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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
DirecTV will offer broadband
BT upbeat on broadband
Tandberg extends IPTV reach with SkyStream purchase
Sogecable takes control of Canal Satellite Digital
Vonage IPO
Univision to sell
DoCoMo and Nippon TV ally
Sat.1 for US
C4 packs in pay
Bush signs for digital
Swedish pirates party
DirecTV will offer broadband
Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp, has said DirecTV will soon unveil a plan to offer broadband access. He said DirecTV was in discussions with rival operator EchoStar to create a US wireless high-speed network and that it was also talking to other partners.
Murdoch said the provision of broadband and telephony services to both DirecTV customers in the US and BSkyB customers in the UK was “desirable”. He said in the UK it would help BSkyB compete against the newly merged NTL. In the US, where cable and telecoms rivals already offer such bundled services, Murdoch said DirecTV was “working very hard on coming up with a plan”.
Murdoch was speaking at the News Corp results presentation which revealed group profits nearly tripled at $1.08bn in the second quarter. The figure was boosted by the one-off $381m sale of the teacher’s paper TES in the UK. Total sales rose 1.5% period on period to $6.7bn.
Lower returns from its newspaper and movie businesses were offset by higher profits from TV, particularly DirecTV. Profits from TV broadcasting rose 20% on higher ratings for the Fox Network while profits from cable networks rose 15% as ad revenue at the Fox News Channel rose strongly.
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BT upbeat on broadband
BT posted an eight per cent increase in quarterly revenues to just under £5 billion (E7.24bn) driven by an increase in broadband and ‘new wave’ earnings as it tries to offset the decline in its land-line division. BT said it had added 700,000 new broadband customers during the last three months of last year and increased new wave revenues by 42 per cent to £1.6 billion. Pre-tax profits before exceptionals for the third quarter fell by £8 million to £1.4 billion.
Broadband revenues grew by 40 per cent to £188 million. BT now has more than 2.3 million BT Retail customers and claims a near one-third share of the market. BT Wholesale has more than seven million customers, in what the group said was pushing the UK "to the front of Europe in broadband take-up."
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Tandberg extends IPTV reach with SkyStream purchase
Digital TV delivery specialist Tandberg Television is to acquire IP video delivery solutions provider SkyStream in US$80m cash and shares deal. Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of standard conditions and is expected to close in April 2006.
The deal enables Tandberg Television to expand its technology offering for IPTV and also for the cable, satellite DTH and on-demand markets with SkyStream’s product set, which it describes as “highly complementary”. Tandberg sees SkyStream’s IPTV solutions and market presence in the telco regional headend business as a natural extension to its own central headend IPTV systems and global Tier 1 customer base. The pair already share a number of common customers and the companies’ solutions sit side-by-side in telco and satellite networks and combine to enable operators to deliver advanced IPTV and HDTV services.“The sands are shifting in the digital media market and there is an inevitable level of industry consolidation taking place. In a marketplace with a number of acquisition opportunities to pursue, we chose to acquire SkyStream because of the company’s best-in-class technologies and its strong culture of building revenue and profitable growth,” commented Eric Cooney, President and CEO of Tandberg Television.
James Olson, CEO of SkyStream, admitted that Tandberg Television was not the only company his company talked to about a merger, but said it was clear that both companies shared a strong business and cultural identity and a common vision for the future of video entertainment.
Separately, Tandberg Television announced record revenues and profits for the fourth quarter of 2005. Revenues of MNOK 525.2 (E65.6 million) were up 31 per cent compared to MNOK 401.4 in Q4 2004 and up 10 per cent sequentially. Operating profits of MNOK 108.2 were up 34.2 per cent from MNOK 80.6 and up 11.3 per cent sequentially. Pre-tax profit was MNOK 120.5, up from MNOK 59.6 in the same period in the previous year, and 14.5 per cent sequentially.
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Sogecable takes control of Canal Satellite Digital
From David del Valle in Madrid
Leading Spanish pay-TV group, Sogecable, has become the 100 per cent owner of digital DTH platform Canal Satellite Digital, now called Digital Plus, following its acquisition of the remaining 14.5 per cent from Warner for E108.75 million, giving a financial value to the company of E750 million.
Sogecable will pay E 5.6 million in cash for the stake, while the remaining E103 million will be financed through a new issue which will be fully subscribed by Warner and Dalbergia. The company will seek shareholder approval for the capital hikeSogecable has also agreed to acquire the remaining 10 per cent of the cinema thematic channel Cinemania from Warner for E2.9 million.
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VoIP provider Vonage Holdings wants to raise up to $250 million in an initial public offering to fund expanding its subscriber base. The IPO announcement from the loss making provider comes as the market appears to be on the verge of reaching a broader audience -- and competition from much larger companies intensifies.
Vonage said in the filing that it had more than 1.4 million subscriber lines as of February 8th and lost $189.6 million on revenue of $174 million in the first nine months of 2005. The company spent $176.3 million on marketing in the same period. The VoIP market for voice services over high-speed Internet is estimated to grow from a range of 900,000 to 1.5 million North American consumer users in 2004 to between 8.2 million and 15.3 million users by the end of 2007, Vonage said.
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Univision, the largest Spanish-language media group in the US, is considering a sale of the company that could fetch $12bn or more. A possible sale of the media group, which includes three TV networks and 69 radio stations, highlights Spanish-language media’s appeal as a rare growth opportunity at a time when broadcasters are seeing their audiences fractured by competition online and from cable TV.
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DoCoMo and Nippon TV ally
Japan's largest mobile operator, and Nippon Television Network Corp. the country's second-largest broadcaster have agreed to a tie-up to look into mobile digital TV services. The two companies will each invest $42 million to set up a fund that will consider ways to offer digital television services for mobile phones as well as other opportunities for bringing Nippon TV content to DoCoMo users. It is DoCoMo's second agreement with a broadcaster, and comes as the industry prepares to offer digital TV programs for cellphones starting on April 1. In December DoCoMo agreed to buy a 2.6 per cent stake in Fuji Television Network for about $177 million.
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ProSiebenSat.1 will be available on cable in the United States via a representation and marketing partnership with International Networks. Nearly one year after its successful launch on DISH Network's satellite platform in the US, ProSiebenSat.1 Welt has signed on more than 12,000 subscribers. The co-operation with International Networks will allow ProSiebenSat.1 Welt to aggressively add on new forms of distribution and make the channel available to customers who receive TV via cable and DSL. Approximately two-thirds of all US-television households receive TV via cable.
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C4 packs in pay
Channel 4 confirmed it will relaunch its movie channel FilmFour in July as a free-to-air service, which will be available on Freeview for the first time.
The switch will make the channel available in 18m homes with digital TV, as opposed to the 300,000 who currently pay up to £7 (E10.14) a month for the service.
FilmFour's move follows Channel 4's decision to put another pay-TV service, E4, onto Freeview in May last year. E4 has since almost doubled its audience share, up to 2.3 per cent in 2006 so far, compared with 1.25 per cent in the same period last year.
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Bush signs for digital
President Bush has signed into law a budget bill that includes a provision establishing February 17, 2009, as the hard date to end analogue broadcasts. The budget reconciliation also allocates up to $1.5 billion to reimburse consumers who purchase STBs.
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The Pirate party is Sweden's newest political organisation will stand in the next general election in September. Its ambition is simple: abolish copyright and patent laws.
According to the party such laws hinder innovation. "Through the copyright system, multinational companies have a monopoly on common culture and knowledge. For society to grow, you need to have liberty, and to trust your citizens. Thirty years ago, the cost of production of music was astronomical. Now anyone can do it in their basements. The multinationals are no longer needed and are fighting back. Citizens are being criminalised."
Online piracy has become a big issue. It is estimated that of the 9 million Swedes, around 1.1 million have swapped files, and that 15m movies were downloaded last year - equivalent to the number of cinema tickets sold. As with other Nordic nations, Sweden has one of the highest proportions of broadband subscribers in the world.
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KPN programmes IPTV launch
Icahn steps up TW campaign
Cisco sets out IPTV stall
IT crowd goes multi-platform with FremantleMedia
Kreatel STB selected by KPN
Sky realigns executive roles
GlobeCast secure with Irdeto
Dimetis deal extends Terayon’s European presence
Dominant Dutch telco KPN has revealed significant progress in securing content for its IPTV launch as well as announcing that it is in discussions with Endemol regarding a joint venture for cross-media exploitation of television content. KPN has signed contracts with over sixty parties for the service, scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2006.. In addition to the Dutch national and commercial television and radio channels, there are a number of additional theme channels.Ludolf Rasterhoff, manager of KPN’s TV and Media business unit said: "In signing these contracts, KPN is setting a major step in the rollout of its TV strategy.” He admitted that the telco was still negotiating with several other parties.
The deal with Endemol Nederland concerns a non-binding Letter of Intent to come to an agreement concerning the establishment of a joint venture. The JV would see the exploitation of Endemol content through all KPN platforms in the Dutch market. The deal covers a number of digital theme channels for KPN TV and access to Endemol content in the form of 'video-on-demand' both via the Internet and mobile telephone. In addition to exclusive content for the joint venture, the content will also be distributed via third parties.
The JV will have access to the Endemol library, and in addition to existing material, will also produce new programming material based on the point of departure that the material will be suitable for distribution via all available platforms. The JV will develop new forms of advertising.
Rasterhoff described the move as “a major step forward in the new way of watching television. By taking this step KPN is able to secure unique, high-quality Endemol content for all its platforms. With the new form of production we will be able to supply all KPN platforms, such as TV, mobile telephones and the Internet with specific content". Commercial Director Endemol Nederland, Dick van der Graaf noted that, in addition to its national domestic distribution network, KPN was “also able to access the consumer out of doors."
KPN and Endemol are currently conducting talks with other partners who have also shown an interest in the joint venture.
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Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is planning a roadshow to meet Time Warner Inc.'s largest shareholders and persuade them to back his plan to break up the media giant. With other investors, Icahn controls about 3.3 per cent of stock and options at Time Warner.
Icahn presented a report written for him by Lazard Ltd. that advocated splitting Time Warner into four companies and buying back $20 billion of stock. “That is the campaign. We'll be in constant communication, talking to people, answering questions.''
Icahn suggests that such a split would increase the company's value by more than $45 billion. Icahn plans to contact Time Warner investors including Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the company's largest shareholders, who has publicly pledged his support for Chief Executive Officer Richard Parsons.
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Networking equipment giant Cisco Systems has revealed “solid” second quarter sales and profits that met Wall Street expectations. Cisco reported a sales increase of 9.3 per cent year-on-year to $6.6bn, in line with analysts’ expectations.
“We’re pleased with the solid revenue and earnings per share results Cisco delivered during its second quarter, but also especially pleased with our strong order momentum,” said John Chambers, chief executive, who suggested that this proved Cisco’s strategy was working in terms of the convergence of voice, video and data.
Cisco’s recent acquisitions of Scientific-Atlanta, and KiSS, a European set-top box maker, have positioned the company to benefit from operators wishing to offer IPTV services. “There is a lot of interest and opportunity in IPTV,” Mike Volpi, senior VP and GM in Cisco’s Routing group, told the Financial Times.
Volpi said that Cisco hopes to capitalise on Scientific Atlanta’s strong market share among telecom providers to get them to embrace IPTV as a distribution model. “For many of the telecom operators, video is not part of their core business,” he said. “Our belief is that if you get the telecoms to go to IPTV quickly, the cable operators will go along. They can’t just sit there if IPTV is a better offering for the consumer.”
Volpi admitted that technical hurdles mean that widespread adoption of IPTV is still several years away. “I think that everybody that tells you it will happen within the next twelve months is not being realistic.” He also revealed that Cisco planned eventually to combine Scientific-Atlanta with KiSS, although he declined to provide a timeframe.
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IT crowd goes multi-platform with FremantleMedia
New UK comedy series, The IT Crowd is to be made available on mobile and online platforms following a deal between FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide (FLW), the licensing division of programming group FremantleMedia and UK broadcaster Channel 4. to provide exclusive content for the.
For the first time in Channel 4’s history, UK-based Internet users will be able to watch full-length episodes of The IT Crowd one week before transmission by logging on to http://www.channel4.com/itcrowd. Fans will also be able to download clips, outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage to their mobile phones via Channel 4’s mobile portal. Content has been edited and encoded for both online and mobile delivery by Mobile Interactive Group, the global multimedia mobile services provider.
Dom Wheeler, Vice President, Licensing, UK, FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide, described the initiative as a very important step for programme producer taklbackTHAMES and FremantleMedia. “New media platforms are an increasingly important way for consumers to interact with our programmes and we look forward to working with Channel 4 on many more of our hit shows in the future,” he added.
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Kreatel STB selected by KPN
As well as unveiling programming deals to provide content for its IPTV service, KPN has selected Kreatel to supply set-top boxes. The supply deal follows Kreatel’s previous involvement in providing boxes for IPTV trials and further strengthens Kreatel’s position on the IPTV market. The Kreatel IP-STB solution has gained strong foothold among European telcos with strategic plans for a growing IPTV market.
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British Sky Broadcasting is appointing three senior executives to new roles and aligning its organisational structure to support sustained growth towards its target of 10 million direct-to-home customers in 2010.
The new roles and structure are closely aligned with three core business priorities: increased customer focus; multi-platform content delivery; and the agility to exploit new business opportunities created by technology change.
Jon Florsheim, who joined Sky in 1994, becomes Managing Director, Customer Group in addition to his existing title of Chief Marketing Officer. He will lead the continued development and implementation of Sky’s multi-product strategy, including the launch of the company’s broadband offering in the second half of calendar 2006.
Dawn Airey, who has been Managing Director of Sky Networks since 2003, becomes Managing Director, Channels and Services with overall responsibility for Sky’s multi-platform content strategy. Airey assumes additional responsibility for Sky’s joint ventures, wholesale distribution arrangements with cable companies and commercial relationships with third-party channels on the satellite platform.
Mike Darcey, who joined Sky in 1998 and is currently Group Strategy Director, becomes Group Commercial and Strategy Director with extended responsibility for a new group that combines Sky’s Strategy, Future Technology, R&D and Business Development teams
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Global content management and delivery specialist GlobeCast has selected the Irdeto Digital TV content security solution for large operators to secure its satellite TV content distribution service worldwide.
As a result of rapid growth in its digital channel distribution service, GlobeCast has upgraded from Irdeto‘s M-Crypt control system for small to medium-sized operators to the Irdeto PIsys control system, giving it a more comprehensive and scalable system. Both control systems use the same smart cards and set top boxes, thus allowing for a seamless upgrade with no need to change equipment already in the field.
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Dimetis deal extends Terayon’s European presence
Video localisation-on-demand supplier Terayon Communication Systems has added Dimetis, a provider and integrator of broadcast and telecommunications solutions, to its Terayon Partner Programme. Dimetis, based in Dietzenbach, Germany, will resell Terayon's complete line of digital video products to its customers, and will offer systems integration and networking planning services to support the product line.
Kanaiya Vasani, Terayon Vice President of Marketing, said the addition of Dimetis to the Programme expanded the company’s reach within the European market, “a key area of growth for digital video networks."
"Cable operators, telecom carriers, broadcasters and other service providers throughout Europe are offering new digital video services, which require the kinds of solutions that Dimetis and Terayon can offer," said Willi Striegl, Director of Business Development, Dimetis.
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Wednesday 8th February 2006
Samsung to launch T-DMB phone in Europe
Mobile TV viewing interacts at the double
NBC delivers iTV and HD Olympics
Display size critical for compelling mobile TV experience
Irdeto integrates with IDway
European 3G users embracing new multimedia mobile culture
Neotion to launch Neotion Pocket dTV
Kasenna funding targets IPTV and cable growth
Telefónica secures German DSL deals
France Télécom and Canal+ sell cable stakes
Intelsat supports MediaFLOSamsung to launch T-DMB phone in Europe
Samsung Electronics is to start selling terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (T-DMB) mobile phones in Europe before the football World Cup in June, making it the first manufacturer to make available handsets to the European T-DMB standard.
The new handset – the SGH-P900 - will have multimedia features such as TV and radio capabilities, a 2-million-pixel digital camera, and an MP3 player. It has a 2.2-inch LCD screen able to be rotated into a horizontal position for watching TV. It will be released at the 3GSM Congress in Barcelona later in February 2006
Mobile television will radically change TV viewing behaviour in Europe,’’ said Samsung’s mobile phone department director in Europe, Anthony Park, ``Samsung has successfully introduced the world’s first DMB phones to the Korean market last year…Now, we want this phone to be another milestone along the road to mobile television in Europe.’’
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have been selling T-DMB devices such as mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants) and laptop PCs in South Korea and it has boosted the portable gadget market especially with LG selling more than 13,000 units of its PDA model PM80 in two months.
Samsung intends to export 500,000 T-DMB handsets to China.
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Mobile TV viewing interacts at the doubleA nine week trial of interactive mobile TV has shown that, on average, users of interactive TV watch mobile TV for more than five minutes each session, which is
double that for regular mobile TV viewers The trial was conducted by Ericsson and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK).Ericsson and NRK launched a downloadable client for the existing interactive TV format, Svisj, in November. It has enabled viewers to vote for which music video they want through the touch of a button, and to chat with the host or other viewers - all at the same time, and all on their mobile.
Gunnar Garfors, Director of Mobile Services, NRK Development Division, said that the initial test showed potential for expansion, and that viewers valued easy and personalised communication highly. Kurt Sillén, Vice President, Ericsson Mobility World suggested that interactivity contributed to a richer mobile TV experience for users. “It builds on their existing behaviour and makes mobile TV an even more attractive entertainment option."
The interactive mobile TV application is an end-to-end solution based on existing technology, which enables mobile phone users to watch streamed TV programs live and at the same time interact with the show.
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NBC delivers iTV and HD Olympics
US TV network NBC is teaming up with satellite operators DirecTV and EchoStar’s DISH Network to offer interactive and On Demand features during the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Turin.
In addition, DirecTV will offer more than 100 hours of high-definition (HD) Olympic coverage from Universal HD and up to 200 hours of NBC network Olympic Coverage in HD, as well as more than 15 hours of on demand NBC Olympics content available to DirecTV DVR customers. The interactive Olympic features will be available to DirecTV customers at no additional cost.
EchoStar is to create the NBC Interactive TV (ITV) mosaic, a multiple picture-in-picture showcase and will also broadcast the NBC Olympic coverage in high definition available to all DISH Network HD viewers.
"The mosaic is an extraordinary addition to the TV marketplace and serves as a platform for DISH Network's advanced 25 virtual and enhanced ITV channels," said Eric Sahl, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network.
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Display size critical for compelling mobile TV experienceRecent research into the mobile television device market has highlighted the critical importance of factors such as size and power.
The report -TV Phones: Integration and Power Improvements Needed to Reach 100 Million Sales - predicts modest success for TV phones in 2006 and 2007, as handset vendors work through the size, power, integration and price trade-offs in the next critical battleground of the post camera phone era.
Strategy Analytics Neil Mawston, the report’s author, notes that research indicates that three inches (6.3cm) diagonally is the ‘sweet spot’ above which the propensity to watch mobile TV rises tangibly. “However, this poses a real design challenge for vendors and a dilemma for mobile operators as they seek to balance the needs for stylish, compact devices for the mass market against the need for this larger display,” he suggested.
The report also suggests that DVB-H will be the most widely supported mobile TV technology with strong support from tier-1 players such as Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Siemens. In addition, DMB-Terrestrial products from vendors such as Samsung and LG will be best positioned to grab the runner-up slot behind DVB-H. MediaFlo will see modest success in the North American market as operators such as Verizon Wireless seek to establish early brand preference for mobile digital TV.
According to Strategy Analytics, the inevitable standards fragmentation will dilute any significant profit uplift and limit technology differentiation opportunities from TV phones.
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Digital TV content security specialist Irdeto has licensed software solutions supplier IDway to integrate Irdeto’s conditional access technology with IDway-J middleware solution. IDway can now provide an integrated software solution to STB manufacturers who want quickly to mass-produce STBs for network operators.
Graham Kill, CEO of Irdeto, noted IDway’s role in enabling a quick roll-out of terrestrial STBs for Telecom Italia Media and said the co-operation would be extended to other markets such as China.
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European 3G users embracing new multimedia mobile culture
3G users in the UK or Germany are as much as five times more likely to use the multimedia capabilities of handsets, with increased levels of messaging, and gaming, watching video and downloading new content for personalization of handsets, according to a recent survey.“European mobile and media firms have been starving for a measurement standard for mobile content consumption,” said Hervé Le Jouan, Managing Director, M:Metrics, who suggested that the market had reached a point to where an understanding of the audience for mobile content was absolutely necessary for mobile to evolve as a viable media channel.
M:Metrics data indicates that 3G networks attract earlier adopter, more technology-savvy users. Subscribers to 3G networks are likely to use data services overall including services that already work well over 2G networks. “Despite the varied new messaging options, 3G subscribers are still more likely to use SMS in comparison to non-3G users, so we are not seeing cannibalisation of SMS revenues, as some have speculated,” said Paul Goode, vice president and senior analyst, M:Metrics. “Instead, we see that they are sending SMS while being twice as likely to use mobile e-mail and instant messaging.”
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Neotion to launch Neotion Pocket dTVFrom Sotires Eleftheriou in Paris
French TV technology firm Neotion is to launch a credit-card format MPEG-4 decoder, for use in the common interface connector on IDTVs and DTT decoders.
The unit is based around a single optimised processor, the Neotion Processor 4. As well as MPEG4, the module integrates pay TV conditional access. Sample volumes are now available, with general availability in April. Production, in collaboration with two partner companies, should reach several hundred thousand units.
Neotion is developing a line of MPEG-4 decoders using its patented technology, with features ranging from integrated decoders, TV over IP, Wi-Fi or home-plug (using modulation of the electricity supply).
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Kasenna funding targets IPTV and cable growth
VOD programming and platform provider Kasenna, has secured an $11 million round of funding that will be used to further accelerate Kasenna’s growth in the domestic and international IPTV and cable markets as well as strengthen its balance sheet. The funding will enable the company to scale to the increasing demand for advanced video programming and infrastructure services broadband service providers are facing today.Mark Gray, chief executive officer and chairman at Kasenna, suggested that the level of funding clearly demonstrated the confidence that lead funder Intel Capital and other investors had in the market opportunity.
“IPTV represents an exciting opportunity for service providers to offer new digital entertainment services to their customers,” said Scott Darling, Vice President Intel Capital. “IPTV is poised for rapid growth and is crucially important to service providers because competition is driving them to move more toward personalisation of choice, and unique triple-play offerings,” added Gary Schultz, MRG president.“
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Telefónica secures German DSL dealsSpanish telco has reached agreement with four broadcasters to transmit their television programmes over its high-speed DSL Internet network in Germany. It said it had reached deals with public broadcasters ARD and ZDF and commercial TV groups RTL and ProSiebenSat.1 It plans to commence tests in coming weeks, but .has not given a target date for launching the service.
Telefonica will be competing with dominant telco Deutsche Telekom which aims to offer around 100 free-to-air and pay-TV channels over its new ultra-fast V-DSL network in the second half of 2006.
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France Télécom and Canal+ sell cable stakesFrance Télécom and Canal+ have both sold their stakes of around 20 per cent each in cable holding company Ypso to a consortium split between private equity firm Cinven and cable company Altice. Ypso incorporates the France Télécom Cable and Numéricable operations.
Canal Plus said the deal was aimed at further focusing its activities on the satellite-delivered business.
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Global satellite communications provider Intelsat has agreed a deal with MediaFLO USA for capacity on the Intelsat Americas-8 (IA-8) satellite. IA-8 will support the MediaFLO USA network deployment by providing satellite bandwidth and connectivity to the MediaFLO USA transmitter sites for carriage of wireless multimedia distribution capacity it will make available to wireless operators in the United States.
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Skype and Google back WiFi co-op
9% of Spain's homes have triple play
ITV US threat
Murdoch promises business news
Disney spins off Movie Beam
Bravo web only gay channel
UK DAB radio audience 50%
NTU joins Euronews
Alcatel China deal
DIRECTV selects Harmonic
Skype and Google back WiFi co-op
Google and Skype have joined other internet investors putting $21.5 million into a new internet access network, Fon. The company aims to build a world network of WiFi hotspots far larger than those from telcos, none of which have more than 30,000 hotspots worldwide.
Fon aims to have one million hotspots in four years. It hopes to achieve this by getting individuals and businesses to contribute their own hotspots to the network in exchange for getting access wherever they go. Those who contribute access get to use the access of others.
The problem that has limited internet mobile access, says the company, is that up until now there has been no standard for sharing WiFi access. The problem is that to do this today violates the service agreement of almost every ISP. Fon hopes to overcome this obstacle by sharing revenues with ISPs.
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9% of Spain's homes have triple play
From David Del Valle in Madrid
1.38 million Spanish households are subscribed to a triple play offer representing nine per cent of the total (there are around 14 million TV households), according to a report produced by the Government-sponsored Red.es.
Cable operators take the lion's share in terms of the triple play penetration with 51 per cent. Cable is also leading the pay-TV market as, according to the report, 62.3 per cent of cable households also have pay-TV against 21.6 per cent of all homes. The research also reveals that the cable user with triple play pays a monthly fee of E 58.5, three Euros cheaper than other users who have access to the triple play through other broadband.
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ITV is facing a break-up threat from rebel US shareholders who want it to de-merge its production operation from broadcasting as part of a bid to extract value for investors. The plan is reported to have received informal support from Brandes, the American value investor that speaks for seven per cent.
Other shareholders, including UK fund Fidelity, one of the group's biggest stakeholders, are studying the idea before deciding whether to team up to exert pressure on management. Fidelity, which was instrumental in removing former ITV chairman Michael Green in a boardroom putsch two years ago, is said to be coming round to the de-merger idea.
ITV said it remained committed to being an integrated media company. A spokesman said: 'As distribution channels increase, content becomes ever more valuable.
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Murdoch promises business news
News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said he plans to launch a rival to business news channel CNBC by the end of 2006. “We're in pretty intense discussions with the biggest cable companies, and making quite considerable progress," he told Newsweek. "You can expect something fairly soon."
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Disney spins off Movie Beam
Disney has split off its MovieBeam on-demand movie service and brought in new investors, raising $48.5 million in new cash. The new investor base includes venture capital firms Norwest Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund and Intel Corp.'s Intel Capital. Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. and venture capital firm Vantage Point Venture Partners have also taken stakes. Disney's ABC television unit will remain the biggest shareholder in the venture with a minority interest.
Disney launched MovieBeam in 2003 as a proprietary movie service delivering movies to consumers with special TV-top boxes. However, it was put on hold in April 2005 in a move to upgrade the network and service. Disney plans to relaunch the service later this year.
Meanwhile Disney has confirmed the $2.7bn sale its’ radio assets to Citadel Broadcasting. Started in 1984 with two radio stations in Tucson, Ariz., Citadel operates 200 stations in midsize cities.
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Bravo web only gay channel
The Bravo network is expected to announce that it is joining with PlanetOut Inc., the largest gay media company in the country, to start a new broadband channel on the Web aimed specifically at gays and lesbians.
The site, called OutZonetv.com, will include streaming video content in the form of shows of up to half an hour. Bravo will produce some original reality-type programming for the site and rekindle some of its popular gay-themed shows, such as the documentary series "Gay Weddings."
Late last year, Bravo, which is owned by the NBC Universal, announced that Trio, an arts channel on digital cable, would cease broadcasting and move exclusively to triotv.com. Bravo also created a second offshoot channel, brilliantbutcancelled.com, dedicated to shows that were cancelled after getting positive reviews.
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UK research group Rajar says half of adults now listen through digital radio. 5000,000 sets were sold in December alone. Twenty per cent listen via a digital TV set. Also 28% said they had listened online at some time.
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NTU, the Ukrainian public television company, became the 20th shareholder of EuroNews with its acquisition of 1% of share capital in SECEMIE holding company. Vitaliy Dokalenko, President of NTU said: "Taking into account its progress and striving for European integration, Ukraine is seeking new opportunities for information exchange. As a new shareholder, NTU will work with EuroNews to establish a Ukrainian language version as soon as it is possible.”
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Alcatel China deal
China Telecom has selected Alcatel to upgrade its existing broadband access network across 26 provinces in China to prepare for triple play delivery. China Telecom will deploy the Alcatel solution in South China's 18 provinces and North China's eight provinces including Guangdong, Shanghai, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Fuzhou, Hei Longjiang and Inner Mongolia. China Telecom subscribers will have access to a series of broadband services including very high-speed Internet access, videoconference, IPTV and other multimedia services.
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Harmonic announced that DIRECTV has selected the DiviCom MV 100 standard definition encoder for new MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) based video services. DIRECTV is
also using Harmonic's DiviTrackXE statistical multiplexing solution and NMX Digital Service Manager, a unique service-oriented video infrastructure monitoring and control system.
"Harmonic is a long-time video headend solution partner to DIRECTV," said Romulo Pontual, Chief Technology Officer of DIRECTV. "Harmonic's DiviCom MV 100, which is being deployed to encode channels using MPEG-4 AVC, combined with the DiviTrackXE statistical multiplexing system is a technically advanced video compression solution."
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France “accidentally” OKs downloaders
Congress sanctions switch
ABC lobbies for more digital cash
UK digital campaign brought forward
Dish local HD
Harris still on acquisition trail
France “accidentally” OKs downloadersUK record companies are leading international protests against a decision by the French parliament to legalise unlimited “peer-to-peer” sharing of music and film files. The French Government is said to be embarrassed by the “accidental”, late-night vote, which is a major blow to the campaign against piracy.Under the new law internet subscribers who pay an extra monthly fee of E7 would be allowed to download unlimited music for personal use through peer-to-peer websites. The amendment was proposed by Socialist MPs and passed during a late-night sitting in a half-empty National Assembly. Content producers say the so-called “global licence”, could make millions more copyright-infringing music and film files available to internet users across the world.
Music group EMI has called on the Government to reverse the vote, which, ironically, was tacked on to an anti-piracy Bill. The amendment could undermine the legitimate download market which has been growing through iTunes and others.
Patrick Bloche, the Socialist MP who co-sponsored the amendment, said: “We are trying to bring the law up to date with reality. It is wrong to describe the eight million French people who have downloaded music from the internet as delinquents.”
Supporters of the amendment said that the money raised through the “global licence” would be shared between copyright holders, reimbursing musicians and record companies that receive nothing from illegal downloading. Last year one billion music tracks were downloaded in France but only 20 million were bought legitimately.
French ministers have promised to return to Parliament next month with a new Bill to reverse the amendment. The “global licence” reversed the intention of the anti-piracy Bill, which promoted the encryption of copyrighted material and three-year prison sentences for copyright abuse.
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Congress sanctions switch
The US House of Representatives has approved a $39 billion budget-cutting measure that requires broadcasters to turn off their current analogue channels by 2009. The budget legislation was only just approved on a 216-214 vote, and makes cuts in Medicare and student-loans but adds $10 billion on the plus side in new revenue from auctioning television airwaves to the highest bidder.
A nearly identical bill passed the House in December, but it had to vote on the legislation again because Senate Democrats forced technical changes. Congressman Joe Barton of Texas, chairman of the House Commerce Committee, said setting a February 17, 2009, date to end analogue TV transmissions was "a great technical revolution that has been in the making for years will finally be complete."
About 16% of U.S. television watchers do not get cable or satellite TV at all but there are many more TVs that use only an antenna to receive programming. In order to prevent families from being cut off from their TVs, Congress has included a maximum of $1.5 billion for set-top boxes or other means to receive digital signals. Each family in the programme would be eligible for up to $80 for the conversion. The National Association of Broadcasters estimates that there are 73 million TV sets operating nationwide.
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ABC lobbies for more digital cash
From Rose Major in MelbourneAustralian public broadcaster the ABC has asked the government for an extra A$13.9 million to help fund its fledgling digital channel, ABC2.
The ABC, which is directly funded by government through taxation, made the request as part of its 2006-2009 triennial funding submission. Overall, the broadcaster is asking for an extra A$38.4 million. Outgoing ABC managing director Russell Balding said that the submission had been "made at a time when the rate of change in Australia's media landscape continues to escalate, making it vital for the ABC to stay at the forefront of these changes."
The extra cash would help to boost take-up of digital TV by giving "a major boost to digital content production for the ABC2 digital television channel and the development of interactive television enhancements," Balding added.
Communications minister Helen Coonan will make a decision on the ABC's funding as part of the government's May budget. For the 2003-2006 triennial funding period, the government gave the ABC A$2.3 billion, with an extra A$4.2 million in the 2004/05 budget.
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UK digital campaign brought forwardThe launch of a £15m (E21.7m) national advertising campaign to promote digital switchover has been brought forward from the autumn to May to catch World Cup fever. The campaign will aim to persuade TV buyers to go digital to watch England's matches in the tournament, which takes place in Germany from June 9.
Digital UK, the broadcaster-backed group in charge of implementing the government's plan to turn off analogue TV signals by 2012, will spend £5m in May alone. Four years ago, prior to the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Sony recorded a 30% upturn in its UK TV sales.
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EchoStar's DISH Network launched local high def channels for customers in New York City and Los Angeles. Channels available in each market include ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX affiliates. Customers in New York and Los Angeles who sign up for a DishHD package can get more than 1,700 hours of HD programming every week, including their local HD broadcasts, the company said. Customers can add local channels in both high def and standard definition for $5 a month.
"The current migration toward high definition television is similar to the transition television viewers experienced when switching from black-and-white to color, and DISH Network is poised to be the HD provider of choice by delivering the most HD content available in New York City and Los Angeles," said EchoStar President Michael Neuman.
Meanwhile, DISH Network also launched new VOOM high-def channels and ESPN2HD and Universal HD this week, all of which are now part of its DishHD offerings.
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Harris still on acquisition trail
From Colin Mann in New York
Communications and technology group Harris Corporation, which purchased digital media and infrastructure specialist Leitch Technology in a C$592 million deal in August 2005, is still considering further acquisitions in the broadcast sector.
Jeremy Wensinger, President, Broadcast Communications Division, said the company wanted to be “in the supply chain at every point where value is created,” identifying the cable, satellite and telco sectors among those not currently addressed. Although unable to talk publicly at potential targets, he admitted that the company was acquisitive and suggested that it was logical to assume that the company would be “aggressive” in the creative and capture competencies.
He revealed that there would be co-branding of the Leitch products, “probably through 2007,” but that the Harris name would gradually emerge. The product names would remain the same.
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