intervened in the DTT market with Freeview. A few people have
come together to see if we could put a low-end connected PC into the market.
Could we do it? I don't know, but we would have to be clear about why,"
he said.
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ITV is threatening to hand back its broadcasting licence and make all its programmes, available only to digital viewers, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday. The broadcaster is in dispute with industry regulator Ofcom, wanting to end its obligation to pay the Government £200 million a year for its analogue licence. It also has to spend £250 million each year on public service broadcasting, including a commitment to regional and religious programming.
Under radical plans reportedly being drawn up by CEO Charles Allen, millions of viewers would no longer be able to see many of their favourite shows. ITV would lose almost half its audience - but would save £450 million in costs.
ITV's licence allows it to broadcast to all viewers, including those without digital television, in England and Wales. Without it, ITV would be carried only by BSkyB, cable TV operators and Freeview.
Allen is now understood to have told Ofcom that unless the burden of the licence and the public sector broadcasting commitments are substantially reduced or eliminated, he will regard it as uneconomic to continue as an analogue broadcaster.
The licences
will be reviewed from December when Ofcom will offer terms to broadcasters
rather than putting them out to tender. No such offer to a licensee has ever
been rejected.
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South Korean fixed-line telco KT has introduced its broadband Internet service in Thailand. This is KT's second broadband network in the region, after the firm set up 4,000 high-speed Internet lines at three cities in northern Vietnam last September.
KT has installed 5,000 lines in Bangkok and 500 lines in Phuket in the initial phase. The Thai government launched a three-year plan, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) City Project, designed to boost broadband access in the nation under the initiative of its top telecom player TOT Corp. KT took charge of the first phase of the project and established the broadband infrastructure in the two areas over the past four months.
“The Thai government looks to further expand broadband networks in line with its ICT City Project, and we will also make efforts to co-operate with them on this,” KT president Lee Yong-kyung comments.
KT's expansion plans in the south east Asia are being attributed to South Korea's saturated fixed-line and broadband market. “KT is now struggling domestically in revenues in the face of a saturated market and we need to find a next-generation growth engine,” Lee said.
In Thailand,
only 50,000 (out of a 650 million population) have access to broadband services.
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The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has approved licences for nine new television stations, including Al Jazeera Arab-language news and public affairs service. It has also denied six others.
Al Jazeera comes with some conditions. Distributors have also been given strict rules requiring them to guard against the channel's broadcasting of abusive comments - meaning that they may be required to edit or delete some content. They must also record Al Jazeera programming and keep the recordings for a specific length of time.
Particularly upset by the approval are various members of Canada's Jewish communities who will be closely monitoring it for anti-Jewish comments.
However, the CRTC is finding itself the centre of controversy, not only for licensing Al Jazeera. Last week. In a rare move, it also pulled a radio station's licence, mainly because of offensive comments, personal attacks and harassment by two programme hosts. And the denial of the RAI International Italian language licence has upset some sectors of the Italian community after 100,000 Italian Canadians and others had signed petitions supporting the licence application. The RAI application faced strong opposition from the existing Telelatino which broadcasts various programming from RAI.
Some Canadians feel that the CRTC is taking on more responsibility than its mandate requires. And the controversies are fuelling comments in some sectors about the value of the CRTC at all.
All services approved offer non-Canadian, third-language programming. They include, in addition to Al Jazeera:
* German TV:
German-language general interest service
* Canal SUR: Spanish-language predominantly news and non fiction service with
programming by independent broadcasters from Latin America
* CineLatino: Spanish-language movies from Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Colombia,
Chile, Venezuela and Peru
* Grandes Documentales de TVE: Spanish-language documentaries
* Utilisima: Spanish-language programming service originating from Argentina
directed to women
* Eurochannel: Spanish and Portuguese subtitled European movie service
* Romanian Television International: Predominantly Romanian-language general
interest programming service
* ART Movies: Arabic-language movies.
Denied licences, in addition to RAI International's Italian-language general interest service, are:
* Azteca 13 International:
Spanish-language general interest service
* GOL TV: Spanish and English-language soccer programming service
* LBC America: Arabic-language general interest service
* TV Chile: Spanish-language general interest service
* TVE Internacional: Spanish-language general interest service
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New Skies Satellites' shareholders have approved the sale of the Company to affiliates of The Blackstone Group, a leading private investment firm, with 92.4 per cent of shares in attendance voting for the acquisition.
The sale of the company, for $956 million in cash, equivalent to approximately $7.96 per fully diluted share, will involve the transfer of New Skies' business and operations to Blackstone and the distribution of the cash proceeds to New Skies shareholders. The sale will be structured as a sale of New Skies' assets and liabilities. New Skies' business activities will be continued under ownership by Blackstone and all employment obligations will be honoured.
The company anticipates
that the transaction will be completed by approximately the end of 2004 or
early 2005.
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State-run China Central Television (CCTV) is launching several digital programme channels before the 2004 Olympic Games to satisfy the growing demands of digital pay TV users, the Wenhui Daily reported.
In recent weeks, Shanghai Cable Network has issued 4,000 set-top boxes free of charge every month to attract the city's first batch of digital TV programme subscribers at major residential quarters.
Calculating on the basis of 980 yuan ($118) per box, SCN has to invest nearly 400,000 yuan every month in capitalising on the prospective digital TV market.
After SCN announced
the official launch of its digital TV programme in Shanghai on
June 9, there have been some 700 subscribers, with the number expected to
hit 5,000 by the end of this year.
Broadband users are expected to be the first group to accept digital pay TV broadcasting services, with 47 per cent expected to be potential digital TV users from July this year to June next year, said an industry analyst.
By 2008, China's
direct administrative cities and other major cites will complete the transition
from analogue to digital TV broadcasting.
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As part of its strategy to meet demand for broadband from corporate clients throughout the UK and continental Europe, BT Broadcast Services (BTBS), the broadcast and media solutions arm of BT, has selected Eutelsat's D-Star service to complement its existing capabilities for two-way broadband.
BTBS' 'Satellite Broadband Enterprise' service will use D-Star to provide IP connectivity to corporate sites at high bit rates up to 2Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream, giving their corporate customers a competitive edge even where they are out of reach of terrestrial broadband options, the company said.
D-Star is totally independent from any terrestrial infrastructure and is particularly adapted for LAN to LAN connections, for VPN and MPLS applications including remote access to databases, Internet and Intranet access, corporate business television and distance learning.
The service is
provided by Eutelsat through its SKYLOGIC multimedia platform in Turin (Italy)
which is directly connected to the Internet backbone and operates through
capacity on six of the company's satellites, each optimised to address different
geographic regions.
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Pegasus filed documents with the US District Court in Maine Friday concerning its ongoing bankruptcy and its case against DirecTV and the National Rural Telecommunications Co-operative.
According to the local press, Pegasus asked the district court to reverse an earlier denial from the Maine federal bankruptcy court that sought a preliminary injunction against DirecTV and NRTC from terminating their DBS distribution agreement, and place that injunction against DirecTV and NRTC. Pegasus has been distributing DirecTV in rural areas through its exclusive NRTC affiliates, yet that business is in jeopardy after NRTC and DirecTV agreed to end their distribution agreement as of August 31.
Also in the court filing, Pegasus said its clock "has nearly run out." And as DirecTV converts more Pegasus customers in its rural territories, "DirecTV destroys the value of Pegasus and obliterates its goodwill, its reputation and its very business," the company said.
As for NRTC, Pegasus said the co-operative "did not have the right" to ruin its business. "NRTC's actions violate NRTC's contractual obligations to Pegasus, its fiduciary duties to Pegasus, and its obligations of good faith and fair dealing."
Pegasus also said it is likely to prevail on the merits of its claim that NRTC's termination of the distribution deal breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. "By voluntarily terminating the DBS distribution agreement, including the right to exclusive distribution of DirecTV DBS services, NRTC deprived itself of the ability to perform under the member agreements and to provide Pegasus the fruits of its deal," the company said.
Pegasus put several
of its subsidiaries, including Pegasus Satellite TV, in Chapter 11 bankruptcy
last month. It is expected that DirecTV and NRTC will file its responses to
the Pegasus filing later this week.
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Rupert Murdoch's Sky Italia is expected to renegotiate its football contract with several soccer clubs after Mediaset's acquisition of terrestrial and nascent digital broadcast rights for the three most popular soccer clubs in Italy --Juventus, AC. Milan and Internazionale Milan.
Last month, Italian
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset snatched up cable, digital terrestrial
and new-media rights through 2007 for the three teams for E86 million. Combined,
the three teams account for nearly half of the soccer fan base in Italy. According
to a report in the newspaper Corriere Della Sera, because Sky Italia believed
it had entered an exclusive agreement with the clubs, it is considering seeking
restitution from the clubs.
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Telewest Communications has finally completed its restructuring with a £3.8 billion (E5.7 billion) debt-for-equity swap, reducing the UK cable operator's debt to about £2 billion. The restructuring leaves current shareholders with 1.5 per cent of the new equity.
Bondholders,
including John Malone's Liberty Media, will receive 98.5 per cent.
'New Telewest' will be incorporated in Delaware and trading in the shares
on Nasdaq is set to commence on July 19
Cob Stenham, Chairman of Telewest, commented: "Completion of our financial restructuring ends a long and complex process and allows us to focus our full resources on strengthening our position as a leading broadband communications and media group in the United Kingdom."
Telewest Global's
board of directors will include seven directors not historically associated
with the Telewest business: Barry R. Elson (Acting Chief Executive Officer),
William Connors, John H. Duerden, Marnie S. Gordon, Donald S. La Vigne, Michael
McGuiness and Steven R. Skinner.
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BT has partnered with Yahoo to launch a new VoIP service, called BT Communicator alongside Yahoo Messenger. The service will allow users to make phone calls over Yahoo's instant messenger (IM). The companies are expected to add video capability next year.
BT Communicator with Yahoo! Messenger is an integrated software package, downloadable for free. BT said the service is available to over 19 million consumers with a BT line. Gavin Patterson, Group MD, Consumer and Ventures said: "We believe that BT Communicator with Yahoo! Messenger will fundamentally transform the way in which people communicate through its multi-media capability."
He cited recent studies that say one in every 10 IM conversations end in a phone call. "BT is responding to this cultural change in how we communicate by making it simpler for people to use the various services," said Patterson.
A call to another
BT VoIP user's PC is free. A call from the computer to a landline or mobile
phone carries the same tariff as BT's normal BT Together telephone service.
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France Telecom will have to repay the French government a record E1.1 billion in back taxes, the European Commission is set to rule next week.
It represents
underpayments by France Telecom during 1994-2003 of a business tax known as
the taxe professionelle. Although this represents one of the biggest subsidies
that the Commission has ever ordered a company to repay, it is well short
of the E9 billion subsidies made available to FT by the French state, which
the EC has decided it will not have to repay.
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Rupert Gavin is standing down from his role as CEO of the BBC Worldwide commercial subsidiary of the Corporation.
DG Mark Thompson
said: "Rupert has taken Worldwide to record levels of success and the
company is now a market leader in key areas both in the UK and globally".
Gavin, who went to the BBC from BT, may have seen the writing on the wall
with the recent declarations that all BBC Worldwide's activities would be
under review. It is believed the BBC will look to sell-off many commercial
activities as it seeks to convince government and the viewers it is devoted
to public service.
In the BBC's
Annual Report, published this week, Worldwide reported £141 million
contribution to BBC funds, an increase of 14 per cent. The BBC's COO John
Smith will take on Gavin's work in the short term.
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'3' Italia has reached the one million subscribers mark on its 3G mobile phone service. The company, which launched the service in March 2003 and was hoping to have one million subscribers by the end of 2003, commented that, although it had a sluggish start, new handsets helped to double it customer base in the last four months.
Hutchison Whampoa,
which owns '3' Italia, was reported to be adding 20,000 subscribers a day
to its global 3G business. In late May, the company reported it had signed
up 1.73 million users worldwide, up 70 per cent in two months.
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The Indian government's Department of Telecommunications has rejected Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recommendations on an open-sky policy for DTH and VSAT services.
DoT has also
rejected the broadcasting regulator's recommendation that DTH operators be
exempted from paying spectrum fees for up-linking from India.
The rejection for the open-sky policy comes a blow for DTH operators planning
to use foreign-owned satellites for beaming DTH programmes.
TRAI had recommended the use of VSAT and DTH platforms for low-cost broadband service proliferation in rural areas. "DTH and Vsat can provide broadband with very fast roll out and coverage. The main advantages are that Vsat will be a contributor once technical restrictions and licence conditions are removed, allowing costs to come down by 40 per cent," TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal had said.
DoT has cited
security as the main reason for not allowing VSAT and DTH operators to work
directly with the foreign satellites. The licence issued to the VSAT operators
stipulates that they can use only Insat satellites and its use should be restricted
to the boundaries of India.
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SamaCom, a satellite services provider and subsidiary of Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone, has announced the signing of a transponder deal with Arabsat to launch a new DTH platform. The two companies will cooperate in marketing a new DTH platform using transponder capacity on Arabsat 2D satellite.
The new platform will also allow broadcasters from Europe, America and Asia to deliver their content from other satellites on the Arabsat/SamaCom platform. The platform complements SamaCom's portfolio of DTH platforms for Nilesat, Asiasat 2, Asiasat 3S, Hotbird and Atlantic Bird satellites, says an official statement.
SamaCom's new platform will enable direct uplink to Arabsat 2D, for improvement in the broadcast quality and reducing satellite space costs for delivering the signal to Tunis. Prior to this, the Dubai Media City -based broadcasters used to transmit their signals to Arabsat‚s DTH platform in Tunis before being uplinked on Arabsat 2D.
SamaCom currently
broadcasts more than 36 television channels from its own teleport. Its customer
base includes over 25 broadcasters and it provides uplinks to over 15 satellites.
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Sony Corporation has admitted its $5 billion bid for MGM, has run into "complications". The admission confirms speculation that Sony is losing ground to companies such as US media conglomerate Time Warner which are also interested in buying the movie studio.
When asked how the talks were progressing, Sony Chairman and CEO Nobuyuki Idei told Reuters: "There are some complications ... It's up to the MGM management now."
It is understood
Sony has hit roadblocks with its private equity partners in the deal, Texas
Pacific, Providence Equity Partners and Credit Suisse First Boston, although
it has not stopped talking to MGM. Sony has been in talks with MGM for months,
an exclusivity agreement ran out at the end of May, prompting interest from
other parties.
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Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, warned of falling sales and profits as it cut handset prices and increased marketing spend in an effort to claw back market share, the FT reported.
The gloomy forecast
knocked 12 per cent off the Finnish company's share price.
CEO Jorma Ollila, said the company would continue to use price cuts "selectively,
and aim to strengthen the competitiveness of our product portfolio in order
to increase our market share. As a result, we expect our profitability to
continue to come under pressure during the second half of the year."
Nokia's mobile
phone sales were down 13 per cent.|
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Zip TV, the recently-launched
interactive TV advertising broadcaster, has added UK retail giant Woolworths
to its advertising consortium, bringing the total number of members to eleven.
The retailer expects to run its first interactive TV campaign before the end
of the year.
According to Mark Trinder, Head of Marketing Communications at Woolworths,
the Zip Consortium will allow the company to investigate the effectiveness
of interactive TV.
Donna Barradale, joint Managing Partner at Zip TV, said that one of the key
benefits to consortium members was the shared learning. "It offers advertisers
the opportunity to examine their iTV activity and maximise its effectiveness.
However, the Zip Channel will also be open to all advertisers and selected
research will be made available to a wider audience."
Woolworths joins
major companies and brands such as Honda, Orange, P&G, Unilever, Reckitt
Benckiser, BT, COI and Gillette in the consortium.
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New Skies Satellites has signed a new agreement with Telenor, to expand its teleport gateway services out of New Skies' Perth, Australia mediaport. The agreement virtually doubles Telenor's teleport services through New Skies, expanding and enhancing their capability to provide mobile communications services throughout the Indian and Pacific Ocean regions. New Skies hosts a variety of VSAT hubs and communications circuits through the Perth facility, supporting primarily the oil, mining and mobile communications sectors.
In February 2004,
Telenor and New Skies announced a 10-year agreement for capacity throughout
the Pacific Ocean with access to Internet, voice and data communications.
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ITV's proposed acquisition of a further 25 per cent of breakfast TV franchise GMTV could be held up after the Office of Fair Trading asked for comments on the £31 million (E47M) deal, according to the Guardian.
The broadcaster agreed the purchase from SMG in May, giving it 75 per cent control over the network. But the deal is subject to regulatory approval, and the OFT said it was considering whether the deal could create a "relevant merger situation" under the Enterprise Act.
If it decides
there is a potential reduction in competition, the OFT could refer the deal
to the Competition Commission for an investigation.
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