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Our Latest Issues
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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 11th April
Convergence zero-sum
Google and Yahoo share ads
Ofcom launches PSB debate
Nintendo scores iPlayer deal
Spain's football war dampens PPV
ProSiebenSat.1 and IBM digital platform
10m coupons requested for US TV converter boxes
Oz DTV take-up sluggish
India CAS
E! reaches 75m homes with new deals
CNN on Samsung phones
Gemstar, TiVo agreement
CanalSat expands video over DSL with Harmonic
AFDESI looks out for interactive TV
Amdocs acquires Jacobs Rimel
Convergence zero-sum
From Nick Snow in CannesDespite France Telecom chief Didier Lombard’s assertion here that "telcos and media were made for each other," others are not so sure that the relationship will always prove profitable.
Didier Bonnet, head of TME at CapGemini, held that convergence can often be a zero-sum game, "more companies are operating in the same space but consumers are not transferring a larger share of income to the sector. There will be winners and losers."
Michel Messina, head of multimedia at Telefónica, went along with Lombard: "Owning content is the way to stay alive as a telco," he said, echoing Lombard’s assertion that media was the oxygen of telcos. But, as Hubert Kjellberg head of media at Ericsson pointed out, too many telcos are risk averse in this area, "they have not developed the expertise needed in the TV sector."
Blair Westlake, VP media at Microsoft, agreed it was not clear who was going to make money from convergence, "it’s like a plane that needs a lot of runway to take off and then we’ll all be learning to fly in the air."
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Google and Yahoo share adsYahoo and Google, the world's two largest search engines, have announced a two-week experiment that will see them share advertising space. During the pilot, Google will be able to place ads alongside 3 per cent of search results on Yahoo's website.
Analysts say the move is designed to frustrate Microsoft, which has offered to buy Yahoo, or extract a higher offer.
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Ofcom launches PSB debate
From Colin Mann in LondonUK comms regulator Ofcom has launched the first phase of its review of public service broadcasting (PSB). The review sets out alternative ways that PSB can be funded in the future to meet the demands of audiences, including content which is widely available, free at the point of use and which serves all communities within the UK.
Ofcom highlights four potential models for the future of public service broadcasting and content: Firstly, Evolution: the BBC, ITV1, Channel 4 and five continue to provide public service programming as they do now, though with either extra public funding or fewer obligations for the commercial channels; the second option is BBC only: ITV1, Channel 4 and five become purely commercial and the market provides competition to the BBC; the third potential model is BBC/Channel 4 plus limited competitive funding: the BBC and Channel 4 are the main UK-wide public service broadcasters with other providers bidding for limited long-term funding to provide additional competition to the BBC. The fourth model proposed by Ofcom is Broad competitive funding: A wide range of providers – not just ITV1, Channel 4 and five – bid for long-term funding to provide public service competition to the BBC.
Options outlined in the review for funding these models include: Government funding, from a variety of possible sources; the licence fee, either funding currently going to BBC services or the excess licence fee which contributes to the costs of switchover until 2012; Continued access to broadcasting spectrum and other regulatory benefits; Industry levies, such as those recently proposed in France. Any decisions for substantial change in the way PSB is provided or funded will be for Government and Parliament.
Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards said: "Public service broadcasting is at a crossroads. Viewers still want a mix of high quality UK-made content, but the traditional television model is not enough to meet all their needs. Today’s proposals outline options for a securely-funded PSB future. Now is the time for a wide-ranging debate looking carefully and dispassionately at all the options."
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Nintendo scores iPlayer dealThe BBC's iPlayer video service is now available via the Nintendo Wii. The video download and streaming service that lets people catch up with BBC programmes is now servicing as a channel through the popular game console.
Early versions of the service are available as of this week, but more polished software will be released as the service is developed. It marks the first time the iPlayer service has been accessible via a television set.
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Spain's football war dampens PPV
From David Del Valle in MadridThe fight between Sogecable and Mediapro, shareholder in La Sexta, over football TV rights is lowering the buy-rate of pay-per-view events in the Spanish TV market.
Over the last quarter of 2007, sales of PPV football events dropped by 36 per cent to 4.03 million sales, down 2.2 million the same period the previous year.
The most widely affected operator is Sogecable, owner of digital DTH platform Digital Plus (more than 2 million subscribers) that leads the PPV market with revenues of E409 million last year, 77 per cent of the total market. Other operators, such as Telefónica’s Imagenio (515,000 subscribers) and ONO (more than 1 million subscribers) are also suffering the consequences.The dispute over football TV rights is set to continue, with La Sexta persisting offering football matches for free, with Mediapro announcing the launch of a dedicated football TV channel to be up and running from next year.
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ProSiebenSat.1 and IBM digital platformThe ProSiebenSat.1 Group is setting up a pan-European digital platform in partnership with IBM. The aim is to build an all-digital, tapeless technology infrastructure that enables the delivery of TV programming to multiple platforms across Europe. The two companies have signed a ten-year outsourcing agreement with a value of over E200 million. IBM will take over and improve all of ProSiebenSat.1 Produktions IT business applications, IT and media systems.
ProSiebenSat.1 Group will establish a new playout centre in Munich. This together with the existing playout centre in London will transmit all the Group’s TV channels throughout Europe. In the course of the co-operation with IBM and the increased efficiency of a digital platform, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group is expecting savings of approximately E50 million over the next ten years.
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10m coupons requested for US TV converter boxesUS Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez has announced that over 10 million coupons have been requested since the launch of the TV Converter Box Programme.
The February 17, 2009 transition will offer consumers a clearer picture, more programming choices and free up the airwaves for better communications among emergency first responders. The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is administering the TV Converter Box Coupon Programme. "With ten million coupons requested, the TV Converter Box Coupon Programme is running strong," said Gutierrez.
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Oz DTV take-up sluggishResearch by the Australian Communications and Media Authority indicates only just over two out of five Australian households – 42 per cent – are watching digital television over the airwaves
"Take-up of digital free-to-air TV has risen steadily since its introduction in 2001, but significant numbers of the community have yet to make the switch from analogue," said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman. "This research gives us an insight into the reasons for the adoption and non-adoption of digital television, which will help guide the Federal Government, ACMA and broadcasters to effectively manage the transition from analogue to digital."
ACMA’s research suggests that even when viewers of digital subscription television services are combined with those watching over the airwaves, only just over half of households – 54 per cent – are receiving digital free-to-air television services. The research also indicates that digital capable TV sets now account for a quarter (25.7 per cent) of overall stock of televisions.
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India CASThe information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry of India has decided in principle to extend the conditional access system (CAS) for television in a phased manner across the country. The decision was finalised during a meeting between I&B ministry officials and representatives from all stakeholders including cable operators, multi-system operators (MSOs), direct-to-home (DTH) players and broadcasters.
It was also decided that the I&B ministry will soon convene another meet to fix the datelines for the extension of CAS in the remaining areas of the three metros and also to 55 other cities which includes all state capitals. Broadcasters, while supportive of CAS, would like crucial issues such as piracy to be sorted out before CAS is implemented.
Currently, CAS is operational throughout Chennai and in select notified zones in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. For consumers, the implementation of CAS implies that all cable TV viewers will soon have to purchase or rent a Set-top-Box (STB). The other option is to pay a higher sum for a DTH connection such as Dish TV and Tata-Sky.
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E! reaches 75m homes with new dealsComcast International Media Group has signed a number of channels deals in Africa and Europe for the E! International Network, the celebrity and entertainment channel.
New channel deals make the E! International Network now available in 75 million homes outside of the United States, with these latest partner additions: Multichoice (Africa's largest satellite television platform) in Angola and Mozambique; T-Com, Croatia’s top telecommunications provider offering IPTV; PT Telekom, the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal; SBB, the largest Serbian cable network operator; and Virgin Media, the UK's largest residential broadband provider.
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CNN on Samsung phonesCNN International and Samsung Electronics have joined to offer CNN’s new mobile Java application to consumers, exclusively pre-loaded into Samsung handsets from June 2008. The agreement between CNN International’s parent company, Turner Broadcasting System, and Samsung affords a six month window, where it will be the exclusive device manufacturer to host the Java service, which was launched in February. The partnership will be executed across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
Gemstar-TV Guide, and DVR service provider TiVo have entered into a new patent licence agreement for retail products and certain service provider deployments of the TiVo service in international markets. This agreement expands the existing relationship between the companies, which previously included a patent licence from Gemstar–TV Guide for TiVo’s retail distribution and service provider deployments in North America.
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CanalSat expands video over DSL with HarmonicHarmonic has revealed that Canal+ Group platform has expanded its ADSL video service with MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) based digital video solutions from Harmonic. The DiviCom Electra 7000 high definition (HD) and Electra 5400 standard definition (SD) high density encoders enable CanalSat to provide viewers with superior quality video at ultra-low bit-rates.
Using the Harmonic solution, CanalSat, can enhance its service portfolio to meet increasing demand for HD programming, expand the SD channel line-up and increase the number of households that have access to its ADSL video service.
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AFDESI looks out for interactive TVAFDESI (Association for the Development of Enhanced TV Services and Interactivity) will increase its mandate becoming a Global Organisation for the iTV Industry from May 1st 2008. The new professional body will represent the interests of companies active in the interactive television industry in France, the UK, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
AFDESI, is affiliated to the already well established French branch of AFDESI, which was created in 2000. The pan-European initiative is intended to create a strong, independent professional association in each territory that can act together, collaboratively when necessary, to provide a clear voice for the interactive television industry within the EU as well as internationally.
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Amdocs acquires Jacobs RimellAmdocs, provider of customer experience systems has acquired Jacobs Rimell, a provider of fulfilment solutions for the broadband cable industry for approximately $45 million in cash, net of cash on hand, subject to post-closing adjustments. With this acquisition, Amdocs continues to execute on its strategy of being the leader in customer experience systems for the broadband cable industry and the OSS market.
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Thursday 10th April
Lombard "we will triple play in every market"
BBC and ISPs escalate bandwidth clash
Fox buys into Utarget
City Media launches Balkans IPTV service
Ofcom tightens premium rate rules
Flikr goes video
EchoStar/NDS case in court
Belgacom HDTV
Oz DTV switchover in 2013
CBS to use CNN?
Ocean Blue HD interactive TV
MGM going HD in Israel
HBO HD on Virgin VOD
Lombard "we will triple play in every market"
From Nick Snow in CannesDidier Lombard, Chairman & CEO of France Telecom, followed the announcement of the a ‘triple screen’ multiple rights deal for Orange Cinema Series in France, with a keynote here at MIP in which he pledged Orange would pursue triple play in all its markets using whatever distribution was available.
In France Orange is using Eutelsat and Globecast to extend the broadband footprint for its IPTV service to rural areas, and for other markets Lombard said the mix might include WiFi or even microwave, what counted was making the same media content available across TV, PC and mobile via the same interface. He said this was something only telco companies were equipped to achieve because of their access to networks and their experience of dealing with individual customers.
He said more exclusive triple play content deals would follow the Cinema deal closed with Warner Bros and HBO, and he denied other studios were tied in to deals with Canal + "there is no monopoly in pay-TV now." He said more customer propositions, including the pricing and packaging of their recently acquired football rights, would be announced over the next two months.
Lombard also claimed he was relaxed about competition from browser driven P2P services, "these are complimentary, you use them for short clips, but if you want to watch a whole programme you want the guaranteed quality only IPTV can offer." He said he did not foresee a time when Orange as an ISP would want ‘shape’ customers, or content providers, bandwidth, "not until we have to deal with 3D HD, anyway."
He revealed UK is still a prime target for IPTV and triple play but put down the delayed launch to the relative inefficiency of Ofcom, implying BT needed a major hurry up on providing the broadband capacity required. He said he still expected a full IPTV service to be launched in UK before the end of the year.
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BBC and ISPs escalate bandwidth clashThe row about who should pay for extra network costs incurred by the iPlayer shows no sign of dying down. ISPs say the on-demand TV services put strain on their networks, which need to be upgraded to cope and they, and Ofcom, estimate that cost at £830 million (E1.13bn).
Ashley Highfield, head of future media at the BBC, confirmed he believes the cost of network upgrades should be carried by ISPs, whilst Simon Gunter, from ISP Tiscali, said the BBC should contribute to the cost. He said the BBC did not understand the issues involved.
Gunter is leading the call for the BBC to help pay for the rising costs. "The question is about whether we invest in extra capacity or go to the consumer and ask them to pay a BBC tax," he said. Highfield counters that services like iPlayer encourage more people to upgrade to broadband.
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Fox buys into UtargetFox Networks, the year-old online advertising network of News Corp, Fox Interactive Media, has bought control of European video ad network Utarget as part of a move to expand in Europe and Asia.
FIM is being viewed as a potential linchpin for global growth for MySpace as it seeks to generate more ad dollars from its estimated 110 million monthly unique visitors around the world. Fox sells unsold ad inventory across a network of sites owned by Fox and third-party sites to advertisers outside the United States. The division will be renamed Utarget.Fox.
Financial details of the purchase of a majority stake in Utarget were not available. Utarget operates an online video ad network comprised of more than 630 Web sites and generates most of its revenue in Britain. It also has an office in Germany, the company said.Its online video ad product lets advertisers run video ads in a separate window displayed beneath the page being viewed.
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City Media launches Balkans IPTV service
From Branislav Pekic in RomeBelgrade-based company City Media has launched an IPTV service with over 50 TV channels from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Montenegro.
Users need to install a special software (CityMediaPlayer) and have four options of connection speeds (250, 500, 750 and 1000 Kbps). Reception is also possible on TV sets (the set-top box is offered free of charge), via mobile phones with GPRS connections, as well as on i-Pods with a TV out connection. The service can be accessed free of charge for seven days, after which users have the option of a one month (E39) or three month (E87) subscription.
Currently, the channel line-up includes all Serbian national TV channels as well as Pink Film, Cinemania, Studio B, Eurosport Serbia, Art, Super TV, Panonija, Most, Palma Plus, Montenegro’s RTCG and Atlas TV, Croatia’s HRT 1, RTL Televizija, TV Nova, Bosnia’s Otvorena TV, OBN, Federalna TV, TVRS, ATV Banja Luka, Macedonia’s MRTV, as well as numerous music and local TV stations. The number of channels will be expanded to over 100 by the end of 2008.
City Media’s server has a capacity for 200 radio and TV channels, while the number of users than can simultaneously access the service is over one million.
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Ofcom tightens premium rate rulesUK regulator Ofcom is planning to strengthen the rules governing broadcast quiz, psychic and adult chat shows using premium rate telephone services (PRS). The new Broadcasting Code rules will ensure that programmes which invite viewers and listeners to interact or participate are not vehicles for promoting commercial, revenue-generating services. The rules will also ensure that viewers are adequately protected and that advertising is kept separate from editorial content, as required under European legislation.
The watchdog is proposing that: where PRS is used in a programme for audience participation, it is not given undue prominence within the programme; the programme must consist primarily of content other than the promotion of the PRS; the primary purpose of the programme must be editorial, and any commercial activity associated with the PRS, such as generation of call revenues, must be secondary to that purpose and broadcasters may only charge viewers via PRS call charges and not by other means.
The deadline for responses to the consultation is May 22. Some observers are already saying the proposals if adopted in full would mean an effective end TV channels designed only to capitalise on premium rate business.
Photo-sharing website Flickr has confirmed its to introduce video sharing. It says that videos would be limited to 90 seconds and 150Mb in size. "While this might seem like an arbitrary limit, we thought long and hard about how video would complement the flickrverse," said the company.
The Yahoo-owned photo site will be keen to differentiate its service from the video-sharing market leader, YouTube, and has been careful to integrate the service with the more cohesive Flickr community. Videos appear alongside photos in a Flickr user's photoset, but the video service will only be available to "pro" users of the site who pay $24.95 a year for more features and a bigger upload allowance.
Flickr was bought by Yahoo for $35m in March 2005 and is one of the web company's strongest web 2.0 propositions. The site topped 2bn photos in November and between 3m and 5m images are uploaded every day.
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EchoStar/NDS case in courtA US trial pitting EchoStar and its signal security provider NagraStar against NDS Group is underway in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. EchoStar and NagraStar are seeking $1 billion in damages in the, alleging that NDS compromised the conditional access technology utilised by the companies. EchoStar and NagraStar allege that NDS cracked their access card technology, and extracted proprietary codes within the system.
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Belgacom HDTVBelgian telco Belgacom will launch its high-definition television service next week, with video on demand as well as seven channels in HD. In the following weeks, the group will start broadcasting extra channels in HD as well as sporting events such as the Olympic Games in August.
Alcatel-Lucent has secured the contract to upgrade the group's infrastructure to a 'fibre-to-the-node' VDSL2 network, which will allow the operator to offer triple play and HDTV services to over 60 per cent of Belgian households.
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Oz DTV switchover in 2013Australia will switch to a digital television platform at the end of 2013, according to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy. "Digital switchover will be finalised by the end of 2013, however we still need to convert the nearly 60 per cent of Australians who currently do not receive digital free to air broadcasts," Conroy said. "There is a global trend towards digital television and it is important Australia is not left behind."
The Communications Minister said that the advisory group was making progress to establish ways of assisting Australians over to the new platform. Conroy last month announced a repackaged $38 million project to assist in the digital switchover. The new taskforce is made up of television networks, broadcasters, content makers and manufacturers.
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CBS News has been in discussions with Time Warner about a deal to outsource some of its news-gathering operations reports the NYT.
Over the last decade, CNN has held intermittent talks with both ABC News and CBS News about various joint ventures. But during the last several months, talks with CBS have been revived and lately intensified, according to the executives.
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Ocean Blue Software will shortly be releasing the first digital terrestrial TV system to provide High Definition interactive services. The development utilises the enhanced graphics capabilities of HD-ready televisions during interactive ‘red button’ sessions, giving consumers an enhanced viewing experience.
The company's Voyager MHEG-5 software will comply with the new HD specifications finalised last month by the Digital TV Group (DTG), the industry association for digital television in the UK. The HD MHEG-5 profile introduces the use of JPEG bitmaps, AAC audio (streams and clips) and improved colour map definitions that will all enhance the audio / visual experience. Additional changes to graphics have been made to ensure that any upscaling of SD MHEG applications to HD generate a high quality image on HD graphics planes.
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MGM going HD in IsraelMGM Networks is launching a high definition version of Israel’s The MGM Channel to subscribers starting this spring. While already reaching nearly every cable and satellite home across Israel in standard definition, the new HD version will be simulcast together with the existing standard definition channel.
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US network HBO is set to add HD content to its current line-up of shows available on UK’s Virgin Media’s Video on Demand service. Shows confirmed that will be receiving the HD treatment include The Sopranos and Band of Brothers.
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Wednesday 9th April
UK online advertising expenditure hits £2.8bn
Mediapro shoots for PPV football
ProSiebenSat.1 signs multi-year deal with Disney
Broadcasters call for stronger protection of CA services
Taiwan: Mobile TV broadcasters seek joint operations
Ascent online media marketplace
Media Broadcast brings mobile TV for Austria
India mobile TV entices Qualcomm
Estonia sets digital switchover date
RTL Group forms UFA Sports
BT appoints Livingston CEO
Enensys selects Skyline's DataMiner
GridNetworks GridCasting
UK online advertising expenditure hits £2.8bnOnline advertising has grown from being the smallest market sector in 2003 to the third largest in 2007, with a new high of £2.8 billion reports the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) - the UK online advertising trade body. This represents a 38 per cent year-on-year, like-for-like increase, taking the medium to a market share of 15.3 per cent (up from 11.4 per cent in 2006). Internet advertising spend in 2007 exceeded the most generous forecasts and is now larger than press classifieds and regional newspapers.
"To grow 38 per cent from £2 billion to £2.8 billion is a very powerful performance, and with 16 per cent share of media spend, the UK is head and shoulders above all other major world markets. It’s clear marketing directors now recognise the value of online to drive their business, and more and more are using rich media and video to build their brands, just as they do on TV," commented Guy Phillipson, Chief Executive of IAB.
In just three years online advertising spend has increased by £2 billion. In a relatively buoyant UK advertising market the Internet was the biggest driver of growth – accelerating nine times faster than the entire advertising sector, which experienced 4.3 per cent growth to reach £18.4 billion.
The findings reveal a continued healthy growth as online looks set to overtake spending on TV by the end of 2009.
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Mediapro shoots for PPV football
Local newspaper reports suggest that Spanish media firm Mediapro is planning to launch a competitively priced pay-per-view channel with exclusive football content. Such a move could impact rival Sogecable.
Mediapro's offer for 16 of the most popular weekend matches of the First Division at between E15 to E17 a month is far cheaper than the E12 that Sogecable, a unit of Prisa (PRS.MC: Quote, Profile, Research), charges per game.The plans were reportedly revealed on Catalan radio by Mediapro management, who said the new channel would be broadcast through cable TV or terrestrial digital TV.
Mediapro intends to offer the content from the next season at a reduced price. It will discuss broadcasting rights with a dozen of the 42 football clubs in the first and second divisions, including Real Madrid and Barcelona, reckoned to be the two most profitable for pay-TV.
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ProSiebenSat.1 signs multi-year deal with DisneyIn a multi-year agreement, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group has licensed the German Free TV rights for future TV entertainment from Disney-ABC International Television. This output deal with one of Hollywood’s most successful entertainment companies includes a wide selection of hit Disney content, including feature films and network series.
Through its ongoing relationship with Disney-ABC International Television, ProSiebenSat.1 channels will broadcast the German Free TV premieres of movies such as ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World´s End’ and ‘Wild Hogs’. The agreement also includes upcoming kids and family content, such as Disney Channel original movies. Also featured in the output agreement are new seasons of ABC Studios series, including ‘Private Practice’ and also the new drama series ‘Dirty Sexy Money’.
The companies have also closed their first deal for Subscription video-on-demand movies for ProSiebenSat.1´s video online store maxdome.
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Broadcasters call for stronger protection of CA servicesIn response to the public consultation on the Conditional Access Directive, the Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT) has called on the European Commission to further strengthen the Directive. The Conditional Access Directive was adopted in 1998 and plays a useful role in providing a high level of harmonisation of legal protection for conditional access based services.
The Directive aims at offering minimum standards of legal protection for conditional access services and should encourage the development of cross-border services across the EU. The majority of ACT member companies either already use, or may shortly introduce, services based on conditional access and/or Digital Rights Management systems for protection from unauthorised use.
Ross Biggam, Director General ACT, said that the Directive had proven to be a valuable tool to achieve harmonised conditions in a formerly fragmented market, and that protection from piracy benefited European businesses and consumers as well as trans-frontier broadcasting services. He further stressed that protecting broadcasting services against piracy was at the heart of the ACT’s concerns. "Piracy remains a major problem in countries bordering the EU. Commercial broadcasters therefore look forward to seeing the Conditional Access Directive adopted by countries aspiring to join the EU," he added.
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Taiwan: Mobile TV broadcasters seek joint operationsFour of the five trial mobile TV broadcast licensees in Taiwan have suggested to the National Communications Commission (NCC) that they be allowed to work together or establish a joint venture to operate mobile TV services on an integrated radio frequency band of 12MHz, according to industry sources.
The NCC issued five mobile TV broadcasting licences on a trial basis in November 2006, each assigned a 6MHz band covering either northern Taiwan or southern Taiwan, the sources indicated. The five trial broadcasting licensees are China Television (CTV), Public Television Service (PTS), Chinese Television System (CTS), Chung-Hwa Wideband Best Network (Tw-Airnet) and Taiwan Television Enterprise (TTV), with TTV adopting the Qualcomm-developed MediaFLO standard while the other four are using the DVB-H standard.
The four licensees adopting DVB-H would prefer to operate jointly or set up a joint venture to broadcast over a combined 12MHz band, the sources pointed out, as this will involve less investment and market risk than individual operations on two separate bands, the sources explained.
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Ascent online media marketplaceMedia distribution specialist Ascent Media Group (AMG) plans to build the first online marketplace that will give content owners and rights holders a platform to sell and distribute film, television, short films and other video content to web publishers, cable outlets, television networks and stations.
Ascent Global Media Exchange (GMX) will offer a platform to surface and monetise thousands of content assets currently locked away in vaults and warehouses. For media companies around the world, GMX will offer a library of video content that can be acquired in a seamless environment. For both parties, GMX will facilitate a shared interest in quickly and cost effectively bringing massive libraries of content into the marketplace to meet consumer demand for premium video content online and in other channels.
Sellers will be able to publish inventory, list licensing terms publicly if they choose or even offer content in blind auctions. Buyers can negotiate licensing terms and then choose the delivery format, whether DVD, digital asset, digibeta, mobile and more. In addition to providing this online marketplace, GMX will also be a community where buyers and sellers can connect to explore new business opportunities.
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Media Broadcast brings mobile TV for Austria
The international broadcast service provider Media Broadcast, holder of the Austrian DVB-H licence, and Österreichische Rundfunksender (ORS), service companies in the area or analogue and digital broadcast transmissions have confirmed an agreement for the prompt implementation of mobile TV. The core of the agreement is the co-operation of both media service providers in the development and operation of the nationwide DVB-H broadcasting network. The objective is to supply all Euro 2008 venues from the very beginning. This will allow the majority of the Austrian population to receive 15 domestic and international TV programs and four Austrian radio programmes in digital quality."We want to make Austria into a leading mobile TV market in Europe. The prerequisites for this are ideal and we have found another competent Austrian partner in ORS to help us achieve this goal," said Dr. Bertold Heil, manager of international DVB-H projects at Media Broadcast. "We assume that this will place an offer on the market that is an indispensable complement to the service portfolios of all Austrian mobile network operators."
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India mobile TV entices QualcommUS-based Qualcomm plans to enter the Indian mobile TV market as soon as the service is launched in the country. "We expect to roll out a mobile TV technology in India once the government draws up a policy and frees frequency for the service," Sachin Kalantri, senior staff engineer of Qualcomm India, told local newspaper The Telegraph.
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Estonia sets digital switchover dateThe Government of the Republic of Estonia has approved the draft Act drawn up by the Ministry of Culture to amend the Broadcasting Act. In accordance with the draft Act; in future, TV channels do not have to pay any fees for broadcasting licences and the Act establishes the term for switching off terrestrial analogue television to be June 2010.
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RTL Group forms UFA SportsEuropean entertainment network RTL Group has announced that it will be investing in an array segments of sports rights marketing again, and has re-established the marketing agency UFA Sports.
UFA Sports has its headquarters in Hamburg and will mainly be active in international marketing of media rights to sports events. UFA Sports will initially be managed by Philip Cordes, who will gradually expand the company’s management by other experienced executives. Cordes served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Sportfive Group from July 2004 to February 2007, after holding various executive positions at UFA Sports and later at Sportfive.
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BT appoints Livingston CEOBT Retail CEO Ian Livingston is to succeed Ben Verwaayen as CEO of BT Group on June 1, when he steps down after six years with the company. Livingston joined BT as group finance director in 2002 and became BT Retail CEO in 2005.
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Enensys selects Skyline's DataMinerEnensys Technologies, designer and manufacturer of solutions for mobile TV transmission and digital video over IP transport, has achieved DataMiner Strategic Partner status, subsequent to its selection of Skyline Communications’ flagship DataMiner multi-vendor network management platform for the end-to-end management of its solutions portfolio. DataMiner - one of the most advanced NMS available - will enable Enensys customers to create an end-to-end perspective on their systems, across any vendor or technology boundaries.
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GridNetworks GridCastingGridNetworks, provider of managed Internet television delivery services, has released its GridCasting technology platform. The release is designed to deliver a better viewing experience for online consumers, as well as improved service integrity, usage reporting, and analytics for content providers.
GridCasting is based on a suite of technologies that include the GridCast Connector consumer client application, and Grid Network Control – a network-hosted system that orchestrates real-time service management and network-friendly video streams. Grid Network Control and GridCast Connectors work in tandem to ensure that millions of viewers can simultaneously watch television programming from Internet broadband connections, and have a compelling television experience without the re-buffering or interruptions that typical Internet video streaming suffers from.
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Tuesday 8th April
UK spectrum auction confirmed
Setanta price puts off suitors
Microsoft delivers Yahoo ultimatum
Sogecable performs well
US speed up in TV piracy battle
Brightcove partners with Bebo
Orange cinéma séries
NHK On Demand for J:COM
Turner joins Premiere Star
RUSH HD debuts on Sky
ESPN, Sky Italia content agreement
BSkyB appoints Griffith finance director
UK spectrum auction confirmedOfcom has confirmed plans for the UK’s single-largest release of radio spectrum to date, suitable for a range of new services such as mobile broadband and advanced wireless services delivered using WiMAX and 3G technology.
Ofcom will release the spectrum in the 2010-2025 MHz and 2500-2690 MHz bands (known as 2.6 GHz) on a technology and service neutral basis. In total 205 MHz will be available and Ofcom expects to start the auction process in the summer.
There are a number of potential uses of the 2.6 GHz spectrum including mobile broadband wireless services. These can offer high-speed, high-capacity mobile data connections enabling the delivery of advanced mobile services using technologies such as WiMAX or evolutions of 3G technology.
The auction has been designed to offer the maximum flexibility in the way that the bands can be used and all licences will be tradable. In comparison to other Ofcom spectrum awards for mobile applications, the properties of the spectrum at 2.6 GHz mean that operators will be able to deploy wireless broadband services offering very high speed and capacity.
The release of this spectrum is part of a wider Ofcom programme to release around 400 MHz of prime spectrum to the market over the next few years, creating opportunities for new innovation and new competition in wireless services.
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Setanta price puts off suitorsSetanta Sports, the Ireland-based pay-TV channel, has stopped possible sale talks after potential bidders balked at its high price. The group admitted in February it would look at offers after several expressions of interest were made, including from BT, ESPN and US telcos. Setanta asked Goldman Sachs, a 20 per cent shareholder and its adviser, to examine the approaches.
But bidders have been put off by Setanta’s £1 billion (E1.36bn) price tag. The group’s shareholders are Balderton Capital, the London-based venture firm, Doughty Hanson, the private equity firm, and Goldman Sachs, which have all supported the company since 2005. Their investment values the group at about E600 million including debt. Setanta is expected to break even this year, with revenues of about E500 million. It made its big breakthrough by paying £392 million (E537m) for rights to selected English Premier League football matches.
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Microsoft delivers Yahoo ultimatumMicrosoft has given Yahoo three weeks to accept its $31 a share takeover bid - or the software company will approach the Internet firm's shareholders directly. Microsoft warned it may lower its price if it has to "go hostile" with its offer.
However, Yahoo continued to reject Microsoft's $44.6 billion unsolicited bid for the company. The Internet company is not opposed to some sort of financial deal, but the current offer is too low, chairman Roy Bostock and chief executive Jerry Yang said responding to Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer.
Bostock and Yang pointed to Yahoo's three-year financial plan, its new AMP advertising management platform and the fact that the company recently reaffirmed its first-quarter and year-end outlook as reasons they believe the Microsoft bid was low.
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Sogecable performs well
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Spain's largest pay-TV group Sogecable, owner of digital DTH platform Digital Plus and commercial TV channel Cuatro, has declared a Q1 net profit of E16.3 million, up from E1.2 million a year earlier. First-quarter revenues rose to E507.5 million from E478.8 million the previous year, with an EBITDA of E73.8 million from E62.7 million, and EBIT of E44.8 million euros, up from E23.2 million.
The company said that the revenue for the first quarter were boosted by revenue gains at both its pay-TV arm, Digital+, up to E433.4 million from E418.1 million, and at its Free-to-air channel Cuatro, which posted revenues of E74.1 million, after E60.7 million a year earlier. Subscribers for Digital+ rose to 2.08 million T March 31 up from 2.065 million at the end of December. Advertising revenues rose to E76.8 million from E65.1 million a year earlier.
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US speed up in TV piracy battleUS media groups are attempting to speed up the overseas distribution of their leading television programmes to contain a rapidly-growing piracy fuelled by online video portals. NBC Universal is planning, as part of that effort, to expand on an agreement it inked last year with France’s TF-1 in which viewers were offered paid-for access to subtitled episodes of Heroes just a day after their US premiere. Disney has a similar pact with TF-1 and another in Finland, while others are expected to follow suit. They are also aiming for more synchronised releases in English-speaking markets so episodes make their debut in the UK, Canada and Australia within days, rather than months, of the US.
The moves are another sign of Hollywood’s growing reliance on international markets when high-priced talent and lavish special effects are pushing up production costs. Some network executives estimate that foreign markets now account for up to half of some programmes’ revenues.
Studios have traditionally taken months to export hit shows – in part because of the need to dub programmes into local languages and create marketing campaigns. However, media executives are worried because many fans, unwilling to wait, are increasingly turning to YouTube and illegal file-sharing sites to watch TV programmes.
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Brightcove partners with BeboInternet TV platform Brightcove has announced a partnership with global social media network, Bebo, enabling its media customers to distribute online video content to Bebo’s 40 million plus members, while retaining control over their advertising inventory and 100 per cent of the related revenues.
The partnership will make it easy for any media company using the Brightcove Internet TV platform to programme and syndicate video content within Bebo. This gives users the ability to store and curate within their personal profiles their favourite music and video content; and virally distribute that content throughout their 'friends network' and the wider Bebo community. Brightcove customers already taking advantage of the distribution opportunity include UK broadcasters Channel 4 and ITV.
Brightcove has also confirmed similar deals with Veoh, Slide, RockYou and Meebo.
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Orange cinéma sériesOrange has announced Orange cinéma séries, its new service set to offer premium television on TV, PC and mobile. The service will be launched in France in the 4th quarter of 2008.
Orange will offer a wide range of exclusive films and new TV series, as well as titles from catalogues thanks to multi-year deals with Warner Bros. International Television, HBO, Gaumont and Fidélité Films. Orange cinéma séries will be offered as an option on Orange TV, available on broadband Internet or, if need be, by satellite. Orange broadband TV coverage will be supplemented by satellite access following a deal signed with GlobeCast, another FT subsidiary, and Eutelsat. The service will also be available for PC and mobile viewing.
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NHK On Demand for J:COMJupiter Telecommunications (J:COM), the largest multiple system operator (MSO) in Japan, has confirmed that beginning December 2008, NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster, will provide NHK on Demand distribution service via J:COM On Demand service.
NHK on Demand is a paid service that allows viewers to enjoy the NHK television programming of their choice, at their convenience. Viewers will be able to watch high-definition quality programming via J:COM On Demand in two forms: NHK Archives Selection and Catch-up Programmes. NHK Archives Selection will offer selected past programmes from NHK’s vast library of over half a million titles. Catch-up Programmes will provide programs that have been broadcast within a week via five terrestrial and satellite NHK channels. 10 to 15 daily programmes and major news programmes will be available to viewers who have missed them for a period of a week after they are originally broadcast.
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Turner joins Premiere StarTurner Broadcasting Systems joins the minority shareholders in the German DTH pay platform Premiere Star. The company will acquire 8.5 per cent of the shares. Premiere Star distributes three of the Turner channels, Turner Classic Movies, Boomerang and Cartoon Network. At the moment, the platform has some 170,000 subscribers.
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RUSH HD debuts on SkyVOOM HD Networks has launched its 24/7 linear RUSH HD channel on Sky’s digital satellite platform. RUSH HD, a high-definition channel devoted to extreme sports and adrenaline-filled travel, debuts as part of Sky’s HD channel line-up this week. The launch of RUSH will increase the number of dedicated linear HD channels available on the Sky platform to 17.
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ESPN, Sky Italia content agreementESPN has entered an agreement with Sky Italia, which includes the launch of its North American Sports Network (NASN) on the Sky Italia platform and extensive syndication of ESPN programming on Sky Sport in Italy. The agreement makes Italy the 40th country where sports fans can watch NASN. The deal also marks ESPN’s largest-ever International HD programming syndication deal, with more than 800 hundred hours annually of HD sport coverage to be syndicated across Sky’s platform, constituting a majority of HD sport programming on SKY in Italy.
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BSkyB appoints Griffith finance director
BSkyB has appointed Andrew Griffith as finance director. Griffith has worked in a variety of finance jobs at Sky since joining the company in October 1999 after a stint at investment bank Rothschild. Most recently he has been the Sky director of group finance, M&A and investor relations.
Separately, Sky has appointed Danny Rimer, a partner at venture capital firm Index Ventures, as an independent non-executive director.
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Monday 7th April
BBC threatens ISP blacklist
TalkTalk rejects ‘3 strike’ rule
TNTop, low-cost pay TV to launch in mid-May
RAI to air Euro 2008 in HDTV
Setanta, Eircom, TV3 for Irish DTT
FiM under-performing
Globo for French IPTV
Vode distribution deal with Paramount
Escalating the controversy on OTT services, the BBC is threatening to name and shame any ISP that tries to "traffic shape" iPlayer content. The BBC is afraid ISPs are going to employ traffic management in reaction to the number of Internet users downloading material from the iPlayer. It comes after ISPs have complained that the extra traffic caused by the iPlayer has tripled their overhead costs. Ofcom has estimated that the cost of improving infrastructure to cope with the demand could reach £830 million (E1.15bn) by 2011, and ISPs want the broadcaster to pay a "congestion charge".
Ashley Highfield, BBC's director of future media and technology said a charge is not the answer and ISPs should just offer completely unlimited broadband services. "They are already charging their customers for broadband to receive any content they want. ISPs should be clearer in their marketing. Unlimited broadband should mean unlimited. Content providers, if they find their content being specifically squeezed, shaped, or capped, could start to indicate on their sites which ISPs their content worked best on (and which to avoid)."
Highfield did concede that the BBC could make things easier for ISPs by "book-marking" shows so that episodes are automatically downloaded during "off peak" evening hours.
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TalkTalk rejects ‘3 strike’ ruleTalkTalk, the UK Internet service-provider owned by Carphone Warehouse, has rejected demands from the music and film industries that it should police the Internet and cut off some broadband customers in an attempt to stem the flood of illegal file-sharing.
The record industry, in the form of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), has suggested persistent illegal file-sharers should be warned by their service providers and then be cut off under a "three strikes and you're out" rule, and the government has hinted it will bring in legislation to this effect, if necessary. But TalkTalk has written to the BPI to reject the scheme outright, branding it "unreasonable and unworkable" and warning it will take "every practical and legal step to defend its customers."
"The music industry has consistently failed to adapt to changes in technology and now seeks to foist their problems on someone else," said Carphone Warehouse's chief executive, Charles Dunstone. "Rather than threatening us, the BPI's time would be better spent facing up to the reality of our times and adapting its business model accordingly. "I cannot foresee any circumstances in which we would voluntarily disconnect a customer's account on the basis of a third party alleging a wrongdoing."
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TNTop, low-cost pay TV to launch in mid-May
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisA new pay TV service will be marketed for French DTT from mid-May by Vest@vision, called TNTop. It will provide seven pay channels (Eurosport, Planete, LCI, Canal-j, Paris Premiere and AB1), in addition to the 18 free and assorted local channels for E8 per month. The premium channel TPS Star costs an additional E18.90. The same subscription card and decoder can be used for Canal Plus, at its standard price.
The service will use a specific HDTV –compatible decoder (MPEG4) manufactured by Sagem and featuring Viaccess 3.0 encryption. The unusual feature of the service is that the decoder is sold at a subsidized price of E99 (the competing company TVnumeric rents its decoders), for a commitment to subscribing for 12 months. At the end of the period, the subscriber can keep the decoder and use it for the free channels, including the free HDTV channels. The decoder also has an IP port for future expansion and interactivity.
Vest@vision is experienced in pay TV, since it was created by former Canal Plus employees and its main shareholder is the UK’s Top Up TV, holding around 90 percent of the capital. The service hopes to sell 100,000 decoders within a year and reach 500,000 subscribers by 2011. The service is aimed at people who do not have ADSL, cable or satellite, and also at the growing number of people who purchase HDTV screens.
RAI to air Euro 2008 in HDTV
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItalian public broadcaster RAI will transmit the Euro 2008 Football Championships, taking place in Austria and Switzerland from June 7 to 29, in High Definition in the regions of Valle d’Aosta and Sardinia, as well as in the cities of Milan, Rome and Turin.
The tournament will be transmitted on analogue TV in the traditional 4/3 format and will also be simulcast on digital terrestrial (multiplex B) in the 16/9 format in high definition. This will, in effect, be the first regular HD transmission on DTT in Italy, after trials launched by Mediaset (Rete4 HD) on the occasion of the switch-off in Cagliari (Sardinia) in March 2007.
According to the head of digital terrestrial services at RAI, Luca Balestrieri, over the past 12-18 months, the market of HDTV sets in Italy registered an unexpected growth, with nearly four million units sold.
After Euro 2008, RAI plans to continue HDTV transmissions of other sports events, such as the Road Cycling World Championships taking place in Varese this September. Regular HD broadcasts will initiate in 2009, in the all-digital areas.
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Setanta, Eircom, TV3 for Irish DTTA consortium is to bid for all three commercial multiplexes being offered by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland on the country’s DTT network. The members are telco Eircom and broadcasters TV3 and Setanta Sports. The Irish Times says the partners will submit a joint bid for all three commercial multiplexes. A fourth multiplex is being gifted to the public broadcaster RTE.
The regulator has indicated that it would consider applications for both individual multiplexes and the set of three, but has an open mind as to how it will make the final award.
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FiM under-performingOnline advertising at Fox Interactive Media (FiM), the News Corporation division that controls MySpace, has failed to grow as quickly as expected this year, leaving the unit likely to miss a $1bn revenue target.
Rupert Murdoch, News Corp chairman, has said he would be "surprised" if FIM revenues did not exceed $1bn this fiscal year. However, FIM is not now expected to meet the target by the end of its financial year in June.
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TV Globo International, the multi-territory Brazilian programming station, has taken up its own IPTV channel in France following a deal with IPTV operator Neuf Cegetel. Globo programming is now available on channel 509 in Neuf Cegetel's catalogue, and can be accessed on television via the provider's set-top box. The channel will be free to subscribers during April before assuming premium positioning in May.
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Vode distribution deal with Paramount
Vode, the UK based digital content processing facility for IPTV and VoD has announced its latest digital storage and distribution deal with Paramount Comedy to digitise and deliver an initial 80 hours of content for the BT Vision platform. Titles to be made available on BT Vision include South Park, That 70's Show and World Stands Up.
