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Our Latest Issues
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Tuesday
Friday 27th July
Virgin, Setanta step up Sky sports battle
Italian pay-TV revenues grow to E2bn
Virgin drops mobile TV
Orange and Disney UK VOD deal
XM cuts losses
BT still ahead in broadband
Eutelsat net quadruples
UK unclear on switchover
1 in 5 watch Internet video
Virgin 1 commissioning appointments
Harmonic acquires Rhozet
Ainscough joins Ofcom
Virgin, Setanta step up Sky sports battle
From Colin Mann in LondonVirgin Media and Setanta Sports have confirmed they are working together to launch a new TV channel, Setanta Sports News. The new channel is expected to launch soon and will be available exclusively, and at no additional cost, to all of Virgin Media’s three million digital TV subscribers.
In addition, Virgin Media has confirmed that it will launch a new sports portal on July 30. From this season, visitors to virginmedia.com/sport will be able to watch free of charge highlights from all Barclays Premier League, Coca-Cola Championship, League 1 and League 2 matches. Every goal of every match, from all the clubs, available to watch on-demand for one week after transmission. The site will be available to everyone with Internet access, not just Virgin Media customers.
Michael O’Rourke, co-founder of Setanta Sports, said the new channel would initially only be available on cable, but that the intention was to add satellite, broadband and possibly DTT on Freeview at a later stage. "It won’t be a barker channel for other sport we cover. We’ll follow the story, regardless of who has the broadcast rights," he claimed. Setanta has the rights to 46 live Premier League matches per season, commencing with 2007/8 season. O’Rourke said that HD coverage was not on the cards straight away, but possibly for the subsequent season.The launch of Setanta Sports News and Virgin Media’s re-vamped sports portal follows the pairs initiative to give new and existing customers who take Virgin Media’s XL basic TV package six Setanta Sports channels for free, the first time that premium sport has been available in the UK at no additional cost.
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Italian pay-TV revenues grow to E2bn
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItalian TV revenues grew in 2006 by 7.4 per cent and totaled E7.8 billion, according to the annual report of the Italy’s Telecommunications Authority (AGCOM).
The report shows that revenues from the TV sector were divided: E3.9 billion from advertising, E2.22 billion from pay-TV and PPV, E1.49 billion from the TV license fee and E155 million from other operators. More than half of the revenues (50.3 per cent) still depend on ads, but their share is constantly falling. On the other hand, the contribution of pay-TV is on the increase (28.5 per cent compared to 23.7 per cent in 2005), while TV license fees are down (19.2 per cent compared to 20.5 per cent a year earlier).
PPV was responsible for 38.1 per cent of total revenues from digital terrestrial services (in 2005 they were 38.9 per cent), 33.6 per cent from satellite (54.6 per cent) and 28.3 per cent from other telecom networks (6.5 per cent). Mediaset collected E84 million from pay-TV (+133.3 per cent), while Telecom Italia Media obtained E10 million (+73.7 per cent). Sky Italia’s revenues totaled E2.19 billion (+26.7 per cent), with E128 million coming from advertising, E2.03bn from pay-TV and E31m from other services.
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Virgin drops mobile TV
Virgin Mobile is dropping its broadcast mobile TV service after less than a year because of poor take-up.The mobile phone operator's partner on the project, BT, is ending its pilot with mobile TV and disbanding its BT Movio business that was supposed to take mobile TV into other countries. It has also cancelled its contract with GCap Media, the radio business that owned the spectrum over which the service runs. The service is likely to be switched off completely early next year.
Five-channel Virgin Mobile TV (VMTV) was launched last October with a £2.5m (E3.6m) advertising campaign but it failed to take off with customers, partly because only one handset - nicknamed the Lobster - was ever available. Earlier this year the Guardian reported that less than 10,000 people had signed up.
The final straw for VMTV was when the EU called for the region's mobile phone operators to get behind a competing mobile TV technology which can offer many more channels than Virgin's service.
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Orange UK and Disney-ABC International Television have signed a multi-year video on demand deal for digital TV and PC. This will allow Orange subscribers to access in their home and on their TV a selection of movies from The Walt Disney Company on Orange’s digital TV service that will launch in the UK later this year.
Orange’s upcoming launch of IPTV in the UK builds upon its existing provision in France, Spain, Mauritius, Senegal and Poland. Under the agreement, Orange UK will be able to offer video on demand movies from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films.
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XM Radio said its second-quarter net loss narrowed but the rate at which the broadcaster adds new subscribers showed signs of slowing. XM, which has been losing money as it tries to build its subscriber base, reported a net loss of $176 million, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $229 million, a year earlier. The latest quarter's results included a 12-cent charge to the firm's investment in Canadian Satellite Radio. Revenue increased 22 per cent to $277.3 million. XM's operating loss widened to $47.4 million from $45.9 million.
Net subscribers rose 338,000 during the quarter to give it more than 8.25 million, up 20 per cent from a year earlier. Chief Executive Hugh Panero, who announced he will stop down next month, noted XM had "more automotive gross subscriber additions than during any quarter in the company's history." Such additions climbed 19 per cent to 618,000.
Total gross subscriber additions were 942,000, up 1.7 per cent from a year earlier. The net subscriber gains were down 15 per cent from the prior year. Average revenue per subscriber rose 0.8 per cent while churn, the rate of monthly customer losses, dipped to 1.83 per cent from 1.84 per cent.
Subscriber acquisition costs jumped 12 per cent to $75 amid $10 each for inventory-related charges and increased radio production at XM's newer auto partners. Cost per gross customer addition increased 8 per cent.
The proposed XM / Sirius merger must get approval from both the Justice Department's antitrust division and the Federal Communications Commission. At the moment that seems unlikely but lobbying continues.
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UK telco BT has pulled further ahead in the broadband market as it met forecasts with a 3 per cent increase in first-quarter core earnings and revenues. The company said its BT Retail unit accounted for 38 per cent of net DSL broadband additions during the quarter with 459,000 new broadband customers.
Meanwhile BT confirmed it was considering a Fibre to the curb network that cold deliver 50Mb/s. This compares with the existing upper limit of 8mbps that is available from most telecoms companies and the 24Mb/s that will be available from BT’s new ADSL2+ network. A faster network is unlikely to be available beyond business centres, given the high capital cost.
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Eutelsat net quadruplesSatellite operator Eutelsat Communications has reported net profit quadrupled to E170m in its year to June from E40.2m previously, lifted by the non-recurrence of restructuring charges and lower financial costs. Full year sales grew 4.8 per cent to E829.1m from E791.1m and EBITDA improved 5.9 per cent to E652.6m from E616.5m.
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UK unclear on switchoverAn estimated 33 million people in Britain do not know when their region will switch from analogue to digital television, an online poll has found. The research, which was conducted in May and June by YouGov for uSwitch.com, found that the figure for the number still in the dark about digital switchover - which represents 73 per cent of the UK adult population - had decreased since the last such survey in January. Back then, similar research estimated that 38 million people - or 83 per cent of the population - did not know when their region's analogue TV signal was being switched off.
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1 in 5 watch Internet videoNearly 20 per cent of American adults watch video over the Internet on any given day, says a new report. While young adults watch in greater numbers and tend to seek comedy clips, other age groups use online video primarily for news.
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, one in five US Internet adults watch some form of online video. The group also said young adults are more likely to send video links to friends and family and to watch online video in groups.
Users in the 18-29 age group are more likely to have paid for video access at some point, Pew said, but that's still only 10 per cent of online video viewers in that demographic - slightly more than the 7 per cent across all age groups. The firm also said having high-speed Internet access boosts the results, with 25 per cent of those with broadband at home watching video on a typical day, compared with nine per cent for dial-up users.
Virgin 1 commissioning appointments
Virgin Media Television has conformed the appointment of Rebecca Johnson and Lucy Pilkington to senior commissioning roles at its new general entertainment channel Virgin 1. Johnson will be Senior Commissioning Editor for Entertainment programmes for Virgin 1 alongside her current commissioning responsibilities for Bravo, Challenge and Trouble. Pilkington is appointed to Senior Commissioning Editor for Factual content on Virgin 1, Challenge, Bravo and Trouble. Both Lucy and Rebecca will work across Factual Entertainment as appropriate.
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Harmonic acquires RhozetHarmonic has acquired Rhozet, a company that offers software-based universal transcoding solutions that facilitate the creation of multi-format video for Internet, mobile and broadcast applications. The addition of Rhozet's software transcoding technology is expected to enable Harmonic's existing broadcast, cable, satellite, and telco customers to seamlessly create and deliver Internet and mobile video programming. The $15.5 million dollar purchase price is comprised of cash and Harmonic stock.
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Ofcom has appointed former Easynet joint managing director, Jill Ainscough, as its new chief operating officer. The move fills the gap left by Ed Richards' promotion to chief executive of the communications regulator last October.
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Thursday 26th July
Bewkes: Everything VOD
Video rental stores give way to online services
Vatican opts for T-DMB as digital TV standard
BSkyB/Virgin trial 'a year away'
SK Telecom looking into IPTV business
Bharat Sanchar IPTV on horizon
MyLifeBrand launches MyLifeTV
O2 Czech joins Digital Broadcasting Coalition
Verizon offers YouTube service
EuroNews digital solutions for HSBC
Bewkes: Everything VODCable providers should work to offer video-on-demand (VOD) versions of every TV network available, Time Warner president and chief operating officer Jeff Bewkes has said.
Combining VOD programming with targeted ads that viewers are interested in would also reduce the demand or need for digital-video recorders, Bewkes told attendees at the opening general session of the CTAM conference. "You don’t have to DVR HBO. We should take the whole industry and put it on that basis," said Bewkes, whose company owns HBO.
Bewkes said consumers would be willing to accept advertising on on-demand programming if providers deliver ads for products that consumers like. "That [advertising] can be more efficient. It can be targeted. It knows you want fishing gear, etc.," Bewkes said.
Offering large libraries of free-VOD programming will also reduce the need for pay TV providers to install DVRs in the homes of their subscribers, he added. "If we as an industry can take all of these networks and put them on-demand for free, [operators] don’t need to go installing and worrying about all of that stuff," he said.
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Video rental stores give way to online servicesAccording to research from The Diffusion Group (TDG), the dominance of local US video rental stores continues to give way to alternative sources such as direct-mail, video-on-demand, or pay-per-view. Movie Rental Behaviour and Proclivity to Use Online Movie Services, TDG's report on the media consumption habits of broadband consumers, notes that one-third of broadband households that rent movies from traditional retail outlets also use another direct-mail, pay-per-view, or video-on-demand service for movie rental.
TDG's research found that, among consumers who rented movies from a traditional video rental store, 15 per cent also use a pay-per-view service, 14 per cent use a direct-mail service, and 12 per cent use a video-on-demand service for their movie rentals. Online movie services, however, continue to have a negligible impact on rental behaviour: less than 2 per cent of adult broadband users have rented movies through online services and less than 1 per cent use them with any frequency.
Vatican opts for T-DMB as digital TV standard
From Branislav Pekic in RomeHot on the heels of Italian public broadcaster RAI, the Holy See (Vatican City State) has opted for the T-DMB (Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) technology for digital broadcasting.
During a visit to the Vatican, Korea’s Deputy Minister for Information and Communications, Younghwan Yoo, donated an encoder for digital TV, radio and multimedia broadcasts, as well more than one hundred small DMB receivers.
As a result, Rome citizens equipped with the appropriate reception equipment will, in the coming months be able to tune in to radio channels broadcast via DAB technology (including Radio Vatican’s One-O-Five station), as well as video channels transmitted in DMB. The programme offer will also include live coverage of events transmitted by the Vatican Television Center.
In a related development, the Italian Parliament has approved tax breaks of up to E200 for the purchase of new digital TV sets. The discount will be worth either 20 per cent of the value of the new TV or E200, whichever is lower, and is available only on the first TV set purchased by a household. The incentive will cost the Government an estimated E40 million.
BSkyB/Virgin trial 'a year away'
Virgin Media's programming row with BSkyB is not likely to reach the courts for another year, according to a timetable agreed by the UK broadcasters. A pre-trial hearing over whether BSkyB abused its position in the pay-TV market is scheduled for November. Documents will be exchanged in March. A trial would take place after that, with a verdict possibly two years away.
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SK Telecom looking into IPTV businessSK Telecom, Korea's leading wireless operator, is considering launching an Internet television service. The company has set up a task force to review a potential IPTV unit. "The team will study the feasibility of the business, set out the direction and report the results to senior company officials," SK Telecom said.
Hanaro Telecom, which operates its own Internet TV business Hana TV, and other operators equipped with cable Internet networks are possible merger targets.
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Bharat Sanchar IPTV on horizonIndian public sector telco Bharat Sanchar has confirmed that its IPTV service will be launched in Kolkata on 15 August. The announcement comes after an extended delay in the service being rolled out in the city, after initial announcements. This enhancement of Calcutta Telephones’ existing broadband service will have 100 TV channels, and VOD offerings.
The roll out of IPTV will begin from Salt Lake area and gradually move to other parts of the city. The monthly fixed charge of IPTV will be Rs250 (E4.50) plus taxes. Bharat Sanchar will offer the package on payment of one-year’s service in advance.
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MyLifeBrand launches MyLifeTVMyLifeBrand, the social platform which allows users to aggregate and manage their social networks, has launched a multimedia video platform, MyLifeTV. The customisable multimedia platform enables any community on the social platform to create a fully community focused line up of video broadband channels for their specific community members. Additionally, community creators will have the opportunity to syndicate their channels into thousands of other target communities on MyLifeBrand, as well as more broadly across the Internet.
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O2 Czech joins Digital Broadcasting CoalitionTelefónica O2 Czech Republic has joined the Digital Broadcasting Coalition, which aims to accelerate the state and development of digital television broadcasting in the country. The main initiator of the establishment of the coalition is the National Co-ordination Group for Digitalisation. On July 2, Telefónica O2 Czech Republic became the first company in the country to offer terrestrial broadcasting of Czech Television (CT1) in HD quality.
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Verizon offers YouTube serviceVerizon Wireless is offering its customers the ability to record video footage with their wireless phones and upload the videos directly to YouTube via MMS. Videos will post live in minutes.
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EuroNews digital solutions for HSBCInternational news channel EuroNews has, together with banking and financial group HSBC, developed a microsite that addresses the need for commercial information for key decision makers in all areas of business. EuroNews worked closely with Mindshare Interaction who brokered the deal on behalf of HSBC. Users can also download 3 audio Podcasts produced by HSBC and have access to a weekly survey on relevant topics.
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Wednesday 25th July
Vivendi in for Premiere?
Japan mobile TV profit under threat
Pace posts profits
Sat radio will let listeners choose
Ofcom’s PRS regulation
Budget HD TiVo
Nuts TV
Strong growth in home networks
TW buys Tacoda
Joost Selects Level 3
Sky News for Jalipo
Shares in German TV platform Premiere rose more than 5 per cent as it was rumoured that French media group Vivendi are interested in the broadcaster. Premiere, which last week regained rights to show Bundesliga soccer matches, declined to comment.
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Japan mobile TV profit under threatAccording to "The Mobile TV Insight Report" released by the Mobile Consumer Lab at the International University of Japan, current Mobile TV services run the risk of unprofitable returns, and may fail to attract widespread usage amongst mobile phone subscribers. The results outlined in this report show that Japan's One-Seg users appear to be lowering their usage of the most profitable mobile phone services including Voice and Email, which suggests that troubles could lie ahead for the Mobile TV industry.
According to the author, Philip Sugai, Director of the Mobile Consumer Lab at the University of Japan, "Business leaders across the Mobile TV value-chain must seriously reconsider their approach to delivering television content via the mobile platform, as Japan's current One-Seg users are clearly behaving in ways that could threaten the long term profitability of Mobile TV services."
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Pace posts profitsSet-top box specialist Pace Micro Technology has reported full year pre-tax profits of £6.1m (E8.8m), turning around last year's £15.6m (E23.2m) loss, on revenues more than doubled to £386.5m (2006: £178.1m). Pace cites "significant success in North America" and says it is on track to deliver against expectations for the shortened financial year, ending December 31. The group says volume shipments increased 77 per cent to 3.9m set-top boxes (2006: 2.2m).
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Sat radio will let listeners chooseHoping to persuade regulators on their proposed merger, XM and Sirius announced plans to give consumers the ability to choose the programs that make up their subscription package.
The companies said they would offer two "à la carte" pricing plans. One would enable consumers to purchase the best of the premium services now offered by each company for a monthly fee of $14.99. For $6.99 a month, the other would enable listeners to choose 50 of the non-premium channels, with each additional channel costing 25 cents. To subscribe to the "à la carte" plans, consumers would have to buy new radios.
The announcement was an effort to persuade the FCC that the merger was in the public interest. Several of the five commissioners, including the agency’s chairman, Kevin J. Martin, have raised significant concerns about the deal because it would result in the creation of only one satellite radio service.
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Ofcom’s PRS regulationUK regulator Ofcom has published proposals to strengthen viewer and consumer protection for participation television. The inquiry into premium rate telephone services (PRS) in television programming recommended that broadcasters should be held directly accountable for their use of PRS.
Ofcom sets out proposals to implement these recommendations. These include: New licence obligations for television and radio broadcasters which will hold broadcasters directly responsible for consumer protection and PRS compliance. This obligation will ensure fair and consistent treatment for all those participating in programmes, such as entering competitions and voting. Also, Ofcom outlined a requirement for television and radio broadcasters to ensure independent third party verification of PRS activity. This will help ensure early detection of compliance issues.
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Budget HD TiVoTiVo has introduced a trimmed-down, less expensive version of its digital video recorder for high-definition televisions, hoping to spur mainstream demand 10 months after a pricey first foray into HD was received coolly. The company said its TiVo HD model, capable of recording up to 20 hours of high-resolution TV signals, would sell for about $300 (E217), starting in August.
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IPC men's magazine Nuts is to launch a digital TV channel on Freeview later this year. Nuts TV will start as a four-hour programme block between 9pm and 1am with cable and satellite services planned in due course.The new channel's programming will feature a live format reflecting Nuts' brand of "unique and fast-paced humour".
Nuts TV is being launched by the magazine's owner IPC and Turner Broadcasting, which are both parts of the Time Warner media empire. "Nuts TV will take the magazine into the TV arena with exclusive original content within a live studio setting," Turner and IPC said in a joint statement.
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Strong growth in home networksDriven by ever increasing numbers of residential broadband subscribers, the desire to share bandwidth, and falling prices for networking equipment, the worldwide installed base of home networks is expected to grow by over 35 per cent in 2007 predicts In-Stat.
Home network growth will be somewhat slower over the next few years, but will remain solid, along with a bright home networking equipment outlook, the high-tech market research firm says.
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Time Warner’s AOL has agreed to buy Tacoda, an online advertising company that uses behavioural targeting techniques to track Web user habits. The deal is the latest acquisition by AOL to bolster its online advertising tools following its decision to move away from its Internet access business and instead offer consumers free services supported by ads.
Tacoda's technology allows brand advertisers to target messages to specific audience segments based on the kinds of sites they have visited on the Web.
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Communications company Level 3 has been selected by Joost to support its Internet television service. Under the terms of the agreement, Level 3 will provide Joost with network solutions including high speed Internet access and co-location services in North America and Europe.
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Sky News is to be streamed on internet TV service Jalipo, giving users access to footage on a pay-per-minute model. Content will be offered on three different quality streams, meaning users can access the channel regardless of what speed internet connection they have. Sky News is the latest news provider to make its content available through the Jalipo Platform with the BBC, Bloomberg, EuroNews and Al Jazeera already offering news content.
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Tuesday 24th July
Virgin asks for first bids
Dutch watchdog rejects KPN ‘abuse’ claim against cable
US Cable passes satellite for DVR popularity
Emap and C4 music venture
Google guns for mobile phone spectrum
NHK content heading online
HungryFlix for Apple
BBC Worldwide selects Thomson
Virgin asks for first bidsCable operator Virgin Media has asked for initial expressions of interest by the first week of August as it seeks to kick off an auction for the company. Virgin said on July 2 it had received a bid approach that was reported to be from private equity firm Carlyle Group. Since then up to 10 other suitors have expressed interest, some of whom are likely to team up with each other.
Private equity firms Providence Equity Partners, Blackstone Group Cinven and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts are considering a joint bid, while TPG and Apax Partners are also interested, reports say. It is also said U.S. companies Comcast, Liberty Media, Time Warner, and Viacom are also interested. The operator's Nasdaq-listed shares have risen more than 23 percent since the announcement.
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Dutch watchdog rejects KPN ‘abuse’ claim against cableDutch competition watchdog NMa has rejected a complaint from telecom operator KPN that the major cable operators have been abusing their dominant market positions.
The complaint against UPC and the grouping Essent Kabelcom, Casema and Multikabel alleged that the operators each have a dominant position on their own networks and abuse this by selling bundled service packages of digital and analogue TV and radio, whereby the services cannot be taken individually. The operator also accused the cable companies of predatory pricing and illegal subsidies between digital and analogue services and protested their refusal to give it access to the cable networks.
The NMa rejected the complaint on bundling digital and analogue services, saying the two belong to the same product market. An evaluation of prices also found that cable operators are charging prices that cover their relevant costs, with no evidence of illegal subsidies or predatory pricing. As far as access to the cable networks go, the competition authority has left the issue to telecoms regulator OPTA, which is currently conducting an analysis of the broadcast market.
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US Cable passes satellite for DVR popularityDVRs installed in cable households have surpassed the number of those in satellite homes in the US, according to a projections released by The Carmel Group.
"Digital Video Recorders 2007: Time In A Magical Box," projects that nearly half of all US TV homes will be equipped with a DVR system by 2010. Presently, it is estimated there are nearly 26 million DVR users.
The cable TV industry passed the satellite industry in 2006, and now claims the majority of DVR users at 56 per cent, followed by satellite at 38 per cent, the telcos at 1 per cent, and standalone providers, such as Tivo, at 4 per cent.
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Emap has sold its music TV channels into a joint venture agreement set up with Channel 4. Under the agreement the media group will sell a half share in its Box Television subsidiary to the broadcaster for £28m (E40.5m), with the possibility of up to £4m of deferred consideration depending on the performance of the joint venture over the next three years.
The plan is for the joint venture to develop Emap’s seven digital music TV channels, which include The Hits, Smash Hits and Kerrang! into "the UK’s number one music TV provider", Emap said. It would exploit new opportunities such as video-on-demand as well as continuing with the existing business.
In the year to March, Box Television had revenues of £27m and made an operating profit of £7m. Emap bought The Box in 1996 for £6m.
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Google guns for mobile phone spectrumGoogle has confirmed that it will attempt to move into the telecoms market by spending $4.6 billion on mobile phone spectrum in the US if certain conditions are met when the airwaves are auctioned. The company said that it would spend the money if the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted certain rules for the auction process, such as forcing carriers to lease spectrum to others offering services at wholesale rates.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK is planning to offer content online, beginning a limited service in 2008. The initial plan is to offer news programmes and documentaries for a week after their TV broadcasts, in an on-demand downloadable format. The files will be installed with security functions that prevent copying and ensure they can be watched only for a set time period after download.
NHK, which is funded by a viewer licence fee, will offer the service free to those who have paid their monthly Y1,345 (E8), and charge those that have not.
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HungryFlix for AppleHungryFlix.com, an online distributor of digital content, is now offering independent movies and videos for the new Apple iPhone. The web start-up is also offering support for Apple TV, a network connected set-top box. Content providers set their own price and share the profits from sales of their works.
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BBC Worldwide selects ThomsonThomson has confirmed that its Services division, under the Technicolor brand, has inked a long-term contract to manage ingest, quality control play out and monitoring for a number of BBC Worldwide branded channels. Thomson will provide these services from its new digital media facility in Singapore. The channels will be launched on Sing Tel’s IPTV distribution platform.
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Monday 23rd July
DEG: 52m HDTV homes in US by ‘08
Virgin and Setanta free sports package
Digital Television to launch HDTV on IPTV
ITV and Google search deal
SingTel pay TV service
VOOM HD for Singapore and Hong Kong
Motorola posts loss
Verizon rolls out Veoh Video
Intelsat’s Galaxy 17 satellite operational
film2home offer HD downloads
NeuLion takes NHL online
BigBand goes Dutch
DEG: 52m HDTV homes in US by ‘08Armed with statistics that show steady growth for high-definition products, DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group is urging the industry to embrace the transition away from analogue.
More than 30 million US households have at least one HDTV, according to figures compiled by the trade group based on data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), retailers and manufacturers.
An estimated 4.5 million HDTVs were sold in the first half of 2007, 50 per cent more than in the first six months of 2006. CEA projects that 16 million HDTVs will be sold by the end of this year, bringing the US household total to more than 52 million. That could bring the household penetration rate to 36 per cent, with about 20 per cent of homes having more than one HD set.
The DEG also found that high-definition media devices, including set-top box and game consoles, are available in some 10,000 North American storefronts. Nearly 2 million units have sold through to consumers.
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Virgin and Setanta free sports packageVirgin Media and Setanta Sports today have revealed plans to offer the customers who take Virgin Media’s XL basic TV package six Setanta sports channels for free.
From the 26th July, pay TV customers will receive 24/7 sporting action without having to pay for a separate sports package. Customers of any other Virgin Media TV service who want to add these Setanta channels to their service will be able to do so for £8 (E11.90) a month. Programming will include 46 live games from the Premier League, 60 matches from Scottish Premier League and the US PGA Tour golf, as well as European League football, rugby and horse racing from around the country.
The initiative comes just prior to the start of the new football season, which sees Sky as it loses its exclusivity on live Premiership coverage.
Sky had planned to respond to Setanta’s ‘mini-pay’ offer on DTT platform Freeview, but its plans to launch a new pay-TV offering including Sky Sports have been held up by the regulator Ofcom.
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Digital Television to launch HDTV on IPTV
From Branislav Pekic in RomeMilan-based company Digital Television has announced plans to launch ten DTV channels via IPTV from September. According to President and CEO Giuseppe Sbrissa, the HDTV channels will be dedicated to movies, music, sports and cartoons. The TV package includes 30 Sky Italia pay-TV channels (including movies, sports and football packages), a movie on demand service and digital terrestrial content, plus a personal video recorder function.
The triple-play offer, costing E40 a month, will also include 24Mbps internet (ADSL2+) plus unlimited voice calls towards fixed telephone numbers and significant discounts for calls towards mobile phones.
Since it does not have its own infrastructure, Digital Television has opted instead to invest E30 million in unicast technology, which it considers guarantees optimised reception for all subscribers. As a result, the cost of reaching a family will be E20, compared to the E200 to E300 of other operators. Digital Television can also rely on a satellite link for data transmissions, supplied by Eutelsat which recently became a 9 per cent shareholder in the operator.
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ITV and Google search dealCommercial broadcaster ITV is set to ink a deal with web giant Google to provide search services across its newly relaunched ITV.com website. The deal, which would see Google replace existing search provider Yahoo, is earmarked to start when the rollout of the new website is completed - tentatively predicted to be at the end of the month.
Monetising the website beyond display and sponsorship advertising will be vital to ITV when it completes the £20m relaunch of ITV.com. The deal could also open the door for a wide-ranging partnership including using Google Video or YouTube as a showcase for clips of ITV shows.
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SingTel pay TV serviceSingapore Telecommunications is set to launch its IPTV pay TV service - mio TV. mio TV has secured several content partner tie-ups and will offer a range of Video on Demand titles on any Singaporean television platform. Featuring content from major Hollywood movie studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and Disney, mio TV will also boast a range of HD programming.
In addition, SingTel has successfully inked an output deal with Sony Pictures Television that brings viewers Sony’s upcoming feature films at the same time as the DVD release.
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VOOM HD for Singapore and Hong KongVOOM HD Networks has confirmed a multi-channel, multi-country launch in Asia. Singapore’s SingTel has launched four HD channels in conjunction with VOOM, and Hong Kong telco PCCW unveiled its VOOM HD channel on July 18. The launches are part of VOOM’s extensive worldwide distribution strategy, a roll-out that already includes VOOM HD channels on four continents and international programming sales of over 500 hours of high-definition content.
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Motorola has posted its second straight quarterly loss as a lack of advanced mobile phones cost the company market share and dropped it into third place in the industry behind Nokia and Samsung Electronics.
Motorola’s results were in line with lowered expectations following an earlier earnings warning. But it further disappointed some analysts by failing to give a revenue forecast for the third quarter. "The big worry remains the top line, and market share in handsets, where they’re ceding a tonne," said Cowen & Co analyst Matthew Hoffman.
Motorola said it shipped 35.5 million mobile phones in the second quarter, giving it an estimated 13.5 per cent share of the global market, down from about 17.5 per cent in the first quarter.
Motorola also revealed a reorganisation of its cable unit. The company is folding its Networks Mobility unit into its Connected Home Solutions division to form the Home and Networks Mobility division. "The Home and Networks Mobility division will combine cable, wireless, and wireline resources with our networks equipment unit," said Motorola spokesman Chuck Kaiser. "The realignment will help us sharpen our focus on meeting our customers’ needs."Motorola pointed to strong demand for its high-end HD DVR and IPTV devices, as well as the new CableCARD-enabled set-top boxes as highlights within the cable group.
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Verizon rolls out Veoh VideoWireless company Verizon and Internet television group Veoh have launched a Veoh channel on the Verizon Wireless V CAST service. Veoh features a selection of video content on the Internet. To date, more than 85,000 video publishers covering music, sports, politics, and entertainment have chosen Veoh as a distribution platform.
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Intelsat’s Galaxy 17 satellite operationalIntelsat, global provider of commercial satellite services, has confirmed that its new Galaxy 17 satellite is fully operational and providing services. The satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space and launched by Arianespace on 4 May, arrived at 74.05ºW on July 5th and Intelsat took control of the satellite from Thales Alenia Space on July 6th.
Galaxy 17 will eventually be located at 91ºW and will join Intelsat’s North American cable community within its Galaxy fleet comprised of 15 other satellites that cover North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Once on station, the satellite will offer fresh capacity with its 24 C- and 24 Ku-band transponders for Intelsat’s video, corporate and consumer broadband customers in North America and in the Caribbean.
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film2home offer HD downloads
Furthering the reach of VOOM HD throughout Scandinavia, NonStop Television AB has signed a deal with film2home to make the channel’s HD programming available for sales on-demand. The Download-to-Own service is initially available to residents in Sweden, Norway and Finland. The news marks both the first online distribution deal for the global VOOM HD channel and the first deal of its kind in the Scandinavian market.
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NeuLion takes NHL onlineThe National Hockey League (NHL) and NeuLion have inked an agreement to launch an online NHL experience to fans worldwide using NeuLion technology at the start of the 2007-08 season. A new NHL Integrated Video Portal will be available via NHL.com and all of the 30 club sites to deliver high-quality video and other content. Fans will be able to navigate easily between live game content, video features, behind-the-scenes footage and game highlights.
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BigBand goes DutchBroadband supplier BigBand Networks is expanding the deployment of its modular cable termination system (M-CMTS) with Multikabel in the Netherlands. The Dutch operator’s rollout - which BigBand believes was the first commercial deployment of M-CMTS based on the CableLabs specification - now serves more than 50,000 subscribers.
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