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Our Latest Issues
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Tuesday
Friday 28th September
Broadband pay-video market growth
Mobile TV? Maybe
IPTV pushes Spain's pay-TV forward
Liberty CEO says DirecTV-EchoStar merger unlikely
Internet video good for IPTV
FOX news online with Maven
Chellomedia and HIT global pre-school channel
Tilgin IPTV solutions for Ericsson
Google targets Europe
Bazalgette leaves Endemol
Broadband pay-video market growthThe number of paying users of online video sites has grown significantly between 2006 and 2007, new research from Parks Associates indicates. "Broadband Video: A Market Update" finds that the number of broadband households paying for online video content now stands at nearly 12 million, up from a little more than three million in 2005-2006.
"We have seen widespread use of the Internet as an electronic delivery medium for video content over the past couple of years," said Kurt Scherf, Parks Associates' vice president and principal analyst. "Certainly, the availability of higher-quality content and a significant base of products like the iPod that allow for more seamless content-to-device linkages have provided a boost to the online video space."
Results from a survey of 2,000 European consumers by market analyst firm Canalys indicate that half have no interest in watching any kind of TV on a mobile phone, even if the service was free.
The findings highlight three potentially attractive mobile TV customer segments: The pay-TV subscriber: consumers that take pay-TV services (54 per cent of those surveyed) are more open to the concept of mobile TV, with many expecting access to the full range of channels that they receive at home. The heavy/active mobile user: mobile TV appeals to two-thirds of those regularly spending over E60 per month on their mobile phone subscription. Users of mobile download services such as games, music and ringtones are also far more open to the concept of mobile TV. Seventy three per cent of consumers that regularly use MySpace and 70 per cent of frequent YouTube viewers would consider using a mobile TV service.
"The results show that interest in mobile TV across Europe varies greatly," said Adrian Drozd, Canalys Senior Analyst. "At present, Spain appears to be a strong potential market for mobile TV, with almost 66 per cent of respondents interested in the concept. In contrast, just 44 per cent of German and 41 per cent of French respondents would consider using a mobile TV service."
In terms of pricing, 47 per cent of those European consumers that expressed interest in mobile TV would consider E10 per month reasonable value for money, but 36 per cent would consider it too expensive at this point.
The research findings also suggest that mobile operators will need to develop a broad range of content partnerships and charging models, and there is unlikely to be one type of killer content for mobile TV. Over half (56 per cent) of those respondents open to the idea of mobile TV said that they would watch live TV events, such as sports or reality shows.
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IPTV pushes Spain's pay-TV forward
From David Del Valle in MadridThe booming IPTV market is boosting the growth of the pay-TV in Spain. Over the last year, pay-TV captured 275,000 new clients up to a total of 3.5 million pay-TV subscribers in the country, with a penetration rate of 22.3 per cent, according to the latest report produced by Red.es.
The increasing popularity of IPTV services boosts the pay-TV market with Telefonica's pay-TV service Imagenio taking the lion's share with now more than 450,000 subscribers. According to Red.es, pay-TV through ADSL has grown from 3.7 per cent to 10 per cent in a year, whereas cable and satellite pay-TV have experienced low growth, in fact in the first quarter of 2007 the net spending on pay-TV was E190 million, the same amount as the same period in 2005.
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Liberty CEO says DirecTV-EchoStar merger unlikelyGreg Maffei, CEO and president of Liberty Media, said his company's deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to gain control of DirecTV will give real market leverage to the Liberty's media distribution holdings - but it's unlikely the Government would let Liberty merge DirecTV with EchoStar.
Analysts have speculated that such a merger could succeed now, given the broader media landscape. But Maffei isn't sure things have changed enough to assume the Federal Trade Commission wouldn't stop the deal a second time.
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Internet video good for IPTVAn Internet Video Report for IPTV Service Providers from MRG has investigated how IPTV can leverage both professionally-developed and user-generated video content to reduce churn and generate revenue.
"We’ve found that using Internet Video is a tremendous opportunity if it’s tailored around the IPTV operator’s local market," states Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG. "Internet Video, if brought onto a managed network with superb search and display, can be a significant added-value for the IPTV operator."
Since one of the key disadvantages about Internet Video like YouTube is its low production or content quality, an IPTV operator can offer richer and more personalised or localised versions on a managed network that shows strikingly better visuals and content quality.
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FOX news online with MavenFOX news and Maven Networks, an Internet-TV-platform company, are teaming up on a new broadband-video-distribution system for the news network. Fox News will roll out Maven’s technology company wide: All video content on Fox News Web sites, including FOXnews.com and the Web site for the upcoming FOX business network, will run on Maven’s platform.
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Chellomedia and HIT global pre-school channelChellomedia, the European content division of Liberty Global, and HIT Entertainment, independent children’s entertainment producer and rights owner, have confirmed a joint venture to launch an international pre-school TV channel. At the same time, Chellomedia has separately acquired JimJam, the leading pre-school channel, which is currently available in Italy on the Sky Italia platform.
Together, HIT and Chellomedia’s subsidiary, Zonemedia will launch and distribute JimJam internationally. The launch across cable and satellite platforms in Western and Eastern Europe is scheduled for later this year with launches in Africa and the Middle East planned from Q1, 2008. Additional roll-out of the channel worldwide (excluding the US and the UK) will follow.
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Tilgin IPTV solutions for EricssonTilgin, provider of customer premises equipment (CPE) for advanced triple play and IMS-based services, has agreed with Ericsson to provide pre-integrated IPTV set-top boxes. The agreement will see Tilgin IPTV set-top boxes being pre-integrated into Ericsson's IPTV end-to-end solutions. Tilgin will supply IPTV set-top box solutions from the Mood 300 and Mood 400 series that include complete support for the latest generation of video compression MPEG-4 AVC and advanced functionality such as Personal Video Recording and high definition TV.
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Google targets EuropeInternet search giant Google is planning a dramatic expansion of its operations in Europe, aiming to recruit several thousand engineers over the next three years to create a research and development team as large as its US unit. The move is partly a bid by the search giant to redefine its image on the continent, where many Internet users regard it as an aggressive US multinational.
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Bazalgette leaves EndemolPeter Bazalgette is stepping down at Endemol as Chief Creative Officer. Marco Bassetti will become COO. Bazalgette will continue as an advisor to the Endemol board.
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Thursday 27th September
50% of European households receive digital TV
Trust OKs BBC HD
Ofcom joins speed debate
NBC splits digital
Virgin 1: ‘Proper telly’
DirecTV launches 21 HD channels
ITV Limelight streaming
MTG new Scandinavian Pay-TV packages
50% of European households receive digital TV
From Branislav Pekic in RomeA total of 83 million households, out of a total of 166 million in 20 Western European countries, receive digital TV services, according to the latest survey conducted by the Milan-based e-Media Institute.
At the end of June 2007, the number of families capable of receiving digital TV services represented 48 per cent of the total although Europe is going at different speeds towards digital. On one hand, several countries (The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Finland) have already switched off their analogue terrestrial transmitters, others are going at a slower pace towards digitalisation. Italy is in fact the only European country that is slowing down, now behind France and Spain, and occupies the second-last position in regards to the growth rate of digital households during the first half of 2007 (with 5.2 per cent).
According to the e-Media Institute, satellite with more than 23 million households is still the main pay-TV platform. Between June 2006 and June 2007, the number of subscribers grew by 6.5 per cent in Western Europe. High growth rates have also been registered for IPTV platforms and DTT, totalling 3.8 and 3.5 million users respectively. With 2 million subscribers for pay-TV via ADSL, France remains the main IPTV market in Europe, followed by Spain with nearly 500,000 subscribers.
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BBC Trust gave its qualified support to plans for the corporation to begin broadcasting in high definition.Until the switchover in 2012, there is not be enough bandwidth on the Freeview platform for putting out HD during the day, so the BBC plans four hours of HD on Freeview between 2am and 6am. It is aimed at people who want to record the best of the corporation's output in HD. But to do even that, broadcast of BBC Parliament, BBC4 and three of the small BBCi channels on Freeview will have to be suspended to make room for HD.
BBC HD will be available for nine hours a day on cable and satellite platforms. The Trust also said it wanted viewers' opinions on whether it should go ahead with the late-night Freeview option because it would mean that people would have to upgrade their set-top boxes once to do that and then again after the digital switchover because of changing technical standards. The Trust said: "Our provisional conclusions are now open to public consultation and we would like to hear from as many members of the public and stakeholders as possible before reaching our final decision. We are particularly interested in the public's view about the options for an HD channel on Freeview. Would licence fee payers prefer the BBC to launch a four-hour service immediately, before a nine-hour service is possible because of spectrum capacity, even if that means having to buy two set-top boxes within a very short period of time?"
Looking to IPTV, the trust also approved distributing the HD channel over set-top box IPTV services and the desktop internet, even though broadband speeds are currently insufficient. The trust ordered the BBC to meet with IPTV operators to "gauge feasibility and to ensure that the BBC does not over-burden their capacity before they are ready to accommodate HD".
Ofcom joins speed debateExisting broadband networks would be unable to cope with future bandwidth-hungry applications such as high-definition television, Ofcom has warned, as it unveiled proposals to encourage investment in ultra-fast networks.
Ed Richards, CEO, said that it was possible that companies other than BT, the former state fixed-line phone monopoly, and Virgin Media, the cable TV group, could develop what he described as Next Generation Access networks.
"Investment in Next Generation Access will represent a substantial commercial risk and the market should decide where and when it will be made. We want to ensure there are no barriers to investment and provide a clear regulatory environment which will help encourage investment."
This dovetails with recent mood music from BT and the Government that hi-speed networks are needed for competitiveness and the capex will be encouraged by a network-friendly regulatory framework – i.e. bandwidth hungry content providers will have to pay to use the network.
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NBC Universal International is to organise its digital efforts into two parallel strands: New Media Licensing and Digital Assets.
New Media Licensing is led by Beth Minehart, based in LA, and will lead a regionally focused sales organisation responsible for licensing efforts encompassing all forms of international new media, including EST, VOD and SVOD, through traditional and new platforms including cable, satellite, digital terrestrial television, Internet and mobile. The Digital Assets team will be headed by Kevin Obi, based in London. Obi will lead the strategy and development of NBC Universal’s branded digital assets in the international market.
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Virgin 1: ‘Proper telly’Virgin Media is aiming to position its channel as a destination for ‘proper telly’. The launch campaign aims to promote the Virgin 1 channel on satellite, cable and Freeview ahead of its launch on 1 October.. The ads are interspersed with statements such as "No soaps", "No makeovers" and "No nonsense", which aim to create a brand identity for the channel.
DirecTV launches 21 HD channels
DirecTV in the US has launched 21 new High-Definition channels, including CNN HD and TBS HD. The launch is the beginning of DirecTV's plan to offer 100 high-def channels by year's end. It now has 30 national HD channels. DirecTV says it will have 70 HD channels in October.
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ITV Limelight streaming
ITV has awarded a contract to streaming media specialist Limelight Networks to deliver the broadcaster's programming to viewers online. Limelight will supply its content delivery network (CDN) solution to ITV.com's free-to-view catch-up TV service. The solution limits access to UK-based viewers while DRM software prevents content copying and sharing.
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MTG new Scandinavian Pay-TV packagesModern Times Group (MTG) is restructuring the Viasat DTH satellite pay-TV offerings in Scandinavia. Viewers will now have more than 20 different options of how they structure their pay-TV channel packages.
Subscribers will be able to choose between three thematic packages of broad entertainment channels, international documentary and news channels, and children’s and music channels, as well as a premium movie package and a premium sports package.
Meanwhile, Viasat has launched the TV6 channel in Hungary. The brand - which is already well-known in Scandinavia and the Baltic states - offers broad general entertainment content.
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Wednesday 26th September
Echostar to buy Slingbox, and split?
Government gives the green light to DVB-H
BT for Orange 4 play
US confused on HD
Mobile TV ‘not interesting’
US VoD two hours a day by 2012
Facebook overtakes MySpace, Microsoft looming
Longer ad breaks for the UK?
Free FOX shows on iTunes
AETN broadband video player
MGM Channel for Bulgaria
Axel and Siano cut DVB-H channel switching time
Echostar to buy Slingbox, and split?EchoStar Communications has agreed to acquire Sling Media in a deal that values the maker of the Slingbox device at $380 million (E279m). The price is payable in cash and EchoStar options.
Slingbox devices allow users to watch their home TV signals on any Internet-connected computer."As an early investor in Sling Media, EchoStar has been pleased with the progress and commitment the company has made establishing Sling Media and the Slingbox as powerful and beloved digital media brands," EchoStar Chief Executive Charlie Ergen said.
Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian said the deal would help Sling Media expand. "We have worked closely with EchoStar for more than two years and have come to realize that both companies have similar entrepreneurial cultures and mutual dedication and passion for creating empowering experiences that benefit the consumer and the media industry."
Meanwhile, EchoStar said it is considering separating into two publicly traded companies. This would involve EchoStar's technology and infrastructure assets - including its set-top box design and manufacturing business and international operations - being spun off from the DISH Network US consumer pay-TV business. Current shareholders would have separate ownership interests in each company. EchoStar Chairman and Chief Executive Charlie Ergen would remain as chairman and CEO of DISH Network, while filling the same roles at the new business.
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Government gives the green light to DVB-H
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisThe French Government has signed the decree for the technical standard for mobile television, known as TMP (television mobile personnelle) using the DVB-H standard, with complementary coverage via satellite using DVB-SH.
The way is now open for a call for candidates to be issued by the end of October. The Minister of the Economy, Christine Lagarde, said that the Government wanted a commercial launch of mobile television in time for the Beijing Olympics and a general deployment by 2010. In reply to a question, she said that part of the spectrum freed after analogue switch-off would be used to provide wide coverage for TMP – "the public does not understand why TMP could not be available outside large towns" she said. The currently available spectrum, known as M7, would only reach 30 per cent of the population.
The hope is the French TMP may fare better than Virgin Mobile and BT Movio in the UK.
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BT for Orange 4 playThe wholesale division of BT Group is to provide landline services for Orange customers as part of Orange's push to offer mobile, fixed line, broadband and TV services. The agreement will allow Orange to offer a fixed-line telephony service under its own brand but managed and maintained by BT Wholesale. Orange customers will need to subscribe to its Home Max broadband package.
Under the terms of the agreement, BT Wholesale will manage line rental, calls and end-to-end customer management, including the setup and management of Orange's customer call centres.The two companies said the deal would allow Orange to enter the market for fixed line and bundled services faster and at a lower cost.
Orange said it had over 16.5 million customers in the country by the end of March - 15.1 million active mobile customers and over 1.5 million Internet customers. It is planning to launch a new Internet-based television service before the end of the year.
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As ‘Best Buy’ gears up for its important high-definition TV sales months, a new survey from the No. 1 electronics retailer reveals that almost 90 per cent of Americans still don't understand HDTVs - and close to 50 per cent underestimate the cost of buying one.
"We were getting a lot of anecdotal evidence that showed consumers were frustrated with their HDTV purchases," Mike Mohan, vice president of merchandising at Best Buy, told CNNMoney. "We felt that we had some gaps in key area of consumer education. That's why we decided to commission this study and really understand where the issues were."
The survey, which polled 1,012 consumers nationwide found that 89 per cent of people said they lacked a complete understanding of HDTV technology. Best Buy also said 48 per cent of consumers didn't budget appropriately for the "entire" HD experience.
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Mobile TV ‘not interesting’Europeans' interest in watching mobile television is tiny, a new study shows. Mobile operators hope that mobile TV could encourage users to spend an extra E5 to 10 a month, compensating for declining revenues from voice calls, but mobile television and video downloads ranked close to the bottom of consumer interest in a Gartner study in Europe.
Only about 5 percent of Europeans expressed interest in watching television or video on their cellphones in the next 12 months, the study said. At the same time some 20 percent of Asians said they would watch TV on their phone screens.
"I think the main reason is the compromise you are making on the device you need to carry to watch TV - either too big if you want a nice experience or too small and you do not have a good experience," said Carolina Milanesi, a Gartner analyst. Also lack of consensus on business models, variety of different technologies and shortage of airwaves has been hampering takeup of mobile TV.
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US VoD two hours a day by 2012Within the next five years, Americans will be spending more than a third of their daily TV-viewing time watching on-demand programs rather than regularly scheduled shows and events, according to a new forecast by Pike Fischer.
In a report on video-on-demand (VOD) usage, the market research firm says that the majority of households in the US will watch some form of on-demand content provided through cable, satellite TV or telephone company fibre-optic lines. And while the average monthly TV viewing time per household will remain relatively stable, the amount of that time viewing VOD will rise from 8.5 per cent at the end of 2007 to about 38 per cent by 2012, the report concludes. That translates into nearly two hours of VOD viewing per day.
According to Scott Sleek of Pike Fischer: "Cable companies in particular are identifying advertising as a key area of growth potential, since the addition of high-speed Internet and digital phone customers will eventually level off. Video on demand will enable more targeted advertising, based on user profiles and viewing habits‹the same way sites like Amazon.com operate today. That will make television an appealing marketing platform for advertisers."
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Facebook overtakes MySpace, Microsoft loomingFacebook has overtaken News Corp's MySpace site as the highest-traffic UK social networking site with 6.5m unique users last month, according to data published by Nielsen//NetRatings. Since October 2006, Facebook has rocketed from 448,000 unique users in the UK to 6,506,000 during August 2007.
Meanwhile, it is being reported that Microsoft is poised to buy a 5 per cent stake, valuing the site at as much as $10 billion.
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Longer ad breaks for the UK?UK Television could soon have longer advertising breaks under proposals being considered by Ofcom. ITV1, Channel 4 and Five are currently not allowed to show more than an average of seven minutes of advertising an hour. But Ofcom is discussing raising the limit. The watchdog said it was reviewing the rules at a time when traditional commercial broadcasters are seeing their advertising revenues fall as viewers move to digital channels.
Free FOX shows on iTunesFox and Apple have reached an agreement to offer free downloads of the shows Fox is trying to promote for the widely covered US sweeps season. Episodes of five new shows including Back To You, Til' Death and K-Ville, are currently available for free at the iTunes Store. The FOX shows are commercial-free, unlike the NBC shows that force you to watch commercials as part of the free download. FOX hopes to get people interested in the shows so they'll tune in at the regularly scheduled time or pay to download later episodes of the show from Apple.
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AETN broadband video playerAETN International, a division of A&E Television Networks (AETN), has launched a broadband video player for overseas channel services of The History Channel, The Biography Channel, and Crime & Investigation Network.
The broadband player is avaialble in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. AETN and its partners will launch additional players in Europe, Asia and Latin America later this year and early next year. The broadband player will offer content on a video-on-demand basis, with a mix of free short-form and paid long-form content.
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MGM Channel for BulgariaMGM Networks, has signed an agreement with Warburg Pincus-backed Eurocom, the largest cable operator in Bulgaria’s capital, to launch a local language version of The MGM Channel beginning in October. The deal marks the MGM Channel’s debut in Bulgaria.
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Axel and Siano cut DVB-H channel switching timeAxel Technologies, provider of multimedia middleware for mobile devices, and Siano Mobile Silicon, supplier of semiconductor solutions for Mobile Digital TV (MDTV) have launched a comprehensive platform for DVB-H terminals, with record-fast channel switching time of less than 2 seconds. The solution is targeting DVB-H enabled mobile phones, smartphones, laptops, PDAs, pocket TVs, PMPs and GPS systems.
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Tuesday 25th September
Arris buys C-COR
BT fast as light?
US networks stream for free
Phone in scandal results in £250k fine
First HD DTT channel in Spain
Advertisers eavesdrop
58% UK homes DAB by 2011
Verizon mobile TV service
Raindance movies online
Geldof makes Kent TV
ARC buys IP specialist
Verimatrix for Qatar IPTV service
Arris buys C-COR
Arris Group is to pay $730 million (E517m) in a mix of cash and stock for C-COR Incorporated. Arris says with over 250 customers around the world, the companies collectively reported revenues of over $1.2 billion over the past year and the merged company will be the largest pure-play provider of equipment and solutions to the cable industry.
C-COR’s takeover price of $13.75 a share represents a 19 per cent premium to the 30 day trading average of C-COR stock and a 39 per cent premium to the closing price of C-COR common stock on September 21, 2007. The transaction is expected to close in January 2008.
Bob Stanzione, ARRIS Chairman and CEO, said, "ARRIS and C-COR have had a long standing business relationship. The complementary nature of our portfolios has led us to interact often in supporting our common customers. The combination of our two businesses will create the leading pure play solutions provider to the global cable industry offering a full suite of IP telephony, high speed data, video infrastructure and video management solutions. The combined company will be extremely well positioned to deliver cross-platform solutions aimed at key customer spending initiatives including switched digital video, next generation video on-demand and digital advertising infrastructure. The combination also enables us to build on our leadership positions in cable IP telephony, cable optical and access infrastructure and cable modem termination systems. Further, this combination will allow us to be at the forefront of innovation within our industry and will enable us to introduce products and solutions that neither company would be able to develop alone."
David Woodle, Chairman and CEO of C-COR, said, "Arris is the best strategic partner for C-COR, allowing us to better serve our worldwide customers with an extensive footprint and as a result we are extremely excited about the potential of this combined company going forward and the value creation it represents. Moreover, with the significant stock component offered in the transaction, C-COR's shareholders have a meaningful opportunity to participate in realisation of that value.
"Arris will be hoping this transaction closes without further drama – at the beginning of 2008 it announced an agreed takeover of Tandberg only to be dropped at the last moment when Ericsson topped their bid.
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BT may be dropping its traditional opposition to constructing a super-fast fibre network. Ian Livingston, head of BT’s retail division, told the FT that the company would discuss investing in an ultra-fast network with the government and regulators at a summit in November or December. Such a network would require capex in the order of £10 billion (E14.5bn).
Previously BT has preferred an approach of high-speed for all rather than ultra-high speed for some – the completion of the 21CN project should see 24MBs available to most households. BT had criticised some European schemes bringing ultra high speed to a few urban centres as grandstanding.
BT’s willingness to look at extending an optical fibre network to people’s homes follows a warning last week by Stephen Timms, minister for competitiveness, that the UK risks falling behind other leading industrialised countries on broadband.
"BT remains very interested in further expanding the speed of access for customers, whether that be through faster copper, fibre to the home, fibre to the cabinet," Livingston said. He added that BT could only contemplate replacing copper wires with fibre if regulators allowed the company to charge rivals a "sensible price" for using the network.
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US networks stream for freeUS television networks believe they have found the business model needed to profit in the digital age – streaming their hit shows over the Internet for free as opposed to selling them to consumers as digital downloads.
This Autumn, the major networks are gearing up to stream unprecedented amounts of programming with embedded advertisements on their own websites and via those of distribution partners. They are embracing streaming video after recent experiments eased concerns that it would cannibalise traditional broadcast audiences and undermine business models. Instead, many TV executives are confident that putting programmes online will build greater awareness among consumers and increase audiences. The networks have also been encouraged by advertisers, who are rapidly shifting their budgets to the internet to reach young consumers.
Quincy Smith, president of CBS Interactive, commented: "Ad-supported streaming is absolutely the future."
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Phone in scandal results in £250k fineIcstis, the UK’s premium-rate phone regulator, has issued a record £250,000 (E360,050) fine over fraudulent phone-in competitions on ITV show GMTV that 18 million callers entered but had no chance of winning. Icstis imposed the maximum penalty on phone company Opera Telecom, after it found the revenue generated by callers who could not have won appeared to be more than £20m.
In what it described as the "the worst case which Icstis had come across in terms of the numbers of consumers affected and the amount of money at stake", the regulator found that over a period of almost four years at least 18 million callers were charged for entering competitions without any chance of winning.
The regulator banned Opera from holding phone competitions for 12 months, though this measure has been suspended subject to the company addressing failures of management. Icstis also ordered the company to pay a full refund to viewers who have lodged complaints, suspending this process for three months while the regulator assesses current refund schemes.
GMTV is also bracing itself for a multimillion-pound fine and is waiting for a separate investigation by media regulator Ofcom to be completed.
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First HD DTT channel in Spain
From David Del Valle in Madrid
An Interactive HD Consortium (Alta Definicion Interactiva 2006) is launching the first HD DTT channel in Spain, Campus HD, whose tests transmissions can be received through a MHP-enabled STB on 56 UHF channel (750-758 MHz) in the so-called University City in Madrid.
The initiative is supported by a Consortium of High tech companies, called Interactive High Definition (Alta Definicion Interactiva), sponsored by the Ministry of Industry, co-ordinated by Telefonica Servicios Audiovisuales and shared by Astra, Hispasat, Fresh-IT, hyc, RTVE, Sogecable and Televes.
It is the first time Spain trials a HD DTT channel aimed at testing and proving its capability and the latest encryption TV standards.
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Advertisers eavesdropPudding Media, a start-up based in California has introduced an Internet phone service that will be supported by advertising related to what people are talking about in their calls. But unlike Internet phone services that charge by the length of the calls, Pudding Media offers calling without any call charges.
The trade-off is that Pudding Media is eavesdropping on phone calls in order to display ads on the screen that are related to the conversation. Voice recognition software monitors the calls, selects ads based on what it hears and pushes the ads to the subscriber’s computer screen while he or she is still talking.
A conversation about movies, for example, will elicit movie reviews and ads for new films that the caller will see during the conversation. Pudding Media is working on a way to e-mail the ads and other content to the person on the other end of the call, or to show it on that person’s cellphone screen.
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DRDB (Digital Radio Development Bureau) figures show household penetration of DAB digital radio in the UK is set to reach 58.5 per cent by the end of 2011. The DRDB’s new five-year forecast puts household penetration at 21 per cent by the end of 2007, and 30 per cent by the end of 2008, rising to 40 per cent in 2009, 50 per cent in 2010, and 58.5 per cent by the end of 2011.
DAB digital radio set sales are expected to realise 17 per cent growth in 2007, with more than two million units sold at a value of £170 million. Growth rises to 26 per cent in 2008 with 2.6 million units sold at a value of £200 million. This delivers a cumulative forecast of approximately 9.2 million products sold by the end of 2008, with DAB products commanding 28 per cent of the overall market by volume and 35 per cent by value in 2008.
By the end of 2007, there will be around 6.6 million DAB radios in UK homes and a household penetration of 21 per cent.
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Verizon mobile TV serviceMobile phone network provider Verizon Wireless is launching a mobile TV service in the US that will see new shows from CBS, NBC and Fox debut on phones at the same time as they air on TV. More than 10 new shows from CBS, NBC and Fox will debut on the V Cast Mobile service The service costs $15 (E6) per month on top of a regular mobile subscription.
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Raindance movies onlineThe Raindance Film Festival will this week become the first to simultaneously show its movies via the web, claiming the initiative could help establish a new revenue model for independent filmmakers. The Independent film event in London has done a deal with broadband provider Tiscali to make six of its films available to all via the web at the same time as they premiere in London cinemas.
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Kent.tv, from the UK county’s local authority, has been created by production house Ten Alps - co-founded by former rock legend and Kent resident Bob Geldof. It features videos made by local filmmakers. The videos explore issues such as bullying, social exclusion and health. The site is the UK's first county council-funded on-demand channel.
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Configurable processor specialist ARC International has bought multimedia IP developer Alarity Corporation, for £2 million (E2.9 million) in cash. The bulk of Alarity's development team is based in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the 40 strong group focuses on codec software, firmware, and advanced multimedia architectures.
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Verimatrix for Qatar IPTV service
Verimatrix is providing the security solution for the world’s first fully integrated IPTV triple-play deployment in Qatar. This new service from Qtel offers voice, broadband Internet and MPEG4-AVC encoded IPTV over its upgraded infrastructure to subscribers across the state of Qatar. Verimatrix’s Video Content Authority System (VCAS) will protect MPEG4-AVC data streams through advanced encryption to prevent unauthorised access or piracy and to provide premium content suppliers with confidence that their revenue streams are secure.
"IPTV has been revolutionary in terms of bringing new ways for telcos to compete with cable and satellite providers, reducing their costs and providing added value to customers," commented Robert Payne, general manager and VP of sales, EMEA for Verimatrix. "However, from a consumer perspective, the method of delivery is of little importance as long as they are being offered content that they want to watch, when they want to watch it and that they are willing to pay for."
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Monday 24th September
Google UK mobile?
IPTV take off hindered by lack of packages
Arianespace prepares for satellite boom
Alcatel-Lucent buys Tamblin
Subs sue for a la carte
Thai cable and Nielsen
Digital Plus launches iPlus STB
Orange iPhone for France
2008 debut for PS3 Home
Widevine CableCard
Google is considering a move into the UK wireless market after media regulator Ofcom proposed taking ing back more than a third of the mobile phone spectrum that Vodafone and O2 have been using to auction it for new entrants.
Google is already planning to bid more than $4.6bn (E3.2bn) on spectrum in the US when it comes up for sale early next year and is rumoured to be working on its own mobile phone, nicknamed the Gphone, and a mobile payments service called GPay. Acquiring airwaves in Britain would allow Google to launch its own fully fledged mobile phone service or push for the sort of open standards-based wireless broadband network it is proposing in the US.
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IPTV take off hindered by lack of packages
According to Internet provider BSNL IPTV is being delayed in India because two of the major players, Sony and Zee, have not confirmed their channel packages. "We have just received word from Sony confirming their IPTV packages, but not from Zee. We are hopeful that all packages will be procured in a month's time," said the chief general manager of Calcutta Telephones, SK Chakravarty. Another major company that has not confirmed its participation is ESPN STAR Sports. Chakravarty said, "We have deliberately not advertised for IPTV on a large scale as we do not want to publicise it before we procure all the channels."
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Arianespace prepares for satellite boom
Arianespace, the world's leading commercial space launch service provider, is embarking on a $400-million capacity expansion project to build a new launch site in French Guiana.
Chief executive Jean-Yves Le Gall said the company was preparing for a growing satellite market, fuelled by new on-demand applications for mobile connectivity and high definition television.
''TV on mobile and Internet protocol through satellite channels is expected to provide huge market potential for cellular operators over the next few years,'' said Le Gall. ''Up to 25 commercial satellites are expected to be launched into orbit this year, two-thirds of the total to be serviced by Arianespace."
He added his company saw a number of projects for new innovative satellite platforms in Japan, Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.
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Alcatel-Lucent announced it has acquired Tamblin, a privately held software company that provides applications and tool kits that will enhance Alcatel-Lucent's solution for enabling IPTV users to find, connect and interact with brands and entertainment they care about.
Service providers can use Alcatel-Lucent's interactive TV applications, now enhanced by the Tamblin software with their existing IPTV middleware to offer their subscribers a unique TV experience that lets them interact with their favorite brands and entertainment services. The Tamblin solutions have been recognized for the ease with which brands and broadcasters can develop interactive TV advertising campaigns and track usage. Broadcasters can create one campaign that runs across multiple operators.
Tamblin's 13 person staff will join Alcatel-Lucent's convergence business activities within its multimedia and payment team. "We are delighted to join Alcatel-Lucent," said Stuart Waite, CEO of Tamblin. "We have the opportunity to bring our media and broadcast clients together with the outstanding Alcatel-Lucent IPTV operator customers to deliver leading interactive TV services to the market."
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Subs sue for a la carteSome cable subscribers are suing to get their programming a la carte. A multimillion-dollar class-action suit has been filed against the major cable programmers and operators for violating antitrust laws by bundling programming in expanded basic tiers.
In a suit filed by veteran antitrust attorney Maxwell Blecher on behalf of 14 cable and satellite subscribers from a variety of cities, the plaintiffs asked the court to enjoin the companies from "unlawfully bundling expanded basic-cable channels and ordering defendant cable providers and direct-broadcast satellite providers to notify their subscribers that they each can purchase 'a la carte' (separately) except for 'basic cable.'"
That basic-cable caveat covers the lifeline basic package that includes the TV stations cable must carry per government mandate. The subscribers said they have been injured because they have been "deprived of choice, have been required to purchase product they do not want and have paid inflated prices for cable-television programming."
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Thai cable and NielsenThe Thailand Cable TV Association is hoping that the ratings agency Nielsen will agree to measure audiences for local satellite TV channels to help them better position their content with media buyers, agencies and advertisers.
Association members nationwide are expecting the Government to pass the new Radio and Television Broadcasting Act by the end of this year. It would legalise more than 300 local pay-TV operators by granting licences. Most operators now have one-year licences that they must renew annually.
Since many of the local operations are considered illegal, advertisers and media buyers are reluctant to air commercials on satellite TV. To attract interest from Nielsen, the association has sought co-operation from members, some of whom offer up to 80 channels, to set up a consistent channel numbering system. That way, Nielsen could use its equipment to measure viewership more accurately.
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Digital Plus launches iPlus STB
From David Del Valle in MadridSogecable-owned digital DTH platform Digital Plus is launching iPlus set-top-box next week, a new generation device equipped with a 160GB hard disk that allows to record and play at any time the platform's offer, along with DTT channels.
iPlus is able to record and play more than 80 hours of programming, equivalent to around 50 films, using the EPG and the remote control. While recording, the subscriber will also be able to watch a different channel at the same time. The box is able to receive DTT, HDTV and is equipped with Dolby Digital sound.
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Orange iPhone for FranceFrance Telecom’s wireless arm Orange has signed an agreement with Apple to distribute the iPhone in France. Orange will start selling the combined mobile phone and iPod media player in November, France Telecom said, without indicating how much it would cost.
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Sony is delaying the launch of the Home online world service for its PlayStation 3 console. Originally slated for an autumn launch, Home is a virtual world in which owners of the PS3 create avatars and socialise with others. With the service, Sony hopes to cash in on the wave of interest in online communities that have made successes of websites such as Second Life, MySpace and Facebook.
Sony said Home would now be launched early in 2008.
Widevine CableCardWidevine Technologies has launched the Widevine CableCard. The QAM and IP-based hardware solution enables multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to provide two-way downloadable conditional access solution for protecting content delivery to any device with a CableCard slot.
