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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday Kazaa settles for $100m
BT earnings up 2%
FT sees fixed line fade
EMI drops Warner bid
chello shopping for Netherlands
Harmonic extends compression family
Kazaa settles for $100m
The record industry has reached a legal settlement with Kazaa, the peer-to-peer file-sharing service that has been considered a major contributor to piracy. Under the terms of the settlement, Sharman Networks, Kazaa's Australian-based owner, will pay the world's four major music companies - Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music - more than $100m in damages.In addition, Kazaa has agreed to restrict the sharing of copyrighted material on its network. "Kazaa was an international engine of copyright theft which damaged the whole music sector and hampered our industry's efforts to grow a legitimate digital business," said John Kennedy, head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). "It has paid a heavy price for its past activities. At the same time Kazaa will now be making a transition to a legal model and converting a powerful distribution technology to legitimate use."
The music industry has reached settlements with a number of file-sharing services following the Supreme Court's landmark ruling last year in the MGM-Grokster case. In that instance, the court ruled that Grokster could be held responsible for copyright violations committed by its users. In spite of the legal victories, the record companies still lose more than $4bn to piracy each year, according to the RIAA. As some file-sharing services such as Grokster have shut down, other new ones have sprung up to take their place.
Kazaa was developed by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the creators of Skype, the internet telephone company that was sold to Ebay last year for $2.6bn.
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BT earnings up 2%
BT reported core earnings of £1.4bn (E2bn) for the first quarter of its 2007, up 2 per cent. Revenues for the quarter ended June 30, were up 3 per cent at £4.9bn. Growing revenues from BT's "new wave" activities, such as the provision of broadband and private communications networks for companies, continue to offset the decline in sales from traditional services such as fixed line voice calls.
BT's results suggested that the broadband price war might be having some impact on BT Retail, its consumer business. BT Retail said it had a 30 per cent market share of new broadband customers, down from 31 per cent in the last quarter of 2006 and revenues of £2.1bn, down 2 per cent.
For the first time, BT gave details of the financial performance of Openreach, the division that enables competitors to take control of the landlines that run from phone exchanges to people's homes. Openreach reported revenues of £1.3bn, down 3 per cent, and Ebitda of £472m, down 7 per cent. BT said the revenue decline was due to reductions in the price of products it sells to competitors, such as wholesale line rental.
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FT sees fixed line fadeFrance Telecom has reported a 30 per cent drop in first-half profit as earnings from fixed-line continued to fall as users migrate to VoIP. The group, which owns Orange and Wanadoo revised its outlook for the year, saying it would not be able to reach its full-year sales growth targets, as it unveiled net profits had dropped to E2.35bn down on E3.36bn a year earlier. This despite a 1.4 per cent increase in revenues to E25.86bn.
In the six months to June 30, sales from its fixed-line unit, which account for more than 43 per cent of the group's overall revenue fell 0.3 per cent to E11.13bn.
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EMI drops Warner bid
UK music group EMI has aborted plans to buy rival Warner Music amid fears the $1.35bn deal would not get regulatory approval. It follows a European court ruling which overturned a 2004 decision to permit Sony and BMG to merge, creating the world's second-largest music firm. EMI has twice made offers to buy Warner in 2006, which in turn launched counter proposals to buy EMI.The European Court of First Instance ruling on the Song BMG venture has cast doubts on the prospect of further consolidation in the music industry. It said that the European Commission, which approved the merger in 2004, had failed to sufficiently demonstrate that the deal would not result in the world's top companies having a "collective dominant position" in the market.
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chello shopping for Netherlands
A new live shopping network, scheduled to launch in October 2006, will replace the existing Tel Sell network and air in over 4 million analogue and digital cable households. The network will feature a 'falling price' auction format, which promises to entertain the viewer whilst showcasing quality products at attractive prices, thereby delivering great value to the consumer. The new network will initially air 5 hours live per day and will eventually grow to 14 hours live per day over time, seven days a week.
The new network will be truly interactive. TV viewers/shoppers will be able to buy from a broad range of products from homeware to electronics, jewellery to toys. In time all products that appear on TV will also be available online with TV viewers bidding by telephone alongside online shoppers on the web. SMS and interactive TV purchasing options will be developed to allow the consumer to pay in the manner they find most convenient.
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Harmonic extends compression family
Harmonic has extended its family of market-leading digital video compression solutions with the new DiviCom Electra 7000 high definition (HD) MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) encoder. The multi-channel, multi-service HD H.264 encoder, the Electra 7000 supports up to four full resolution HD channels and can simultaneously create low resolution services for picture-in-picture (PiP) or multi-channel mosaic applications. The company says it is an ideal solution for satellite, telco/IPTV and cable operators, the Electra 7000 sets a radically improved benchmark for HD H.264 compression performance and video quality. Customers have confirmed bit-rates 20 to 30 percent lower than any currently deployed HD H.264 encoder, and the system has already been selected by five satellite and telco operators in North America and Europe to power their forthcoming HD services.
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Thursday 27th July
NBC Universal, BT strike DTO and VoD deals
TiVo to track ads
AT&T says IPTV working
Study reveals growing demand for Participation TV
AT&T and DISH progress
DirecTV, YES first service
BellSouth Adds DSL, Loses Phone Subs
NBC Universal, BT strike DTO and VoD deals
Universal Pictures UK, NBC Universal International Television Distribution and BT have reached simultaneous digital distribution agreements bringing a wide range of NBC Universal content for purchase - via download-to-own (DTO) or rental - via video-on-demand (VoD) in the UK.Content will be available for purchase and viewing on PC from the BT Vision store, a new film and television download service to be launched on 31st July and located at www.bt.com/btvision and for purchase or rental on the BT Vision TV platform when BT launches its next-generation TV services in the Autumn.
From 31st July 2006, BT will launch a PC-based film and television download service, building to offer 150 Universal titles available on the same date as the UK DVD release. Consumers can purchase content for permanent ownership and will download two digital files to PC/laptop and a portable device, in conjunction with a DVD mailed by post.
Under the VoD deal, BT Vision will offer NBC Universal movies on-demand in the UK, including films such as Inside Man, King Kong, Jarhead and American Dreamz, as well as a range of catalogue films and TV series.
"As the on-demand entertainment experience continues to evolve globally, this agreement underscores the importance of choice and convenience for the consumer," said Beth Minehart, Senior Vice President of International On-Demand Licensing for NBC Universal International Television Distribution.
Dan Marks, CEO BT Vision, added that customers "increasingly expect to enjoy entertainment when, where and how they want it and this agreement will help to make that possible."
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TiVo to track ads
TiVo is starting a research division to sell data about how its 4.4 million users watch commercials - or, more often, skip them. The service is based on an analysis of the second-by-second viewing patterns of a nightly sample of 20,000 TiVo users, whose recorders report back to TiVo on what was watched and when.
On average, TiVo has found that its users spend nearly half of their television time watching programmes recorded earlier. And viewers of those recorded shows skip about 70 percent of the commercials. But TiVo says that at a more detailed level there are wide variations in the numbers. The new research service could help advertisers understand how to get more people to watch recorded commercials, like changing the content of ads or running them during certain kinds of programming.
About 8 per cent to 10 per cent of the US's 110 million TV households have digital video recorders, and the number is growing rapidly as cable and satellite companies offer the devices.
For now, TiVo will not be able to tell advertisers anything about the demographics of the audience it measures. The privacy policy of the service allows it to gather data about viewing habits, but not any personal information. TiVo said it hoped to find a way to change that by the end of the year.
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AT&T says IPTV workingAT&T says initial customer response to its IPTV service, launched last month, was "extremely positive."
The carrier provided the update on the AT&T U-verse video service rollout during its second quarter earnings announcement. AT&T is targeting 620,000 homes in the first phase of the commercial rollout of the service in San Antonio, Texas. The service is built around the new fibre optic network 'Project Lightspeed'. Rick Lindner, AT&T's chief financial officer, said the company expects to have signed up 10 per cent of its target audience by the end of this month and is on track to roll out commercial services - including high definition service - in 15 to 20 markets by the end of this year, a little later than previously planned.
AT&T net income rose to $1.81bn from $1bn, a year earlier, before the SBC-AT&T merger. Revenues rose by 53 per cent to $15.8bn. The company said the integration of the SBC and AT&T operations was running ahead of plan and that it expected to achieve between $700m and $900m of expense synergies this year.
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Study reveals growing demand for Participation TV
A recent study into Participation TV has provided revealing insight into audiences and revealed a demand for more interactive programming.The study was conducted by market research consultancy Accent for participation media agency Siren World Wide Ltd and aimed to establish awareness of Participation TV amongst the viewing public. The research, revealed higher-than-expected awareness, with 27 per cent of those questioned having watched one of the nine listed off peak shows during the last week and five per cent of viewers having participated at least once.
Particular demand was noted for late-night Participation TV, with 18 per cent of those questioned keen to see more interactive shows. Competitors tended to be under 34 years of age or retired and male viewers tended to prefer shows specifically centred around the competition element, whilst females showed a greater interest in the nature of the prizes on offer.
Rachel Risely, Marketing Director at Accent, commented: "The research shows that Participation TV is gaining popularity but there is still huge potential for increasing viewing and participation figures. The findings of the study will enable Siren and its clients to develop new formats and competitions in order to attract bigger audiences and encourage more interaction."
Mark Brandon, Chief Operating Officer at Siren, added: "Participation TV is still a big growth area and the results of the research reflect this. Moreover, it is clear that the best Participation TV services can produce editorial, as well as commercial, benefit. Siren is also committed to understanding how the best practices of Participation TV can be applied to the advertising sector, and is working with Accent to develop this".
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The partnership between AT&T and DISH Network continues to prove beneficial second quarter numbers show. AT&T/DISH satellite TV connections jumped by 42,000 over the three month period totalling 533,000 to date. The companies also experienced continued growth in regional consumer revenues - up 1.5 per cent to $3.6 billion, driven by 637,000 additional consumer connections over the past year. Consumer connections, AT&T said, is a measure that combines retail access lines plus DSL lines and video connections. Total DSL lines increased by 342,000 to 7.8 million - up more than 30 per cent over the past year, the company said.
AT&T also said additional phone lines declined by 106,000 due to the migration from dial-up Internet to DSL and primary lines declined by 320,000 with the trend toward all wireless and cable competition.
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DirecTV, YES first service
DirecTV is offering YES subscribers an interactive baseball application that gives live statistics and scores of other games on demand and a camera angle available only to YES viewers. YES Interactive pairs the nation's highest-rated regional sports channel with the satellite channel that has other interactive applications with 'NFL Sunday Ticket', March Madness and this year's Winter Olympics. Terms of the deal weren't announced, and DirecTV declined to discuss how many YES subscribers it has in the New York region.
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BellSouth Adds DSL, Loses Phone Subs
BellSouth said at the end of the second quarter it served nearly 3.3 million broadband DSL customers, adding 128,000 subscribers for the internet service during the three-month period, but lost fixed line customers. BellSouth said that as of June 30, total access lines were 19.3 million, down 460,000 when compared to March 31. Residential access line loss in the second quarter reflected seasonal loss patterns, wireless substitution and competition from cable telephony providers, the company said.
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News invests in Turkey
Sky Italia 3.9 million, DTT 3.8 million
Mobile concern on EU Directive
ntl free TV
Motorola Acquire Broadbus
Disney buys Hungama
BskyB buys out Mykindaplace
How many US DTT coupons?
News invests in Turkey
News Corp is to acquire a television station in Turkey in partnership with the music entrepreneur Ahmet Ertegun in a deal that could bring another attempt to liberalise the country's media ownership laws. News and Ertegun, the founder and chairman of Atlantic Records, are to pay $98m for TGRT, a national, general-interest TV station, owned by conglomerate Ilhas Yahin Holdings.Turkey's media ownership laws mean that no single foreign investor can own more than 25 per cent of a media operator. The government sought to change the law last year, but the measure was vetoed by the president. The TGRT deal might be a catalyst for a further attempt at reform say observers.
News Corp said it was attracted by TGRT's nationwide distribution and by the dynamics of Turkey's television advertising market. "Turkey's a fast-growing market from an economic point of view, although it has had some bumps for the past two or three months. On the advertising side, it has been growing substantially for the last few years, particularly in television."
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Sky Italia 3.9 million, DTT 3.8 million
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Sky Italia has 3.9 million subscribers, while 3.8 million digital terrestrial television decoders have been sold. These figures are contained in the annual report on the activities of Italy's Telecommunications Authority. Despite the initial boom due to public subsidies on the sale of decoders, growth rate is decreasing in the digital TV sector.
Meanwhile, the European Investment Bank has approved a E100 million loan for Telecom Italia Media's Digital Terrestrial Network investment programme. The Programme calls for a E280 million investment between 2005-2007 to strengthen the broadcast infrastructure and support nationwide digital TV development. The European Investment Bank ruled that the loan was eligible because of the proposed investment's high innovation content. This is the first time that the EIB has ever granted a loan for investments within the Italian Media industry.
The broadcaster reported increased DTT revenues in the first half of 2006 to E8.6 million (generated predominantly by sales of PPV events and smart cards), compared with E2.2 million over the same period in 2005. PPV profit margins improved but continued to post a loss, while operating costs increased due to expenses incurred by the start-up of new "free" channels such as La7 Sport. Long-term prospects will be very much conditioned by decoder penetration.
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Mobile concern on EU DirectiveThe Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) has warned that proposed amendments to the existing Television without Frontiers Directive risk dramatically reducing Europe¹s competitive edge and stifling innovation. Under the amendments, current rules and obligations designed with traditional TV in mind would be enforced for mobile multimedia services, including mobile television broadcasting and video on-demand services.
A paper submitted by MEF to Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, outlines why MEF members believe such regulation would stifle the growth of t Mobile TV in Europe. According to MEF members, which span operators to content providers and media owners, the highest priority is to highlight that the level of advertising control appropriate for traditional broadcasting cannot, and should not, be exerted on mobile multimedia services. The Directive encompasses regulation relating to the length, frequency and appropriateness of advertising depending on content, target market and timing.
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ntl free TV
ntl:Telewest is to offer free TV to any new fixed line phone customer. The company also announced that it is launching the UK's first 'quad-play' package of TV, broadband, fixed line and mobile phone services. Both offers will be launched this quarter.The offer includes: Free digital TV service for all home phone customers, no installation or connection charges.
NTL also announced a quad-play offer -- First and only quad-play in the UK combining ntl:Telewest's three for £30 (TV, broadband, phone) with a Virgin Mobile pay monthly contract for £40 a month. Customers will be able to choose any two products from the company's quad-play portfolio for £20 a month, or any three for £30.
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Motorola announced that it will acquire privately-held Broadbus Technologies, the provider of technology solutions for Television On-Demand. Broadbus carrier-class technology solutions enable the distribution of on-demand content to consumers through multiple devices. The company's solid-state server architecture is based on the intelligent configuration and management of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). As a result, the platform can use less space and power than traditional hard-disk based technology, while providing performance, reliability and scalability improvements for video ingest, streaming, and storage.
With the acquisition, Motorola will extend its robust video delivery platform with new content management and distribution capabilities that address growing market opportunities such as mobile video, video on-demand (VOD), time-shifted TV, network-based digital video recording (nDVR), on-demand ad insertion (ODAI) and switched digital video (SDV).
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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Disney buys Hungama
Disney announced that it will acquire Hungama, a popular Indian children's cable-TV channel. Disney will pay about $30 million to acquire Hungama from United Home Entertainment, a company owned by Indian media conglomerate UTV Software Communications. In addition, Disney will spend about $15 million to buy a 14.9% equity stake in UTV, which produces television programming, animation and Bollywood films."India is a long-term strategic priority," said Andy Bird, president of Walt Disney International. "It is very important that we grow our business locally as well as through exporting U.S.-originated content."
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BSkyB is to increase its online presence with the launch of a number of websites based on genres and specific audiences, such as for mums or movie buffs, the announcement comes along with news that Sky has has taken complete control of online publisher Mykindaplace. Sky had previously owned 49% of the company.
Mykindaplace was launched in 2000 as a site for teenage girls. Since then it has launched monkeyslum.com for boys and a site for the over-45s called livingit.com. The site's development arm, Burst Interactive, has already created websites for Sky One and Sky Movies. The Mykindaplace management team, led by the managing director, Charlie Redmayne, will remain in place to maintain the growth of the company's existing sites and to support Sky's internet expansion.
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An estimated 21 million U.S. households, those that rely solely on over-the-air television broadcasts, would be eligible to get coupons to buy digital converter boxes, according to a Commerce Department agency. Coupons would not be offered to a majority of U.S. households because they already have an alternative. The Government Accountability Office estimates about 85 million households watch television using cable or satellite services.
U.S. television stations are required to switch to airing only digital broadcasts in February 2009. Congress last year passed a law that would provide an initial $990 million, and as much as $1.5 billion, to help Americans buy converters that would keep their old, analogue televisions working. "They are the households that would be most directly and manifestly impacted by the transition," said John Kneuer, acting assistant secretary of commerce and head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA).
NTIA sought public comment on the proposal and other ideas such as whether to limit the coupons to low-income households, like those families living below the poverty level. Quick to comment has been NAB which believes all over the air sets should be covered even if the household has pay TV. "NAB always expected that homes relying exclusively on broadcast television would be given priority by NTIA when it adopts DTV converter-box rules," association spokesman Dennis Wharton said. "However, we would hope that no broadcast-only TV sets are forced to go dark during this transition. NAB will continue working with policymakers to ensure minimal consumer disruption as the February 2009 date approaches."
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MTV Flux for user content
Microsoft ready with Zune
Murdoch on feuding and Echostar
EC targets Italy's broadcasting laws
Private equity lines up for Philips chips
Allen out at ITV?
Alticast $21 Million in New Financing
MTV Flux for user content
MTV Networks is moving into the "social networking" area, dominated by MySpace and Bebo, unveiling plans for a TV channel devoted to user content. MTV Flux will allow people to exchange messages and video clips on the internet and by mobile but will also allow users to choose which music videos are shown on the channel, and display their own videos and messages alongside.The service will launch in the UK but will be "monitored very closely" to see whether it could become a model for other markets, said Michiel Bakker, managing director of MTV in the UK and Ireland. Bakker said: "Seeing the speed at which Bebo emerged, or YouTube exploded out of nowhere, in this space we don't feel we have to be the first mover. We have to create something unique and different."
The channel will have no traditional schedule. It will be overseen by a controller, however, to ensure it abides by broadcasting regulations and MTV will monitor all user-generated content. It will carry advertising and users will not be charged for signing up to the website. MTV said it hoped Flux would "offer advertisers the chance to follow consumers around".
"At the end of the day, all of our channels might be Fluxed. It might be the redefinition of our television channels," said Bakker.
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Microsoft ready with ZuneMicrosoft said it plans to release a new music and entertainment player and accompanying software under the "Zune" brand this year, in an attempt to challenge the dominance of Apple Computer's iPod player.
Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year," said Chris Stephenson, general manager of market for entertainment and services at Microsoft. "We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together."
Currently the iPod holds more than half of the digital media player market, according to research company NPD, while iTunes accounts for over 70 percent of U.S. digital music sales.
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Murdoch on feuding and EchostarRUPERT MURDOCH, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, told "The Charlie Rose Show" aired on PBS, he has amicably settled the family dispute that reportedly lead to the departure of his son Lachlan from the corporation. Murdoch confirmed his four older children from his first two marriages -- Prudence, Lachlan, Elisabeth and James -- will control the family's controlling stake in News once he dies. "If I go under a bus tomorrow, it will be the four of them will have to decide which one should lead them".
This is the arrangement that has been in place for some time but it emerged about a year ago that Murdoch, 75 years old, had proposed that control of the stake be shared with his two younger children from his third marriage, to Wendi Deng, whom he married in 1999.
In the interview, Murdoch also said he didn't think regulators should oppose a merger of DirecTV and Echostar's DISH if the companies were for it arguing "there are so many more alternatives, ways of getting pictures and information".
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EC targets Italy's broadcasting laws
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
The European Commission has begun infringement proceedings against Italy over broadcasting laws it says unfairly favour established analogue broadcasters. The Commission has sent the Italian government formal notice - the first step in the EU's infringement procedure - asking for information about how the controversial law passed by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2004 complies with EU rules on electronic communications networks and services.The media law, according to the Commission, appears to consolidate the positions of Mediaset and RAI and hamper would-be rivals from entering the digital market. It said the law had introduced "unjustified restrictions" in the supply of broadcasting services to the "unjustified advantage" of existing operators, namely the three-channel Mediaset, the three-channel RAI and the small, two-channel La 7, owned by telecommunications giant Telecom Italia. "The dominating operators are also allowed to maintain their control of analogue frequencies and networks up until the moment they pass to digital, preventing rival operators from benefiting from the new technologies," the EC said.
The Italian government now has two months to address the Commission's concerns. Failure to do so could result in legal action and ultimately a hefty fine. Communications Minister Paolo Gentiloni said the government would reply to the letter as required, adding that he was sure its media reform plans would satisfy the EC. "Europe asks us not to favour dominant positions during the transition from analogue to digital. That's one of the aims of the reforms we are putting together to introduce greater pluralism and competition in the TV system," he said.
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Private equity lines up for Philips chips
Three teams of private equity firms are readying bids for the semiconductor division of Philips Electronics, which could be worth more than $10bn. Philips had set a deadline for the submission of final bids later this week, and would then proceed to determine whether to sell the unit.
Competing in the auction is one group composed of Bain Capital, Francisco Partners, and Apax Partners. A second consortium includes Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Silver Lake Partners, which already joined forces to acquire the semiconductors unit of Agilent in 2004. A third group involves Blackstone, Permira and Texas Pacific Group, people familiar with the process said. They cautioned that while bids were due this week, the process was likely to drag on for some time before any decision would be made.
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ITV chief executive Charles Allen is said to be considering quitting as the shareprice falls alongside an audience slide. Following speculation, Allen apparently intends to clarify his intentions in meetings this morning with the ITV executive team, which includes director of television Simon Shaps and commercial director Ian McCulloch.
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Alticast $21 Million in New Financing y
Alticast, the leader in deployed DVB-MHP and OpenCable OCAP solutions, announced it closed an aggregate investment of $21 million by funds managed or advised by or entities affiliated with AIG Global Investment Group. This additional investment will allow the company to pursue several strategic business goals, including: dramatically increasing market presence in the U.S.; investment in technologies to support the emerging Blu-ray Disc standard; expansion of MHP activities throughout Europe; and expansion of world-wide IPTV efforts.
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Singapore may block PCCW deal
Google profits double, Microsoft falters
Eutelsat revenue up
C4 pulls internet ads
NBC guarantees viewers attention
Philips loses on TV menu patent
TW's Parsons named MIPCOM personality
Singapore may block PCCW deal
Singapore's leading shareholder group is considering a legal challenge to delay Richard Li's attempt to sell a controlling stake in PCCW to Hong Kong banker Francis Leung. The Securities Investors Association of Singapore said an offer this year by TPG Newbridge, the US private equity fund, to buy out minority shareholders and then to delist Li's Singapore-listed holding company, Pacific Century Regional Developments, must be resolved first. It argues that only then should PCRD be allowed to proceed with the sale of its 23 per cent stake in PCCW, Hong Kong's dominant telecoms group. In January, TPG/Newbridge proposed to purchase the 25 per cent stake in PCRD held by minority shareholders and delist the company in agreement with PCRD management.
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Google profits double, Microsoft faltersGoogle profits more than doubled in its second quarter, racking up net income of $721m, up from $343m a year earlier. "The opportunities before us really are unlimited at present," Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, told analysts. "It's another good day and a good quarter at Google." It reported revenues were $1.675bn after it had paid affiliates their share of ad revenues.
More than 99 per cent of Google's revenues come from advertising, and the company said gross revenues increased 77 per cent on a year earlier and 9 per cent on the previous quarter as it became more proficient at placing ad contextually on its search results pages and other sites.
Google said it had a very healthy cash position of $9.82bn on hand at June 30 and said it had spent $699m in capital spending in the quarter. Google's headcount grew 17 per cent in the second quarter to nearly 8,000 employees.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's legal expenses helped drag profit down 24% for its fiscal fourth quarter, but the focus was on a renewed effort to address concerns about its use of cash and its languishing share price. The plan is a stock-buyback programme that includes a $20 billion tender offer for shares to be completed Aug. 17 and authorization for as much as $20 billion in additional buybacks through 2011.
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Eutelsat revenue upSatellite operator Eutelsat Communications reported revenues for the year and fourth quarter showing greater-than-expected growth. Full year revenues rose 5.4 percent to E791.1 million and fourth quarter revenues were up 6.7 percent to E201.1.
The satellite company said strong performances in Europe and in emerging markets helped boosted growth strategy. With more than 2,100 television channels broadcasting across the company's fleet, two-thirds of revenues were derived from video applications.
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C4 pulls internet ads
Channel 4 is to stop carrying advertising on its broadband TV service after concerns that ad agencies and their clients could be sued by third-party rights holders. It has taken a "temporary" decision to stop screening ads on its simulcast service after the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising said it had not cleared the rights to run the ads online. The IPA said actors and musicians could sue agencies for rights infringement as a result of their work appearing online.The broadcaster said: "Channel 4 has confirmed it will cease to carry advertising on its broadband simulcast service for an interim period. We hope this will allow the IPA and its members to address concerns about its clearance issues on the simulcasting. Channel 4 believes simulcasting is an extension of its TV activities and strongly urges the IPA to swiftly resolve these clearance issues to enable its members and TV audiences to fully benefit from the opportunities presented by the development of new media platforms." .
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NBC guarantees viewers attention
The NBC network has struck a deal with Toyota that requires the network to demonstrate that its viewers have paid attention and are able to recall particular details about a TV show. NBC is making the commitment in addition to giving Toyota a standard minimum-audience guarantee based on Nielsen TV ratings. To demonstrate viewer attention -- or audience "engagement" -- both NBC and Toyota will use data from IAG Research.
Should certain agreed-upon parts of NBC's schedule not meet the guarantees, the TV network would give Toyota additional "make-good" advertising time, or put more Toyota ads in shows that are garnering better attentiveness from audiences, says NBC.
The deal is another indication of the steps broadcasters are having to take to retain ad dollars in the face of increasing competition from the Internet. It also shows how advertisers are looking for new ways to measure the value of TV advertising against Web advertising that is easier to track.
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Philips loses on TV menu patent
Philips has lost a case to amend a patent for its television menu technology. The electronics giant had attempted to change its existing patent, but the alterations were ruled to be too wide ranging. Rival Pace Micro took the case against Philips to the Patent Office, where a Hearing Officer ruled largely against Philips. The company has six weeks in which to submit a new set of amendments.
The dispute arose when Pace Micro and Philips were negotiating over use of technology Philips had patented. Its system allowed a television viewer to see thumbnails of available channels and let the viewer select a channel from the mosaic of moving pictures on the screen. "We found an invention of an earlier date," said Richard Clack, Legal Counsel for Pace Micro. "It wasn't our patent, but we thought it showed that Philips's was not novel."
Philips is now permitted to lodge alternative amendments which are not as broad in scope.
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TW's PARSONS named MIPCOM Personality
Reed MIDEM has named Richard D. Parsons, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Time Warner Inc., MIPCOM 2006 Personality of the Year. Parsons will receive the accolade on 11 October during a gala dinner, part of the 22nd annual MIPCOM event.
"We are extremely pleased to honour Richard Parsons as our MIPCOM Personality of the Year. Under his leadership, Time Warner informs, entertains and connects people all over the globe through its leading brands and programming," says Reed MIDEM Chief Executive Officer Paul Zilk.
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