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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday Anytime set for A-P expansion
Philips powers digital TV devices
La Sexta scores La Liga deal
Private launches DTO service
YooMedia plays games with SGI
IPTV: 8.7m US households by 2010
China: digital TV standard soonAsia Pacific VoD service Anytime has secured investment from Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of Intel Corporation. The investment in the Singapore-based entertainment company will accelerate the availability of on-Demand entertainment to homes via the Internet in Asia Pacific. Intel Capital joins Fox, Sony, and Warner Bros among investors of Anytime.
Anytime has also revealed plans for Anytime TV, a new on-Demand entertainment portal that will deliver the latest Hollywood blockbuster movies, TV shows, popular music videos and premium games throughout the region. The Anytime TV experience will utilise the Intel Viiv technology digital entertainment platform, which brings the capabilities of consumer electronics devices and PCs together, allowing consumers easy access and viewing of Internet-delivered programming from an Intel Viiv technology-based PC on their TV set.
Anytime President and CEO of Anytime Craig Zimbulis commented, “The immediacy, global reach and on-Demand nature of the Internet, together with the high penetration rate of broadband-ready PCs in homes in the region, support a new trend in how people get their entertainment. Today’s announcement positions Anytime to meet the rapidly expanding needs of consumers in Asia for rich media content using the Internet.”
“Intel Capital’s investment in Anytime is another example of Intel’s commitment to make IP-delivered content available around the world,” said Kevin Corbett, vice president of Intel’s Digital Home Group and general manager of the Content Services Group. “The Anytime TV service, coupled with Intel Viiv technology-based entertainment PCs, will create new digital entertainment experiences for millions of consumers across Asia Pacific, including the availability of exciting Hollywood movie content delivered directly from the PC to the TV.”
Anytime TV will be rolled-out in phases over the next six to 12 months. Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Korea, and Taiwan will be among the first markets to get the Anytime TV service, followed by all other markets across Asia Pacific. Specific launch dates and details of programming will be announced progressively.
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Philips powers digital TV devicesThe introduction by Philips of a highly compact, low power COFDM demodulator for terrestrial digital TV reception has been designed to enable manufacturers to produce a cost effective, rapidly integrated product, which can be used in any home entertainment device, be it STBs, DVD Recorders, iDTV, Portable Media Players (PMPs), or multi-tuner products such as Personal Video Recorders (PVRs).
The DVB-T / H channel decoder - the TDA10048HN - is also a Coded Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (COFDM) demodulator able to operate with power consumption as low as 160mW, reducing power bills from set-top-boxes and providing outstanding use time on battery powered applications. The DVB-T/H channel decoder is fully compliant with European demodulation standards, including the latest Nordig unified and D-Book specifications.
“Devices offering low power consumption and easy integration will drive adoption of the future digital home products,” said Menno Kleingeld, Senior Marketing Director, Philips Semiconductors. “The DVB-T / H channel decoder not only delivers the most effective power efficiency in its class, it enhances user experience by ensuring reliable TV reception, speedy channel surfing and longer playback on portable digital TV devices. Production-ready reference designs from Philips ensure a quick time-to-market and in-built functionality reduces bills-of-material for manufacturers.”
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La Sexta scores La Liga deal
From David del Valle in Madrid
Recently-launched commercial channel La Sexta has won the free-to-air TV rights to the Spanish Football League for the next three years.The channel will broadcast one football match per week in the clear on Saturday, dedicating 25 hours per week to what the channel called "the best (football) League in the world".
The production TV company Mediapro, a shareholder in La Sexta, awarded the contract to the channel, refusing others from Tele 5 and FORTA; the Regional channels. La Sexta has reached an agreement with Regional channel TV3 allowing it to share the rights in the Catalonian region.
The awarding of the new contract to La Sexta is a strong setback to FORTA, which had previously broadcasting the Saturday game in the clear.
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Private launches DTO serviceAdult entertainment specialist Private Media Group has launched Private-to-Own, the largest online high-tech movie download and burn service in the adult industry using the DivX platform.
With an initial offering of over 450 Private titles available to customers for viewing on over 1,800 models of DivX certified devices, Private is adding a new revenue stream by entering the rapidly growing download-to-own market. Through the launch of Private-to-Own, Private’s blockbuster movies can now be downloaded from the Private Shop in DivX format.
Private-to-Own gives customers the ability to download high-tech movies to their PCs, burn unlimited copies onto either DVDs or CDs and view them on consumer electronic devices such as TV sets, Laptops and portable DivX players. Movies can be viewed during the download process or left unattended to download and then stored on a hard drive.
Berth Milton, Chairman, President and CEO of Private Media Group, Inc., commented: “We are proud to deliver high-tech movies to our customers 24/7 worldwide with our easy-to-use Private-to-Own service, especially when our closest adult entertainment competitors are still in the beta phase of development and offers only 50+ movies to their customers. Private-to-Own is another example of our aggressive approach toward the online digital distribution marketplace.”
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Interactive media and games group YooMedia has signed an agreement with venture capital firm SGI Ltd to form a new company to exploit interactive TV markets through new forms of participation TV and gaming.
The 50:50 joint venture, controlled by SGI, will acquire and utilise YooMedia’s Real Time Messaging System, which allows viewers at home to participate in programmes and win prizes.
In addition, the joint venture will acquire the rights to a new TV game which will be developed into a live interactive multiplayer game with cash prizes for the most skilful players.
Under the terms of the agreement, SGI will capitalise the joint venture with a £1.1 million loan. The joint venture will acquire the intellectual property and ownership of the Real Time Messaging System from YooMedia for £1m in cash.
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IPTV: 8.7m US households by 2010
IPTV has the potential to disrupt cable and Internet business models in the US, as well as the preferences of the consumers who use them, according to a new report . While that disruption is in the future, major changes that will promote that evolution are occurring now, suggests market research firm eMarketer. Thanks to the increasingly widespread adoption of broadband, eMarketer projects that in 2010 there will be 8.7 million IPTV households in the US alone, up from 300,000 in 2005.
The revenue potential for IPTV as a stand-alone product is limited at best, says Ben Macklin, senior analyst, eMarketer, authored of the report - Internet Protocol TV: Global Trends—2006. “However, as part of a bundle of services, which includes broadband and fixed and mobile voice, the value of IPTV will be in its ability to reduce churn and to perhaps recoup some revenue lost to cable companies offering voice services,” he says.
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China: digital TV standard soon
Chinese regulators will soon announce a digital TV standard for the world’s biggest television market, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The system will apply to terrestrial, satellite and cable broadcasts in China, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing Wang Xiaojie, director of the technology department of State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. The government has previously said that it would start rolling out digital television in 2006.
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Redstone calls for flexi pricing
Sony Pictures buys Grouper
Foxtel axes sports channel
ITV unloads TV3 stake
YouTube advertiser “channels”
Microsoft manages ads for Facebook
UK will lead in digital TV
AOL CTO goes
Lindsay-Davies DG of the Digital TV Group
Conax for Datong
Redstone calls for flexi pricing
Sumner Redstone, chairman of Viacom and CBS, has called for Hollywood to take a more flexible approach to pricing as it seeks to protect its intellectual property. Redstone suggested that studios might charge consumers one price for a single viewing of a digitally downloaded film, another for multiple viewings and yet another for the right to burn the film to a DVD.
“Let’s let the consumer decide what they want to pay and what they are willing to pay,” Redstone said. Warner Brothers has discussed the possibility of tiered prices for film downloads that would be based on how soon a consumer viewed a film after its theatrical premiere. Redstone, who controls Paramount Pictures through Viacom, is the most high-profile media executive to endorse the idea.
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Sony Pictures buys Grouper
Sony has paid $65m for Grouper, an internet company that specialises in user-generated video. Grouper has just 8m unique users, far fewer than rivals such as YouTube, however, that figure has grown from 1m in March. The company also boasts a video-sharing technology that allows users to post Grouper-created videos on other social networking sites, such as MySpace or Friendster, expanding its potential reach.
“Consumers are spending more and more time on sites such as Grouper, and as one of the world’s largest creators of entertainment, we want to be where the audiences are,” Michael Lynton, chief executive of Sony Pictures said. He also argued that Grouper overlaps with Sony Pictures’ consumer electronics parent company. Visitors to the site, for example, frequently use Sony cameras and computers to help create and edit their videos.
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Foxtel axes sports channel
From Rose Major in Melbourne
Foxtel, Australia's major pay-TV platform and programmers, will close its Fox Footy channel in September, after failing to agree terms for Australian Rules football with new rights holders, Networks Seven and Ten.
Fox Footy is a dedicated Aussie Rules channel, but the possibility of its closure had been in the air since Seven and Ten won rights to all eight matches a week between 2007 and 2011. Seven and Ten agreed in December last year to pay A$780 million for the rights. Previous rights holders were Ten and the Nine Network, whose parent company PBL also owns 25% of Foxtel. It was clear that negotiations to sub-licence
matches to Foxtel would not be as easy as in previous years.
Foxtel also announced in May that it was launching a new mixed sports channel, Fox Sports 3, further fuelling speculation over Fox Footy's imminent demise.
Foxtel has been screening four AFL matches a week on Fox Footy. Chief executive Kim Williams said that the Seven and Ten consortium had made it clear that the
pay-TV operator was unlikely to get access to the same number, suggesting that the number of matches and not just price, is a sticking point in the negotiations.
The AFL said that its agreement with Seven and Ten was that all eight matches a week would be broadcast, so if no agreement is reached with pay-TV then all the
matches must be shown on free-to-air - a situation which could put considerable pressure on Seven and Ten's weekend scheduling, as matches are played Friday
to Sunday, with one Monday match likely to be introduced.
Talks between the parties are continuing and matches will be screened on Fox Sports 1, 2 or 3 if terms are agreed.
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ITV unloads TV3 stake
ITV is selling its stake in TV3, the commercial broadcaster in the Republic of Ireland, to buyout firm Doughty Hanson for £70m (E101m) in cash. ITV said that the proceeds of the sale would help it fund its programme to return £500m shareholders. ITV owned 45 per cent of TV3 through CanWest, the Canadian media group.
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YouTube advertiser “channels”
YouTube is to roll out its first branded “channels” aimed at offering advertisers the chance to promote specific products and services. The sites are similar to profiles created on MySpace.com, now commonly used to promote films, music and consumer goods.
So far, advertising on YouTube has been limited, partly reflecting advertisers’ caution about being linked with inappropriate home-made videos or illegal copies of professional material and YouTube has not wanted to reduce its popularity by bombarding users with commercials.
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Microsoft manages ads for Facebook
Microsoft has started an exclusive deal to provide banner advertising and sponsored links for social networking website Facebook. Earlier this month MySpace.com, joined forces with Google in an advertising deal. The Microsoft and Facebook deal, which will use Microsoft's online advertising mechanism adcenter, is expected to last until mid-2009. Facebook, which is the seventh most popular site in the US, has more than nine million registered users.
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UK will lead in digital TVDigital TV will be watched in a greater percentage of homes in the UK than any other country by 2010, according to Datamonitor. Around 95% of UK households will have digital TV, compared with 66% in the US and 50% in Germany, Freeview will overtake satellite as the most popular way to watch TV in the UK by 2008, the company says.
The report also predicts that Europe will continue to lag behind the US in adopting high definition (HD) TV. It blames lack of interest in HD on the fact that the improvement in picture quality is smaller in Europe compared with the US.
The UK already has the world's highest level of digital TV viewers at nearly 70%, broadcasting regulator Ofcom revealed earlier this year. The US is second with 55%, but no other European country has passed 50%.
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AOL CTO goes
AOL chief technology officer Maureen Govern, who oversaw the division responsible for accidentally releasing search data for more than a half a million Internet users, has resigned.John McKinley, AOL's former CTO, will take over on an interim basis. AOL apologized for releasing information onto the Web about 20 million keyword searches from about 658,000 anonymous users over a three-month period. Disclosing the data was against company policy, AOL said at the time.
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Lindsay-Davies DG of the Digital TV Group
The Digital TV Group (DTG) Council has confirmed the appointment of Richard Lindsay-Davies as DTG Director General. Lindsay-Davies, who has extensive experience in digital television and consumer electronics industries, joined the DTG two years ago as Director of Public Affairs. Since March 2006, when he was appointed Acting Director General, he has steered the DTG through a review of its strategy, mapping its activities as we approach digital switchover.
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Conax has signed an agreement with the Chinese company Datong Digital TV through its partner Star, for delivery of Conax CAS7 for protection of Datong’s digital TV and interactive services. Datong Digital TV Co., Ltd., established in January 2006, has 150,000 homes connected to the network. They plan to offer their subscribers 61 digital TV channels in addition to interactive services such as family banking, TV shopping, and Video on Demand. The new Digital TV system will trial in October, with commercial launch taking place in January next year.
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Wednesday 23rd AugustCisco swoops on Arroyo
Harmonic in Entone video buy
German regulator backed over bitstream access
Ascent Media restructure reflects new media dynamics
MGM TV available via iTunes
In a move aimed at furthering its ‘Anything-On-Demand'’ solution for cable, mobile and wireline service providers, Cisco Systems is to acquire privately-held next-generation TV solutions provider for on- Arroyo Video Solutions, Inc in a $92 million cash deal. The Arroyo solution is designed to deliver exceptional scalability, service availability and operational simplicity - offering a highly extensible platform for video-on-demand today and emerging time-shifted services in the future.
According to Cisco, the integration of the Arroyo platform into the Cisco IP-NGN (Next Generation Network) architectural framework will help enable carriers to accelerate the creation and distribution of network delivered entertainment, interactive media and advertising services across the growing portfolio of televisions, personal computers, mobile handsets and emerging media capable devices in our increasingly connected lives.
“The entertainment industry is going through a major shift while consumer desire for personalised on-demand service is on the rise. The industry is quickly evolving from pure video-on demand to anything-on-demand with any content delivered to any end device. Cisco's next generation network strategy offers service providers the ability to make this vision a reality,” said Mike Volpi, Cisco senior vice president and general manager, routing and service provider technology group. “With the addition of Arroyo's innovative software, which offers flexibility in content delivery, service providers will be in a position to serve content how, when and where consumers want it.”
The acquisition is subject to various standard closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2007, ending October 31, 2006.
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Video service delivery specialist Harmonic is to acquire Entone Technologies' video networking software business in a $45 million deal. Entone’s portfolio includes content preparation, ingest management, intelligent real-time distribution of video assets based on network constraints and consumer demand, and high performance video streaming products.
Harmonic suggests that by bringing together its headend, edge and access network solutions with the Entone software suite, it is creating a powerful end-to-end delivery system for the next generation of broadcast and personalised IP-delivered services including VOD, network PVR, time-shifted TV and targeted ad insertion.
“Our industry is in the midst of an exciting and fundamental transformation to an increasingly on-demand video experience,” said Patrick Harshman, President and CEO of Harmonic Inc. In IPTV, where both Harmonic and Entone have established early leadership positions in our respective solution areas, the combination of our businesses creates a clear industry leader,” he claimed.“Harmonic is an excellent fit for Entone both in terms of the customers we serve and the synergy of our respective product lines,” said Steve McKay, CEO of Entone. “Entone is the world's most deployed IPTV VOD solution provider, with over 35 deployments including PCCW, the largest IPTV operator. Our success is well matched with Harmonic's strong position in top tier IPTV, cable and satellite deployments worldwide.”
The agreed upon purchase price of $45 million is comprised of $26 million in cash and the value of approximately 3.54 million shares of Harmonic common stock, as determined in accordance with the terms of the definitive agreement. Closing is anticipated to take place in October 2006.
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German regulator backed over bitstream access
The European Commission has endorsed a measure by German telecommunications regulator BNetzA which grants new market entrants high-speed access to end-users via Deutsche Telekom's broadband networks. The Commission welcomed the regulator's proposal to require bistream access regardless of Deutsche Telekom's technology (ADSL2, ADSL2+, SDSL and VDSL). BnetzA’s December 2005 decision was meant to remedy the position of dominance of Deutsche Telekom on the German broadband market.
Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding urged the body to implement the remedy without further delay. In its letter to BNetzA, the Commission also calls for stand-alone bitstream access (the provision of broadband access independent of the obligation to buy a telephone connection from Deutsche Telekom) to be imposed in the near future.
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Ascent Media restructure reflects new media dynamics
Global media services provider Ascent Media Group (AMG) is to simplify its structure into two global operating divisions – Creative Services and Network Services. The move will create a global network services organisation for media and entertainment companies, and also open a world-wide market for AMG’s extensive creative resources in London, Southern California, New York and other locations.
AMG, which owns top London postproduction facilities including Rushes, St. Anne’s Post and Todd AO, provides creative services to blockbuster films, top-rated TV programmes and high-profile commercials. Its Network Services team supports broadcasters and content aggregators around the world, specialising in file based workflow platforms for media management and on-demand distribution.
AMG’s Networks Division will continue to operate as a global organisation that provides outsourced solutions for media management, content distribution, and connectivity. Systems integration and consulting capabilities round out the division’s service offering. Scott Davis, president Network Services, said the reorganisation would allow AMG to further integrate a range of media management services with the next-generation content distribution platforms it was implementing for its customers.
“As our customers prepare to take advantage of these new distribution opportunities for their content, our comprehensive file based capabilities should prove essential to their strategies. These systems allow them to readily adapt programming for local markets and to quickly re-purpose material for new distribution channels such as mobile and IPTV.”
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) is making current episodes of the hit science fiction/adventure series Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis available for purchase and download from the iTunes Music Store.
The first five episodes of Stargate SG1 season 10 and the first five episodes of Stargate Atlantis season 3 will be available for download and subsequent episodes for both series will be within 24 hours after airing on the SCI FI Channel.
“By making these popular series available through iTunes we're able to extend the reach of the MGM brand and the Stargate franchise,” said Doug Lee, MGM’s executive vice president, New Media Division. “We’re always delighted to enhance the consumer's experience of our popular content and see this as a win all the way around.”
The deal marks the first step in MGM’s strategy to expand its electronic distribution footprint globally with more announcements expected in the future.
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Tuesday 22nd August
German cablecos co-operate
Podcasts tipped for STB role
TiVo wins EchoStar DVR ruling
US cable faces heavy upgrade spend
Italian body to co-ordinate digital switch over
IPTV to drive DSL IC chipset market
Catalonia launches DTT project
German cable MSOs Unity Media and ewt have agreed on a long-term co-operation for the transmission and marketing of digital media and communication offerings in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).
ewt will in future also transmit the tividi and arena digital programme offerings as well as high-speed Internet and telephony in homes served by cable operators ish (NRW) and iesy (Hesse), part of the Unity Media Group. Accordingly, reception of the new football channel arena, which is broadcasting Bundesliga league 1 and league 2 football action live, has been secured for cable customers of ewt.
Dependent on local availability of telephony and Internet services from ish and
iesy, ewt will upgrade its in-home distribution networks as required. Customers of
ewt in Hesse and NRW will be able to order arena, tividi, Internet and telephony
from ewt as well as from ish and iesy directly; with ewt remaining the contractual partner for basic cable access.Parm Sandhu, CEO of Unity Media, described the partnership as “a milestone, which is linked to the successful upgrade of the cable networks in the eighties and so secures its success for the digital era. It documents our efforts to work together everywhere hand in hand with the operators of local and in-house distribution networks for the benefit of customers.”
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Podcasts tipped for STB roleMore than six per cent of US adults, or about nine million web users, have downloaded podcasts in the past 30 days, according to new research. In less than two years since podcasts began, this fast growing technology has become a necessary tool for communicators, modern media outlets, and advertisers, according to ‘The Economics of Podcasting’, by Larry Gerbrandt, SVP and Senior Media Analyst of Nielsen Analytics.
According to Gerbrandt, podcasting’s true value may exist outside the media industry, as an important means of communication in business, education and politics – areas where blogs already have laid the foundation. Advances in RSS formats and the expansion of broadband should make it possible to syndicate a broad range of text, audio and video content across the full spectrum of media platforms. “But, as with so many other forms of technology, it will likely be consumers who ultimately will decide the future,” says Gerbrandt.
“Indeed, it is possible that podcasting - especially video podcasts - could become a standard means of delivering content to a next-generation of set-top boxes being developed to connect broadband to the television set. The devices will have full-blown PCs at their core but will be tweaked to specifically interface with TV displays. At some point they may not even be called podcasts - a term which implies they can only be accessed using an iPod.”
Gerbrandt points out that any PC with audio/video playback capability has the ability to retrieve and play podcasts. “Since what really distinguishes podcasts from streaming audio/video and audio/video downloads is the syndication capability, the growing use of content tags and RSS could make the underlying technology of podcasting ubiquitous in the next generation of set-top boxes and portable/mobile devices, “ he concludes.
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TiVo wins EchoStar DVR ruling
A US District Court Judge has ordered EchoStar Communications Corp. to stop selling competing products that are infringing TiVo's patent.
The Texas Judge also ordered EchoStar to pay TiVo almost $90 million in damages and interest. “This decision recognises that our intellectual property is valuable and will ensure that moving forward EchoStar will be unable to use our patented technology without our authorisation,” TiVo said. The ruling requires EchoStar to shut off service to customers with the DVRs within 30 days.
EchoStar confirmed that it intended to continue a vigorous defence of the case and that it was also working on modifications to its new DVRs and the DVRs that are already in use.
EchoStar will appeal the entire District Court decision, based on the District Court conclusion that EchoStar did not act in bad faith and did not copy TiVo's technology.
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US cable faces heavy upgrade spendUS cable-television operators may require another round of multi-billion-dollar network upgrades to keep up with rivals in the fast-growing high-speed Internet business, according to a report from the industry's research arm, CableLabs.
The report, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, warns that at present growth rates cable operators' existing technology may not be able to compete efficiently with US phone giant Verizon – which has planned a $20 billion rollout of high-capacity fibre lines on Internet services.
“At some point, optimisation of the (cable) network becomes more expensive than simply deploying” fibre directly to homes, the report warns. The report raises the prospect that cable operators may have to significantly increase spending on future network re-engineering.
Dissenting cable executives insist existing networks can meet future broadband demands. “I wholly disagree with the conclusions,” said Mike LaJoie, chief technology officer of Time Warner Inc.'s cable division. Its assumptions “are not reflective of what our reality is.” Says Dave Fellows, chief technology officer at Comcast Corp.: “This report does not reflect our view.”
The report points out that it's not clear what the future traffic growth patterns will be but that “current trends in ... video services indicate that content providers and users are experimenting with applications now that will drive expectations for higher capacity.”
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Italian body to co-ordinate digital switch over
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItaly’s Communications Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, has announced the setting up of ‘Italia Digitale’, a body to “define and co-ordinate the necessary activities for the realisation of the national switch off for a transition to digital terrestrial”.
The Committee is made up of representatives of the Communications Ministry, telecom regulator AGCOM, representatives of the Association for Digital Terrestrial Television (ADGTVI), the Unified Conference (including Anci, Upi and Uncem), of national broadcasters, cable TV and satellite TV operators, representatives of consumers associations and users from the two so-called “all digital” areas (Sardinia and Valle D'Aosta). Operators taking part include 3Elettronica, FastWeb, Gruppo Editoriale l'Espresso, Prima TV, RAI, Rete Capri, RTI, Sky Italia and Telecom Italia Media.
In the framework of the Committee, according to Gentiloni, will operate a “co-ordination group” presided by the minister himself and made up of Stefano Mannoni (AGCOM), Piero De Chiara (DGTVI), Vincenzo Nunziata (Communications Ministry), Fabio Belli (RAI) and Andrea Ambrogetti (RTI).
“Italia Digitale,” added Gentiloni, “will be the place from where the new phase of the government’s commitment on digital terrestrial will be managed.” However, he admitted that it would be a great task to “definitely switch off analogue in six years time,” and also announced a plan to create a frequency database.
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IPTV to drive DSL IC chipset marketThe delivery of IPTV capability is the wave of the future for the DSL IC chipset market, according to recent research, although data and VoIP will continue to drive, and will account for the bulk of port shipments through 2010.
Carriers worldwide are using ADSL2+ and VDSL2 as they upgrade their networks to deliver television and video service, reports high-tech market research firm In-Stat.
“With applications like video phone service, uploading of photos and video in addition to music, on-line applications from Google and others, the demand for upstream traffic is likely to increase over the next few years,” suggested Norm Bogen, In-Stat analyst. “This means the technology able to deliver upstream bandwidth will have the advantage going forward.”According to In-Stat, in 2005, there were 153.1 million total ports of DSL shipped worldwide, including CO and CPE for ADSL, VDSL, and SHDS, with the number of ports shipped expected to grow to 185.5 million in 2010. Revenues through 2010 will decline, however, as there is increasing pressure on price from DSLAM vendors.
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Catalonia launches DTT project
From David del Valle in Madrid
The Regional Government of Catalonian, along with the public TV group CCRTV and two Universities, has launched a state-of-the-art project - T-Ciudadano (T-Citizen) - based on DTT, designed to enable e-government, allowing citizens to contact the administration through their TV sets.
With a budget of E1.5 million, the project will be implemented in two Catalonian cities, Mataro and Vilanova, over a three-year period.
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Pay-TV growth at risk from aggressive multi-play pricing
Five goes red button on cable
IPTV boosts Private Media Group results
UK broadcaster admits merger talks
Russian mobile operator SMARTS beta-tests mobile TV service
Tiscali tipped for German exit
smarTVideo launches Chinese service
Cable, DSL claim 48m US broadband subs
Virgin Mobile and Virgin.net offer free broadband
Pay-TV growth at risk from aggressive multi-play pricing
A proliferation of price-driven multi-play strategies can grow triple- and double-play take-up but would come at the expense of overall spend on fixed telephony, broadband and pay-TV services in Western Europe, according to a new report from global advisory firm Analysys.
Increased commoditisation of telecoms services under the banner of triple play and driven by a small number of ‘super-providers’ could lead to a decline of nine per cent in total spend between 2005 and 2011. “The result is that potential increases in pay-TV spend could be squandered as TV services are subsumed in heavily discounted triple-play bundles,” says Stephen Sale, author of the report, ‘The Impact of the Multi-service Play: scenarios for future growth’.
However, adds co-author Richard Hadley, if the majority of service providers opted for a value-based strategy, striving to maintain value in core services by investing in TV content and technological innovation instead of relying on aggressive discounting, multi-play penetration would be lower but total spend would increase by 10 per cent between 2005 and 2011.
In reality, concludes Sale, neither a price-driven nor a value-driven strategy is likely to dominate throughout Western Europe: markets can and will segment and the strategies will, to a large extent, coexist. However, markets with limited growth opportunities in pay-TV or very competitive broadband markets, such as the Netherlands or Sweden, are more disposed to price-based competition, and the long-term tendency across most markets is towards a price-driven scenario.
The report also suggests that triple-play will remain a supplier-driven proposition, with 11 per cent to 17 per cent of Western European households expected to subscribe to triple-play packages by 2011, up from three per cent at the end of 2005. Western European triple-play spend is predicted to be between E14.8 billion and E16.2 billion by 2011.
Analysys suggests that there is still an opportunity for single-service providers, predicting that single-service subscriptions, although declining, will account for 57 per cent to 59 per cent of market spend by 2011.
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Five goes red button on cable
Interactive production company Two Way TV is rolling out a range of new services for UK broadcaster, Five, on UK cable. The services include enhanced television applications to accompany Five’s programming, a set of instant win jackpot games from the Winner Channel, a variety of fun puzzle and word games and a mobile content ‘shop’. Five will be the first broadcaster to launch interactive since the merger of NTL and Telewest. The new services on cable puts Five’s cable offering on a par with satellite services.Paul Thornton-Jones, Interactive Controller for Five, said the broadcaster’s intention was to grow the service over time, exploiting the best of cable’s interactive capabilities.
The instant win jackpot games, TV competitions and other red button content will be directly accessible from an interactive services menu produced by Two Way TV which will be broadcast 24/7 on UK cable.
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IPTV boosts Private Media Group results
The emergence of Video-on-demand via IPTV delivery platforms has enabled adult lifestyle company Private Media Group to report an increase in sales of E0.6 million to E7.7 million for the three-month period ended June 30, 2006. The Company reported net income of E0.6 million for the three-month period compared to a net loss of E0.6 million for the same period last year.
In terms of ‘New Media’ sales, broadcasting increased E2.3 million to E3.0 million. Wireless increased 43 per cent to E0.4 million reflecting the fact that content was available from additional operators. Internet sales were E1.0 million.
Private Media Group, CFO, Johan Gillborg stated: “During the past twelve months we have seen evidence of an emerging new source of significant future profits in the IPTV driven True Video on Demand (TVOD) market in Europe. We have reason to believe that our revenue will continue to grow in line with the forecasted subscriber growth on this new VOD platform and subsequently we expect a contribution to operating profit of more than 0.5 million Euros for 2006 from this new distributor only. Furthermore, we are currently in the process of contracting with additional major TVOD platforms in the most important territories in Europe.”
He suggested that the new media platform would replace the more traditional media platforms such as DVD and that Private would take a leading position in the industry in this new market. He added that Private’s content for wireless was available to mobile consumers via 52 operators in 24 countries, of which 26 operators had gone live since September 2005.
He also suggested that adult content, as it has done with other new technologies, would help to drive the sale of content on mobile devices and that the creation of a dedicated mobile content department would have a significant impact on revenues and operating profit going forward.
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UK broadcaster admits merger talksUK media group SMG has confirmed that it is in £400m merger talks with Northern Ireland broadcaster Ulster Television.
In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, SMG said it had received an approach from UTV which would see shareholders split ownership of the merged company 50:50.
In a statement, the company said: “The Board of SMG notes the press speculation regarding a possible merger with UTV. SMG confirms that it has received a merger proposal from UTV. Under the terms of this proposal, SMG shareholders would receive a 50 per cent interest in the merged entity.”
Both companies are part of the ITV Network, but operate independently of ITV plc, formed when dominant licensees Carton and Granada merged.
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Russian mobile operator SMARTS beta-tests mobile TV service
Russian regional mobile operator SMARTS has started beta testing of its mobile TV service. The test is expected to last until September. SMARTS’ TV service allows subscribers to customise their TV content, the operator said.The TV content is supplied by Moscow-based A1 First Alternative Content Provider, or A1. A1 currently offers five TV channels for viewers aged 14 to 30 years, the mobile operator said.
SMARTS is currently negotiating with regional TV channels on joining the project.
SMARTS, or Middle-Volga Interregional Association of Radio and Telecommunication Systems, and its subsidiaries operate GSM 900/1800 standard networks in 16 Russian regions where 33.9 million people live, or 24 per cent of the country’s population.
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Tiscali tipped for German exit
Italian news agency Ansa has reported that ISP Tiscali is set to pull out of the German market. The agency claims that Tiscali is engaged in advanced negotiations on the sale of its German subsidiary. The Italian parent group had already commissioned a bank to sell the division, the report suggests. According to sources, Germany was a “difficult market” and Tiscali was looking for “possible solutions”.
Tiscali’s major markets are in Italy and the UK, with Tiscali UK recently acquiring broadband triple play operator HomeChoice.
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smarTVideo launches Chinese service
Interactive media solutions provider smarTVideo Technologies and Content Asia Network (CAN) have launched the very first Chinese language mobile video channel in the US. With three live feeds to the CAN channel, consumers of the smarTVideo mobile television network now have real-time access to premium Asian content including TV shows, movies, videos, sports, news, comedy, drama, and cultural programming.
“The deal with Content Asia Network allows smarTVideo to target the extensive network of Asian mobile users in the United States interested in information and entertainment from their native countries,” said David Ross, President of smarTVideo. “This ‘niche content is appealing with great viral marketing benefits. The ‘jungle drums’ communication system has already netted a number of subscribers during our soft Beta test period,” he added.
Bill Reilly, CEO of Content Asia Network, said the agreement extended the reach of the network’s extensive portfolio of Asian language content to a whole new audience.
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Cable, DSL claim 48m US broadband subsRecent research has revealed that) found that the twenty-one largest cable and DSL providers in the US – representing about 94 per cent of the market – acquired nearly 2.1 million net additional subscribers in the second quarter of 2006. These top broadband providers now account for about 48.3 million high-speed Internet subscribers – with cable having 26.9 million broadband subscribers, and DSL having 21.3 million subscribers.
Other key findings from Leichtman Research Group indicate that the top DSL providers added 1.16 million subscribers, representing 56 per cent of the net broadband additions for the quarter versus cable, while DSL providers added more broadband subscribers than cable providers in each of the last seven quarters, acquiring about 1.2 million more subscribers than cable during this period. The top cable broadband providers still have a 5.6 million subscriber advantage over DSL and command a 56 per cent share of the market versus DSL.
Total broadband additions in the quarter were about a million fewer than in the first quarter of 2006, but were greater than in any previous second quarter
“While broadband additions were down in the now traditionally slower second quarter from the record setting first quarter of the year, in the first half of 2006 the top DSL and cable providers added over five million broadband subscribers,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Given recent broadband market trends, we are likely to see a greater number of net additions in the third quarter of the year.”
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Virgin Mobile and Virgin.net offer free broadband
In its first major initiative since ntl: Telewest acquired the mobile operator, in a move to create a ‘quadruple play’ offering, Virgin Mobile and broadband provider Virgin.net have joined forces to offer a year’s free up to 8 Mbps broadband to customers signing up for one of Virgin Mobile’s new SIM-only pay monthly tariffs.
Graeme Hutchinson, trading director at Virgin Mobile said the offer represented “fantastic value for those customers who want free broadband for a year at home and have someone in their household who wants a great value mobile package and has a handset they are happy with.”
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