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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 16th March
UK broadcasters pitch again for HD spectrum
Cable STB market has record year
US: more channels, less interest
China regulator moves for single platform
Tellenbach off SBS board
October 17 for first UK switch off
Italy likely to have single DTT network operator
Spain awards new Regional DTT licences
Mediaset to increase pay TV
BSNL to launch IPTV by year-end
Intelsat supports South African Mobile TV
NBC and MobiTV on demand Deal
Telefonica, Canal in HDTV deal
Seachange results
TiVo remote scheduling with Verizon
Tandberg Wins $23m VOD Order
UK broadcasters pitch again for HD spectrum
Executives from ITV, the BBC, Channel 4 and Five have met Broadcasting Minister Margaret Hodge in a last minute plea for guaranteed spectrum to supply free high-definition television. They fear mobile phone companies will outbid them, leaving Sky and cable as the only available routes for those customers wanting HD.
Their "HD For All" pressure group wants a third of the capacity between 470MHz and 862MHz set aside for HD broadcasts on Freeview. The group, which also includes manufacturers and retailers like DSG International, says that would be enough to support five new HD channels. HD For All stepped up its lobbying campaign ahead of a critical deadline next week. Responses must be in then to Ofcom's proposals on the broadcast spectrum that comes free between 2008 and 2012 as terrestrial television converts to digital. The media regulator has argued that a free-for-all auction will ensure the spectrum goes to whichever organisations value it most. Spectrum would also be tradeable and could be used for any legal purpose. Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards said setting aside spectrum for any particular usage - such as HD - presumed ''a level of insight, indeed omniscience, that we do not have'.'
Ofcom also believes it would be technically possible to offer up to five HD channels on Freeview at switchover without the need for more spectrum. It publishes final proposals this summer.
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Cable STB market has record year
Cable TV set top box manufacturers enjoyed a record year in 2006 as cable operators around the world signed up millions of new digital cable subscribers, reports In-Stat. Fuelled by a sharp rise in demand for cable set top boxes in China, worldwide digital cable set top box unit shipments increased to 27.5 million in 2006, a huge increase in comparison to the 15.6 million units that shipped in 2005.
"In-Stat expects that digital cable set top box unit shipments will again be strong in 2007, led by sustained demand from cable operators in North America and China," says Mike Paxton, In-Stat analyst. "However, 2007 will also be a year of transition for cable set top box manufacturers as the so-called ‘7-07’ mandate, which effectively ends the integration of security directly into a cable set top box, goes into effect in the US in July."
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US: more channels, less interest
Although the number of television stations that Americans have access to is more than ever, the number they actually watch isn’t growing at all. According to Nielsen Media Research's "Television Audience 2006," the number of channels receivable by the average American household has broken the 100 barrier for the first time in 06, hitting 104.2 - up from 96.4 in 2005. But the number actually tuned in to by the same average home remained nearly the same, creeping up 15.7 in 2006 from 15.4 in 2005 and 15.0 in 2004; the first year Nielsen started tracking this data.
Television researchers have long professed that viewers will only watch a limited number of channels regardless of how many options are available to them, so the study is not surprising to many. The study shows that even though the average number of channels viewed has slightly increased during the past three years, the ratio of channels viewed to channels available has actually declined by about a percentage point over the same period.
The research also shows that in general, Americans are spending more time watching conventional television despite the availability of new video platforms. According to the firm, the average TV household spent 57 hours and 37 minutes watching the tube per week in 2006, an increase of 20 minutes over 2005, and nearly 10 hours more per week than when Nielsen began tracking audience behaviour more than 20 years ago.
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China regulator moves for single platformChina’s telecommunications regulator aims to converge voice, data and cable-television networks into a single Internet platform in a move that will pave the way for telecommunications firms to run broadcasting services.
Analysts said the convergence would mean that the Ministry of Information and Industry, which oversees the telecommunications sector, would take more power from the broadcasting regulator, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (Sarft). Under existing rules, telecommunications and broadcasting firms are not allowed cross-overs into each other's territory. This has prevented telecommunications players from offering a comprehensive service package that includes voice, broadband and television.
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Tellenbach off SBS boardMarkus Tellenbach, who joined SBS Broadcasting in February 2001 as Chief Operating Officer has quit its board. Tellenbach was the leader of the SBS management team that saw a strategic expansion which propelled SBS into one of Europe’s largest and most dynamic media companies.
In August 2005 Tellenbach was instrumental in the sale of SBS Broadcasting to KKR and Permira for E2.1 billion. He continued to lead the privatized company as CEO after the sale, but due to health reasons, stepped down as CEO in December 2005.
Dominic Murphy, Chairman of SBS, said, "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Markus for his years of service and commitment to SBS Broadcasting." Markus Tellenbach said, "Since joining SBS Broadcasting, I have had the pleasure to work with some of the most talented people in the industry. We developed and executed a strategic plan to expand our footprint and diversify our revenue streams, placing SBS in a position to capitalize on a number of long-term growth opportunities. While it is with mixed emotions that I announce my resignation from SBS, I have the utmost confidence in management and the Board of Directors to lead this company."
SBS has been lead by Patrick Tillieux, COO and acting CEO, since March 2006. The Company increased 2006 net revenues to more than E1 billion and recurring EBITDA to E207 million. You can read an in depth interview with Tilleux in the March/April issue of Euromedia magazine.
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October 17 for first UK switch offThe BBC2 analogue signal will be switched off in the Cumbrian town of Whitehaven on October 17, marking the first step in the UK's five-year switchover to digital TV. BBC1, ITV1, and Channel 4, will be switched off four weeks later on November 14. The two-stage process of switching off the analogue channels will be repeated region by region around the UK between October this year and 2012.
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Italy likely to have single DTT network operator
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItaly is likely to have a single operator ("tower company") that will be responsible for managing the digital terrestrial TV transmission infrastructures (transmitters and towers) but will not, at the same time, control the frequencies and transmission capacity.
The idea of launching a single network operator has come from Italian public broadcaster RAI, who has invited commercial rivals Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media, as well as local TV channels, to back the project. According to RAI board member, Carlo Rognoni, a national operator would "enable the rationalization of frequency spectrum, reduce the time for the switch off and increase the value of the company assets". However, he made clear that if "company selfishness should prevail", RAI would continue with the project alone as the public broadcaster is forced by the existing legislation to separate the activities of network operator and content provider.
So far, Mediaset has expressed interest in the project, but wants to understand the "context", pointing out the need for a "clear and transparent framework" so that it would not come under scrutiny from the antitrust authorities.
Spain awards new Regional DTT licences
From David Del Valle in MadridThe Regional Government of Andalucia, south of Spain, has awarded the first DTT licences with a Regional coverage. Media Groups Prisa, shareholder in Sogecable and owner of Local TV network Localia, and Vocento, shareholder in Tele 5, have been granted one DTT channel each to be up and running by the end of the year or the beginning of 2008, covering 80 per cent of Andalusian population.
Along with these two new Regional DTT channels, there are two other, managed and operated by the state-owned RTVA, Canal Sur and La 2 de Andalucia. Moreover, the Regional Administration is still to award 258 Local DTT licences over the next months to pave the way for the digital migration
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Italian broadcaster Mediaset has said it is committed to increasing the weight of non-free-to-air (FTA) TV business to 20-25 per cent of EBITDA by 2012 from the present contribution of almost zero, although FTA TV remains the group's core business. The group said it is working on a project that will allow the group to migrate its pay-per-view clients into subscribers, increasing the company's average revenues per user.
'This will allow us to compete for a share of the Italian pay TV market, which is worth around E2.5bn and which is destined to grow,' vice chairman Pier Silvio Berlusconi said. He added this would be a springboard for Mediaset to enter other distribution platforms at a later date.
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BSNL to launch IPTV by year-endIndian telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) is conducting a feasibility study to launch broadband multiplay service, including voice, video and IPTV by the end of the year. The service, to be offered in 789 cities across the country, will be available at eight megabites per second speed connectivity, instead of two MBPS which the company uses at present, and will feature 'content on demand' which could be available through a set top box provided by BSNL.
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Intelsat supports South African Mobile TVMultiChoice, the South African direct-to-home (DTH) television provider, has selected Intelsat to support its mobile broadcast TV trial in the metropolitan areas of Johannesburg, Soweto, Pretoria and Cape Town. The trial seeks to refine the transmission of Digital Video Broadcasting to Handheld (DVB-H) technology as well as understand more about the viewing patterns and content preferences of subscribers for mobile TV in the regions.
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NBC Universal and MobiTV, provider of mobile and broadband services, have announced a deal to make full-length primetime on demand programming available over US wireless networks for the first time. In addition to a video-on-demand line-up, the two companies will offer select short form programming from Bravo, SCI FI Channel, USA Network, Telemundo and mun2 on five new ad-supported channels to subscribers, which will debut on the MobiTV service in second quarter of 2007.
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Telefonica, Canal in HDTV dealTelefónica Servicios Audiovisuales will acquire and co-produce content for Canal AD, the first HDTV channel to be produced in Spain. Soft-launched in December, Canal AD has a carriage deal on Hispasat 1C, whose footprint covers Spain, Portugal and the rest of Europe. It will be available free of charge to subscribers who own an HD-ready TV set and buy a 60cm satellite dish. Telefonica also plans to incorporate Canal AD onto its Spanish Imagenio Internet TV service within the next six months and to adapt the channel for its direct-to-home pay TV services in Brazil, Chile and Colombia.
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Seachange resultsVideo-on-demand vendor SeaChange International achieved record revenues for its fiscal fourth quarter ended January 31, 2007, but still posted a net loss. The company had Q4 revenues of $40.1 million (E30m), a 21 per cent increase. It posted a net loss of $3.7 million compared with a net loss of $3.1 million for the same period last year. SeaChange said that $2 million of VOD-related revenue was deferred as of January 31, 2007, to reflect the bundling of 12-month software subscription services with five system orders.
For the year ended January 2007 SeaChange reported record revenues of $161.3 million, a 28 per cent increase. The net loss was $8.2 million, compared with a net loss of $12.3 million for the previous year.
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TiVo remote scheduling with Verizon
TiVo and Verizon have confirmed the availability of TiVo mobile scheduling, a downloadable application available only through Verizon Wireless. TiVo Mobile scheduling allows subscribers to purchase the mobile service through Verizon Wireless handsets and schedule recordings on their TiVo Series2 or Series3 TiVo boxes.
Tandberg Television has received an order, valued in excess of $23 million (E17m), from a leading cable television operator for its video-on-demand (VOD) software. The purchase commitment is for multiple products and services that are expected to be delivered throughout 2007 and 2008.
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Thursday 15th March
Google relies on ‘safe harbour’ in Viacom suit
Consumers ‘hurt’ in Sky Virgin clash
Mobile content market to reach $7.4bn by 2011
Vmix NBC channel
Half of UK TVs now digital
EU calls For DVB-H mobile TV standard
ITV ditches Play channel
AT&T and Yahoo IPTV partnership
3 Italia and RRD trial hierarchical digital TV modulation
Lobby want TV airwaves for Internet
KEYMILE adds FTTB Solutions
Google relies on ‘safe harbour’ in Viacom suitGoogle says it is confident YouTube and other web services have legal protection under current copyright law as they defend themselves against Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit that accuses Google and YouTube of "massive intentional copyright infringement."
Google lawyers said their actions are squarely within the protections offered by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998. The DMCA limits liability for firms that act quickly to block access to pirated materials once they are notified by copyright holders of specific infringement. "Here there is a law which is specifically designed to give Web hosts such as us, or... bloggers or people that provide photo-album hosting online ... the 'safe harbour' we need in order to be able to do hosting online," said Alexander Macgillivray, Google's associate general counsel for products and intellectual property.
Responding to Viacom's suit, which also seeks an injunction that could lead to a possible shutdown of YouTube, Macgillivray said: "This is an area of law where there are a bunch of really clear precedents, so Amazon and eBay have both been found to qualify for the safe harbour and there are a whole bunch more. We will continue to innovate and continue to host material for people, without being distracted by this suit."
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Consumers ‘hurt’ in Sky Virgin clash
Ofcom's consumer panel has asked the regulator to intervene in the row between Sky and Virgin Media, which it said was causing "serious consumer detriment".
The panel, established when Ofcom was set up, said viewers were losing out in the dispute because they were not getting the channels they paid for. Panel chairman, Collette Bowe, called on Ofcom, to "use your influence as the regulator of this market to facilitate an early resolution of this dispute in the interests of consumers. The panel is now concerned that problems for consumers are developing in this market that are not easy for consumers to resolve themselves directly - and which are therefore generating serious consumer detriment."
Virgin has threatened to take Sky to the high court if the two companies fail to strike a deal this month. Virgin claims Sky is guilty of "abuse of dominance." Sky said it would vigourously defend any court action and called on Virgin to return to negotiations.
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Mobile content market to reach $7.4bn by 2011Driven by consumer appetite for personalisation and entertainment content on wireless handsets, companies that provide the platforms that deliver premium content to mobile phones reaped a $4.2 billion (E3.18bn) share of the $16.3 billion mobile premium content market in 2006, according to iSuppli Corp.
The mobile-content market initially was driven by ringtones. However, consumers now demand a higher level of personalisation and to be entertained. These market factors will drive the share of revenue for the mobile content enablement platform companies to $7.4 billion of the more than $35 billion premium mobile content market in 2011.
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vMix Media, the online video technology company has launched an NBC channel that features promotional video clips of top shows "Heroes" and "30 Rock", as media companies seek outlets that also protect its copyrights.
Founded by former executives at music site MP3.com and Universal Music Group, vMix, offers tools for media companies to offer online videos and provide features that encourage users to send messages and leave comments. "You don't want PrettyBoy13 in Des Moines putting up a clip people are talking about, and NBC has no idea what's going on," Greg Kostello, vMix chief executive.
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Half of UK TVs now digitalNearly half of the UK’s television sets were digitally enabled by the end of last year, according to latest figures from Ofcom. The television regulator has reported that 48.5 per cent of the UK’s 60 million TV sets were connected to a digital device by the end of 2006, compared to 44.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
During the final quarter of 2006 a further one million UK households acquire digital TV and in total 77.2 per cent of homes now have some form of digital TV, up from 73.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2006.
Sales of Freeview devices reached a high with 2.4 million, including a record number of TV sets with integrated digital tuners. The figures are 24 per cent up on Q4 in 2005. Nearly 700,000 analogue terrestrial homes acquired Freeview for the first time during the period and Freeview devices are now in a total of 10.6 million homes – up from 9.3 million in Q3 2006.
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EU calls For DVB-H mobile TV standardThe European Commission is calling upon the European telecommunications industry to step up its efforts in mobile television and make a decision soon on a single broadcasting technology standard.
Commissioner for Information Society and Media Viviane Reding said she views the DVB-H standard as the best broadcasting technology for the region's telecom industry.
ITV is to withdraw its dedicated gaming channel, ITV Play, following a stream of negative publicity criticising the phone-in TV competitions. The broadcaster will now assign ITV Play's place on the digital terrestrial platform to a channel funded by advertising. ITV is to axe ITV Play from Freeview and Sky Digital, replacing the participation channel with ITV2+1, a channel running the ITV2 schedule with an hour's delay. ITV confirmed ITV Play would continue to run overnight on ITV1 and ITV2.
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AT&T and Yahoo IPTV partnershipAT&T and Yahoo have confirmed plans to further strengthen the ties between them. Both companies are discussing ways to expand into the mobile arena now that AT&T owns mobile phone company Cingular. The agreement also will allow the companies to introduce advertising on their co-branded mail service and offer Yahoo’s services on AT&T’s IPTV.
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3 Italia and RRD trial hierarchical digital TV modulation
From Branislav Pekic in RomeMobile operator 3 Italia and network operator Reti Radiotelevisive Digitali (RRD) have successfully completed hierarchical frequency modulation trials on 3 Italia’s DVB-H network. The goal of the trial was to test the possibility of placing several standard and high definition digital terrestrial TV channels alongside the existing channels offered on 3 Italia’s digital mobile TV service.
The tests showed it was possible to continue transmitting mobile digital channels for reception on the ‘Tivufonino’, whilst adding up to 4 channels DTT (DVB-T) channels. The new technology will permit 3 Italia to modulate two different data fluxes on its own network, DVB-H for Mobile Digital TV and DVB-T for Digital Terrestrial TV.
Thanks to the use of the 5, 6, 7 and 8 MHz frequency bands, this innovation is applicable worldwide. The TV data flux can be divided into 12 digital mobile channels, to which can be added, on the secondary mux, 4 standard DTT channels, 2 high definition DTT channels or a combination of standard and high definition DTT channels.
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Lobby want TV airwaves for InternetA coalition of media and comms companies including Microsoft, Google, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Philips are lobbying the US Federal Communications Commission to allow idle TV channels, known as white space, to be used to beam the Internet into homes and offices", reports The Washington Post.
Several analysts believe a TV-spectrum system might make the most sense in rural areas, where high-speed Internet access via phone or cable lines is expensive to deploy. Small companies might build some towers, beam white-space spectrum to farm homes and cabins, and connect it to an Internet provider.
Google joined the coalition possibly thinking about keeping its option open should big ISPs and telcos start charging for high-speed levels.
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KEYMILE adds FTTB Solutions
KEYMILE, a manufacturer and supplier of next-generation access systems with integrated network management is presenting the latest addition to its MileGate Multi-Service IP DSLAM product family for the first time at CeBIT. MileGate 2010 is a compact IP-DSLAM which permits the optical linking of buildings (FTTB) for the provision of VDSL2 connections at the highest bandwidth.
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Wednesday 14th March
Viacom sues YouTube and Google
US sets rules for digital TV payments
Eisner Internet media studio
Premiere to market rival pay-TV channels
Spain's Antena 3 TV expands into YouTube
Germany: 8.7m mobile TV users
TBS extends reach on Eutelsat
Gore hypes Current TV
France 24 expanding output
Telindus launches UK IPTV
Hansenet and Warner VOD agreement
Gambling ads ban to be lifted
Sunrise and Roberts invest $10m in Yebotv
Clouseau on pirates’ trail
Viacom sues YouTube and GoogleViacom confirmed that it has sued YouTube and Google in US District Court for the Southern District of New York for "massive intentional copyright infringement" of its entertainment properties. The suit seeks more than $1 billion in damages, as well as an injunction prohibiting Google and YouTube from further copyright infringement.
The complaint contends that almost 160,000 unauthorised clips of Viacom’s programming have been available on YouTube and that these clips had been viewed more than 1.5 billion times.
According to Viacom, YouTube has built a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others’ creative works in order to enrich itself and its corporate parent Google. "Their business model, which is based on building traffic and selling advertising off of unlicensed content, is clearly illegal and is in obvious conflict with copyright laws."
Viacom suggests that this behaviour is in "stark contrast" to the actions of other significant distributors, who have recognised the fair value of entertainment content and have concluded agreements to make content legally available to their customers around the world.
"After a great deal of unproductive negotiation, and remedial efforts by ourselves and other copyright holders, YouTube continues in its unlawful business model. Therefore, we must turn to the courts to prevent Google and YouTube from continuing to steal value from artists and to obtain compensation for the significant damage they have caused," concluded a company statement.
US sets rules for digital TV payments
The US Government will offer households as much as $80 (E60) each to help convert televisions to receive digital broadcasts under a $1.5 billion programme.
Households with one or more TV sets can ask for as many as two $40 coupons as long as the first allotment, of $990 million, is not depleted, according to newly published Commerce Department rules. If the initial amount is inadequate, an extra $510 million in coupons may be offered to households without pay-TV service.
The subsidies are intended to help consumers prepare for the end of analogue TV broadcasts in February 2009.
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Eisner Internet media studioFormer Disney chief Michael Eisner’s The Tornante Company has revealed the formation of Vuguru, an independent studio that will produce and distribute original content for the Internet and emerging digital platforms. Vuguru’s goal is to produce high-quality, story-driven content for the Internet that would normally only be found in cinemas or on television.
"In the past few years, the development of exciting and innovative digital media platforms and technologies has outpaced the creation of truly great content," said Eisner. "Vuguru will produce and showcase original and third party content in all genres and formats to meet the new demands of the evolving media landscape."
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Premiere to market rival pay-TV channels
German pay-TV platform Premiere plans to offer subscribers access to rival pay-TV channels in the autumn of 2007 via a new satellite platform to win more customers as well as market share.
Customers will be able to receive the new satellite television offering - Premiere Sky - through existing Premiere decoders available in 1.7 million German households.
Premiere hopes the new unit will thwart rival plans for an independent satellite TV company called Stargate. The German pay-TV company may decide to sell less than half of Premiere Sky to investors after the new unit has been set up.
Spain's Antena 3 TV expands into YouTube
From David del Valle in MadridSpanish network Antena 3 TV is launching its own branded channel on video-sharing website YouTube, becoming the first company in the country to do so.
Clips from the broadcaster's programming, including shows such as Buenafuente, Espejo Publico and En Antena, will feature at www.youtube.com/antena3.
The launch of the channel comes after the BBC launched its own channels on YouTube earlier this month and will offer similar features, allowing viewers to rate and share their favourite clips among friends. At least 10 to 15 new clips will be added each week.
"The new Antena 3-branded channel on YouTube will allow us to approach our viewers in a totally different way and will give us a chance to target other potential global audiences through this new platform," said Antena 3 general manager of new business development Giorgio Sbampato.
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Germany is forecast to have 8.7 million mobile TV subscribers by 2102, according to consultancy Goldmedia. Goldmedia suggests that commercial international mobile TV operators and strong user-acceptance measured in market trials in Germany and overseas indicate favourable acceptance. Goldmedia considers that mobile TV can only be successful as a pay-TV business model.
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TBS extends reach on EutelsatProgramming provider Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) has selected satellite operator Eutelsat to supply capacity and services for delivering three of its flagship entertainment channels, Boomerang, Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies (TCM), to cable networks in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
Eutelsat is providing TBS with a comprehensive broadcasting package which includes multiplexing, encryption and uplinking as well as transmission to cable markets in continental Europe.
Broadcasting with English and German soundtracks, the three TBS channels benefit from privileged access to more than 170 regional cable network partners in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg who offer their subscribers the KabelKiosk channel product, which is commercialised by Eutelsat's German subsidiary.
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Gore hypes Current TV
Former US Vice President Al Gore has promised to "democratise" television in the UK with the launch of the Current TV channel.Current TV will broadcast non-fiction videos by "people making TV for the first time, and making it well", said Gore. Available through Sky and Virgin Media, it claims to be the first channel created by and for the key marketing demographic of 18- to 34-year-olds.
The channel launched in the US in 2005 and is now available in about 40 million homes. The British version will be tailored to the UK, with Google, Lonely Planet and the British Library all signing up as partners.
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France 24 expanding outputFrench state-backed international news broadcaster France 24 is to add an Arabic channel on April 2 and step up its cable coverage in the US. Currently broadcasting in just English and French, the company is adding Arabic to its coverage in a bid to establish itself as a major worldwide player.
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Telindus, technology-focused network solutions company, has launched a portfolio of IPTV products in the UK. Telindus’ IPTV portfolio will provide operators with the capability to deliver ‘triple play’ services and digital content via a set-top box (STB) or direct to a PC.
Hansenet and Warner VOD agreement
A multiyear video-on-demand (VOD) agreement for theatrical motion pictures between German telco HanseNet Telekommunikation and Warner Bros has been confirmed.
The agreement gives Hansenet’s Alice homeTV digital service the German VOD rights to new feature films distributed to the international TV marketplace by Warner Bros, in addition to a number of recent and classic motion pictures from the Warner Bros. Entertainment library. More than 100 films are included in the pact.
Besides providing a joint portal and films, the agreement calls for a comprehensive collaboration on counteracting Internet piracy between Alice and Warner Bros. Alice will monitor advertising for illegal content and will collaborate with Warner Bros. in matters of educating consumers about piracy and on campaigns to protect intellectual property.
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A ban on UK TV and radio adverts for casinos, betting shops and online gambling sites is to be scrapped. The new rules will come into operation in September 2007as part of the Gambling Act 2005.
Adverts will still be banned during shows aimed at under 18s - and anyone who appears to be under 25 cannot be shown gambling on TV or on radio.
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Sunrise and Roberts invest $10m in YebotvOnline live music portal Yebotv has raised $10m of funding from Roberts Communications Network, a major US broadcasting technology firm, and Sunrise Operations, the investor arm of Winticket, horse wagering company in US.
In the three months since its founding, Yebotv has expanded rapidly, experiencing a huge client-base growth and interest from record labels, artists and potential sponsor partners alike.
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SafeMedia, developer of Internet Piracy Prevention (IPP) technology, has launched its flagship product, Clouseau, as a solution for Internet peer-to-peer (P2P) copyrighted material piracy.
Clouseau is a network appliance deployed on subnets that completely eradicates all illegal P2P, and makes it impossible to send or receive any illegal P2P transmissions.
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Tuesday 13th March
Swisscom bids E3.7bn for FastWeb
Google trials targeted TV ads
Broadcast technology: strong profits
MySpace news service
UBC digital radio downloads
Parry raises AIM capital for India
Digital airwaves for locals?
Revenues remotes near $2bn by 2012
Gefen unites TV, PC
Optibase IPTV Headend for ON Telecoms
Swisscom bids E3.7bn for FastWeb
Swisscom has confirmed plans to buy FastWeb with a E47 a share offer valuing the Italian company at E3.7bn. Fastweb announced that its founder and largest shareholder Silvio Scaglia had already committed to sell, provided that no higher offer was submitted. Scaglia owns 18.75 per cent of Fastweb.Carsten Schloter, Swisscom’s chief executive, admitted the takeover offer could trigger a bidding war. Fastweb has spent E3bn on a high-speed fibre optic network now reaching 45 per cent of Italians. It is Italy’s leading alternative broadband communications operator, with more than 1m customers. Sales last year were E1.26bn, and operating profits reached E424.6bn.
Swisscom stressed the bid had the full backing of the Swiss government, which owns a majority of its shares.
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Google trials targeted TV adsGoogle has begun a test run serving up TV commercials to cable subscribers in Concord, California say reports.The pilot project to bring its web based ad-targetting approach to cable boxes represents a foray into the $54 billion U.S. market for TV advertising.
Google since last year has been steering TV commercials to subscribers of cable provider Astound Broadband, a unit of WaveDivision Holdings. When Astound's customers watch TV, some commercials spots they see have been sold to advertisers by Google and delivered to the cable company so they appear in the normal breaks in programming as other ads do. If the system is successful, Google could eventually try to establish itself as a middleman for purchasing TV spots, furthering its stated goal of offering advertisers one-stop-shopping across virtually all media.
While federal privacy law restricts what cable companies can do with "personally identifiable information," the theory is that consumers will be better served seeing ads more relevant to them and will perhaps agree to share information about their habits and interests with Google. Such data eventually might allow Google or others to more specifically tailor ads to individual households.
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Broadcast technology: strong profits
Broadcast and media technology suppliers in Europe and North America continue to improve their profitability despite a slowing of sales growth over recent months according to the Q1 2007 Industry Index published by the IABM, the organisation that represents broadcast and media technology suppliers worldwide.
The group of more than 60 broadcast and media technology suppliers tracked in the Index represent more than $7.4bn of sales over the last year accounting for some 65 per cent of the value of the global technology supply industry for the sector. The turnover split in the Index between North American and European companies is currently precisely 50:50.
The annual growth in sales is strong at 11 per cent but is down from a high of just over 16 per cent in May 2006 whereas the profit to sales ratio is at 12 per cent, its highest level since the Index started a year ago.
The industry’s largest companies appear to be taking an increasing share of the market with larger companies experiencing the greatest mean sales growth at 15.6 per cent, in comparison to 8.9 per cent for medium and 5.6 per cent for small companies.
IABM chief executive Roger Crumpton comments: "This data shows signs that the broadcast and media technology supply industry, traditional dominated by small specialised suppliers is maturing into one with significant global players."
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MySpace news serviceMySpace is planning to launch its own news service and anyone with a blog on MySpace will also be able to post their own news items. MySpace has well over 100m accounts and is consistently rated as one of the most popular destinations on the Internet. Any move into the news business is will be watched closely by traditional news providers.
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UBC digital radio downloadsUBC Media of the UK is to launch to a new technology that will allow digital radio listeners to download tracks at the touch of a button. The service, which has already undergone trials, will become commercially available next month on DAB digital radio. Currently, the only device with the capability to host the service is the Virgin Mobile Lobster handset. Mobile phone users will be able to order music using a ‘backpath’ in the digital radio spectrum. UBC is to charge consumers £1.25 (E1.83) to download a track.
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Parry raises AIM capital for India
Roger Parry, who tried to mount a bid for ITV last year, is launching a fund to invest in India’s media and entertainment sectors. The India Media Fund is expected to announce plans for a $150m-$200m fundraising on Aim, having already identified 14 possible investments ranging from television channels to newspapers.Parry, the chairman of Johnston press and Future, the magazine group, will chair the company, whose investments will be managed by two founders, Andrew Carnegie and Ronnie Screwvala. IMF is advised by Dresdner Kleinwort.
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Digital airwaves for locals?Volunteer groups are to urge Ofcom to set aside part of the airwaves released by the switch to digital TV for community TV stations and other forms of social broadcasting, rather than just sell the spectrum to the highest bidder. The media and telecoms watchdog is consulting on its plans to auction off the so-called digital dividend, spectrum that will be released when the analogue TV signal is switched off over the next five years.
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Revenues remotes near $2bn by 2012
US revenues from aftermarket universal remote controllers (URCs) will increase from approximately $1 billion (E759m) in 2006 to $1.9 billion in 2012, according to "Aftermarket Entertainment: Universal Remote Controllers."
This new report from Parks Associates identifies several market trends driving this growth, including more content options from more devices, greater household investment in entertainment systems and technologies, and a continuing consumer desire for ease of use across multiple products within entertainment and computing systems.
The report says that while a basic universal remote controller is now in most (75 per cent) of US homes, mid- and high-level universal remotes, now in less than 15 per cent of US homes, are causing the current market excitement. The convergence of entertainment and computing has increased the complexity of home systems and created an increasing need for devices capable of streamlining content choice control. As a result of this growing demand for more capable entertainment remote controllers, the number of viable players in the market is also on the rise.
Connectivity solutions provider Gefen announced the Gefen HD Mate Scaler offering much-needed functionality when combining different standard and high definition video sources and outputting each to the single connector on any DVI display. It integrates different video formats and converts them to DVI; it scales video up and down in all HD resolutions; and it enables access to three sources using one display so you don't have to unplug sources. Everything is connected all the time.
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Optibase IPTV Headend for ON Telecoms
ON Telecoms, an IPTV provider in Greece, has selected Optibase_s IPTV headend equipment to deliver local and satellite television channels to its subscribers. Optibase provided its carrier-grade streaming platforms, MGW 5100, which are controlled and monitored using Optibase Cluster Manager. On Telecoms, a new IPTV provider in Greece, is fully owned by ON Network Holdings NV registered in the Netherlands. Founded by veterans in the industry from Fast Web, ON plans to become the leading alternative telecom operator providing voice, broadband and value added services in Greece addressing both residential and business customers.
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Monday 12th March
EC paves way for new Directive
Telefónica readies Endemol sale
Universal and Bolt reach settlement
DTT spectrum allocated to Italian majors
ReelTime to launch Intel Viiv box
Record revenues for SBS Broadcasting
Alcatel-Lucent demos Mobile TV in Germany
Spain: DTT sales near 4m
Mobile TV for Singapore
EC paves way for new DirectiveThe European Commission has unveiled a consolidated text of the modernised ‘Television without Frontiers’ Directive. After a first reading in the European Parliament and the Council, there is now broad agreement with the Commission about the future legal framework for Europe's audiovisual sector.
The new rules, which have been called for especially by the European Parliament, are a response to technological developments and create a new level-playing field in Europe for emerging audiovisual media services (video on demand, mobile TV, audiovisual services on digital TV). European TV- and filmmakers will be given more flexibility to produce digital content which they can then make freely available to consumers thanks to advertising.
The new Directive reaffirms the pillars of Europe's audiovisual model, which are cultural diversity, protection of minors, consumer protection, media pluralism, and the fight against racial and religious hatred,. The Commission also proposes to ensure the independence of national media regulators. The consolidated text of the new Directive will now go into a second reading by the European Parliament and Council.
"Thanks to the ambitious work of the European Parliament and the intense efforts of the German Presidency over the past months, Europe's new legal framework for a more competitive, more diverse and more pluralistic audiovisual media sector is now within reach," said Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. "I am confident that we will now achieve political agreement on the new ‘Audiovisual Without Frontiers’ Directive by the end of May. Europe's internal market would then be truly open for providers and consumers of audiovisual services by the end of 2008 at the latest."
Telefónica readies Endemol saleSpanish telco Telefónica has announced that it is exploring strategic alternatives in relation to its stake in TV production giant Endemol, acquired in 2000, including a possible total or partial divestiture of its stake in that company. To that effect, Telefónica has retained Lehman Brothers as its financial advisor and, additionally, has asked Merrill Lynch to offer stapled financing to the purchaser within the context of an eventual transaction.
If Telefónica were to decide to divest its 75 per cent stake in Endemol N.V., it is its intention to solicit from the potential purchaser a public offer for the other 25 per cent of the shares outstanding in Endemol.
The sale could lead to a bidding war between interested parties such as Endemol co-founder John de Mol and Endemol’s recently departed chief operating officer Tom Barnicoat.
A bid for all of Endemol's share capital could cost around £2 billion (E2.9bn), according to analysts. Spain's leading television channel, Telecinco, has admitted that it will consider a possible joint bid with Italian parent company Mediaset.
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Universal and Bolt reach settlementUniversal Music has reached a settlement with Bolt.com, an online video site, that it hopes will strengthen its hand in rights negotiations with other Internet sites that feature its artists’ music and videos. Under the terms of the deal, Universal agreed to drop a lawsuit against Bolt that it filed in October.
Universal will now take nearly half the proceeds of Bolt’s recent sale to another site, GoFish, as damages for past copyright infringement, according to people familiar with the settlement.
Universal will also receive a small licensing fee each time one of its songs is played on GoFish in the future, as well as a share of associated advertising revenue. GoFish will implement filtering technology on Bolt within 60 days, which will allow Universal to easily determine when its materials have been posted on the site.
DTT spectrum allocated to Italian majors
Italy’s communications regulatory authority has allocated the first major portion of the digital terrestrial TV spectrum to Italy's three leading terrestrial broadcasters RAI, Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media.
Agcom's board voted to allocate equal portions of the DTT transmission spectrum the three in an effort to boost the market and "to promote pluralism". The broadcasters will have access to 40 per cent of the DTT spectrum.
Telecom Italia Media chief executive Antonio Campo dall'Orto has admitted that the less rapid development of the DTT platform, caused by the government's decision to delay the switchover from analogue to digital from 2008 to 2012, has made the group re-think its DTT strategy.
Operating profitability was influenced by the impact of the depreciation of the new DTT network bought at end 2005 and the investments made on it in 2006, the company said.
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ReelTime to launch Intel Viiv box
ReelTime Media’s set-top-box-based online movie service, the Intel Viiv Box, will tentatively be made available within two months in spite of a recent trading halt placed on it shares.The device, which offer similar functionality to those sold by TiVo in the US, will include a High-Definition TV Tuner, PVR, DVD recorder and a 500GB of storage. Late in February 2007, ReelTime suspended its shares pending the outcome of funding negotiations with a number of larger media companies.
ReelTime's PC-based movie download platform began commercial operation in February ending a two-month testing phase. It also commenced a distribution deal with Yahoo7 to promote the service across the online media joint venture's Internet portal.
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Record revenues for SBS BroadcastingEuropean broadcasting group SBS Broadcasting has revealed strong financial results for the full-year 2006, with net revenue increasing by 14 per cent to E1.003 billion from E879.5 million in 2005. SBS’s recurring EBITDA surpassed previous record figures set in 2005 by 43 per cent to E207 million, an increase of E62 million from 2005.
Non-advertising revenues continued to grow, increasing to 39 per cent of net revenues in 2006, up from 34 per cent in 2005, driven by revenue increases in Pay TV, cable fees, subscriptions and interactive TV. In addition, SBS’s performance was driven by significant improvements in the operating results of SBS’s commercial television stations in the Netherlands, Belgium, the Nordic countries and Romania.
Patrick Tillieux, acting Chief Executive Officer of SBS Broadcasting Group, said that the company’s diverse mix of European operations had helped successfully identify and capitalise on the growth opportunities within its multi-channel offering. Tillieux said that SBS continued to be strategically well-positioned in both developed and high-growth markets across Europe with a strong platform for future growth and cash flow generation.
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Alcatel-Lucent demos Mobile TV in GermanyCommunication solution specialist Alcatel-Lucent is demonstrating, for the first time in Germany, seamless access on a single device to a selection of Mobile TV channels delivered via either 3G or broadcast networks, including German language channels RTL Mobile TV, National Geographic Channel and Eurosport. The demonstration is based on the new DVB-SH mobile broadcast standard using the S-Band.
Users are also able to interact with the content of all the 3G and broadcast Mobile TV channels available on the terminal.
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Spain: DTT sales near 4m
From David del Valle in MadridMore than 3.8 million DTT boxes have been sold in Spain since the re-launch of the DTT market. During December and January, more than 900,000 DTT items were sold, representing 25 per cent of all boxes available in the market, according to the Association Impulsa TDT.
A report from consultancy firm GfK estimates that a further 5.7 million DTT boxes will be sold in the country in 2007 and that in 2009 there will be 30 million DTT boxes available in the market. DTT coverage currently reaches 80 per cent of the Spanish population, with plans to reach up to 93 per cent in 2009.
Mobile TV for SingaporeMobile phone users in Singapore may soon be able to watch TV on their handsets, with the Media Development Authority (MDA) planning to issue a licence to broadcast programmes to mobile phones this year.
If the service - which would be a first for Singapore - takes off, owners of upcoming TV-enabled phones will be granted access to news clips and other video offerings.
