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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 15th December
Private equity bags ProSiebenSat1
EU backs new TV ad rules
ITV fine may close station
Orange France launches national Wi-Fi TV trial
New Ofcom rules for broadband switchers
France 2 joins Italian DTT offer
Philips anti-piracy system for websites
Credit Suisse downgrades DirecTV
Murdoch for Italian mobile TV
NXP, 1&1 and TeleGent to enable IPTV in Germany
BBC World dropped by Israeli satellite TV
Private equity bags ProSiebenSat1Private equity groups KKR and Permira have beaten two other bidders to buy a 50.5 per cent stake in German broadcaster ProSiebenSat1 from US investors led by Haim Saban. The vendors hoped to raise E3bn through the auction.
The deal could mean significant consolidation television as KKR and Permira are expected to merge Germany’s second-biggest private TV group with SBS which they control.
With revenues of about E3bn and viewers in 10 countries, ProSieben-SBS could become a serious rival to market leader RTL, owned by German media group Bertelsmann. The Saban consortium picked up ProSieben in the collapse of bankrupt Kirch Media three years ago. Buyout groups Apax and Goldman Sachs and Turkish conglomerate Dogan were also bidding.
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MEPs have voted to update EU audiovisual rules, despite concerns from some members that it could lead to a sharp increase in the number of adverts. The European parliament backed proposals to overhaul the 1989 Television without Frontiers Directive, last updated in 1997.
The new rules under the ‘audiovisual media services directive’ will reflect the changes in the marketplace over the last ten years. MEPs voted to distinguish between mainstream TV transmissions, or linear services, and on-demand, non-linear products such as web downloads.
While both will be subject to many of the same rules – on consumer protection and encouraging European production – the way in which the rules will be implemented will not be the same. Non-linear services are likely to have more self-regulation.
On advertising EU media commissioner Viviane Reding had put forward plans to allow the use of product placement within programmes which had raised much opposition. A compromise agreement with national governments resulted in a blanket ban on product placement within the EU, from which countries can opt-out if they wish.
MEPs backed this proposal, which will allow films, TV series, sports programmes and entertainment to carry product placement advertising, providing viewers are warned in advance and at least once every 20 minutes. News, current affairs programmes, documentaries and children’s TV programmes will not be allowed to carry product placements.
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ITV fine may close stationITV, the Thai television network controlled by Singapore's Temasek Holdings, was ordered to pay fines and fees to Thailand's government that may amount to as much as US$2.66 billion. The network says it will bankrupt them. The company and the government will negotiate the exact size of the payment, a Supreme Court Judge said.
It deals a blow to Temasek, whose acquisition of a stake in ITV's parent earlier this year is being investigated by Thai authorities. The court also upheld an order requiring ITV to raise its news and information programming to 70 per cent. The shares have slumped since May when a court revoked ITV's right to discounts on its concession fees. The firm's appeal against that decision was rejected by the court.
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Orange France launches national Wi-Fi TV trialOrange has launched a live TV broadcasting trial at its 30,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in France. The trial is aimed at all laptop PC users at the hotspots, whether they are Orange mobile customers or not, and is described as a first in Europe. It aims to test user behaviour and technology for Wi-Fi, computer-based TV.
LCI's Flash Actu news bulletins will be available free of charge from the Orange Wi-Fi home page. The 90 second bulletins are updated six times per day and are identical to those currently available on the Orange World mobile portal.
Once connected, users with Windows Media Player will have free, live access to twelve TV channels for six months. The channels include LCI Mobile, France 2, France 3, BBC World, France 4, Arte, Euronews, France 5, Infosport and TV5 Monde. Live TV capture, encoding and transmission is handled by France Telecom subsidiary GlobeCast. Streaming and hosting services are provided by AtomiZ and its Media K Factory software.
New Ofcom rules for broadband switchers
UK Media regulator Ofcom has drawn up new rules to address complaints from the ‘significant minority’ who struggle to move to a new high-speed service. It said the rules would streamline procedures and would replace the voluntary code that broadband firms have abided by before now.
Ofcom said 83 per cent of those who had moved supplier had little trouble, but it still saw complaints from many who had encountered problems. Many of the problems revolve around the Migration Authorisation Codes (Mac) issued to those who want to switch. Ofcom said it was getting increasing complaints from consumers who are unable to get a Mac from the supplier they wish to leave. As a result Ofcom is making the issuing of a Mac part of the regulations governing net service firms.
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France 2 joins Italian DTT offer
From Branislav Pekic in RomeFrance 2 is once again available via the terrestrial airwaves in Italy, thanks to the digital multiplex of the L'Espresso group which added the French channel to its offering as of this week.
France 2 was available for many years in many parts of Italy (especially around Milan, Rome and Bologna) in analogue terrestrial, before its frequencies were purchased by Canale Italia. Now all Italian viewers that receive the L'Espresso multiplex, which includes All Music, Repubblica Radio TV, Radio Deejay, Radio M2O, Radio Capital, also receive France 2.
Meanwhile, Italy is bracing itself for an unfavourable EU ruling on the DTT decoder subsidies. The confirmation came from Telecommunications Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, who said that "the infringement procedure could be concluded by December 20, or it could be postponed until January". The position of the EU Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, on the issue of reimbursements is not known - although Gentiloni claims that it is highly unlikely that end users would have to return the subsidies which totalled E220 million.
The infringement procedure was opened in December 2005 and regards state subsidies conceded in the period 2004-2005 for the acquisition of decoders for the digital terrestrial offerings of Mediaset, Fastweb, Rai and La7. This ‘help’ was never notified to the EU and did not respect the principle of ‘technological neutrality’, as it was destined only for digital terrestrial and not also for digital satellite decoders.
Philips anti-piracy system for websites
Philips Electronics is launching a service to help websites and online file-sharing networks filter out unauthorised copyright video files. The service, dubbed MediaHedge, is the latest anti-piracy tool designed to help sift through the growing volume of online video files and give copyright holders more say over their content.
MediaHedge works by checking the digital 'fingerprint' or unique characteristics of video files and looking for a match in Philips' database of video content. Copyright holders can specify in advance whether they want to allow videos containing their footage to be posted on sites running MediaHedge, or whether they should be blocked or otherwise restricted.
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Credit Suisse downgrades DirecTV
Credit Suisse on has downgraded shares in DirecTV G saying its competitor in the satellite television market, EchoStar Communications, is better shielded from increasing competition from cable and telecommunications companies.
The downgrade set up the stock for a second day of losses after it touched a 52-week high earlier in the week. The stock had surged on news that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. would likely swap its 39 per cent stake in the company for an $11 billion stake in News Corp. held by John Malone's Liberty Media Capital.
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Rupert Murdoch is expanding further into Italy's emerging mobile TV market with a deal with Vodafone to bring two of its Fox digital channels to subscribers of Vodafone’s DVB-H service.
Vodafone, Telecom Italia Mobile and 3 Italia, are all investing heavily in competing services, buying a host of digital TV rights. In the latest deal, Fox Channels Italy will air two channels - FoxOne and FX Mobile - on Vodafone's new Sky TV package. The content will be a selection of full-length and shortened programmes from Sky Italia.
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NXP, 1&1 and TeleGent to enable IPTV in Germany
NXP Semiconductors has revealed that 1&1 Internet has selected TeleGent’s Internet Protocol (IP) set-top box (STB) solution based on NXP’s Nexperia STB810 platform to drive IPTV in Germany. NXP’s IP-STB solution offers an interactive, personalised TV experience, allowing consumers to play back thousands of unique and on-demand videos.
With more than 2 million DSL customers 1&1 is the second largest Internet Service Provider in Germany. The STB will be offered with 1&1’s Triple Play product 3DSL and to all customers of the recently launched VOD portal ‘Maxdome’ - which is a 50/50 deal between SevenSenses, the Digital TV Company of Germany’s leading public listed TV network ProSiebenSat.1-Group, and its strategic partner 1&1 Internet.
BBC World dropped by Israeli satellite TV
BBC World has been dropped by Israel's satellite provider Yes TV in favour of al-Jazeera English. Although BBC World will still be available in Israel via cable, but will lose around 50 per cent of its audience in the country as a result of being dropped by Yes.
Thursday 14th December
Flextech free to air?
Americans lag behind Europeans in smartphone adoption
Apple iTunes sales slump
Spain's ONO launches TV a la carte
CASBAA to pursue 2007 mobile, regulatory agenda
Two Way TV provide of ITV’s red button
Spain's broadband market on the rise
Wight cable selects Aperto’s Packetmax
Online video on dot TV
Interactive TV on Viasat
Flextech free to air?There are reports that ntl’s content company Flextech is threatening to quit the Sky subscription package and go free to air on DTH and DTT. The move comes as the company nears the end of its latest five year carriage agreement with Sky and amid claims Sky is seeking ‘radical cuts’ in the per home fees it pays to Flextech.
In a classic ‘Mexican stand-off’ Flextech apparently says it is willing to risk the inevitable shortfall in revenue as it tries to build more advertising via free distribution, rather than accept a cut-price deal. Up to 40 per cent of its revenue currently comes from Sky subscriptions.
Sky, meanwhile, has to figure it can replace the Flextech channels – probably with more Sky branded channels – and that viewers won’t miss them too much. But in recent years some Flextech channels – notably Living – have carried some of the Sky packages most popular shows.
Currently Flextech’s FTA options are limited but as more Freeview capacity becomes available it may think it should follow C4’s example and quit reliance on subscribers to another platform.
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Americans lag behind Europeans in smartphone adoptionEuropean consumers have been faster to adopt ´smart´ mobile phones than their American counterparts. In Q3 2006, smartphone penetration in Western Europe was 8.8 per cent among recent device buyers; more than double that of the U.S. which was 3.8 per cent, reports Telephia, provider of consumer research to the telecom and mobile media markets.
Telephia´s European Subscriber and Device Report highlights significant differences between European countries. Italy has been at the forefront of driving mobile development and penetration in Europe and is also leading the adoption of smartphones. More than 95 per cent of all Italians own a mobile phone and almost one in five buyers of new phones in the last six months bought smartphones . Spain and the UK are also choosing smartphones with penetration rates of 9.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively. France trails with 3.5 per cent of recent phone buyers upgrading to smartphones.
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Apple's music and video download service iTunes saw its sales slump in the six months to June, prompting analysts to question the market leader's business model. Apple does not break out revenues from iTunes but research house Forrester analysed credit card transactions to show that the number of monthly purchases fell 58 per cent in the first half of the year.
The amount people spent on each purchase fell by 17 per cent in the first six months of the year, leading to a 65 per cent drop in monthly iTunes revenue. The weakness follows a period of steady growth in iTunes sales and transaction size from April 2004 to January 2006.
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Spain's ONO launches TV a la carte
From David Del Valle in MadridSpain's largest cable company ONO has launched its new TV a la carte service, Ojo TV, in Madrid and Barcelona with access to 700 events from 31 different categories to be weekly updated.
Around 30 per cent of its contents are free and the rest on pay-per-view. The company plans to extend the service to more than 70 per cent of its clients across Spain before the end of this month and reach 100 per cent by the end of 2007.
Ojo TV currently has 480,000 clients, consuming more than 2 million events per month, representing on average more than one event per consumer per week, according to the company.
Ojo clients can select the event they want (news, documentaries, cinema, series etc) whenever they want and watch domestic fiction series before being broadcast by Tele 5.
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CASBAA to pursue 2007 mobile, regulatory agenda
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has revealed its strategic direction for 2007.
According to Marcel Fenez, CASBAA Chairman, in 2007 the Association is to focus on the increasing impact of mobile technology, also noting a clear signal from the Council of Governors to step up initiatives in India and China. CASBAA will continue to engage the regulatory authorities in multiple markets and promote industry development in Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan among others. In addition, CASBAA will strive to demonstrate the effectiveness of pay-TV as an advertising medium and thus challenge other traditional media for advertising revenues.
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Two Way TV provide of ITV’s red buttonInteractive production company Two Way TV has struck a deal with ITV that will see the company launching a range of red button services around ITV’s programming. Two Way TV has been running red button services behind ‘The X Factor’ and ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me… Out Of Here!’ for the broadcaster and the new deal will see many more of ITV’s interactive services - already enjoyed by satellite subscribers - becoming available on UK cable.
Spain's broadband market on the rise
From David Del Valle in MadridSpain's broadband market continues growing with nearly 150,000 additions in October up to 6.28 million broadband lines. Of them, 4.93 million have access to Internet through ADSL, of which most of them, 3.5 million, are Telefonica clients.
Internet access through cable is also growing although at a slower pace, with 6246 new additions in October up to 1.35 million. ONO, the largest cable operator in Spain, took the lion's share with almost 1 million residential clients.
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Wight cable selects Aperto’s Packetmax
Aperto Networks, builder of the WiMAX Forum base stations and subscriber units, has announced that Wight cable, the sole provider of telephone, broadband and cable TV services on the Isle of Wight, has launched a package of new wireless broadband services using Aperto Networks 5.8GHz equipment.
Expansion of the initial deployment will be done using Aperto’s PacketMAX gear. Marketed to its business and residential customers under the Wight Wireless brand, the service offering includes Internet access with unlimited downloads, as well as local and national VoIP telephone service.
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Online video on dot TVDemand Media, fronted by former MySpace chairman Richard Rosenblatt, is expected to seal an agreement with dotcom registry VeriSign to market the ‘.tv’ domain name for online videos.
Rosenblatt's broader plan begins next March, when Demand will provide users with Web software to upload and share homemade videos, grab professional content from licensed sources and blog - potentially creating their own mini MySpace.
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Interactive TV on ViasatNorway’s Active Loop Television has supplied Viasat with new interactive formats for Norwegian TV3 and ZTV, powered by software from never.no.
The formats are lower 3rd overlays providing chat, quiz, slideshows and various entertainment concepts. never.no has delivered its Auto Dialogue System and Interactivity Desk , and installed Dynamic Content Scheduler for Vizrt alongside a Vizrt CG at Viasats broadcast facility in London. The system is fully integrated with Viasats existing automation system.
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Wednesday 13th December
Holland totally digital
Airey leaving BSkyB
CCTV launches mobile TV
Ericsson and Napster launch with O2 Ireland
Channel 4 simulcast on BT Movio
BT to bid for radio spectrum?
BBC trials "Push-VoD" technology
Holland has ended transmission of ‘free to air’ analogue television, becoming the first nation to switch completely to digital signals.
Few consumers noticed the switch as the overwhelming majority of TV is received via cable. Only around 74,000 households relied primarily on over the air antennas in the country of 16 million, although 220,000 people had an 'occasional use' set.The bandwidth formerly used by analogue has been licensed through to 2017 by former Dutch telecommunications monopoly KPN, which will use it to broadcast digital television.
Under its license KPN built the digital broadcast network and must continue to broadcast three state-supported channels and several regional public broadcasters free of charge. In return, it can use the rest of the bandwidth to charge E15 a month for a package of other channels comparable to cable.
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Dawn Airey is leaving BSkyB after four years to join recently launched rights and distribution company Iostar as chief executive. Airey will leave BSkyB in the spring of 2007. The company's chief operating officer, Mike Darcey, is to assume responsibility for Sky's ad sales, broadband Internet portal, joint ventures, channel distribution and commercial relationships with third-party channels.
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CCTV launches mobile TVChina Central Television (CCTV) has launched its mobile TV service.
In cooperation with the country's two mobile carriers, CCTV will present more than 400 featured programmes bundled in packages at various price levels. It will also contact international and local TV stations to develop more content for the consumers. Users will be able to sample the service for free during the Doha Asia Games. China now has more than 440 million mobile phone users.
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Ericsson and Napster launch with O2 IrelandEricsson and Napster have confirmed the first European launch for Napster Mobile, with Irish mobile phone operator O2 Ireland. O2 Ireland is also the first operator to launch Napster Mobile in i-mode.
O2 Ireland customers will be able to search, browse, preview and purchase full-length songs from Napster's catalogue and access Ericsson-aggregated personalisation content via their i-mode, WAP and Java-enabled wireless handsets.
The service also features a recommendation engine which makes content recommendations based upon each consumer's musical taste, and dual delivery, a feature that sends a copy of the content purchased on the handset to the customer's PC.
Channel 4 simulcast on BT Movio
BT has announced that the Channel 4 schedule is now available on BT Movio, the wholesale service for UK mobile operators to combine live TV and digital radio content. The full range of Channel 4 content will be simulcast to mobiles.
Channel 4 will now provide a full service with the exception of some film, sport and US-produced content. The availability of Channel 4 simulcast on BT Movio complements the recent addition of the 24-hour news channel, ITN News.
Around 87 per cent of TV programmes from the five UK network broadcasters are available on BT Movio.
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BT is tipped to make a move for some of the new spectrum to be auctioned by Ofcom. "We are naturally interested in the potential of this spectrum and we continue to assess its possible use, including the possibility of WiMax," a spokesman told the Independent.
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BBC trials "Push-VoD" technology
Working in partnership with Cabot Communications, the BBC has developed an advanced interactive application that allows viewers to catch up from 50 hours of automatically recorded content each week. The trial will comprise 300 participants from in and around the London area and run for approximately three months.
The objective of the trial is to test the technologies around off-air capture and navigation in order to deliver broadcaster selected content onto a PVR, record, store and replay rich interactive applications and create a video rich navigation. The DVR will store up to 100 hours of TV each week. 50 hours of BBC programming will be automatically recorded and stored onto the DVR after broadcast on a seven-day rolling basis, and up to 50 hours can be personally recorded by the user.
Tuesday 12th December
Sky direct to mobile?
YouTube diverts user comments
Buyers vie for ProSiebenSat.1
Setanta raises E315m
Ofcom to auction UK's largest radio spectrum
Korea expects 21 million mobile TV users by 2012
HBO Broadband service
Sky TV channels on Italian mobile phones
Pro DTT Association's push to DTT
SES expands US HD capacity
Alcatel-Lucent supports SingTel’s IPTV trial
Sky direct to mobile?BSkyB could launch a direct to mobile service based on Qualcomm’s MediaFLO technology. Such a move could ‘cut out’ the MNOs with wholesale capacity merely rented for the voice and text elements of the service.
Sky has conducted MediaFLO tests in Cambridge and is planning more in Manchester, and some reports say it is beginning to favour the technology over DVB-H. With control of so much content – including Premier League rights – any such move could leapfrog mobile operator attempts to launch TV services either in 3G or DVB-H.
Sky already has a fully-fledged mobile TV service in operation with three companies - 3, Orange and Vodafone - with a range of channels starting at £5 (E7) a month.
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YouTube diverts user comments
Corporate considerations are changing YouTube it seems as CBS, which recently signed a licensing deal with the Google owned site, has changed the way that users comment on their videos.
Normally YouTube videos are embedded on pages that allow viewers to read user comments, with some of them listed directly below the video. The comments on many of the videos posted by CBS have now been moved to a separate page; instead of sample comments underneath the videos, a link to "view all comments" takes users to a separate page where they can read comments without watching the video at the same time. "We thought it was a better user experience, and it gives us a second to weed out the completely unuseful comments" said Quincy Smith, the president of CBS Interactive.Meanwhile CBS along with Fox and NBC continue in talks about creating a site to compete with YouTube. Earlier discussions has focussed on using News Corp (owners of Fox) MySpace site but the others were reluctant to commit to this. Also, lucrative licensing deals offered by MyTube remain a real alternative.
Walt Disney, owner of ABC, isn't participating in the talks, because it wants to rely on the strength of its own brands.
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Buyers vie for ProSiebenSat.1
The next owner of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG could be named this week as three remaining bidders make final offers expected at around E6 billion.
Dogin Yayin Holding of Turkey is expected to bid as is private-equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Permira of Europe planning a joint bid, as are Apax and Goldman Sachs Group.
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Setanta Sport Holdings Ltd, the international sports broadcaster, announced that it has signed financing agreements with Doughty Hanson & Co, Goldman Sachs International, Davy Stockbrokers and Adams Street Partners to inject cash funding of E315 million into the group.
The deal, which is subject to regulatory clearance in Ireland, is in the form of equity and preferred securities. It will provide capital to cover content, operating and marketing costs as the company gears up for the launch of its new services in the UK. These will include Setanta Golf in January 2007 and coverage of the FA Premier League from August 2007.
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Ofcom to auction UK's largest radio spectrum
UK media regulator Ofcom plans to auction licences for the country's largest single release of radio spectrum with a total of 215 MHz, which can be used for services such as mobile broadband and advanced wireless.
The proposals are part of a wider programme to release around 400 MHz of prime spectrum over the next few years, the regulator said in a statement.
For now, Ofcom proposes to auction licences to use three spectrum bands: 2500-2690 MHz, 2010-2025 MHz and 2290-2300 MHz. It plans to release the spectrum on a technology and service neutral basis.
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Korea expects 21 million mobile TV users by 2012
South Korea will have 21 million users of mobile TV by 2012, based mostly on free-to-air terrestrial DMB, followed by a slowly growing base of satellite DMB users. "That's the government's estimate, but we think this is a very conservative estimate now," said Young-kil Suh, chief executive of TU Media, the sole provider of satellite DMB services in South Korea.
There are 2.5 million users of mobile TV in South Korea today. TU started its service in May 2005, and will have 1 million users by the end of 2006. It expects to hit 2.2 million users by the end of 2007, at which point it expects to break even, Suh said. TU believes it can hit 6.6 million users by 2010 and generate $1.1 billion in revenue. That breaks down to about $14 per month in average revenue per user.
Research firm Parks Associates recently estimated the United States would have more than 15 million users of mobile TV by 2010, generating $1.6 billion in revenue.
HBO has confirmed talks with affiliates about launching a broadband-video service sometime in 2007, according to Eric Kessler, president of sales and marketing for the pay channel. He said the network is focused on offering a value-added service for affiliates, not a direct-to-consumer play.
"We believe we can do with the broadband platform what we did with the on-demand product for our partners," Kessler said. "Our goal is to create a broadband product with our affiliates that would continue to increase our usage and the value of HBO to our subscribers."
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Sky TV channels on Italian mobile phones
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Following a partnership deal between Sky Italia and Vodafone Italia, Italian mobile telephone users are now able to access a selection of Sky TV channels when on the move.The offer includes Sky TG24, Sky Sport 24, Fox One, Deejay TV, FX as well as other channels plus the Sky Calcio channels, with live coverage of all of the Italian league matches of the Sky squads (Ascoli, Chievo, Empoli, Inter, Lazio, Livorno, Milan, Reggina, Roma, Udinese and Juventus) as well as UEFA Champions League matches. The service is free of charge until April 2007.
In order to access the Vodafone Sky TV service, users need to acquire the LG KU950 mobile phone, which includes a 2.4 inch screen and retails for around E99.
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Pro DTT Association's push to DTT
From David Del Valle in MadridThe Spanish Pro DTT Association, formed by all TV networks and carrier Abertis, is giving a boost to DTT with the launch of a massive advertising campaign and a web portal to inform consumers about the advantages and the development of DTT in Spain.
The portal provides information regarding how to receive DTT transmissions and the necessary equipment and DTT contents.
In the meantime, new regional and local DTT channels are being launched. The latest one being ¡esMadridTV!, a local DTT channel owned by Madrid's town Council covering the capital of Spain with promotional content about the city.
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SES expands US HD capacitySES Americom has successfully launched of AMC-18, a satellite designed to deliver high definition broadcasts to local cable headends across the US.
AMC-18 will enter service at 105°W as part of SES Americom's ‘HD-Prime’ satellite neighbourhood. The two existing satellites in that neighbourhood were reaching capacity as the number of HD services carried by cable operators increases.
Alcatel-Lucent supports SingTel’s IPTV trial
Alcatel-Lucent has announced that it has been selected by Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel), for its IPTV trial. Based on a combination of Alcatel-Lucent’s services integration solution and Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software platform, the project will include broadcast TV and video on demand, with content featuring high definition quality picture resolution.
Monday 11th December
Ofcom sets Switchover licence conditions
Merger Talks on again for XM, Sirius?
China: IPTV users 1 million next year
Mobile TV used weekly by 70% of subscribers
RTVE's interactive DTT service
Voda Australia latest to offer Mobile TV
Astral seeks new properties
Hacker settles with DirecTV for $1m
Alcatel-Lucent supports SingTel's IPTV trial
Ofcom sets Switchover licence conditionsUK Media regulator Ofcom has confirmed details of Digital Switchover related licence conditions for companies providing DTT, further to a public consultation published in July 2006.
The statement sets out specific conditions to ensure that licensed multiplex operators deliver appropriate levels of digital coverage following switchover. For multiplex licence holders carrying public service TV channels this will mean achieving coverage of 98.5 per cent of the UK population. In addition to the BBC Charter multiplex, two other multiplexes will carry public service TV channels at switchover.
To achieve coverage of 98.5 per cent of the UK population both multiplexes will be required to transmit at switchover from all 1,154 sites currently used for analogue television transmissions. Ofcom has also concluded that nine additional transmission relays are necessary to ensure appropriate coverage at switchover.
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Merger Talks on again for XM, Sirius?
Despite earlier indications that regulators would oppose, Sirius Chief Financial Officer David Frear said that a merger with its rival would be a bonus to shareholders - and Standard & Poor's Equity Research said the prospects of a union with XM appear much more likely. XM and Sirius are looking at slower retail growth in 2007 and both have to devise a new plan to combat the mounting threat from portable media players.
Sirius has cut its annual subscriber guidance to between 5.9 million and 6.1 million from its previous estimate of 6.3 million. That followed two guidance cuts from XM. Both XM and Sirius are hoping that the Federal Communications Commission and competition regulators will see the satellite radio service as part of a larger industry delivering music via mobile devices.
China: IPTV users 1 million next year
The market for IPTV is expected to take off in China next year as fixed line operators seek ways to grow. "IPTV could get a head-start next year in China," said Huang Dabin, vice-president of the network division of China's telecoms equipment maker ZTE Corp.
In an interview with China Daily, Huang predicted the number of IPTV subscribers in China could exceed 1 million next year, up from the current 100,000 subscribers. Fixed-line operators China Telecom and China Netcom have been aggressively building trial IPTV networks since last year. This year, some commercial IPTV services have been operational in cities such as Shanghai.
"Fixed-line carriers are putting a big bet on IPTV as one of the top priorities of their business transformations, as IPTV promises a new revenue stream," Huang said. China had 370 million fixed-line telephone subscribers and 449 million mobile phone subscribers as of October.
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Mobile TV used weekly by 70% of subscribers
A study has revealed that the majority of subscribers watch mobile TV for less than half an hour at any one time, with 38 per cent claiming their typical viewing session is more than 20 minutes.
More than half of the respondents said they signed up to mobile TV in order to "have something to do during downtime". According to the study, 18 per cent said the main reason for acquiring mobile TV was "to watch a programme when away from my main TV" and 10 per cent said it was so they could "catch a particular programme".
The study, by GfK Technology, found that news and weather, sports and music videos were the most popular forms of mobile TV attracting 65%, 56 per cent and 46 per cent of users respectively.
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RTVE's interactive DTT service
From David Del Valle in MadridState-owned RTVE -operator of La Primera and La 2 and five DTT channels- has launched an interactive DTT service called "Nieve al dia" that will allow viewers to obtain the latest information about ski resorts across Spain.
This service will be the first to include interactive advertising. Developed by the technology company Fresh-IT and sponsored by Nissan, the service will also offer weather info. RTVE aims to boost the interactive DTT market and encourage consumers to acquire MHP-based set-top-boxes which currently represent just 10 per cent of the 3 million boxes available in the market.
Voda Australia latest to offer Mobile TV
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All four of Australia's major mobile phone carriers now offer live TV channels through their 3G networks, with Vodafone being the latest to join the fray. Vodafone customers now have access to live streams from Sky News Business, Sky News UK, BBC World, Fashion TV, ABC and SBS.
Astral seeks new properties
From Gail Chiasson in MontrealAstral Media Inc., a major player in Canadian specialty television, radio broadcasting and innovative outdoor media, is on the prowl for new properties to add to its successful stable.
Astral ended its financial year with more than E74.6 million (Cdn$114 million) in cash, up from the previous year, despite more than €62.2 million (Cdn$92 million) in share buybacks during the year. It is boosting its dividend share by 33 per cent.
Ian Greenberg, Astral's CEO, says that the company is interested in properties in all its segments, no matter the size, adding that consolidation has brought the industry down to very few players, so Astral doesn't have the privilege of being too choosy.
Astral was among companies bidding recently for CHUM Ltd., a Toronto firm with TV, specialty TV and radio properties. While it was unsuccessful - CHUM is being acquired by Bell Globemedia - the latter is expected to sell off some of the radio assets it's getting in the CHUM package. Astral is expected to go after those radio properties.
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Hacker settles with DirecTV for $1mA man who was accused of developing and distributing software designed to steal DirecTV programming, has agreed to a $1 million settlement of a lawsuit filed against him in federal court by DirecTV and NDS.
Robert K. Lazzara also consented to a permanent injunction barring him from further satellite piracy. The lawsuit claimed that Lazzara developed software designed and intended to facilitate the unauthorised reception of DirecTV's satellite television programming, and distributed the software through multiple Internet sites dedicated to satellite television piracy.
"The Lazzara settlement underscores the serious consequences of engaging in satellite piracy," said Dan Fawcett, DirecTV's executive vice president for Business and Legal Affairs. "Though our access cards have been secure for the past several years, we will continue to aggressively pursue - both through civil and criminal courts - any individual who has been involved in satellite piracy or fraud against DirecTV."
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Alcatel-Lucent supports SingTel's IPTV trialAlcatel-Lucent has been selected by Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) for its IPTV trial, which began in October 2006. Based on a combination of Alcatel-Lucent's services integration solution and Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software platform, the project will include broadcast TV and video on demand (VoD), with content featuring high definition (HD)-quality picture resolution.
Alcatel-Lucent is working with SingTel to develop an array of applications, including audio support in different languages, music-on-demand, karaoke-on-demand, customer self-service (allowing users to subscribe to new services and make account modifications) and bill viewing.
