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Our Latest Issues
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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 19th October
DVR viewers do watch ads
BBC cuts 1,800 jobs
ITV: problems with 10m calls
Sky Italia first profits
TV watching remains at record levels
FCC to lift ownership rules?
BBC expanding Euro channel business
Bank of Ireland US Media appointment
Narrowstep focuses on enterprise customers
Nexage powers DivX mobile video
DVR viewers do watch adsAdvertisers have had their first look at new TV ratings that track how many people stay tuned to commercials. Commercial ratings – i.e. how many actually watched the commercial rather than the programme it was in - also include viewers with digital video recorders who watch ads up to three days after the initial airing.
Although some ad execs were concerned about a significant drop-off between the two sets of ratings, the first batch of figures released revealed no big surprises. Commercial ratings across the five major US networks came in only slightly below live programme ratings, down 1 per cent on average among people ages 12 to 34 and among adults ages 18 to 49.
The biggest drop was among adults 50 and older, where commercial ratings were 5 per cent lower. The thinking is that older viewers are less likely to use a DVR, and therefore they aren't playing back the ads at a later date.
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BBC cuts 1,800 jobsThe BBC announced plans to cut 1,800 jobs and integrate its TV, radio and Internet news operations where there has been much duplication of effort. The corporation said 2,500 posts would go in total but it would also create positions in new media to enable it to offer content when and where the audience wants it.
The corporation says it has been forced to cut jobs following a lower-than-expected licence fee settlement with the government earlier this year. The BBC is funded by a tax on all television-owning households.
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ITV: problems with 10m callsITV's long-awaited Deloitte report into premium rate phone-in scandals has uncovered problems with up to 10 million calls to the broadcaster's major entertainment shows. These involved viewers still being encouraged to call after a winner had been picked or being told there was a randomly selected winner when in fact there was a pre-selected short list.
The broadcaster expects to take an £18 million exceptional charge as a result of the investigation, and has set aside £7.8 million to hand back to viewers who call in. If this amount is not used up in refunds, any balance will be donated to charity.
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Sky Italia first profits
From Branislav Pekic in RomeSky Italia is set to turn a profit for the first time since launch in Italy in 1991 under the brand Tele+. The results of parent News Corp reveal that profits were up from E32 million in H1 2006 to E164 million in the first six months of this year.
Currently, Sky Italia has over 4.2 million subscribers (compared to less than 2 million in June 2003) and is aiming for 5 million in 2008. Last year’s revenues topped E2.3 billion.
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TV watching remains at record levelsThe Nielsen Company has reported that television watching in the US during the 2006-2007 television year (18 September 2006 to 23 September 2007) remained at the record levels set the previous year. The number of homes with Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) more than doubled.
According to Nielsen the total average time a household had a TV set on in during the 2006-2007 television year was 8 hours and 14 minutes per day, the same amount of time as during the 2005-2006 season. The average amount of television watched by individual viewers during the 2006-07 television year dipped by 1 minute per day to 4 hours and 34 minutes.
The number of households with Digital Video Recorders has grown steadily over the past several years, and now stands at 20.5 per cent of Nielsen’s National People Meter sample. This is up from 17.2 per cent in May 2007. When Nielsen began including households with DVRs in its samples in January 2006, DVR penetration was estimated to be approximately 8 per cent of households.
"Television clearly remains a very important part of daily life in the United States," noted Patricia McDonough, Senior Vice President of Planning Policy & Analysis at Nielsen Media Research. "There are numerous screens competing for time and attention as well as consumer devices providing new ways for viewers to watch their favourite shows. Regardless, these trends demonstrate that tuning to traditional television remains strong."
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FCC to lift ownership rules?The head of the Federal Communications Commission has revealed a plan to relax the media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city.
Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the commission, wants to repeal the rule in the next two months — a plan that, if successful, would be a big victory for some media conglomerates.
The proposal appears to have the support of a majority of the five commission members, agency officials said, although it is not clear that Martin would proceed with a sweeping deregulatory approach on a vote of 3 to 2 — something his predecessor tried without success. Martin said he was striving to reach a consensus with his fellow commissioners, both on the schedule and on the underlying rule changes, although he would not say whether he would move the measures forward if he were able to muster only three votes.
Officials said the commission would consider loosening the restrictions on the number of radio and television stations a company could own in the same city. Currently, a company can own two television stations in the larger markets only if at least one is not among the four largest stations and if there are at least eight local stations. The rules also limit the number of radio stations that a company can own to no more than eight in each of the largest markets.
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BBC expanding Euro channel businessBBC Worldwide plans to launch up to 14 channels across Europe over the next 12 months, with Africa and Scandinavia the next markets set to roll-out its new suite of BBC-branded channels.
Earlier this month it announced a three-year carriage deal for BBC Entertainment, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle and CBeebies with Poland's biggest satellite platform Cyfrowy Polsat. The four channels are set to launch in Poland on December 2, marking the first time the full suite has launched in one market at the same time.
Now Worldwide is close to finalising a second major deal, with the Multichoice DTH platform in South Africa, which reaches 1.2 million homes and already carries BBC Prime. The deal would see Prime replaced with a more localised BBC Entertainment channel, as well as the launch of the other new channels.`
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Bank of Ireland US Media appointmentBank of Ireland has confirmed the appointment of Michele Roller to its US Media Finance team in a move that demonstrates the Bank’s continued commitment to strengthening its North American offering.
Michele Roller, Director, will focus on the provision of debt funding solutions for companies in the media sector, offering senior and mezzanine financing to publishing, information services, broadcasting, out-of-home, cable television and digital media companies active in the mid-market space.
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Narrowstep focuses on enterprise customersNarrowstep, the TV on the Internet company, has upgraded its telvOS platform and its CDN network which the Company believes will enable it to offer enterprise customers the most sophisticated tools and functionality on the market. The Company is currently shifting the focus of its sales and marketing efforts on larger enterprise customers requiring sophisticated tools and functionality and will continue to move away from smaller content providers. Management expects that this focus on larger enterprise customers will accelerate the Company’s average revenue per customer and overall revenue growth.
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Nexage powers DivX mobile video
Nexage, mobile video solution provider, is powering a new mobile video service from DivX that will provide users with a high quality video experience on their mobile phones globally. Nexage’s PhoneCast supports full social networking capabilities that enable communities to be built around content.
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Thursday 18th October
Ofcom not sympathetic to HD spectrum claims
Cablevision on brink
Spectrum scarcity to block mobile TV until 2010?
Internet TV growing strongly
Sogecable losses 10,000 subscribers in football war
Spain MNOs ‘uncompetitive’
Top UP warn on VCR ignorance
Ericsson crash on profits warning
Echostar shares up on AT&T speculation
Vimeo goes HD
Sky and emuse impulse NZ ad
‘I’m a Celebrity…’ live online
Ofcom not sympathetic to HD spectrum claims
The UK regulator's chief executive Ed Richards said he was not persuaded that TV should be allowed to use the "digital dividend" for high-definition programming. Instead, he spoke of the "golden opportunity" of using more efficient MPEG4 compression and the DVBT2 broadcast standard to squeeze HD channels into the existing Freeview band.
Ofcom is consulting on that plan at the moment. Richards said HD shows could be delivered to Freeview households as soon as the end of 2009, compared to no sooner than 2012 if the regulator waits for the completion of the analogue TV switch-off.Richards' views could lead to a clash with the BBC, which favours delivering HD over the internet. The Beeb's technology chief Ashley Highfield said: "With spectrum capacity severely limited on Freeview at least until 2012, we believe quite strongly that IP is a great route to getting HD out to wider audience." Ofcom has already raised doubts about such plans.
Under the regulator's preferred method, consumers would need new kit to take advantage of HD channels, although the current generation of set-top boxes would continue to work for standard broadcasts. Ofcom is consulting with the understanding that terrestrial HD would be free-to-air.
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Cablevision on brinkThe Dolan’s plan to take Cablevision private is on the brink as ClearBridge Advisors, the largest institutional shareholder in declares it plans to vote against the Dolan family's $10.6 billion (E7.4bn) bid.
A defeat would end a two-year struggle by the Dolans to take private the company, which owns cable systems and the New York Knicks and Madison Square Garden. ClearBridge owns about 14 per cent of Cablevision's public stock. Three other large institutional shareholders that together control about 20 per cent of the vote have already indicated their intention to oppose the buyout at the shareholder meeting scheduled for next Wednesday. The Dolans - who own about 20 per cent of the company through a separate class of stock that they can't vote in this matter -- need approval of 50 per cent of the public shareholders.
Like the other dissidents, ClearBridge believes the Dolans' offer of $36.26 a share is too low. They have also argued that Cablevision's systems are worth more than those at companies like Comcast and Time Warner because they serve more affluent areas and are further ahead in rolling out phone service and digital cable.
A similar view is taken by ISS Governance Services, one of the leading proxy advisory firms to institutional investors which last week recommended that shareholders vote against the buyout because the price is inadequate.
Speaking on behalf of the Dolan Family Group, James Dolan, President and CEO, said that the offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Cablevision will not be modified from the current $36.26-per-share bid.
"On behalf of my parents, brothers and sisters, I want to state emphatically that there will be no modification of the family's accepted offer to acquire Cablevision. We are looking forward to next week's vote and hope that the transaction is approved, but I'd underscore that I am completely prepared to continue to lead the company into the future as a public company if the transaction is not approved."
Spectrum scarcity to block mobile TV until 2010?
The number of mobile broadcast TV subscribers in Western Europe is expected to pass 20m by 2011, according to a new report from Juniper Research. However, following the exit of the BT/Virgin Mobile DAB-IP offering from the market, the UK is not expected to re-launch mobile broadcast TV services until 2010 at the very earliest, well behind most of its European neighbours.
According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, "After the successful launch of DVB-H-based services in Italy, many other Western European countries have either drawn up or are drawing up licensing procedures for mobile broadcast TV services. However, the fact that optimal UHF spectrum will not be made available in the UK for several years effectively prevents any medium-term deployment of such services."
The report adds that while service providers could opt to utilise L-Band spectrum as an alternative, the additional infrastructure expenditure involved would probably mean that such a venture would not be cost-effective. It also recommends that, wherever possible, operators should seek to share broadcast network infrastructure as in Germany, where T-Mobile, O2 and Vodafone are planning to utilise a single DVB-H network.
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Internet TV growing stronglyThe number of people watching internet TV has increased steadily year on year according to Continental Research’s Autumn 2007 Internet & Convergence Report. In particular the number watching shows they have previously downloaded from the Internet has doubled from 1.3 million in 2006 to 2.4 million in 2007.
There is also substantial interest in Internet TV amongst non users. In addition to the 2.9 million who have already watched streamed TV online, a further 2.4 million say they are likely to in the next year. Downloaded TV looks set to grow even faster with current users being potentially swelled by a further 3.3 million likely to download TV.
Helping to explain the growth of Internet TV, satisfaction amongst those viewing TV online is generally positive, with only 12 per cent not satisfied with the service overall. The areas with the greatest dissatisfaction relate to the size of the picture and the quality of the sound and picture. Myring said: "Whilst watching via a PC offers a much greater screen size than watching via a mobile phone (the numbers watching mobile TV has actually not increased in the last year), there is still a significant number dissatisfied with the screen size. In a world where TV screens get bigger and bigger, people have a much higher expectation of screen size.
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Sogecable losses 10,000 subscribers in football war
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The dispute over football TV rights between Sogecable and Mediapro has led the largest pay-TV group to lose 10,000 subscribers in the third quarter of the year. Nonetheless this was a net of 40,000 more than a year ago reaching a total of 2.046 million. The company is also seeing a drop in the ARPU, from E 45.7 as of June 30 to E41.4 by the end of September, although in line with the ARPU in the third quarter of the previous year.Nevertheless, Sogecable has managed to return to profit with a net benefit of E50.3 million in the first nine months of the year, compared to a E25.9 million loss for the same period in 2006. Sogecable's digital DTH platform Digital+ churn was slightly up at 11 per cent on September 30, compared to 11.7 a year ago.
Sogecable announced that the advertising revenue rose 34 per cent in the third quarter to E51.5 million helped by rising audiences at its free-to-view channel Cuatro which raked in a 39 per cent rise in advertising revenue to E46.2 million.
The pay-TV group plans to launch, along with Telefonica, its Trio Plus package from the 1st of December, offering the triple play in an attempt to boost subscriptions and increase its penetration rate in the market.
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Spain MNOs ‘uncompetitive’Spain's competition watchdog has launched a probe of the country's three largest mobile-phone operators for possible collusion, Spain's Consumer and Users Organisation said.
The National Competition Commission is investigating whether Telefonica's Movistar, Vodafone and France Telecom's Orange co-ordinated a rise in their tariffs in March. All three raised tariffs to compensate for the banning of a system whereby the three dominant operators rounded prices up to the nearest minute. The practice netted the three some E1.21bn based on 2005 figures, the Consumer and Users Organisation said.
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Top UP warn on VCR ignoranceTop UP TV, provider of TV content on Freeview, has advised that awareness of digital switchover is widespread. However, despite this, according to Digital UK 35 per cent of the UK population people still do not realise that they will need to update their analogue VCRs.
People have already begun to replace their primary TVs but many have not thought about the need to replace their analogue VCRs. People will no longer be able to watch one channel whilst recording another using a standard analogue VCR or DVD. "It is time for the public to start preparing to convert all of their devices and a new Digital Television Recorder (or PVR) would be ideal for analogue switchover," said Roger Matthews, Top UP TV Marketing director.
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Ericsson crash on profits warningHaving apparently been outperforming many of its rivals dust during the past year and a half, the world’s leading telecommunications equipment maker issued a sales and profit warning. It said its operating profit for the third quarter of 2007 was expected to be down 36 per cent compared with the same period last year. It also said its fourth quarter would show declining operating margins year-on-year.
The statement stunned the markets and immedialtely lead to speculation abouot the CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg’s future. "This is a time to be humble and to reflect and think about where we can improve," said Svanberg, who became Ericsson’s chief executive in 2003 and led the company back to profitability after theTMT recession. Ericsson lost $15 billion (E10.5bn) or a quarter from its market capitalisation.
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Echostar shares up on AT&T speculationEchoStar Communications Corp shares rose 4 per cent on speculation that US telco giant AT&T could buy the satellite television provider within a year. Echostar's television service would complement AT&T's efforts to expand a high-speed fibre network it is building to sell TV services to better compete with cable and telecommunications rivals.
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Vimeo goes HDVideo sharing Web site Vimeo is set to begin distributing videos in high-definition. While movie trailers and certain other professionally produced videos can be viewed online in high-definition, Vimeo is the first Web site to make HD available for user-generated videos.
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Sky and emuse impulse NZ adSKY Television and emuse absolutely have launched of the first Impulse Response Interactive Television advertisement in New Zealand for Mitsubishi Motors. Viewers who see the Mitsubishi Lancer advertisement will be invited to press Red on the SKY remote to request more information on the car. They simply follow the prompts on screen to select their preferences and enter their contact details, which can be sent back to Mitsubishi via the SKY box.
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‘I’m a Celebrity…’ live onlineITV has teamed up with Microsoft to offer web coverage of the next series of ‘I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!’, in November, through the MSN portal - the first time MSN has gone live with content from a UK broadcaster.
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Wednesday 17th October
EU broadband – big but patchy
VI to clean up YouTube
US networks will spend $327m+ promoting DTV
Digital bonus could provide 100mb for all
More US consumers watching TV online
Spain cracks down on pay TV hackers
Cablevision privatisation slowed
AT&T ordered to apply for cable TV licence
BBC Mac friendly, Cloud deal
Vodafone Portugal entering IPTV market?
UK switchover starts
Discovery buys HowStuffWorks
Eagle Broadband sold to Nighthawk
EU broadband – big but patchyAccess to broadband has increased in the European Union to 90 million lines, but it should act to increase competition and tackle EU states that are lagging behind, the Commission says.
Broadband access in the EU's 25 oldest member states -- excluding Romania and Bulgaria -- increased by 28.7 per cent from July 2006 to July 2007, the European Commission said. Broadband access was the highest in Denmark (37.2 per cent) and the Netherlands (33.1 per cent), while it is only 5.7 per cent in Bulgaria, and 6.6 percent in Romania, according to EU figures.
The Commission said the gap was widening slightly. "It is unacceptable that the gap between the strongest and weakest performers in Europe is growing. Europe must act now to get its broadband house in order," EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said.
She said she would make specific proposals as part a package of reforms of EU telecom rules on 13th November. "Lack of competition and regulatory weaknesses are cited as the main obstacles to broadband growth," the Commission said. Reding has said she will propose to give all national telecoms regulators the power to separate the network and business arms of operators in case of serious competition problems.
She also wants a new pan-EU regulator to be able to impose competition remedies on a national regulator, jointly with the Commission, if Brussels is not happy with the way a national regulator handles a problem.
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VI to clean up YouTubeGoogle unveiled new software to fight video piracy on YouTube and ease the concerns of critical media content providers. Google has begun offering what it's calling "YouTube Video Identification," which will make it easier for the likes of to identify their content and to manage how it is made available on the site, it is meant to identify potentially infringing video content.
Google said nine media firms, including Walt Disney and Time Warner, participated in a test of the product. Several other media firms, including Viacom, also said they were encouraged by the new effort, but said Google and YouTube have some amount of goodwill to make up to copyright owners.
"We're delighted that Google appears to be stepping up to its responsibility and ending the practice of profiting from infringement," said Mike Fricklas, general counsel of Viacom.
YouTube's announcement may have been designed to pre-empt a planned announcement from several media and technology companies for a set of principles for user-generated content Web sites. These are said to include a recognition of the importance of technology to keep pirated material off sites like YouTube.
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US networks will spend $327m+ promoting DTVUS broadcasters promised to air more than $327 million (E231m) worth of television spots as part of a campaign to alert consumers about the approaching switch-over to digital television. The major television networks, as well as 95 station-owning broadcast companies, pledged to run the ads as part of a $697 million campaign designed to keep viewers from being caught short when broadcasters switch to digital signals by February 17, 2009.
The federal government plans to subsidize the cost of buying a digital STB by offering $40 discount coupons to anyone who owns an analogue television.
The campaign, announced by the National Association of Broadcasters, will also include repeated reminders on local news stations, as well as public relations and other educational programmes designed to raise public awareness of about the switch-over.
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Digital bonus could provide 100mb for all
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisThe French Consultative Commission for Telecommunications has asked the government to use part of the digital bonus – the spectrum liberated after analogue switch-off - to be used to improve internet access to the population. Guy Roussel, head of Ericsson France and chairman of the commission, said that the freed spectrum is a ‘fabulous resource’ and should not go entirely to the broadcasting and telecoms sectors.
The commission’s recommendation was that part of the freed resource be used to provide high speed Internet on the move as well as in the home and in areas where optical fibre will not reach. "By 2012, heavily populated areas will have 100 Mbit/s, while the rural regions will have to be content with 512 kbit/s," added Roussel.
Meanwhile, another operator, Alice (Telecom Italia) announced that it was going to invest in cabling France with optical fibre for consumer broadband. This brings the total to five after France Telecom, Iliad (Free), Neuf and Numericable.
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More US consumers watching TV onlineClose to 16 per cent of US households who use the Internet watch television broadcasts online, The Conference Board and TNS reported. The number of consumers viewing entire episodes/shows on the Internet has doubled from a year ago.
Nearly 73 per cent of online households use the internet for entertainment purposes on a daily basis and an additional 15 per cent search for entertainment several times a week.
Online viewers cite personal convenience and avoiding commercials as their top two reasons for watching TV broadcasts on the Internet. Four out of every five online viewers say that watching these programmes online has not changed their television viewing habits, but a small percentage claim that their traditional television viewing has decreased. More than a third choose online viewing in order to avoid watching television commercials.
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Spain cracks down on pay TV hackers
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The Spanish police has disbanded a network of pay-TV hackers by arresting 27 people across the country who would have defrauded the pay-TV companies of E10 million. Amonsgt the detainees there are 10 distributors of keys and codes through the Internet, nine sellers of manipulated set-top-boxes and eight responsible for local TV channels.
The pirates used three methods: First, the sale through the Internet of manipulated set-top-boxes that allowed illegal access to the pay-TV offer. The second method was the sale of keys and codes to decrypt the signal via web pages which, in some cases, registered more than 10 million visits in less than 5 months. Some web pages provided the keys and codes via SMS. Some other pages allowed the downloading of programs to have access through the Internet to International TV channels, mainly from China, that broadcast football events only available on pay-per-view in Spain.The third method was implemented by some local TV stations which became cable TV networks to re-broadcast the pay-TV signal to its viewers without a legal licence or authorisation.
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Cablevision privatisation slowedThe Dolan family’s effort to take Cablevision Systems private is being opposed by a large shareholder and a major proxy advisory firm. Mario Gabelli, a longtime media investor, said that the funds he controls would vote against the proposed transaction at a special shareholders’ meeting scheduled for October 24th. Gabelli said he believed his clients were "best served by staying the course in Cablevision."
ISS Governance Service, a firm that advises institutional investors on how to vote their shares, sent its clients a report advising them to vote against the deal, noting that several Wall Street analysts put the value of Cablevision well above the Dolans’ price of $36.26 (E25.60) a share.
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AT&T ordered to apply for cable TV licence
Connecticut State utility regulators have ordered AT&T to get a cable television licence for the Internet protocol-based TV service it is currently providing in Connecticut.
Department of Public Utility Control commissioners said a recent ruling by a federal judge made it clear that AT&T's "U-verse" constitutes a cable television service, and the company is operating it without proper authorization. Commissioners unanimously rejected the company's application for a "video franchise" certificate, which state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said would have allowed AT&T to run "U-verse" under regulations that are less strict than those for cable television. The DPUC ordered AT&T to apply for a cable TV license no later than 31st December.
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BBC Mac friendly, Cloud dealThe BBC and Adobe Systems have revealed a strategic relationship around the delivery of web video. By adopting the Adobe Flash Player software, the BBC will make its free catch-up TV service - BBC iPlayer - available as a streaming service across Macintosh and Linux, as well as Windows, by the end of year.
The BBC iPlayer on-demand streaming service will complement the download service currently available. This non-exclusive relationship is part of the BBC’s strategy to reinvent bbc.co.uk, to ensure all its media content is accessible to the widest audience possible.
BBC iPlayer will have its consumer marketing launch at Christmas when it will offer downloading and streaming services, as well as radio. The service currently enables viewers to download and view around 400 hours of television programmes from the last seven days and store for up to 30 days.
Additionally - The BBC has signed a deal with wi-fi operator The Cloud to allow its services to be available free-of-charge at more than 7,500 hotspots across the UK. Among Corporation services to be made accessible are downloads of programmes via the iPlayer, and the BBC News website. The Cloud has deals with McDonald's, Coffee Republic and BAA Airports among others.
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Vodafone Portugal entering IPTV market?Vodafone's Portugal unit is considering entering the IPTV market and is also contemplating participating in Portugal's digital terrestrial television (DTT) tender, Jornal de Negocios reported, citing the company's deputy CEO Antonio Coimbra.
'Vodafone is ready to launch an IPTV offer in the short term if it decides
to do so,' Coimbra said. Though the company has not yet made such a decision, Coimbra said there is 'a high probability' that it will enter the IPTV market in 2008, and noted that with a strong presence in the ADSL segment, Vodafone meets all the infrastructure conditions already. Regarding the DTT tender, Coimbra said the company is analysing whether it makes sense for it to participate alone or in a consortium.
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UK switchover startsThe UK’s television switchover starts today when thousands of homes in Whitehaven, Cumbria, receive digital channels for the first time.
The two-stage switchover starts at approximately 2am when analogue BBC Two is replaced with the first group of digital services.
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Discovery buys HowStuffWorksDiscovery Communications has expanded its web presence with the acquisition of online knowledge repository HowStuffWorks for an estimated $250 million (E176m). Discovery will use HowStuffWorks to showcase its existing footage, uploading programme clips into entries on the site. It also plans to create a HowStuffWorks-branded series to air daily on Discovery Channel from next summer. HowStuffWorks attracts more than 11 million users a month.
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Eagle Broadband sold to NighthawkEagle Broadband, a national provider of IP products and services, has completed an asset purchase agreement with Nighthawk Systems whereby Nighthawk purchased all rights, title, and interest in Eagle Broadband's set-top box business. As part of this sale, the team of set-top box engineers and support staff formerly with Eagle has now become employees of Nighthawk effective immediately.
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Tuesday 16th October
IPTV subscriber numbers up
Spain heads for pre-paid TV services on DTT
STB manufacturers look to advanced features
Internet TV set for acceptance
Italian digital TV channels create association
Bumpy start for digital TV switchover
Channel 4 in for Box TV?
ITN channel on YouTube
KT to launch PlayStation 3 IPTV service
BBC keeps rights to US Masters golf
Waterfront launches TV Telephony
Marco Island Cable selects GoBackTV
IDS selects Chellomedia for interactive advertising
IPTV subscriber numbers upThe number of people using IPTV services increased by 179 per cent in the 12 months to June 30th 2007. Over 8 million people are now connected to telco TV services, according to research from broadband analyst company Point Topic. And for some operators, that means that a significant proportion of their broadband customer base also subscribers to television services.
Growth was strongest in Europe, with almost 5 million IPTV subscribers by the middle of 2007. Around half of these were in France, where there has been a strong performance from the incumbent, France Telecom, in response to the early deployments of rival operators Free and Neuf. All the major European incumbents now have IPTV products up and running. Telefonica in Spain added nearly 200,000 TV subscribers during the same period, and Belgacom signed up 120,000 in Belgium. Deutsche Telekom and BT have been slower to add subscribers to their telco TV services, with around 35,000 and 20,000 customers respectively.
The Asia Pacific region also has some IPTV leaders. PCCW in Hong Kong has over 800,000 IPTV subscribers. Chunghwa in Taiwan added 200,000 IPTV accounts in the year to June 30th 2007. And the Chinese market is starting to move from large-scale trials to full deployment.
In the Americas, IPTV is best seen as a response to triple-play competition from the cable networks. Verizon has had a successful 12 months signing up new customers to its TV over fibre service. AT&T (including SBC) has now started to connect TV customers, after some delays.
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Spain heads for pre-paid TV services on DTT
From David Del Valle in MadridTelco operator Abertis is leading a project to develop a single DTT box and pre-paid cards to allow DTT broadcasters to offer certain pay TV services, such as cinema or football or music events following the Italian example.
The company plans to set up a centre or a factory to provide the (local, Regional or National) TV channels with the pay-TV services through a single DTT set-top-box using pre-paid cards to have access to premium content. To this end, the group is seeking a common agreement with all TV broadcasters, bringing all the main TV players on board in the project. Abertis is also negotiating with electronic manufacturers and CAS companies to build a single DTT box and select the best Conditional Access System to carry out the project.
If implemented, this new pay-TV offer would directly compete with the current satellite, cable and IPTV operators. Recently, the Government announced its willingness to change the legislation to allow the DTT distribution of several pay-TV services. Channels such as La Sexta are very keen on the project. In recent months, a technical test with pay-TV events on DTT has been made in Extremadura, west of Spain, within a plan called TDT 2.0, amongst 1,000 homes.
Currently, more than 6.1 million DTT set-top-boxes have been sold in Spain.
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STB manufacturers look to advanced featuresAs revenue from standard STB (Set-top Box) sales declines along with demand in the period 2008 to 2012, STB vendors will initially rely on firmer markets for DBS (Digital Broadcast Satellite), IPTV, and DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) STBs. However, according to a study from ABI Research, by the end of the decade even those sectors will be under pressure from alternative technologies being introduced to facilitate ‘the connected home,’ and vendors will have to add new features and functions in order to revive flagging shipment numbers.
"The development of two-way digital-cable ready TVs, residential gateways, media centres, and even video capabilities on gaming systems will put the STB‚s status at risk," says research analyst Paulhwa Lee.
STB manufacturers are responding in several ways. First, they are adding new features more hard-disk space, DVD players, DVD burners, home-audio solutions, and others ˆ to make the traditional STB more relevant to consumer demands. They are also attempting to improve electronic program guides and to incorporate more Web-based services and video gaming. STB vendors are also moving more aggressively into the hybrid STB market. Hybrid STBs offer a single solution to a number of possible problems caused by the multiplicity of video sources and distribution platforms.
Lee concludes with a word of counsel for STB vendors: "No one video or television technology will be a killer‚ in the next few years. So as this market flattens towards the end of our forecast period in 2012, STB vendors would be well advised to incorporate as many of those technologies as possible into their products."
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Internet TV set for acceptance
In the modern-day media age, consumers are being afforded more choice and control when it comes to content. Whether it's PVRs, User Generated Content, or TV shows online, the market has fundamentally started the process of ‘unbundling television/video entertainment’, and this redistribution of control will likely come to
dominate the overall consumer landscape in years to come, reports research firm
In-Stat in its study - Internet TV Market Strategic Analysis.In addition, according to an In-Stat survey of US consumers, when it comes to online video, despite a stratification by age, these trends appear more endemic than unique to the under 25 crowd. Respondents who watch online video were equally bullish on the future of online video, in many cases expecting said forms of entertainment to become more mainstream over time. "A testament to the significance these trends pose to all members within the value chain," noted Michael Inouye, In-Stat analyst. "And just like music, these shifts appear far more entrenched than a simple fad, additional reason to strategically review this evolving market and the new levers they bring."
In-Stat also discovered that respondents to an In-Stat survey felt online video will become more mainstream over time; social networking aspects are starting to play an important part on how the newer generation wants to watch and interact with TV, and that primary detractors for online video continue to be download speed, user interface, cost, and quality of video (both visual and content).
Italian digital TV channels create association
From Branislav Pekic in RomeEight Italian satellite TV companies have set up the Association of Independent Digital Television Channels (ADTI) in Rome.
The association is open to all independent Italian media groups that transmit at least one channel in Italy on any distribution platform. The founding members operate a total of 25 digital TV channels aired via the Sky Italia pay-TV platform. They are AXN/Sony Group (1 channel), Digicast (5), Discovery (6), Jetix (3), NBC Universal (1), Turner (4), Viacom (2), Walt Disney (4). The only major Italian channel producer that is not a member of ADTI is Sitcom.
Francesco Nespega from Jetix has been named as President of ADTI, while the Vice Presidents are Gianluca Paladini (Digicast), Andrea Castellari, (Discovery), Luca Marcucci (Universal) and Giorgio Stock (Disney).
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Bumpy start for digital TV switchoverThousands of people are still not ready for the first phase of Britain's digital switchover in the northern town of Whitehaven, despite a huge publicity campaign. Digital UK, the body overseeing the switch-off of the analogue TV signal, said that up to 20 per cent of local households - around 5,000 - had not yet bought the set-top box required to receive digital channels.
On October 17th, viewers in Whitehaven who do not have digital services such as Freeview or Sky will lose BBC2 as the first group of digital channels becomes available. Four weeks later the remaining analogue channels will also be switched off. The rest of the country will follow in a rolling programme to 2012.
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Channel 4 in for Box TV?Channel 4 has held talks with Emap about taking full control of Box Television – owner of seven music channels on digital television platforms such as Freeview, including Kerrang!, Kiss, Q and The Hits, the UK’s most popular music channel.
The broadcaster, which bought half of Emap’s music television division in July for £28 million, is understood to have spoken to Emap executives about a price for acquiring the remaining 50 per cent stake. Channel 4 is understood to have approached Emap requesting a price for Box Television after the media group announced its plans for a break-up.
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ITN channel on YouTubeITN’s multimedia division, ITN On today, has unveiled its latest online initiative with the launch of an ITN channel on YouTube. The ad-funded channel will have entertainment at its heart, plus sports, film and Bollywood programmes made specifically for online platforms allowing YouTube users to view, comment on and link to their favourite ITN content.
KT to launch PlayStation 3 IPTV service
Sony Computer Entertainment Korea plans to launch a service in November that will enable the PlayStation 3 to act as a set-top box to receive telco KT's Mega TV IPTV service, The Korea Times reported. The partnership - Sony's first foray into using the PlayStation 3 as an IPTV set-top box - would allow gamers to download programmes to the PlayStation 3 and view them on their televisions at any time.
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BBC keeps rights to US Masters golfThe BBC has retained the UK broadcasting and online rights to the US Masters golf tournament up to 2010. Sky had been keen to wrest away rights from the BBC, which has shown the Masters every year since 1986. The agreement provides the BBC with live television and radio rights, plus additional online rights.
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Waterfront launches TV TelephonyTV Telephony, a service which allows digital television viewers to make and receive calls using their TV, has been launched by digital TV experts Waterfront. TV Telephony offers a range of possibilities for utilising voice calls over interactive television, from the development of new forms of game show, to creating more direct alternatives to traditional freephone or local number calls for advertisers and brand owners.
The service will allow programme makers, broadcasters and advertisers to create direct voice contact with viewers and allow services such as 'ring me back' to be placed within TV shows and advertisements. The viewer can press a button on their remote control - just as they would for Interactive services - to trigger a call to their home or mobile phone.
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Marco Island Cable selects GoBackTVGoBackTV, supplier of digital video headend and edge solutions, has been selected by Marco Island Cable in Florida to augment its video services, following a successful field-trial of multicast cable IPTV using the GoBackTV CMTS-bypass solution.
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IDS selects Chellomedia for interactive advertisingInteractive Digital Sales (IDS), the advertising solutions provider for Virgin Media Television, has selected Chellomedia’s Mistral software to create and publish templated interactive advertising on the Sky Satellite platform.
Chellomedia’s Mistral software has been recently enhanced to offer a range of advertising solutions for UK satellite, DTT and European Cable platforms. The solutions offer media owners and advertisers greater creative scope and a cost-effective route to delivery on a range of platforms in territories across Europe and beyond. The software has so far been used to create over 50 interactive TV commercials in the past 12 months.
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Monday 15th October
Cable Europe: 2m new digital subs; ad revenue targeted
Shipments of PMPs to 130m+ in 2011
FT objects to CanalSat distribution rules
AT&T to pay $2.5bn for Aloha frequencies
Lin puts YouTube in TV
Comcast roles out TiVo
Paramount funds D Cinema
Brightcove Internet TV
Nokia Siemens Networks broadband across India
O2TV offers Disney films
Cable Europe: 2m new digital subs; ad revenue targeted
From Colin Mann in CannesEuropean cable industry trade body Cable Europe, has revealed that cable TV operators in Europe added more than two million digital TV customers in the first half of 2007. The cable industry is expected to count more than 16 million digital TV customers by year-end 2007, that would be a record growth of sixty per cent plus, year-on-year.
Cable Europe executives announced the figures at ‘Cable meets Content’, an event bringing together senior management from both the cable and content industries, concurrently with television programming market MIPCOM in Cannes.
The event also focused on how the cable industry could further monetise its fast growing digital TV customer base by providing interactive and enhanced advertisement services. One possibility that emerged was to enable better targeted TV advertising.
Thierry Bouffioux, CEO Greenwich Consulting Benelux, concluded that cable entering the advertisement business was not only an opportunity to drive new incremental revenues, but also allowed cable to engage in the evolution shift of the TV model and provide additional service value that should protect from end user churn.
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Shipments of PMPs 130m+ in 2011Global shipments of video portable multimedia players (PMPs) will grow at an annualised rate of 30 per cent over the next five years, reaching 132 million units in 2011, according to the Parks Associates report ‘Portable Multimedia Players: Analysis and Forecasts.’
MP3 player manufacturers will drive growth through their desire to add video capability to the portable audio player platform and capitalise on the healthy growth of the broadband video market worldwide.
"The video PMP market will enter a strong growth period within the next five years," said Harry Wang, senior analyst at Parks Associates. "Video capability fuels the upgrade demand from existing device owners, and more content, especially free and short online video clips, gives consumers the incentive to upgrade."
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FT objects to CanalSat distribution rulesFrance Telecom has threatened to lodge a complaint against Vivendi's Canal+ over its requirement that the operator distributes its CanalSat channels together, while cable operators are able to distribute them individually.
"If (the situation) does not change, we will have no choice but to lodge a complaint to seek equitable access to CanalSat channels," said Herve Payan, who is in charge of partnerships and services for the content division of France Telecom. Payan said the company has already sent letters to the European Commission and the competition authorities to complain about the situation. "There is a distortion of competition between cable networks and ADSL operators," he said.
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AT&T to pay $2.5bn for Aloha frequenciesUS telco AT&T will pay $2.5 billion (E1.76bn) to Aloha Partners LP for a prized chunk of unused television frequencies, in a deal that sets the stage for a major upgrade of its nationwide broadband network.
The deal demonstrates the telecom industry's interest in a large and valuable segment of broadcast frequencies known as the "700 megahertz band." A large amount of 700-megahertz frequencies, traditionally set aside for analogue TV broadcasts, will be freed up in 2009, when the country switches to all-digital TV broadcasting. Industry analysts said AT&T's purchase gives it an early start on launching a 700-megahertz network, and predicted the company would buy still more frequencies at the upcoming auction.
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Lin, a multiple station owner in the US, is partnering with YouTube to launch dedicated YouTube channels for its 31 stations. The sites will feature a mix of news content from the station and user-generated video. Sixteen Hearst-Argyle stations already feature YouTube channels.
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Comcast roles out TiVoComcast and TiVo have started rolling out TiVo-enabled Comcast digital video recorders. The companies said in a joint statement that the service will be rolled out to customers over the next few months.
TiVo, which makes its own branded digital video recorders, first signed an agreement with Comcast in March 2005 to enable the cable operators' customers to use TiVo software on their Comcast boxes. But the launch of the service has taken longer than analysts expected as both companies worked out how to integrate TiVo software with some models of Comcast set-top boxes.
Comcast, which has over 24 million subscribers, will be the first US cable operator to offer a TiVo interface service. Privately-held Cox Communications, also signed a deal with TiVo in August 2006 to offer a similar service to its customer this year.
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Paramount funds D CinemaParamount Pictures International has agreed to help fund European cinemas which are installing new generation projectors. Hollywood studios and exhibitors have tussled over who should bear the cost of the upgrade, with cinema owners arguing that studios should pay a "virtual print fee" as it will be cheaper for them to distribute their films electronically than at a cost of $1,200 (E845) per traditional film reel.
Paramount did not disclose the terms of its deal with Arts Alliance Media, a London-based film distribution services group. AAM struck similar deals in June with Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures International which will enable the conversion of 7,000 European screens over two years.
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Brightcove Internet TVBrightcove has revealed a new service for delivering broadcast-quality Internet TV. Extending their Internet TV platform, the new service, Brightcove Show, will give content publishers the ability to deliver instant-on, broadcast-quality streaming video to their viewers.
Brightcove Show takes advantage of new advances in the Adobe Flash Player technology, high-quality video encoding, and content delivery acceleration technology from BitTorrent, to enable full-screen video playback of broadcast- quality content streamed through the Internet.
The new service promises to offer new monetisation opportunities for content publishers with players that support new conventions for incorporating sponsorship messages, mid-roll video and interactive advertising into the long-form video and full-screen viewing experience.
Brightcove Show is available now through a pilot programme to selected
customers. The company said they plan to launch the product for general
release in 2008.
Nokia Siemens Networks broadband across India
Nokia Siemens Networks has won a contract from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India’s largest telecommunications service provider, to deploy broadband access across 7,000 Indian villages. The contract is a part of the green field rural tender from BSNL. The new access network’s high bandwidth will allow BSNL to deliver high data and triple play intensive services such as Video on Demand, Video Multi cast, IPTV, Video Conferencing and VPN among others to its customers.
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O2TV offers Disney filmsTelefónica O2 Czech Republic has signed a contract The Walt Disney Company for the distribution of its films through O2TV fixed-line television. In addition to new titles, Telefónica O2 also has access to library titles from Disney-ABC International Television's portfolio, from which they will present 40 films over the course of every year.
