|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Our Latest Issues
Visit our archive to access more than 200 features! |
Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday Friday 8th February
BBC in private equity talks
French footie rights
BT falls but broadband up
Cisco hits targets
TW to cut off dial up and cable?
Teleste buys Ortikon
Current in Italy
CacheLogic re-brands as Velocix
SIDSA debuts Enter TV
BBC World, the commercial arm of the BBC, has confirmed it is in talks with private equity groups to raise funds for possible acquisitions. The Times suggested it wanted to raise up to £1 billion (E1.38bn).
The BBC has a £350 million commercial borrowing limit set by government. In recent years it has borrowed some of that from the EU’s European Investment Bank. Chief executive John Smith has said acquisitions will play a key part in its expansion plans. Worldwide has recently bought Lonely Planet guides and taken minority stakes in independent production companies and also has a partnership with retailer Woolworths for DVD sales and a pay-TV deal with Virgin Media.
The BBC Trust, its independent governing body, has to sanction any deals done by Worldwide.
Back to top
French footie rights
The French soccer association has announced the award of live football rights from Ligue 1 to Canal+ and Orange for four years starting this summer. The broadcasters will pay a total of E668 million per season between 2008 and 2012, up slightly on the current E653 million. Canal+ has won the rights to all Sunday matches while Orange has bought the Saturday matches as well as the rights for mobile TV.
Canal+ has also acquired the rights to all three packages that allow individual games to be shown on a pay-per-view basis on its Kiosque PPV service. There has been speculation recently Orange will make its games the centrepiece of a new DTH service.
Back to top
BT saw profits before tax and after exceptional items fall 30 per cent to £447 million (E620m) in the last quarter of 2007. But the group reported strong growth in its broadband and global services divisions, where profitability grew. BT's retail unit achieved a 35 per cent share of all new broadband connections during the three month period.
"This has been another solid performance," said BT's chief executive Ben Verwaayen. "We remain the UK's number one retail broadband provider and BT Vision customers more than doubled in the quarter." BT Vision is the company's television service, which currently has 150,000 customers. It had 4.25 million broadband subscribers at the end of 2007.
Pre-tax profits excluding exceptional items fell 7 per cent to £601 million.
Back to top
Cisco matched second-quarter targets making $2.1 billion up from the year-ago $1.9 billion. Revenue rose 17 per cent from a year ago to $9.8 billion. Excluding certain costs, earnings rose to 38 cents a share from 33 cents a year ago. Analysts were looking for the company to make 38 cents a share on revenue of $9.8 billion.
"Cisco delivered another solid quarter with strong revenue and order growth driven by a broad base of geographies, products, services and customer markets," said CEO John Chambers. "As we enter the second half of the fiscal year, our innovation pipeline is in excellent shape, our balanced product momentum across core and advanced technologies continues to be solid, and execution against our long-term strategy remains unwavering."
Back to top
TW to cut off dial up and cable?
Time Warner has folwed up its results with news it is separating AOL’s dial-up internet access service from its faster-growing online advertising business. The move could presage a sale or further realignment of both businesses.
Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner’s chief executive, called the split "one of our top priorities", adding: "This should significantly increase AOL’s strategic options for each of these businesses."
Bewkes also said he hoped to resolve the future of Time Warner Cable, its largest source of revenues, by mid-April, although his intentions remained unclear.Time Warner has repeatedly expressed a desire to spin off or separate its 84 per cent stake in the business, but analysts and investors believed it could also take advantage of cable’s low valuations to consolidate its control.Bewkes announced an immediate $50 million in cost cuts for the corporate office, and said further reductions would follow across the company. One target is New Line Cinema, Time Warner’s independent film label, which he suggested could be merged with the larger Warner Brothers studio.
Back to top
Teleste has acquired the Finnish software and video service solution provider Ortikon Interactive Ltd. Founded in 2000 Ortikon develops complete integrated software solutions designed for video business. The company supplies the related comprehensive systems mainly for European cable operators.
As demand for the new video services increases in Europe the market share of digital headend central control devices and, in particular, comprehensive IP based solutions is growing rapidly. The company says this acquisition expands Teleste's provision of IPTV systems, which in turn, enables Teleste to serve telecom operators in addition to cable operators. The two companies have a history of cooperation; Teleste has delivered products of Ortikon as part of Teleste's complete headend systems, for instance, to Digicable Networks in India.
The former principal owner and CEO Seppo Kalli will continue in his current position as CEO.
Back to top
Current TV, the peer-to-peer news and information network, announced that it has reached a distribution agreement with SKY Italia. The deal, which calls for an Italian version of Current TV will add an additional 4.24 million households to the network’s global reach, making Current TV available in 56 million households worldwide.
"By being the world_s peer-to-peer news and information source, Current is an important voice for young adults. We are delighted to bring this innovative channel to Italy, and we look forward to a successful partnership with Current," said Tom Mockridge, CEO, SKY Italia. Current was launched in 2005 with the goal of giving young adults a voice in the media by inviting them to collaborate with the network to create television.
Back to top
CacheLogic re-brands as Velocix
CacheLogic is re-branding the company and all of its associated products and services under the Velocix brand name. Velocix says it provides the world_s leading Digital Asset Delivery Network, a new generation Content Delivery Network (CDN) and related services, designed to meet the rich media needs of the 21st century Internet.
"Re-branding as Velocix comes at a stage when the demand for digital asset delivery is seeing dramatic growth," said Phill Robinson, CEO at Velocix. "2008 is set to be a landmark year for the consumption of video, games and software over the internet. Velocix is working with many of the world_s leading broadcasters, new media companies, games providers and telcos & ISPs to deliver new levels of performance, quality of service and scalability at an affordable rate for content owners, internet service providers and telcos."
Back to top
SIDSA has launched "EnterTV" a DVB-H one-stop-shop for manufacturers of Portable and Mobile TV devices. The company says it integrates its own IC with the best-in-class third party solutions to provide Portable and Mobile TV device manufacturers with fast time to market.
Enter TV modules and reference designs include silicon tuners from Microtune and NXP as well as DVB-H Middleware and Applications from different companies such as the Player from Nextreaming, "We are proud to join forces with SIDSA in this leading solution, ensuring the best time-to-market and a high quality video experience", said Carlos Lucas, General Manager Europe at Nextreaming.
Back to top
Thursday 7th February
ITV drags on Sky results
Virgin Media chief discounts ITV bid
iPlayer ups FTV online
Italy names Commission for access to DTT frequencies
TW suffers AOL drag
ViaSat record revenues, profits
US watching primetime online
CBS mobile location ads
MTV and Sony content for MSN
Ergen for President
Bids dry up on US wireless?
Thomson brings mobile TV to the Baltics
blinkx partners with Young Hollywood
Harris IP headend for IRIS
ITV drags on Sky resultsDespite a record for customer growth in the quarter to the end of December, BSkyB reported a loss of £36 million (E48m) against a profit of £356 million for the same period a year ago.
Much of the decline is attributable to the £343 million write down of the value of Sky’s controversial holding in ITV, but operating profit fell to £295 million from £395 million, as BSkyB faced higher costs for rights to show premiership football matches, and invested £103 million in its broadband and telephone operations. This included £18m for marketing, as Sky tries to build awareness of its products, and get its customer base to subscribe to "triple-play." Only 10 per cent of customers do so at present. Revenues were up 11 per cent to £2.46 billion, ARPU rose 7 per cent to £421. Churn dipped slightly to 10 per cent.
BSkyB set another record in Sky+ in the period, with take up pushing through the three million mark. The company said that 3,131,000 households in the UK and Ireland had the service after growth of 434,000.
Sky now has a total of 8,832,000 pay-TV customers, with 167,000 net additions made in the quarter, keeping it on track to hit 10 million by 2010.Sky Broadband customer numbers were up 260,000 or 28 per cent, to reach 1,199,000 at the end of the December. The company aims to have three million broadband customers, or 30 per cent of its subscriber base, by 2010.
Sky added 64,000 high-definition subscribers, taking its tally to 422,000 at the end of September. Its Sky Talk telephone business grew by a record 236,000 to 915,000.
Back to top
Virgin Media chief discounts ITV bid
From Colin Mann in LondonNeil Berkett, acting CEO of UK ‘quad-play’ operator Virgin Media, has given a strong indication that it is unlikely to launch a renewed bid for commercial broadcaster ITV plc, and also confirmed that it does not intend to compete in the ‘premium TV’ market.
He told members of the Broadcasting Press Guild that the November 2006 approach had been "a moment in time" which he described as "a view of the apparent value of the asset, a view of what Virgin Media could do with that asset and a view of potentially monetising some of our tax position. The market is completely different today to what it was then and for us to reconsider anything in the acquisition of a production asset, an ITV-lookalike, we would have to view it on its merits."
Berkett took the opportunity to question the acquisition by BSkyB of 17.9 per cent of ITV, a move which effectively scuppered the then NTL’s takeover aspirations. "The flipside [of NTL’s bid ] is ‘Was it sensible for somebody else to acquire 18 per cent of ITV?’ Was that part of their strategy? Does that mean they don't have a clearly defined position?"
He said Virgin Media would concentrate on its ‘mid-range’ TV products, where it felt it had an economic advantage, and the ‘profit pool’ was larger - rather than fight on premium TV programming. The operator was deferring investment in its planned IPTV service, and would be concentrating on its ‘hero product’ broadband offering.
Berkett nevertheless remained wary of the service becoming a utility, and stressed the continuing importance of content, in recognition of Virgin Media ownership of cable and satellite programmer Virgin Media Television (formerly Flextech) and 50 per cent stake in UKTV. "The biggest mistake we could make in broadband would be to become a utility and therefore how we ensure we are not just a pipe is absolutely critical in evolving the strategy. Control of content and content in some shape or form has to be part of that."
Back to top
iPlayer ups FTV onlineA surge in usage for the BBC’s iPlayer catch-up service has prompted analysts to revise upwards forecasts for free-to-view (FTV) TV consumption in the UK. Screen Digest reports that 0.8 billion free-to-view online TV streams and downloads including TV shows, sports and niche programming were initiated by UK broadband households in 2007. This is now expected to rise to 1.5 billion in 2008, and forecast to hit 2.8 billion by 2012. Analysis of comScore consumption data indicates that video streams initiated via the BBC domain, including the iPlayer, accounted for 38 per cent of total UK FTV streams and downloads in 2007.
UK FTV online TV revenues forecasts remain unchanged, going from £19 million (E25.5m) in 2007 to £98 million in 2012. This is due to the dominance of the BBC’s services, and lack of clear strategies from commercial broadcasters.
Back to top
Italy names Commission for access to DTT frequencies
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItaly’s Communications Authority (AgCom) has named the commission with the task of selecting the independent content suppliers and the national and local broadcasters that will get access to 40 per cent of the transmission capacity of the multiplexes managed by RAI, Elettronica Industriale (Mediaset group) and Telecom Italia Media Broadcasting (Telecom Italia group).
The selection of the interested subjects will be based on the parameters decided by AgCom and the Communications Ministry. Bids for access to the capacity can be presented by: consortiums that posses the necessary requirements to obtain an authorization as supplier of national content or those who commit themselves to acquire such status within 60 days if awarded transmission capacity; national analogue broadcasters that have not achieved 80 per cent territorial coverage and all of the provincial capitals; local analogue broadcasters without DTT transmitters that cover at least 80 per cent of their viewer base, and content suppliers operating via cable or satellite.
The commission is made up of Giovanna De Minico, Mauro Miccio, Augusto Preta, Mario Egidio Schinaglia and Francesco Siliato.
Back to top
TW suffers AOL dragTime Warner, the world's largest media company by sales, posted improved quarterly earnings and revenue but forecast slower growth in 2008. Revenue rose 2 per cent to $12.6 billion, and net income of $1.03 billion.
The last three months of 2007 were the first to be reported under Jeff Bewkes, who took over as CEO at the beginning of the year. Investors are looking to Bewkes for dramatic steps to revive Time Warner's moribund stock, which fell 29 perc ent over the past 12 months.Earnings from Time Warner Cable, the company's publicly traded cable TV division, rose 19 per cent on a 12 per cent gain in revenues, as the company continued to digest the acquisition of cable systems from Adelphia Communications Corp.
But AOL had a 32 per cent decline in revenues, as the company shed another 740,000 dial-up access subscribers, bringing its total to 9.3 million. That is down 3.8 million from a year earlier.
Back to top
ViaSat record revenues, profitsViaSat reported quarterly and year-to-date revenues of $152.1 million and $427.2 million, respectively, for the third quarter. In addition, the satellite networking company said that pre-tax earnings were up 83 per cent for the quarter and 26 per cent year-to-date.
Third quarter earnings reflect significant margin improvement in both government and commercial products," said ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg. "Compared to the same period last year, pre-tax income grew over 80 per cent, even while we invested over 50 per cent more in R&D. Quarterly and year-to-date earnings and revenues are at record levels. While year-to-date orders are solid, third quarter awards reflect timing delays of anticipated extensions to on-going government development contracts."
Back to top
Nearly 80 million Americans (43 per cent of the online population) have watched one of their favourite TV shows on the Internet according to a Digital Life America tracking study conducted by Solutions Research Group, up significantly from 12 months ago when that figure was just 25 per cent.
A full 20 per cent of the American online population said they watch TV on the web on a weekly basis, and that’s ahead of the 14 per cent who say they take advantage of cable’s video-on-demand offerings.
Back to top
CBS mobile location adsCBS plans one of the first serious experiments with cellphone advertising that is customized for a person’s location. Its CBS Mobile unit is teaming up with the social networking service Loopt, which allows its subscribers to track participating friends and family on their mobile phones.
The ads will appear on two Web sites that are tailored for mobile devices, CBS Mobile News and CBS Mobile Sports.
Using Loopt’s G.P.S.-based technology and capitalizing on its relationships with mobile carriers, CBS Mobile wants to make it easier for advertisers to aim promotions at consumers more precisely as they walk by particular stores and restaurants.
"Consumers are savvy enough to expect advertising," said Angela Steele, a director at Starcom USA, an ad-buying agency based in Chicago. "They are accepting of it, but they want it to be relevant. If they are getting something they are interested in, that is great. But if they are sending ads that are not relevant, people won’t want it."
Back to top
MTV and Sony BMG are to provide programme clips and music videos across the MSN Video service.The deal will see clips and music videos made available via MSN Video across European countries including the UK, France and Germany.
The deal builds on the wide-ranging $500m advertising and content agreement struck by MTV owner Viacom and Microsoft in December. Microsoft's deal with Sony BMG will include thousands of music videos as well as exclusive backstage footage and interviews with the music company's artists.
Back to top
Charlie Ergen, chairman of the board and CEO of DISH, has assumed the role of president. Ergen succeeds Carl Vogel, who stepped down as president due to personal reasons, the company said. Vogel will remain vice chairman of DISH Network and EchoStar, reporting to Ergen. Vogel continues to lead the corporate development, programming and business and commercial services functions, DISH Network said.
Erik Carlson was promoted to executive vice president of operations. Tom Stingley was promoted to executive vice president of sales and distribution.
Bidding stalled in the auction of of wireless airwaves according to data released by the Federal Communications Commission.There were no new offers for the nationwide "C" block slice of wireless spectrum to top previous high bids totaling $4.74 billion.
Bidders' identities are kept secret until the entire auction ends, under FCC rules. The end won't come until bidding has stopped on all five blocks of spectrum up for sale in the auction, which will probably take at least another week or two.
The $4.74 billion in bids for eight regional pieces of the C block airwaves on Monday surpassed a $4.71 billion offer made last week for a nationwide package of the spectrum.
Thomson brings mobile TV to the Baltics
Latvian Mobile Telephone (LMT) has established a mobile television trial, the first of its kind in the Baltics, based on an end to end solution from Thomson. The system from Thomson includes a complete video head end and the SmartVision service management platform to give LMT a single point of contact for complete control over its new offering, as well as signal encoding and processing hardware.
LMT is working in partnership with LVRTC, Latvia State Radio and Television Centre, which is providing the DVB-H transmission network. The trial, which went on air in November 2007 and is expected to continue through 2008, offers four live television channels, plus pay per view and interactive services.
Back to top
blinkx partners with Young Hollywoodblinkx, the video search engine, has unveiled a partnership with Young Hollywood to offer users a backstage pass to the site’s exclusive celebrity programming. Young Hollywood, an online destination for entertainment, provides users with original content from celebrity interviews and news to behind the scenes coverage of Hollywood events. Under the terms of the agreement, blinkx will leverage its AdHoc platform to place contextually relevant advertising against the footage, and will share resulting advertising revenue with Young Hollywood.
Back to top
Harris Corporation has revealed that IRIS Networks of Nashville has installed a Harris IPTV headend featuring NetVX MPEG-4/H.264 video encoding for the delivery of standard and high-definition terrestrial TV channels to rural independent telecommunications companies.
IRIS Networks is a member-owned organization comprising 11 independent telephone companies in Tennessee, southern Kentucky and Virginia. The organization’s Nashville point-of-presence (POP) serves as a centralized distribution point for the delivery of 16 channels of local off-air station programming from Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee, to participating telecommunications companies, all of which provide TV services to rural areas underserved by traditional cable TV service providers.
The Harris IPTV headend installed at IRIS Networks’ POP in Nashville includes Harris Videotek DDM-800 ATSC demodulators and NetVX MPEG-2 decoders to receive and decode the TV signals from off-air antennas; and NetVX ENC-A21 MPEG-4/H.264 encoders to compress and transport the multiple standard and high-definition TV channels over a fiber-based IP backbone to the rural telephone companies that deliver the channels to subscribers at home and elsewhere.
Back to top
Wednesday 6th February
Murdoch hails $250m Super Bowl
Sky Italia up to $4.43m in profit turnaround
India telcos cleared for IPTV
China clarifies tighter online video laws
Amazon backs Lovefilm
Cablevision: VOD your DVD
Kanal 5 for Viasat and Canal
Three for pay Danish pay DTT
Channels sue on FCC must carry
Intelsat complete buy
Bablegum appoints content chief
Elstein steps down from Virgin
NDS partner with Viasat for HDTV
Discretix, VisualOn and Axel mobile TV solution
Abilis "world’s smallest" DVB-H/T receiver
Murdoch hails $250m Super BowlNews Corps Fox network sold $250 million (E170m) in advertising revenue on the strength of the most-watched Super Bowl ever – a performance that chief executive Rupert Murdoch called "the biggest day in our company’s history". He was speaking as News Corp announced that its second quarter profits edged up 1.2 per cent to $832 million.
The group announced its earnings amid speculation that it might enter the fray for Yahoo, which is trying to fend off a $44.6 billion bid from Microsoft. The two companies discussed a possible merger last year. However, Murdoch dismissed any interest in playing the role of white knight, saying: "We are definitely not going to make a bid for Yahoo at this time."
For the quarter, News Corp’s revenue increased 9.5 per cent to $8.6 billion. Among the strongest performers was its television business where Sky Italia recorded a $74 million turnround from a year ago (see below).
News Corp’s decision to hand Google the contract to sell search advertising around websites such as MySpace appears to be paying off, with the Fox Interative Media (FIM) division posting a sharp rise in pre-tax profits to $23 million, a $22 million improvement against the same period in 2006.The growth was driven by higher search revenues, primarily from the Google agreement that took effect in January 2007, under which Google is the exclusive provider of search services on FIM properties.
Back to top
Sky Italia up to $4.43m in profit turnaround
Branislav Pekic from RomeSky Italia has closed the second quarter with an operative profit of $62 million, an increase of $74 million in comparison to the loss of $12 million registered in the same period last year.
The positive result was mostly due to the increase of subscribers, with more than 400,000 new subscribers signing up during the past 12 months. As a result, the total number of clients grew to 4.43 million units.
The Italian DTH platform has very much broken the RAI-Mediaset "duopoly" on TV revenues during 2007. Although definite figures have yet to be published, Sky Italia had been projecting to close the year with a 12 per cent growth in revenues to E2.5 billion, with 86 per cent coming from subscriptions and only 14 per cent from advertising. For its part, public broadcaster RAI closed 2007 with E2.96 billion in revenues (52 per cent coming from the TV license fee), while commercial rival Mediaset’s ended the year with E2.83 billion (85 per cent from advertising).
Back to top
India telcos cleared for IPTVThe Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has accepted the recommendation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to allow broadcasters to transmit their feeds via the IPTV platform.
Under current regulations, broadcasters are allowed to provide TV signals only via cable or DTH. IPTV allows the delivery of TV programmes using an IP over broadband networks. Both cable operators and telecom Companies will be able to provide IPTV services under existing laws and their content will be regulated by the I&B ministry.
Back to top
China clarifies tighter online video lawsChina's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has clarified details of its new regulations for Online Audio and Video Services which appeared to ban any private company activity from the sector. It now says some existing private online video firms will, under a ‘grandfather clause,’ be eligible to continue operations.
More specifically, those firms which had offered online video services legally and without violation of rules on permissible content before issuance of the new regulations will be allowed to re-register and continue providing services. Those which had been cited for major or repeated violations of earlier rules, such as provision of pornographic, violent, or other illegal content, ‘will be punished and severely regulated; and those which had been cited for more minor violations will be required to come into compliance before a certain date.’
Back to top
Amazon backs LovefilmAmazon is to bow out of DVD rentals and throw its weight behind Lovefilm, the leading European specialist,. Amazon is to transfer its subscribers and inject some cash to Lovefilm in exchange for a stake believed to be about 30 per cent of the company and valued at about £60 million (E80m) to £70 million.
Simon Calver, chief executive of Lovefilm, said the arrival of Amazon as the single biggest shareholder did not mean an end to plans for an eventual initial public offering or buy-out of the business. "This puts those options more firmly on the table than before," he said. Lovefilm, which hired Goldman Sachs in December 2006 to explore its strategic options, is backed by Arts Alliance Media, Index Ventures, Balderton Capital and DFJ Esprit.Amazon will offer Lovefilm’s rental service via its own websites in the UK and Germany and provide marketing support. Lovefilm had boasted 600,000 subscribers before announcement of the deal, which will see the customer base rise to 900,000.
Back to top
In the latest on-line off-line media twist, Cablevision is set to offer US consumers the option of seeing a movie via its on-demand service, as long as they agreed to pay for a DVD of the film. The service, branded 'Popcorn DVDs On Demand', would allow Cablevision's digital subscribers to order a DVD via their remote control and watch the movie immediately in the first 24 hours following the purchase.
Back to top
Modern Times Group (MTG) has confirmed that Viasat Broadcasting has signed an agreement with Canal Digital in Sweden to include the Kanal 5 channel on Viasat’s DTH satellite and IPTV platforms, and for TV3 to be made available on the Canal Digital satellite and IPTV platforms. The channels will be included in Viasat’s and Canal Digital’s pay-TV offerings from 13 February 2008 until the end of 2015.
Back to top
Three for pay Danish pay DTTThe Danish regulator has received three applications for pay-TV services on the DTT network. The Mediesekretariatet confirmed the three interested parties are Swedish pay-TV operator Boxer, Telenor’s Danmarks Digital TV and Modern Times Group’s Danmarks TV. The licence will cover the operation of both mobile TV and digital terrestrial services over four available multiplexes
It is anticipated the first three multiplexes will be available following Denmark’s analogue switch off in November 2009. The fourth multiplex would go live a year later. The Mediesekretariatet will assess the three companies with an announcement due next week.
Back to top
Channels sue on FCC must carry
Six cable programmers filed suit against what they called the Federal Communications Commission's new "dual-must-carry" rule, saying that the FCC doesn't have the authority and that the rule violates their First Amendment rights.
C-SPAN, Discovery, The Weather Channel, TV One, A&E Television Networks and Scripps Networks argued that the rule -- which requires cable to deliver a so-called viewable signal to its subscribers after the switch to digital -- means duplicating a digital signal in analogue to their subscribers who have not switched to digital cable.
The cable networks said making "almost all" cable operators carry two versions of the same station forces channels like C-SPAN and the others off the air, violating their First Amendment rights. They also argued that the FCC exceeded its congressional authority to regulate programmers.
Back to top
Intelsat complete buySerafina Holdings, an entity formed by BC Partners, Silver Lake and other equity investors, has closed its acquisition of commercial satellite operator Intelsat. Through the transaction, the equity of Intelsat Holdings was valued at about $5 billion. As part of the deal, funds associated with Apax Partners Worldwide, Apollo Management, Madison Dearborn Partners and Permira Advisers will sell 100 percent of their interests in the company.Following the closing, Intelsat's current executives will remain in place and have an equity interest in Serafina Holdings, which is expected to be renamed Intelsat Global.Immediately following consummation of the transaction, Intelsat assumed certain debt obligations entered into by Serafina Holdings as part of the transaction, as well as refinancing some existing debt of Intelsat.
Back to top
Bablegum appoints content chiefBabelgum, has appointed BT Vision's director of business affairs Mark Cranwell its first director of content strategy. Cranwell will report to Simon Kenny, head of content strategy and advertising at Babelgum. In his previous role, Cranwell was responsible for negotiating broadband video-on-demand deals.
Back to top
Elstein steps down from Virgin
David Elstein, an independent director of Virgin Media, has resigned from the company's Board. Elstein has been a Director of first ntl and then Virgin Media since January 2003, he is a former programme director of BSkyB and CEO of Channel 5.
Back to top
NDS partner with Viasat for HDTVNDS, has announced that Viasat, digital satellite pay-TV operator serving Scandinavia and the Baltic region, has extended its long-standing relationship with NDS for the provision of VideoGuard conditional access. In addition, the companies have made a new agreement whereby NDS is to commence supplying Viasat with MediaHighway middleware, XTV DVR technology, and a customised EPG to secure and power its new High Definition pay TV service.
Back to top
Discretix, VisualOn and Axel mobile TV solutionSecurity solutions outfit Discretix, multimedia application provider VisualOn, and mobile TV middleware developer Axel Technologies, have partnered to provide a pre-integrated Mobile TV solution for handset OEMs. The DVB-H-based solution, which supports both the OMA BCAST Smartcard and DRM Security Profiles, delivers an ultra-reliable, out of the box strategy for mobile TV.
The partnership gives handset OEMs and service providers a new and practical alternative for rolling out mobile TV. The solution combines VisualOn’s Mobile TV Player, Axel Technologies’ Salmonstream Mobile DVB-H middleware stack and 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. Both the Smartcard and DRM Profiles ensure that commercial broadcast content can be protected and tracked when transmitted over wireless networks.
Back to top
Abilis "world’s smallest" DVB-H/T receiverAbilis Systems has unveiled what it claims is the world’s smallest digital mobile TV receiver for DVB-H/T applications, produced in a 5mm x 5mm CSP package. The new AS-101 integrates multi-band RF tuner, advanced OFDM demodulator, memory and interfaces onto a single 90nm CMOS die, with the receiver performance surpassing the MBRAI 2 and Nordig 1.0.3 specifications. The AS-101 is optimised for multiple mobile and handheld applications, enabling digital TV capability on any device with a display. It supports the integration of both DVB-H and DVB-T standards in mobile phones.
Back to top
Tuesday 5th February
Google troubled by Microsoft move
ITV shares rise on takeover report
Mobile TV a potential $2bn market
Over 6.5m DTT receivers sold in Italy
Warner ‘Day and Date’ drives VOD for UPC
BC finalises $16.5bn Intelsat deal
WiMAX could spur DTV growth in Africa
TNS rolling out DirectView
3 and O2 launch EyeVibe
SatLink increases Euro presence with Eutelsat
DTT eats into traditional TV
Sky gets Lost
Google troubled by Microsoft moveGoogle has said it finds Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid to buy rival Yahoo "troubling" and wants regulators to scrutinise the proposed deal.
Google said the tie-up could unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors' email and instant messaging services. It said Microsoft had previously sought "to establish proprietary monopolies".
"Microsoft's hostile bid for Yahoo raises troubling questions," said David Drummond, Google's senior vice president for corporate development and chief legal officer. "This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation," he said in a company blog.
Reuters, quoting a source familiar with Yahoo's strategy, said that Yahoo would consider a business alliance with Google as one way to fight the take-over.
Other sources suggest that preliminary contact has been made by media, technology, telephone and financial companies.
Back to top
ITV shares rise on takeover report
Shares in UK commercial broadcaster ITV rose as much as 4.6 per cent in London trading after weekend media reports that private equity firms were consider a takeover bid. ITV shares climbed as much as 3.5 pence to 80 pence and traded at 79.3 pence as of 12:37pm, valuing the broadcaster at £3.08 billion pounds (E4.1 billion).
Apax Partners Worldwide LLP and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co were named as potential bidders, acting separately or as a partnership, with suggestions of an offer of about 100 pence a share. In March 2006, ITV rejected an offer for a controlling stake in the company from Apax, Blackstone Group and Goldman Sachs, suggesting that the proposal wasn't in the interest of shareholders.
The takeover speculation follows the government decision that BSkyB, the UK’s dominant pay-television provider, must cut its stake in ITV to less than 7.5 per cent from 17.9 per cent in the interests of competition.
Back to top
Mobile TV a potential $2bn marketIf implemented quickly, mobile DTV broadcast services could be a $2 billion market for the industry by 2012 according to a report unveiled during NAB’s TV board meeting. The report, from BIA Financial Network, was commissioned by the association as part of its ‘FASTROAD’ (Flexible Advanced Services for Television & Radio On All Devices) technology advocacy group.
BIA Financial Network said that in order to achieve these figures (which would be a mix of ad revenues and subscription fees), the broadcast industry should focus its efforts on establishing a single standard for mobile TV (currently under consideration by the ATSC) by the summer of 2008. The technology should be ready for roll-out a year from now to correspond with the analogue shut-off; content protection issues be resolved; audience measurement parameters be established; and that consumer devices be broadly available by Christmas 2009.
The company said it based its predictions on the assumption that 130 million mobile receive devices and an additional 50 million MP3 devices include M/H capability by 2012.
Back to top
Over 6.5m DTT receivers sold in Italy
From Branislav Pekic in RomeA total of 6.697.516 receivers for digital terrestrial television were sold in Italy from February 2004 to November 2007, according to research commissioned by DGTVi from the GFK Marketing Services institute.
Out of the total, 82.3 per cent of the receivers (5,510,580 units) were made up of decoders, while TVs with integrated DTT tuners amounted to 17.7 per cent (1,186,936). This figure is set for a strong growth over the coming months, thanks to last year’s decision by the Communications Ministry to end sales of TV sets with analogue tuners from 2009.
Among the decoders sold, the so-called zappers (with no interactive features) represent 4.8 per cent of the total with 265,433 pieces. The decoders acquired without the state subsidy amount to 3,184,370, or 57.8 per cent.
Back to top
Warner ‘Day and Date’ drives VOD for UPCUPC Neverland has revealed that its ‘day and date’ strategy for Video On Demand (VOD) with Warner Home Video Benelux has led to much higher buy rates via cable TV. ‘Day and date’ means that movie titles for VOD are released on the same day as the DVD introduction to the consumer market.
Since the test launch of the movie ‘300’ in the Netherlands in August last year, a further nine Warner Bros VOD premiere titles have followed. During this period,: the average buy rate for the most popular titles was three times higher than for the equivalent standard releases, with the blockbuster titles above each setting new records in turn.
This success has proved even more dramatic when looking at revenues. At E4.99 for 24 hour use, ‘day and date’ titles have been selling at up to a E2 premium against the regular consumer price for new titles. Consequently, average ‘day & date’ revenues per title have increased more than three-fold. Diederik Karsten, CEO for UPC Nederland commented, "This is an excellent justification for the bold stance taken by Warner, in launching this initiative with us. Our Digital TV customers have shown that they truly appreciate and value the added convenience".
Back to top
BC finalises $16.5bn Intelsat dealBC Partners is set to announce the completion of its $16.5 billion purchase of Intelsat, the world’s biggest satellite operator. The UK-based private equity firm has agreed to make concessions on the structure and terms of its $15 billion debt package to hold together its syndicate of main banks - Credit Suisse, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.
Back to top
WiMAX could spur DTV growth in AfricaThe penetration of digital TV services in Africa will begin to accelerate due to the proliferation of new technologies such as WiMAX. WiMAX has emerged as a serious player in underdeveloped regions where low bandwidth and inadequate infrastructure have limited the growth of broadband and digital TV services. In October 2007 there were an estimated 30,000 WiMAX subscribers in the Middle East and Africa, which is three times higher than numbers reported at the end of 2006.
"WiMAX deployments are critical in Africa because they enable networking in regions lacking fixed fibre infrastructure," says analyst Anna Maxbauer, author of the IMS Research study ‘Emerging DTV Markets: Africa & The Middle East’. WiMAX facilitates connectivity in rural areas at low cost, delivering live IPTV and VOD transmissions in the absence of expensive DSL infrastructure build-outs. This is especially important for regions such as East Africa, where the lack of infrastructure has led to some of the highest connectivity costs in the world… Local and regional operators should capitalise on low-cost technologies such as WiMAX in order to expand their coverage footprints and launch advanced services to previously unreachable African markets."
Back to top
TNS rolling out DirectViewTNS Media Research has stepped up its initiative to measure national TV
audiences through set-top box data with the launch of a national opt-in panel based on 100,000 DirecTV subscribers. DirectView will be commercialised later this year and provide estimates of both live and time-shifted viewing of programming on a second-by-second basis.The service builds on TNS's previous agreement with DirecTV to provide measurement services based on 250,000 DirecTV interactive subscriber households.
Back to top
3 and O2 launch EyeVibe
Mobile phone companies O2 and 3 are merging their user generated video clip sites into one portal to be renamed EyeVibe, which anyone with a video-enabled mobile phone will be able to access.Users will be able to upload their own short videos to the service and every time they are viewed by someone else on their mobile phone, the creator will get a small portion of the revenues generated.
SatLink increases Euro presence with Eutelsat
Teleport operator Satlink Communications has launched its new MCPC (Multi Channel Per Carrier) platform on Eutelsat’s W2 satellite. With uplinks to the full transponder platform directly from SatLink’s Middle East teleport, channels from around the globe are now able to reach the satellite’s key regions over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East via SatLink’s global fibre network.
Located at 16 degrees East, W2’s Ku-band widebeam offers enhanced capability for television and multimedia broadcasting. W2 is considered by Eutelsat as the prime solution for the Balkan region and provides coverage spanning Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Back to top
DTT eats into traditional TV
From David del Valle in MadridDigital terrestrial TV in Spain reached its audience peak in January, with an average share of 10.5 per cent, with Madrid, Valencia, Canaries and Catalonia as the Regions with the highest DTT penetration. Its rapid rise of audience, along with the growth in audience of thematic TV channels (11.2 per cent in January)is having a detrimental impact on traditional TV channels which are increasingly losing audience share.
Combined, the three largest nationwide channels - Tele 5, Antena 3 and TVE 1 - achieved a rating of 52.9 per cent, the lowest combined rating in the Spanish TV history. Mediaset-controlled TV channel Tele 5 took the lead ,with only 19 per cent share, followed by TVE1, with 17 per cent, Antena 3, with 16.9 per cent and FORTA (Regional TV channels) with 15.3 per cent. Amongst the traditional channels Sogecable-owned Cuatro boasts the highest growth in terms of audience, pulling in 8.3 per cent.
Back to top
Sky gets LostTo coincide with the launch of the fourth season, Sky customers can now watch full episodes Lost via Sky Anytime on PC, as well as catch up on content on Sky.com, and watch clips from the series on their mobile phone via Sky Mobile TV.
In addition, Sky+ and all Sky HD viewers will be able to watch the first two episodes of Series 4 via Sky Anytime on TV, 24 hours before they are broadcast on Sky One. The first episode will be available on Saturday 2 February and the second episode on Saturday 9 February. Also for the first time, Sky Variety Mix customers will have the option of watching all the new episodes for free on Sky Anytime on PC. Each new episode will be available to download straight after it has been shown on Sky One and Sky One HD for a full 30 days.
Back to top
Monday 4th February
Italian frequency allocation breached EU law
Microsoft swoops for Yahoo
Dish to fight TiVo judgement
700 MHz sale hits reserve price
IPTV STB market to see strong short-term growth
UK DAB mobile TV service ceases
Yoo restructure
Ofcom consult on public spectrum
French football rights extension
Disney-ABC debut on Korean VOD services
Italian frequency allocation breached EU law
From Branislav Pekic in RomeThe European Court of Justice has ruled that the way TV broadcasting frequencies have been distributed in Italy breaches European Union law.
Judges said that a succession of laws regulating the country's TV had effectively favoured existing broadcasters Mediaset and RAI, barring access to would-be competitors. In short, the process for allocating frequencies ''does not follow objective, transparent and non-discriminatory selection criterion,'' judges said.
The ruling has a direct bearing on a nine-year dispute involving one of the TV channels of former premier Silvio Berlusconi, which is accused of occupying the frequencies of another private network. The dispute dates back to 1999 when the Europa 7 channel received authorisation to broadcast nationally but was never allocated the frequencies it needed to do so. This was because the Rete 4 channel never switched to satellite broadcasting as it had been required to do by a 1997 law, and a media reform law passed by the Berlusconi government in 2004 enabled it to continue broadcasting.The case went to Italy's highest administrative court, the Council of State, which then turned to the European Court to get clarification.
Europe 7 owner Francesco Di Stefano said he now expected the Council of State to allocate it the frequencies it had been authorised to use in 1999. However, Berlusconi’s Mediaset said the European ruling would have ''no consequences regarding the use of the frequencies available to Rete 4'' as it was only relevant to Europa 7's request for compensation.
Back to top
Microsoft swoops for YahooMicrosoft has launched a $44.6 billion takeover bid for Yahoo in an attempt to challenge Google. Microsoft's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, claimed that combining the two companies would create a stronger challenger to Google in the online advertising market. Hesaid the deal would create a "more efficient" company with total annual synergies of $1 billion, driven by audience critical mass, increased value for advertisers and operational efficiencies.
The move comes just three days after Yahoo announced 1,000 job cuts, and a 23 per cent drop in profits. Yahoo has said it will consider the offer.
Back to top
Dish to fight TiVo judgementDish Network said it plans to fight a federal appeals court ruling that affirmed the $94 million jury verdict assessed against the satellite TV company in connection with the patent infringement lawsuit pushed by TiVo.The companies have been embroiled in litigation over alleged violations of TiVo's DVR patents by Dish Network. The appeals court ruled for TiVo in its patent infringement case related to alleged violations of the DVR pioneer's software technology, but ruled out the hardware claims made by TiVo in its litigation.
In a statement, TiVo said it was "extremely pleased" with the appeals court ruling, which it said "is confirmation of the value of TiVo's IP portfolio, which is in addition to the other benefits TiVo has to offer."
Dish Network said the court decision won't impact current or future DVR customers since engineers have developed and deployed new software to customer DVRs. "This improved software is fully operational, has been automatically downloaded to current customers, and does not infringe the TiVo patent at issue in the Federal Circuit's ruling," the company said.
700 MHz sale hits reserve price
Bidders in the Federal Communications Commission's auction of 700 MHz spectrum have cleared the agency's $10 billion overall reserve-price hurdle, but each spectrum block has its own reserve price, and those races continue.
The auction still is in Stage One. As of the close of Round 19 all bids for all licenses totalled $14.3 billion; there have been no dropped bids so far. The Package 50 States licence stands at $4.7 billion.
Back to top
IPTV STB market to see strong short-term growth
Sales of set-top boxes (STBs) for IPTV video services will show strong growth through 2010 in North America and Europe, fuelled by increased deployment of consumer video services by telephone companies, with STB revenues for the two regions peaking at about $765 million in 2010, according to a report from Light Reading.
"The North American and European markets for IPTV STBs showed strong growth during 2007, with an estimated 4.5 million boxes shipped," notes Simon Sherrington, research analyst for Light Reading Insider and author of the report. "Sales of IPTV STBs are forecast to continue to grow in volume and value across the two regions through 2010, as more service providers launch their IPTV services."
Demand for high-definition (HD) video services and features such as digital video recording will have a significant impact on network operator deployments of IPTV STBs, Sherrington says. "Telcos will have to aggressively deploy HD-capable STBs to match competitive offerings from cable and satellite video providers."
Back to top
UK DAB mobile TV service ceasesMobile television signals broadcast over the Digital One national multiplex has ceased. The move means more space is now available where the BT Movio service once transmitted live pictures in conjunction with Virgin Mobile.
Quentin Howard, chief executive of Digital One said: "BT's innovative use of DAB digital radio to broadcast mobile TV confirmed that live digital broadcasting on mobile devices can have consumer appeal. However, subscription-based mobile TV is a complex business to get right and requires widespread take up amongst mobile operators."
Back to top
Yoo restructureInteractive media and gaming group YooMedia have announced an EGM seeking shareholder approval for capital re-organisation and consolidation, including raising £8.42 million (E12m) through issue of new shares to acquire interactive TV company Fresh. This results in Kasei and vendors of Fresh being allowed to take a 49.995 per cent stake in enlarged business without making offer for entire issued share capital. Michael Sinclair will remain as chairman of enlarged group, with Fresh chief executive José-Luis Vazquez becoming CEO and current managing director Neil MacDonald becoming COO.
Back to top
Ofcom consult on public spectrum
Ofcom has unveiled a consultation on plans to allow public bodies to share, trade or release radio spectrum they currently hold. The watchdog said studies show spectrum below 15GHz, which is about 50 per cent held by public bodies, could have a market value of £3 billion-£20 billion, and CEO Ed Richards added the initiative could spur the development of new wireless services.
Back to top
French football rights extension
The French football authorities have extended the time for bidding on the TV rights to top football. The bidding, run by the Ligue de Football Professionnel, has been subject to court actions by the current rights holder Canal+. The new contract will run from the start of the 2008/09 season through until 2011/12.
Back to top
Disney-ABC debut on Korean VOD servicesDisney-ABC International Television has reached agreements with the owners of the Korean VOD IPTV services Mega TV and HanaTV, to supply television series and movie content for on-demand viewing.
Under the two agreements, viewers of the KT Corporation-owned Mega TV and HanaTV, owned by Hanaro Telecom, will have access to U.S. series such as Grey’s Anatomy, Lost and Desperate Housewives. Additionally, the libraries of Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films will also be opened to the services.
