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NEWS Monday 14th March to Friday 18th March 2005
Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
| Tuesday | |||||
Viacom is said to be considering reversing the mega-merger of five years ago when it took control of the CBS network. Like Liberty the company is anxious to bring out what it believes are the hidden values and growth potential in some units.
The CBS/Viacom merger was sold to investors on the large synergies such a combination could create. The split is a recognition that these have failed to materialise and/or have masked the good prospects for some businesses behind the maturity of others.
Sumner Redstone,
Viacom's chairman and chief executive has expressed frequent frustration at
the low level of Viacom's share price. He said the plan was for Viacom to
split into a high-growth company which would include its MTV Networks, and
a second company combining its CBS broadcast television businesses with other
high free-cashflow-generating operations such as radio. The planned division
would could also resolve Viacom's succession issues: Tom Freston and Les Moonves,
joint chief operating officers would each have a separate company to run.
Freston would continue to run the MTV and possibly Paramount studio business,
with Moonves remaining as the boss of the broadcast and radio company.
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Kevin Martin, a Republican with close ties to the Bush Administration, has been named the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, succeeding Michael Powell. The appointment doesn’t require Senate approval as Martin is an existing Commissioner, appointed in 2001.
He has followed
an independent, though generally conservative, course. Martin is viewed as
a hard-liner on the indecency issues that provoked clashes between broadcasters
and Powell. A 38 year-old lawyer, he has close ties to the White House; he
worked on President Bush's election campaign and in his transition team. His
wife is a special assistant to the president on economic policy and formerly
worked for Vice President Richard Cheney.
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RTL Group parent Bertelsmann significantly increased its results for 2004 with EBIT climbing to E1.429 billion (previous year: E1.026 billion). RTL Group, BMG and Arvato divisions were key contributors to this rise in earnings. Total revenues amounted to E17 billion against E16.8 billion in 2003 with margin improving from 6.1 percent to 8.4 percent.
The company said
the significant increase in Operating EBIT was due to a positive business
performance in nearly all corporate divisions, as well as the first-time full
consolidation of the M6 broadcasting corporation in France, which contributed
E92 million.
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BT outlines digital content management strategy
From Colin Mann in London BT Broadcast Services is to lead the telco’s global media and broadcast offering in response to the rapidly growing market for digital content. The division is to take on a new name - BT Media and Broadcast (BTM&B) – and will integrate BT Rich Media, which develops channels to market for digital content.
The newly-formed unit has also unveiled plans to establish a global capability with the development of digital media hubs that will be operational within 12 months in continental Europe, the US and Asia. This global offering and new structure will build on BTM&B's investment in its UK-based 'BT Mediahive' digital content management capabilities, enabling it to capture, store, manage and distribute any type of media file, including video, audio and still images.
'BT Mediahive', in partnership with software partner Blueprint, is already providing a unique marketplace for the secure global distribution of digital music. Further applications, currently in development, will cover film and television production, digital cinema and advertising, in addition to bespoke solutions for individual market sectors.
BTM&B will continue to support the broadcast industry with solutions to transport and manage video, audio and data. The recently-established BT Entertainment division will also take advantage of BTM&B's capabilities to deliver consumer-facing broadband content.
Andy Green,
CEO, BT Global Services said that BTM&B's broadcast and media management
expertise and extensive global reach provided a solid base upon which a new
generation of media asset and digital content management capabilities had
been built. "The market for digital content grows exponentially year
on year and BT fully intends to become a leader in this space," he added.
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An Securities and Exchange Commission filing in which EchoStar detailing the minor inquiries into its record keeping also revealed the company's fourth quarter and 2004 results. DISH Network subscribers were 10.905 million as of Dec. 31, up from the 9.425 million at the end of 2003, an increase of 15.7 percent. The increase was attributed to a number of factors, including the commencement of sales under EchoStar's co-branding agreement with SBC Communications.
The company said
temporary product shortages and installation delays experienced during the
second half of 2003 were substantially eliminated during the first quarter
of 2004, and that also helped subscriber numbers. EchoStar said total revenue
for 2004 was $7.151 billion, up from the $5.739 billion in revenue reported
for 2003.
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Pan Am Sat IPO turns quick profit
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and fellow investors stand to reap a three-fold return on PanAmSat, after it raised $900m in an initial public offering this week. PanAmSat sold 50m shares at $18 each - just below the group’s anticipated price range of $19-$21 a share.
The IPO, which
took place just seven months after KKR took the company private through a
$4.4bn leveraged buyout offer, marks the latest in a series of aggressive
"quick flips" by private equity firms. KKR and its partners put
up just $547m in cash to gain control of PanAmSat in August last year as part
of a $4.4bn leveraged buyout offer. KKR was expected to retain a 26 per cent
stake in PanAmSat after the IPO. Its partners, Carlyle and Providence Equity,
were expected to retain about 16 per cent each. KKR has said that it plans
to use part of the proceeds from the IPO to pay down about $750m in PanAmSat
debt.
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The Indian film, television and music sector is set to grow from US$5 billion to US$13.36 billion by 2010, say projections from KPMG. The report has identified four major growth drivers for the entertainment industry in the next five years: new delivery platforms, niche content, newer technologies and better regulation. According to the report, the total number of television households will touch the 134 million-mark by 2010, up from 90 million now. Around 72 million subscribers will be on analogue cable, 8.6 million on digital cable, 2.8 million on direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting, and 1.3 million on IPTV or other new technologies and the remainder on terrestrial broadcast, in the next five years. The total of cable and satellite TV homes (including DTH) is expected to touch 85 million.
TV subscription
will account for US$5681 million by 2010, growing from US$1660 million in
2004. Advertising revenue is expected to touch US$1772 million in 2010 from
US$1113 million in 2004. "Advertising revenue can grow faster depending
on the speed and effectiveness of reforms, the quantum of investments made
by companies and the entry of telecom companies in the broadcasting distribution
business," says Rajesh C Jain, national industry director – ICE,
KPMG. The movie industry is expected to reach US$3250 million by 2010, a 142
per cent jump from its current size.
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OpenTV Corp. announced it has surpassed 50 million OpenTV middleware-enabled STB deployments worldwide as of the end of last year.
OpenTV's middleware has been deployed to a multitude of STB's from numerous
vendors, including boxes for digital cable, satellite, and terrestrial networks.
Indicative of the accelerated growth of interactive enabled households, network
operators are fueling the demand for OpenTV's technologies and applications
by expanding their digital services with new interactive technologies to their
existing customer bases and into new markets.
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A new report from Strategy Analytics says the adult industry has serious challenges in Wireless Internet Applications. Despite positive drivers, which include greater availability of multimedia capable handsets, increased participation by established adult companies, such as Private Media and Playboy, the introduction of off-net portals and the implementation of content certification and age verification systems, Strategy Analytics concludes that mobile porn will remain a small market given the availability of "a superior user experience" on the fixed web.
The report says
mobile adult services generated $0.4 billion in 2004, but Senior Analyst,
Nitesh Patel, cautions, "adult services are not a killer application
in waiting. With so much free pornography available on the fixed Internet,
and mobility conferring only limited advantages to adult content, we believe
that demand for adult material will continue to be largely met by fixed Internet
services. Adult entertainment publishers, such as Playboy and
Private Media Group, will no doubt extend wireless connectivity as an option
for paying customers, but even among this group we anticipate that mobile
usage will be low."
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A DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) pilot to broadcast radio and video content, as well as data services, to new portable receivers will take place in Regensburg, Bavaria, and is expected to last for two years. It will work towards comprehensive coverage of FIFA World Cup 2006 via mobile entertainment devices.
The project was launched in Munich to 140 industry representatives and guests including content provider broadcasters, mobile phone operators, network infrastructure companies, solution providers, handset manufacturers and government bodies.
The event showcased
the first live broadcast of DMB for Germany. Receivers were successfully tested
across the Greater Munich area on public transport and in cars travelling
up to 200 km/h. Professor Dr. Wolf Dieter Ring, President of the Bavarian
Media Authority for commercial broadcasting, (BLM), told prospective partners
that the pilot would determine the opportunities, options and risks of a mobile
multimedia environment.
Back
to top
Liberty
spins off Discovery and Ascent
NTL
close to Ireland sale?
25m IPTV viewers by 2008
Crown
Castle mobile
Irdeto
buys Lockstream
Mobile
pay to boom
Mobile
programme brands
Harmonic achieves TL9000
Tandberg DSL TV order
Liberty
spins off Discovery and Ascent
Liberty Media Corp. is spinning off its stakes in Discovery Communications
and Ascent Media Group as John Malone continues to reshape his media holdings
in a bid to achieve higher values.
The transaction will create a new publicly traded company called Discovery
Holding Co. and include Liberty Media's 50 percent stake in Discovery and
100 percent ownership in Ascent. The deal could make it easier for Malone
to buy full ownership of Discovery, which owns cable networks Discovery Channel,
Animal Planet, Travel Channel and BBC America, or for another company to buy
him out.
Discovery alone could be valued between $10 billion and $15 billion based
on its 2004 operating cashflow of $663 million. Cable company Cox Communications
and magazine publisher Advance/Newhouse also each own one quarter of Discovery.
Ascent Media provides post-production sound and video services for film and
TV companies. It mixes music, edits sound and duplicates DVDs. It also handles
distribution and sales for BBC America.
In Liberty's year-end results the company said that Discovery had revenues
of $2.4bn in 2004, some 19% higher than the previous year. Ascent revenues
were $631m, up 24%.
In an effort to simplify group structure and ‘reveal’ greater values,
last year Malone spun off Liberty's non-US cable business and then used the
firm to launch a bid for the remainder of the European cable operator, UnitedGlobalCom,
that Liberty did not already own. Earlier, Malone had moved to take full control
of the home shopping network, QVC.
At group level, Liberty narrowed its fourth quarter loss to $2m, compared
with losses of $931m a year ago. Sales at QVC rose 16% to $1.8bn during the
same quarter.
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NTL
close to Ireland sale?
NTL is close to its second large disposal this year after receiving offers
for its Irish business. The division has been valued at up to £210m
(E300m) and has 347,800 customers in Dublin, Galway and Waterford. Simon Duffy,
the chief executive of NTL, admitted the group had not intended to sell the
business but a flurry of approaches from would-be buyers have forced it to
consider a disposal.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs is leading the sale process on behalf of NTL
and sold the group's broadcasting business for £1.27bn in January. Duffy
said the Ireland business might be sold "in the next month or two"
but warned that NTL might decide to retain the unit.
UGC, the pan-European cable operator and owner of the Chorus cable company
in Ireland, has been tipped as a potential bidder.
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25m IPTV viewers by 2008
Multimedia Research Group, Inc. is projecting growth from 1.9 million subscribers
in 2004 to 25.3 million in 2008. Its’ report also forecasts IP TV subscriber
revenue growth from $635 million in 2004 to $7.2 billion in 2008.
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Crown
Castle mobile
Crown Castle International Corp. has formed a new subsidiary, Crown Castle
Mobile Media, to deliver live mobile television services to handheld devices.
It intends to build and operate a dedicated digital network for broadcasting
digital television content to these devices. The proposed network will utilize
5MHz of unencumbered nationwide spectrum acquired by Crown Castle through
Federal Communications Commission auction 46 in 2003.
It will use Digital Video Broadcasting- Handheld (DVB-H), which it expects
to become the global standard for mobile television and has been formally
adopted by both the DVB Organization and the European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI). Crown Castle and Nokia have recently completed successful
demonstration trials in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Crown Castle Mobile Media
expects to begin commercial deployment of this service in select major US
markets during 2005.
"Crown Castle owns over 10,000 wireless towers and holds a nationwide
spectrum license," stated John P. Kelly, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Crown Castle. "These valuable assets, combined with our proven
expertise in digital broadcasting in the UK, provide a unique opportunity
to take a leading position in the emerging mobile television market. We look
forward to partnering with content providers and wireless services providers
to introduce commercial services."
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Irdeto and LockStream
Corporation announced that Irdeto Holdings, through a newly formed subsidiary,
has acquired certain assets and liabilities of LockStream, a leading provider
of mobile Digital Rights Management (DRM) software, based in Seattle, Washington.
“LockStream is a great addition to the Irdeto Access content protection
portfolio for digital TV, IPTV and mobile networks. With this acquisition,
Irdeto Access gains leading-edge products which are already deployed in real
applications, and a top-notch team to drive us towards our objective of leading
the mobile content protection market,” said Graham Kill, CEO of Irdeto
Access.
Irdeto Access Marketing VP Doug Lowther, who leads the development of Irdeto
Access’ mobile strategy, added: “With LockStream’s DRM technology,
along with our ground-breaking mobile conditional access system deployed in
Korea, Irdeto Access will extend its market leadership for mobile content
security solutions.”
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The easing of
European restrictions on the regulation of electronic cash or e-money, which
has been adopted by the UK Financial Services Authority, opens the way for
mobiles to be used as e-wallets. Mobile phone company Vodafone has contacted
its major content partners saying the rule change will enable payments using
a mobile phone for services such as online music downloads, ticketing services
and films delivered to an email address.
Many of the technical hitches that prevented m-commerce working across the
UK's five mobile networks have now been resolved, but until now EU rules held
back what could be bought. Three years ago, the government implemented the
EU's electronic money directive. While not as onerous as the regulatory burden
on banks, the directive did place quite high restrictions on using and supplying
e-money. Using the directive, the FSA issued guidance that prevented telecommunications
companies allowing their pre-pay customers to buy goods and services that
were not directly linked to the phone. After more than a year's debate, the
commission finally ruled in January that this restriction could be lifted.
The FSA confirmed it would open the doors to using pre-paid phones to buy
goods other than ring-tones and wallpapers.
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Mobile media
provider Mobliss, Inc. and FremantleMedia Licensing Americas, are to produce
an entire collection of new, made-for-mobile programmes that will bring a
wide range of drama, comedy and reality programming exclusively to the mobile
Thumbdance Channel. Baywatch Best Beach Moments will be the first original
collection introduced under terms of the agreement. Thumbdance will optimize
and deliver the best drama, comedy and reality programming exclusively to
the “small screen.”
Under the partnership, FremantleMedia will tap its powerful worldwide network
of producers to create original Thumbdance Channel programs and will also
provide select content from its more than 9,000 programming hours. Responsible
for 260 programs airing in 39 countries – including smash-hits American
Idol, The Price is Right and Da Ali G Show – FremantleMedia is a natural
fit for the trend-setting Thumbdance Channel poised to rocket mobile video
viewing into American pop culture.
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Harmonic has received TL 9000 certification, making it the first provider of dedicated video transport solutions for telco fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks to earn this distinction.
TL 9000 compliance
is a critical requirement for providing network infrastructure solutions to
most telcos around the world including the Regional Bell Operating Companies
(RBOC) in the United States. This certification clears the way for Harmonic
and its partners to broadly deploy the FTTP video transport solution for Verizon
Communications Inc. and other telecom
providers.
"Harmonic's complete FTTP Video Solution enables RBOCs and other telcos
to more quickly and cost-effectively introduce compelling broadcast and on-demand
television services. Our TL 9000 certification underscores Harmonic's commitment
to deliver the highest quality and most reliable products in the market"
said Patrick Harshman, President of Harmonic's Broadband Access Networks Division.
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TANDBERG Television
announced that it has received an order, valued in excess of E4m, for a TV
over DSL system for a leading European Telco. The commercial TV over DSL service
is expected to go live during the summer of 2005. The contract is for an MPEG-4
part 10 (H.264/AVC) video head-end and TANDBERG Television will deploy its
EN5930 encoding system to support ingest and delivery of MPEG-4 AVC video,
as well as enable MPEG-2 encoding.
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Comcast,
TiVo strategic partnership
Comcast, Amercia's biggest MSO, and DVR maker TiVo have reached an agreement
to make the TiVo service and advertising capability widely available to Comcast
customers in most of its systems.
The firms said Comcast and TiVo will work together to develop a version of
the TiVo service that will be made available on Comcast's current primary
DVR platform. New software will be developed by TiVo and will be incorporated
into Comcast's existing network platforms. The new service will be marketed
with the TiVo brand, and is expected to be available on Comcast's DVR products
in a majority of Comcast markets in mid-to-late 2006.
This long-term, non-exclusive partnership will provide millions of Comcast
customers with the opportunity to choose the TiVo service, including TiVo's
features like Season Pass and WishList, as an additional option. In addition,
the service will showcase TiVo's home networking, multimedia, and broadband
capabilities.
Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation said: "Customers
love the ease and convenience of our current DVR service, and we look forward
to working with TiVo to enhance that service and offer customers the best-in-class
DVR experience."
"The chance to combine TiVo's DVR features and innovative advertising
capabilities with the power of Comcast's advanced digital television services
presents tremendous opportunities," said Mike Ramsay, Chairman and CEO
of TiVo. "Broad deployment to millions of Comcast homes nationwide will
enhance TiVo's recurring revenues. Together, both companies will work to offer
customers the best and most convenient premium television service."
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but there's no doubting its
significance to TiVo, whose shares climbed over 25% in early trading. Doubt
has hung over TiVo's future as it has become more obvious that its previous
biggest customer, DirecTV, would be leaving them behind in favour of its own
DVR as soon as contractually possible.
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The EU has accepted it has no jurisdiction to review the Microsoft consortium's bid to take control of DRM specialist Content Guard. Microsoft, already a partner with Xerox in the firm, was seeking to bring in Time Warner to replace Xerox.
The deal involves patents for the potentially lucrative market in digital rights management software. Microsoft and Time Warner had initially expected no problems in gaining approval, but in August the Commission opened an in-depth probe fearing Microsoft might gain or boost a dominant position in digital rights. The companies responded by bringing in Thomson as a third equal player.
The EU cannot
investigate takeovers involving more than two equal partners. "The transaction
is not subject to EU merger rules," the EU executive acknowledged in
a statement. "Given the resulting ownership and control structures, the
new operation is not to be reviewed under the EU Merger Regulation,"
Microsoft said in a statement.
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The French regulator, CSA received 35 candidatures for its call for new channels by the deadline at 5 p.m. on Friday March 11. 26 were for free channels and nine for pay channels. The capacity has become available following the cancellation last year by the Council of State of six DTT licences for channels that were to be supplied by Canal Plus group and Lagardere, and also by three channels which threw in the towel before the launch; - Comedie and Cuisine TV were to share one channel and Match TV had a full channel.
On 22 March, the CSA will publish the list of channels which have submitted valid applications. It will then analyse these and hold public hearings in the week starting 18 April. The winners should be announced on 10 May and the licenses issued on 7 June. The free channels may then start broadcasting as soon as they are ready.
The candidates
include a number of completely new channels: Tele Toujours (Bollore Group),
Coriolis TV (Coriolis group), Club Recre (JLA), four channels from the AB
group, of which three are new (Maximum, ABCD, Vive la Vie), Gulliver (Lagardere/France
Televisions), BFM, Proxyvision (national federation of regional and local
video), France Enquete (Tamani Production), M6 Famille (M6). The others include
channels which were not successful in the original selection for DTT, and
re-modelled applications by the channels which had their authorisation withdrawn.
One interesting case is Canal Plus, which is submitting its news channel,
i-tele, as a free channel, whereas its direct competitor from the TF1 camp,
LCI, already has an authorisation as a pay channel.
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UK's biggest cable company has reported 04 operating losses of £39m (E56.5m), an 80% improvement on 2003. Total sales were up 5.7% at £2.074bn. In Q4 the company added 162,000 net subscribers, in line with forecast, and quarter ARPU was £42.40. 24% of subscribers are now taking the triple play proposition.
Commenting on the results, Simon Duffy, Chief Executive Officer said: "ntl underwent major organisational changes in 2004, with almost every part of the business being restructured. It therefore gives me particular pleasure to report that, despite this upheaval, the company performed very well with underlying margins for the group as a whole, including Broadcast, rising to 37 per cent in Q4. For continuing operations alone, they rose to 36 per cent. We considerably strengthened and improved the operational base of the company, reinforcing our ability to continue to grow profitably.
After implementing
major systems improvements in 2004 and aggressively removing delinquent or
non-paying customers from our customer count, we expect to add over 200,000
customers on-net this year, including a further 20-25 per cent increase in
our broadband customer base."
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Vocento-owned digital TV channel NET TV has asked the Government for permission to broadcast in analogue "until the introduction of the digital technology in Spain becomes effective", according to the company. It is the second nationwide digital TV channel -the first was El Mundo-controlled Veo TV- that asks to be allowed to broadcast in analogue, since Sogecable announced its plans to turn Canal Plus into a free-to-air station and demanded the approval from the Government.
The Administration is studying these requests and is likely to give the green light. Canal Plus will be allowed to broadcast free-to-air 24 hours and Net TV and Veo TV will be granted analogue licences in the transition period to digital on condition that they undertake to invest in digital and develop specific content for their digital channels in the future. A decision is expected very soon.
NET TV's ownership
is set to change in the near future as Vocento has announced plans to pull
out of the digital TV company.
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The BBC is misleading consumers and hampering progress towards the digital switchover by only pushing cheap Freeview boxes, the electronics industry has claimed. Intellect, a trade body for electronics manufacturers including Philips and Sony, believes recent BBC campaigns have focused too much on Freeview.
A recent BBC
advertising push ran with the tagline of "you can teach an old television
new tricks", encouraging people to buy a cheap set-top box rather than
more expensive digital TV sets or more sophisticated decoders that include
DVD players. Laurence Harrison, the consumer electronics director at Intellect,
said: "We feel very strongly that the BBC should be focusing more on
widening consumer choice, rather than taking consumers down the narrow road
of the set-top box and the £50 (E72) option."
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Reports suggest
Lord Hollick, outgoing chief of Five minority owner UBM, is lining an exit
from the channel. RTL as main shareholder would have first refusal. RTL chief
executive Gerhard Zeiler has indicated the German TV network is committed
to Five. Last year, RTL hired investment bank JP Morgan as it considered the
options for its 65% stake in the UK's fifth terrestrial television channel
Five, which included a outright sale or a bid for United's shareholding. Zeiler
has said RTL was not a "seller of its stake" because Five saw pre-tax
profits double over the last year to E18m as revenues rose by 10.4% to E276m.
The improvement in Five's fortune's strengthens United's hand and could up
the price tag, estimated to be around E319m.
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Mobile content
firm iTouch has it posted a 2004 pre-tax profit of £3.7m (E5.3m)before
exceptional items, reversing a £4.9m loss last time. Revenues were up
29% to £78m for the 12 months to December 31, on the back of an "unprecedented"
increase in demand for mobile content. Chairman Ivan Fallon says: "We
believe we are extremely well positioned to take advantage of the forecast
growth in demand for mobile content across Europe and beyond and we approach
2005 with confidence that it will be another year of significant progress."
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New 3G services in the final quarter of 2004 gave western European mobile firms a bumper year as mobile phone shipments reached 144 million units, research has revealed. According to IDC's latest analysis, last year's sales represented year-on-year market growth of 19 per cent and this is predicted to continue with a 12 per cent increase in sales for 2005.
3G service launches,
and the subsequent increase in 3G handset development, saw explosive year-on-year
growth of almost 850 per cent in the fourth quarter, driving the proportion
of 3G handsets to six per cent in 2004 compared to one per cent in 2003. IDC
forecasts 3G handsets to increase to around 13 per cent of total mobile phone
shipments in 2005, particularly in light of service launches from T-Mobile
and O2 in the first quarter, and 3G handsets such as the 6680 from Nokia and
Sony Ericsson's K600i.
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Sit-Up TV is
launching a third shopping channel on Sky Digital and ntl. Speed Auction TV
will stage auctions lasting for a maximum of four minutes, which the broadcaster
hopes will attract a younger audience than sister channels Bid-Up TV and Price-drop
TV.
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ARRIS has announced
that Vidéotron, Canada's third largest MSO, has selected ARRIS as one
of its VoIP modem suppliers. It has placed a substantial order for ARRIS DOCSIS
2.0-certified Touchstone Telephony Modem TM402P indoor E-MTAs. These E-MTAs
will be used to address the customer premises side of Vidéotron's large-scale
VoIP telephony deployment based on PacketCable standards. Arris says PacketCable
VoIP allows cable operators to offer basic and extended telephony services
efficiently and economically over the broadband cable eccess network.
Back
to top
UGC 04 results exceed forecast
United Global Com has reported improved results for 2004 with revenue up 34 per cent at $2.53bn and RGU net additions at 552,800. Net losses ran to $382m. Mike Fries, President and Chief Executive Officer said: "Our 2004 results were excellent across the board, as we achieved or exceeded all of our public guidance targets. This solid performance was driven by record fourth quarter net additions of over 250,000 RGUs."
At year-end UGC had over 11.6 million consolidated RGUs and ARPU per RGU, excluding acquisitions, for the three months ended December 31, was $20.67, an increase of 16.6 per cent compared to the same period in 2003.
"Consistent
with our strategy of disciplined footprint expansion, we completed several
acquisitions in the last quarter, including Irish pay-TV provider Chorus,
an indirect 14 per cent interest in Belgian cable company Telenet, and in
February 2005, we closed the acquisition of Telemach, the largest cable company
in Slovenia. We applied the same disciplined approach to the purchase of ZoneVision,
a global programming company with a significant presence in Eastern Europe,"
said Fries.
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iesy broadband cable and Kabelnetz NRW Limited, the parent of ish, have agreed merger terms to combine the Hesse regional operator, iesy, and ish the operator for the North Rhine-Westphalia area.
The companies say that customers in both areas will benefit from the broader range of products available across both companies, including digital television and high speed internet services.
The merger will be effected through iesy’s acquisition of the ish operating companies for cash funded by iesy’s recent refinancing and additional debt raised by the combined business. The current ish shareholders will have the opportunity to re-invest their proceeds in the combined business. The transaction is subject to regulatory conditions, a decision by the Federal Cartel Office is expected by June 2005 and until then, both companies shall continue to work independently.
The combined
operator will have about 5.2 million TV subscribers.
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The Walt Disney
board has unanimously elected Robert Iger to take over as chief executive
when Michael Eisner steps down in September, a year earlier than originally
planned. George Mitchell, chairman, said the decision to promote the president
and chief operating officer was reached after a "lengthy, thorough and
professional selection process, comparing both internal and external candidates".
Eisner, who has led Disney since 1984 confirmed that he would cut all business
ties with the company, in a letter to the board indicating he would not stand
for re-election as a director at next spring's annual meeting.
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America Online has unveiled new mobile services including streaming music and navigation features for cell phones and has struck deals with Cingular, Nextel and Research In Motion Ltd. AOL also said it agreed to put services, such as its instant messenger and e-mail, in Research In Motion's popular Blackberry mobile e-mail device. Cingular Wireless, a venture of SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. plans to use the photo swapping service from AOL, it said.
All the big U.S.
mobile providers support AOL's instant messages on cell phones, but only a
few million people out of roughly 176 million U.S. mobile subscribers use
this service. The company also hopes to tap into the mobile music market,
which is mainly limited to musical ring tones but is seen expanding with services
that let consumers play whole songs. AOL is also developing a mobile version
of Radio(at)AOL, a streaming music service that will deliver FM radio quality
music to phones than can support media services.
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ITV and Channel
4 would be welcomed as fellow stakeholders in Freeview, the BBC, BSkyB, and
Crown Castle have stressed. According to Broadcast, Freeview chairman Peter
Abery - also Crown Castle's chief executive - said he would particularly encourage
interest from the two broadcasters. "We would be delighted to take their
money," a board member said.
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Nokia, in conjunction with media firms and telecom operators in Taiwan, is to promote a digital TV and radio service for mobile users and handheld devices. Partners in the alliance include Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd., Taiwan's largest phone company, compact disc maker CMC Magnetics Corp., which is diversifying into the digital content, and some local TV and radio stations.
The development
is the first such initiative in Asia, where a pilot service in Taiwan will
begin in mid-2005 after a successful recent test was done in Helsinki using
Nokia phones equipped with a special antenna. "The handset penetration
rate in Taiwan is over 100 per cent and the island just started broadcasting
digital TV last year, so it’s a good time to develop mobile TV,"
said Nokia.
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26 per cent of the top 89 TV operators worldwide, are currently offering high-definition TV (HDTV) services to their subscribers says IMS Research study Making Digital TV Pay. But in the Americas 16 out of 23 top operators, or 70 per cent, are already providing HDTV to some portion of their subscribers.
However, the
report says many elements are coming together to push HDTV adoption, including,
for example, new compression standards, such as MPEG-4 (H.264) and Windows
Media 9. "Many of the barriers to HDTV adoption are now being eliminated,"
states Jack Mayo, market analyst at IMS Research. "As HD content increases
in availability, equipment costs drop, and compression standards improve,
we are likely to see more operators implement HDTV."
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Amdocs has announced the availability of its IP Convergence Solution for IPTV, a comprehensive solution that allows service providers to offer digital content and entertainment services to solidify customer loyalty, while ensuring growth.
The solution
combines Amdocs consulting and implementation services, the recently announced
Amdocs 6 portfolio of integrated, modular products and solutions from an extensive
IPTV partner ecosystem, including Bitband, Intel, Kasenna, NagraVision, NDS,
OpenTV and Orca Interactive. Amdocs is already working with Microsoft on the
implementation of a major IP convergence project for a Tier 1 Wireline service
provider including the roll-out of IPTV services.
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Tektronix the provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, has introduced the MTS400 Series Compressed Video Test System that provides the unique CaptureVu ability to automatically monitor, analyse and debug live and deferred time video transport streams. The MTS400 Series also provides the highest performance analysis engine on the market, along with real time Video over IP monitoring, analysis and recording support for broadband video and Video on Demand applications. The MTS400 provides fast time to problem resolution on video transport streams.
Compressed video standards are becoming more sophisticated, and the transition to High Definition requires the analysis of increasingly more complex transport streams at higher bit rates. With a new programme-centric Graphical User-Interface, the Tektronix says the MTS400 Series enables both developers and evaluators of compressed video equipment to quickly isolate and investigate protocol faults. The MTS400 Series provides the most extensive collection of test and analysis packages in one product, offering monitoring and analysis of live and file-based compressed video including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264 and VC-1.
"The MTS400
Series enables customers to achieve new levels of productivity by significantly
reducing the time required to analyse large and complex MPEG transport stream
files," said Todd Biddle, Vice President, Video Product Line, Tektronix,
Inc.
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Widevine Technologies the provider of card less content security solutions to the iTV, and implemented by SaskTel, has gone live with content from Hollywood. All of SaskTel’s Max Front Row VOD service content is now being secured by the Widevine Virtual SmartCard.
Among the content being secured are movies provided by top Hollywood studios Warner Bros, Twentieth Century Fox and Sony Pictures. SaskTel recently announced multi-year Video-on-Demand distribution agreements with all three studios that allow SaskTel to provide its Max Front Row customers with access to impressive line-ups of current releases and existing film libraries.
SaskTel launched
its Internet Protocol (IP) broadcast service in 2002 over its existing digital
subscriber line (DSL) network, the first ever installed in North America,
and launched its video-on-demand service in 2003.
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Zone4Play a provider of multi-platform gaming solutions and Orbis Technology Ltd, an NDS Group plc company and the provider of the OpenBet interactive gambling platform, today announced a technology partnership for delivering interactive multi-platform gaming in the UK. The new partnership will enable the two companies to leverage their leading positions as advanced interactive technology providers.
Under the terms of the partnership agreement Zone4Play will develop front end solutions and game engines for mobile devices, broadcast TV and iTV gambling, which will be integrated with OpenBet.
David Loveday,
Managing Director of Orbis says "Our agreement with Zone4 Play will enable
Orbis's customers to easily deploy the Zone4Play's proprietary Broadcast TV
solutions as well as taking advantage of their mobile gaming solutions. The
new agreement adds to our partnerships with other leading developers, strengthening
the range of solutions available via OpenBet and Visionik Games."
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Studio
urges UK to take on pirates
Spain
switch-off: the sooner, the better
SBS
outlines Digital Vision
Vivendi
returns to full-year profit
BBC
cuts 1,700 jobs
Echostar
down on accounting talk
DRM
votes frequency expansion
Sit
Up bad film channel
Apple
backs blu-ray
Open
and Playboy JV
4Docs
on net
Microsoft
and Cablevisión deploy Foundation 1.7
NDS
XTV for Foxtel
Ford
“advertainment”
Kreatel:
network IP STB
Studio
urges UK to take on pirates
Warner Brothers has urged tougher government and police action to combat film
piracy claimed to be worth more than $7bn a year.
Josh Berger, managing director of Warner's UK operations said the film sector
was facing a similar threat to the rampant piracy that has undermined global
music sales over the past four years. Industry figures suggest sales of illicit
DVDs are costing studios $3.5bn a year. “Deloitte Touche says that the
cost of on-line piracy is even higher than the bootlegs, worth an estimated
$4 billion in 2004,” he added.
Studios are demanding a co-ordinated approach to fighting piracy, which is
often linked to organised crime. The music industry has also suggested a united
approach to the problem, worth an estimated $4.5bn in lost sales of music
CDs and a further $2.4bn for online copying.
Berger said “We need more help, like encouraging the new EU accession
countries to crack down on piracy. We need tougher enforcement with police
and trading-standards- authorities making combating copyright theft a high
priority.”
While applauding some UK efforts, Berger added: “Given the importance
of the audiovisual sector in the UK, it would also be very nice to hear Tony
Blair personally weighing in against this illicit and illegal activity. In
most other countries you hear leaders making statements on this issue.”
Britain is due to host an international conference on piracy this autumn,
when it holds European Union presidency.
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Spain switch-off: the sooner,
the better
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The main opposition party, the conservative Partido Popular (PP), has asked the socialist Government to bring forward to 2008 the analogue switch-off. The Administration has already brought it forward to 2010, two years earlier than initially planned. The PP's proposal aims to speed up the digitalisation process. Its spokesman, Eduardo Zaplana said: "We think that it is vital that the new digital technology can work as soon as possible. That is why we have urged the Government to put forward the analogue switch-off".
Private channels,
Antena 3 and Tele 5, are also in favour of speeding up the digitalisation
process. The president of Antena 3, Jose Manuel Lara, said that the best way
to make viewers migrate to DTT is "increasing the digital TV offer".
Both networks claim to be worried about Government's plans to grant new analogue
TV licences and think that the decision will delay the re-launch of DTT in
Spain.
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SBS outlines Digital Vision
From
Colin Mann in Amsterdam
Senior managers at SBS Broadcasting have outlined the company’s Digital Vision, which is intended to grow the company from being a broadcaster into a major multimedia player and transition it from a pure analogue TV and Radio play into a platform-independent provider of content.
Company founder and executive chairman of the board Harry Sloan noted that the growth in digital distribution platforms presented the opportunity to double TV revenues. “These new platforms with their interactive, transactional capabilities permit the operator to charge for what the consumer wants,” he said. “They will need content and we’re able to provide it.”
Markus Tellenbach,
president and CEO, set out the SBS Vision Statement: “Digitalisation
will create numerous platforms via cable and phone lines or over mobile transmission,”
he said, suggesting that SBS has the strength and the competence to deliver
content to all
platforms in suitable formats. “Digitalisation will lead to an explosion
of new offerings,” he continued, claiming that SBS has strong brands
with high credibility to guide the consumer through the available platforms.
Noting that digital technology allows the personalisation of content offerings, Tellenbach asserted that such customised content creates additional value for the consumer and increases the willingness to pay for extra services. “SBS can transform from a single to a multi-revenue company, converting increased value offerings to new income streams,” he concluded.
“In this digital age, the value of content is definitely increasing and SBS will continue to examine cost-effective methods for creating viable, locally co-produced content that can be distributed across all of these new digital platforms,” commented Sloan, adding that the advent of digital and the company’s expansion into this arena represented a significant diversification of its revenue streams.
In the short
term, more than a third of SBS’s revenues are currently generated by
non-advertising related sources such as subscriber fees, content download
fees and repurposing of content. The company’s goal is to increase that
to 50 per cent of revenue coming from new digital sources by the end of the
decade.
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Vivendi returns to full-year profit
After three years of losses totalling E38bn Vivendi Universal has announced
an E754m net profit for 2004. The company had a net loss of E1.14bn in 2003,
part of the improvement was due to a much smaller goodwill amortisation charge.
Vivendi has also confirmed it is returning to acquisitions with a bid for
the French assets being auctioned by Tiscali, the Italian internet group,
but suggested another bidder was better placed to win. It is also battling
Deutsche Telekom over the ownership of PTC, Poland's biggest mobile telephone
operator, in which Vivendi says it has invested E1.8bn.
Vivendi also confirmed Lagardère has been in talks with Vivendi over
potentially taking a stake in Vivendi's Canal Plus pay TV business. Lagardère
currently has a stake in the CanalSatellite digital TV subsidiary.
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BBC
cuts 1,700 jobs
The BBC is to cut 1,730 jobs in its first round of cost cuts. Staff were told
that 980 would be made redundant and a further 750 jobs "outsourced"
.The jobs are being lost from the BBC's professional services division, which
is being halved in size.
A second wave of job cuts is to be announced later this month for projected
overall cost savings of E514m. DG Mark Thompson said: "In December I
talked about the creative prize for the BBC and our audiences - but the cost
is nothing short of transformation. We have made a strong start, showing we
are serious about change and ensuring we are maximising the value of our income
for audiences' benefit”.
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Echostar down on accounting talk
EchoStar's stock took a hit after a report surfaced concerning an inquiry into past accounting issues and news that it suffered a setback in its litigation with TiVo.
Bloomberg reported
that an internal investigation by EchoStar's audit committee was started after
KPMG, the company's independent auditor, allegedly uncovered evidence of improper
booking of transactions and other issues while scrutinizing the company's
2004 financials. EchoStar reports its results this week.
In the TiVo litigation, the federal district court for the Eastern District
of Texas denied motions from EchoStar to dismiss and transfer the DVR company's
patent infringement case against the satellite TV company. In the case, TiVo
alleged that EchoStar and certain subsidiaries are violating a key TiVo patent
known as the "Time Warp" patent. As a result of the Court's rulings,
the case will move forward in the Texas district court.
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Members of the Digital Radio Mondiale consortium have voted to begin the process of extending the DRM on-air system into the broadcasting bands up to 120 MHz. This decision will enhance the range of non-proprietary, digital radio solutions offered worldwide by the DRM consortium and the World DAB Forum, which work together on projects of mutual interest.
DRM, a non-proprietary
system that has been endorsed by the ITU, IEC and ETSI, currently covers the
broadcasting bands below 30 MHz (short-wave, medium-wave/AM and long-wave).
DAB Digital Radio, is also a non-proprietary system endorsed by the ITU and
ETSI, which was developed to work in the broadcast bands between 30MHz and
3GHz and will therefore work
satisfactorily in Band II (87,5 - 108 MHz).
"The clear
message coming from our cooperation is that the World DAB Forum and the DRM
Consortium continue to actively pave the way for digital radio’s future"
says Annika Nyberg, President of the World DAB Forum.
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UK’s Sit-Up
TV is planning a new digital channel for movies that are so bad they're good.
‘Bad Movies’ will screen some of the worst Hollywood has to offer
when it launches on the Sky platform from this spring. Sit-Up is investing
E7.25m in the channel and a second new offering, Matinee.
"We've got a vision that there's a gap in the market for us to grow ad-funded
film channels that aren't trying to compete with the mainstream. Without being
too Gerald Ratner about it, we'll take great pride in showing complete crap,"
said Ashley Faull, a founder of Sit-Up TV.
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Apple backs blu-ray
The battle over high-definition DVDs took a new turn with the announcement
that Apple Computer has joined a leading group backing the Blu-ray disc format.
The announcement by the Blu-ray Disc Association that Apple has become a board
member is significant. The developers of Blu-ray, which include Sony Corporation
and Panasonic, are locked in a fierce battle with the creators of a rival
format that Toshiba and NEC are developing called HD DVD.
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Open TV and Playboy Enterprises have announced an agreement to jointly develop, integrate and launch digital interactive software applications for deployment on Playboy's worldwide suite of television programming networks. As part the agreement, the companies expect to develop interactive applications capable of running on all software platforms, and will not be limited to any specific set-top box middleware or any proprietary iTV solution.
Under the agreement, OpenTV will also support Playboy in marketing a wide variety of interactive applications and games to network operators worldwide.
"We are
delighted to partner with such a powerful global brand like Playboy to develop
innovative interactive television applications," said Time Evard, OpenTV's
senior vice president & general manager marketing and applications products.
"This commitment reinforces the compelling value proposition that we
offer in the applications space, and we look forward to building unique, reliable
and stable technologies and applications that increase viewership and revenue
for both Playboy and their network operator distributors around
the world."
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UK’s Channel
4 New Media is to spend E725,000 launching a broadband documentary channel,
FourDocs. According to reports it is intended to be a platform for budding
documentary-makers, and would allow users to upload and download short-form
films for free. The channel will also provide enthusiasts with specialised
advice from programme-making professionals.
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Microsoft and Cablevisión
deploy Foundation 1.7
Microsoft and Cablevisión Mexico have announced plans to begin the first commercial deployment of Microsoft TV Foundation Edition 1.7 software in Mexico City. The launch of the new service will allow Cablevisión to deliver advanced digital TV services such as dual-tuner digital video recording (DVR), high definition TV (HDTV), video on demand (VOD), an interactive programme guide (IPG), and interactive games.
More than 300,000
set top boxes in Latin America use Microsoft TV Foundation Edition software.
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NDS has announced that FOXTEL has launched NDS XTV integrated personal video recorder technology to power the FOXTEL iQ PVR service.
The FOXTEL iQ can automatically record around 60 hours of programming onto the 160 gbyte hard disk in the set-top box. Kim Williams, Chief Executive of FOXTEL said, "The innovative NDS technology utilized by FOXTEL iQ personal video recorder takes our subscribers closer to watching what they want, when they want. For the business of FOXTEL, this enables new digital services and future opportunities for the growth of our business."
Initially launched
at BSkyB as SKY+ in 2001, XTV has six customers worldwide and is enjoying
ongoing success. SKY+ now has over 650,000 users of XTV
technology.
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Ford is to give
away a free car as part of a one-off iTV advertising campaign on ITV this
Easter. Ford has teamed up with ITV for a live advertising competition, dubbed
"advertainment", which both claim is a world first.
"We have got a responsibility to work with advertisers and their agencies
to find new and engaging ways to reward viewers for watching television commercials,"
said the ITV customer relationship manager, Justin Sampson.
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Kreatel:
network IP STB
Kreatel Communications has announced the launch of a home networking software
component to its IP-set-top box system. Kreatel Home Media Access makes video,
pictures and music stored on PCs in a home network accessible on the TV set.
"Kreatel Home Media Access is a natural step for Kreatel in our ambition
to provide operators with possibilities to create new revenue streams and
more attractive services from their set top box solution", says Lars
Bengtsson, CEO at Kreatel.
Kreatel says
the new solution is a complementary platform service to the software that
provides functionality to Kreatel IP-STBs. It connects the PC and the set-top
box to make personal content accessible with the remote control in addition
to operator-provided content and services such as IPTV, video on demand, games,
and Internet access.
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