|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Our Latest Issues
Visit our archive to access more than 200 features! |
Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 2nd November
Murdoch speaks on Sky strategies
40m IPTV households expected worldwide by 2010
RAI plans eight TV channels on DTT platform
Hulu experiments with ad lengths
Abertis buys stake in Hispasat
HD NBA on DirecTV
Consumer TV buoyed by FCC action
PeerApp HTTP video streaming
No decision on licences for Taiwan mobile TV
JTG and Orange IPTV for Jordan
Entone selected by HickoryTech for IPTV deployment
mDialog Internet video delivery platform
Murdoch speaks on Sky strategiesBSkyB chief executive James Murdoch has revealed that the group is developing a "hybrid" media model using its satellite and digital terrestrial platforms to allow subscribers to access content seamlessly from TVs, PCs or mobiles.
In an FT.com interview, Murdoch also rejected claims that his aggressive strategy had exposed it to possible regulatory punishment, saying: "When we go out there and we say we're going to challenge some of those big incumbent telecoms companies who've been charging too much money for too little to too many customers for way too long, we think that's good for customers. Ultimately, we think that really matters from a regulatory perspective as well. Our customers [are] free agents in this."
Back to top
40m IPTV households expected worldwide by 2010Forecasts from analyst firm Canalys indicate the IPTV market will see rapid growth over the next three years, driven by telecom operators’ desire to boost ARPU (average revenue per user) and counter the growing threat from competing triple-play providers. Worldwide IPTV subscriber levels will increase more than tenfold by the end of the decade, growing from fewer than 4 million in 2006 to almost 40 million in 2010.
EMEA accounted for two-thirds of global IPTV subscribers at the end of 2006, and will remain the largest market through to 2010, when the region will account for 38 per cent of the worldwide total. "France is the European IPTV trailblazer, boasting 1.3 million subscribers at the end of 2006," said Canalys vice president Alessandra Fitzpatrick. "Good, early uptake has been driven by a number of factors, notably low broadband prices, the prevalence of bundling low-cost IPTV service with broadband/telephony packages and limited competition from cable operators."
But the favourable market conditions that have helped IPTV thrive in France are not evident in all markets. In most, high levels of competition from existing services will make it difficult for IPTV providers to compete unless they can differentiate their services, either by providing better quality of service or by maintaining lower subscription fees. "IPTV providers will have to compete on price in the short term. As a result, deploying TV services may not prove to be a significant revenue generation opportunity, although establishing a position in this emerging sector will be crucial for service providers seeking to protect their positions as prime providers of communication services," Fitzpatrick added.
Back to top
RAI plans eight TV channels on DTT platform
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItalian public broadcaster RAI plans launch two new TV channels, as part of its new digital terrestrial TV strategy for the period 2008-2010 that has been approved by the Board of Directors.
RAI’s future ‘core’ DTT platform will see the launch of an entertainment channel for young viewers in 2008, to be followed by a semi general entertainment channel in 2009. They will join terrestrial TV channels Rai Uno, Rai Due, Rai Tre and thematic channels Rai Gulp, RaiSat Sport and RaiNews 24. Other innovations include the start of HD broadcasts of major sports events on digital terrestrial.
According to director general, Claudio Cappon, the goal is to increase the DTT audience share from the current 0.4 per cent to 2 per cent. In total, RAI is investing E450 million in digital terrestrial and E300 million in new technologies.
Back to top
Hulu experiments with ad lengthsHulu, News Corp and NBC Universal’s online video joint venture, said it will pair traditional 30-second ads with long-form video such as full-length sitcom episodes, and restrict ads on short-form content to 10-15 seconds. CEO Jason Kilar said the sector was "just getting started", adding: "No one has figured out the optimal customer experience. No one has figured out the optimal targeting."
Back to top
Abertis buys stake in HispasatSpanish infrastructure company Abertis has bought a 28.4 per cent stake in satellite operator Hispasat for E199 million.
Abertis said it had made the purchase through its Abertis Telecom unit from Ensafeca Holdings and it will now control 37.3 per cent of Hispasat shares as it also holds an indirect holding through its 32 per cent stake in Eutelsat. Hispasat is the leading satellite operator in the Spanish and Portuguese language markets in Europe and Latin America.
Back to top
HD NBA on DirecTVSatellite TV service provider DirecTV has launched NBA (National Basketball Association) TV HD with plans to offer more than 72 games in HD and other NBA programming in HD, 24/7.
With the addition of NBA TV HD, DirecTV now offers 74 full-time national HD channels, including 16 sports networks in HD- more than any other television provider. DirecTV intends to continue expanding its national HD line-up throughout the rest of the year and is expected to have up to 100 national HD channels by year-end.
Back to top
Consumer TV buoyed by FCC actionThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has prohibited all television service providers from entering into or enforcing exclusive access provisions that block competitors from serving apartments, condominiums or other private real estate developments.
"Millions of consumers live in apartments, condos or other private developments, and, until now, many of them have been denied the benefits of video competition as a result of exclusive access agreements used by cable providers to shield themselves from competition," said Susanne Guyer, Verizon senior vice president of federal regulatory affairs. "The FCC decision will provide access to new competitive options for residents of these properties and encourages further deployment of broadband networks."
Back to top
PeerApp HTTP video streamingPeerApp, player in peer-to-peer (P2P) acceleration and caching solutions for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), has launched new software that provides higher-quality subscriber experiences with HTTP video streaming traffic from YouTube, Google Video, MySpace and other video-sharing web sites.
The software, a module for PeerApp´s carrier-grade UltraBand² solutions, supports the HTTP video streaming protocol and caches traffic from Windows Media Player, Adobe Flash Video, Apple QuickTime, RealNetworks RealPlayer, and other Internet video applications without requiring ISPs to install proxy servers or to change definitions or configurations.
Back to top
No decision on licences for Taiwan mobile TVThe National Communications Commission says it has yet to decide when and how it would issue operating licences for Taiwanese mobile TV service operators. "The trial operations for mobile television are still ongoing," commission spokesman Howard Shyr said. "The newspapers said the other day that the licences would be issued as early as June next year. Well, it is still too early to say."
JTG and Orange IPTV for Jordan
Orange IPTV will be offered through Intracom Telecom’s fs|cdn IPTV platform over JTG’s ADSL network. In addition to Broadcast TV and Video on Demand, a host of interactive services such as personal recording, chatting and e-mail notifications will seek to introduce a personalised TV experience. The offering will feature Arabic and international content.
Back to top
Entone selected by HickoryTech for IPTV deploymentEntone, provider of IPTV home connectivity solutions, has confirmed that its Hydra IP video gateway is being deployed by HickoryTech for its IPTV rollout in Minnesota. HickoryTech offers integrated communication products and services to business and residential customers over a regional fibre network.
Back to top
mDialog Internet video delivery platformmDialog, a Toronto/New York City-based start-up, has launched a new video delivery platform which will provide high resolution image and sound as well as advanced social networking capabilities, enabling users to share video or monetise proprietary content through modular pay-per-download and subscription revenue models.
Back to top
Thursday 1st November
Far East Pay-TV piracy tops US$1.5 billion
Cinven selling stake in Numericable?
HD in 14% of US households
Slovenia to have at least eight digital multiplexes
No tax on US Internet
IAC profit squeeze
Alcatel-Lucent Q3
Harmonic for TVN
Far East Pay-TV piracy tops US$1.5 billionIn the latest survey of revenue leakage over the last 12 months to the regional pay-TV industry, conducted by the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) and Standard Chartered Bank, the losses are conservatively estimated to stand at $1.54 billion, (E1.06bn) as compared to $1.13 billion in 2006.
While the China market remains uncharted territory for the annual estimates, this year the newly developing pay-TV market in Pakistan has been added to the calculations, with losses that stand at $110 million. Estimates for Pakistan’s unauthorised market show 4.6 million pirated cable-TV subscriptions in a market with some 345,000 legitimate subscriptions to pay-TV services. Excluding Pakistan, the regional figure stands at $1.43 billion, up $300million, representing a 26 per cent increase in lost revenues compared to 2006.
Back to top
Cinven selling stake in Numericable?
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisAccording to reports in the French press, the British investment fund Cinven wants to sell up to half of its 70 per cent stake in Ypso, the holding company that owns the cable operator Numericable, for almost E2 billion.
Several investment funds have expressed an interest in acquiring this 35 per cent stake and Cinven has given the merchant banks Rothschild and Morgan Stanley the task of handling the sale. According to Les Echos, Providence, Carlyle, PAI, TPG, Blackstone, KKR and Permira are among the funds interested. Altice, chaired by Patrick Drahi, owns the remaining 30 per cent. Completel, which was acquired this summer by Altice B2B France is also part of the deal. Cinven and Altice want to form ties with another operator (Neuf-Cegetel, Free or Bouygues) in order to take advantage of potential synergy in the broadband area. If the sale results in a change of control, Numericable’s creditors could call in debt of E3 billion.
Back to top
HD in 14% of US householdsThe Nielsen Company has reported that 13.7 per cent of TV households in the US are equipped with a HD television. Los Angeles has the highest penetration of HD Capable homes (20.4 per cent) and New York has the highest penetration of HD Receivable homes (have HD channels available) 17.5 per cent. Nielsen also reports that among U.S. Hispanic or Latino households, 10.4 per cent are HD Capable and 8.2 per cent are HD Receivable. Among African-American households, 8.1 per cent are HD Capable and 6.9 per cent are HD Receivable.
Back to top
Slovenia to have at least eight digital multiplexes
From Branislav Pekic in RomeSlovenia’s National Assembly has passed the digital broadcasting act that sets the deadline of 2010 for the switchover from analogue to digital.
Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak admitted that the changeover will be costly both for the broadcasters and the consumers, who will have to buy new equipment. Howeverthe law already envisages measures for helping consumers to switch to digital, with more to follow in coming legislative proposals.
The head of the Directorate for Electronic Communication, Matjaz Jansa, revealed that Slovenia will be covered by at least eight multiplexes, four of which will be used for digital TV broadcasting. The operators of the multiplexes will be selected in public tenders, with the exception of the multiplex for public broadcasting, which is already in the process of building the network.
Slovenia has opted for the MPEG-4 standard for digital terrestrial TV broadcasts.
Back to top
No tax on US InternetThe US House of Representatives has voted unanimously to extend a tax moratorium that was first adopted to promote US Internet access in the early days.
The ban prevents local authorities from levying a number of potential Internet taxes, and is a victory for technology and telecommunications companies. While short of the permanent ban they had lobbied for, it still extends the suspension for a further seven years.
Back to top
IAC profit squeeze
IAC reported a 4.2 per cent drop in third-quarter net income amid higher costs as home-shopping channel HSN showed signs of a turnaround. IAC reported net income of $71.8 million, compared with $74.9 million, a year earlier. The latest quarter's results included a $5.9 million gain related to the sale of Home Shopping Network Europe earlier this year and a $2.7 million gain due to derivatives revaluation.
Revenue increased 7.4 per cent to $1.52 billion. Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Diller said. "Trends at our businesses are good, and particularly so at HSN… beginning to demonstrate the great retailing smarts that we knew they were capable of."
Part of the group, LendingTree, an online loan facilitator, swung to a loss on a 41 per cent slump in revenue amid fewer loans sold and closed. Loan-loss provisions soared to $8.2 million from $700,000.
Back to top
Alcatel-Lucent Q3Alcatel-Lucent has posted Q3 net losses of E258m on revenue down 7.8 per cent year-on-year at E4.35 billion. The group says the integration plan has seen 5,000 jobs cut in the year so far, with the company on track to achieve synergy-related pre-tax savings of E600m this year. It is to cut a further 4,000 jobs by 2009. CEO Pat Russo commented that results are "essentially in line" with earlier updates, but added, "they are still not at a level that we are satisfied with."
Back to top
Harmonic announced that TVN Entertainment Corporation, the world's largest television on demand company, has deployed Harmonic's CLEARcut offline content preparation software for creation of TVN's HD on-demand assets. Video is digitally compressed with Harmonic's DiviCom MV 500 MPEG-2 HD encoders and then formatted using the CLEARcut software for storage on video servers. CLEARcut is a part of Harmonic's MediaPrism application suite for on-demand asset creation that enables service providers to prepare content from any source‹tape, DVD, live broadcast or the Internet. The new solution allows TVN to support broadband, cable and telco service providers' desire to deliver more HD VOD content to consumers.
Back to top
Wednesday 31st October
NBC chief: ‘take a stand on iTunes’
AB to launch new platform from two satellites
BBC digital head defends iPlayer
Interest in Mobile TV continues to wane
Sirius narrows loss
NDS Results
ITV DVD in the Coolroom
Akamai HD showcase online
Babelgum streaming with CacheLogic
ROK rolls into India
BrightSpot.TV one millionth video milestone
NBC chief: ‘take a stand on iTunes’Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal’s chief executive, has warned that Apple’s iTunes digital media store was undermining the ability of traditional media companies to sell their content online at profitable rates, and he urged them to take a stand. "We know that Apple has destroyed the music business – in terms of pricing – and if we don’t take control, they’ll do the same thing on the video side," said Zucker.
Zucker said that it was "a relatively easy decision" for NBC to walk away from iTunes because it had only earned about $15 million (E10.3m) from the service last year in spite of accounting for about 40 per cent of the video sold on the site. As part of NBC’s push for more flexible online pricing, Zucker said he urged Apple for months to price one programme at $2.99 per download – as opposed to the current $1.99 – as an "experiment" but was rebuffed. Zucker also suggested Apple had rejected requests to share revenue from its sales of iPod devices, which are far more profitable than the digital media store.
Zucker emphasised that conventional media companies were struggling to develop economic models for new forms of digital distribution, and trying to ensure that a dollar of traditional revenue was not reduced to mere pennies in an online world.
Back to top
AB to launch new platform from two satellites
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisThe AB group is to launch a new digital satellite platform, called Bis Television, to be available simultaneously from the Hotbird and Atlantic Bird 3 satellites. The platform will consist of all (except for the time being M6 and W9 and i-Television) of the free DTT channels, plus a number of AB group’s own channels and the adult channel Dorcel TV. The platform will be launched at the beginning of December. Atlantic Bird is the satellite that carries the traditional channels in analogue and so is used by many people in poor reception areas. The service will be encrypted with Viaccess and compatible with over the counter Viaccess decoders and CAMs.
The price of the "Panorama" package of 24 channels will be E4.90 per month. Two optional add-on packages, one for movies and one for adult content, will be offered for E4.90 a month each, or E13.90 for all three. Atlantic Bird already carries all 24 of the France 3 regional channels and Hot Bird carries a number of free channels, some of which are in French, which will also be receivable on the new platform.
This platform competes with the free satellite platform (containing the DTT channels plus a couple of others) on sale from Canal Plus, but which does not enable upgrading to pay channels.
Back to top
BBC digital head defends iPlayerAshley Highfield, head of the BBC's Future Media and Technology unit, defended the iPlayer in an interview with silicon.com. Asked: "Has criticism of the iPlayer, both around non-PC versions and DRM, been fair?" Highfield replied: "No. It's understandable if we'd only ever intended to launch an XP-only iPlayer but that was never the plan. When we launch services we will always try to get to the largest part of that universe. The PC universe is the largest part of that. It was just the starting point. By Christmas we will have a streaming solution for Mac and Linux users. It was always part of our work plan but maybe we didn't communicate it fully or widely enough."
Back to top
Interest in Mobile TV continues to waneInterest in mobile TV remains very low, with just 1 per cent using it in the past 12 months and only 3 per cent saying they were likely to try it in the next year, according to Continental Research’s Autumn 2007 Mobile Report.
Mobile phone owners were asked whether they would prefer to have an ad-free package that required a relatively high subscription fee for the TV service, or have a free service that would have a considerable amount of advertising within the programming, or somewhere in between. Over half (53 per cent) didn’t express an opinion, reinforcing the view that the mobile TV is currently of relatively low interest. The most popular choice was the completely free option, favoured by over a quarter (27 per cent).
Back to top
Sirius Satellite Radio reported a narrower third-quarter loss and recorded a 50 per cent increase in new subscribers ahead of its planned combination with larger rival XM Satellite Radio. Sirius reported a loss of $120.1 million (E83.2m) for the three months ended September 30, compared with a loss of $162.9 million in the year-ago period. Revenues rose 45 per cent to $241.8 million from $167.1 million last year.
Sirius added 524,938 net subscribers to finish the quarter with 7.7 million, or 50 per cent more than a year ago. XM is larger with 8.6 million subscribers, but it has been growing more slowly than Sirius. Sirius said it expects to finish the year with more than 8 million subscribers.
Sirius said it planned to hold a shareholder vote on the planned acquisition of XM on November 13, the same day XM's shareholders are expected to vote. The deal is still facing regulatory scrutiny in Washington by Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission.
Average monthly churn edged up to 2.1 per cent from 2 per cent a year ago. For the first nine months of the year, Sirius posted a net loss of $399 million, versus a loss of $859.3 million, a year earlier.
Back to top
NDS ResultsNDS has announced its results for the first quarter ended September 30, 2007. Revenue for first quarter was up 25 per cent to $204.9 million (E142m) and operating income for first quarter was up 31 per cent to $58.3 million
Commenting, Dr. Abe Peled, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDS said, "Our business has seen continued strong performance across the board as our deliveries of new technology grew strongly and our deployments in developing markets continued to gather momentum."
Back to top
ITV DVD in the CoolroomITV DVD has signed an agreement to make more than 300 features from its movie library available for download to own and download to rent via the British online retailer Coolroom. Films from ITV DVD’s library will be available to consumers from £0.99 (E1.4) both on Coolroom’s download store on www.coolroom.com and on Coolroom’s IPTV channel across Microsoft Media Center.
Back to top
Akamai HD showcase onlineAkamai Technologies, global service provider for accelerating content and applications online, has launched TheHDWeb, a ‘proof-of-concept’ portal designed to showcase the experience consumers can have with high definition (HD) content online. The Website showcases content from a variety of industries including music, movies, professional sports, games and news.
Companies providing HD content for the initiative include Apple, BBC Motion Gallery, CBS, Gannett, MTV Networks, NBA and more.
Back to top
Babelgum streaming with CacheLogic
CacheLogic, provider of the Digital Asset Delivery Network, has confirmed that global Internet TV network Babelgum is using its Velocix network to deliver progressive video streaming of on-demand TV content. The Velocix Network is designed to enable content owners, movie studios, and broadcasters to deliver video and other large digital assets over the web.
Back to top
ROK rolls into India
ROK Entertainment Group, the UK-based specialist mobile applications developer, has launched its first streamed mobile TV deployment in India through local operator BSNL.
The service offers an initial portfolio of 6 channels to include English Music Channel (EMN), Hindi music channel (Geet), an entertainment channel (Bindaas), a Bollywood channel (Zoom), a live Hindi news channel plus a Regional Offering for each Zone from ETV networks. Dubbed "Tiny TV" the BSNL Mobile TV service is available for a monthly fee of INR 150.
Back to top
BrightSpot.TV one millionth video milestone
BrightSpot Media, creator of BrightSpot.TV, will surpass one million video ads served in the month of October. With BrightSpot.TV, consumers spend a few hours each month watching and interacting with commercials they find relevant and entertaining. These consumers originate from well established brands such as Gamefly, Napster, MLB.com, NBA, and XM Canada.
Back to top
Tuesday 30th October
Sky’s vote proposals unlikely to be enough
Hulu man says TV will premiere globally
Senators want network blocking probe
blinkx reports strong growth
BBC Worldwide confirms 30 new channels
Court becomes Tru
Radio chiefs demand digital switch date
SES Q3 results
Sky Broadband 1m subscribers
Bharti Airtel selects NDS for digital service
Sky’s vote proposals unlikely to be enoughVirgin Media says proposals by BSkyB to resolve concerns over its stake in ITV do not go far enough. The satellite broadcaster has offered to surrender some voting rights over a portion of its 17.9 per cent holding to address concerns raised by the Competition Commission. But Virgin Media insists that Sky should offload the entire stake.
The Commission has proposed that Sky sell all or part of its stake, but the regulator added that it was open to other solutions. Sky says its settlement would address the commission's main concern – that Sky could block a major share issue by ITV, which would need the approval of 75 per cent of votes cast. With typical voter turnout at 71 per cent, Sky could have a blocking stake. BSkyB is proposing to place 3 per cent of its voting rights in ITV with an independent trustee, who would be free to vote as it chose, without consulting Sky management.
BSkyB held meetings with the Competition Commission last week and, in a letter published on the regulator’s website, argued that with just 14.9 per cent of voting rights, it would not be able to block any strategic decisions at ITV. However, the suggestion is unlikely to convince the Commission, as it would be a "behavioural" remedy, a solution that the watchdog has already ruled out as ineffective.Virgin Media has also written to the Competition Commission saying that "the retention of any stake by BSkyB would be prob-lematic".
Back to top
Hulu man says TV will premiere globallyThe head of Hulu, the new online video joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp has predicted that television companies will follow the film industry’s lead, by releasing programmes simultaneously around the world.
Jason Kilar, chief executive of Hulu, which launches in a test phasethis week, said the explosion of online video made it inevitable the TV industry would also move towards simultaneous global distribution. Hollywood studios are releasing films at the same time in different markets to fight piracy. "Television is heading in the same direction. At the end of the day, the users will win and will get access to content on their own terms."Providence, the private equity group, has invested $100 million (E69m) in Hulu, which is a free, advertising-supported service. Unlike YouTube, Hulu will shun user-generated content in favour of programmes from NBC and News Corp-owned Fox. Hulu has also struck content deals with MGM and Sony.
Yahoo, Microsoft’s MSN network, Comcast, AOL and MySpace will also distribute content from Hulu on their own sites to ensure it reaches as broad an audience as possible.
Back to top
Senators want network blocking probe
Two U. Senators have called for a congressional hearing to investigate allegations that phone and cable companies are stifling communications over the Internet and on mobile phones.
Sens. Byron Dorgan, and Olympia Snowe, said the incidents involving several companies, including Comcast, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, have raised serious concerns over networks "power to discriminate against content."
They want the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to investigate whether such incidents were based on legitimate business policies or unfair and anticompetitive practices and if more federal regulation is needed.
"The phone and cable companies have previously stated that they would never use their market power to operate as content gatekeepers and have called efforts to put rules in place to protect consumers 'a solution in search of a problem,"' they said in their hearing request.
Comcast - the nation's number two Internet provider - has acknowledged "delaying" some subscriber Internet data, but said the delays are temporary and intended to improve surfing for other users.
Dorgan, earlier this year was among Senators who introduced legislation promoting "Net neutrality," the principle that all Internet traffic be treated equally by carriers.
Video search engine blinkx has reported positive financial results for the period ended 30 September 2007. Gross profit for the first half of 2008 was $2.2 million (E1.5m), with a gross margin of 74 per cent and daily searches have grown by 280 per cent.
Suranga Chandratillake, founder and CEO of blinkx, said: "We are pleased to report a strong performance throughout our initial reporting period, with revenues 23 per cent ahead of the top analyst forecast driven by significant growth in daily searches… The popularity of online video is at an all time high, and we are seeing the proliferation of not only user-generated content, but also professionally-produced, high-value programming from established media companies, such as CBS, NBC and News Corp."
Back to top
BBC Worldwide confirms 30 new channelsThe BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, is to launch a further 30 channels internationally, as well as a high-definition (HD) outlet and an on-demand service in the US, as part of its aggressive expansion plan.
The launches, which will be based on four thematic brands - BBC Entertainment, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle and children's outlet CBeebies. There will also be a mixed-genre HD channel. The 30 new channels will launch over two years from the beginning of April. They will join existing brands such as BBC America and BBC Canada to take Worldwide's channel count to nearly 70 in more than 16 countries.
Back to top
One of the best-known cable networks in the US is demolishing a 16-year-old brand in a bold bid to become even bigger. Court TV will become "truTV" in one of the biggest marketing makeovers in cable history. The network will abandon Court’s logo and its primetime "Seriously Entertaining" tag line in favour of a new insignia -- the word "tru" in bold ("true" didn’t test as well) attached to an encircled "TV" and the tag line, "Not Reality. Actuality."
During the third quarter, Court was up 39 per cent year to year in total primetime viewing, from 873,000 to 1.22 million viewers. That ranked it as the 15th-most-viewed cable network for the quarter. It was up 25 per cent in weekday daytime viewing, although daytime skewed about six years older and its audience was about one-sixth the size of primetime.
Back to top
Radio chiefs demand digital switch dateUK Radio chiefs have given warning that the Government’s failure to settle on a date to switch off analogue radio is "crippling the industry". They claim that carmakers will not take digital radio seriously and that investment in digital by radio groups will come to a halt unless a clear plan is drawn up.
Andrew Harrison, CEO of the RadioCentre, the commercial radio body, has recommended that a working party representing the Department for Culture Media and Sport, Ofcom, the BBC and commercial radio groups be set up by mid 2008 to discuss the issue.
Back to top
SES Q3 resultsSES has reported on its financial performance for the three months ended 30 September 2007. Revenue was E406.9 million. Operating profit was E175.9 million and Net profit was E138.8million
Romain Bausch, President and CEO of SES, commented: "Despite the introduction of additional satellite capacity via the move of ASTRA 2C to 28.2 degrees East, the group fleet utilisation rate has remained high, at 75 per cent. The growth of our operational business, coupled with some financial developments and our ongoing share buyback activities, translates intoa strong earnings per share growth through the year."
Back to top
Sky Broadband 1m subscribersSky has claimed that its Sky Broadband service has passed the one million customer mark. The milestone was achieved less than 14 months after the first Sky Broadband customer was connected - more quickly than any other UK broadband provider.
Back to top
Bharti Airtel selects NDS for digital serviceNDS, provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, has been selected by Bharti Airtel to provide a suite of digital broadcasting solutions for the launch of the company’s digital satellite service. Bharti Airtel announced recently that the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has granted the company a Letter of Intent, licensing the new DTH platform. NDS will provide Bharti Airtel with VideoGuard conditional access, MediaHighway middleware as well as a customised electronic programme guide.
Back to top
Monday 29th October
Google seeking partner for spectrum bid?
Spain to award a third Regional DTT multiplex
EchoStar Push/Pull VOD
SES Astra additional capacity for Sogecable
Asia-Pacific: 78% mobile TV viewers
3m subscribers for MobiTV
4oD strikes FX deal
Babel TV coming soon
Virgin Media boosts channel line-up
Google seeking partner for spectrum bid?Google is reported to be considering seeking a partner to bid for US wireless spectrum in the forthcoming auction. The Internet giant said it may commit more than $4 billion (E2.8bn) of its own money to any acquisition, with CEO Eric Schmidt describing the planned creation of a platform to run new digital services as the ‘Holy Grail’.
Analysts have speculated that a partnership with a company that has experience managing a telecom network would be a smart move for Google, if it does bid at the auction. Schmidt noted that there is an encroaching deadline to put a partnership together. "We won't make our final decision until the last minute," he said.
The auction is key to Google's general strategy of pushing for more open access to wireless airwaves, outside of the rigid control of the telecom and cable companies who traditionally bid on spectrum.
Back to top
Spain to award a third Regional DTT multiplex
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The Spanish Government is to award a third DTT multiplex to those Regional TV stations that need it to extend their coverage to neighbouring Regions. The State Secretary of Telecommunications, Francisco Ros, has announced the measure -still under consideration- meeting the demands of some Regions, such as Valencia, which has been demanding to receive the signal of the Catalonian TV channel TV3.
The Government is also willing to allow the distribution of pay-TV services through DTT, despite the fact that the present legislation prohibits it at the present time. "Given that the technology is available it is not ruled out that the Government may award authorisations", he said, to distribute pay-per-view services.
Several broadcasters have backed the idea with Mediapro, shareholder in La Sexta, even taking part in one the first pay DTT experiences in the country offering pay-per-view football content. The president of Mediapro, Jaume Roures, has even announced that the pay-per-view football matches would be offered at E1 per match, claiming to have TV rights to 38 Spanish Football teams in the country.
Back to top
EchoStar Push/Pull VODEchoStar is offering a ‘push and pull’ video on demand (VOD) service as part of its recently launched IPTV platform, ViP-TV. The launch of ViP-TV was announced earlier this week.
The VOD content for ViP-TV is based on EchoStar's existing VOD service, which is currently offered to DISH Network satellite TV subscribers. Because it is both a push and pull service, ViP-TV offers more movie and programming options than the current popular titles associated with a push-only VOD service.
Back to top
SES Astra additional capacity for SogecableSatellite operator SES Astra, has signed an agreement with Spanish pay-TV operator Sogecable to use an additional transponder. The transponder located at the prime orbital slot 19.2¾ East will allow Sogecable to transmit new digital TV channels as well as to broadcast in High Definition quality. With the new agreement, Sogecable has secured a total of 11 transponders with SES Astra on a long-term basis.
Back to top
Asia-Pacific: 78% mobile TV viewers
The Asia-Pacific region is leading the adoption of mobile TV broadcasting. according to a new report from analyst firm Berg Insight. About 38 million viewers – almost 78 per cent of the total mobile TV audience – was found in Japan and South Korea in mid-2007.
Berg suggests that these markets are several years ahead of Europe and North America where the development in most cases has been very slow. "We believe that regular mobile networks will remain the dominant carrier for mobile video, at least for the next couple of years", said Sabine Ehlers, associate analyst, Berg Insight.
The report contends that significant costs involved in establishing the infrastructure needed for dedicated mobile broadcast networks are expected to hold back large-scale launches in the greater part of Europe for number of years.
Berg Insight plays down the relevance of the current mobile TV standards war, predicting that multi-standard handsets and chips will eventually reduce choice of underlying network to a technical consideration only concerning the manufacturers and network operators. Additionally, the analyst firm foresees the possibility that in the long term, all technologies providing mobile TV and other video services, as well as radio services, will be IP-based.
Back to top
3m subscribers for MobiTVMobile television and service provider MobiTV has passed the 3 million global subscriber mark. The California-based company added its last one million customers in the past six months.
Back to top
4oD strikes FX dealChannel 4’s On-Demand service 4oD has inked a deal with FX, the Fox-owned entertainment channel.
The deal, only the second third-party deal Channel 4 has struck after its agreement with National Geographic, will see a range of programming available to download and watch from November 26 via a dedicated FX-branded area on 4oD. FX has committed to providing 4oD with 30 hours of programming a month which will include popular US shows such as 24 and The Wire. Episodes will cost 99p each.
Babel TV coming soonUK ISP Pipex founder Peter Dawe has confirmed that Internet TV service Babel TV will launch on November 6th. The service, which works by plugging a Babel TV box into a digital terrestrial Freeview aerial and broadband connection, combines Freeview, personal video recorder technology and Internet access. Babel TV will enable users to record and pause Freeview TV, as well as watch TV programmes from the Internet, surf and shop online. The Babel TV box will be available at a cost of £295 (E420) with 1 gig of memory costing £1 a month
BT launched its BT Vision hybrid DTT/broadband IPTV box in December 2006.
Back to top
Virgin Media boosts channel line-upCable operator Virgin Media has confirmed the addition of new children's, entertainment and movie channels from CSC Media and Sparrowhawk. Virgin Media TV customers are now able to receive Diva TV, Movies 24+ and the Pop and Tiny Pop channels.
Back to top
