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Our Latest Issues
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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 8th June
HDTV and DVRs boost IPTV STB Market
Canal+ launches DTT Freesat
Virgin Media considers Warner output offer
Disney for Tiscali TV
More trouble for YouTube
ITV mobile TV ad-free?
China’s mobile content market to soar with 3G
Two Way and GSN interactive TV
NBC widgets
Fremantle and @radical deal
ICQ next-gen communication platform
Chellomedia acquires remaining 50% of Minimax
Russia Today free to air
Maltacom goes digital with Tandberg
ADB joins MoCA
HDTV and DVRs boost IPTV STB MarketWorldwide sales of IPTV set-top boxes will rise to 7.9 million units in 2007, a growth rate of 111 per cent, according to Strategy Analytics, the global research and consulting company.
The report, IPTV Set-Tops: SD, HD and DVR – Global Market Forecast, predicts that more than 3 million HD-enabled IPTV set-top boxes will be sold in Europe alone this year as operators make the switch to H.264 technology. The share of DVRs (Digital Video Recorders) is also growing rapidly, rising to 29 per cent of the global market this year from 15 per cent in 2006 as IPTV newcomers seek to compete with satellite and cable incumbents.
Strategy Analytics predicts that annual worldwide sales of IPTV set-top boxes will reach 33.5 million by 2012, by which time the global installed base will be 112 million units. Asia-Pacific will be the dominant market, accounting for 45 per cent of the installed base, followed by Europe (33 per cent) and the US (13 per cent).
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Pay-TV operator Canal+ has announced the launch of TNTSat, giving access via satellite to free digital terrestrial channels via satellite, three months after the introduction of Future TV legislation – the ‘Loi TV du Futur’.
TNTSat will enable all French viewers to receive 18 free DTT channels, as well as the France Overseas service, a response to consumer demand in the areas not covered by DTT frequencies. From the beginning of September and for the first time on satellite, viewers will also have access, region-by-region, to broadcaster France 3’s localised services.
To receive the service, viewers must have a dish pointed towards the Astra satellite, and a TNTSAT-badged receiver. No subscription is necessary, and receivers will be available via normal retail distribution channels.
A pilot service to verify technical aspects will commence 15 June in two regions not covered by DTT, with a full service and equipment being made available in all non-DTT areas in September 2007.~
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Virgin Media considers Warner output offer
UK quadruple play operator Virgin Media is reported to be considering an output deal with US distributor Warner Bros. The deal would see Virgin Media get a first look at Warner Bros content with obligations to pick up at least one of its shows each year.
The potential deal follows similar arrangements between NBC Universal and ITV, which could see NBC's Bionic Woman coming to the UK. ABC's similar deal with Channel 4 has already seen the likes of Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives come to the channel.
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Disney for Tiscali TVThe Disney Channel has signed an IPTV deal to supply its three Disney branded channels to Tiscali TV subscribers in the UK. From June 2007, the kids TV brand’s Disney Channel and pre school channel Playhouse Disney will be available as part of Tiscali TV's Kids Pack and the family channel Disney Cinemagic will be a stand alone premium subscription channel.
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More trouble for YouTube
The English Premier League has launched its class action against the Google-owned video-sharing online phenomenon, claiming it was illegally hosting thousands of clips of top-flight football action.France's top football league and its national tennis organisation have also filed legal action against YouTube. The Federation Francaise de Tennis and Ligue de Football Professionnel, as well as New York-based Cherry Lane Music Publishing, have joined the class-action lawsuit that accuses YouTube and parent company Google of copyright violations, according to Louis Solomon, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the suit.
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ITV mobile TV ad-free?ITV will reportedly launch its mobile TV offering without advertising after failing to reach a revenue agreement with operators. The tie-ups with O2, Orange and Vodafone will carry commercials that appear on network broadcasts, but advertisers will not pay any extra.
China’s mobile content market to soar with 3G
Findings from a new study by Juniper Research reveals that the Chinese market for Wireless Value Added Services (W-VAS) will expand from $15bn (E11.1bn) in 2008 to $21bn in 2012 boosted by the launch of 3G Services.
Currently W-VAS revenues in China are primarily being generated from SMS and ring-back tone services operating on 2G and 2.5G platforms, but the forthcoming launch of 3G will see new areas of growth with particular emphasis on music, games and streamed video. The report suggests that by 2012 3G will account for some 19 per cent of total W-VAS services.
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Two Way and GSN interactive TV
Interactive network GSN, is partnering with Two Way TV to become the first US network to use Two Way’s Simcast technology which will enable viewers to play-along with their TVs in real-time via their mobile phones. Viewers will initially be able to take part in this new interactive event during GSN’s casino programming. At a later date, viewers will also be able to play-along with GSN’s game and reality shows.
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NBC widgetsNBC Universal is set to enable viral distribution of its online content by transforming content associated with news, entertainment and sports programming into easily portable widgets, using the content syndication and distribution platform from Clearspring Technologies. Users will be able to personalise these widgets and post them on their own blogs, social networking profiles, web sites, wikis and personal start pages.
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Fremantle and @radical dealDavid Ellender, CEO, FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), and Robert Friedman, President of Media & Entertainment at @radical.media, have signed a development deal between FME and award-winning, multi-genre content producer, @radical.media, signalling the launch of a new alliance which will enable the worldwide distribution of traditional and non-traditional content across all platforms. The pact also signifies a concerted effort to develop and expand the reach of branded entertainment content on a global scale.
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ICQ next-gen communication platformICQ, pioneer of instant messaging has launched its new personal communications platform for TV broadcasters, cable and satellite TV channels and IPTV operators. The new fusion of communication and entertainment (‘communitainment’) tools is targeted at broadcasters who want to stop leaking revenues from TV content, while generating their own loyal community and strong desktop presence.
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Chellomedia acquires remaining 50% of Minimax
Chellomedia, the European content division of Liberty Global, Inc. has
consolidated its long standing investment in children’s channel Minimax by acquiring the remaining 50 per cent of the service. Chellomedia has held a 50 per cent investment in the station since 2004 as part of its TV investment portfolio in the Central and East European region.Minimax will become part of Chellomedia Central Europe’s TV business, which also includes the Sport1 and Sport2 channels for the region and a joint venture with MGM.
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Russia Today free to airRussian news channel Russia Today is now available free to air in the Baltic and Nordic countries via the Sirius satellite system.
Russia Today is broadcast unencrypted, so there is no need for a smart card to be able to receive the channel. The channel is available on the Viasat EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) and broadcasts will be in English and are aimed at an international audience.
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Maltacom goes digital with Tandberg
Digital television technology specialist Tandberg Television has been selected by Maltacom Group as the strategic provider of multi-platform video processing solutions. The agreement will see Tandberg Television provide a range of advanced digital video technologies, capable of enabling Maltacom to roll-out live and on-demand digital TV services and opening up new fixed and mobile delivery mediums and revenue streams. The Maltacom Group is the leading provider of telecommunications and related services on the Maltese Islands.
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Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) of Switzerland, a player in the design, development and supply of products to the world-wide digital television market has joined the Multimedia over Coax Alliance MoCA as an associate member.
MoCA is an open, industry driven initiative promoting distribution of digital video and entertainment through existing coaxial cable in the home. MoCA technology provides the backbone for whole home entertainment networks of multiple wired and wireless products. The alliance operates under reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing (RAND).
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Thursday 7th June
Euro IPTV to double
Paris region DTT winners named
Vodafone launches Mobile Internet
Italy to tender 40% of DTT capacity in July
Regulator urged to decontrol China IPTV
Swisscom: IPTV not profitable before 2009
Change in Viaccess management
Chellomedia I-ad solutions
Euro IPTV to doubleAt the end of 2006, Europe held the largest IPTV market share. For the four largest continental countries, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the number of IPTV users in 2005 has doubled to some 1.65 million at the end of 2006. But that still accounts for less than 2 per cent of the total TV watchers in those countries. Yet even with a limited subscriber base, IPTV is indeed the fastest growing TV platform among the existing legacy platforms, such as CATV and satellite, according to market research firm InfoCom.
Other European countries where IPTV has been launched Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK account for some 550 000 IPTV users at the end of 2006, bringing the total number of subscribers in Europe to about 2.2 million. By the end of 2007, it could be expected that the number of IPTV users reach some 4.5 million.
The largest IPTV market is France accounting for over 60 per cent of the subscriber base among the four countries where a specific competitive situation has been pushing broadband services with high speeds and advanced applications. In France, IPTV has already started as early as 2003 and evolved to about 1 million subscribers at the end of 2006. A figure that could top to some 1.6 million subscribers by the end of 2007. The second largest market is Spain, accounting for some 450 000 subscribers at the end of 2006, projected to soar to about 1 million by the end of 2007. In Germany, the IPTV market is sluggish due to the absence of competitive price offers. Optimistically, the German IPTV market could represent some 700 000 subscribers by end-2007, more likely some 250 000. In Italy the number of IPTV subscribers was about 200 000 at the end of 2006, a number that could be set to double by the end of 2007.
At the end of 2006, on 42.5 million broadband connections in the four markets, IPTV users represented only 4 per cent of all broadband subscribers. By the end of 2007, with over 47 million broadband subscribers expected, IPTV users could double its share to about 8 per cent.
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Paris region DTT winners named
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisFrench broadcasting regulator CSA has selected seven projects for the four DTT channels earmarked for local services in the Paris region. Three channels were awarded to full time services, while the fourth is to be shared among four local community projects.
The full time channels are: Côte Seine (from the company IDF TV, supported by the Hersant Media and Lagardere groups, among others), IDF 1 (from the company Ensemble TV, whose shareholders include the JLA group, J2H which is the largest shareholder in Netgem and Forest Hill Aquaboulevard) and LTF (a local television company grown out of the NRJ group, Telif and local channels).The fourth channel will be time-shared by: Demain IDF (produced by the company which supplies the Demain satellite channel specialised in local employment); BDM TV to concentrate on life in the multi-ethnic suburbs; Cinaps TV, from a group of scientists and researchers; Tele Bocal, from the local TV association of the same name, now in its tenth year. The projects submitted by BFM TV for a Parisian version of this news channel, and C22 (TF1 together with La Poste) left empty-handed.
The authorisations should be issued before the end of July, enabling the channels to begin broadcasting before the end of the year.
Vodafone launches Mobile InternetVodafone UK has launched 'Vodafone Mobile Internet'. The Vodafone live! portal will now provide access to mobile-optimised, client-based implementations of some of the most popular services on the internet: Google, MySpace, YouTube, eBay, and instant messaging and email from Microsoft and Yahoo.
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Italy to tender 40% of DTT capacity in July
From Branislav Pekic in RomeThe long-awaited tender that will assign 40 per cent of the transmission capacity on the existing digital terrestrial TV multiplexes in Italy should be ready by the end of July.
Announcing the tender, the president of Italy’s Communications Authority (AgCom), Corrado Calabro, recalled that the transmission capacity in question was established by the previous Broadcasting Bill and regards the DTT frequencies (multiplexes) currently used by national broadcasters RAI, Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media. He expressed hope that on the tender, whose rules were defined last March, will take part "independent producers" capable of preparing new content for digital terrestrial.
Calabro made the announcement together with Communications Minister Paolo Gentiloni, for the presentation of a unique database of TV frequencies in Italy. According to the database, there are 629 TV channels in Italy, 10 DTT multiplexes and 24.680 transmitters-frequencies. Gentiloni claims that the new instrument will enable Italy "to align itself with international decisions regarding spectrum usage, manage frequencies during the transition phase to digital and identify situations of congestion or inadequate use of frequency spectrum".
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Regulator urged to decontrol China IPTVChina Telecom and China Netcom have called for the deregulation of the IPTV market, which could give a major boost to the broadband Internet business of these two fixed-line carriers.
"There is an ongoing worldwide deregulation trend in IPTV. However, it's not happening in China," said Wei Leping, China Telecom's chief engineer. Wei complained that so far regulators have only allowed China Telecom to offer IPTV commercial services in six cities, preventing it from reaching millions of potential customers across the country.
Speaking at the Broadband World Forum Asia 2007 in Beijing, China Netcom Chairman Zhang Chunjiang said he hopes to offer IPTV services "in every city in China", but this can only happen when the government gives the green light.
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Swisscom: IPTV not profitable before 2009Swisscom's Internet television service Bluewin TV will not yield profits over the next two years, the head of the Swiss telco’s Fixnet division said.
"We certainly won't see profits over the next two years," Fixnet chief executive Ueli Dietiker told Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung. Swisscom would need 200,000 to 250,000 customers for Bluewin TV to yield profits, he said. "Based on today's figures, we would get there by the end of 2009."
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Change in Viaccess managementFrance Telecom’s digital content security subsidiary Viaccess has confirmed the departure of Mathias Hautefort as CEO, and has named François Moreau de Saint Martin as his replacement.
Moreau de Saint Martin has been the CTO of the Content Division of France Telecom for three years and had been working in the area of multimedia and content.
Hautefort is joining games specialist Infogrames as Executive Vice President ("Directeur Général Adjoint") in charge of worldwide publishing and production. He will be responsible for optimising and developing the Group’s intellectual properties as well as managing product development. He will also be in charge of operational and global co-ordination of the Group (Chief Operating Officer).
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Chellomedia I-ad solutionsChellomedia Interactive Services has launched a range of advertising solutions for digital TV platforms such as satellite, Freeview and cable in the UK and mainland Europe. The solutions are built to offer advertisers a faster and more cost-effective means of using interactive TV advertising whilst offering creative flexibility, data capture and research features.
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Wednesday 6th June
New CEO and Zonemedia for Joost
Blinkx video search on Ask
Digital TV reaches 6 million homes in Spain
PMG launches content on VOD service
MTV sells up in Russia
Broadcast technology market softens
Gateway rolls out pan-African pay-TV
Google leads streaming
Sistema to invest $200m in Russian mobile TV
ComCom calls for tenders for mobile TV
Yoomedia takes control of Pokerzone TV
TelCo selects SecureMedia DRM solution
New CEO and Zonemedia for Joost
Joost has named Mike Volpi as its new CEO, replacing founding CEO Fredrik de Wahl, who remains at Joost as chief strategy officer. Volpi, who joins from Cisco Systems, will assume full operational responsibility for the company immediately.
Zonemedia has confirmed it will supply content to Joost. Zonemedia will offer an array of programming from its Extreme Sports Channel. The programmes will be available in parts of the world including Europe, Israel, South Africa and the Russian Federation. Over the coming months additional Zonemedia channels will also launch including content from flagship channels Zone Horror and Zone Reality.
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Blinkx video search on Ask
Ask has selected Blinkx to power its video search as the company seeks to gain ground on Google, Yahoo! and MSN. The appointment means that Blinkx now powers video search for Ask, AOL, MSN, Lycos and Infospace, with a catalogue of over 12m hours of video content."Ask.com's momentum is impressive and we're very proud to be powering its new video search offering," said Suranga Chandratillake, Blinkx founder and CEO. "This relationship further demonstrates.
Ask earlier this year revealed that it was to step up its fight to grab market share in the search space, beta testing a multimedia search results page - Ask X - in North America.
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Digital TV reaches 6 million homes in Spain
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Digital TV is growing in Spain with 5.92 million households. DTT is taking the lion's share with 2.58 million homes, up 43.5 per cent than one year ago, followed by digital satellite TV, with 2.16 million homes (up 36.4 per cent), cable, with 760,000 homes (up 12.7 per cent) and ADSL TV, with 440,000 homes (up 7.4 per cent), according to the latest SES Astra report.
Two million homes have access to digital satellite pay-TV through Sogecable-owned platform, Digital Plus, from which 1.5 million (75 per cent) receive the signal through Astra and the rest through Hispasat as the digital platform is distributing its pay-TV offer via both satellites.
The study reveals that from the 14 million Spanish TV households, 9.68 million enjoy TV via terrestrial, 2.7 million through satellite (1.68 million DTH), 1.21 million through cable and 440,000 through ADSL. Astra claims to reach 1.7 million Spanish homes through digital satellite transmission, representing a market share of 80 per cent.
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PMG launches content on VOD servicePrivate Media Group has launched its content for Video-on-Demand on the IPTV platform Club Internet in France as part of the "Club Internet 3" Triple-Play offer.
Based on the MSTV platform, Club Internet 3 offers over 150 TV channels and a library of 2,500 VOD/SVOD titles, including news, movies and documentaries. The service is HD and DTT ready and features: instant channel switching, catch-up-TV, pause and rewind function of live transmissions, PVR and PVR Web, picture-in-picture and one universal remote control for all TV equipment.
With this agreement Private takes another step forward in its aggressive strategy to have its content accessible to more than 90 per cent of French IPTV subscribers before the end of 2007.
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MTV sells up in RussiaMTV Networks and its partner have sold their stakes in a Russian venture for a total of $360 million (E266m) . MTV, part of Viacom, sold its 53 per cent share in MTV Russia to Prof-Media, a local company with interests in film production, theatres and radio. Prof-Media acquired 100 per cent of the venture and will run the network under a licence agreement.
The decision is part of a restructuring at the group aimed at improving international profitability after a long period of expansion. As part of the process, the company has moved to licensing deals in smaller, less promising markets while taking ownership stakes in more robust ones.
Last year, MTV converted networks in south-east Asia, including Thailand, to licensing agreements and bought out the half of MTV Japan it did not own. Recently, it entered into a wide-ranging partnership in India.
The Russian network now reaches nearly 94m viewers but only a fraction of those are cable or satellite TV subscribers, making it reliant on advertising. Rafael Akopov, Prof-Media’s chief executive, said: "The MTV Russia acquisition is very complementary to our existing operations and exposes us to a new segment of the young and proactive audience, which is heavily in demand from top advertisers."
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Broadcast technology market softensSuppliers of broadcast and media technology products and services are still very confident about the short and medium term future, according to last quarter’s the trade association IABM’s Trends Survey. Those showing increased confidence for the next quarter outnumber those showing reduced confidence by 4:1. This increases to 6:1 for the year ahead compared to the previous year. Despite this buoyant feeling the ratios have softened noticeably from the previous survey.
Survey respondents indicated a weakening of export orders in Western Europe, although more than 40 per cent said order books were as expected with the remainder split equally, indicating orders better or worse than expected. In the previous quarter, those seeing better than expected orders outnumbered those seeing fewer orders by more than 2:1.
IABM CEO Roger Crumpton explained: "Project deferrals and the dollar exchange rate are impacting the sector. European manufacturers are finding it tougher in US dollar denominated markets and this is beginning to show through in order books. It will take a while before recent currency movements work through the entire supply chain"
Selling prices remained constant over the last quarter with 75 per cent of participants reporting no increase or decrease. Costs are creeping up slightly faster than expected but margins overall seem to be reasonably robust.
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Gateway rolls out pan-African pay-TV
Gateway Broadcast Services, a subsidiary of Gateway Telecommunications, has raised an additional $40 million (E29m) to finance the roll out of its new pan African pay-TV service, GTV.
GTV will be Africa’s first widely accessible pay-TV service, providing a choice of high quality television programming at an affordable subscription price. The service will address the growing popularity of European football in Africa and will include exclusive live broadcasts of 80 per cent of the UK’s Premiership football games to 48 sub-Saharan African countries. The service will be available across the continent but will launch initially in East Africa later this month.
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Google leads streamingcomScore, specialist in measuring the digital world, has released its comScore Video Metrix rankings for March 2007, showing Google Sites as the top US streaming video property with 57.4 million unique people streaming and 1.2 billion video streams initiated. YouTube drove the lion’s share of the video streaming activity at the Google Sites with 53.5 million unique streamers and 1.1 billion streams initiated.
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Sistema to invest $200m in Russian mobile TVThe Sistema Mass-Media company intends to invest about $200m (E148m) to create a DVB-H network above ground in Russia and also in the metro. SMM Senior Vice President Artem Kudryavtsev says the creation of DVB-H network has been launched simultaneously in all Russia’s regions, where the company have licences (16 cities with the population of over one million and the Moscow region).
Kudryavtsev noted that the network’s commercial launch should take place in early 2008. Sistema will offer MTS services to subscribers and via other mobile operators. SMM expects to have some 350 thousand subscribers. The ARPU will be $12-$15, but is expected to gradually reduce to $8-$10 when the company enters the mass market.
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ComCom calls for tenders for mobile TVIn autumn 2007 the Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) of Switzerland is to award a national licence for mobile TV on the basis of a criteria-based competition. The objective is to enable the licensee to provide initial services for the European Football Championship in the host cities of Basle, Berne, Zurich and Geneva.
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Yoomedia takes control of Pokerzone TV
Interactive media and games group Yoomedia PLC it has taken control of the Pokerzone television channel's airtime and certain operations with immediate effect. In return it has written off some minimal trade receivables. Yoomedia also said it intends to offer airtime to other gaming operators in return for fees. It intends to reintroduce live programming and also begin transactional gaming content in Pokerzone's broadcast content, potentially generating transactional gaming revenues from viewers.
TelCo selects SecureMedia DRM solutionTelCo Group, a distributor and developer servicing the Russian TV and telecommunication market, and SecureMedia, content protection provider, have revealed a collaboration deal. The TelCo Group have integrated and will distribute Encryptonite ONEČ System Release 2, the latest version of SecureMedia's open platform CA/DRM software solution, with their eScentra middleware platform and VOD as well as supported IPTV headend equipment, software and set top boxes.
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Tuesday 5th June
YouTube station share
IPTV equipment revenue $158m
BT Vision Premiership on Freeview
Spain puts new TV law on hold
Google swallows Feedburner
E82 spend per UK online user
HK digital terrestrial TV by year's end
ONO launches triple play promotion
13.5 million broadband subscribers in France
Alcatel-Lucent opens Port AmericasCupAnywhere on Second Life
Mobile TV for Jersey
BT ‘Know How’ channels
One click RealPlayer
YouTube station shareYouTube has reached a revenue-sharing deal with Hearst-Argyle Television whereby local TV stations will be paid when users of the video-sharing site watch their programming. YouTube and Hearst-Argyle said they will share advertising revenue on news, weather and entertainment videos from five TV stations -- the first time YouTube has paid for local TV programming.
Hearst-Argyle television stations in Boston, Manchester in New Hampshire, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore will begin posting local video content to dedicated channels on YouTube. YouTube will also distribute Hearst-Argyle's new digital video initiatives, including high school football, basketball and local amateur entertainment, the companies said. Hearst-Argyle owns 29 local TV stations in the United States including local affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS and News Corp.'s MyNetworkTV networks. It reaches roughly 18 per cent of U.S. households with televisions.
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According to a new quarterly report published by India-based research firm iLocus, IPTV equipment sales revenue touched $158m (E115m) in the first quarter of 2007. The product categories tracked in the report include IP set-top boxes, IPTV Middleware(server side), IPTV Encoders and IPTV VoD servers.
An estimated 978,868 IP Set top boxes were shipped in Q1 2007, thereby generating revenue of $108.3m worldwide. Cisco (former Scientific-Atlanta product line) emerged as leader in this category. Motorola and Amino grabbed second and third positions respectively in Q1 2007.
The report - IPTV Equipment and Subscribers 1Q07 - further reveals that an estimated 863,750 IPTV Middleware server licences were shipped in Q1 2007 thereby generating revenues of $19.1m. Thomson led the market followed by Cascade.
Q1 2007 saw the IPTV Encoder market touching $17.3m, whereas the IPTV VOD segment generated $13.2m in the same quarter. Tandberg emerged as a clear leader in the IPTV Encoder market. Harmonic grabbed No. 1 position in IPTV VOD segment in Q1 2007.
The other key findings of the report reveal that the worldwide IPTV subscriber base touched almost four million as of March 2007. According to iLocus, the most successful IPTV operators include PCCW, France Telecom and Free, with a subscriber base of 833,000, 768,000 and 680,000 respectively as of March 2007.
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BT Vision Premiership on Freeview
BT Vision, the broadcast arm of the telecoms giant, is to launch a dedicated sports channel on Freeview in the next few weeks reports the Independent. It will show live Premiership football, including games involving Manchester United, supplied under a wholesale agreement with Setanta, as well as a number of near-live matches.BT Vision will emphasise that this is not a direct rival to Sky Sports. The idea is to appeal to consumers who do not want to pay for the satellite broadcaster's bundled sports channels.
The new service is expected to cost around £10 (E14.2) per month and will also offer pay-per-view for premium content.
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Spain puts new TV law on hold
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The new overall TV law, Ley General del Audiovisual, aimed at putting an end to the ‘chaotic’ and disparate Spanish TV legislation, will not come to light during the present Government's mandate to be finished next March.
The Government has put off the decision to send the new piece of legislation, along with the law to create an Audiovisual Council, to the Parliament for lack of time for its approval and in order to include the new TV without frontiers legislation. This new piece of legislation formed part of a wide Government reform plan of the TV industry, including the regulation of DTT and the reorganisation of state-owned group RTVE.
With its decision to put it on hold, the Government avoids a new conflict with the TV operators who have been challenging the Administration over the so-called cinema law, finally approved by Spain's Council of Ministers last Friday.
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Google swallows FeedburnerGoogle is acquiring Feedburner, bolstering its capacity to distribute both media and advertising to blogs and social network site users. Various put the price of a potential deal at about $100 million.
Feedburner is a pioneer in the market for delivering the latest updated information to other Web sites using technology known as Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Customers include the Wall Street Journal, BBC and Amazon.com. More recently, retailers and travel agents have begun sending promotional offers to online customers via Feedburner.
Google also sees the technology as a way for its base of hundreds of thousands of advertisers to reach some of the most active groups of Web users -- social network members who use mini-applications called widgets or the growing audience surfing the Internet over mobile phones.
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E82 spend per UK online userUK internet users are the most valuable to advertisers, attracting an average E82.46 marketing to each active UK web user in 2006, according to figures released by the Internet Advertising Bureau Europe and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The comparable US figure was about E60 last year.
Internet advertising has grown quickly in the UK, making it the most advanced web ad market worldwide in terms of the share of total advertising budgets allocated to web-based marketing. The IAB/PwC study estimates that in a total of three European countries, the web’s share of advertising expenditure exceeded 10 per cent in 2006. These were the UK, the Netherlands and Denmark. It puts the total amount of revenue from search engine marketing, web classifieds, display, directories and email campaigns in all 13 countries at about €8bn last year.
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HK digital terrestrial TV by year's endThe Telecommunications Authority has adopted the National Standard as the technical benchmark for Hong Kong's digital terrestrial television service.
Two broadcasters - Asia Television (ATV) and Television Broadcasts (TVB) - will simulcast both digital and analogue terrestrial television by the end of this year. Analogue broadcasting may cease in 2012, depending on the coverage of digital terrestrial television.Telecommunications Authority said that the technical specification for digital terrestrial television receivers will be published this month so manufacturers can produce and supply the appropriate set-top boxes and integrated television sets for the Hong Kong market. Such receivers are expected to be available in three to six months.
The receiver specification will consist of a basic tier and a higher tier to cater for the two broadcasters' different business plans and consumer needs. Digital terrestrial television will be launched in phases. When it is first launched by the end of this year, only half of Hong Kong will be covered by digital signals.
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ONO launches triple play promotion
From David Del Valle in Madrid
In an attempt to boost subscriptions, Spain's largest cable operator ONO is launching a triple play promotion whereby new subscribers will only pay E9 per month (the normal price is E56.49) to have access to telephony, Internet and TV. Installation and connection will be free of charge.
In paralell, ONO is launching a new TV package called "TV para todos" (TV for all) with 40 thematic TV channels and the video on demand service OJO.
With these two initiatives, the company is launching a full frontal assault on the pay-TV market to capture as many subscribers as possible and denying them to DTH and Imagenio.
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13.5 million broadband subscribers in France
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisAccording to figures released by the French post and telecoms regulator ARCEP, the number of broadband subscribers reached 13.5 million as of March this year. 12.8 million of them are via ADSL, most of the remainder via cable. This represents a growth of 29 per cent, over 3 million new subscribers, in one year.
The number of unbundled (both fully and partly) subscriber lines, where the ADSL operator installs equipment in the exchanges, grew 30 per cent in the year, to reach 4.31 million (3.15 million the previous year). Fully unbundled lines reached 2.56 million lines, largely overtaking partly unbundled lines, which stood at 1.75 million. Fully unbundled lines are where the ADSL user no longer subscribes to France Telecom, the copper being used only for ADSL traffic, telephone traffic being by VoIP. Bitstream users (where the alternative operator buys broadband capacity wholesale from France Telecom) reached 2.24 million (up 0.2 million), of which 500,000 are without a POTS telephone subscription. In total, alternative operators supply 6.55 million broadband customers.
ADSL is now available to over 97 per cent of the population. 2,053 of the 13,000 exchanges nationwide, reaching 62 per cent of the population, contain ADSL equipment from alternative operators. 130 exchanges are still unable to provide ADSL.
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Alcatel-Lucent opens Port AmericasCupAnywhere on Second Life
From Colin Mann in ValenciaCommunications solutions provider Alcatel-Lucent is building on its status as the official New Media Provider of the 32nd America’s Cup by expanded into the virtual realm with the opening of Port AmericasCupAnywhere on the 3D virtual world phenomenon Second Life, built and owned by its ‘residents’. Coinciding with the final round of sailing competition in Valencia, Spain, the announcement follows Alcatel-Lucent’s earlier launch of AmericasCupAnywhere, a suite of new media services which enable sailing fans globally to enjoy all of the sailing action whenever and wherever they want via the Internet and mobile devices.
At Port AmericasCupAnywhere, Second Life residents can watch live animated coverage of the sailing competition and access daily archives of racing action. Linking the real and virtual worlds, Port AmericasCupAnywhere also includes demonstrations of Alcatel-Lucent’s enhanced portfolio of AmericasCupAnywhere new media services which are providing video and 3D animation and gaming coverage of the 32nd America's Cup for sailing enthusiasts from more than 150 countries during the 2007 regattas.
"Leveraging a sports event like the America’s Cup that has a history of innovation has provided Alcatel-Lucent a unique world stage to demonstrate the power of convergent applications and services to reshape the delivery of information and content," said Marc Rouanne, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s convergence activities."
Alcatel-Lucent also announced a co-operation agreement to deliver the America’s Cup Live Sailing service in Vodafone’s mobile portal.
Jersey Telecom and its technology partner, Alcatel are planning to trial a new mobile phone television service later this year. The service uses DVB-SH technology to bring streaming TV to Jersey for the first time.
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BT is set to launch a series of "how to" interactive channels on its TV service BT Vision. The t company says interactive TV services are a "growth area" for it and expects to launch a raft of "niche" products and channels such as how to play instruments, improve golf skills or learn languages and computer skills soon. The service is to be called ‘Know How’ and will focus on interactive educational programmes.
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One click RealPlayerDigital entertainment services company RealNetworks has unveiled its RealPlayer, a media player that enables one-click simple downloads of online videos from thousands of websites. The RealPlayer enables users to watch videos, burn them to DVD and share video links with friends. Most major formats are supported, including Real, Windows Media, Flash, and Quicktime. The new RealPlayer will be available for free beginning next month, says the company.
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Monday 4th JuneDVR: ratings hold up, ads don’t
FCC cool on sat radio merger
Channel line up for T Mobile TV
EMI signs with You Tube
LIWEST deploys BigBand
DVR: ratings hold up, ads don’t
Top television programmes are holding onto their US audiences even when the shows are recorded and played back on DVR but the latest Nielsen Media Research data confirms that users are fast forwarding some of the related commercials. In its latest ratings as well as measuring live viewing, the Nielsen measure the viewing of programmes recorded on Tivos and other DVRs, which are now used by 17 per cent of US TV households and growing.
In an analysis of behaviour during the first week of May, Nielsen said 58 per cent of households with DVRs watched prime-time broadcast television live, with the other 42 per cent recording the shows. The audience for the programmes increased by 40 per cent once playback during that day was included, and by 73 per cent within three days of the initial broadcast.
The corresponding increase in the watching of commercials was 18 per cent and 32 per cent, showing that commercials are indeed fast forwarded. About $70bn is spent on television advertising in the US every year, but many advertisers are frustrated by the lack of detailed information about its effectiveness.
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FCC cool on sat radio mergerThe FCC declared that despite the heavy lobbying by XM and Sirius Satellite Radio about the benefits of the companies' proposed merger it remains sceptical of the deal. "I think this is an unusual merger and I think it faces a high hurdle," Kevin Martin, FCC chief told reporters.
Martin said the FCC had not yet initiated its review of the deal because it was still reviewing a rule that explicitly prohibits the only two satellite radio companies in the US from combining.
The remarks signal that arguments that the deal would not lead to amonopoly have failed to convinc some decision makers in Washington, where the deal must be approved by both the media regulator and antitrust officials at the Justice Department.
The National Association of Broadcasters is lobbying regulators to reject the $4bn takeover proposal. Sirius compared the fight between the satellite radio operators and the NAB as "David versus Goliath. We are fighting a very well-oiled lobbying machine in the NAB."
Shares in Sirius and XM have fallen sharply since the merger plans were announced, reflecting investor expectations that the tie-up is not likely to be approved.
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Channel line up for T Mobile TV
Channel 4, ITN, MTV, Eurosport, Nickelodeon are among the first partners on T-Mobile's mobile TV service. A 24 hour Big Brother channel is helping to launch the service along with additional services from Paramount and Pocket Comedy. BBC and Sky are reportedly in discussions to add their content to the service.
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EMI signs with You Tube
EMI has become the last of the music industry Big Four to sign a deal with YouTube that will allow its users to access videos by EMI artists. The terms of the agreement should eventually allow users to incorporate recordings by EMI artists into their own projects.
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LIWEST deploys BigBand
BigBand Networks announced that LIWEST Kabelmedien, the second largest operator in Austria, has deployed its Cuda CMTS. LIWEST is using Cuda to deliver high-speed data and voice services to subscribers near the Austrian city of Linz.
“We decided to deploy Cuda because it gives us the flexibility to deploy cable modem and voice-over-IP services quickly and economically, with a migration path to advanced services, such as IPTV over DOCSIS®, via M-CMTS,” said Hubert Riedl, officer and head of telecom service of LIWEST. LIWEST is installing Cuda as an integrated CMTS in the initial phase of deployment, with plans to ultimately migrate to modular CMTS (M-CMTS).
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