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NEWS
Monday 2nd to Friday
6th February
2004
Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
| Tuesday | |||||
Simavelec, the French consumer electronics manufacturers association, revealed booming sales of flat screens during 2003.
Total sales of TV sets in 2003 was stable, at 3.9 million. However, the volume of LCD TV set sales grew massively to 140,000 (20,000 in 2002 and 3,000 in 2001). Meanwhile, DVD penetration is expected to be near total by 2006.
Richard Guillorel, President of Simavelec, said that one quarter of homes, 5.5 million out of 23 million, now take subscription pay TV. He explained that Simavelec's position is for all digital, as soon as possible. He was looking forward to the launch of DTT in France, expected for the end of this year or the first few months of 2005, and called for the launch to be as early as possible, preferring a pre-Christmas launch. He also called for an early decision on a date for analogue switch-off and suggested 2011 as a good date. On HDTV, he called for the government to set up a commission to consider the options.
Guillorel spoke at length on the Simavelec's position about digital copying for private use. He said that creators and rights holders have a legitimate expectation to protect their rights. However, they should adapt to the technology environment and to the needs of users. Consumers naturally expect to use the latest technology to make private copies for their ease of use (e.g. time-shifting or using in another room). The right to make copies for private use must be preserved, said Guillorel.
French TV
sales (in thousands of units)
|
Product
|
2001 | 2002 | 2003 (estimate) | 2004 (forecast) |
| TV - total | 3,800 | 3,900 | 3.915 | 4,143 |
| Total CRT | 3,742 | 3,815 | 3,655 | 3,480 |
| CRT 16/9 | 620 | 730 | 715 | 650 |
| CRT 4/3 | 3,122 | 3,085 | 2,940 | 2,830 |
| Total LCD | 3 | 20 | 140 | 500 |
| LCD 16/9 | 25 | 180 | ||
| LCD 4/3 | 115 | 320 | ||
| Plasma | 5 | 10 | 50 | 95 |
| (consumer) Rear projection | 17 | 30 | 45 | |
| TV/VHS combo | 500 | 410 | 250 | 150 |
| VHS | 2,320 | 1,900 | 1,450 | 1,000 |
| Camcorders | 590 | 570 | 600 | 630 |
| DVD | 1,600 | 2,650 | 4,680 | 5,310 |
French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal, reported a 56 per cent fall in full-year sales as the impact of disposals combined with difficult market conditions in many divisions.
The company has sold off a number of its interests over the last year, contributing to lower sales of E25.48 billion, compared with E58.15 billion in 2002. Like for like revenues fell 10 per cent in 2003, from E28.16 billion.
Sales at the pay television arm, Canal Plus, fell 26 per cent to E974 million in the fourth quarter, mainly on asset disposals. Vivendi's games division also reported a drop in sales of 13 per cent to E254 million.
Stronger sales
from its telecommunications operations, including SFR Cegetel and Maroc Telecom,
were unable to offset weakness in other divisions in the fourth quarter. Sales
at SFR Cegetel for the period rose 11 per cent to E2.02 billion and by three
per cent at Maroc Telecom to E370 million.
Back to top
Satellite operator Intelsat announced it plans to sell up $500 million stock in an initial public offering by the end of June. The IPO, - previously delayed because of poor market conditions - has been scheduled to comply with a June 30 deadline established under a US law. The law set conditions for Intelsat's privatisation and expanded broadcast privileges in the United States.
Some of the shares
sold in the IPO may come from existing Intelsat investors, which include Lockheed
Martin of the United States, VSNL of India and Telenor of Norway, the company
said in a statement. Lockheed Martin is the biggest shareholder with a 24
percent stake. Funds raised will be used for expansion and working capital.
Back to top
The UK's Nationwide Football League is considering taking legal action against advisers that worked on its ill-fated television deal with ITV Digital in a bid to recoup the E252 million it is owed by the collapsed broadcaster, according to a report in the Telegraph.
The League is understood to be examining the position of Hammonds, a London law firm that worked on the legal contract for the League's three-year E441 million deal with ITV Digital in 2000.It may also take action against Townleys, a sports rights adviser that worked independently for the League on the ITV Digital negotiations but is now part of Hammonds.
The broadcasting
deal collapsed amid huge acrimony in March 2002 when ITV Digital went into
administration after failing to reach agreement with the League over renegotiating
the contract. The Football League only received £135m of the contract's
value and failed in an attempt to recoup the remainder from ITV Digital's
backers Granada and Carlton when the High Court ruled that they were not liable
for ITV Digital's debts.
Back to top
PanAmSat signed an agreement with Fox Entertainment Group, in which the programmer will consolidate its entire suite of US programming onto PanAmSat's global fleet.
The 15 year deal will also move a significant portion of Fox's international traffic onto the PanAmSat fleet for the next decade. Fox, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, is now one of PanAmSat's largest media customers and one of its top five global customers, the satellite operator said.
When News Corp took over a controlling stake in Hughes and DirecTV in December, the media giant also got Hughes' 81-per cent stake in PanAmSat.
Meanwhile, PanAmSat
reported that during fourth quarter 2003 it increased revenues by 10.6 per
cent to $217.6 million, compared to $196.8 million reported in fourth quarter
2002. The company said it generated lower earnings due to accelerated depreciation
for several satellites.
Back to top
Mobile phone operator MMO2, unveiled strong growth in customer numbers – reaching a 20.1 million subscriber mark -, and outlined plans to sell third-generation mobile phones from just Samsung, Nokia and one other handset maker when it launches its service this year.
CEO Peter Erskine, said O2 was also looking to develop an exclusive 3G handset, customised to its requirements in conjunction with a non-European handset maker.
O2 had attracted a further 855,000 customers in the three months to the end of December, with its lossmaking German operations outperforming its local rivals with 335,000 net additions. Erskine said the continued strong momentum in Germany made it less likely that it would consider selling or merging its German operations.
O2 Germany now has 8.6 per cent of the local market share with a customer base of almost 5.6 million.
Average revenues
per user (ARPU) also showed growth across all operations. These were buoyed
by continued rises in text-messaging volumes and a gradual adoption of new
data services such as the downloading of games to phones and picture messaging.
In the quarter, O2 said 4.5 million picture messages were sent by customers.
It said about 1m of its customers - five per cent of its user base - had camera
phones.
Back to top
The French operator reported full-year revenues of E46.1 billion (£31 billion), down 1.1 per cent, although once the E2 billion impact of currency movements was stripped out sales were up by 3.4 per cent.
In earnings terms, the picture was more positive. An aggressive programme of cost-cutting, instituted by Thierry Breton, the company's chairman, a year ago, had helped operating income to increase by 40 per cent to E9.5 billion.
However in France the company's core fixed-line business reported sales we down 5.6 per cent at E21.7 billion. Once the effect of some small disposals were stripped out, the like-for-like decline was 2.4 per cent, reflecting a fall in market share in both the domestic and long-distance segments in France as competition begins to bite.
The impact of the weakness in the domestic fixed-line business, a problem common to incumbent operators across Europe, was blunted by nine per cent growth at Orange.
The mobile phone
division, which is in the process of being totally absorbed into France Telecom,
reported overall revenues of E17.9 billion. In the UK sales were E5.8 billion,
up 7.4 per cent on the year.
Back to top
Alcatel of France
reported sharply narrowed losses for the fourth quarter and its CEO, Serge
Tchuruk, said he expected the company to return to growth in 2004.
Tchuruk said that although the first quarter was expected to be flat year
on year, growth would accelerate during the rest of the year. He also hinted
that a deal to sell off the company's fibre-optics unit could be concluded
soon.
Alcatel reported a loss of E524 million for the fourth quarter, a significant improvement from the E1.12 billion loss it reported in the same period last year. The fourth quarter losses came almost entirely from E524m charges, as Alcatel moved into the final phase of its restructuring plan.
For the full-year,
Alcatel reported a 21.9 per cent fall in sales to E12.5 billion, but operating
income for the year was E332 million, compared with a loss of E606 million
in 2002. Net losses excluding goodwill narrowed to E1.35 billion from E4.14
billion.
Back to top
Samsung has applied system-on-a-chip (SOC) technologies to enable the satellite DMB chip to select the signals intended for individual users from a myriad of signals transmitted form the satellite and convert them into high quality video images. The device also bills the payment for the service and identifies the user.
Samsung Electronics
aims to launch a mobile phone with its new chip on board in time for the opening
of satellite DMB service.
Back to top
EchoStar's Dish Network is to add TV Colombia to its Spanish-language, DishLatino programming packages on February 11.
TV Colombia, an alliance between renowned Colombian TV channels RCN Television and CityTV from Casa Editorial El Tiempo, will be available on channel 841 nationwide in the DISH Latino, DISH Latino Dos and DISH Latino Max programming packages.
Michael Schwimmer, senior Vice President of Programming at EchoStar said: "TV COLOMBIA complements Dish Network's expansive lineup of programming for Latinos and brings top quality Colombian programming into the homes of Hispanics across the United States."
The US company also announced a deal with telco Overland Park. The companies have made a marketing and sales agreement to provide EchoStar's DishNetwork satellite TV service to households served by Sprint's Local Telephone Division.
Sprint customers
who subscribe to the offer will be eligible for Dish Network promotions, such
as the Digital Home Advantage and its whole-home, multiple-TV solution that
requires no commitment, no hardware to buy and offers local channels where
available, all for one low price.
Back to top
Pan-European ISP Tiscali has one million broadband customers, the company announced. At the end of December it had 840,000 users but with numbers growing 35,000 a week since then, the ISP has now passed the 1m mark.
However Tiscali
remains way behind rival Wanadoo, which this week announced it had almost
2.5 million broadband customers.
Back to top
Net profits posted by private television stations in Canada have doubled in one year, rising from Cdn$95.6 million (E57 million) in 2002 to Cdn$189.8 million (E113.2 million) 2003, according to a report by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
The CRTC's annual statistical and financial data report on the Canadian television industry also shows that revenues increased by 10.4 per cent, climbing from Cdn$1.890 billion (E1,128 billion) in 2002 to Cdn$2.087 billion (E1,245 billion) in 2003. This growth is significantly higher than the 2.8 per cent average overall growth over the last five years. Expenses by private stations increased by 4.5 per cent over 2002, reaching Cdn$1.7 billion (E1,014 billion) in 2003.
In 2003, $117.8 million (E70.2 million) were spent on Canadian drama; a 20.8 per cent increase over 2002. Spending on human interest programs grew an impressive 33.1 per cent, to $51.7 million (€31.8 million). Spending on musical and variety programs was down, however, decreasing from $24.5 million (E14.6 million) in 2002 to $11 million (E6.5 million) in 2003.
Private television stations spent $300.2 million (E179.1 million) on news programs (up 3.3 per cent) and $56.4 million (E33.6 million) on other Canadian information programs (up 4.2 per cent) in 2003.
The data was
drawn from the television annual returns that companies submit to the CRTC
and are intended to aid reporting on progress and trends in the Canadian television
industry.
Back
to top
BSkyB
CFO quits
Freeview
chief joins Top-Up
NDS: US Attorney 'no further action'
TiVo
bares up to Jackson replays
ImaginAsian gears up for new Asian-American TV
network
Irdeto
debuts CA module with embedded smart card
i-mode
brand for Formula 1
Sport to boost 3G demand in Sweden
Telenor true north
Stewart will
continue in his post until 4th August 2004, unless a new CFO is appointed
before that date, in which case he has agreed to assist in an orderly transition
to his successor. He said "I have been privileged to work at Sky in a
uniquely fascinating phase of its development during which it has evolved
from an analogue product to the UK's leading digital platform. After eight
years of service to BSkyB, it is now the right time for me to pursue new opportunities."
Back to top
Matthew Seaman,
who was appointed general manager of Freeview a year ago, has quit to join
the new DTT pay operation, Top-Up TV, backed by former top Sky men David Chance
and Ian West.
The "pay-TV lite" service is proposing to offer Freeview customers
the chance to upgrade to a suite of six to 10 pay-TV channels such as E4,
UK Gold and Discovery for around £8-10 a month. Initially only viewers
with an old ITV Digital box would be able to receive the pay service, although
the company is said to be working on upgraded STBs and 'side car'
devices that would enable anyone with Freeview to pick up the channels. There
were around 800,000 ITV Digital boxes sold into the market, although it is
optimistic to think anything like this number are serviceable.
The potential of DTT pay has already angered the BBC which fears the introduction
of a subscription element will confuse consumers, turn off "digital refuseniks"
and derail Freeview's progress.
Back to top
NDS announced
that the federal investigation into allegations made by certain of it's competitors
has been closed. The US Attorney in Los Angeles, California informed NDS that
it has completed its investigation of those allegations and has concluded
that, based upon information and evidence gathered, the claims against the
Company did not warrant further investigation or action.As previously announced,
the U.S. Attorney's office in San Diego, CA, served NDS with subpoenas in
October 2002. The subpoenas sought documents in connection with claims that
NDS had caused the publication of computer code to enable third parties to
compromise certain satellite pay television broadcast systems. The investigation
was transferred to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, CA. NDS cooperated
with the investigation.
Back to top
When Justin Timberlake tore at Janet Jackson's leather outfit, TiVo users took notice, says the company. Then they took notice again and again, using the digital video recorder to replay the event and to pause at the crucial moment in order to discern just what it was that Jackson had revealed to a billion people worldwide.
TiVo said that
particular halftime stunt was the most replayed moment not only of the Super
Bowl but of all TV moments that the young company has ever measured. TiVo
said it used its technology to measure audience behaviour among 20,000 users
during the Super Bowl. The exercise revealed a 180 per cent spike in viewership
at the time of the - as Timberlake refers to it - "wardrobe malfunction."
Back to top
ImaginAsian Entertainment, a newly formed multi-media entertainment from New
York, has signed high volume output deals with prominent Asian television
companies, seven months ahead of its planned of launching ImaginAsian TV (iaTV)
channel.
Scheduled for an August 2004 launch, iaTV is the first national, 24-hour Asian-American television network, targeting the more than 14 million Asian-Americans residing in the U.S.
According to Michael Hong, CEO of ImaginAsian Entertainment, Inc., the company has signed deals with China movie channel CCTV 6, Japan's TV Asahi, Vietnamese films and television programs distributor Vietnam Media Corp., South Korea's Game TV, news agency Asian News International and Mumbai-based Balaji Telefilms Limited among others.
The schedule
will consist of feature films, drama series and sitcoms, news, variety and
game shows, animation, children's programs, music videos, sports, documentaries
and more.
Back to top
The new Irdeto Chip On Board (ICOB) provides a cost-effective upgrade path from "Free Trial" promotions to full-scale subscriptions, according to the company.
ICOB is a secure, removable conditional access module with a built-in auto-expiring smart card. The new ICOB is one of the first devices on the market to combine the unique features and security functions of a standard common-interface conditional access module (CI-CAM) with an embedded smart card chip.
By integrating
an auto-expiring Irdeto Access smart card with the ICOB, content providers
gain the opportunity to cost-effectively distribute auto-expiring "teaser"
promotional subscriptions with every CI-CAM purchased. Once the promotional
subscription has expired, consumers can then easily upgrade to a normal subscription
(either billed monthly or pre-paid) through the addition of a new smart card.
This all-in-one solution operates in any compliant DVB set-top box (STB),
enabling pay TV operators - or even free-to-air operators - to take advantage
of the large existing installed base of STBs to offer their premium content.
The ICOB and other Irdeto Access content protection solutions will be on display
at the NAB2004 exhibition, April 19-22 in Las Vegas.
Back to top
Japans DoCoMo says that i-mode has entered into a partnership with the Renault F1 Team. The new R24 car for the 2004 season was unveiled in Palermo, Italy, with the i-mode logo on the nose, bargeboards and rear wing endplates.
Witrh more than 200 million people watching for each Grand Prix, the company says Formula One offers excellent opportunities for worldwide exposure. Moreover, the partnership provides a perfect fit for both sides.
DoCoMo's i-mode
is expanding its international profile. Outside of Japan, i-mode services
are currently available through partner operators in Germany, the Netherlands,
Taiwan, Belgium, France, Spain and Italy. Greece will be added this year prior
to the Athens Olympics.
Back to top
The coverage of big sports events on mobile phones will drive the demand for 3G services in Sweden, says TeliaSonera.
The company believes events such the European football Championships and the Olympic Games later this year "make it possible to create exciting offers to our customers" and would "kickstart usage of a certain service".
Erik Hornfelt,
head of non-traditional telephony services at 3, said while no one at home
will watch European football Championships on their mobile, there will be
a lot of people somewhere else that want to know what's going on.
Back to top
Norway's Minister for Trade and Industry, Ansgar Gabrielsen has conducted the official opening of the optical-fibre cable that connects Svalbard to the rest of the digital world. Simultaneously, Telenor Svalbard opened the world's northernmost broadband access, at 78 degrees North, serving the citizens and businesses of Longyearbyen.
Svalbard's broadband access is supplied in partnership with Norwegian Space Centre, which has been Telenor's partner in the rollout of two 1400-kilometre optical-fibre cables between Longyearbyen and Harstad. The two submarine cables, which are equipped with "infinite" capacity, will replace today's satellite-based mainland connection.
As the fixed
network connection was routed through the fibre-cable on Wednesday January
28, citizens of Longyearbyen were able to make their phone calls without any
time delays or "one-way speech", which up till then had been the
case via the satellite connection. The mobile phone connection was established
one day later, allowing for GPRS making services like multi media messaging
(MMS) available also at Svalbard.
Longyearbyen currently has a population of 1750 citizens, approximately 900
households and some 80 businesses. The community is highly concentrated. Businesses
as well as the University and research communities, public administration
and households are all located within a two-kilometre radius from Telenor
Svalbard's premises. This makes Longyearbyen a well-suited location for a
Telenor "laboratory", that could be tasked with testing new technologies
and services.
Back
to top
ITV's
Allen calls for regulation of BBC
EC
reviews sports rights sales to Internet and 3G
UKTV to launch two new channels to
replace Horizons
ITV
cuts Chairman shortlist to three
TV sales houses to unite?
Jean-Pierre
Cottet quits France 5
Broadband Pacenet signs contract
with Shin Satellite arm
TANDBERG:
Key appointments
Philex buys Labgear
Silver
Bullet brings Romania to London
T-Mobile
and Comcast in marketing alliance
SingTel's subscriber base surpasses
44 million
US
and EU poised to agree on satellite navigation networks
Charles Allen, ITV's CEO, wants the BBC to be brought under the regulation of Ofcom in the wake of the Hutton inquiry.
Allen told UK
press: "It's sad to see what has happened to the corporation in the last
few weeks." It was reported he would like to see the BBC brought under
the same regulatory regime as its major commercial UK competitors, such as
ITV and BSkyB. Allen said the BBC's current predicament could never arise
at ITV, where Ofcom, the media regulator, would examine the kind of complaints
that led to the Hutton inquiry.
Back to top
The European Commission has decided to launch an investigation into the sale of sports rights to ISPs and 3G mobile phone services. This is the first broad investigation by the Commission in the area of new media rights.
Sports rights
and football rights are powerful drivers for the sale of pay-TV subscriptions
but also for the roll-out of new media markets, such as enhanced Internet
and UMTS services. The Commission wants to make sure that access to this key
premium content is not unduly restricted.
Back to top
UKTV, the joint venture between the BBC and Flextech Television, is launching two new factual channels UKTV Documentary and UKTV People, which will feature factual entertainment for a mainly male audience, focusing on cars, crime and popular documentaries. They replace the existing UKTV factual channel, UK Horizons, which will go off the air when the new channels start broadcasting on Monday March 8.
The new two channels
will bring the total number of channels operated by what is Britain's second
biggest supplier of cable and satellite services, after British Sky Broadcasting,
to nine. The launches coincide with a new look to the UKTV network. All channels
will now start with the UKTV prefix.
Back to top
Newly-merged broadcaster ITV plc, is to name its new Chairman next month after halving its shortlist to three candidates.
The company wants to avoid those with political affiliations and as a consequence, Sir Christopher Gent, who is Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Group for Europe, did not make the final shortlist in spite of being approached by head-hunters. Greg Dyke, the former ITV executive who was last week forced to quit as the BBC's DG, could emerge as a late contender for the role, but his own involvement in politics might deter the board from choosing him.
It is understood
that another leading contender, Vanni Treves, the outgoing chairman of Channel
4, has ruled himself out.
Back to top
UK broadcasters Channel 4, Channel Five, BSkyB and the newly created ITV plc are in discussions to form a body similar to the Radio Advertising Bureau, dedicated to selling the benefits of TV advertising.
Following the creation of the merged ITV on Monday - which controls 52 per cent of the UK's ad market -, sales executives at Channel 4, Five and BSkyB are to meet on Friday to discuss the details of a collaboration that would present a united front to advertisers and media buyers.
Speaking to The Guardian, Nick Milligan, deputy CEO of Five - which has an eight per cent share of the market -, claimed that a joint approach was overdue. "In the 1980's there was a marketing agency for TV but in the 1990s there was a new brash arrogant approach, which served neither advertiser nor broadcasters. Now we need to adopt a softer approach and have a more inclusive and effective means of communicating with the advertiser," he said.
The merger of
Granada and Carlton to form ITV plc, could lead to collaboration between other
broadcasters. Ofcom, the communications watchdog, has lifted the barrier on
Channels 4 and Five plus BSkyB merging sales operations, after the creation
of ITV plc. Informal talks have taken place, with multi-channel sales house
IDS involved, but the creation of a Five/BSkyB or IDS/BSkyB sales house is
not considered imminent.
Back to top
Jean-Pierre Cottet has resigned as Director General of France 5, part of the state group France Televisions, a post he has held since September 2000. France 5 has the daytime slot on an analogue terrestrial frequency that shares with the cultural channel Arte, and is on 24 hours a day on cable and satellite.
The board of France Televisions has appointed Daniel Goudineau as the new Director General. Goudineau has been Director General Delegate of France 5 since September 2000. He is also President of France Televisions Interactive and is in charge of ADSL developments of the group.
Last week Andre-Michel
Besse, president of RFO, the French channel for the overseas territories,
announced that he would leave his post when the channel integrates France
Televisions later this year. Besse has been president of RFO for five years,
and is personally opposed to the project of integrating the channel into France
Television.
Back to top
Broadband Internet service provider, Broadband Pacenet India Ltd (BPIL) has signed a contract with Thailand-based satellite operator Shin Satellite's affiliate Ipstar for high-speed broadband Internet equipment. Ipstar would supply 1,100 terminals to Broadband Pacenet for rolling-out of the services throughout India over the next 12 months.
BPIL is also planning deployment of Pay TV and NVOD services over the IP Network using the HomeGenie Set Top Box. BPIL, which commenced operations in December 2002, claims to have 10,000 subscribers. The company is offering Internet services through cable TV using the Extended LAN Technology. In addition to Mumbai, BPIL's network is being launched in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Nasik, and Nagpur.
For conditional
access system, BPIL had tied up with MagnaQuest Solutions, a customer management
& billing solutions provider, last year. BPIL has plans to launch pay-TV
services on HITS (the Headend in the sky) platform.
Back to top
Philex PLC, the rapidly expanding accessories specialist has announced the acquisition of aerial and antenna manufacturer Labgear Limited.
Based in Cambridgeshire,
Labgear has sixty years experience in the design and production of TV reception
and distribution products, complimenting Philex's position as an innovative
global player in the field of audio-visual, computer & electrical accessories.
With the rapid deployment of digital terrestrial TV and satellite services
in the UK, Philex is confident that Labgear is now best placed to meet the
challenges of both consumer and professional markets. This solid base for
future developments creates the prospect of a great future for all customers,
suppliers and staff alike.
Back to top
US operator Comcast Cable and T-Mobile, announced a strategic marketing alliance to offer the T-Mobile HotSpot Wi-Fi Internet service to Comcast's nearly five million cable-broadband customers.
As part of this
alliance, Comcast high-speed Internet customers will receive a special offer
when they sign up for T-Mobile HotSpot through their Comcast portal homepage.
Customers are offered: One free hot spot ''day pass'' a month through Dec.
31 if they buy a day pass for $9.99. A one-month free Wi-Fi trial. A month
free with a $29.99-a-month annual Wi-Fi subscription.
Back to top
Asia Pacific telco SingTel ,announced that its aggregate mobile subscriber base in the region exceeded 44 million as at 31 December 2003.
The combined mobile subscriber base of SingTel, SingTel Optus and SingTel's four regional associates grew 37 per cent from about 32 million subscribers a year ago. On a proportionate basis, SingTel's mobile subscriber base in the six markets increased 39 per cent to 18.2 million during the same period.
SingTel's wholly-owned
subsidiary Optus posted an 18 per cent growth in subscribers, bringing its
base to 5.36 million as at 31 December 2003. The growth was achieved despite
a mobile penetration of 77 per cent in Australia and Optus took market share
and added more higher-value customers.
Back to top
However, a deal is expected to be reached this month in Brussels, and would mean Europe's Galileo system and the Pentagon's Global Positioning System will not end up as competitors. Instead, they would be capable of inter-operability, with consumers having access to both.
"We are
nearly there," a senior EU diplomat was reported as saying. "The
Americans are still making some demands but a compromise is in the works."
"We are optimistic," said a US official. "It would show that
both sides of the Atlantic can work together."
Back to top
ITV
plc: valued at E8.1billion on market debut
BBC
war of words wears on
TF1 2003 ratings and revenues
Murdoch sells Dodgers, retains
TV rights
Hughes
cuts 50 heads
ASC
signs up ESPN STAR for its DTH service
Gronmark
joins Zip Television
New
Disney channel 'Daytime' in Freeview
Kingston pays ex-chief £400,000
Thailand's iTV gains cut in fees
Shares in the
newly merged ITV started trading at 144p, valuing the company that was created
by the formal merger of Granada and Carlton at just under £5.8 billion
(E8.12 billion).
Meanwhile it also emerged that John Nelson, the former investment banker that
tipped as Chairman for the television company, had withdrawn his candidature.
The post has been vacant for four months since the Michael Green, Carlton
chairman, was ousted by a group of dissident institutional shareholders led
by Fidelity International. Unsurprisingly, given his ITV background, the newly
jobless Greg Dyke is now being tipped for the post.
The stock-market debut of the merged company comes16 months after the deal was first announced in October 2002. In that time, the value of the deal has more than doubled, following successful lobbying to minimise regulatory hurdles and signs of an advertising recovery.
ITV CEO Charles Allen, told The Guardian the broadcaster is interested in bidding for Premiership football rights. The rights are on offer from BSkyB after the European Commission ordered it to make eight games available to rival broadcasters. Allen said he was 'absolutely determined' not to overpay for the rights.
According to
the terms of the agreement with the European commission, BSkyB will offer
to sub-license eight "top quality" matches to another broadcaster.
BSkyB says the games will be drawn from the least costly rights package.
Back to top
Any hope a line was to be drawn on the controversy over the BBC and the Hutton Report was removed over the weekend. Greg Dyke appeared on talk shows, including on the BBC, to tell how the Governors had effectively sacked him (by refusing a vote of confidence), and later announced he was considering a legal appeal for a Judicial Review of the Hutton Report asserting the judge had made legal errors in his judgement.
Meanwhile the Government tried to calm matters by gagging Alistair Campbell, the former government spokesman and BBC nemesis, and insisting the search for a new chairman of the BBC would be conducted completely independently. It will be overseen by an independent panel, although the Prime Minister will still need to approve the final choice.
Jowell hinted that the licence fee would remain. Aides added that the BBC's charter review would consider whether some of the corporation's digital output could be funded by subscription instead.
Meanwhile the
flagship BBC current affairs programme Panorama is, according to press reports,
planning to screen a documentary questioning how the public broadcaster is
run and financed. It will feature former senior BBC figures taking part in
a studio debate discussing the corporation's future.
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French TV group TF1 has published its revenue and viewing figures for 2003. In 2003, the TF1 channel asserted itself as the leading station in France with 95 of the top 100 audience ratings.
Advertising revenue were up 2.4 per cent. Stimulated by the traditional sectors, Food and Toiletries/Cosmetics, and boosted by Telecommunications and Leisure, TF1 channel's full year advertising market share increased by 0.7 point at 54.7 per cent.
TF1 Channel advertising revenue in 2003 was E 1,544 million. Diversification revenue was E1,199 million, making a consoloditated turnover for 2003 of E2,743 million, up 4.5 percent on 2002 which stood at E 2,624 million.
TF1 also disclosed the results of its satellite platform TPS. TPS increased its revenue by 22 per cent at E353m. TPS totalled 1,527,000 subscribers, of which 1,239,000 to its DTH offer.
Meanwhile turnover at TF6 channel, which TF1 owns jointly with M6, grew by 35 percent. Advertising represents 52 percent of the channel's revenue.
Eurosport's distribution network continues to grow and reached 97.9 million households at the end of the year. Revenue from cable and satellite operators increased, but advertising revenue were down due to the lack of major sports events in 2003. The contribution to TF1's consolidated turnover slightly decreased at E283 m. And, in spite of an advertising revenue growth, LCI's contribution to TF1 consolidated turnover decreased by 6 per cent at E34 M (due to a drop in cable and satellite revenue).
Looking forward,
from January 1st, 2004, the press and magazines sector, previously banned
from TV advertising, is allowed to advertise on TF1. This deregulation also
affects thematic channels.
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Rupert Murdoch has sold the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball for $430 million. The media mogul bought the family-owned baseball franchise six years ago. News Corp subsidiary Fox Entertainment will retain the broadcasting rights.
The sale comes nine months after Murdoch finally clinched a $6.6 billion purchase of US satellite TV operator DirecTV and its 11 million subscribers. Analysts had long expected Mr Murdoch to sell the Dodgers to help finance the DirecTV purchase.
A group of investors led by Boston real-estate developer Frank McCourt has bought the team, its 56,000-seat stadium on 120 hectares north of downtown Los Angeles, a training academy in the Dominican Republic and a lease on a spring-training camp in Vero Beach, Florida.
Fox bought the
team and stadium from the O'Malley family in 1997 for a then-record price
of $311 million, doubling the previous record for a baseball team, according
to US reports.
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Hughes Electronics said in a statement that it initiated an organisational restructuring at its corporate headquarters that moved some personnel to its DirecTV unit and eliminated other positions.
As a result of the restructuring, about 50 positions have been eliminated at the Hughes corporate office, while about 30 other positions have been relocated to DirecTV.
Chase Carey, president and CEO of Hughes said: "This restructuring supports our goal of achieving greater operational efficiencies and our vision of operating Hughes with an entrepreneurial spirit and energy that will enable us to build on our successes and be the recognised leader in our respective businesses."
Hughes confirmed
that Michael Gaines, corporate senior vice president and chief financial officer,
left the company early last week. No other key executives have been taken
out of the Hughes ranks in the latest restructuring. Eddy Hartenstein remains
Vice Chairman of Hughes.
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India's first DTH service from ASC Enterprises has reportedly signed a carriage deal with sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), which is a 50:50 joint venture between ESPN and STAR.
The development is significant considering the fact that ESS is the first broadcasting network other than Zee Telefilms (sister concern of ASC) to join the paltform. STAR India bouquet and Alliance One (Sony and Discovery distribution alliance) are yet to join ASC.
Another sports
broadcaster, TEN Sports, owned by Dubai-based Taj Television, is also yet
to sign with ASC Enterprises. TEN Sports will be much in demand in March and
April as the satellite channel has got exclusive rights for the India-Pakistan
cricket series to be held in Pakistan.
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Scott Gronmark, former Head of interactive TV programmes at the BBC, is to join Zip Television (Zip TV), an independent interactive television company. Gronmark will act as Zip TV's Interactive TV Development Director for their advertiser channel, Consortium4TV. The channel is expected to go live in April this year.
Gronmark was
responsible for the BBC's overall interactive TV strategy, the commissioning
process, and the production budget. He joins Zip TV this February and will
work with Consortium4TV and other Zip clients to create interactive advertising
campaigns and interactive links from programmes.
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Disney's new general entertainment channel will soon launch in Freeview, the
Wall Street Journal reported. Called Daytime, the advertising-supported station
will feature a mix of comedies, US soap operas and made-for-TV movies.
Whether the channel
will only be available during the daytime - or whether the name indicates
that the line-up will consist of traditional 'daytime' broadcast shows - remains
to be seen. Carriage on Sky Digital and cable is also expected from launch.
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UK telco Kingston Communications has agreed to pay its former chief executive Steve Maine almost £400,000 in compensation for loss of office.
Maine was forced
to resign in September after a profit warning. His replacement Malcolm Fallen
is widely expected to break up the loss-making group. Board members had signalled
a desire to minimise any pay-off to Maine, but have now agreed to pay him
one year's salary.
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Thailand's iTV, controlled by Shin Corp, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family company, has been granted a sharp reduction in its heavy license concession fees, according to the local press.
After fighting
for a concession fee reduction for six years, a Thai arbitration panel has
agreed to cut iTV's hefty concession fees from Bt25 billion ($637 million)
over 30 years to just Bt230 million a year.
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BBC
seeks new Chair and DG
Deutsche
Telekom ups broadband forecast and speeds 3G
France
Telecom launch low cost ADSL and pay per Kb
Freeview
to introduce Top-up TV?
IOC
opens bidding process for the Olympic's TV rights
Virgin
and T-Mobile reach settlement
Verizon
to offer satellite TV
EU
and US to hold talks on Galileo
DoCoMo
unites Japan and HK with 3G FOMA
Beyond their 'unreserved apology' to the UK Government there has been no further word from the BBC on the Hutton Report as the Governors get down to the task of finding a new Chairman. Meanwhile Mark Byford, recently appointed as Deputy DG, is temporarily in charge of management.
Greg Dyke, who resigned yesterday as DG, has not been so coy. Amid emotional scenes with BBC staff walking out of offices up and down the country, he said he was not sure what it was the Governors were apologising for. It has emerged that Dyke offered to resign but hoped the offer would not be accepted, however, by a majority, the Governors decided he needed to go to draw a line under the episode. So far the line managers and the reporter responsible for the 'sexed up dossier' story at the heart of the controversy, remain in most.
The
fear in the BBC is that the incident will play into the upcoming Charter Review.
It seems increasingly likely the Governors role as both defenders and regulators
of the BBC will not survive the Review and the BBC may, along with all commercial
broadcasting, come under the remit of Ofcom.
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German teleco Deutsche Telekom intends to make broadband a mass market in Germany and attract at least ten million T-DSL customers by 2007 - up three million from the original business plan. DT CEO Kai-Uwe Ricke also warned that the current price to access the service may soon be increased.
The German telecommunications regulatory body had already hinted that they would force DT to increase prices to give competitors a better chance to compete. Ricke said: "We are still looking at the options". It is expected DT will announce the new price scheme at this year's trade show CeBIT in Honnover.
Josef Brauner, CEO of DT's fixed line business T-Com, also announced that more speed would be made available to customers, up to 3Mbit/sec; and that the price range for this new services would be made public at the March event. In Germany broadband access is dominated by DT and its ADSL service called T-DSL. Cable does not yet play a significant role, since the sale of the former DT owned cable systems took much more time than expected, slowing down the upgrading activities of the systems.
The telco also said that its subsidiary T-Mobile, is building its third-generation mobile phone network faster than stipulated under its licence terms and would cover half the German population this year. T-Mobile chief Rene Obermann said its UMTS network currently covered around 40 per cent of the population.
German
3G licencees -- which also include Vodafone , KPN's E-Plus and mmO2's German
unit -- are required to reach 50-percent coverage by the end of 2005.
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Wanadoo, France Telecom's ISP, is to launch a range of low priced ADSL packages throughout the country on February 3rd. Wanadoo will evaluate user reaction in France before launching similar products in the other countries where it is present: UK (where it owns Freeserve), Netherlands and Spain.
Starting at only E14.9 a month, options may be added in E5 steps up to unlimited 1024 kb/s for E44.90 a month. The entry level price is comparable with what a moderate Internet user would pay in telephone charges to use dial up Internet and offers the additional advantage of nearly three times the speed generally achieved while leaving the line free for voice use. Wanadoo hopes to bring in users from dial up use and that they could gradually upgrade to higher speeds.
The E14.90 month package is for access at 128 kb/s for 20 hours a month, for a subscriber signing up for two years. Unlimited access costs an extra E10 a month, and without the two year undertaking another E5 a month.
Similarly,
access at 512 kb/s starts at E24.90 a month, this time for unlimited time
but limited to five gigabytes of data coupled with the 24 month undertaking.
Without the two year undertaking it is an extra E5 a month, and without the
volume limit an extra E10 a month. An extra Gb costs E3. Wanadoo points out
that 80 per cent of users consume less than the 5Gb. Unlimited 1024 kb/s access
starts at E39.90 with two year undertaking.
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Freeview viewers could soon be offered a pay-TV upgrade, under plans to launch a new subscription service. Former Sky executives David Chance and Ian West are putting the finishing touches to Top-up TV, which will apparently offer a clutch of channels including Sky One and E4.
Chance and West were one of the applicants who tendered a bid to run the DTT service after the demise of ITV Digital in 2002 but lost out to the joint BBC/Sky/Crown Castle consortium, Freeview.
Top-Up
TV, which will cost around £8-£10 per month, will be offered initially
to Freeview viewers who use an old ITV Digital box.
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is to open a tendering process in early March for the sale of European Olympic broadcast rights for the future Olympic Games for winter 2010, in Vancouver, and summer 2012.
The launch of the European bidding process by the IOC follows the successful sale last year of the US rights to the two events in a deal with NBC worth $2.2 billion. As with the US deal, European pay-TV operators will be invited to submit bids for some of the coverage. Winning bids will be announced at the end of April.
In its tender process for Europe, the IOC will be considering all options - that is, pan-European, multi-territory or country-by-country - and it will follow the same procedures as for the US market. The bids will be examined on 23 April in Lausanne by a working group chaired by the IOC President Jacques Rogge.
Commenting on the decision, Rogge said, "Given the momentum achieved last year with the negotiations in the US, and the ensuing high level of interest that was generated, particularly in Europe, the IOC has decided to approach the market and open a tender process in this region".
Rogge, added that the committee was determined to ensure that coverage of the two events reaches the widest possible audience. However, he said, certain "niche" Olympic events could be shown on pay-TV channels. "We have not yet gone into these details," he said. "It will very much depend on the intentions of the various broadcasters."
While the IOC has indicated it will sell the rights for two games, it is prepared to listen to offers from broadcasters keen to bundle the rights for additional future games. "What we are not going to accept, which the IOC did in the past, is a bid from a broadcaster that insists on there being no tender or competition," said Rogge.
While
values of other sports rights have declined, there is still considerable interest
in acquiring the rights to Olympic Games. The $2.2 billion to be paid by NBC
for the 2010 and 2012 games represents a substantial increase on the $2.3
billion it paid to cover the 2004, 2006 and 2008 Olympics. One of the factors
behind the increase in the US was the IOC's determination to offer the rights
to new technologies, such as broadband, which are expected to be in much wider
use by 2010.
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Virgin Group and T-Mobile have reached an out-of-court settlement over their long-running legal dispute, paving the way for an initial public offering of Virgin Mobile.
Under the deal, Virgin Mobile has agreed to use T-Mobile as its sole carrier for voice calls for a total period of ten years, giving T-Mobile a secure long-term revenue stream. Virgin Mobile currently accounts for about a quarter of T-Mobile's UK customer base.
The two parties have also removed the previous agreement at the centre of the legal dispute which required T-Mobile to pay around E5.6 a month per Virgin Mobile customer to Virgin Mobile.
As
part of the settlement, T-Mobile will receive 25 per cent of any IPO value
over E770 million up to a maximum of E140 million. Analysts have estimated
Virgin Mobile could be valued at up to a maximum of E1.4 billion in an IPO.
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US telco Verizon Communications has partnered with satellite operator DirecTV to offer its customers a package of TV channels. The company will begin selling satellite TV services in Rhode Island this week, then move "quickly" to offer it in the rest of the country, company executives said.
The nation's largest phone company will resell DirecTV in a plan to match cable competitors' "triple play" of telephone, TV and broadband Internet offerings, Verizon said. In Rhode Island, Verizon said it will charge $35 a month for the DirecTV service, when it's bundled with a long-distance telephone and broadband Internet service. That's about $17 a month less than what Cox Communications, Verizon's Rhode Island competitor, is charging for its cable TV service.
Verizon announced its video venture when reporting its poor fourth-quarter results. The company lost $1.46 billion, compared with a profit of $2.3 billion, a year ago. The company blamed the loss mainly on costs associated with a planned 10 per cent reduction in its work force it has carried out in recent months months.
Verizon
Wireless, the wireless venture Verizon Communications partly owns, reported
Thursday that it added 1.5 million customers in the fourth quarter.
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The European Parliament gave its backing to the Galileo satellite program, as the European commissioner for transport, Loyola de Palacio, prepares for a trip to Washington to discuss Europe's geopositioning system ambitions with the Bush administration.
Galileo, a network of 30 GPS satellites, is set to be in operation by 2008. The parliament stressed that the satellite system will have enormous significance for the EU's industrial, transportation, technological and environmental development.
De
Palacio said earlier this month that her US counterparts have softened their
objections to Galileo and that she hopes to sign a cooperation agreement with
the US in the coming months. US officials have questioned the need for Galileo,
saying the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) can serve everyone's needs.
They viewed the European project as a rival and discouraged the EU from pursuing
it.
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NTT DoCoMo Japanese customers, using its 3G FOMA -based WORLD CALL service will be able to exchange videophone calls with customers of compatible 3G / W-CDMA services offered by 3 HK in Hong Kong from February 6th.
FOMA subscribers, having doubled in the last four months, reached the two million mark approximately two months ahead of DoCoMo's forecast. DoCoMo attributes this rapid increase to increasingly advanced handsets, expanded nationwide coverage and greater availability of service in indoor areas.
FOMA
customers in Japan have been enjoying similar services with customers of Hutchison
3G UK in the United Kingdom since last October. DoCoMo is continuing to expand
its WORLD CALL videophone call service by leveraging W-CDMA technology, an
international standard for 3G mobile telecommunications.
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