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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 21st April
Ofcom may control Sky platform prices
Free launches four play with free roaming phone and HD
Liberty and TW approach ‘unwind’ deal
3 TV station
Abertis to carry all Spain's DTT channels
MNOs soft on soccer
Nokia up on China demand
Ofcom may control Sky platform prices
UK regulator Ofcom may clamp down on the charges levied by BSkyB to other broadcasters that want to use its satellite TV platform. The move could potentially save millions of pounds for rival broadcasters such as ITV, five and Channel 4. ITV has long complained about the £17m (E24.6m) a year it pays for its channels to be available on the platform.
Looking ahead, with the auction under way for rights to screen Premiership football, the amount that any successful bidder would have to pay to be aired on Sky could be a crucial factor in their business model. Ofcom is drawing up new rules for determining Sky's charges, to make sure they are "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory". Its conclusions, expected soon, will set much tighter parameters for the charges, claim reports.
Under the current guidelines, Sky is allowed to levy a charge that can range from the incremental cost of carrying an additional channel - perhaps a few tens of thousands of pounds a year - to a sum equivalent to that channel having to replicate the satellite distribution system itself - which would amount to tens or hundreds of millions of pounds. Sky's costs include encrypting channels, regionalising coverage and including new stations on its electronic programme guide.
BBC, ITV and Channel 4 - have tried and failed in the past to reduce Sky's charges or to convince the authorities to force Sky to carry public service broadcasters for free. At various times, BBC and ITV have even threatened to start their own "free" satellite service. The BBC tackled the problem by broadcasting its channels in the clear, estimating it would save it £85m over five years.
ITV's carriage deal with Sky formally ended late last year and the broadcaster is continuing to pay at the old rate, on a temporary basis, until Ofcom provides new guidelines on the charges. ITV has complained at least twice to the regulator over the issue.
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Free launches four play with free roaming phone and HD
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisFrench triple play ISP Free (Iliad group) has announced the launch of a new "Freebox", the V4, a combined ADSL modem, IPTV decoder and telephone adapter. The new Freebox will be in two parts, linked by Wi-Fi and includes a beefed up Wi-Fi access point with a range of around 100m and the facility to use it with a Wi-Fi telephone.
Subscribers will also be able to use their Wi-Fi phone whenever they are within reach of any other subscriber's V4 box. Free expects to have two million subscribers by the end of this year. While by no means all will have the V4, the substantial number that do will provide significant coverage. When used in this way, the phone is billed according to Free's fixed line tariff, i.e free of charge to landlines in France and 14 other countries (including UK, USA and China).
The subscriber may also use a dual mode (Wi-Fi/GSM) handset and so have a much more extensive coverage. Free will charge a one off fee of E10 to activate this service. Subscribers may also access the service from any Internet connected computer.
The new Freebox also provides HDTV, features a full range of connectors (including HDMI, Ethernet, USB, S-video, SPDF) and a built in DTT tuner providing access to the channels that have refused to be carried on Free's IPTV service (notably TF1 and M6). The new Freebox is being issued to new subscribers immediately. It is not clear what Free will charge existing subscribers wanting to change to the new box. Free will also launch a dual mode phone in the autumn, priced "under E200".
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Liberty and TW approach ‘unwind’ dealLiberty Media and Time Warner are closing in on a deal that would unwind Liberty's $3bn stake in the media conglomerate through an exchange of certain assets. Exact details of the asset-swap remain unclear. However, insiders said it could involve Time Warner selling the Atlanta Braves baseball team to Liberty, while Time Warner would acquire Liberty's 50 per cent stake in Courtroom Television Network, which operates the Court TV cable channel.
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UK Mobile operator 3 is launching an entertainment show backed by partners including Warner, Universal, the Premier League and ITN. The 12-minute show will be branded Today on 3 Live and will offer news, reviews, competitions, music and football clips from partner brands. The programme is being made by mobile content producer etv.
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Abertis to carry all Spain's DTT channels
From David Del Valle in MadridAbertis Telecom has signed an agreement with all Spanish nation wide TV networks to carry their DTT channels. The deal involves carrying 20 DTT channels from seven different operators for E60m, E3m per channel.
Abertis has undertaken to digitally cover 96 per cent of the Spanish territory for private TV channels and 98 per cent as for public TVs by 2010, in accordance with the DTT legislation. Currently, DTT is reaching 80 per cent of Spain. To this end, the company will invest E320m (E125m have been already invested).
Abertis Telecom has guaranteed that the coverage of La Sexta, the recently-launched FTA terrestrial commercial channel, will reach more than 80 per cent of Spain before the Germany's World Cup.
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MNOs soft on soccerUK mobile phone companies are said to be cooling on the idea of buying exclusive rights to Premier League football matches. BSkyB and mobile phone operators 3 and Vodafone paid £100m (E145m) for the internet and mobile phone rights to Premier League matches in 2003. That deal runs out at the end of next season. But since the rights were sold, a new generation of mobile data services, including news alerts and club-specific services, have sprung up which have made exclusive access to highlights a less valuable commodity.
Bob Fuller, chief executive of 3, said: "Our position will be 'do we really think that exclusivity is worth paying lots of money for?' because football is something you can get virtually anywhere now." 3 gets roughly half a million downloads of football clips from 5pm to 7pm on Saturday evenings, but the traffic is nowhere near as high across the rest of the week. The company intends to keep football as part of its content proposition but is looking at working with others.
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Nokia up on China demandNokia the world's largest handset maker reported a sharp rise in net profit for the first quarter of the year, lifted by strong demand for its products in emerging markets such as China.
Net profit rose 21 per cent to E1.05bn in the first quarter compared with the previous year, exceeding market expectations. The company said that overall sales rose from E7.4bn to E9.5bn, and sales of mobile phones grew 30 per cent to E5.9m. Nokia’s share of the device market in the quarter was 35 per cent, up from 32 per cent in the same period a year earlier. The company sold 71.5m phones during the period.
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Thursday 20th April
ITV gets playful
Cisco and TELUS invest in Widevine
Tandberg Television: strong Q1
Arqiva goes for OB growth
UPC Broadband breaks million barrier
ITV, emuse team for interactive ads
Ofcom opens up FTA multiplexes
Iceland heads broadband penetration
Telefónica and Lucent seek Imagenio expansion
Five cleared for cable take-off
Intelsat reports $325m loss
UK commercial broadcaster ITV has launched a new channel - ITV Play – on digital terrestrial platform Freeview. The service has already launched in the after midnight slots on ITV1 and ITV2 as from March 31 with shows The Mint and Quizmania on ITV2. ITV Play replaces the Men and Motors service on the DTT platform, which continues on digital satellite and cable. ITV Play will air from noon through to 4am 7 days a week on Freeview.
ITV Play programmes are designed to be high-quality, compelling, fun and rewarding entertainment formats. All interactive programming, games and quizzes on ITV’s family of channels, online and on mobile will appear under the ITV Play brand, including the brand new Bullseye game, only available on ITV.com.
Jeff Henry, Chief Executive of ITV Consumer (ITVC) said that ITV Play was a key new venture for ITV’s Consumer team. "We are aiming to invest in the participation TV sector to build a strong, long-term sustainable business for ITV, utilising our well-known programme brands to produce compelling interactive formats." ITVC is expanding ITV’s family of channels to encompass interactive, mobile, broadband and other new services.
The channel will be ITV’s first non-advertising funded channel. In a separate deal, ITV and emuse are to launch an independent interactive advertising platform (see separate story).
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Cisco and TELUS invest in WidevineDownloadable content protection and digital forensics solutions specialist Widevine Technologies has secured capital investment from networking giant Cisco Systems and Canadian telco TELUS.
Cisco reportedly invested in Widevine Technologies because of its leadership position in the content protection and digital forensics market and for its open solutions platform approach.
Mathew George, Vice President, TELUS Ventures, said that Widevine provided TELUS with maximum flexibility with a proven solution spanning our technical and business requirements for wireline and wireless services. "We believe Widevine is the right choice not only for TELUS, but for all other telecommunications operators looking to deliver entertainment content--which creates an exciting investment opportunity."
Brian Baker, President and CEO of Widevine, said the investment would enable Widevine to further strengthen its market position, product and intellectual property portfolios and customer satisfaction as well as "aggressively deliver" on its vision of content protection delivered to every device in Widevine’s operators’ network domains.
The Series C strategic round, worth a total of $16 million, includes follow-on investment from VantagePoint, Bear Stearns Constellation Ventures, Pacesetter Capital and Phoenix Partners.
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Tandberg Television: strong Q1
Tandberg Television has reported revenues of $84.2 million in the first quarter of 2006, up 24 per cent compared to $67.8 million in 1Q05. The gross margin was 57.4 per cent, up from 56.3 per cent in the same quarter in 2005. Operating profit was $16.7 million, compared to $10.3 million in the same quarter last year. Pre-tax profit was $16.7 million, up from $12.9 in the same period in the previous year.Tandberg described the quarter as a "milestone quarter" for the Americas organisation of the company, with record revenue performance and the announcement of several strategic customer wins in the North American cable, IPTV and HDTV sectors.
According to the published accounts, "with a strong technology portfolio and successful operational execution the Board believes the company is well placed to benefit from continued market expansion."
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Arqiva goes for OB growthArqiva Satellite Media Solutions has moved to strengthen its industry position through consolidation of industry assets and expertise. Scanners Outside Broadcasts is to be combined with the resources of Shots Television - and both rebranded as Arqiva Outside Broadcasts, part of the Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions portfolio. Arqiva has also recruited two seasoned industry executives to join the outside broadcasts team.
According to Arqiva, the move gives it the scalability to serve customers from outside broadcasts through to editing and uplinking, giving the company an even stronger position within the competitive OB market.
Two state of the art HDTV OBs trucks have also been designed and are being built for use for specific customer contracts to bolster OB facilities and to drive continuous expansion in the run up to the Olympics. The trucks use the very latest in digital technology and set new standards in OB vehicle design.
"Arqiva’s growing investment in the outside broadcasts arena demonstrates our ambition to drive growth within the increasingly competitive OB market. Recruiting two of the most talented executives in the industry and the development of two state of the art HDTV trucks demonstrates our ability to respond to the needs of the market and Arqiva’s commitment to the OB space," commented Nick Thompson, Managing Director of Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions.
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UPC Broadband breaks million barrier
UPC Broadband, the European broadband division of Liberty Global, has reached the milestone of one million telephony customers within its European footprint. UPC Broadband has successfully doubled the number of telephony customers over the last 15 months mainly driven by the accelerated growth of VoIP (Voice over IP) based digital telephony service, as UPC Broadband continues to expand its serviceable footprint across new markets.
UPC Broadband launched VoIP telephony service in the Netherlands, Hungary, France and Switzerland over the last 18 months and has recently added VoIP services in Austria, Poland and Romania, expanding its footprint to seven European markets. Later in 2006, UPC Broadband plans to introduce VoIP telephony service in the Czech and Slovak Republics and Ireland.
The deployment of VoIP technology is an integral part of Liberty Global’s strategy to provide enhanced triple play services to its customers. Going forward, the Company is also evaluating the eventual deployment of a VoIP/SIP-based converged product portfolio, including fixed-to-mobile services.
"We are excited about crossing the one million customer milestone in Europe, and the strong growth we are generating from our VoIP deployments around the world. These initiatives are a vital part of our strategy of providing integrated video, voice, and Internet services tailored to the needs of our residential and business customers," said Mike Fries, President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Global.
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ITV, emuse team for interactive adsITV and emuse have signed a deal to launch an independent interactive advertising platform in a move aimed at enhancing the growth the sector is experiencing. Advertisers will now be able to run interactive campaigns simultaneously across digital satellite (DSAT), digital terrestrial television (DTT), mobile and online through one supplier-effectively creating a 'one-stop-shop' for advertisers. As other platforms come on stream the offering can also include digital cable (DCAB) and IPTV.
The first i-Ads, for T-Mobile, played out on Freeview over the Easter weekend and means that a further six million Freeview homes will be able to interact with ads. It means that viewers are more likely than ever to view an ad via a set top box supporting the call for advertisers to create digital ads for a digital age.
Gary Digby, Managing Director of ITV Sales, said that interactive campaigns were an increasingly important way of ensuring advertisers hit their target audience. "With more than 30 interactive campaigns running a month, they have become a core part of the wide range of advertising solutions we can offer to advertisers." Patrick Rainsford, Chief Executive Officer, emuse, suggested that commercials have a more significant value when the viewer can interact with them.
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Ofcom opens up FTA multiplexesUK communications regulator Ofcom intends to deregulate the current rules restricting pay TV channels from being broadcast on the Freeview Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) platform, paving the way for pay-TV channels to be carried on multiplexes B, C and D
Multiplexes are licensed by Ofcom under the Broadcasting Act 1996 or, in the case of multiplex 1, granted by the Government. Three of the six multiplex licences (multiplexes B, C and D) contain a requirement that all the services they carry "shall be provided on a free to air basis save with the prior consent of Ofcom". This requirement was inserted to reflect commitments made by the applicants for these licences when the licences were awarded in 2002.
Ofcom now believes that there are good arguments to support a proposal to remove the ‘free to air only’ (FTA) requirement on multiplexes B, C and D on the basis that the requirement is no longer necessary and there are no compelling reasons to retain it.
Following consultation, Ofcom concluded that the restriction on the services that can be carried on multiplexes B, C and D is no longer necessary, and can be removed without adverse effect on any other relevant Ofcom duties.
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Iceland heads broadband penetration
According to figures released by the OECD, the number of broadband subscriptions throughout the OECD continued to increase during 2005 from 136 million in June 2005 to 158 million by December 2005. Broadband penetration growth in the OECD held steady at 15 per cent in the second half of the year reaching 13.6 subscribers per 100 inhabitants in December.
In December 2005, four countries (Iceland, Korea, the Netherlands and Denmark) led the OECD in broadband penetration, each with more than 25 subscribers per 100 inhabitants. Iceland now leads the OECD with a broadband penetration rate of 26.7 subscribers per 100 inhabitants.
Korea’s broadband market is advancing to the next stage of development where existing subscribers switch platforms for increased bandwidth. In Korea, fibre-based broadband connections grew 52.4 per cent during 2005. This switchover effect is evident by the net loss of DSL (-3.3 per cent) and cable (-1.7 per cent) subscribers during the year.
The strongest per capita subscriber growth came from Iceland, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and Australia. Each country added more than 6 subscribers per 100 inhabitants during 2005.
Japan leads the OECD in fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) with 4.6 million fibre subscribers at the end of 2005. Fibre subscribers alone in Japan outnumber total broadband subscribers in 21 of the 30 OECD countries. The United States has the largest total number of broadband subscribers in the OECD at 49 million. US broadband subscribers represent 31 per cent of all broadband connections in the OECD.The breakdown of broadband technologies in December 2005 shows DSL on 62 per cent; cable modem: 31 per cent; other technologies (e.g. satellite, fibre and fixed wireless) : seven per cent.
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Telefónica and Lucent seek Imagenio expansion
From David del Valle in Madrid
Telefónica is to enter into a strategic alliance with US company Lucent Technologies with the aim of extending worldwide its successful IPTV service, Imagenio. The agreement involves Telefónica ceding all the patents and technology of its ADSL-delivered pay-TV service to Lucent.In exchange, the US company commits itself to keeping up-to-date Imagenio's technology (a proprietary technology developed by Telefónica), to using Imagenio's technology in all its future TV applications and to providing the technology to all Telefónica’s global subsidiaries.
This technological agreement forms part of Telefónica’s plan to launch Imagenio internationally. Launch plans are already underway in the Czech Republic, Chile and Germany, but other countries, such as Brazil or Argentine, are also on the list. Currently, Imagenio has 250,000 subscribers in Spain and plans to reach 1 million in 2008.
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Five cleared for cable take-offFive leading cable communications equipment manufacturers have been granted certification for a range of products by industry technical body EuroCableLabs (ECL).
ECL has certified new cable modems, VoIP phone adapters, and a television set-top box from Scientific Atlanta, Thomson, Sagem, Ambit and Electroline. The certified equipment will carry the EuroCableLabs (ECL) logo. EuroCableLabs certified equipment is guaranteed to be fully working in accordance to standard cable technology.
Equipment such as cable modems and set-top boxes, but also network devices that are labelled with the ECL logo, can seamlessly be integrated in cable networks that operate according to these technology standards.
"Buying EuroCableLabs labelled equipment makes further interoperability testing by the cable operator unnecessary. This way the cable operators in Europe fully enjoy the efficiency benefits of having successful technology standards such as EuroDOCSIS and EuroPacketCable.", said Niels-Kristian Hersoug, Managing Director EuroCableLabs.
EuroCableLabs certifications are granted four times a year following a thorough testing process in specialised technology labs. The tests prior to the most recent wave of granted certifications was conducted by tComLabs in Ghent, Belgium.
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Intelsat reports $325m lossGlobal satellite communications provider Intelsat has reported a $325m net loss in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2005, compared to a $38.7mn net loss in the same period 2004.
Fourth quarter revenues rose 4 per cent to US$295m compared to US$283m in 4Q04, while full year revenues grew 12 per cent to US$1.17 billion.
"Our total year results, which included 12 per cent revenue growth and strong Ebitda and cash generation, demonstrate the positive contribution of the fully integrated IGen business and improved performance in our Network Services and Telecom sector," commented CEO Dave McGlade.
He said the top priority in 2006 was to close the PanAmSat acquisition and to execute successfully on the detailed integration plan that is currently being put into place. "Upon closing, we plan to bring to market the enhanced services afforded by the merger quickly, and also intend to capture the cost and operational synergies as we bring the two companies together, he added.
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Wednesday 19th April
Akimbo in AT&T Homezone
Ofcom execs attack EC media law
UK launch for MTV on-demand
ITU standards boost for IPTV
Chunghwa Telecom lowers IPTV sights
Casema owners considering options
UPC Romania consolidates DTH position
Spain's Tele 5 in PPV deal
Frontier Silicon and Factum Electronics in broadcast solutions alliance
Bluewin changes TV viewing
Australian EPG group pulls in users, plans IPO
CanalPlay teams up with Xbox
Broadband Internet video on demand service Akimbo is to be the primary provider for the new AT&T Homezone service. AT&T Homezone, which is currently in trial in several states, is the first comprehensive entertainment service offered on a large scale by a telco.
AT&T Homezone subscribers will use their converged set-top boxes to access thousands of video programmes and movies.AT&T Homezone, currently in trial in several states, will integrate AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet and AT&T/DISH Network programming to provide video on demand, digital video recording, and Internet content, including photos and music, via a new set-top box. AT&T Homezone will be available to customers who purchase both AT&T/DISH Network satellite television and AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet services.
AT&T plans to offer the content available from Akimbo's library of more than 10,000 television programmes and movies-on-demand. The service will have an online guide that enables AT&T Homezone subscribers to view a comprehensive listing of all Akimbo videos and movies. To help subscribers find videos that match their interests, the on-screen guide features a video search function, full programme descriptions and video previews.
"Our agreement with Akimbo is yet another milestone as we prepare to launch our AT&T Homezone service, an entertainment service that we believe will be more powerful and compelling than anything offered on the market today," said Scott Helbing, chief marketing officer-AT&T Consumer. "Consumers want better solutions and more choices for entertainment, and we're committed to delivering that."
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Ofcom execs attack EC media lawBurgeoning audiovisual services could be irrevocably damaged by heavy-handed regulation from Brussels, according to Tim Suter, partner for content and standards at British communications regulator Ofcom.
Interviewed in Parliament Magazine, Suter suggests that EC media commissioner Viviane Reding’s proposals to overhaul the 1989 Television without Frontiers (TWF) Directive are likely to prove the hardest to sell to European capitals because the commission wants to extend the scope of the directive to cover almost any form of audiovisual information, whether it is delivered via TV, mobile phone or the Internet.
"The commission’s proposals are, for the most part, very sensible, and we welcome most of them," said Suter. "But we are far from convinced that applying broadcast regulations to other platforms is the best way to proceed. The problem is that the commission is trying to use one set of rules to regulate different things. So much audiovisual content is now non-linear, i.e. ordered by consumers when, where and how they want it, and this is clearly a different type of media consumption than linear services such as traditional TV broadcasting, where specific programmes are scheduled at specific times."
Suter pointed out that the new text would not apply the TWF regulations to audiovisual content on an individual’s personal website – a video clip, for example. "But if that same clip is then posted on another site which carries advertising – and is therefore deemed to be a commercial site – it would become subject to the EU rules."
Alex Blowers, director of international operations at Ofcom, said that the UK regulator aimed to impose regulation only when it is absolutely necessary and when no other, less intrusive, regulatory mechanisms would work. "Our concern is that the proposed revisions to the directive would make it very difficult for any regulator to operate in such a way."Ofcom wants to see more British-style self-regulation across Europe. "The commission’s proposal recognises the importance of self-regulation, but it implies that member states must underpin any self-regulatory scheme with some system of enforcement, of which a licensing or authorisation regime seems the most likely."
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UK launch for MTV on-demandMTV Networks UK and Ireland has announced the first stage launch of its comprehensive online video on-demand music and entertainment service MTV Overdrive, furthering MTV UK’s commitment to provide its audience with a truly multi-platform experience.
This development begins with the Overdrive entertainment gateway, showcasing exclusive, extra clips, online from the best of MTV’s hit shows including, Pimp My Ride UK, Screenplay, Punk’d, Dirty Sanchez and more, as well as bespoke news packages, movie trailers and a selection of music videos. MTV Overdrive will operate an on-demand service allowing viewers to create their own playlist of shows that will automatically update week in, week out, affording viewers total control over what they watch and when they watch it.
"The launch of MTV Overdrive represents the next stage of our development ideal to promote multi-platform ubiquity of access to all MTV UK’s products and services," said Angel Gambino, VP, Commercial Strategy and Digital Media, MTV Networks UK. "Our viewers are early adopters of new technologies and we know, through the take-up of our online, mobile and WAP services that they are keen to receive MTV content across all the screens they use – PC, TV and mobile phone."
From Sunday 23rd April 2006, MTV Overdrive will launch its online entertainment gateway to coincide with the television premiere of Pimp My Ride UK, series 2 – the first programme that represents MTV’s future commitment to 360-degree, multi-platform programme production.
MTV Overdrive launched in April 2005 in the US, followed by the September launch of a customised service for Latin America called MTV Revolution. Another localised service for MTV Overdrive launched in conjunction with the debut of MTV Canada in March, and the company has plans to launch additional online, on-demand services for MTV and Nickelodeon internationally throughout the year.
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The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has formed a Focus Group to address the market need for accelerated IPTV deployment, taking the lead in international standardisation for IPTV.
The initiative follows a public consultation meeting where some 120 experts from the world’s leading ICT companies backed up the ITU’s role in the co-ordination of global IPTV standards. According to the ITU, the decision was made because of the benefits of worldwide standards for all players in the IPTV value chain and the need to achieve rapid progress to avoid market fragmentation.
The mission of the IPTV Focus Group is to co-ordinate and promote the development of global IPTV standards taking into account the existing work of the ITU study groups as well as other standards development organisations (SDOs), forums and consortiums. In particular, the IPTV FG will: Define IPTV; Identify scenarios, drivers and relationships with other services and networks; Identify requirements and define framework architecture; Review and gap analysis of existing standards and ongoing works; Identify opportunities for ITU; Identify activities that ITU would encourage other organisations to pursue; Co-ordinate existing standardisation activities; Harmonise the development of new standards and encourage interoperability with existing systems where possible.
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Chunghwa Telecom lowers IPTV sights
Taiwanese telco Chunghwa Telecom has trimmed its growth forecast for the number of Internet television subscribers this year, citing a lack of television content. The company expected to increase its number of subscribers to 500,000 in 2006, but now hopes for 300,000 as it competes for content with entrenched players.
"We've got to be more practical now," John Hsueh, a vice president of Chunghwa Telecom, admitted. Hsueh said the company hopes to increase its subscriber base to around 300,000 by the end of the year, which is seen a break-even point for the telecom company, down from its previous target of 500,000 subscribers.
Chunghwa Telecom has spent more than NT$2 billion (US$61.48 million) on purchases of set-top boxes for its subscribers since last year. The outlay made up about 80 per cent of the company's total investment in the new IPTV business, Hsueh said.
Subscribers to Chunghwa Telecom's IPTV service have a selection of only 30 channels, compared with the more than 100 channels offered by cable TV operators. "We plan to increase users' choices, especially in terms of the multimedia-on-demand service," Hsueh said.
Chunghwa Telecom seems to have slowed its content acquisition drive after cable operators filed a complaint to the nation's media regulator questioning the legitimacy of Chunghwa Telecom's entry into the television market. The regulator is yet to make a ruling. Hsueh said the TV service was being offered in compliance with the law.
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Casema owners considering optionsThe owners of Dutch cable operator Casema are looking at selling, refinancing or listing the company on the stock market, Het Financieele Dagblad has reported.
The second-largest cable operator in the Netherlands is currently owned by investment groups Carlyle (40 per cent), Providence (40 per cent) and GMT Communications Partners (20 per cent), which acquired the company in 2002 from France Télécom for E665 million. Reports suggest that the companies hope to sell Casema for three times as much, around E2 billion, equal to around 11 to 12 times EBITA, a multiple used in similar European cable industry deals recently.
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UPC Romania consolidates DTH position
Liberty Global affiliate UPC Romania has become the owner of the Romanian DTH satellite television operator Focus Sat. UPC Romania took over Focus Sat by acquiring the remaining 50 per cent of the company. In May 2005 Liberty Global acquired 50 per cent of Romanian DTH provider Focus Sat as part of its strategy to strengthen its position in the video retransmission industry in Central and Eastern Europe."We intend to become the leader in the digital satellite television market in Romania, by providing the best quality services and developing a strong relationship with our clients. We bring here the experience that we gained in other European countries and we are confident that the DTH-market has potential in Romania," stated Richard Anderson, Managing Director of UPC Romania.
It is expected that UPC Romania will make a substantial investment over the coming years for the development of the digital satellite television service. Focus Sat Romania was founded in 2004 by five Romanian individuals, and launched the first digital satellite television service in Romania on November 15th, 2004. It now has over 10,000 subscribers in Romania.
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Spain's Tele 5 in PPV deal
From David del Valle in Madrid
Mediaset-controlled commercial TV network Tele 5 has reached an agreement with Spain's largest cable operator ONO to distribute episodes of some of its most successful TV series on pay-per-view.
Subscribers to ONO's TV a la carte service, called OJO, TV a tu manera (already available to more than 400,000 subscribers), will be able to have access to brand new episodes of TV series such as Hospital Central, El Comisario, Aida or Los Serrano, one week before being broadcast free-to-air by the commercial channel. The price is E0.49 per chapter.This is the first deal between a commercial TV channel and a pay-TV operator to distribute TV contents on pay-per-view.
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Frontier Silicon and Factum Electronics in broadcast solutions allianceMobile TV and digital radio semiconductor solutions specialist Frontier Silicon, and for DAB and T-DMB head-end supplier Factum Electronics have formed a strategic alliance to supply broadcasters with complete broadcast solutions for mobile TV and digital radio.
The complete solutions jointly offered will allow broadcasters to benefit from and adopt new T-DMB/DAB features quickly and yield complete, well-tested and flexible solutions
featuring a higher level of quality and stability.Anthony Sethill, CEO Frontier Silicon, said the decision to team up with Factum would deliver significant benefits to all parts of the T-DMB/DAB value chain.
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Bluewin changes TV viewingCustomers of Swisscom’s Bluewin TV 300 mostly live on their own or with one other person, usually have a broadband Internet connection and a larger-than-average TV consumption according to the results of an online survey of almost 1,000 customer carried out by the telco.
One in five say that the new service exceeded their expectations, while the majority of users cite the special functions offered by the hard disk recorder and the opportunity to structure their TV viewing habits more intelligently as the main criteria for choosing Bluewin TV 300.
Around one third of those surveyed say that have started to use Bluewin TV 300 more since they bought the device, leading to an increase in TV consumption (in line with their own interests) for 20 per cent of the respondents.
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Australian EPG group pulls in users, plans IPO
From Rose Major in MelbourneAustralian digital video recording company Ice TV has signed up 1,400 subscribers since it launched a year ago, with another 150 a month joining the service, despite very limited marketing.
The company, which offers an EPG for a monthly fee to subscribers who buy a compatible DVR or who have a compatible PC media centre, has launched an initial
public offering and is hoping to raise A$4 million which should fund the company for eighteen months.Ice TV was launched in April 2005, costing around A$3 a month. Information to record is sent from and to the subscriber's DVR through an Internet connection. The EPG lists free-to-air networks, but not pay-TV, as Foxtel has its own IQ DVR service.
But Ice TV is compatible with just one DVR currently on the market, from Topfield, although with nine media centres. There are at least 13 manufacturers offering
a DTT PVR in Australia. The prospectus acknowledges that future subscriber growth is reliant on manufacturers‚ and retailers‚ abilities to make and market their products, as well as on manufacturers’ willingness to integrate IceTV. "Clearly the number of Media Centres and DVRs sold by distributors is outside the control of IceTV," says the prospectus.Ice TV is offering 8 million shares at A$0.50, for 40 per cent of the company. The lion’s share of the cash will go towards marketing the service, with money also earmarked for administration and development. Closing date for applications is late May.
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Microsoft’s Xbox and have formed a partnership designed to enable players to discover the best of cinema with Canal Play video on demand service and to use to the full the multimedia and leisure functionalities of the Xbox 360 console.
Players will be able to download film trailers on XboxLive /Marketplace. In addition, they will be able to buy films on Media Center via CanalPlay to watch them remotely on their Xbox 360 in the comfort of their own living room and on their television screen.
"With CanalPlay, we want to offer a legal video download service which combines technical quality, total safety and editorial depth. The partnership with Microsoft breaks new ground in terms of audio-visual consumption by offering Xbox 360 users a simple and powerful solution to watch their on-demand videos, placing our service at the heart of the digital platform.", stressed Bruno Thibaudeau, Canal+ Group Development Director.
François Ruault, Director of Entertainment and Devices division of Microsoft France, said the Xbox 360 console had become a true multimedia device, with more than 10 million downloads worldwide.
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