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Our Latest Issues
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Tuesday
Friday 15th February
News Corp in for Yahoo?
Comcast defends traffic throttles
IP rights should be taught in school
FCC pressures retailers
Eutelsat profits up
ProSiebenSat aborts HD
MTG Q4
Mobiles with DTV surpass 20m in Japan
Three ISPs sign to ad platform
TBS and VTR to launch CNN Chile
Green Virgin portal chief
Wagstaff named ITV digital productions director
Inuk signs up 40,000+ users
News Corp in for Yahoo?According to the WSJ, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has joined the fight for control of Yahoo. The idea seems to be Yahoo will combine with News’s Myspace business and News will take at least a 20 per cent share in the combined business.
The deal might well make sense for News Corp; MySpace which it bought cheaply some years ago now has a massive value thanks – ironically – to the huge amount paid recently by Microsoft for a small share in Facebook. But it remains relatively uncertain how the social networking sites are going to turn value into earnings. Yahoo, on the other hand, had earnings but a declining value because it suffers by comparison to Google – this despite the fact it actually has five times as many email customers.
However, most analysts don’t rate News Corp’s chances and expect Microsoft to raise its offer sufficiently for the Yahoo board to approve it.
Comcast defends traffic throttles
Comcast Corp has told US regulators it uses reasonable measures to manage traffic moving over its broadband service as some of its customers overwhelm the network by using file-sharing applications like BitTorrent. Comcast, which is the second largest US Internet service provider with more than 13 million subscribers, said the use of network management was essential to avoid congestion and impairment of some applications such as online video sites Joost and Veoh.
Comcast was speaking as the ‘net neutrality’ bill was introduced on Capitol Hill (see news 14.02.08).
Meanwhile, the cable giant posted a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter, rolled out another big stock buyback plan and said it will pay a quarterly dividend for the first time. Comcast made $602 million, up from the year-ago $390 million. Revenue rose 14 per cent from a year ago to $8.01 billion.
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IP rights should be taught in school
Microsoft has released the results of a survey that found teenagers are less likely to illegally download content from the Internet when they know the laws for downloading and sharing content online.
About half of those teens, however, said they were not familiar with these laws, and only 11 per cent of them clearly understood the current rules for downloading images, literature, music, movies and software. Teens who were familiar with downloading rules credited their parents, TV or stories in magazines and newspapers, and Web sites — more so than their schools — as resources for information about illegal downloading.
"Widespread access to the Internet has amplified the issue of intellectual property rights among children and teens," said Sherri Erickson, global manager, Genuine Software Initiative for Microsoft. "This survey provides more insight into the disparity between IP awareness and young people today and highlights the opportunity for schools to help prepare their students to be good online citizens."
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FCC pressures retailersThe Federal Communications Commission continues to target retailers in the efforts to inform consumers about switchover. In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the agency has inspected 1,829 retail stores and websites and has issued 316 citations notifying retailers of violations for failing to comply with DTV labelling requirements. The fines total almost $4 million, he said.
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Eutelsat profits upEutelsat Communications said first half net profit was E94.7 million, up from E79.9 million a year earlier, driven by strong business growth from two key sectors using satellite communications, digital TV and high-speed internet. EBITDA was E349.2 million, up from E329.6 million. Sales were E429.4 million, up from E415.3 million.
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ProSiebenSat aborts HDGerman commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 has opted to halt simulcasting the HD versions of its two main channels, ProSieben and Sat.1, on Astra. No official reason has been given for the termination of the HD broadcasts, but it likely arises from a lack of suitable receivers, the additional costs and the inability to increase advertising revenues through HD.
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MTG Q4Modern Times Group posted a 40 per cent increase in fourth quarter pre-tax profit to a better-than-expected SEK607 million, helped by organic sales growth, acquisitions, and sharply increased margins at its free-to-air Scandinavia and Central and Eastern Europe divisions.
For the full year group sales were up 12 per cent year on year to SEK 11,351 million and Group operating income up 14 per cent year on year to SEK 2,027 million with an operating margin of 18 per cent.
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Mobiles with DTV surpass 20m in Japan
Cumulative shipments in Japan of mobile phone handsets with the one-segment terrestrial digital broadcasting function topped 20 million units as of the end of December, reports the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association
Domestic shipments of handsets that can receive terrestrial digital television broadcasts reached 20.47 million units at the end of 2007. The number of mobile phones with the function has increased substantially in recent months as mobile phone service providers including NTT DoCoMo Inc. introduced a variety of new handsets that can receive TV broadcast for the winter shopping season.
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Three ISPs sign to ad platform
Three of the UK’s largest Internet Service Providers have signed up to use a new advertising platform that will give them a slice of the growing online targeted ad market.
BT, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse's TalkTalk have signed up to use a system created by Phorm that connects advertisers, Web sites and the ISPs to produce more targeted advertising based on a user's anonymous browsing trends. Phorm believes advertisers will be willing to pay more to place ads on Web sites signed up to the Open Internet Exchange (OIX) marketplace, because the adverts will be more relevant to the user based on their previous searching habits. The system will only remember the subjects a user has examined, and link that to a user profile, meaning the actual user and their Internet number remain anonymous.
TBS and VTR to launch CNN Chile
Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) and VTR, a division of Liberty Global, will partner to launch CNN Chile, the first 24-hour, pay television news network specifically programmed for the Chilean market. The channel is scheduled to debut this year.
TBS Latin America and VTR are equal partners in CNN Chile, which represents the first joint-venture of its kind in Latin America for both companies. CNN Worldwide has successful partnership channels in other parts of the world, including CNN+ in Spain; CNN Turk in Turkey; CNNj and CNN.com.jp, both in Japan; and CNN-IBN in India.
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Virgin Media has appointed Alex Green as MD of its portal, responsible for accelerating growth of Virginmedia.com. Green takes on a new role within Virgin Media, which the media company says is unrelated to the departure of its director of portal Chris Bunyan, who leaves the company this week.
Green will be charged with overseeing and developing the strategy for the portal, which is the UK's tenth most visited site, with more than 8m users a month, according to ComScore.
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Wagstaff named ITV digital productions directorITV has appointed Patricia Wagstaff to the new post of director for digital productions. Wagstaff joins ITV Productions from the US cable network HBO. She has also worked as vice-president at the web video site iFilm.com. The new role will see her develop ITV content for new platforms and technologies, working as part of Dawn Airey's global content division.
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Inuk signs up 40,000+ usersInuk Networks claims 40,000 students are now receiving digital television through the company’s Freewire TV IPTV service. The current size of the Freewire TV customer-base means the company more than doubles the total number of UK viewers who receive linear television using IPTV as the delivery mechanism.
Freewire TV is supplied free at the point of entry to students with access to the JANET high speed network which connects all UK universities.
Thursday 14th February
ISPs snub three strike plan
Mobile TV viewers flee
National TV losing out to DTT and IPTV
Net neutrality bill underway
DirecTV up on quarter
China Mobile backs LTE
Orange and T-Mobile UK mobile TV pilot
HD gives digital pay TV a boost
$6.6bn broadband ad revenue by 2012
NAB Fights Satellite Radio Merger
Yahoo buys Maven
Disney acquires 20% of Vocento
Motorola navigates mobile TV
HP man for News Corp
Hauppauge and Setanta deliver sport on PCs
Irdeto China deal for 2m smart cards
Telenor's THOR 5 successfully launched
NXP solution brings H.264/MPEG 4 to iDTV
ISPs snub three strike planThe body representing internet service providers in the UK has cast doubt on government proposals to make them responsible for identifying and punishing illegal music and video downloaders. The Internet Service Providers’ Association opposes the idea that it should take responsibility. "ISPs are no more able to inspect and filter every single packet passing across their network than the Post Office is able to open every envelope," it said.
"ISPs deal with many more packets of data each day than postal services and data protection legislation actually prevents ISPs from looking at the content of the packets sent." But Jean Berbinau, the general secretary of the Autorité de Regulation des Mésures Techniques, charged with drawing up the French law, welcomed the UK move and bodies representing the music industry such as Ifpi, formerly the International Federation of Phonographic Industries and the BPI, or British Phonographic Industry, applauded the proposals.
A survey of mobile subscribers in Europe and North America by M:Metrics study, commissioned by Tellabs, highlights a $270 million opportunity - but only if operators meet user demands for quality and reliability improvements in the coming 12 months. This conservative revenue projection is based on operators reversing an alarming trend: former mobile TV users grew 68 per cent in 2007, outpacing the growth of the total market (36 per cent).
After price, mobile users still cite quality and reliability as the second most important reason for their disenchantment. Yet those ex-users grant operators a clear window of opportunity: 60 per cent would pay to watch mobile TV again if service quality and reliability significantly improved in the coming year. By regaining just half the potential market lost due to quality and reliability issues, operators could secure the revenue projection."Users decide which new services succeed, not the industry," said Pat Dolan, vice president Tellabs for EMEA, "It's challenging for operators to make a living as mere pipe vendors," added Dolan. "By offering mobile content users enjoy, operators can increase revenue. Yet this necessitates network enhancements, as acceptance of high-bandwidth services depends on the quality, reliability and capacity of the mobile backhaul. Tellabs is working with many operators in addressing these issues, and we are confident the industry will progress further."
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National TV losing out to DTT and IPTV
From Branislav Pekic in RomeDuring 2007, the main European countries have further consolidated the long term trend that sees analogue terrestrial TV channels loosing audience ratings in favour of DTT and especially IPTV.
According to the Milan-based e-Media Institute, in the UK digital TV penetration has surpassed 85 per cent (figures from the end of June 2007, with the five national analogue channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five) registering a net loss of 3.2 per cent compared to 2006. This trend is confirmed in France, where the national channels have lost 3.7 percentage points of the audience share, dropping from 82.8 per cent in 2006 to 79.1 per cent in 2007.
In Italy and Spain the trend seems to be more contained. The accumulated audience share of the seven Italian national terrestrial TV channels dropped 1.7 percentage points compared to 2006. In Spain, the audience share of the national and "autonomous" channels in 2007 fell by 1.1 percentage points to 86.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, DTT has become the second digital TV platform in Europe, with 25 million households (compared to 37 million satellite homes), while digital cable and IPTV have 13 million and 4 million, respectively. The e-Media institute estimates that the five leading European TV markets could have more than 8 million IPTV subscribers in 2010 (compared to the current 3.5 million).
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Congressman Edward Markey introduced his bill that would change federal laws to make sure Internet traffic has protections similar to phone calls, which companies are required to connect without hesitation. The "Internet Freedom Preservation Act," says it is the policy of the US to "maintain the freedom to use for lawful purposes broadband telecommunications networks, including the Internet, without unreasonable interference from or discrimination by network operators." The bill would give the Federal Communications Commission more authority to police Internet providers to make sure they're delivering traffic fairly.
Meanwhile, comments are due at the FCC in the agency's investigation of complaints that Comcast is deliberately slowing some Internet traffic, as well as a broader look at what should be done about such complaints in the future.
The stepped-up efforts by regulators and lawmakers to enforce what tech-industry officials call "net neutrality" come as an explosion in downloading of online video is prompting cable and phone companies to rethink their Internet pricing models, opening the door for fee plans based on the extent of usage.
Cable and telephone companies say their networks are being overwhelmed by huge increases in video downloading. In December, a record 10 billion videos were viewed online, researcher comScore reported.
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DirecTV reported that fourth quarter 2007 revenues increased 17 per cent to $4.88 billion, and operating profit increased 4 per cent to $617 million compared to last year's fourth quarter.
"DirecTV's content and service leadership continue to drive superior results in a tougher marketplace that reflects increasing competition and a slowing economy. Advanced services--including the launch of the industry's best HD programming--played an increasingly important role in DirecTV US's top-line and bottom-line results," said Chase Carey, president and CEO of The DirecTV Group.
"Strong net subscriber additions of 275,000 were punctuated by the lowest monthly churn rate in eight years. This 15 basis point reduction in monthly churn to 1.42 per cent was largely due to the significant growth in customers with HD and DVR services--increasing from about 30 per cent of our subscriber base last year to over 40 per cent this year--as well as tighter credit policies. The continued strong subscriber growth coupled with an 8.3 per cent increase in ARPU drove revenues. As with churn, the strong ARPU growth reflects the improving quality of our customers who are purchasing an array of new services."
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China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile phone operator, is to lend its support to LTE, the wireless broadband standard that looks set to become the flagship 4G technology. LTE, or Long Term Evolution, is gaining strong momentum as the next generation wireless technology to provide super-fast web surfing on mobiles.
Arun Sarin, Vodafone’s chief executive, said it would join China Mobile and Verizon Wireless, the second-largest US mobile operator, to promote LTE. It suggests LTE will emerge as the leading 4G technology, rather than WiMax or Ultra Mobile Broadband, which are the main alternatives. Sarin said WiMax should be harmonised with LTE, adding that Vodafone is planning to roll out 4G networks from 2010.Alcatel-Lucent, the Franco-American telecoms equipment maker, and NEC, the Japanese electronics group, on Tuesday announced a joint venture under which they will pool research and development on LTE.
Orange and T-Mobile UK mobile TV pilot
Orange and T-Mobile UK have revealed they intend to jointly pilot a new mobile TV and multimedia broadcast service in London using NextWave Wireless’ UMTS MBMS based TDtv solution. The pilot, scheduled for the second half of 2008, will be targeted at people in West London and will demonstrate how the cost of providing high-quality, mass market mobile TV and multimedia broadcast services can be significantly reduced when mobile operators share widely-available unpaired 3G spectrum and a standards-based TDtv broadcast network.
They say it will also showcase an innovative consortium model that can be easily replicated by mobile operators in more than 50 other countries where unpaired 3G spectrum is available.
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HD gives digital pay TV a boostThe Direct-to-Home (DTH) pay-TV market is expected to continue growing at about 7.6 per cent annually in subscribers from 2006 to 2011, and new services such as HD TV will help increase revenue. Rapid growth in the subscriber base will occur in certain less mature markets like Africa and India, where new DTH providers have or will begin service, reports In-Stat.
"In more mature markets, growth rates, while slower, remain positive, being spurred forward by bundled and premium services such as HD," says Michael Inouye, In-Stat analyst. "HD is rapidly becoming a key differentiator in the US, and some Western European countries like the UK have exhibited strong growth potential for high definition, e.g., 273 per cent growth in HD subscribers from Q306 to Q307 for BSkyB in the UK."
Research by In-Stat suggests: there will be 129 million DTH pay-TV subscribers worldwide by 2011 and revenues will eclipse $96 billion.
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$6.6bn broadband ad revenue by 2012New multimedia platforms in the US will capture $12.6 billion in advertising revenue by 2012, according to Parks Associates' report New Advertising Platforms and Technologies. Broadband multimedia advertising will account for more than $6.6 billion of that total.
Mobile infotainment services follow closely with more than $5 billion, and non-linear TV services like video-on-demand (VoD) and digital video recorders (DVR) will contribute more than $900 million in ad revenue for US TV service providers. "The floodgate is open, and the deluge of ad spending to these new platforms is irreversible," says Harry Wang, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates.
According to the report, audience targetability and campaign accountability are driving advertiser interest in these new multimedia platforms. Innovations in ad formats and improvements in ad inventory management further boost the appeal of these new media to brand advertisers. `~
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NAB Fights Satellite Radio MergerNAB is still fighting the Sirius, XM merger, In a filing sent to the FCC, NAB argued that satellite radio services and local radio stations "are not good substitutes" for each other, and thus should not be grouped in the same radio product market. Because of that, the commission must conclude that the proposed merger between XM and Sirius "would create a monopoly in the satellite DARS market," and that the companies shouldn't be permitted to combine operations. NAB also said the proposed "merger-to-monopoly" would lead to higher prices and reduce choices for consumers.
Yahoo has bought Maven Networks a provider of online video technology for about $160 million to expand its ability to sell advertising alongside Web clips. The deal will help Yahoo and its network of Web partners deliver video to sites and sell advertising within and around the clips, in a challenge to the Internet video advertising being offered by larger rival Google through its site YouTube.
Maven already distributes and manages video for more than 30 major media companies, from News Corp's Fox News to Gannett Co Inc, expanding Yahoo's existing relationships with Web publishers.
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Disney acquires 20% of VocentoVocento has revealed that Disney has agreed to acquire 20 per cent of the Spanish media group's Net TV unit for around E27 million. In a statement, Vocento said the sale is part of its 2008-10 strategy plan to consolidate its position as a Digital TV provider. After the sale, Vocento will hold 55 per cent of Net TV and Intereconomia will hold 25 per cent.
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Motorola navigates mobile TV
From Colin Mann in BarcelonaMotorola has unveiled the Motorola Mobile TV DH01n, a pocket-sized device that combines a personal media player with advanced navigation capabilities including: 2D or 3D GPS and Tele Atlas map views, points of interest and voice-activated directions.
According to Navin Mehta, vice president of Mobile TV and Applications Services, Home & Networks Mobility at Motorola. consumers are routinely moving away from traditional primetime video viewing to ‘my time’ experiences, viewing their favourite programs where and when it is convenient to them. He suggested that the device would provide them with the ability to locate where they are going in addition to viewing content when and where they want.
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Mark Hurd, the chairman and chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, has joined the board of News Corp. Hurd replaces Roderick Paige, the former US education secretary. Rupert Murdoch praised the HP boss’s management skills. "Mark has had great success in sharpening HP’s strategic focus resulting in increased growth and profitability for what is one of the world’s leading technology companies."
Hauppauge and Setanta deliver sport on PCs
Pay TV broadcaster Setanta Sports has teamed up with Hauppauge Digital, the TV-on-a-PC specialist, to bring live sports to PCs. Owners of a computer with a TV tuner card can plug Hauppauge's new pay-TV card reader into their PC to access live Premier League games, the FA Cup, World Cup qualifiers, boxing, rugby, racing and golf. The service costs £9.99 a month (E13.4).
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Irdeto China deal for 2m smart cardsIrdeto has signed an agreement for two million smart cards from China's Jilin Provincial Network. The agreement to provide two million smart cards, which will support the cable TV operator's digital migration project, is the largest for Irdeto to date. Jilin Provincial Network currently has three million registered subscribers in its cable TV network.
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Telenor's THOR 5 successfully launchedTelenor Satellite Broadcasting has successfully launched its new geo stationary satellite, THOR 5. The THOR 5 satellite will now go through extensive in-orbit testing before it is brought into its final geo-stationary position at 1 degree West and commence operating commercial services. From the1 degree West position, THOR 5 will carry all broadcasting services which currently reside on Thor II and provide additional capacity to allow growth in the Nordic region and expansion into Central and Eastern Europe.
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NXP solution brings H.264/MPEG 4 to iDTVNXP Semiconductors, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, has launched its first single-chip LCD TV solution to deliver HDTV picture quality for advanced H.264 broadcast and MPEG-4 Internet content. The NXP TV543 platform, featuring the PNX8543x processor, allows TV manufacturers to boost picture quality for both analogue and digital reception, while allowing viewers to access Internet and digital video content.
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Wednesday 13th February
UK to follow France and make ISPs police piracy?
EC CA consultation
FLO Forum attacks EC mobile stance
Mobile TV tops handset wishlist
MNOs want common ad measurement
BBC and 4 Digital Group commit to DAB
AFME to generate £145m by 2012
FCC confirms 30% cable bar
Motorola strong on HD STBs
Nagravision steers in-car TV
MTV president out
S3 and Irdeto simplify mobile TV handset integration
UK to follow France and make ISPs police piracy?Britain is to follow France in making ISPs cut access to users who repeatedly download music or films illegally. The government had given the music and film industries a year to come to a voluntary agreement with ISPs over how to tackle illegal file sharing, but that period expired at the end of 2007.
In leaked reports it seems the government is saying ISPs will face prosecution if they fail to enforce a "three strikes" regime of sanctions against illegal downloaders. In a green paper (draft law) on creative industries out next week ministers will pledge to legislate for action on illegal file. Under the proposals, which will be put out for consultation, internet users would face escalating punishments.
Anyone suspected of illegal downloading would receive an initial warning e-mail, a suspension of their internet contract for the second infringement and the termination of that contract for the third offence. Broadband companies would be legally required to enforce the regime.Attempts to introduce self-regulation have proved ineffective. Britain’s four biggest internet providers – BT, Tiscali, Orange and Virgin Media – have been in talks with studio and distribution companies in the US for six months to try to agree a voluntary scheme. The Internet Service Providers Association told newspapers it hoped an alternative to statutory enforcement would still prove possible.
Ten years on from the first CA Directive, the European Commission is launching an open consultation and is asking all interested parties to submit information and views on services that use conditional-access. The consultation follows an impact assessment study of the Directive on CA Services. The Commission will use the information gathered during the consultation process to draw up its second report on the implementation of the Directive.
Pay-TV has benefited from the EU-wide protection afforded by EC Directive 98/84 on conditional-access services. Now, 10 years after it was adopted, the European Commission wishes to compile a second report on how the Directive is being implemented in what is now a very different economic and technological climate.
The Commission is asking all interested parties to submit their observations, focusing on six main areas: the development of cross-border services, how effectively the Directive is being implemented in the Member States, new services covered by the Directive, how the Directive has contributed to protecting copyright holders, digital rights management (DRM) systems and the use of conditional access for purposes other than to protect pay-services.
The consultation will remain open until 4 April 2008.
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FLO Forum attacks EC mobile stance
From David Del Valle in BarcelonaThe European Commission's decision to bet on the DVB-H standard to for Europe has been fiercely criticised by the Qualcomm-sponsored FLO Forum at the MWC in Barcelona which has demanded a neutral position from European authorities in the emerging mobile TV business.
"It is still very premature having a regulator selected a standard. The EC's decision is not mandatory and we hope MediaFLO is also included in the list of recommended standards", said Kamil Grajski, President of the FLO Forum, an organisation formed by operators, content provides and vendors aimed at promoting the use of MediaFLO standard.
Representatives from Irdeto, Nagravision, NDS and Mier Comunicaciones, among others, also called for "market neutrality" so that all technology standards (DVB-H, MediaFLO, the Korean T-DMB, the Chinese CMMB the Japanese ISDB-T, TD-CDMA) may co-exist in the International mobile TV landscape.
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Mobile TV tops handset wishlist
From Colin Mann in BarcelonaMobile TV use is set to surge due to strong consumer demand, with the service ranked as the number one application users want on their phone, according to a consumer behaviour study conducted by Ericsson and news broadcaster, CNN. The results suggest that mobile TV is poised to become a mass market reality with more than a third (34 per cent) of respondents ranking it as the most in-demand application and almost half (44 per cent) of respondents set to adopt mobile TV in the next two years.
Other findings revealed that photo and video messaging look to be set for wide-scale adoption as consumer pricing and functionality improves. Fifty-seven per cent of respondents use photo technology to send and receive images on a monthly basis, making it the most popular activity. This trend is mirrored by popularity of CNN International’s user-generated content service - i-Report - which launched in 2006. The service garnered 50,000 submissions, including mobile phone footage and images, from 189 countries worldwide in its first twelve months, driving the worldwide trend for ‘citizen journalism’ and giving audiences a deeper connection to network news.
According to the report, nearly one in four (24 per cent) current mobile TV users watch daily with around half (52 per cent) tuning in on a weekly basis. At 77 per cent, news leads genre viewing patterns, followed by scheduled television at 48 per cent.
Jan Wäreby, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Unit Multimedia Ericsson, said that although still in its infancy, mobile TV was clearly set to emerge as a mass-market service within the next few years. "Driven by consumer appetite for the service, together with new usage patterns, mobile TV represents one of the biggest networked multimedia opportunities for cable and telecoms operators," he claimed.
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MNOs want common ad measurement
The UK's five biggest mobile operators have signed a deal to develop a common system for measuring mobile advertising effectiveness that aims to make it as easy for advertisers to run campaigns on mobiles as it is across other media such as TV and press.
Advertisers and agencies have long complained that one of the key stumbling blocks facing the mobile advertising sector is the lack of a consistent way of measuring audiences and transparency between operators. Now the international operations of Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, Orange and 3 have formed a working group to define a common mobile advertising audience measurement system.
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BBC and 4 Digital Group commit to DAB
BBC Radio and the 4 Digital Group have confirmed their commitment to develop digital radio in the UK, in the wake of G Cap abandoning its two DAB stations and condemning the whole platform as ‘uneconomic.’ The two parties said they intended to look at ways of encouraging more rapid consumer take-up of digital radio and developing the available technology to secure a successful future for DAB.Signalling their joint commitment to continue to develop DAB, Jenny Abramsky, Director of BBC Audio & Music, and Nathalie Schwarz, Chair of 4 Digital Group, said "RAJAR's figures last week showed that listening to digital radio grew for the fourth quarter running and that DAB listening has topped 100 million hours. The DRDB also reported a substantial increase in sales of DAB sets before Christmas and forecast that household penetration would grow to 30 per cent in 2008. It is clear to us that DAB has an exciting future in a fast converging UK media industry. The BBC and 4 Digital Group are committed to digital radio long term and both believe that working together, and with the rest of the radio industry, is vital if we are to secure the UK's position in the forefront of digital radio development."
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AFME to generate £145m by 2012The Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) has published a report that takes an in-depth look into the impact of ad-funded mobile entertainment (AFME) on the on-portal mobile entertainment market in the UK.
Rimma Perelmuter, MEF Executive Director commented: "There are approximately 3 billion mobile subscribers around the world. Being able to provide them with content for free or at a subsidised cost will drive up mobile content consumption and provide users with targeted, personalised advertising that is meaningful to them. MEF believes that by the end of 2008, AFME will have generated revenue for the UK mobile games market of over £600,000 (E805,000). By 2012, AFME will be contributing £41 million to the mobile games industry in the UK."
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FCC confirms 30% cable barThe US FCC has issued the formal notice confirming MSOs will be barred from a market a national market share higher than 30 per cent of multichannel subscribers. The FCC says it wanted to make sure no cable operator or group of operators could "impede the flow of programming to its consumers" because of its size.
The commission also said it will continue to count satellite and other competitors in calculating the cable cap. But it will not count the Internet, mobile phones, or video rentals, it added.
Only nation's largest cable operator Comcast, is close to that figure at about 27 per cent of multichannel-video subscribers, and has said it will appeal the rule.
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Motorola strong on HD STBsMotorola is making up for some of its losses in mobile as it sees a strong boost from sales of set-top boxes for high-definition television services, according to Dan Moloney, head of the company's set-top box and network equipment unit.
"We saw a tremendous increase in demand for set-top boxes in the holiday season and afterwards. It's still going on," he told Reuters at the Mobile World Congress, without giving specific growth figures. He said that high-definition represented about 50 per cent of sales for the Home and Networks unit, which accounted for about 27 per cent of Motorola's 2007 revenue.
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Nagravision steers in-car TV
From Colin Mann in BarcelonaContent protection specialist Nagravision has joined forces with mobile multimedia device developer Quantum and automotive component manufacturer Magneti Marelli to launch QTM TV, a DVB-H and DVB-T pay-TV mobile set top box dedicated to in-car entertainment’. The QTM TV is thought to be the first automotive grade set-top box providing secure digital terrestrial broadcasting reception in an automotive environment.
The device’s hybrid DVB-T and DVB-H architecture - incorporating a twin diversity tuner for high quality mobile reception - will allow car passengers to enjoy the richest digital TV programmes available in a moving vehicle.
The president of MTV, Christina Norman, is stepping down after almost three years of trying to revitalise the cable channel and adding music and reality-based programming. Van Toffler, the president of the MTV Networks’ Music and Logo Group, will assume Norman’s day-to-day responsibilities for MTV.
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S3 and Irdeto simplify mobile TV handset integration
Silicon Software Systems (S3), provider of mobile TV client software, and Irdeto, expert in digital content security, have announced a joint software solution that allows mobile TV handset manufacturers to support both IPDC OSF and Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) BCAST in a single solution. S3 and Irdeto can now provide a complete solution to mobile device manufacturers that support both the OMA BCAST smartcard profile security solution and the IPDC OSF solution.
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Tuesday 12th February
Spain delays the launch of DVB-H TV until 2010
US DTV switch will leave out six million
Takeover rumours circle Setanta
GCap axes digital radio stations
Microsoft must up bid for Yahoo
10bn online videos in December
CNN International, Samsung launch Java mobile
NDS unveils mobile TV rights platform
Viaccess, Discretix combine for mobile TV
Archos Wi-Fi DVR
Ericsson inks football and IPTV deals
Monic@sh and MTN Select Irdeto
Spain delays the launch of DVB-H TV until 2010
From David Del Valle at the Mobile World Congress in BarcelonaThe commercial introduction of DVB-H mobile TV services in Spain will not take place until 2010, Minister of Industry Joan Clos, has revealed the at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. "We hope that the regulation of the market is completed this year to pave the way for the development of the industry and make the (DVB-H mobile TV) services become a commercial reality in 2010", the minister told Advanced-Television. Initially, 20 TV channels would be available through mobile devices in DVB-H and their launch will coincide with analogue switch off.
The Government failed to rule on the mobile TV market last year as initially planned. The delay is a new setback to the mobile TV industry that technologically is ready for the launch and whose main players have been carrying out DVB-H mobile TV pilots over the last two years.
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US DTV switch will leave out six millionNearly six million US citizens with digital receivers may still lose TV signals when digital-only broadcasts begin next February, according to a study by research firm Centris. Centris found gaps in broadcast signals that may leave an estimated 5.9 million TV sets unable to receive as many channels as they did before the changeover. To keep broadcast reception, many viewers may have to buy new outdoor antennas, the study found.
The Centris study predicts greater disruption of service than the Federal Communications Commission have acknowledged. The federal government estimates that 21 million American households have primary TV sets that receive only over-the-air signals. But it says most will continue to get a digital signal by means of a digital-to-analogue converter box, which costs about $50 to $70. Centris said it looked at a more detailed method for predicting the coverage pattern of TV signals than the government had used.
However, the problems with reception could be far worse, according to some engineers. One study of the first HDTV station by Oded Bendov, the consultant hired to replace the broadcast antennas on the Empire State Building, found that digital signals did not travel as far as either model had predicted. "For the people with rabbit-ear antennas, I would say at least 50 percent won’t get the channels they were getting," Bendov said. "I would say a lot of people are going to be very unhappy."
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Takeover rumours circle SetantaPay-tv sports broadcaster Setanta Sports was at the centre of takeover speculation after reports of a £1 billion-plus (E1.4bn) offer for the business. The Irish company received the unsolicited approach from a unnamed European media company and the interest could spark a flood of rival offers, reported the Sunday Telegraph. BT, Virgin Media and US giant Disney - owner of the ESPN sports television network - are all mooted as potential bidders for the business.
Setanta was founded in 1992 but scored a major breakthrough in May 2006 when it broke BSkyB's monopoly on live Premiership matches. It paid £392 million for the rights to 46 top flight games each season under a three-year deal which began in August 2007.
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GCap axes digital radio stationsGCap Media, the UK's largest commercial radio broadcaster, has axed two of its DAB stations after labelling digital radio "economically unviable". The Classic FM owner said that theJazz and Planet Rock will go as it looks to concentrate on its core FM stations in a bid to revive the business.
The company - currently fighting takeover interest - also plans to boost advertising time at its flagship Capital 95.8 station - reversing its previous policy of broadcasting no more than two adverts in a row.
Chief executive Fru Hazlitt unveiled the review weeks after the group rejected a £313 million (E440m) takeover approach from Global Radio, an acquisition vehicle headed by former ITV chief executive Charles Allen.
The decision comes despite a record year for DAB radio sales and listnership. However the sales are a function of lower unit price allied to massive promotion on the BBC and virtually all DAB listening is to BBC stations.
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Microsoft must up bid for Yahoo
Yahoo's board is expected to officially reject Microsoft's takeover bid concluding the $44.6 billion offer "undervalued" the company, and want an offer equivalent to $40 a share, rather than the $31 offered by Microsoft.
The company's share price has increased so much since the offer was made that Yahoo's market value now exceeds Microsoft's offer, despite a 62 per cent premium. Microsoft would have to offer a further $12 billion for the firm to match the $40 per share offer, which would make the Yahoo deal its biggest ever takeover.
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10bn online videos in DecemberComScore have released December 2007 data from its Video Metrix service. The report revealed that US Internet users watched more than 10 billion videos online during the month, representing the single heaviest month for online video consumption since comScore initiated its tracking service. Top-ranked video property Google Sites saw substantial growth and extended its video market share gains, now accounting for nearly one out of every three videos viewed online.
"December represented a considerably strong month for online video viewing," said Erin Hunter, comScore executive vice president of media and entertainment. "With the writer’s strike keeping new TV episodes from reaching the airwaves, viewers have been seeking alternatives for fresh content. It appears that online video is stepping in to help fill that void."
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CNN International, Samsung launch Java mobile
From Colin Mann in BarcelonaCNN International has launched a mobile Java application, which combines dynamic graphics with high end interactive and personalisation features such as multiple category browsing, hourly on-demand ‘CNN World News Now’ updates and interactive news flipper, to offer mobile users an enriched experience for keeping up to date with news on the move. The news broadcaster has joined forces with Samsung to preview the application at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Jongkyun Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D at Samsung Mobile Business said that as the demand for mobile content grew, services such as CNN International would help provide customers with the best possible content experience.
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NDS unveils mobile TV rights platform
From Colin Mann in BarcelonaDigital pay-TV technology solutions NDS has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first hybrid rights and business management platform for mobile TV. The hybrid platform, which combines content protection and business management for both the DVB-H IPDC and OMA BCAST broadcast profiles in a single system, will be shown at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona conjunction with technologies from NDS’s partners Thomson, Gemalto and LG.
The MWC demonstration features a single NDS mobile TV platform, providing encrypted streams conforming to both the DVB-H Open Security Framework and the OMA BCAST Smart Card Profile. The NDS system is integrated with the Thomson SmartVision service platform and Electronic Service Guide and is rendered on separate OSF and SCP handsets from LG using SIM cards provided by Gemalto. All four companies contributed significantly to the success of the joint project.
"The new platform will enable an operator to support multiple mobile broadcast profiles and multiple handsets simultaneously and cost-effectively," said Nigel Smith, NDS Chief Marketing Officer. "It makes possible the coexistence of connected and unconnected devices and opens up a market which has been compartmentalised into standards until now. Both the savings for the operator and the new revenue opportunities are likely to be huge."
NDS has also confirmed the integration of NDS VideoGuard Mobile conditional access (CA) technology with Expway’s FastESG Electronic Service Guide (ESG). The solution supports both the Open Security Framework and the OMA BCAST Smart Card Profile. A separate partnership has been agreed with wireless IP broadcast solutions specialist UDcast, to provide content protection for DVB-H Mobile TV services, securing the delivery of premium TV content to mobile devices and further enabling the ecosystem supporting global deployment of DVB-H. As part of the partnership, NDS has integrated its VideoGuard Mobile TV content protection system for DVB-H with UDcast's Mobile TV head-end solution to provide a secure environment for Mobile broadcast and on-demand video.
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Viaccess, Discretix combine for mobile TV
From Colin Mann in Barcelona
Conditional access specialsit Viaccess has teamed up with embedded security solutions provider Discretix to unveil an end-to-end mobile TV security solution, based on the OMA BCAST SmartCard Profile standard.The joint offering ensures full interoperability between the Viaccess purple-TV conditional access system and the Discretix Multi-Scheme Mobile TV Security client. The OMA BCAST Smartcard Profile protects Mobile TV services via the use of a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.
The pair suggest their co-operation will increase the availability of handsets and advanced multimedia services, by reducing development costs and time-to-market for handset manufacturers. The alliance will further promote the availability of standards-based mobile TV solutions eliminating the cost and complexity created by a multitude of proprietary solutions integrated into the mobile handsets.
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Archos Wi-Fi DVRArchos has unveiled its new Archos TV+, a wireless digital video recorder (DVR) with the option of a built-in Internet browser. The Archos TV+ comes with either an 80GB or 250GB hard drive which can record from an external Sky or Freeview box, and can also stream AV content from anywhere on a home Wi-Fi network. The Internet browser can also display Flash video content.
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Ericsson inks football and IPTV dealsValtech Communications supplier of next-generation triple-play services in Canada, has chosen Ericsson's IPTV solution to provide new and value-added television services to its customers. The solution will enable Valtech to offer a wide range of standard and high-definition broadcast channels and interactive services.
Elsewhere, Ericsson and FIFA, the world governing body of football, have signed a global agreement where FIFA will use Ericsson's content management and service delivery platforms to enable its broadcaster and telecom content licensees to propose a mobile content offer based on FIFA events in 2009 and 2010.
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Monic@sh and MTN Select IrdetoIrdeto has announced a deal to secure mobile broadcast TV services across the MTN Côte d'Ivoirenetwork in the West African nation. MTN Côte d'Ivoire is part of MTN, the leading mobile operator in Africa. The project will be operated technically by local business partner Monic@sh for MTN subscribers. The solution includes Gemalto's advanced mobile TV smart cards, which ensure the highest levels of security required to implement Irdeto's conditional access (CA) application. Thomson will provide headend and radio network solutions.
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DVB –SH gets boost from major players
Worldwide DTT will reach 350m units in 2013
Online movies still stalled
Total UK TV audiences to rise 4%+ over 5 years
Columbus and Eutelsat DTV platform
iPlayer coming to Macs
ITV4 going 24/7
Fastweb and LA7 DTT
Itsmy personal mobile TV channels
Kudelski acquires EmbedICs
DVB –SH gets boost from major players
From Colin Mann in BarcelonaMajor players who are involving themselves in the so-called ‘DVB-SH ecosystem’, such as Alcatel-Lucent, DiBcom, Eutelsat Communications, Sagem Mobiles, SES Astra, TeamCast and UDcast are joining forces to deliver the first demonstration of live Mobile TV in S-Band based on DVB-SH. The initiative will take place at Barcelona’s trade fair site during the Mobile World Congress.
The demonstration will use DVB-SH ready ‘SAGEM myMobileTV’ handsets from Sagem Mobiles, incorporating DiBcom's DVB-SH receiver prototypes.
The S-band signal will be made available by Alcatel-Lucent throughout the exhibition grounds, via a terrestrial repeater network using technological elements from TeamCast (DVB-SH modulators) and UDcast (DVB-SH IP encapsulators). Broadcast transmission specialist Abertis will provide support for the installation of repeaters, cables and antennas and to access the content. Eutelsat Communications will provide the satellite capacity for the distribution to the DVB-SH terrestrial repeater network of various live Mobile TV channels including CNBC, La Sexta, Canal 300, Nickelodeon, 40 Latino, 24h TVE, Teledeporte, and Telecinco Sport.
In Europe, DVB-SH will use the S-Band, a frequency band at 2.2GHz available across many European countries, and Europe's first S-Band space segment owned by a joint venture company of Eutelsat and SES Astra will be launched in the first quarter of 2009. The S-Band enables the use of the DVB-SH standard and is adjacent to the UMTS band, thus allowing reuse of existing cellular sites, towers and antennas. In the US, the first DVB-SH operation will also be based on a hybrid system at 2.2GHz with an S-Band satellite to be launched by ICO Global Communications in March 2008.
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Worldwide DTT will reach 350m units in 2013The worldwide DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) receiver market will grow from 65 million units in 2007 to more than 350 million units in 2013, representing a compound annual growth rate of 32 per cent. Approximately 85 per cent of 2007’s units support digital television and digital set-top box markets, while 15 per cent comprises other consumer electronics or PC applications, according to a report by ABI Research on digital terrestrial silicon receivers.
"By 2013, the DMB-T/H system in China will have about 100 million users," says Steve Wilson, principal analyst for ABI Research. "China’s national DVB standard GB20600-2006, also known as DMB-T/H, supports both fixed and mobile television applications." The rollout of digital broadcast has arrived in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, with service deployed in nearly 30 cities.In the US, DTT receiver penetration will reach nearly 100 per cent of TV households, as the last bastions of standard definition and analogue cable convert. Moreover, broadcasters will adopt a mobile standard using ATSC (Advanced Television Standards Committee) frequencies as Samsung and LG present solutions to the industry.
"All in all," concludes Wilson, "the market opportunity for digital terrestrial receivers spans many consumer electronics devices. Many of the world’s digital TV standards support mobile and portable applications, and digital receivers are capable of delivering this signal at a fraction of the size and power of previous technologies."
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Online movies still stalledThe Diffusion Group has released its latest report on web-based video services, "Attributes of a Successful Online Movie Download Service" provides a detailed analysis of primary consumer research regarding 10 different service attributes, ranging from content considerations to interactive features.
"Online movie services have to date failed to gain a critical mass of users," noted Michael Greeson, president of TDG and author of the new report. "Even Steve Jobs recently noted that Apple, among others, has failed to figure out what combination of features will prove sufficiently compelling to consumers."
Despite the presence of strong brand names such as Apple and the innovative services of start-ups such as Vudu, only 10 per cent of adult broadband users have used an online download service either to rent or purchase movies (most of who do so infrequently). The challenge, notes Greeson, is not only to increase familiarity with OMD services, but to make sure that when consumers do visit an OMD site that they find high-quality content and a set of compelling features free from the complexities and hassles of traditional web media sites.
One attribute that consumers considered most important is getting online movie content to the TV as opposed to the PC monitor, a strategy TDG has long considered critical to the success of OMD services. Today’s OMD services are finally realizing the truth of this statement and working to push their content to the TV, but until they deliver the right combination of features, even a TV-based OMD service may appear to be a poor alternative when compared to emerging cable VOD services or rental services from Blockbuster or Netflix."
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Total UK TV audiences to rise 4%+ over 5 yearsAttentional’s latest forecasts suggest that a number of factors will combine to offer a brighter future for UK television over the next five years than previously anticipated.
One factor behind this trend is the rapid conversion of older viewers to digital platforms, where the availability of extra channels means they tend to watch more television. The digital conversion of younger viewers who have so far resisted taking up multichannel technologies is also playing a significant role. The imminent prospect of analogue switch-off, combined with falling multichannel technology prices, means these trends are likely to continue.
The forecast finds growing evidence that the downward trend in average daily viewing time among young adults (16-34) has now levelled out. Broadcasters are working very hard to attract and retain younger viewers, with strong brand promotions through the Internet, coupled with on-demand catch-up viewing, all helping to draw younger viewers to programmes they may otherwise have missed.
Overall, the forecasts suggest that the average daily viewing time of young adults will fall by 1 per cent. But due to rising levels of immigration into the UK, the officially projected 5.5 per cent increase in the number of adults aged 16-34 in the UK population results in a predicted 4.6 per cent rise in total television viewing for this group by 2012. The only demographic group for which a significant fall in total television viewing has been forecast is Children (4-15), where a continued (albeit slowing) fall in average daily viewing time, coupled with a declining population, is likely to result in a 4 per cent decrease in total television viewing over the next five years.
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Columbus and Eutelsat DTV platformTele Columbus, Germany's third largest cable operator with more than 3.7 million homes, and Eutelsat's German subsidiary, Eutelsat Deutschland have confirmed will establish a platform for bundling digital channels and services for German cable homes from Eutelsat's Eurobird 9. For Tele Columbus, the cooperation gives the company more freedom in negotiations with content providers and further strengthens its position with end-users as a multimedia service provider.
By enabling a portfolio of basic private digital channels to be made available to Tele Columbus digital cable subscribers and other network operators, the cooperation marks a milestone in accelerating the long-awaited transition of Germany's cable market from analogue to digital. The new platform will shortly begin testing and will officially launch in May.
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iPlayer coming to MacsThe BBC will launch a download version of its iPlayer online video service for Apple Mac users by the end of 2008. The BBC's iPlayer currently comes in two versions - a program which allows users to download programmes to their Windows PC and a streaming version on the web available to all users.
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ITV4 going 24/7ITV is to expand its digital programming by making its ITV4 channel into a 24-hour service. The broadcaster said that ITV4 would also receive a cash injection to produce more original programming as the company tries to make up for the fragmenting audience of its flagship terrestrial channel and challenge Dave, the channel operated by UKTV, the BBC’s joint venture with Virgin Media.
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Fastweb and LA7 DTTFastweb subscribers can now purchase LA7 Cartapiù digital terrestrial premium content. The Fastweb decoder has been certified by LA7 to receive and transmit digital terrestrial pay content. To access the service, all Fastweb clients have to do is purchase the LA7 Cartapiù Smart Card and content packages or a "top-up" card which are on sale at electronic shops and newsstands. The new service has a one-off activation cost of E29.
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Itsmy personal mobile TV channelsMobile social network itsmy.com has launched 100,000 user-generated mobile TV channels, allowing its most active members to broadcaster their own shows to one another. Itsmy, owned by German company GoFresh, claims one million users and the new 'mobile community TV' service will allow the most avid ones to combine their own video content with pre-set sound files and TV designs. The shows can be between 30 seconds and two minutes long and can be viewed by streaming or downloading.
Kudelski acquires EmbedICs
The Kudelski Group, specialists in CA, have agreed to acquire EmbedICs, a US-based embedded software, cryptography and fabless semiconductor design firm.
