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Tuesday
Friday 5th October
Ofcom rains on BSkyB’s Picnic?
YouTube must do better on copyright – News Corp
NBC: Get tough on piracy
Italy bans analogue TVs from 2009, postpones switch
Telefonica bids for Spanish pay-TV market
Hybrid STBs 25% of market by 2012
Verizon sued on numbers
HDTV customers satisfied by quality but not content
O2 broadband and MySpace deal
ITV.com a success
Discovery premieres show online
Joost launched Off the Fence
UTStarcom awards BSNL deal to IBM
Ofcom rains on BSkyB’s Picnic?Ofcom has wasted no time getting out its consultation on Sky’s pay-TV on Freeview plans. Ofcom said the Sky proposal would increase choice and availability of pay-TV services on the platform, but it could block other providers of pay-TV from operating on Freeview, which has limited capacity, while strengthening Sky’s dominance of the pay-TV market established through its satellite platform.
"Given the capacity constraints on the platform, it is possible that features of the pay-TV market make it more likely that a single retail provider of pay-TV services will emerge on DTT," Ofcom said. Another concern would be Sky’s use of technical standards incompatible with existing DTT pay-TV services and set-top boxes. This would require more than one set-top box to view all pay-TV services.
Ofcom put forward three options for consultation. One is to give unconditional approval to the Sky proposal, leaving competition issues to be resolved later. The other two options involve approval – either unconditional or subject to requirements that would ensure a competitive market.
BSkyB said: "Picnic will increase competition in TV, broadband and phone services and bring viewers a better choice of channels through their aerial. We believe these plans are a positive step for the DTT platform and we look forward to responding to Ofcom’s consultation in due course."
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YouTube must do better on copyright – News Corp
Google ’could do a better job’ at preventing illegally copied video from appearing on its YouTube site, Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of News Corp, told the FT. The comments come ahead of News Corp’s launch this month of Hulu, a site for professionally produced video with NBC Universal.
Chernin said there was no reason Google could not track and filter copyrighted material as well as MySpace (owned by News). Google is being sued by Viacom over copyright infringements on YouTube, which Google bought last year for $1.6 billion. Meanwhile, YouTube is testing the use of fingerprinting technology to track copyrighted material. Google said: "We would hope these tests would show we’re trying to be a good partner. This goes over and above our legal responsibilities.
Echoing comments from News Corp and Viacom, the chief executive of NBC Universal said piracy of copyright movies, music and other goods is "getting worse, not better" and urged the Justice Department to step up enforcement.
"We need ... to move intellectual property enforcement up the agenda of the federal government," Jeff Zucker said in remarks to the US Chamber of Commerce, which held its annual summit on counterfeiting and piracy this week.
The Chamber of Commerce is already pushing for tougher copyright enforcement legislation on Capitol Hill, and along with the National Association of Manufacturers has formed the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy to lobby members of Congress. Rick Cotton, NBC Universal's general counsel and chairman of the coalition, said the group's proposed legislation would create an intellectual property enforcement coordinator in the White House and IP-specific enforcement bureaus in the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.
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Italy bans analogue TVs from 2009, postpones switch
From Branislav Pekic in RomeIn order to boost the transition to digital terrestrial, Italy’s Communications Ministry passed a new decree linked to the 2008 Budget. It establishes that the last analogue TV set in Italy will be sold in June 2009, although manufacturers will have to stop supplying analogue TV sets to distributers by the end of 2008. Also, by the end of April 2008, all analogue TVs sold in Italy will have to carry a label warning consumers that they cannot receive digital TV.
Most importantly, the date for the definite switchover has been pushed back until the end of 2012, as only 4.9 million of Italy's 21 million TV sets were digital-ready as of this July, according to the latest available figures.
Also, Communications Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, has announced that the fund for the switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial will be increased by 50 per cent, from E40 million to E60 million.
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Telefonica bids for Spanish pay-TV market
From David Del Valle in MadridSpain's dominant telco Telefonica is making a full-frontal assault on the pay-TV market in the last quarter of the year. The company is launching an enhanced version of its IPTV service Imagenio, with the addition of new channels -planning to reach 200 by year end-, including a HDTV service, new added-value services and a higher Internet broadband access speed.
Amongst the new interactive services is Past TV that allows viewers to view programmes screened up to seven days ago on La Primera, La 2, Tele 5 and Cuatro. Telefonica is also launching ADSL of up to 10 Mbps to residential clients, so far limited to businesses. The offer, within its double (Internet and telephony) or triple play packages, will be available from November, covering 54 per cent of the population, at a price of E 44.9 for the double package and E48.9 per month for the triple play package. The company plans to extend its coverage to 85 per cent of Spaniards in 2010.The operator is also extending its fibre-optic networks at speeds of more than 30 Mbps. To this end, Telefonica is carrying out pilots in 1,000 homes in Madrid and Barcelona. Currently, Telefonica's IPTV service Imagenio has more than 450,000 subscribers.
In July, Telefonica and Sogecable reached an agreement to jointly launch a triple play offer from November, called Trio Plus, and to jointly negotiate contracts with TV content providers.
Hybrid STBs 25% of market by 2012
The hybrid set-top box market is forecast by IMS Research to account for over 25 per cent of worldwide STB unit shipments in 2012, translating into nearly $2.9 billion in manufacturer revenues. Based on leading satellite TV operators‚ strategies to strongly position themselves against competitors, satellite hybrid STBs are forecast to account for 76 per cent share of all hybrid STB units shipped worldwide in 2012.
Based on the study, Hybrid Set-top Box Developments and the Impact of Other Hybrid Equipment, IMS Research identifies that many major operators worldwide, particularly on satellite and IPTV platforms, are quickly transitioning to hybrid STBs as rivalry in triple-play intensifies. Furthermore, competition from non-traditional content providers and service aggregators is also affecting traditional pay-TV providers.
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Digital Art Services an advertising company has alleged that Verizon committed fraud by improperly including so-called pending customers in its published number of subscribers in the New York City FiOS service. Digital Art Services claimed the allegedly inflated numbers were used to determine advertising rates, causing it to pay more than it should have for advertising on Verizon's network.
"Verizon's fraud in overstating the number of subscribers indisputably meant that purchasers of advertising time were paying for FiOS subscribers who did not exist," the complaint said. The lawsuit was filed yesterday afternoon in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Eric Rabe, a Verizon spokesman, said "if the assertion is that we overstate our numbers we certainly reject that." He said, "This is a garden-variety business dispute initiated by a customer who wants to be released from a contract they agreed to."
HDTV customers satisfied by quality but not content
High definition (HD) television owners are much more satisfied with the picture quality of HD television than they are with the amount or selection of HD programming, The Nielsen Company reported. According to Nielsen Media Research’s 2007 High Definition Survey, 85 per cent of HD owners gave a 4 or 5 rating for picture quality but only 39 per cent provided the same rating for programming selection.
"Nielsen’s High Definition Survey shows that HD technology is outpacing content, although networks do score high in consumer satisfaction," said Steve McGowan, Nielsen Senior President Client Research Initiatives.
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O2 broadband and MySpace dealPhone network O2 will launch its O2 Broadband service on October 15. With recent consumer surveys showing consistently that consumers are dissatisfied with their broadband provider. O2 say their broadband will be simple to set up and use with a one step plug-and-play set up through the O2 wireless box with automatic configuration
O2 has also revealed plans to work with MySpace in an ongoing partnership to bring social networking to the mobile market. The partnership will enable O2 customers to view, track and contribute to their MySpace pages on the move for social networking on the go. A survey amongst O2 customers found that the number one piece of content that they craved was access to their social networking pages. The service is expected to go live early in November.
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ITV.com a successJeff Henry, consumer CEO of UK ITV, said the re-launch of ITV.com has boosted traffic to the site by 45 per cent year-on-year, with average dwell time doubling and 89 per cent of video clip viewers watching all of the accompanying advert.
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Discovery premieres show online
Discovery Networks UK will showcase the exclusive premiere of Discovery Channel flagship show ‘Chop Shop: London Garage’ on its online video service Discovery On Demand, four days ahead of the TV premiere. The Discovery On Demand premiere will be supported by a multi-platform brand campaign running on-air, on-line and on-mobile. The initiative underscores Discovery’s move to integrate branded content across platforms.
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Joost launched Off the FenceIndependent production and distribution company Off the Fence has partnered with Joost, the broadcast-quality Internet television service, to launch two new channels via their online platform – ‘Off the Fence Go Wild’ and ‘Off the Fence Explore’. The channels will air a schedule of wildlife programming and science documentaries.
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UTStarcom awards BSNL deal to IBMIBM, in collaboration with UTStarcom, has commenced work for Bharat Sanchar Nigam. (BSNL) to provide end-to-end networking solutions and services for the deployment of 2.8 million lines of DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) in approximately 900 cities throughout India.
BSNL will use the network to deliver real-time applications and high-speed Internet, and to effectively handle ever-increasing broadband subscriber traffic. The solution will enable BSNL to offer new broadband-based, multi-play services such as IPTV, video on demand, video multicast, VPN services, and high-speed Internet services across the country.
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Thursday 4th October
BSkyB would sue for ITV losses
DirecTV, EchoStar too reliant on telcos
TV3 to take Sogecable to Courts
Connecticut fights for statewide IPTV
Viacom pushes for stronger DRM
ESPN Star in US
ilovevideo goes live
MTV for Hungary
BSkyB would sue for ITV lossesBSkyB could take legal action if it is forced into a loss-making sale of its 17.9 per cent stake in ITV after the Competition Commission said the shareholding was anti-competitive.
Although it will be up to the business and regulatory reform minister to decide on what remedy to prescribe when he receives the final report, the Commission has suggested forcing BSkyB to sell all or part of the ITV stake.
One of BSkyB's non-executive directors has said that if the satellite broadcaster made a loss on its investment because it was forced to sell, it would be "bound to" seek legal redress.
The argument is that the company had stayed within the 20 per cent shareholding limit set down by the Communications Act 2003 when it bought into ITV and should not be penalised for abiding by the letter of the law.
Meantime, BSkyB has said it will continue to negotiate with the regulator as it compiles its report. It is expected to agree to restrictions on how it exercises its voting rights. One suggestion is that it promise to abide by the wishes of ITV's executive chairman, Michael Grade, on any crucial votes.
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DirecTV, EchoStar too reliant on telcosAmerica’s DirecTV and EchoStar are likely to see their customer growth fall significantly over the next five years, a new report from Pike Fischer suggests.
The DTH providers, which together have more than 30 million subscribers, may be relying too heavily on their partnerships with telephone companies to gain new customers according to the report ‘DBS-Telco Partnerships: Strategic Forecast’. The phone companies and the DBS companies sell a co-branded bundle of phone, high-speed Internet and satellite TV service.
Over the last year, telephone company partners have been responsible for about 25 per cent of the new subscribers that the satellite TV companies have secured - as many as half of the new subscribers to DirecTV and EchoStar's DISH Network came from telephone companies in the second quarter. But these partnerships are likely to scale back over time, which will suppress the ability of DirecTV and EchoStar to capture new customers says the report.
This is due to telephone company partners – primarily AT&T and Verizon – developing their own video services over fiber-optic lines, according to Tim McElgunn, of Pike Fischer. "The satellite TV vendors will see customer growth rates decline by an average of 13.5 percent per year as digital cable and telco on-net TV services, both typically delivered as part of a "multiplay" service, expand," McElgunn says.
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TV3 to take Sogecable to Courts
From David del Valle in MadridThe Spanish football TV war is intensifying with regional TV channel TV3 suing Sogecable for having prevented it from broadcasting free to air a recent match between the teams Real Madrid and Betis.
TV3 is a shareholder of Audiovisual Sport, the company controlled by Sogecable that manages and operates the football TV rights. Following its dispute with the production TV company Medioapro over football rights, Sogecable prohibited the access to the TV signal of the match to any other operator and offered it on pay-per-view. TV3, which had announced the FTA transmission of the event is claiming for damages.To further complicate matters, Sogecable has threatened to take legal action against the Spanish Professional Football League (LFP) over the timetable of the matches. The company has asked LFP to change the time of next match between Atletico de Madrid and Barcelona to be able to offer on pay TV through Canal Plus on Sunday night.
Meanwhile the dispute is costing Sogecable dear, its stock market value has dropped E600m since it began.
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Connecticut fights for statewide IPTVState Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has said t that he will ask the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) to reject a franchise application by AT&T's Internet television service for Connecticut.
"This new application by AT&T seems to accept that they must seek a franchise, but makes a sham of meeting the franchise requirements," Blumenthal said. "This application fails to comply with federal and state law because it provides no guarantee that every citizen will be offered the service. This requirement is one of the very few federal franchise obligations, but clearly violated by this application."
"AT&T seems to have abandoned their previous argument that they are not a cable company and therefore need no franchise. They make no mention of their past contentions that they are not a cable company and therefore need not meet cable requirements. But their silence means nothing in the light of their varying contentions. Their switch in position is apparently to use this new law in contending that they can be granted a less demanding 'franchise lite,' giving them all the profit, but none of the responsibility for serving the public."
Viacom pushes for stronger DRM
Companies should be installing more DRM safeguards, says Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman. Dauman has complained that it is now far too easy to copy media illegally, and that companies should be spreading the use of both watermarking and DRM restrictions. Additionally, he added he would like content aggregators, ISPs, hosting companies and site operators to further collaborate with content corporations, something which is already said to be happening in Viacom's case.
Dauman’s comments run contrary to some industry trends, as a number of music companies have rejected DRM in order to attract more users.
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ESPN Star in USESPN Star Sports is launching a version of SportsCenter in South East Asia, as well as Hong Kong and China. SportsCenter is consistently one of the highest rated programs on American television. It has been broadcast more than any other show in American television history, with over 30,000 unique episodes aired so far. Covering American sports such as the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, National Football League, NASCAR racing, NCAA college sports and much more, the US edition of SportsCenter will bring news, highlights andanalysis for American sports fans every weekday.
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ilovevideo goes liveDRM-free music video download site ilovevideo has launched in the UK after agreeing deals with record companies including EMI. Video is sold in both QuickTime and Windows Media formats for playback on a PC or Mac. Users can choose to download high-quality (£1.99) (E2.9) versions for playback on their computer or TV, or lower-quality versions (£1.89) for their iPods.
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MTV for HungaryMTV Networks International’s (MTVNI) has launched MTV Hungary, the latest addition to its growing portfolio of channels in Central and Eastern Europe.
The MTV channel will be a fully localised service and joins the other MTVNI channel brands, VIVA, VHI European and Nickelodeon, which are also available in Hungary. The 24 hour, advertiser-supported, Hungarian language channel will be available to around 1.5 million households via cable and DTH platforms.
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Wednesday 2rd October
Sky may have to sell ITV stake
Price, not content, wins
US pay-TV saturation point
Sardinia to switch to DTT in November
Nokia video direct
Private Media aggressive IPTV rollout
ComCom awards mobile TV to Swisscom
Sony Pictures Television appoints Newton
Major League Baseball signs with Teletrax
Chellomedia launches Mojo Productions
Telecom Italia quadplay
Wilkinson appointed COO of DTG
blinkx partners with Celebtv.com
Sky may have to sell ITV stakeA preliminary judgement from the UK Competition Commission makes it likely BSkyB will have to sell some or all of its 18 per cent ITV stake and take a large loss in the process.
The Commission, which is due to present its full report to ministers in December, has concluded the public interest is jeopardised because of Sky’s ability, by virtue of being ITV’s biggest shareholder, to "influence ITV’s key strategic decisions, particularly relating to investment, whether in content, capacity
or new technology.""As a pay-TV operator, BSkyB faces competition from the free-to-air TV offer, of which ITV is an important part. BSkyB would therefore have both the ability and incentive to take advantage of opportunities to weaken ITV or prevent it from taking actions that would threaten BSkyB’s interests," says the Commission. Peter Freeman, chairman of the Competition Commission said: "We concluded that BSkyB had acquired material influence." This decision seems to have been influenced by Virgin’s submission (confirmed by Sky’s own analysis) that at the ITV AGM, Sky’s 17.9 per cent voting stake represented 24.9 per cent of the votes at the meeting – 25 per cent is sufficient to block an Special Resolution of the company.
The Comission gave BSkyB and other parties until October 23rd to submit their reactions to the ruling and until October 15th to comment on possible remedies, which included "possible divestment of the shareholding". The watchdog said it would consider alternatives to a full sale of the stake, including a partial divestment and behavioural remedies, such as commitments on board representation and shareholder voting behaviour.
However, the Commission found BSkyB would not affect "day-to-day operations" and had no concerns on anti-competitive grounds such as TV advertising sales or the indeopendence of ITN.
BSkyB noted the Commission’s view and said it would continue to cooperate with the review. Virgin Media described the commission's provisional findings as "a major step towards addressing the problems caused by Sky's stake in ITV". It is widely believed the main aim of BskyB’s acquisition of the stake was to block Virgin’s bid (under its old NTL/Telewest name) to takeover ITV at the end of last year.
ITV’s share price rose slightly on the news, on recent average prices Sky would book a £200m (E1.34bn) loss if it sold the whole stake. Sky paid £940m in November 2006.
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The mantra of the comms and technology industries has long been "content is king". Yet for consumers choosing from a wide range of bundled telecommunications packages, price and convenience are still far more important than any content available.
This was one of the main findings of "Bundle Jungle Europe: Navigating the Multi-Play Market", a survey of more than 12,000 consumers across eight Western European countries, released by leading professional services provider Ernst & Young. While fewer than 5 per cent of respondents cited premium content as a reason for taking up a bundle, up to 57 per cent of respondents by country cited cost.
"Content is currently low down on the list of reasons for consumers to take up or switch between 'multi-play' telecommunications packages," explains Vincent de La Bachelerie, Head of Ernst & Young's Global Telecommunications Practice. "But content does create stickiness. If consumers have the content they want, it tends to act as the glue that keeps them with their current provider."
As competition among companies offering bundled services continues to intensify, prices are dropping across the continent. As broadband and fixed-line voice services become commoditised and cheaper, content may become increasingly important. "
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As IPTV services emerge, telecom companies face a fairly saturated pay-TV market in the U.S, as 82 per cent of all US households reported having a pay-TV subscription in 2006. According to a recent survey by Gartner, this is forecast to increase to 84 per cent by the end of 2011.
While there are a number of households that subscribe to a telephone company for IPTV services, this segment currently accounts for less than 1 per cent of the total pay-TV subscriber market. This is expected to increase to almost 8 per cent by 2011, mostly at the expense of subscriber loss from the cable companies.
"The US pay-TV market is dominated by cable and satellite providers by a factor of two to one," said Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst for Gartner. "As the availability of IPTV offerings from telecom providers increase competition in this market, understanding what consumers currently receive, and what they will want from their pay-TV provider, will be critical to gaining or protecting market share."
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Sardinia to switch to DTT in November
From Branislav Pekic in RomeFrom November 10, Italy’s leading national broadcasters RAI, Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media will extend their digital transmissions to the entire island of Sardinia.
DTT tests were launched in March in Cagliari which saw each of the three broadcasters transmitting one of their channels (Rai Due, Rete4 and Qoob) exclusively in digital technology. There are plans to extend the analogue switch-off tests in the Northern Italian regions of Trentino Alto Adige and Piedmont, with the goal of a full national migration to digital by 2012.
In a related development, the Italian government has announced it will not extend the E200 tax break for new digital set-top boxes bought for second TV sets while extending it to subscribers of all satellite and cable television providers. The change follows a July European antitrust ruling that making subscribers of only some operators eligible for the tax break distorted competition.
News Corp, Sony Pictures and CNN have struck a deal to distribute video directly to Nokia phones, sidestepping mobile carrier decks. Nokia has already begun embedding links on its N95 multimedia phone around the globe that connect users with mobile sites run by the media giants and other content providers.
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Private Media aggressive IPTV rolloutAdult digital content distributor Private Media Group has revealed that during the third quarter it has entered into agreements with nine additional European IPTV operators in the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Denmark, Portugal and Greece. The platform operators include leading telcos which all offer Triple-Play featuring IPTV VOD.
As of September 2007, the Company had agreements with 23 IPTV/VOD platforms in 11 territories in Europe. The Company is of the firm belief that IPTV in Europe will be the TV delivery platform of choice for the Pay-TV consumer.
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ComCom awards mobile TV to SwisscomThe Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) in Switzerland has awarded the national licence for DVB-H to Swisscom Broadcast AG. The licensee intends to provide the first mobile phone TV broadcasts during the 2008 European Football Championship, in the host cities of Basle, Berne, Zurich and Genev.
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Sony Pictures Television appoints NewtonSony Pictures Television International (SPTI) says Damian Newton has joined the company as vice president of digital initiatives. In his new role, Newton, who joins SPTI from Disney ABC International Television, is responsible for leading SPTI’s digital strategy for Europe; building on existing product lines across video on demand (VOD), subscription VOD (sVOD) and electronic sell-through (EST) and creating and managing new Sony branded digital projects.
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Major League Baseball signs with TeletraxMajor League Baseball has signed an agreement with Teletrax to track the use of its game broadcast footage more effectively. It provides a service that digitally watermarks broadcasts, allowing the US sports league to track who is watching what portion of any game, for how long and what they are viewing. It can also detail which sponsor logos are captured in the background of shots showing players celebrating game-winning home runs.
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Chellomedia launches Mojo ProductionsChellomedia, the European content division of Liberty Global, has launched its new production company- Mojo Productions for its Central European operations, Chello Central Europe. The new entity will be the main production arm for Chello Central Europe and will support the current portfolio of seven owned and operated channels and also the production needs of international and national TV channels in the region.
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Telecom Italia quadplayTelecom Italia has launched the first Quadruple Play offering IP enabled 'Unica'. The one package allows users to make calls from the same telephone, the mobile 'Unico', either through the fixed-line or mobile network utilising dual mode technology (Alice Wi-Fi for the fixed-line and UMTS for the mobile network), to surf the Internet and to access Alice Home TV content.
Wilkinson appointed COO of DTG
The Digital TV Group, the industry association for digital television in the UK, has appointed Keith Wilkinson as Commercial Director and Chief Operating Officer. Keith joins the Group from the BBC where he held the position of Project Director.
blinkx partners with Celebtv.comblinkx, the online video search engine, has formed a partnership with CelebTV.com, the real-time entertainment video news channel created for, and distributed exclusively on, digital platforms. Under the terms of the agreement, blinkx will transcribe and index video content from CelebTV.com.
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Tuesday 2nd October
Sky Picnic for Freeview
Olympics will set TV advertising records
TIOTI site opens
ONO leads the pay-TV audience ratings
Chellomedia acquires new channels
Lumer appointed CEO of RawFlow
Sony OLED TVs
CampaignTV on Narrowstep
BBC buys into Lonely Planet
Switchover postcode checker
Smart Com deploys Verimatrix for T-2 IPTV
Sky Picnic for FreeviewSky has announced details of its plans to offer broadband, telephone and digital terrestrial television services under a new brand to customers across the UK. It says the new business will operate under the Picnic brand and will offer customers a variety of flexible options to combine the services that they want.
Sky claims key features of Picnic will include: TV, broadband and telephony, with customers able to choose 1, 2 or 3 services in any combination. There will be instant access to some Sky channels through an aerial including Sky Sports 1, Sky Movies, Sky One, a children's channel and a factual channel.
The decision to proceed with the launch of Picnic is subject to the outcome of Ofcom's review of the proposed increased choice of TV programming. Ofcom has said that it plans to launch a consultation on the initial licence changes later this autumn.
Sky wants the Picnic TV service to be in MPEG4. It says: "The new (STBs required) will help to lead future innovations on the digital terrestrial television (DTT) platform such as the adoption of MPEG-4 compression standards, which allow viewers to benefit from an increased choice of channels. The Picnic TV service will initially consist of 3 MPEG-2 video streams but, subject to approval by Ofcom, Picnic aims to move to MPEG-4 and add a fourth channel dedicated to Sky News."
Continuing with the existing "horizontal market" model for DTT equipment, the Picnic compatible boxes will be produced by multiple manufacturers and sold by a variety of retailers. Manufacturers will be responsible for the specification of their boxes and will decide which additional features to include, such as PVR functionality or the ability to receive pay-TV services from other providers. The initial manufacturer will be Sagem, but Sky is not subsidising manufacture and says it is expected that others will follow shortly after launch. In addition, Picnic aims to make its TV service available on future generations of PCs.
James Murdoch, Sky's Chief Executive, said: "The launch of Picnic will be a big step forward for customers who are hungry for value and simplicity. We are looking forward to the conclusion of the regulatory approval process so we can get going delivering a great service and real savings to customers."
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Olympics will set TV advertising recordsThe 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will lift television’s share of the global advertising market to record levels next year, despite the medium losing market share in North America and parts of Europe, reports the global media buying and planning group ZenithOptimedia.
According to Zenith’s World Advertising Expenditure Forecast, worldwide television advertising spending in 2008 will be $182.4 billion (E128.1bn), up from $169.9 billion this year, thanks mainly to the increasing popularity of television advertising in Asia. Television is expected to have a 38.2 per cent slice of the global advertising market in 2008. "We expect coverage of the Olympics in Beijing to give an extra boost to television in 2008, particularly in China and its neighbours," said a Zenith spokesman,
Zenith said that Internet advertising expenditure will increase by 85 per cent between 2006 and 2009. Global Internet advertising spend is forecast to be $33.7 billion in 2007 and $41.6 billion in 2008.
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TIOTI site opensTIOTI (‘Tape it off the Internet’), the media aggregator has opened its one-stop source for TV content - www.tioti.com - to the general public. Following its successful beta-testing of the service with more than 18,000 users, TIOTI has made its search gateway to TV content available to everyone, providing links to a wide range of online TV services such as Apple, Amazon, AOL and Joost, amongst others. TIOTI currently indexes over 75,000 TV shows and more than 500,000 episodes.
ONO leads the pay-TV audience ratings
From David Del Valle in MadridSpain's largest cable company ONO is the market leader in terms of audience ratings in the Spanish pay-TV market. The company pulled in an average share of 7.4 per cent in September, well ahead of Digital Plus, with 4.06 per cent, or Imagenio and other pay-TV operators, with 5.17 per cent, according to TNS Sofres.
ONO’s Its cinema channel CineStar teuve was the most widely watched pay-TV channel in the cable platform drawing almost 2.6 million viewers.
By distribution systems, cable TV in Spain captured an average share of 12.6 per cent in comparison with 5.7 per cent made by satellite and 8.1 per cent by DTT, according to consultancy firm Barlovento. Analogue terrestrial TV made 73.6 per cent with Tele 5 leading the ratings with a share of 21.1 per cent, followed by TVE and Antena 3 TV, with 16.2 per cent each, Forta, 14.6 per cent, Cuatro, 7.2 per cent, La Sexta, with 5.5 per cent and La 2, with 4.6 per cent.
The most widely watched thematic channels in Spain are AXN, Fox, Canal Plus, Paramount Comedy and Teledeporte.
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Chellomedia acquires new channelsChellomedia, the European content division of Liberty Global has acquired three new channels for Chello Central Europe.
The latest acquisitions, TV Paprika, TV Deko, and Filmmuzeum, have been acquired from their respective local founders under separate transactions, bringing Chello Central Europe’s channel portfolio to a total of seven in the region. The portfolio already includes Minimax, Sport1&2, and a joint venture channel with MGM. TV Paprika is a popular cooking channel distributed throughout the region, and TV Deko, a ‘DIY’ and lifestyle channel; both channels produce and commission a high proportion of their programming locally. Filmmuzeum is a film and drama channel focussing on Hungarian nostalgia.
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Lumer appointed CEO of RawFlowRawFlow, peer-to-peer technology provider and the company behind the user-generated broadcast platform Selfcast, has revealed that former CEO and co-founder of Babelgum, Erik Lumer, has been appointed Chief Executive. Lumer will lead the company into a new phase of development with the launch of Selfcast as a disruptive free Web TV platform that lets anybody create and share a live broadcast anywhere in the world.
Sony has confirmed that its OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs, touted as an eventual successor to plasma and LCD, will be available in Japan from 1 December.
The first model, the XEL-1, has an 11 inch screen and is just 3 millimetres thick. The TVs will relay video 1,000 times faster than LCD, eliminating the blur of TV imagery, and will also reduce energy consumption by 40 per cent, according to Sony.
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CampaignTV on NarrowstepNarrowstep has been chosen to power CampaignTV, a new politically focused Internet TV channel, which supports the UK’s Labour Party.
CampaignTV is an independent project led by a group of filmmakers who are committed to making high-impact political programming accessible. The goal of CampaignTV is to provide an alternative to what it says is the dominant right-leaning political content on UK-based sites. CampaignTV is a non-profit initiative, and any surplus will be re-invested into production and improvements to the site.
CampaignTV hosts a catalogue of recently-produced progressive political programming, including: An exclusive interview with UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown at the Labour conference and Lord Attenborough on the significance of the new Nelson Mandela statue in London's Parliament Square and a history of the anti-apartheid movement in the UK.CampaignTV’s Publisher is Gez Sagar a former Chief Press Officer for the Labour Party. Stewart Till, formerly of Sky and UIP is chairman.
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BBC buys into Lonely PlanetBBC Worldwide has bought a majority stake in travel guide company Lonely Planet. The corporation's commercial arm has acquired a 75 per cent stake in the privately owned company. The Lonely Planet operation will boost BBC Worldwide's travel output, which includes over 500 hours of travel programming such as Michael Palin's New Europe and Planet Earth.
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Switchover postcode checkerWith just over two weeks to the start of the first UK digital television switchover in Whitehaven in Cumbria, a new online Postcode Checker has been launched to provide viewers across the UK with essential information about the switch to digital television in their area. The service at www.digitaluk.co.uk has been designed to provide viewers with details of when they will switch and what digital services and channels they are likely to receive – right down to an individual street.
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Smart Com deploys Verimatrix for T-2 IPTVContent security specialists Verimatrix and Smart Com, European IPTV middleware vendor have confirmed the successful deployment of Verimatrix’s Video Content Authority System (VCAS) for T-2’s IPTV deployment. T-2 is the number one alternative IPTV operator in Slovenia that offers a selection of movies, series and other video content, available for on-demand viewing.
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Monday 1st October
Branson: Virgin still wants ITV
MySpace UK Video Content
Deutsche Telekom buys Orange Netherlands
BBC Vision launches multi-platform strategy
Microsoft Extenders and Internet TV
IPTV for Brasilia
MPAA sues sites
Eyelab develops CBS content
Multimedia Polska launches VOD
KPN chooses Bluestreak to deliver 3G
Branson: Virgin still wants ITV
Richard Branson has signaled that Virgin Media has not abandoned its plans to buy UK commercial broadcaster ITV. Branson, Virgin Media's largest shareholder, also suggested his Virgin group would retain its 10.5 per cent stake if the cable company is sold.
"I think it's extremely unlikely the Virgin brand would ever be withdrawn from Virgin Media and we never said that we'd be selling our shares," Branson said. "I think if anybody wanted to buy Virgin Media it would be because it's got the brand."
Virgin's attempt to buy ITV last year was spurned by the broadcaster's board, and was effectively blocked by BSkyB buying a 17.9 per cent stake in ITV.
Sky’s £940 million (E1.36bn) buy is now the subject of an investigation by the Competition Commission, after Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading flagged up public interest and competition concerns.
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MySpace UK Video Content
News Corp owned social networking site MySpace will launch sponsored video channels in the UK next month that will include advertising. MySpace has opted to experiment with placing advertising next to professionally-produced content rather than the user-generated content around which it built up its audience.
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Deutsche Telekom buys Orange NetherlandsGermany's Deutsche Telekom has concluded a deal to buy Dutch mobile phone and broadband Internet operator Orange Netherlands from France Telecom for E1.3 billion. Deutsche Telekom said it expects the combination to result in savings of about E1 billion over the next few years. About half of those savings would be generated in the first six years, "in particular from network integration and reduced marketing expenses," the German company said.
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BBC Vision launches multiplatform strategySimon Nelson, Controller of Portfolio & Multimedia, has announced a new strategy for multiplatform commissioning, content creation and delivery across BBC Vision.
Key elements of the new multiplatform strategy include the ambition to double investment with an additional £30 million (E43.4m) in funding over the next three years, subject to the BBC's reprioritisation plans. Also, a new architecture for BBC Vision on the web, ensuring that for the first time, every television programme will have its own website with web support.
The BBC also plans a new, ring-fenced investment for mobile commissioning. Nelson also announced a year-long communication campaign to share audience research, market knowledge and BBC Vision's requirements in-house, across the BBC, and with the wider independent sector.
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Microsoft Extenders and Internet TVMicrosoft has revealed details about its new ‘Extenders’ for Microsoft Windows Media Centre. These devices, which are expected to be available for purchase before the end of the year, will allow easy access to premium cable, high-definition TV, popular video formats including DivX, music, paid movies, photos from any TV in the house, with a wired or wireless network connection.
Microsoft has also launched a beta test of Windows Media Centre Internet TV, which will offer more than 100 hours of ad-supported entertainment from MSN Video, including full-length shows, music concerts and movie trailers.
IPTV for BrasiliaBrazil's third largest fixed line operator Brasil Telecom has launched the first commercial IPTV service in the country. The service, called Videon, will initially be available in the capital Brasília. It plans to extend Videon to the main state capitals and cities where the company already has a presence. BrT will initially offer two types of package: a fixed monthly package with up to 500 hours of programs and a pay-per-view option. BrT was keen to launch IPTV as a way of adding TV to its portfolio of services, while the regulator continues to consider allowing telcos to offer broadcast TV.
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The Motion Picture Assn. of America has filed suit against two Web sites that it claims are allowing Internet users to view pirated films, many of which are still in theatres. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the major studios, seeks to shut cinematube.net and ssupload.com from further infringing on the copyrights of the MPAA members.
A domain search also indicated cinematube.net's servers are located in Malaysia. The site averages more than 24,000 unique users each day who view more than 85,000 pages of content. Servers for ssupload.com are located in Arizona and average 55,000 unique daily visitors who view more than 190,000 pages of content per day.
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Eyelab develops CBS contentTo cater to what it believes is the short attention span of online audiences, the CBS network is launching CBS EyeLab, a digital-production studio that will create and distribute short clips cut together from the network's most popular shows.
At a time when its competitors are focused on how to best distribute full-length TV shows online, CBS EyeLab offers product more like videos on Google YouTube -- bite-size clips, streamed free, many with the feel of user-generated content rather than episodes of network prime-time shows. Quincy Smith, president of CBS Interactive, said preliminary network research shows that less than a third of CBS's Web audience is interested in watching full-length episodes of shows online.
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Multimedia Polska launches VOD
Polish cable operator Multimedia Polska has launched the first VOD service in the country. The service is initially available in the cities of Gdynia, Kalisz, Lublin, Lódz, Olsztyn and Torun, which together account for around 90 per cent, or 450,000 homes, of its subscriber base. The library currently consists of 600 titles, though the total will eventually rise to several thousand. Multimedia Polska has just over 10,000 digital subscribers and introduced HD channels to its programme offer earlier this year.
KPN chooses Bluestreak to deliver 3G
Bluestreak Technology, the developer of the MachBlue platform for mobile phones and digital television, will provide its MachBlue Mobile solution to support KPN's start of mobile TV by offering MobielTV. The service will be free of charge to early adopting customers until the end of 2007. MachBlue Mobile is a platform for mobile phones that enhances unique user interfaces and user experiences. MachBlue's cross-platform capabilities bridge the gap between different makes and models of handsets.
