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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 21st October 2005
Canal+ and Orange team up for mobile video
Setanta will bid for Premier rights
Sky man alliance with Top Up
eBay up 40%
Netflix in red
C+ and Philips unite for HD
Nokia up on mobile demand
M&A on up
Mobile stats standards
AOL sheds 700
Sea Change on demand streaming
Canal+ and Orange team up for mobile video
From Colin Mann in CannesFrance’s leading pay-TV operator Canal+ is joining forces with mobile operator Orange to launch Canal+ Orange Vidéo, with the aim of carrying the best of Canal+ in video on the Orange World portal.
Starting on 27 October 2005, Orange customers with a compatible ‘Orange World Vidéo’ device will have access to a mobile multimedia offering, based on the Canal+ themes: Cinema, Sport, Humour, Information and ‘Charme’.
Guy Lafarge, VP Distribution for Canal+ said that the aim of the service was to keep it part of the Canal+ brand experience, and was consistent with the Group’s multi-platform distribution strategy.
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Setanta will bid for Premier rightsSetanta, the sports channel operator, and Benchmark Capital, the venture capital fund, are said to be preparing to bid for live rights to Premier League football. Benchmark has taken a stake in Setanta, becoming its largest shareholder and valuing the sports broadcasting group at more than E100m . The capital injection will allow Setanta to bid for sporting rights, including those of Premiership football.
The BBC, ITV, Five and NTL, have all indicated thay will join the bidding. The EC is currently due to react to the Leagues latest compromise proposal on breaking up the rights between broadcasters ending the possibility of an exclusive deal with Sky.
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Sky man alliance with Top UpA former BSkyB executive who helped secure the group's dominance of Premiership coverage has formed an alliance with rival pay-TV operator Top Up TV. Michael Rhodes stepped down as head of regulatory affairs at BSkyB this year to set up a consultancy.
The Guardian reports his new business and Top Up have common shareholders; Access Industries, the US investment firm. Although Top Up has said it will not bid for a Premier League rights package, it has left open the possibility of striking a carriage deal with a broadcaster, or investor that secures a rights in the auction.
Top Up is thought to have around 200,000 subscribers.
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eBay up 40%Auction site eBay has reported a 40% rise in quarterly profits. Net income in the third quarter ending 30 September was $255m up from $182.3m a year earlier. International sales increased 43% to $408.9m.
eBay said its purchase of VoIP firm Skype and an online payment firm would slow earnings growth. Some analysts have questioned the move for Skype, saying it the price is too high and it does not offer the company enough benefits.
Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Dutta said "As we head into the close of the year, I couldn't be more pleased with the overall health of the business".
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Netflix in redOnline DVD rental company Netflix said quarterly earnings fell due to marketing costs from its war with rival Blockbuster and other charges, but subscriptions rose faster than forecast. The company said net income fell to $6.9 million, from $18.9 million in the year-earlier quarter. The company posted revenue of $174.3 million compared with $141.6 million for the year-earlier quarter. Netflix's subscriber base grew by 61 percent, year over year, to 3.592 million in the third quarter.
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C+ and Philips unite for HDCANAL+ Group and Philips are teaming up to roll out High-Definition Television (HDTV) broadcasting in France. CANAL+ and Philips will together develop a range of differentiated services and products. This will include the HDTV set-top boxes that will decode HD programs from CANAL+. Philips plans to start delivering the 'HD MediaSat'+in the first half of 2006 to support the HD CANAL+ LE BOUQUET
launch, and the HD MediaSat+ PVR (a combination of Set Top Box and Personal
Video Recorder) from mid 2006.
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Nokia up on mobile demandStrong demand for mobile phones has lifted profits at Nokia. It reported profits in the third quarter of $1.05bn, up 29% on the same period last year. Sales rose to $10bn in the quarter, up by 18% compared with one year ago, as the company sold 66.6 million mobiles, giving it a 33% market share.
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M&A on upThe European technology sector saw a record number of merger and acquisitions bids in the third quarter, outstripping even the levels seen during the peak of the tech bubble in the first quarter of 2000.
That’s according to the latest European Technology Acquisition Review, published by Regent Associates. 820 acquisitions were announced in the three months to the end of September, beating the previous record of 781 in the first quarter of 2000.Because of a number of multi-billion dollar deals, the value of deals has also increased rapidly. The combined value of announced bids in the third quarter was $71.5bn, more than double the level seen in the same period last year. In contrast, the market for initial public offerings has remained sluggish, with only 64 technology IPOs in the first nine months of the year, compared with 367 in the same period in 2000.
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Mobile stats standardsNMA reports the UK's mobile network operators are attempting to standardise mobile marketing metrics hoping to turn mobile phones into a mainstream advertising medium.
The initiative is designed to get big-brand advertisers using the medium by providing clarity in mobile marketing data and mechanics to media agencies. The UK's operators are working on the initiative with both the Mobile Data Association (MDA) and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).
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AOL sheds 700America Online said it would lay off more than 700 employees, mainly in call centers, as its base of dial-up subscribers continued to slump. AOL plans to close its call center in Orlando and will lay off the 450 employees there. It attributed the cuts to a decline in members and an increase in computer-knowledgeable users who did their own troubleshooting. The cuts amount to about 4 percent of the 20,000 employees worldwide at America Online. As of June 30, AOL, had 20.8 million members in the United States and 6.2 million members in Europe.
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Sea Change on demand streamingSeaChange International has unveiled substantial cost-performance gains for its worldwide video-on-demand customers with the new SeaChange Memory Streaming Blade. This add-on for deployed SeaChange IP Video Systems increases total streaming capacity by a factor of eight, says the company, and allows television operators to serve their most popular content from memory, while leaving the less popular ‘long-tail’content on more cost-efficient disks.
"SeaChange’s new Memory Streaming Blade revolutionizes the economics of streaming. We firmly believe in protecting our customers investment and this memory streaming add-on will do just that," said Yvette Kanouff, senior vice president, corporate strategy.
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Thursday 20th October 2005
EC, Premiere league near compromise?
Spanish broadcasters set up Pro DTT Association
3: "we’re a media company now"
McCain: go for DTV in 07
National Geographic goes short-form for broadband
Endemol mobile
Magazine VOD first
Yahoo earnings boost
Nintendo pick up wi-fi tab
Widevine watermark
Samsung hard drive phone
DirecTV Big NASCAR Deal
SBS buy closes
EC, Premiere league near compromise?The UK Premier League is moving closer to settling its dispute with the European Commission by tabling fresh proposals to end Sky's exclusive right to live games and allow rival broadcasters access to more matches. Neelie Kroes, the EU's competition commissioner, has given herself until Friday to decide whether the new package is good enough or to proceed with legal action.
During talks it is reported Richard Scudamore, the league's chief executive, came close to restoring the Commission's confidence that the league would honour its commitment to an agreement struck in December 2003. It had agreed to share the next batch of live TV rights between more than one broadcaster, ending BSkyB's monopoly. Discussions to thrash out the details of that agreement were opened in June, but the commission soon accused the league of undermining the December 2003 agreement.
If the Commission decides to move against the league, it will issue a statement of objections, the first stage in legal action, and give the football body two months to come up with better proposals. The league can demand an oral hearing before the commission and national regulators and, if it fails to win them over, could face fines of up to 10% of its turnover.
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Spanish broadcasters set up Pro DTT Association
David Del Valle in MadridAll Spanish broadcasters - RTVE, Telecinco, Antena 3, Sogecable, Veo TV and Net TV, Regional stations Forta and broadcasting agency Abertis, have joined forces and set up a DTT Association (called Asociacion Pro TDT) to boost the DTT market in cooperation with the Central Administration.
The Association will aim to speed up the development of the DTT market at a vital time with the launch next month of a free-to-air DTT platform with at least 18 channels. One of its first tasks will be the creation of a DTT observatory to oversee the digital migration that should be completed in April 2010. The Association will be responsible for coordinating and carrying out joint (commercial and technical) actions, with the support of the Government. It will also produce reports about the development of the market and about how the migration is taking place.
The Association plans to sign an agreement with the Ministry of Industry to get financial and technical resources from the Government to make DTT be a reality in Spain, according to the Association. "This is the first global Association of broadcasters", said Carmen Caffarel, General Director of RTVE, "whose main aim is to explain to all citizens the advantages of the digital TV".
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3: "we’re a media company now"MNO 3UK, is beginning its IPO preparations (expected next year), and is seeking to reinvent itself as a media company. The Hutchison Whampoa subsidiary has laid out a strategy based around the convergence of communication, entertainment and information on the mobile handset.
Bob Fuller, chief executive, insisted that 3UK’s technological lead over rivals such as Vodafone and Orange in the deployment of 3G services meant it could claim the mantle of "the first truly mobile media company. The previous distinctions between media, technology and communications industries have all but disappeared. An entirely new type of company is emerging that blurs the boundaries between all three."
To back the claims 3 has announced a number of content initiatives designed to shake up the digital music and mobile TV markets. 'Dual Download' will see 3 offer customers who download music tracks the opportunity to access their portfolio of songs online for free. 3 claims this is the first time that songs downloaded to mobile handsets can be accessed on other devices. 3 has content deals with record labels EMI, Sony BMG and several independent labels. Music tracks cost £1.50 (E2.2) each.
3 is also bolstering its mobile TV offering. The operator is launching a reality TV channel called See Me TV. Would-be entertainers are being asked to submit a 30 second video clip, and will be paid 1p every time the clip is downloaded. Credits will be paid into Paypal accounts and there's no cap on the amount contributors can earn. A new line-up on 3's mobile TV service will include seven new channels. CNN, ITN, Bravo and Cartoon Network among others have signed up to provide content.
3UK has grown rapidly since its launch and has 3.2m subscribers in the UK, but is still a distant fifth in the market.
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McCain: go for DTV in 07Senator John McCain has said he would press for the transition to higher quality digital television signals to be completed by the end 2006 or early 2007 instead a proposal for April 2009. The Arizona Republican has been pushing broadcasters to quickly finish their shift to digital airwaves and give up their old analogue airwaves, some of which would then be used to improve communications between emergency workers.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens has proposed April 7, 2009 as the date when television stations switch to airing only digital signals. "Can we really afford to wait until 2009 before we go ahead and transfer this spectrum?" McCain said, noting the difficulties emergency personnel had communicating during Hurricane Katrina. The Senate committee is set to vote on a transition date at a meeting this week.
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National Geographic goes short-form for broadband
From Colin Mann in CannesNational Geographic's Digital Media Group has launched a short-form production unit to create premium video content specifically for the broadband marketplace. With a distribution agreement with MSN, the new unit has already delivered instantly accessible premium video.
Matthew White, executive vice president for Digital Media, said that
digital and broadband had opened a huge window of opportunity for content rights holders. "Combining our production and creative expertise with the lessons learned from the text, photography and music pioneers that came before us, we are taking positive, progressive steps to build new and sustainable business models that only increase the value of the assets we manage. We are looking forward to delivering many captivating videos to MSN and other broadband platforms."
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Endemol mobileBig Brother producer Endemol is to launch of two "TV channels" tailored specifically to the "third screen" (mobile). It said it would launch an extreme reality channel featuring the "bizzarrest and weirdest" video clips and a comedy channel later this year.
Endemol creative chief, Peter Bazelgette, said it would also launch a new mobile division in the UK to produce original mobile content. First will be a new game called Ten for Ten, in which users face a series of quick-fire video questions for the chance to win £10(E14.5). Bazelgette said the mobile division would work with network operators, re-versioning some of its extensive catalogue.
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Magazine VOD firstUS Meredith Corp. has become one of the first major publishing groups to launch a video-on-demand service based on a mainstream print property. Meredith, which owns a range of women’s magazines and a TV station group, is producing TV content based on its American Baby magazine.
The company is also planning a cross-platform media sell, offering marketers the opportunity to advertise alongside the VOD segments. The move follows calls from marketing and media executives for magazine companies to be flexible about how they distribute content in the broadband era. "These agreements reflect our strategy to extend our publishing brands into the electronic space and to serve consumers across media and platforms," said Meredith President Jack Griffin.
The content is already airing on Comcast Corp. systems, which says discussions are ongoing with a number of big media groups for VOD content.
Meredith also said it made a similar agreement with SignStorey, a custom TV network available in grocery stores that will provide TV content from the magazine.
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Yahoo earnings boostYahoo, the most visited site and the web's biggest media firm, reported quarterly earnings up on estimates on higher advertising demand. Net income rose to $254m in the three months to the end of September, up from $253m a year earlier. Sales totalled $1.33bn compared with $907m. Yahoo attracts almost 100 million users a month.
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Nintendo pick up wi-fi tabNintendo has joined forces with McDonald's to offer free wireless internet access in the US for its DS handheld games console, so McDonald's customers will be able to play selected DS titles against other gamers around the world. Nintendo's online gaming service is due to be launched in the US on 14 November, and then in Europe on 25 November. McDonald's already offers wireless internet access in many US restaurants, but charges a fee.
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Widevine watermarkWidevine Technologies announced a new digital watermarking technology for studios and operators. Through partnership with best-of-breed watermarking partners, Widevine says it will enable studios, broadcasters and operators to insert digital fingerprints into video content as it passes through three key points in the video distribution chain: the content owner, the operator and consumer electronics devices.
Widevine Mensor fingerprints and watermarks content at each stage of a multi-node content delivery network. Hollywood studios, broadcasters and operators can track where, when and to what device content is delivered—regardless of network, device or video format. In the event of theft, this approach enhances the possibility of tracking piracy down to the individual.
"Widevine continues to deliver an innovative and comprehensive solution to address emerging content owner requirements for watermarking content", said Reza Rassool, Chief Engineer at Widevine, "We anticipate content owners will want to identify and track assets discretely. Furthermore, Widevine Mensor will help operators streamline the acquisition of content licenses, when forensic requirements migrate into carriage contracts."
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Samsung hard drive phoneSamsung has introduced a 3GB hard-drive embedded phone, the SPH-V7900. This is Samsung's second model equipped with a hard disc drive following the world's first mobile phone equipped with 1.5GB hard disc drive, model SPH-V5400, which Samsung introduced in September of last year
The V7900 allows users to store two or three full-length movies (at 1.1-5GB each) or more than 700 music files (at 4MB each). The V7900 also supports the latest multimedia compression technologies -MPEG-4/H.264 (for video) and MPEG-4 AAC/AAC+ (for audio). High-performance dual speakers are mounted on the exterior folder to provide 64-polyphonic stereo sound.
It also comes with a 2 megapixel camera that includes 2x optical zoom, MP3 player, and document viewer functions. The phone is available in Korea at around US$700.
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DirecTV Big NASCAR DealDirecTV has signed a corporate sponsorship agreement with NASCAR that will give it exclusive rights among pay-TV distributors to use the car racing brand in marketing and advertising promotions through early 2010.
The sponsorship agreement will enable DirecTV to create consumer marketing and retail promotions targeting 75 million NASCAR fans, and leverage the power of the NASCAR brand in promotions for customers who have access to all networks on DirecTV that air NASCAR events. Networks airing NASCAR - Fox, FX, NBC, TNT and Speed Channel - are available from the DBS service.
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SBS buy closesSBS Broadcasting and PKS Media a company controlled by private equity firms, Permira and KKR, announced that PKS has completed the previously announced acquisition of SBS. PKS Media will be renamed SBS Broadcasting S.à.r.l.
Markus Tellenbach will continue as Chief Executive Officer. On the board will be Harry Evans Sloan, former executive chairman of SBS, and Juergen von Schwerin, who will continue as Chief Financial Officer. The new board will also include Lord Hollick, a KKR executive, as chairman, Götz Mäuser, a Permira partner, as vice chairman, Arnold Bahlmann, a former member of Bertelsmann’s executive board and an advisor to Permira, Katrin Wehr-Seiter of Permira and Johannes Huth and Dominic Murphy of KKR.
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Wednesday 19th October 2005
NTL wants to keep UKTV
NDS chief predicts PVR giveaway
Malone may back Murdoch
Tandberg buys GoldPocket
Rainbow HD partnership with Singapore
SBC picks Lucent
New MD for ECCA
chello partner with Ascent
LG profits down
Kreatel marketing appointment
NTL wants to keep UKTVNTL wants to preserve the rights of its merger partner Telewest to the latter's UKTV joint venture with the BBC. Reports say NTL might have to restructure its $6billion (E5 billion) acquisition in an effort to keep the 50 per cent stake in UKTV. The BBC has a right to force NTL to sell the stake because of a change of control clause in the joint venture agreement and has been speaking directly to bidders for Flextech, which was being auctioned by Telewest prior to the NTL merger.
According to a US regulatory filing, NTL may restructure its purchase of Telewest "to cause NTL to merge with a wholly owned subsidiary of Telewest", a legal mechanism that NTL sources say could prevent the BBC's change of control clause being triggered. Asked about the clause NTL Chief Executive Simon Duffy said: "Yes, that just reflects the fact that we need to find a way to deal with the change of control provisions around UKTV and the BBC. It just gives us more flexibility in those discussions, which we have already begun with the BBC about how we will make all that operate."
Meanwhile, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Providence Equity Partners are understood to have teamed up with rival private equity groups Blackstone and Cinven to consider a bid for the combined NTL/Telewest after they complete their merger.
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NDS chief predicts PVR giveaway
From Colin Mann in CannesAbe Peled, President and CEO of NDS, has predicted that the penetration of PVRs (personal video recorders) will approach 100 per cent of digital TV households in Western countries as digital platform operators give them away for free.
"It’s been proved that it’s an effective way of eliminating churn," he told an audience of TV industry executives at the MIPCOM TV programming market. Peled and fellow CEO panellists, including former BBC Director General Greg Dyke, were addressing the question of the Changing Landscape of Television: Threats and Opportunities.
"We’ll see a paradigm shift from time-based viewing to content-based viewing," asserted Peled. "There’s no question that the PVR will radically change the landscape. ‘Event’ television will continue, but it will be an increasingly narrow window."
Dyke, currently Chairman of HIT Entertainment, felt that traditional, advertiser-funded channels "had a long life yet. They’ll change their schedules as PVRs take off," he suggested, adding that such broadcasters would have to get into the multi-channel world as well.
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The Times, owned by News Corp, reports it is hopeful that it will see off a shareholder rebellion at the media group’s decision to extend a poison-pill defence against takeover.
It is understood that News Corp believes it has the support of John Malone, the second largest voting shareholder, which will enable it to overcome the rebels’ attempt to vote against or abstain on the reappointment of four directors, in retaliation for News Corp’s extending the poison-pill defence without putting it to a shareholder vote. This is the ultimate irony as the defence was devised in the first place to stop Malone taking a bigger stake in the group.
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Tandberg Television announced it has agreed to acquire US based GoldPocket Interactive, (GPI), a leading provider of open-standards interactive television technology, solutions and systems. Tandberg will acquire privately-held GPI for a mix of cash and shares worth $78.5m.
Tandberg says the combined resources of the two companies will broaden the group’s market offering and enable it to continue to build its high margin software business. Earlier this year, Tandberg acquired N2 Broadband, America’s leading provider of open platform on-demand solutions and with the new acquisition the company is now strongly positioned to lead the new television era by providing network operators with digital TV solutions including HDTV, video on demand, advertising on-demand, IPTV, and interactive TV applications.
"The acquisition of GoldPocket will enable us to significantly expand our presence within existing and new customers. We already have numerous common customers with GPI in the North American market, such as DIRECTV, FOX, NBC, News Corporation and Time Warner. Our traditional relationships are with engineering/technology management who make critical decisions regarding network architectures. The addition of GPI’s interactive technology and tools will bring us into the content core where we can assist our customers in deploying interactive applications that have a direct impact on their revenues and consumer appeal," says Eric Cooney, President and CEO of Tandberg Television.
GoldPocket employs 85 people based in Los Angeles. It had an estimated $12m in revenue for 2005.
Tandberg Television delivered revenues of MNOK 476.1 (E61 million) in Q3 05, up 21 per cent compared to the same period in 04. Operating profits of MNOK 94.7, were up 71 per cent from Q3 04 and up 26 per cent sequentially.
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Rainbow HD partnership with Singapore
From Colin Mann in CannesRainbow HD Holdings, Mega Media Pte Ltd. and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) have announced a partnership to create $20 million worth of HD programmes over the next three years. All the programming produced under the partnership will air on Rainbow HD’s VOOM HD Networks, the world’s largest and most diverse suite of HD channels.
"This collaboration is significant for Rainbow in that it marks the company’s first major international co-production effort which directly supports the launch of VOOM HD Networks in the global arena," said Greg Moyer, Co-General Manager, VOOM HD Networks.Dr Christopher Chia, Chief Executive Officer, the MDA, suggested that the new collaboration would further add to the development of Singapore's thriving media scene. "Our growing expertise in next generation HD television production will complement the media infrastructure and talent pool that we have built up in Singapore and allow us to create further synergies. This new collaboration marks our commitment towards positioning Singapore not only as a leader in the production of quality high-definition programmes but also as the natural choice for a full range of media activities."
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SBC Communications announced Lucent Technologies will provide a comprehensive IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) platform that will help SBC integrate wireline and wireless services and deliver anytime, anywhere access to a so-called "grand slam" of next-generation Internet Protocol (IP)-based services – wireline and wireless voice, high-speed Internet access and video.
The Lucent IMS platform, consisting of an array of IMS-related hardware and software products and applications, will enable SBC companies to share IP-based services and applications across different consumer devices. SBC expects to begin introducing services enabled by the IMS platform in late 2006 or early 2007.
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European Cable Communications Association (ECCA) announces that Caroline van Weede has been appointed as Managing Director.
Van Weede held various senior positions in European public policy. For eight years, she was Head of European Affairs at SFR (formerly CEGETEL), the second largest mobile telecom operator in France.
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chellomedia interactive services and Ascent Media Network Services Europe (AMNSE) announced a partnership to offer interactive TV (iTV) capabilities at AMNSE’s London-based playout facilities, thereby enabling simple, cost effective deployment of iTV content to UK digital satellite and cable networks.
By locating its chello mistral solution at AMNSE’s central London facilities, chellomedia interactive services can offer UK customers a turnkey solution whereby interactive content can be encoded for multiple platforms and inserted at the point of playout.
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LG Electronics Inc., Asia's second-largest mobile phone maker, said third-quarter profit fell 49 per cent on lower earnings from its liquid-crystal display unit and expenses to create a venture with Nortel Networks Corp.
Net income dropped to 157 billion won ($150 million) from 304 billion won a year earlier. Chief Executive Kim Ssang Su is focusing on the company's mobile phone operations to revive earnings growth as prices slump for LCDs. The company today reported a profit margin at its handset business after an unprecedented loss in the previous quarter.
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Kreatel Communications, the provider of IP set-top box solutions, has appointed Matthias Trygg as Marketing Director and Christer Hultcrantz as Logistics Manager.
Prior to joining Kreatel, Matthias held several executive positions at Ericsson and served as Executive Vice President for Adcore’s Swedish operations.
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Tuesday 18th October 2005
Easynet is Sky target
Second phase of French DTT
E32bn for mobile content
BBC World to broadcast over the Internet on GreenGrass
Two candidates compete for new TV channel in Spain
MPAA sues six more sites
Philips sales boost
Sony Ericsson up on multi-features
New £30m rights fund
Akimbo Systems media centre
Conax for Tianjin
Irdeto for Force
Changes at Arrivo
Easynet is Sky targetShares in broadband internet provider Easynet rose up to 20% sharply as it conformed it had received an approach which is assumed to be from BSkyB. Analysts say that Easynet could be valued at around £150m (E270m).
Easynet has has its own equipment in 250 local BT exchanges, giving it direct access to 4.4 million homes and 850,000 businesses in the UK, mainly in the bigger metropolitan areas.
Sky hasn’t confirmed the approach but said: "Sky intends to continue to set the pace of change in media content and distribution."
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Second phase of French DTT
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisBroadcasting services operator TDF officially switched on the second phase of French DTT on Saturday evening. The transmitters at 17 new sites (Ajaccio, Bayonne, La Rhune, Bourges, Caen, Herouville, Cherbourg Digosville, Grenoble, Tour-sans-Venin, Le Havre, Harfleur, Lyon, Mont Pilat, Le Mans, Nantes, Orleans, Reeims, Hautvilliers, St Etienne, Toulon and Toulouse) came into service, bringing DTT to 50% of the country, up from the previous 35%.
The third phase will be in June 2006, when a further 19 transmission sites will be switched on, followed by a fourth phase in October 2006 with a further 24 transmission sites. Welcoming the event, the Prime Minister has called for the deployment to be accelerated. He also called on the ministry of industry to open discussions with neighbouring countries over usable frequencies in the border regions. He also decided to set up a fund to accompany the switch to digital.
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E32bn for mobile contentThe market for mobile content and entertainment services could grow to around E32 billion in Western Europe, by 2012, according to a new report by Berg Insight. However it says mobile TV services will not be the main services contributing to the surge in mobile content revenue within this time-frame. Subscribers will be reluctant to sign up for monthly payments to access TV services until transmission reaches broadcast quality – which is not expected before 2012 in most markets.
Nevertheless it says TV brands will increasingly cross over onto mobile through selected streamed and downloaded clips, games tie-ins, interactive TV and branded content services as TV producers and broadcasters integrate mobile into their production schedules. "Most TV rights owners stand to receive just insignificant amounts per download through their revenue share deals with the mobile network operators so only those properties with mass market appeal stand to earn any real money," says the report’s author, Julie Robson. "But with some major media brands entering the market we might start seeing some more aggressive deals".
The leading mobile content and entertainment services over the next 5 – 7 years will be games, sport, music and multi-media downloads and content messaging. Adult content will also provide an important revenue stream in many Western European markets, although mobile operators will often prefer to keep a distance from racier content and stick to softer branded "lads mag" type content – e.g. GQ, Loaded and FHM.
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BBC World to broadcast over the Internet on GreenGrass
From Colin Mann in CannesPre-pay broadcast network GreenGrass has revealed that BBC World, the 24-hour international news and information channel, is the latest channel to sign-up for its service. The channel will go live in the next few weeks, becoming available in high quality video to broadband subscribers around the world. The move supports BBC World's objective to reach as wide an audience as possible through both traditional and new media platforms. Until now BBC World has predominantly been available through traditional cable and satellite platforms.
GreenGrass offers broadcasters and rights holders an alternative to digital TV networks, enabling them to distribute and sell their programming via the web, direct to the 150 million broadband subscribers worldwide. BBC World will join news broadcaster ITN, motor sport channel Revs TV and a number of other channels that are participating in the beta trial of GreenGrass ahead of a full consumer launch in January.
Jeff Hazell, BBC World's distribution and business development director of sales and distribution, said: "We see broadcasting on GreenGrass as complementary to traditional television. Broadband access and wireless hot spots are now widespread, so people often have access to an internet-connected PC when there is no TV in their control. Our viewers can now catch up with the news while they wait at the airport or during breaks at work."
GreenGrass co-founder and CEO Alex Taylor added: "GreenGrass will bring BBC World to viewers in great quality, wherever they are, without the commitment of a monthly subscription. We worked long and hard to bring a service to the market that took the risk out of Internet broadcasting, making it a viable proposition for operators such as BBC World. Judging by our initial success it looks like we have got the model right."
BBC World will be broadcast live on GreenGrass in all territories excluding the UK, in both low and high bandwidth formats. The GreenGrass pre-pay system enables viewers to watch pay-content from any broadcaster on GreenGrass, paying by the minute.
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Two candidates compete for new TV channel in Spain
From David del Valle in MadridOnly two groups have made a bid for the planned new analogue TV channel -the sixth nation wide commercial TV station- whose licence will be awarded before the end of the year.
One of the bidders is Kiss Media, directed by Blas Herrero who claims to have the support of US broadcasting companies to carry the project out. The other bidder is a consortium formed by Spanish production companies and the Mexican TV group Televisa, under the brand of La sexta (The sixth). Televisa will control 40 per cent of the company, with the Spanish TV producers dividing the rest as follows: Grupo Arbol-Globomedia (40 per cent), Mediapro (38 per cent), Drive (10 per cent), El Terrat (7 per cent) and Bainet (5 per cent). According to the consortium, La Sexta aims to be an alternative to existing TV channels targeted at a young and urban audience.
The Government will grant the licence before the end of the year. The new channel will only cover 70 per cent of the Spanish population -for lack of spectrum- and will have to commence transmissions in May. According to the Government's DTT plans, this new analogue channel will operate two digital TV channels in the future.
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MPAA sues six more sitesThe Motion Picture Association of America filed the suits accusing the services of charging to re-direct people to file-sharing sites where they can access illegal material.
"We won't tolerate this scam premised on the illegal swapping of valuable movie content," said the MPAA. The sites charge fees ranging from $20 for a three-month trial to $40 for life. Peer-to-peer networks are usually free to use. The suit alleges that the websites falsely claim or imply that people can download movies legally through their services.
"These scam businesses charge customers for facilitating illegal downloads of movies, which could lure innocent consumers into becoming lawbreakers," commented MPAA chairman, Dan Glickman.
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Philips sales boostPhilips surprised the market with stronger than expected earnings. The group said on sales increased 5 per cent year-on-year to E7.63bn after a fall of 3 per cent in the second quarter. All major divisions, apart from semiconductors, saw year-on-year sales growth.
Net income for the third quarter was almost E1.44bn, 12 per cent up on the previous year. However, Philips’ strategy of selling off stakes in other companies disguises operational earnings. At the operating level, the group’s income was E442m, less than half the E1bn of a year before but well above market expectations and better than the E147m of the second quarter of this year.
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Sony Ericsson up on multi-featuresSony Ericsson raised its full-year market outlook as demand in the third quarter grew faster than expected for handsets with music players and megapixel cameras.
The company said its handset sales for the three months to September 30 were 29 per cent higher than the same period last year, with 13.8m units sold. Pre-tax profits were 11 per cent higher at E151m, on sales that were 22.4 per cent higher at E2.1bn.
Sony Ericsson’s first Walkman phone, the W800, was released in the third quarter and had been "exceptionally successful", the company said, adding that the average selling price had risen as a result of the feature-rich models.
The new 3G Walkman phone, which has a 2-megapixel camera and allows users to download and browse video games and graphics, will be available at the end of the year.
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New £30m rights fund
Andrew Neil, the former Sunday Times editor is launching a new £30m rights fund offering a new source of cash to producers. World Media Rights will focus on acquiring and exploiting rights in an attempt to cash in on a demand for digital content from mobile phones, broadband and digital TV channels.The new company would also act as a co-production partner for projects that it thought had rights exploitation potential, Neil said. "At the moment when a production company gets a commission they will only typically receive between 70% and 75% of the total budget. We will then make up the rest in exchange for the secondary rights,' he said. "At the moment you either buy children's rights or sports rights or entertainment rights. We intend to offer a basket of rights across genres."
"There is a gap in the market. Before Ofcom changed the rules, independents never had rights. Channel 4 or ITV or the BBC snaffled them away when programmes were commissioned. But now, with new media needing electronic content, there are many operators for whom content, and the rights to it, are valuable." Neil said.
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Akimbo Systems media centreAkimbo's internet video-on-demand service will be available in two ways, on the Akimbo Player and on Microsoft Windows XP Media Centre Edition 2005.
The Akimbo Service will be available through the Online Spotlight
feature in Media Center Edition 2005, where consumers can view all the
programming available and sign up for a free two-week trial subscription."Media Center is a perfect platform for Akimbo and a great example of how TV
and the Internet are combining," said Joshua Goldman, CEO of Akimbo. "With
Akimbo's collection of over 5,000 titles from 150 partners, we can serve
interests such as foreign films and TV series, education, health and
fitness, collections of popular TV shows and much more. Media Center owners
will now have access to thousands of new shows and can experience the
freedom of being in charge of what they watch."
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Conax for TianjinConax has, through its partnership with Star Communication network technology (STAR) signed an agreement with Tianjin Broadcast and TV Networks Co.) for delivery of CAS technology to their digital cable TV operation.
Tianjin, which is located about 130 km east of Beijing, is one of the four municipalities reporting directly to the Central Government in Beijing. Tianjin has currently 3 millions subscribers connected to their network.
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Irdeto for ForceForce, the STB maker, announced the successful integration of Irdeto’s conditional access technology into Force’s 315C-IR cable set-top box. The licensed STB is already available to the European market.
20 Cable operators in Scandinavia and the Benelux have chosen and implemented the Irdeto Digital TV solution in the last year, often replacing incumbent CA systems. The Force 315C-IR, featuring EPG support, fast channel change times and digital audio output with Dolby Digital pass through, will be sold in some of these markets, many of which feature a retail STB sales model.
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Changes at ArrivoSusan Elkington, currently Executive Vice President of arrivo on demand, has stepped into a new role at the chellomedia division as EVP Content Development, Acquisitions and Programming, Film and General Entertainment. In this role her responsibilities are focused on driving forward chellomedia's new product development and video businesses as well as achieving synergies across the group in its rights buying, with particular emphasis on movies and general entertainment.
Peter Haggart, currently Senior Vice President of Programming and Marketing
moves up to head the arrivo on demand business unit, which develops
services for the Liberty Global/UPC footprint, as well as for third party
(non UPC) operators.
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Monday 17th October 2005
Imagenio hits the 100,000 subs mark
Spielberg makes video games
Samsung accepts $300m fine as profits drop
Jupiter buys Kobe
Thomson strong sales
IPC goes mobile
BT higher speed broadband
Irdeto consolidates in US
Latens scales up
VOOM for Hong Kong hotels
Satlynx for churches
E! on NTL
Imagenio hits the 100,000 subs mark
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Telefónica’s ADSL pay-TV platform, Imagenio, has reached 100,000 subscribers across Spain in less than a year since its launch in Madrid and Barcelona.
The company claims to be on the right track to reach its forecast 200,000 subs mark by the end of the year. To this end, the operator has been massively deploying its ADSL2+ technology since May to cover as much population as possible. Today, Imagenio is available to almost 4 million homes in 140 cities (most of them with more than 100,000 inhabitants) throughout Spain.
Imagenio currently offers triple play at a monthly fee of E38. Its TV offer includes 48 TV channels and 15 audio services, as well as a video on demand service with a cinema catalogue of more than 400 titles and 1,000 hours of TV series, music videoclips, news and documentaries. Since August, Imagenio has also broken into the DTT market with the launch of its own DTT set-top-box.
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Spielberg makes video gamesSteven Spielberg has made a deal with Electronics Arts to make three original video games. The film director has signed a long-term agreement with the world’s biggest video games publisher to collaborate on the projects.
Spielberg said he had watched the games industry grow from a niche into a major creative force in entertainment: "I have been playing EA games for years and have watched them master the interactive format." The director will open an office this year at EA’s LA studio and work on the concept, design, story and artistic visualisation of the projects.The news comes as an Informa report says the global games industry will hit a peak value of $58.4bn in 2007. "The highest growth will come from broadband, mobile and interactive TV, which are together forecast to generate revenues of $20.6 billion by 2010 - up from $3.8 billion in 2004," says the report.
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Samsung accepts $300m fine as profits dropSamsung Electronics has agreed to pay a $300m fine after admitting it participated in an international price-fixing conspiracy, the US Justice Department's antitrust division said. Samsung is the third semiconductor manufacturer to be fined as part of a wide-ranging investigation by the Justice Department into price-fixing in the market for D-Rams, chips used in everything from computers to electronic games. The price-fixing occurred between 1999 and 2002.
Samsung Electronics’ quarterly profits dropped 30 per cent in the third quarter as prices of computer memory chips and flat screens declined. Samsung said it expected a shortage in supply of liquid crystal displays to continue in the current quarter. Hynix Semiconductor of South Korea paid $185m and Germany's Infineon paid $160m in fines last year in connection to the conspiracy.
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Jupiter buys KobeJupiter Telecommunications the largest MSO in Japan is acquiring a majority stake in Cable Television Kobe, Inc. (CTK). J:COM currently owns 20.44 per cent of CTK's shares. CTK plans to use the additional capital to expand the bandwidth of its trunk lines, which would enable the company to strengthen and expand its digital services.
As one of the core components of its growth strategy, J:COM has been actively pursuing additional investment in cable television operators. By acquiring CTK as a consolidated subsidiary, J:COM will be able to further strengthen its operations and reach in the Kansai area. CTK's monthly ARPU is approximately 80 per cent of the average for the J:COM systems, and in comparison with its other systems, J:COM views CTK's subscriber rates for both cable television and Internet as having room for growth.
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Thomson strong salesFrench electronics group Thomson announced an unexpectedly strong increase in third-quarter sales. It said July to September sales were E1.495bn, 1.8 per cent up on the same period in 2004. But it lowered revenue growth forecasts for 2005 because of slower sales of modems and set-top boxes.
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IPC goes mobileUK publishing arm of Time Warner, IPC Media has signalled it is to venture further into the mobile space by launching mobile marketing initiatives across all its consumer magazines.
The company has appointed its first head of mobile development to build on the mobile projects it's already set up for music magazine NME and 'lads mag' titles Nuts and Loaded.
IPC said that the company is likely to initially focus on developing more mobile projects for its men's titles.
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BT higher speed broadband
BT announced the next trial phase for its ADSL broadband Max service, which will deliver downstream line speeds of up to 8 Mbit/s. Commencing at the end of November, the trial will lay the foundation for the intended commercial launch of higher speed broadband services across the UK by Spring 2006 says BT.
Cameron Rejali, managing director, products and strategy, BT Wholesale said: "The market trial represents a significant step forward in the development of our higher speed broadband products. Our highly successful technical trials generated positive feedback and high demand from both service providers and end-customers involved in the trial."
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Irdeto consolidates in USIrdeto, a subsidiary of the multinational media group Naspers, announced the consolidation of its U.S. business activities through the creation of a new US regional office in Seattle, Washington.
Since the acquisition of Seattle-based LockStream Corporation, a leading mobile digital rights management company, in March 2005, the office has steadily expanded its operations over the last seven months. The move is designed to blend and maximise the strengths of both the Seattle office and the current regional office in San Diego into one flexible, accessible, R&D and support office, increasing co-ordination and minimising any duplication of operational activities.
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Latens scales upLatens Systems, the leading provider of software based CA Content & Revenue Protection systems, announced the successful conclusion of scalability testing with IBM demonstrating that Latens software can protect networks with set-top box populations over 4 million.
"I'm delighted that Latens has leveraged IBM industry standard technology to demonstrate the scalability and robustness of its Content and Revenue solution," said Warren Hart, VP, IBM Global Digital Media. The test was designed, built and executed on IBM eServer xSeries systems at the IBM Network Transformation Centre in Montpellier, France.
"The successful conclusion of the test process means that Latens is one of the only software pay-TV security vendors that can prove scalability to millions of set-top boxes. The Latens and IBM solution will provide customers with the performance and scalability they are asking for," said Andy Mathieson, Director, Latens.
IBM used real data from a major, multi-region architecture, broadband TV operator. Over 4 million set-top-boxes (STBs) were provisioned, managed and tested over an extended period. The tests included the effects of hardware failure to prove resilience and recovery.
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VOOM for Hong Kong hotelsRainbow HD and Tangerine Global, have signed an agreement to deliver VOOM packages of HD and VOD programming to the Mandarin Oriental luxury hotels located outside the United States. The first VOOM package of HD and VOD programming launched will occur in December at Mandarin Oriental's The Landmark Hotel in Hong Kong.
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Satlynx for churchesSatlynx SA announced an agreement between the Church of Sweden and Macab, Satlynx's key sales and service partner in Sweden, for the availability of a broadband via satellite solution for all its churches across Sweden. The Church of Sweden has 3500 churches. Håkan Normann says, "among our 865 parishes, I
estimate distribution is around 50/50 between parishes that can get a fast
Internet connection and those who have no connection today and won't get it
in the foreseeable future. For these, satellite is the perfect solution."
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E! on NTLE! Networks will further expand its presence in the UK with the launch of the E! International Network on ntl. The channel joins ntl’s digital TV ‘Family Pack’.
"Our commitment to the territory is evident with the recent expansion of our London office, our solid regional team, and our dedication to ramping up local production and marketing within the region" said Kevin MacLellan, senior vice president, international, E! Networks.
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