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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 11th November 2005
BT profits small rise on new revenues
Liberty: new interactive stock
Spain sets up first digital TV factory
China buys into Oz pay-TV
BMG sued over DRM 'cloaking'
Yahoo not for AOL
Siemens dragged down by restructure
Microsoft for AP video service
Latens for Broadstream
BT profits small rise on new revenuesPre-tax profits before one-off costs rose 3% to £1.13bn (E1.63bn) in the six months to September 30. It said "new wave" revenues, broadband and mobile services drove earnings higher, while traditional business revenues fell 5%. BT profits fell in the second quarter to £489m from £571m – because of the £70m cost of setting up Openreach.
Openreach operates BT's local loop and was set up to fend off the threat of break up from Ofcom. BT revealed that ARPU from households fell by £1 to £253, with broadband revenues helping to offset lower call revenues.
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Liberty: new interactive stockLiberty is to try a new interactive "tracking stock" in an attempt to get the value of its electronic assets recognised. Among the assets to be covered by the new stock, likely to be called Liberty Interactive, will be QVC and its significant shareholdings in IAC/InterActiveCorp and Expedia Inc., both run by Barry Diller. These assets will remain owned by Liberty Media for the moment, but Liberty plans to spin them off completely within two or three years.
Liberty Media itself could be renamed Liberty Capital as early as next year. Its main assets, after the interactive assets are separated, will be the Starz Entertainment Group movie-channel unit and an 18% voting stake in News Corp.
The announcement suggests that Liberty Chairman John Malone is on a path toward possibly breaking up Liberty, hoping to improve returns for Liberty shareholders, the international assets have already hived into a separate vehicle as has its share in Discovery.
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Spain sets up first digital TV factory
From David Del Valle in MadridA few weeks before the re-launch of DTT, Spain has created the first digital TV factory, called SI!TVi, to develop interactive TV services, digital TV applications, contents and solutions and IPTV.
Located in Zaragoza, the factory -with a budget of E0.6 –1m will initially employ a team of 10 MHP experts (with plans to extend the staff up to 25 next year) to provide digital TV solutions. The factory has been developed by Informatica El Corte Ingles that provide consultancy services and Net2u, a provider of Internet and New Technology solutions.
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China buys into Oz pay-TV
From Rose Major in MelbourneChinese-government owned Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group (SMEG), is reported to have bought a 4.5-per-cent stake in the company which runs Australian pay-TV channel World Movies.
Pan TV is a joint venture between broadcaster SBS, Kerry Stokes's Seven Network (through the privately-held Australian Capital Equity) and APN News and Media. Its World Movies channel is carried on the Foxtel, Optus and Austar platforms.
Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group's subsidiary, Oriental Pearl Group, is the vehicle for the deal. It is listed on the Shanghai sharemarket and its investments include the Shanghai Cable Network and 12 TV channels. SMEG already has joint ventures within China with companies including Viacom, but recently has been actively pursuing international investments.
If it concludes, the Pan TV deal will leave ACE owning 25.5 per cent, APN 30 per cent, SBS 40 per cent and SMEG 4.5 per cent of the channel.
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BMG sued over DRM 'cloaking'Sony BMG is facing lawsuits in the US over its controversial anti-piracy software. As revealed in October the software copy protection system hides using virus-like techniques with so-called "root kit" to conceal the programme used to stop some of its CDs being copied.
One class-action lawsuit has already been filed in California and another is expected in New York. "Root kits" are being increasingly used by virus makers to hide their malicious wares deep inside the Windows operating system.
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Yahoo not for AOLYahoo! says it has dropped out of the running for a stake in Time Warner's AOL. Yahoo acknowledged there was a meeting, but denies Yahoo ever made any offer. "After we learned what their proposed deal terms were we passed and we've never looked back," said the spokeswoman. Time Warner continues in talks with Google and Microsoft over selling a stake in AOL.
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Siemens dragged down by restructureSiemens produced an 88% decline in fourth-quarter profit on, hurt by the costs of selling its handset-making division as well as widening losses at its IT business. Net income fell to E77 million in the quarter.
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Microsoft for AP video serviceMicrosoft is to develop a news video distribution network for The Associated Press and share in advertising revenue generated by the newspapers and broadcasters that use it.
The A.P. Online Video Network will be available to the news service's 3,500 United States newspaper and broadcast members at no charge in the first quarter of next year, the companies said.
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Latens for BroadstreamLatens Systems and Broadstream Communications, announced that Broadstream has selected Latens IP CAS next generation IPTV content protection system to secure its digital video broadcast services for its content distribution customers in the Telco market.
"Our agreement with Latens underscores our winning strategy of selecting best of breed technology partners to offer the most robust service offering to the IPTV industry," said Anthony Bontrager, CEO and President of Broadstream.."
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Thursday 10th November 2005
Convergence: a trillion dollars, but maybe not for mobile TV
C4 wants new media rights
Liberty appoints Oracle man
Work ahead for Aussie DTT
Dish adds 255,000
Cablevision sales up, profits down
DT E2.4bn profit
NEC and Toshiba combine semiconductor design
Tektronix buys Vqual
PUSH VOD
Mark Jeffery Joins ICTV
Widevine watermark VOD
Convergence: a trillion dollars, but maybe not for mobile TVDeloittes forecasts that convergence will generate over a trillion dollars in revenues for the technology, media and telecoms sector between now and the end of the decade.
Jolyon Barker, head of technology, media and telecoms at Deloitte, comments: "The first wave of convergence in the 1990s didn’t deliver, due to distraction with what technology could deliver tomorrow, at the expense of understanding or respecting what customers actually want today. Convergence will create new product categories, new markets, and in some cases even change the structure of existing industries. Our analysis has shown that convergence will generate over a trillion dollars for the sector as a result of new products and services."
"There will also be a group of convergence losers. One of the most likely reasons for this is technological hypnosis focusing on achieving engineering excellence at the expense of commercial common sense. One such example could be mobile television services which are being heavily pushed by equipment manufacturers, network operators and content owners, despite the underlying trend of ever larger televisions, the historically weak adoption of handheld television sets, and the sheer cost of delivering such services."
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C4 wants new media rightsUK’s Channel 4 is threatening to start producing its own programmes if the broadcaster cannot reach "a fair agreement over new media rights with independent producers." The chief executive, Andy Duncan, warned: "If there is no fair share, if we are given no comfort on this issue, Channel 4 will have no alternative but to go for in-house production."
"We have said this to Ofcom, if independents push too hard there is no alternative ... This is not our preferred route, and we would need to agree this with Ofcom but my sense is that if we can't be given comfort that is what we will have to do." The threat from Channel 4 comes as broadcasters are locked into a fierce dispute with the independent producers' trade body, Pact, over the issue of new media rights, including broadband and video clips. Duncan believes primary rights should include the multichannel, multi-platform world, and should be relatively flexible for a public service broadcaster.
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Liberty appoints Oracle manLiberty Media has selected a top executive of Oracle as its new CEO. Oracle said last week that Gregory Maffei was leaving the company after less than four months as CFO and co-president. The WSJ reported that Maffei will succeed Liberty's John Malone, who took on the chief executive post after the previous CEO, Robert Bennett, resigned in August. Malone will continue as chairman.
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Work ahead for Aussie DTT
From Rose Major in MelbourneDigital-terrestrial television in Australia still has some work to do, with 17 per cent of non-adopters not even having heard of the technology. New research from the Australian Communications and Media Authority also reveals that 45 per cent of non-adopters aren't aware whether or not they can receive DTT in their area.
Just thirteen per cent of Australian homes have adopted the technology since it was introduced at the start of 2001. ACMA said that the research suggested that digital TV appeared to be a "peripheral" issue for non-adopters, with 61 per cent either not interested or not sure if they were interested in adopting.
But there are also encouraging signs - growth has sped up over the last year and 86 per cent of adopters said they were satisfied with the technology. The main reasons for the adoption of digital free-to-air television were improvements to picture quality, better reception, and extra channels.
High-definition television was in four per cent of homes, with 92 per cent of those satisfied with the service. Including pay-television, 22 per cent of Australian homes now have digital TV.
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Dish adds 255,000EchoStar said its DISH Network added about 255,000 net new subscribers during the third quarter, taking the customer total to 11.71 million as of September 30. It reported third quarter revenue of $2.1 billion, a 14 percent increase when compared to $1.9 billion for the same period in 2004. Net income totalled $209 million for the quarter, compared with net income of $102 million for the corresponding period in 2004.
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Cablevision sales up, profits downCablevision Systems Corporation reported a $62.9 million loss for the third quarter even though revenue rose 11 percent. Revenue rose to $1.24 billion from $1.12 billion, driven by gains in cable TV services.
The company reported 26 percent growth in digital phone subscribers, 5 percent growth in high-speed Internet users and a 6 percent increase in digital video customers - all premium services that customers can add to their cable TV accounts. The company, said interest expenses rose 8 percent, to $186.9 million, its debt stands at $8.5 billion.
Cablevision's controlling Dolan family abandoned an effort last month to take the company private and also proposed a one-time $3 billion dividend that would be paid to all shareholders, a move that could result in a payout of about $690 million to the Dolans.
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DT E2.4bn profitDeutsche Telekom reported a rise in net profits to E2.4bn for the third quarter while promising an additional spend of E1.2bn next year "to develop a more aggressive market approach".
Deutsche Telekom plans to have 1m triple-play customers by 2007, sell 500,000 dual phones over two years, and have more than 1m ‘web and walk’ devices in the market in 2007. The number of DSL lines is due to be massively increased and the customer base broadened to 90m. Profits for the first nine months were powered by T-Mobile, which accounted for E2.7bn of the total third-quarter Ebitda of E5.4bn as the number of customers continued to ratchet up in the US and Germany in particular.
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NEC and Toshiba combine semiconductor designThe groups have agreed to pool their resources to develop semiconductor process technologies in a bid to reduce the cost of increasingly complex technology development. The two will initially cooperate in developing 45-nanometre system LSI process technology. Semiconductor manufacturers are producing semiconductor chips with circuitry widths of 90 nanometres but are working on developing narrower widths of 65 and 45 nanometres. The narrower widths allow for higher density chips and lower costs. Toshiba and NEC Electronics, which is 70 per cent owned by NEC, said they were also discussing further collaboration in semiconductors, including product development and production.
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Tektronix buys VqualTektronix a provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation announced that it has acquired Vqual Ltd, a provider of software tools for analysis, test and optimization of compressed digital media, based in Bristol, UK.
Vqual, founded in 2002, has worked closely with Tektronix for the past year and recently introduced the first fully automated content analysis solution for file-based, MPEG compressed video for customers throughout the broadcast chain. Tektronix anticipates that the acquisition will accelerate the delivery of products and solutions for broadcast customers seeking to implement advanced content analysis solutions. Tektronix acquired Vqual for approximately $7m dollars plus an earn out contingent on certain conditions in the purchase agreement.
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PUSH VODSkyStream and SecureMedia are to demonstrate the world’s first live demonstration of PUSH VOD with integrated digital rights management.
PUSH VOD is an alternative to traditional network VOD because it eliminates bandwidth bottlenecks by pushing movies to set-top boxes with hard disks outside of peak traffic.
The demo, at TelcoTV, is based on SkyStream’s zBand content delivery platform pushing licensed Hollywood movies to a personal video recorder (PVR) with content protection and secure playout options managed by SecureMedia’s Encryptonite System.
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Mark Jeffery Joins ICTVICTV announced that veteran digital video executive Mark Jeffery has been named Senior Director, Product Marketing. Jeffery, whose career includes product marketing management positions at Terayon Communication Systems and Kasenna, will be responsible for increasing the visibility of the HeadendWare platform in the cable and IPTV sectors, as well as introducing HeadendWare to new video and advertising markets. In addition, he will oversee marketing and communications activities for ICTV and its ICTV International subsidiary.
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Widevine watermark VODWidevine and TVN Entertainment, the provider of on demand television programming, management and delivery solutions, announced TVN will use Widevine Mensor technology to watermark its entire VOD content line-up.
Widevine Mensor enables content owners, VOD service providers and operators to place digital watermarks into content at each stage of the video distribution chain. Mensor watermarks are robust and remain traceable when distributed beyond the set top box to PVRs, PCs, and mobile devices. By relying on the same downloadable content security mechanisms used in Widevine's content protection suite, Mensor can also renew the way watermarks are applied to content.
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Wednesday 9th November 2005
BBC to pilot HD
Grokster goes legit
Digital UK chief considers switchover 'inevitable'
CBS and NBC sign for on demand services
Microsoft for AOL?
C&W suffers in broadband
BT games for all
Nokia, Qualcomm patent fight
MRG sees telcos scale IPTV
Watching TV through mobile popular
EuroNews ADSL grows
Conexant, Tematic and Espial team
Minerva wins four telcos
VNL provides line rental
Tandberg appoints head EMEA
BBC to pilot HDThe BBC has confirmed it is introducing HD for many of its best-known programmes. It plans to 'simulcast' highlights of BBC1's peak time schedule in high definition from the middle of next year on satellite and cable. It will also launch a trial of HDTV broadcasts via Freeview.
The corporation, which already produces some programmes, such as Bleak House and Rome, in high definition for sale to the overseas market, has appointed Seetha Kumar as head of HDTV to manage and run the trial.
Commenting on the BBC's plans to launch trial broadcasts of high-definition, Richard Freudenstein, BSkyB's Chief Operating Officer, said: "Sky welcomes the announcement by the BBC. The BBC's commitment to HD is very positive news for this exciting technology and ensures that viewers will be able to enjoy an even wider choice of programmes in HD quality. Falling prices for HD Ready TVs available before Christmas are also contributing to growing interest in Sky's plans to launch HD."
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Grokster goes legitFile-sharing giant Grokster has agreed to stop distributing its software in order to settle a long-running copyright case launched by the US entertainment industry. Under the deal, Grokster is banned from taking part in the spread of copyrighted music and movie files. In addition it is paying $50m in damages.
Grokster's website already says "The United States Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that using this service to trade copyrighted material is illegal." The move comes four months after a Supreme Court ruling that file-sharing services can be held liable for actions of their users.
"This settlement brings to a close an incredibly significant chapter in the story of digital music…it ends on a high note for the recording industry, the tech community and music fans and consumers everywhere," Mitch Bainwol, head of the Recording Industry Association of America, said.
The settlement, submitted at a Los Angeles court, will not mean an end to illegal file-sharing using Grokster software as the decentralised nature of P2P software makes it impossible to control once it is released.
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Digital UK chief considers switchover 'inevitable'
From Colin Mann in LondonFord chief executive of Digital UK, the body responsible for co-ordinating
the switch from analogue to digital broadcasting, has said that switching off the analogue signal is 'inevitable". He suggested that it didn't make sense to run analogue and digital side-by-side. "The UK economy, the broadcasting industry and the consumer will all benefit from the switchover," he told a meeting of broadcasting press correspondents.Ennals' comments came as UK communications regulator Ofcom published indicative cost and power consumption implications for individual households of adapting or upgrading their analogue television equipment to digital in preparation for digital switchover.
According to Ofcom, at present, 63 per cent of UK households watch digital television, with an additional 200,000 households moving to digital each month. It is estimated that around 10 per cent of UK households will be reluctant to move to digital voluntarily or may find it difficult to do so for a range of reasons.
Ofcom's research sets out the associated cost and power consumption requirements for those who would not have switched. By 2008, average purchase price per television set-top box to view Freeview digital terrestrial television (DTT) will be around £26 (E39), according to Ofcom. Preparing the last 10 per cent of households for all-digital television broadcasting between 2008-12 will cost £572 million, equivalent to 2 per cent of UK consumer spending on all home entertainment equipment over the same period, the report suggests.
Ennals said that he prefers to describe those who have not yet switched to digital, or are likely to form the last 10 per cent as "non-adopters" rather than "refeseniks". He remains confident that the 90 per cent figure will be reached "very quickly, certainly within five years," noting that "twice as many people have signed up to digital than originally anticipated."
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CBS and NBC sign for on demand servicesCBS and NBC have signed deals with cable and satellite operators to make their top-rated television shows available for "on demand" within hours of being aired. The shows will be available for 99 cents a time.
NBC and DirecTV have agreed to make NBC programmes available through a new digital video recorder, DirecTV Plus, which is being made available at retailers this month. Meanwhile in a deal with CBS, Comcast from January shows can be viewed after they are aired. The service will be available to more than 8m digital subscribers.
"You can't stop technology," said David Zaslav, president of NBC Universal Cable. "People are viewing content differently and this is going to happen." Brian Roberts, chairman and chief executive of Comcast, said "CBS has taken a giant step forward in experimenting with prime-time video on demand".
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Microsoft for AOL?Microsoft is winning the race to take a stake in Time Warner's AOL, according to the New York Times. The two companies have been at the centre of merger speculation since September when reports emerged that they were in talks about how they could work more closely together.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates admitted recently that the group's interest in AOL was down to Microsoft's aim of playing a bigger part in the future of online advertising.
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C&W suffers in broadbandCable & Wireless said that first-half profits slid as it was affected by a shift to cheaper internet-based networks and additional losses at its Bulldog consumer broadband arm.
Pre-tax profits for the six months to September 30 fell 29 per cent from £178m (E258m) to £126m as revenue rose by 1 per cent to £1.48bn.
The company said that profitability in the UK was adversely affected by the shift to IP services from higher margin legacy products and the shift to much lower margin wholesale business. Losses at the company's Bulldog broadband arm increased and C&W said it would not be profitable before March 2007.
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BT games for allBT agilemedia, the interactive media division of BT, has partnered with Zone4Play, a developer of interactive software and technology for the betting and gaming industry, to offer a range of participation TV games. The service is aimed at broadcasters, production companies and service providers, and will provide live or pre-recorded programming allowing viewers three options: 'play for a prize', 'play for fun' or 'place real bets'.
Zone4Play will provide the gaming engine, the games and integration to television production systems, while BT agilemedia will provide the interactive voice response (IVR) and SMS infrastructure as well as the premium rate call and SMS revenue stream.
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Nokia, Qualcomm patent fightQualcomm has filed a complaint for alleged patent infringement against Nokia in San Diego involving some 12 alleged essential patents in 3G chips.
Nokia said "it is disappointed Qualcomm has taken this step given they have yet to engage in any licensing negotiations concerning these matters. With respect to the patents alleged to be essential to the GSM/GPRS/EDGE standards, Qualcomm has a duty to license those patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Qualcomm has not provided Nokia with any proposed terms for a license in compliance with its obligations."
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MRG sees telcos scale IPTVA new report by MRG analyses how telecommunications providers will scale their infrastructures to deliver IPTV. The report says that by 2009 the number of IPTV networks with over 100,000 subscribers will grow from five to over forty, including eight networks with over one million.
The report analyses key considerations to scaling an IPTV network: content aggregation, type of network used, and bandwidth capacities.
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Watching TV through mobile popularContradicting some other research, Continental Research says around 2 million adults claim to have watched TV via their mobile phone, and another 1 million want to do so. In a survey of 2,135 adults, respondents were asked which devices, apart from the traditional TV set, they had ever viewed TV on. Over 1 in 10 claim to have ever viewed TV via the internet (on a PC or laptop) and 4 per cent claim to have ever viewed TV on a mobile phone.
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EuroNews ADSL growsEuroNews, has been included on Alice ADSL-TV as the only international news provider. The French Internet provider, operated by Telecom Italia, has just launched its ASDL-TV bouquet. Philippe Cayla, President of EuroNews said: "We are delighted to be part of this new ADSL-TV offer in France, the 5th for EuroNews in this country."
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Conexant, Tematic and Espial teamConexant Systems announced that it has teamed with Espial and Tematic to deliver a complete platform for telecommunications operators looking to quickly deploy low-cost, high-performance set-top boxes (STBs) for IPTV networks.
Espial, a leading provider of client applications and middleware for set-top boxes and consumer electronic devices, and Tematic, a solutions provider for the digital TV and broadband industries, teamed to develop the pre-integrated IPTV client software stack. Tematic also provided development and integration services to support the deployment of this highly integrated platform.
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Minerva wins four telcosMinerva Networks, the provider of open-platform IPTV delivery solutions, announced that four telcos already delivering IPTV services have chosen iTVManager platform to replace their existing, unsupported middleware application. Allendale Communications, Polar Communications, United Telephone and Westphalia Broadband have chosen to migrate their existing system to offer new functionality to their subscribers and drive additional revenue opportunities.
Meanwhile Latens, the provider of software based Conditional Access Content & Revenue Protection systems, announced that its FCAS Content & Revenue Protection has been tightly integrated with the Minerva iTVManager platform.
"Latens FCAS solution combines operational flexibility with carrier-grade robustness and scalability," says Matt Cuson, Director of Marketing at Minerva Networks. "The Latens protected Minerva iTVManager platform will offer excellent content packaging, scalability and robustness."
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VNL provides line rentalVideo Networks Ltd, provider of HomeChoice, announced the addition of line rental to its digital TV, video on-demand, broadband Internet and voice service. The line rental service will launch to both new and existing customers with immediate effect. The HomeChoice line rental and call packages will be priced from £10 (E14.5) per month.
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Tandberg appoints head EMEATandberg Television announced that it has appointed Eric Baron to the newly created position of President of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Baron, who has been VP of Sales for EMEA at Tandberg Television for the past two years, will expand his remit to take on responsibility for the entire P&L performance of the EMEA region.
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Tuesday 8th November 2005
News Corp for US broadband?
Yahoo and TiVo partner for remote PVR
Free sat to speed up DTT take-up?
Cuatro aims for breakeven in 2007
Does anyone want mobile TV?
Yoo and ICTV expand JV
Amino for Sure West IPTV
New HD channels for Jupiter
SES reports strong Q3
Chello expand digital in Netherlands
News Corp for US broadband?Rupert Murdoch has told the WSJ that News Corp. may join with partners to enter the U.S. broadband market. "In the United States we may be forming a company with partners to build something out here that would give you broadband."
In the interview, Murdoch also dismissed talk that John Malone wants to take over News Corp., but added he watches Malone closely. "We have a very civil relationship, but I just gotta watch him so that, in the interests of all shareholders, you can't have someone creep up and get control of the company without paying a premium."
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Yahoo and TiVo partner for remote PVRYahoo and TiVo announce an agreement to let users remotely programme their TiVos from within Yahoo's Web site. Soon TiVo users will also be able to access traffic and weather information and their photos stored on Yahoo from the devices. TiVo users can already remotely programme their DVRs from the web to record television shows.
TiVo has almost 3.6 million subscribers from a total of about 8.3 million to DVR services in the U.S., according to Magna Global the media research firm.
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Free sat to speed up DTT take-up?
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisA new report from the Office of the Prime Minister has made a number of propositions on how to speed up the take up of DTT in France. The report contains proposals on how to achieve 85 per cent population coverage by March 2007, two years after launch, as well as how to reach 100 per cent of the population.
It points out that achievement of full coverage will be a long haul and looks at alternative means of distribution, in particular via satellite. It states that the public service channels should active free satellite distribution by the summer of 2006. It adds that discussions should be undertaken with all distribution platforms (ADSL, cable, satellite) to take up all of the free DTT channels.
Satellite distribution raises the problem of programme rights outside France. Various solutions are envisaged, such as a simple form of encryption that would require a dedicated decoder, or a specific viewing card. It also points out that the BBC's solution, of transmitting via a reduced footprint, shows that such a solution is "technically possible". As for the choice of satellite, the report says AB3 (Atlantic Bird 3, formerly Telecom 2) is already received in France by 1.2 million homes in poor reception areas and it would be a simple and low-cost matter to add a digital set top box. Moreover, this satellite already carries the current DTT channels destined for relay transmitters, although some adaptation would be required for direct to home reception.
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Cuatro aims for breakeven in 2007
From David Del Valle in MadridCuatro, the new Spanish commercial TV channel that has just been launched by Sogecable, also owner of digital DTH platform Digital Plus and Canal Plus, hopes to reach breakeven in 2007.
The new channel - available on the former Canal Plus' frequency - plans to get an average audience share of 5 to 6 per cent this year and between 7 and 8 per cent in 2006. Cuatro estimates that ad revenues will amount to E150 to E180 million in 2006, more or less the same as the forecast programming costs. The new channel, with programming based on entertainment and news, is targeted at an urban and young audience and aims to become an alternative to the present Spanish TV landscape.
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Does anyone want mobile TV?Most people have no desire to watch television on mobile phones, according to new research. The findings of a survey of 1,500 entertainment consumers in Britain by Entertainment Media Research (EMR) deflates some of the hype about mobile-television. Although 65 per cent of British consumers surveyed cite the mobile phone as their most desired gadget, 70 per cent of mobile owners said they did not want to watch television on their phone at all.
The survey found there was a much greater consumer demand for television content on PCs than mobiles. The home computer is becoming an extra TV set in the home, according to EMR's chief executive, Russell Hart. Nearly 45 per cent of consumers said they would watch TV on their home computer, because it enabled them to choose what they wanted to watch and when; let them watch TV while doing other things, and gave them a break when working on the computer. Half of the respondents surf the internet or send emails while watching TV, and a third use instant messaging at the same time as they watch TV.
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Yoo and ICTV expand JVYooMedia and ICTV have expanded their joint venture agreement to develop and exclusively market rich media interactive content solutions and services for the worldwide 3G mobile market. The joint venture company, BroadbandTV Group, uses YooMedia's cross platform interactive media gateway and services and ICTV's HeadendWare technology.
BroadbandTV Group aims to operate and provide a unique enhanced 3G interactive video gateway for 3G network operators, television broadcasters, content publishers, content producers and advertisers. BroadbandTV says it has already developed and aggregated a wide-ranging interactive UK programming package through its Content Partner Programme, including ITN, MTV Networks, Emap, Turner Broadcasting, Sesame Workshop and UKTV.
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Amino for Sure West IPTVAmino announced that it has enabled leading independent telecommunications holding company SureWest Communications as it prepares to become the first US
broadband service provider to offer high-definition (HD) television services
over IP.Through its current beta testing phase, SureWest has already rolled
out Amino's AmiNET120 HD set-top box to a core group of subscribers in the
Sacramento, California region. "Many cable companies have begun to deploy HD services in an effort to attract more subscribers," commented Bill DeMuth, SureWest's vice president and chief technology officer. "Therefore, time to market was a critical
factor for us in selecting the AmiNET120, in addition to fundamental
quality."The SureWest fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) infrastructure in the Sacramento
region supplies more than enough bandwidth to allow its standard-definition IPTV subscribers to receive full HD services.
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New HD channels for JupiterJupiter Telecommunications the largest multiple system operator in Japan based on the number of customers served, announced today that it will begin offering two CS digital High Definition (HD) channels, FOXlife HD and Discovery HD, beginning on Wednesday, December 14, 2005. By using optical transmission capabilities in conjunction with its proprietary network, J:COM will be able to transmit the HD signals to its customers with less interference and higher picture quality than is normally experienced with satellite transmissions.
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SES reports strong Q3SES Global has issued its financial results for the third quarter of 2005.
Revenues were up 21 per cent to E313 m (Q3 2004: E259m) Q3 EBITDA increased 10 per cent to E216 m (Q3 2004: E196 m). Net profit rose 48 per cent to E108 m (Q3 2004: E73 m) and year-to-date net profit of E277 m (YTD 2004 - including an exceptional tax credit of E60 m - E293 m). Net debt rose to E1.979bn from EUR 1.716bn at June 30.Romain Bausch, President & CEO of SES Global, commented: "SES has continued to make active progress during the quarter, building on the success of the first six months of 2005. In addition to the new transponder contracts signed with video broadcasting customers, we have also introduced new service platforms for video services such as blucom and IP-Prime. These will generate new, profitable revenue streams alongside that of our core satellite infrastructure business."
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Chello expand digital in Netherlandschellomedia, the new owner of Canal+ in the Netherlands, announces plans to expand its digital television offering from the current three services to four premium movie channels and one premium 24/7 sports channel with seven windows, all under new brand names. Within the first quarter of 2006 the movie service will be relaunched as Film1 and the sports service as Sport1.
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Monday 7th November 2005
BSkyB profits up, misses subs target
Spain: Government and TV make peace
FCC to probe telco TV hold ups
Lightspeed on track says SBC
AOL buys online music store
Napster narrows losses
Nintendo wireless with BT
Bids for Freeview channel
France Telecom R&D with Ikivo
Latens for Com Net
BSkyB profits up, misses subs targetBSkyB's pre-tax profits rose 13.6 per cent to £200m (E290m) in the July to September quarter compared with the same period a year ago. It said profits rose after 57,000 new subscribers helped lift revenues 8 per cent to £1.023bn. However, recent price hikes also boosted the churn up to 11.7 per cent from 10.5 per cent.
Nevertheless, BSkyB is sticking to its ambitious subscriber growth, with targets set at eight million by the end of this year (7.8m at the end of September) and 10 million by the end of 2010, chief executive James Murdoch said. Shares fell sharply as analysts said they'd expected 68,000 subscriber adds. The good news for Sky was that the number of Sky+ subscribers rose above one million.
Meanwhile, BSkyB just succeeded in pushing through the controversial share buy back as shareholders owning 54 per cent of the company voted in favour of a resolution to waive Rule 9 of the City Code allowing News Corp to increase its stake as part of the buyback without requiring it to bid for the remainder of the company. However, BSkyB acknowledged the opposition by conceding that the share buyback would not be renewed beyond the current fiscal year ending June 2006.
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Spain: Government and TV make peace
From David Del Valle in MadridThe private TV stations Tele 5 and Antena 3 have dropped their plans to take the Government to Court over its decision to allow Sogecable to launch Cuatro free-to-air. In exchange, the Administration has guaranteed that the DTT channels will be granted directly to the operators ruling out a public tender. In addition, the Government has undertaken to impose tougher advertising limits on the public broadcaster TVE.
Following this deal, TVE will be able to operate six DTT channels; Antena 3, Tele 5 and Sogecable's Cuatro, three; digital operators Veo TV and Net TV, and the new analogue channel to be awarded in December (and in operation from May next year with a 70 per cent coverage).
The new public TV law will limit advertising time on TVE. Currently, the limit is 12 minutes per hour, a rule that is applied to all broadcasters. The Government plans to reduce that limit up to at least eight minutes in TVE's case, releasing part of the revenues to the benefit of private TV stations. Likewise, the Government has undertaken to do its best to avoid a dominant position of Sogecable in the market given that the group will operate both in the pay-TV and in the commercial business.
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FCC to probe telco TV hold upsThe Federal Communications Commission has voted to open a proceeding to evaluate whether local franchising authorities are placing hurdles before telephone companies attempting to offer customers a additional choices for TV services and if so, what the FCC should do. Section 621 of the Communications Act forbids franchise agencies from unreasonably refusing to issue video franchises to cable competitors.
Jonathan Banks, BellSouth vice president executive and federal regulatory affairs commented: "We welcome the FCC's effort to examine the interplay between local franchising requirements and the entry of new competitors into the video marketplace. Streamlining the local franchising process and eliminating unreasonable conditions on entering local video markets will help pave the way to increased investment in fibre networks and new technologies."
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Lightspeed on track says SBCProviding an update on Project Lightspeed, SBC says it has recently concluded a technical field trial of IP-based services, which successfully demonstrated that the technology works in a real-world environment. During the two-month trial, which concluded last month, SBC companies successfully delivered IPTV programming, video-on-demand, high-speed Internet access and other features to employee households in San Antonio. This was the second of two employee field trials.
"The conclusion of our field trials and successful delivery of these new IP-based entertainment services was a significant program milestone," said Andy Geisse, chief information officer, SBC. "IP is the next big thing. We're going to change the face of television with an IP-based platform that enables integration, personalisation and a high-quality entertainment experience."
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AOL buys online music storeAOL has bought Circuit City Store's digital music subscription service MusicNow putting it into competition with RealNetworks, Yahoo, Napster and other subscription services. It is believed AOL paid around $25 million.
MusicNow sells downloads for 99 cents each, comparable to iTunes, and offers a monthly subscriptions for $9.95 for unlimited downloads or streaming, which refers to listening to music online without downloading it. For an additional $5 a month, listeners can download songs to a compatible digital music player.
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Napster narrows lossesNapster posted a narrower second-quarter loss, helped by subscriber growth. Napster posted a net loss of $13.6 million compared with a net loss of $15.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenues were $23.4 million compared with $9.3 million.
For the second quarter ended September 30, the total number of Napster paid subscribers grew to 448,000. For the quarter ended June 30, paid subscribers totalled 402,000. For the third quarter, Napster expects subscriber growth to increase significantly, but revenue to be about flat.
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Nintendo wireless with BTNintendo has struck a deal with The Cloud and BT Openzone to provide free Wi-Fi gaming for users of its DS handheld console at hotspots across the UK. Wi-Fi gaming will be available at 7,500 hotspots throughout the UK including ones at branches of McDonalds and Coffee Republic as well as at train stations and airports. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection will also be rolled out across the rest of Europe in partnership with a variety of Wi-Fi companies and service provider.
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Bids for Freeview channelFlextech, Viacom, Five, ITV, Channel 4 and Disney are all thought to have bid for a spare Freeview slot being offered by National Grid Wireless. The seller is thought to be seeking at least £5.5m (E8m) a year.
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France Telecom R&D with Ikivo
Ikivo the Mobile SVG company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with France Télécom R&D. This partnership will enable FT R&D to evaluate, test and deploy prototype rich media services based on Ikivo's Multimedia Player. France Télécom R&D will not only use Ikivo's Multimedia SVG Player, but also Ikivo's Animator to design future rich media mobile SVG services, that could be deployed to France Telecom mobile customers.
"France Télécom R&D is one of the largest operator R&D organisations in the world, employing over 4200 researchers and engineers, serving all the major Orange operating companies." said Samuel Sweet, Director Ikivo."
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Latens for Com NetLatens Systems, the supplier of software-based Conditional Access, announced that Com Net Inc., an Ohio-based company offering advanced telecommunication services to 21 Independent Local Exchange Companies (ILECs), has chosen Latens Conditional Access solutions to secure the delivery of video content through Com Net's affiliates. The Latens CA system will combine with Minerva iTVManager Middleware to provide Com Net with a secure end-to-end IPTV delivery platform.
"As telephone companies planning to launch IPTV services our LEC customers need the technologies we deploy to provide carrier-grade strength and security," says Randall Plaisier, CTO, Com Net.
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