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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 17th March
RTL will launch second UK channel
Cablers won’t promote Verizon
Spain says DTT take-up is a "success"
Private equity bid for Taiwan Multimedia
HK moves towards single regulator
Pace: another profit warning
Modulus wins OnHollywood award
RTL will launch second UK channel
RTL will launch more channels in the UK this year and look for acquisitions in southern, central and eastern Europe, it said this week. The Bertelsmann controlled company said it was "very confident" of adding a second channel to Five.
The group reported record EBITDA of E758m, up 6.9 per cent, on a 4.9 per cent rise in revenue to E5.11bn. "This clearly demonstrates our pan-European business model is working," the company said, but cautioned: "The advertising outlook remains mixed, and visibility is low." The company said the advertising market was strong in Spain and Hungary last year but weak in Germany, France and Belgium. Revenue and profit growth was led by the M6 channel in France, which lifted audience share in 2005, and by its move last year to take full control of Five, which was consolidated into the group. Five’s audience share dipped slightly but its advertising revenues grew at three times the market rate.
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In New Jersey, two of the America’s largest cable companies are refusing to run local paid TV commercials from Verizon that ask consumers to support video choice. Comcast and Time Warner said they are unwilling to accept the paid TV commercial sent by Verizon. This is despite running commercials attacking Verizon's IPTV plans.
"These cable companies use their operations to present only one side of the issue because they don't want consumers to know there could be a choice for cable TV in this state," said Dennis Bone, president of Verizon New Jersey.
The 30-second spot in question, states that, since 2001, cable prices have increased four times as much as the Consumer Price Index. Bone said, "when Verizon brings FiOS TV to the market, the cable industry slashes rates. Unfortunately for consumers in New Jersey, cable wants to maintain a go-slow approach and delay choice and competition here."
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Spain says DTT take-up is a "success"
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The Ministry of Industry has reacted to the gloomy assessment of broadcasters over the DTT market, by saying that the DTT take-up "is a success following the measures taken by the Government".
The Telecommunications Secretary of State, Francisco Ros, claimed there are more than 2.5 million homes (more than 7.5 million citizens) with access to DTT. And there are two million potential homes (representing six million people) ready to receive DTT when they have a set-top-box.
Of those 2.5 million homes, 1.1 million have purchased a DTT set-top-box, of which only nine per cent are MHP boxes. Another 1.3 million receive DTT through their local cable operators. And more than 200,000 households are watching DTT through their Telefónica’s Imagenio IPTV service. "Citizens have positively welcomed DTT and they are betting on it", commented the Secretary of State.
Broadcasters have a different view and plan to ask the Government to postpone the analogue switch-off, currently scheduled for April 3rd, 2010. To boost the DTT market, the Ministry of Industry is launching a massive advertising campaign.
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Private equity bid for Taiwan Multimedia
Carlyle Group, Newbridge Capital and Macquarie Media are vying for a majority stake in Eastern Multimedia, Taiwan’s biggest cable operator, in a deal which could be worth more than US$900m.
Carlyle has emerged as a frontrunner in the sale. Newbridge, which has joined forces with Liberty Global, is also seen as a strong contender. The bidders are hoping that a majority stake in EMC would help them tap into one of Asia’s biggest pay TV markets. Negotiations with EMC have also been complicated by the reluctance of Gary Wang, EMC’s founder and chairman, to cede control of the company.
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HK moves towards single regulatorThe Hong Kong government has opened discussions for the proposed merger of its telecommunications and broadcasting regulators. Officials said the proposed Communication Authority was a natural response to the blurring boundaries between delivery technologies. The government has launched a three-month consultation over a proposed two-stage integration process with legislation anticipated to reach parliament by year-end.
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Shares in Pace Micro Technology slipped by more than 10 per cent as it slashed revenue and profit forecasts for the current financial year. It said a delay in the shipment of some boxes to the US had forced it to revise its guidance to investors. Full-year revenues for the year ending on June 3 were now expected to be between £225m (E326m) and £240m, the company said, compared with a previously envisaged range of between £260m and £270m. Market expectations were suggesting a full-year loss of between £1m and £3m, but it was now likely to lose between £7m and £9m, the company said.
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Modulus wins OnHollywood awardModulus Video, a provider of MPEG-4 AVC video compression systems, announced that it has been chosen by OnHollywood as one of the Top 100 Private Company award winners. The OnHollywood 100 is a power list of the top private digital media and entertainment companies. Modulus Video was picked by the OnHollywood
editorial team based on a set of five criteria - innovation, market potential, customer adoption, media buzz and investor value creation.
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Thursday 16th March
EchoStar adds 1.135m subs in 2005
RTL reports E5bn+ revenue
Sony delays PS3
AOL goes live with In2TV
Jazztelia 30 TV Channels for 1 Euro
VCs back file share
BBC must be more consensual with rivals
Canal+ free download day and mobile
VOOM for Canada
Tranzas Selects SecureMedia
EchoStar adds 1.135m subs in 2005
EchoStar Communications reported total revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2005, a 12.8 percent increase compared with $1.93 billion for the corresponding period in 2004. Net income totalled $133 million for the quarter compared with $70 million during the corresponding period in 2004. For the 2005 year EchoStar reported total revenue of $8.43 billion compared with $7.15 billion for 2004, an increase of 17.8 percent. EchoStar's net income for the year was $1.51 billion, compared with $215 million for 2004. Net income for 2005 includes a non-recurring, non-cash benefit of $593 million to recognise the tax benefits of previously reported tax losses and a $134 million gain related to the settlement of EchoStar IV satellite insurance and related claims.
DISH Network added 330,000 net new subscribers during the quarter ended, giving the company approximately 12.04 million subscribers an increase of 1.135 million subscribers compared to the number of subscribers as of December 31, 2004.
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RTL Group reported 2005 revenue of E5.11bn against E4.87bn last time and a post tax profit of E616m up from E432m.
Gerhard Zeiler, Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group said: "2005 has been another record year for us. RTL Group improved all key figures despite mixed market conditions. Earnings and revenues are up, and we improved our margin. Despite our investments we are cash positive for the second consecutive year. RTL Group has the ability and the willingness to grow. The Pan-European TV strategy works. Due to our investments in the U.K., Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, RTL Group is better balanced today than two years ago."
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Sony says it will delay in the launch of its next-generation PlayStation 3 gaming console. Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, said the PS3 would be available in early November this year, almost six months later than an originally-planned spring launch.
The delay, caused by problems in the copy protection feature of its Blu-Ray technology, also marked a setback for Sony’s next-generation DVD format. The PS3 is expected to be a major driver of growth for Blu-Ray, which is being backed by Sony and a number of technology and entertainment groups.
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AOL goes live with In2TV
AOL has launched what it calls the biggest video service on the Internet. In2TV will launch with four advertisers--Intel, Kia Motors, Kraft Foods and Hershey. "It's from the strength of the online advertising market that we can bring free on demand (videos)," Kevin Conroy, executive vice president of AOL Media Networks said in an interview.
AOL now sees video as a linchpin to the company's turnaround after its online presentation of the Live 8 global concerts last year were watched by more viewers than those on TV. Free videos will make up the bulk of its growth, Conroy said. "The real volume of activity is in the free streaming (video) model," he said. He said In2TV was in discussions with other programme owners to have their shows appear on the network.
Advertisers have been keen to get placement on AOL's online video network, Conroy said. The company sold out its initial forecasts for the amount of advertising inventory on In2TV, which it has now expanded, he said. By the end of the second quarter, AOL plans to expand its video service to include paid downloads. It also plans a subscription service sometime in 2007, the company has said. Downloads are expected to cost about $1.99 per episode.
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Jazztelia 30 TV Channels for 1 Euro
Jazztel has launched throughout Spain its interactive Jazztelia TV, over ADSL 2+ with a promotion price of one euro per month until the 1st of July. Jazztelia TV will expand its product portfolio during 2006 by offering additional TV channel packs, video-on-demand and other services.
Jazztelia TV will be available to every Jazztel broadband customer connected with ADSL 2+ with at least 6 Mb of broadband capacity. Jazztel TV offers 30 channels, which will be expanded by the 22 digital terrestrial TV channels (DTTN) in the near future. Jazztel has signed agreements with Sogecable,Universal, Sony, Turner, Multicanal, Bloomberg and Viacom, among others in order to secure a quality offering to its customers.
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VCs back file share
The venture capitalists behind Skype are placing a new bet on AllPeers, a start-up based in Oxford, England. It is preparing a service that will let users share files privately through a Web browser using a "buddy list" of friends and acquaintances. Its founders, European entrepreneurs Cedric Maloux and Matthew Gertner, are hoping to ride on two popular, fast-spreading, open-source technologies: Firefox, the Web browser that's taking market share away from Internet Explorer, and BitTorrent, the fast file-sharing protocol.
Unlike most file-sharing networks, AllPeers doesn't require users to download a separate software application. It's a compact plug-in for Firefox, so it runs as an add-on to the browser.
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BBC must be more consensual with rivals
The BBC must reach "a more consensual relationship" with its commercial rivals the British government said yesterday as it outlined plans to renew the royal charter for the next 10 years.Tessa Jowell, secretary of state for culture, said the BBC’s public purposes must be defined more clearly to justify the "privilege" of its licence fee, which brought in £2.9bn (E4.2bn) last year and which the BBC is now seeking to increase by 2.3 percentage points above inflation.
She confirmed plans to overhaul the BBC’s governance. The exiting board of governors, which is responsible for both managing and overseeing the broadcaster, will be replaced by a separate regulatory trust that would also ensure the BBC provided quality and value for money. The White Paper also calls for all the broadcaster’s new services to be assessed for their impact on competitors.
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Canal+ free download day and mobile
Canalplay, Canal+'s video download site, has set March 21 as its 'spring legal download' day. All videos, with the exception of adult titles, will be available on www.CANALPLAY.com throughout the day for E1.99, instead of E3.99 or E4.99.
Bruno Thibaudeau, Development Director at Canal+, said that four months after its launch, Canalplay had shown that the public has a real appetite for a legal download service, as it combined diversity of choice with editorial and technological quality. "We want to make the wider public aware of the need to fight piracy by allowing them to learn about Canalplay through this special prices. Of course, we hope other partners will join us in this initiative," he added.Meantime, Archos, the portable entertainment solutions provider, and CANAL+ Group, have launched ‘VOD on the move’. This second stage in the partnership between the two companies allows users to download films from the Canalplay video on demand service and to transfer them to Archos portable video players/recorders. A DRM licence is automatically transferred to the portable device, ensuring the same level of protection as with the PC.
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Rainbow Media's VOOM HD Networks announced today that it has reached a deal which will extend its TREASURE HD Network into Canada, marking the first time one of its brands will be distributed outside the United States. As part of the deal, High Fidelity HDTV Inc. will distribute the TREASURE HD brand throughout the country, with Canadian DTH satellite provider Bell ExpressVu launching the service today. In addition to the brand expansion, over 100 hours each year of VOOM HD content which has previously aired in the U.S. will be shown on the new Canadian HD Network. Launched in the United States in August 2004, TREASURE HD is one of 15 networks that comprise VOOM HD Networks’ offerings, the largest suite of HD channels in the world.
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Tranzas Selects SecureMedia
SecureMedia, the technology provider in content protection software for secure video delivery over IP networks, and Tranzas, the leading provider of end-to-end IPTV systems to hospitality operators and real estate developers in the Japanese market, announced today that Tranzas has licensed SecureMedia's Encryptonite System CA/DRM software for integration into their end-to-end IPTV system.
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Wednesday 15th March
Liberty Global adds 1.25m RGUs
Newspapers must be multimedia
BBC licence demand "unrealistic"
Spain: Broadband connections surpass 5.2 million mark
Australia aims for 2012 digital switchover
Comcast looks to consolidate E!
Irdeto for German mobile TV
Liberty Global adds 1.25m RGUs
Liberty Global, the international cable operator and owner of chello broadband, has posted its 2005 results highlighting the ‘organic addition’ of 500,000 RGUs in the fourth quarter to bring the year total to 1.25m, a 50% increase in additions over the previous year.
It also claims a pro forma revenue growth of 28% to $5.15 billion with operating cash flow growth of 24% to $1.77 billion. The net loss from continuing operations increased to $84 million. President and CEO Mike Fries said, "most importantly, we achieved the aggressive goals that we set for ourselves in our core broadband cable operations. This success was driven in large part by continued strength in our broadband data business and accelerating growth in our VoIP and digital TV product lines. As a result, our subscriber base at December 31, 2005 consisted of 19.2 million total RGUs and 14.8 million customer relationships, up 42% and 39% over last year, respectively."
"In terms of strategic developments, we had a busy and successful year on the M&A front, in particular during the fourth quarter when we closed the purchases of Cablecom in Switzerland, Astral in Romania, NTL in Ireland, Setamachi (Odakyu) and Kobe in Japan, and took a controlling stake in Austar’s pay-TV operation in Australia. Our 2005 acquisitions added over four million RGUs to our consolidated footprint."
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Newspapers must be multimediaNewspapers will have to embrace mobile phones, iPods and even PlayStation Portables, if they are to survive in the digital era predicts Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corporation. Murdoch, who turned 75 at the weekend, said newspapers would have to use new technology to engage readers in what he described as an era in which "media becomes like fast food". "Newspapers must give readers a choice of accessing their journalism in the pages of the paper, or on websites or on any platform that appeals to them." The new consumer trends also meant that power was shifting, away from "the old elite in our industry - the editors, the chief executives, and let’s face it, the proprietors and towards a new media audience who are using the internet and new technology to inform, entertain and above all to educate themselves".
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BBC licence demand "unrealistic"
Immediately prior to publication of the Government White Paper on the BBC’s Charter – which isn’t expected to change much except replace the Governors with a Trust and add some market impact tests – ministers are signalling the BBC can expect a tough fight over its licence fee rise. The government has already concluded that the corporation will have to settle for an increase in the annual licence fee significantly below the BBC’s proposed rate of inflation plus 2.3 per cent. BBC executives who presented their case to the Treasury, were apparently sent away to think again.
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Spain: Broadband connections surpass 5.2 million mark
From David Del Valle in MadridThe number of broadband connections has surpassed 5.2 million following the addition of more than 158,000 broadband lines last February. ADSL continues beating cable in broadband connections. Of all new connections last month more than 137,000 were ADSL, with Telefonica, the dominant operator, taking most of them (more than 90,000). In all, nearly 80 per cent of more than 5.2 million connections are ADSL whereas cable represents nearly 1.1 million.
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Australia aims for 2012 digital switchover
From Rose Major in Melbourne
Australia will put back its analogue switch-off date from 2008 to at least 2012, under new government proposals released today. In a discussion paper which contains its "preferred options" for media reform, the government said it would "aim for an analogue switchover period commencing in 2010 to 2012, consistent with the targets set in many other industrialised nations".But in an accompanying speech, the minister for communications, Senator Helen Coonan, recognised that the government could not continue to leave the transition to market forces, calling current take-up "sluggish" with "some positives". "By relying mainly on market forces to drive take-up of FTA digital television we have clearly not progressed at a level or pace to allow the switch-over to commence at the end of 2008 as originally planned," she said. "Australia must now implement a strategy to energetically drive digital take-up to achieve switchover."
One part of this will be finally allowing new channels on the digital-terrestrial spectrum. Enough spectrum for two new services will be released next year, but these must be "innovative". The channels could include subscription, interactive or mobile television.
Public broadcasters ABC and SBS will also have restrictions on their multichannelling activities removed, other than banning them from screening listed sports events on digital channels. But the government is proposing to keep the ban on current commercial free-to-air broadcasters multichannelling until switchover unless "there be any significant changes in the lead up to analogue switchover which alters the balance in favour of an earlier adjustment".
Commercial broadcasters will still be required to launch high-definition versions of their channels on digital-terrestrial, but the government has flagged that it may remove the requirement that the HDTV version be a simulcast if the standard definition channel.
As in the UK, Australia will draw up a Digital Action Plan, led by key stakeholders, to determine theswitchover process.
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Comcast looks to consolidate E!
Comcast, which owns a controlling interest in the gossipy Hollywood cable network E! Entertainment Television, is apparently in talks to buy the 40% stake it doesn't own from Walt Disney Co. The move is part of a broader effort by Comcast to beef up its collection of cable networks. Analysts estimate E! is valued at $2.5 billion to $3 billion.
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Irdeto for German mobile TV
Irdeto and debitel AG, Europe’s largest independent provider of mobile telephony services, announced that debitel has selected the Irdeto Mobile Broadcast conditional access solution to secure its new mobile TV service, to be launched in parallel with the 2006 FIFA World Cup being held in Germany. debitel is sales partner to the Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland which was recommended by a national committee of experts of the national media institutes for the T-DMB license.
The debitel service will provide broadcast television and audio channels to German consumers via advanced T-DMB handsets from leading manufacturers like Samsung, who have already announced the availability of their SGH-P900 handset to the European market. Irdeto Mobile security technology will allow debitel to manage mobile TV services on a per subscriber basis, ensuring that only paying customers have access to the new service.
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US cable: "franchise bill is sweetheart note for IPTV"
Auna drags down ONO
Foxtel: IPTV will endanger digital TV
Telstra, Microsoft mobile TV trial
Eutelsat Hotbird up
BoI poaches bankers from Barclays
Entriq for German VOD
Connected homes from Neuf
US cable: "franchise bill is sweetheart note for IPTV"
The head of the NCTA has unsurprisingly blasted pending telecom-reform legislation (see 10/3/06) for being fixated on video-franchise streamlining that favours large telcos while stifling cable. NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow said the draft bill remains narrowly focused on national franchise entry by the former Bell carriers, and it holds down cablecos by restricting their competitive activities, including mandatory uniform-pricing provisions. But at the same time he says the proposal pays no attention to preserving, promoting or protecting the viability of voice-telephony competition against the monopoly-like dominance of incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs).
The proposed legislation could get a committee vote next week. "To some extent, I’m making an appeal to them to reconsider the direction they’re going," McSlarrow said. He called the bill’s franchise language a "sweetheart deal'' for IPTV rollouts by the ILECs, while cablecos would remain under older franchise burdens and would be unable to bypass local authorities until telcos could get a 15 per cent share in given markets. Also, Cablecos wouldn’t be able to respond to price wars or predatory pricing because they would be forced to comply with resurrected uniform-pricing requirements over their entire franchise footprints, according to McSlarrow.
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Auna drags down ONO
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The acquisition of the cable rival Auna has presented ONO with a high bill. To September 2005, the company incurred E164.6 million losses, of which E132.2 million was attributable to Auna. Ono says the ongoing financial situation is untenable and that is why the company is proposing the dismissal of 944 workers.
Ono acquired Auna Telecomunicaciones for E2.251 million through a capital enlargement of E1 billion. With this acquisition, the company became the largest cable operator in Spain and the main competitor to Telefonica with a market share of around 24 per cent in the Spanish broadband market.
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Foxtel: IPTV will endanger digital TVBroadband internet poses a risk to the subscription television industry because there are no regulatory impediments, Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams says. Williams said subscription broadcast subscribers grew to 1.69 million from 1.59 million last year, while broadband customers grew to 1.67 million from 915,000.
"I know that broadband is more like a utility and we sell a real consumer product, but it is a sobering comparison and it demonstrates our challenge," he said. "There is no regulatory impediment to broadband taking out a whole football code's content exclusive and in its entirety."
He said Foxtel's concern was that the commercial networks would be protected from further competition by continuing the prohibition on a fourth commercial network, while having the new option of digital multi-channeling and the ongoing protection of the anti-syphoning regime. "Make no mistake about it, this would be a deeply disruptive outcome for industry, competition and consumers."
Williams lobbied broadcasting reform that abolishes the restrictive sports rights list while allowing the commercial networks to broadcast digital multi-channels after 2008.
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Telstra, Microsoft mobile TV trialTelstra, Microsoft and Broadcast Australia announced plans for Melbourne's first live demonstration showcase of mobile TV, as part of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. The Melbourne showcase service will broadcast up to seven channels of live Commonwealth Games coverage including Channel Nine coverage of the Games on specially enabled Windows Mobile handheld devices.
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Eutelsat announced that its HOT BIRD 7A broadcast satellite has been successfully launched by an Ariane 5 ECA rocket. Eutelsat’s new spacecraft will be transferred to the orbital position where it will go through a complete series of in-orbit tests before joining the HOT BIRD neighbourhood at 13 degrees East.
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BoI poaches bankers from Barclays
Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking announced that it has appointed two bankers to join its Media Finance team as it predicts an increase in activity within the sector this year. David Gregory and Emma Forth will work on corporate and leveraged finance opportunities within the media sector, both in the UK and Europe, with particular focus on mid-market sized transactions. David and Emma have both joined from Barclays Bank, where David worked in the media team for the last three years.
Bill Greaves, Head of Media Finance, Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking said: "We were very active in the UK media finance market last year, having only created the team in February. Since then we have doubled the size of the team. These new appointments will complement our existing team, build on our lead arranger presence and help us deliver on our growth ambitions within the UK media finance market."
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Entriq has been selected by SevenOne Intermedia, ProSiebenSat.1-Group's Multimedia Company, to enable its soon to be launched ‘maxdome’ Video on Demand portal. Entriq will be providing SevenOne Intermedia with a full end-to-end 10' Media Centre Edition (MCE) based digital store enabling customers to access
maxdome via PC and TV. The company will also use Entriq's Security Plus
component of the end-to-end Digital Store solution to publish, manage,
secure, sell and deliver content via the web to 18 million German consumers. In addition Entriq will also be providing its Digital Rights Management and
Security Plus solutions to three additional web sites operated by United
Internet AG, one of Germany's largest ISPs who will be providing customers
with content from the maxdome portal via its GMX, WEB.de and 1&1 brands.
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LEA, part of the HF group of companies, together with Intellon Corporation, the leading global provider of HomePlug compatible integrated circuits for whole-house connectivity, announced that LEA has designed an 85Mbps HomePlug product to address the emerging market of IPTV for Neuf Cegetel, the leading alternative French operator.
LEA's NetPlug adapters leverage HomePlug-based technology, allowing IPTV subscribers of Neuf Cegetel to achieve connectivity between their Neuf Box (the broadband modem) and their Neuf TV decoder (the IPTV set-top-box) using the existing power lines in their homes. Based on Intellon Corporation's advanced 85Mbps HomePlug 1.0 with Turbo technology, customers can solve the inconvenience of connecting via Ethernet and the reliability concerns of wireless. Back to top
Monday 13th March 2006
Amazon download movies
National video franchises for US telcos?
Nokia says people do like mobile TV
New chiefs for News Corp interactive
Galaxy rebrands
Telecom Italia France picks Verimatrix
Vivantel 'AMP' means 1080i HDTV on Broadband
Front Porch for TV5
Amazon download movies
Amazon is talking with movie studios about making their content available on its site, both for online rental and purchase. A service could begin this summer, say the US press.
The movie service could give a major boost to legal movie downloads. There is speculation that some studios are considering making movies available on the Amazon service at the same time they come out on DVD. Other online movie services haven't taken off with consumers because the services typically don't get the movies until weeks after they appear on DVD. The company is already planning an online-music service.
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National video franchises for US telcos?US lawmakers have agreed in principle to award a national cable franchise to phone companies and to subject cable operators to continued local franchising requirements until phone rivals have reached 15 per cent local-video-market penetration. The proposal will go forward from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. AT&T and Verizon have been urging Congress to adopt a national-franchise policy. Apparently many details had not been worked out, and reports could not elaborate on the 15 per cent test, including whether it meant 15 per cent of local households, 15 per cent of local TV households or 15 per cent of local pay TV households.
A second provision would protect phone companies from predatory pricing tactics by cable incumbents. If the cable company cut its rates to meet or beat phone-company video prices, the cable company would be required to make the price cuts available to its entire local subscriber base, not just those homes served, or capable of being served, by the local phone company.
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Nokia says people do like mobile TVResults from pilots on broadcast (DVB-H) mobile TV services amongst consumers in Finland, the UK, Spain and France have revealed clear consumer demand for such services as well as important indications over future business models for commercial mobile TV services, says Nokia.
Each of the pilots involved a broad spectrum of companies, including broadcasters, mobile operators and broadcast network providers, revealing the widespread interest in making mobile TV a reality. Each involved broadcasts of live digital TV content over DVB-H networks to the Nokia 7710 smartphone.
Interim results from the pilot in Oxford, UK, revealed that 83 per cent of participants were satisfied with the service and over three quarters (76 per cent) said they would take up the service within 12 months. In France, 68 per cent said they would pay for mobile TV services while over half (55 per cent) in Spain were willing to do so. Nearly 75 per cent of Spanish participants would recommend the service to friends and family.
The overwhelming message from these pilots is that consumers want both a wide range of channels but also content that is suitable for watching on mobile devices. The most popular types of content were news, sports, music, soaps and documentaries. Interactivity was also an important functionality with over half of Spanish users (58 per cent) saying they wanted specific, interactive content adapted to shorter viewing times.
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New chiefs for News Corp interactive
News Corporation has named two new senior executives to its interactive division. Mark Jung, 44 years old, will become chief operating officer of Fox Interactive Media, and Jim Heckman, 40, will become chief strategy officer of the unit.
Jung was previously chief executive of IGN, a network of online-gaming Web sites purchased by News Corp. last year. Heckman was founder and chief executive of Scout.com, a network of sports Web sites that was purchased by News Corp. last year.
Group CEO Rupert Murdoch said last month that he expects New York-based News Corp. to earn $350 million in revenue from its internet properties in 2006.
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Galaxy rebrandsGalaxy Satellite Broadcasting announces that its Pay TV service will be re-branded as TVB PAY VISION. "The new brand, TVB PAY VISION, will definitely lift our brand awareness and recognition in the market making our product offering more relevant to the audience," said Jackey Chan, Chief Operating Officer of Galaxy.
TVB PAY VISION offers its Basic Service Package at HK$198 per month including 38 basic channels. The bundled service with Hutchison Global Communications is priced at $248 per month.
Through the future partnership with PCCW, more viewers in Hong Kong will soon be able to enjoy TVB PAY VISION service via PCCW’s now Broadband TV platform. TVB PAY VISION will continue to distribute its service via its satellite network and Hutchison’s broadband network in Hong Kong.
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Telecom Italia France picks VerimatrixVerimatrix, the content protection and security provider for the IPTV industry, announced that Telecom Italia France has selected the Verimatrix Content Authority System (VCAS) for its AliceBox triple play service.
AliceBox offers unlimited calls to France and Italy, a minimum of 6Mbit/s broadband and up to 100 broadcast channels over the DSL network, and is available to all subscribers of the Alice Internet broadband service.
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Vivantel 'AMP' means 1080i HDTV on Broadband
Vivantel announced the release of AMP a patent-pending data transfer
protocol, AMP (Advanced Media Protocol), which it says is a flexible, cost-efficient way for content providers and communication service providers to provide
high-quality streaming video and a full range of IP telephony services over
current broadband networks. AMP technology enhances existing media delivery systems by encapsulating the video stream, providing additional compression of 10:1 or more. Streaming HDTV can be delivered, via consumer broadband connections, and displayed in its full wide-screen format. AMP requires a connection of only 2.5 MB for 1080i HDTV, says Vivantel.
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Front Porch for TV5Front Porch Digital, the Broadcast & Media Division of Incentra Solutions, announced that Sette Ltée has purchased a DIVArchive system as part of a TV5 Monde DIVArchive installation located on Sette's premises in Montreal. The facility will act as a disaster recovery site for TV5 Monde.
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