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Our Latest Issues
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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 11th July
Orange social networking service
BBC content deal with Babel
Pace makes progress
Redstone says daughter won’t succeed
ITV ad revenue disappoints
1 in 3 have pirated a DVD
Eutelsat bridges Piedmont digital divide
Macrovision IPG for Yahoo Japan
Top Up TV adds Warner VOD service
RRsat distributes Indian TV channels
Orange social networking serviceMobile operator Orange is preparing to launch a major push for mobile social networking in the UK with a service which aggregates users' accounts across the major social networks.
Launched as a trial in France last month under the name MySocialPlace, Orange has now partnered with the biggest social networks - Facebook, MySpace and Bebo - to introduce the service in the UK this autumn under the Orange World branded website.
UK users will also be able to access the chat service Flirtomatic and the photo-sharing site Pikeo, while Orange customers in France can use the Skyrock community, DailyMotion video site and dating service Meetic. Users set up their login details to the sites once and MySocialPlace aggregates messages from friends and newsfeed alerts with photo uploads, messaging and status updates.
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BBC content deal with BabelBBC Worldwide has signed a global content deal with Internet TV platform Babelgum. The BBC will provide a variety of short form content from programmes such as Top Gear, Tribe and a number of David Attenborough documentaries to the platform.
The advertising-supported content will be available via three new branded channels: BBC LoveEarth, BBC Knowledge and BBC Entertainment.
It's the latest content deal from the BBC's commercial arm, which already has a number of similar deals in place with channels such as YouTube and MySpace.
The Internet TV platform aims to persuade 20-30 million people to download the platform to a PC or Mac by the end of the year. Valerio Zingarelli, CEO of Babelgum, said, "The BBC brand is known around the world and by bringing these brands to the Babelgum platform we further emphasise our position as a leading player in the internet TV space and a point of reference for Nature and Science's passionate audiences."
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Pace makes progressSet-top box manufacturer Pace has maintained progress across all of its global markets in the first half of 2008. Due to a beneficial US Dollar/Euro exchange rate, the Pace France business, which was initially expected to be loss making for 2008, is now profitable and the board expects that the group's out-turn for the year will significantly exceed current expectations, it said in a trading update.
"Pace continues to see growth opportunities in the market for digital TV, which it is in a strong position to take advantage of thanks to the diversified geographical and product spread of its enlarged business," said the group. "These factors and ongoing improvements within the Pace business, provide the board with greater confidence in the group's 2009 performance, which is now expected to be ahead of the board's previous estimates."
Pace will announce its interim financial results for the six months ending 30th June 2008 at the end of this month.
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Redstone says daughter won’t succeedSumner M. Redstone, the chairman and controlling shareholder of Viacom and CBS, said in a CNBC television interview that his daughter will leave the boards of both companies and will not succeed him.
Daughter Shari, who runs the family’s private business National Amusements, doesn’t see it that way, stating a satisfactory outcome was still being negotiated.
Redstone senior said: "The reason she won’t succeed me is not she — that she isn’t qualified, but I have made it clear that good governance requires — these are two public companies, they’re not private like National — that two companies, the boards should decide who succeeds me. I’m not worried about it ’cause it’s going to be another 20, 30 years." Redstone said that a deal had been reached in principle to buy out his daughter’s interest in CBS and Viacom. The deal, according to Redstone, essentially involves his daughter’s receiving control of National Amusements in exchange for her interest in CBS and Viacom.
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ITV ad revenue disappointsITV1's ad revenue is predicted to fall by about 13 per cent year on year in September, with media buying agencies predicting a bleak month for UK commercial TV. The ad market is expected to fall by at least 10 per cent as worsening economic conditions hit marketing budgets.
Ad revenue at ITV's flagship network - the UK's largest commercial channel and a bellwether for the industry - is anticipated to be about £118 million in September, according to early media buying agency forecasts.
A sound performance by the broadcaster's digital channel portfolio including ITV2 -predicted to be up about 8 per cent year on year in September with ad revenue of about £22 million (E27.5m) - could limit the overall ITV ad decline to about 11 per cent year on year.
However, media buying agencies fear that the overall negative outlook for the total UK TV ad market for September, following more modest forecasts of a 1 per cent decline for July and a 4 per cent dip for August, indicates that worsening economic conditions will mean a torrid final quarter for media companies.
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1 in 3 have pirated a DVDThirty-six per cent of Brits questioned in a survey admitted to making illegal copies of DVDs. This is more than in the US, where 32 per cent of people owned up to copying DVDs. Most copies were made from DVDs that had been purchased, though a significant proportion – 30 per cent – were made from rented DVDs.
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Eutelsat bridges Piedmont digital divide
Italy's Piedmont Region, together with Eutelsat, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to leverage satellite technology to accelerate the availability of digital services for all of Piedmont's citizens irrespective of their location.In order to develop its WI-PIE programme (Wireless Piemonte), the Piedmont Region, in collaboration with CSI-Piemonte, TOP-IX, CSP and IRES, is committed to bridging the digital divide throughout its territory by the end of 2008, with a guaranteed availability of broadband connectivity for all citizens. The Region is officially including Eutelsat's satellite technology as a complement to ADSL and terrestrial wireless technologies in order to achieve full broadband coverage of all 1,206 communities for consumers and enterprises.
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Macrovision IPG for Yahoo JapanMacrovision Solutions has signed a license agreement with Yahoo Japan, the country’s largest web portal. Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo Japan will deploy a syndicated version of G-GUIDE, Macrovision’s interactive programme guide (IPG) service in Japan, through Yahoo TV.
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Top Up TV adds Warner VOD serviceTop Up TV, provider of content on Freeview, has inked a strategic agreement with Warner Bros International Television Distribution (WBITD) to offer new entertainment on-demand to Top Up TV Anytime subscribers through Warner TV, a VOD channel. Programmes from Warner TV are available immediately. In addition, Top Up TV and Warner Bros have agreed terms to bring pay per view movies to all Top Up TV customers in the near future.
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RRsat distributes Indian TV channelsRrsat has signed an agreement with WatchIndia TV, a popular video platform which enables live and on-demand broadcasting of well-known Indian TV stations worldwide. Watchindia TV is a subscription-based service which enables the global Indian diaspora to watch local Indian channels and programming through the Internet. WatchIndia TV is a subsidiary of Live Asia TV.
RRsat will provide Watchindia TV with various transmission services including downlinking, turnaround, playout, and Internet connectivity. Using RRSAT’s transmission services, Watchindia TV will be able to extend its platform and offer its more than 500 thousand users with additional live and on-demand channels broadcast from India.
Thursday 10th July
The YouTube glitch: 1bn daily users = $200m a year
Guru cuts ad targets, but online still gains
Mobile TV revenue $15bn+ by 2012
UK retailers tick off
Widevine claims more Verimatrix infringements
Zenith DTV converter box launched
IPTV operators need better tools to monitor quality
BitBand takes on Scaberia
Netstream selects Entone
The YouTube glitch: 1bn daily users = $200m a yearDespite one billion video views on most days, YouTube hasn't been popular with big corporate advertisers. Worldwide revenue from YouTube ads has fallen short of Google's expectations this year, and is likely to total about $200 million for the full year, according to reports in the WSJ.
YouTube is heading Google's campaign to extend its advertising reach far beyond text ads tied to Web searches, its revenue powerhouse. But Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt has acknowledged that the company hasn't yet found the best formats for video advertising. Most blue chips are nervous of their ads appearing next to amateur content.
Copyright litigation has also complicated the YouTube ad push. Viacom is suing Google in connection with clips of television shows and films posted without authorization by YouTube users.
Guru cuts ad targets, but online still gainsCiting worsening economic conditions coupled with the lack of growth in consumer disposable income, Robert J. Coen, director of forecasting at Interpublic Group's Magna unit, reduced his estimate for full-year US ad-spending growth to 2 per cent, down from a 3.7 per cent forecast made in December. He also trimmed estimates for world-wide ad growth slightly, saying softening in Western Europe would be offset by healthy growth in countries such as Russia, India and China.
The picture was different in his emerging media forecasts for 2009:
- Search will grow by 24.0 per cent to $13.8 billion. Search remains the largest "emerging" media category.
- Social media will grow by 37.4 per cent to $1.474 billion. Social Media will benefit from improved monetisation.
- Online video will grow by 45.0 per cent to $805 million. This will be the fastest growing emerging media platform.
- Gaming will grow by 27.4 per cent to $296 million. The bulk of dollars will come from tonnage of online consumption.
- Mobile will grow by 42.6 per cent to $298 million. Growth will come from experimentation and expansion of an endemic platform.
- Advanced TV will grow by 13.7 per cent to $183 million. The medium remains constrained for the largest advertisers.
- Emerging Out-of-home will grow by 22.7 per cent to $1.954 billion. New digital billboards and aggregation of inventory will be key to growth.
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Mobile TV revenue $15bn+ by 2012
Consumers are demanding more personalization and entertainment content on their mobile phones, driving mobile video revenue to exceed $3.5 billion in 2008, according to research by MultiMedia Intelligence. By 2012, the mobile video and mobile TV market will exceed $15 billion, including direct pay and advertising.
Mobile video, which relies on the mobile operator’s 3G network for delivery, has the advantage of an established network, making it the stronger of the two categories in today’s market. However, mobile TV infrastructure deployments and mobile TV handsets are rolling out aggressively, making mobile TV the dominant category in 2012.
"The mobile phone is inherently an inferior entertainment platform compared to other media devices like TVs," according to Frank Dickson, Chief Research Officer for MultiMedia Intelligence. "However, the mobile handset is inherently a superior portable communications platform. It allows for TV advertising outside the home as well as enabling new forms of advertising, including "call to action" advertising. Call to action leverages the handset's built in return channel to deliver advertising beyond the capabilities of the living room TV experience."
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UK retailers tick offIndependent retailers that have signed up to Digital UK’s ‘digital tick’ scheme are providing a better service to prospective customers than those who have not, according to the switchover body.
Even so a ‘mystery shopper’ exercise revealed a continued lack of knowledge, or ability to explain, the inability to record channels in addition to the one viewed after switchover. Only 28 per cent were able to explain the loss of recording with analogue devices correctly with 30 per cent giving the wrong information – usually that VCRs would stop working altogether. Digital UK said the matter was being addressed with the offer of further training.
Digital UK found that switchover was accurately discussed by 87 per cent of licensed independent stores, compared to 77 per cent of those who had not.
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Widevine claims more Verimatrix infringementsWidevine has filed a claim for patent infringement against Verimatrix. The lawsuit accuses Verimatrix of infringing a Widevine patent through its ViewRight client application. The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction to stop sales of the infringing products.
This patent describes a process and streaming server for encrypting a data stream to a virtual smart card client system. The patent generally covers software-based "virtual smart cards" on a set top box, personal video recorder (PVR), PC or mobile device that manage the flow of data over a network.
Widevine already had other claims underway against Verimatrix, which denies all the claims and defending itself vigorously. A court case is not expected before 2010.
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Zenith DTV converter box launched
Responding to surging demand for digital-to-analogue TV converter boxes, the new Zenith DTT901 digital TV tuner - with analogue pass-through for pickup of low-power TV stations - is now available in the US.
Since January, US households have requested millions of $40 government coupons to subsidise most of the cost of digital TV converter boxes. With consumers now redeeming some 50,000 converter box coupons each day, demand continues to be brisk for the small digital TV tuners.
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IPTV operators need better tools to monitor quality
Telcos that are investing heavily in IPTV infrastructure and services to drive new revenues also need to ensure that tools and technologies are in place to monitor their customers' quality of experience (QOE) with their video services. However, telcos aren't sure if today's IPTV QOE test and measurement tools provide the right level of service monitoring, according to a report from Heavy Reading, the research unit of Light Reading.
"Telcos need real-world metrics to be able to verify the health of the video signal as it traverses the live IP network," notes Sam Masud, Senior Analyst with Heavy Reading and author of IPTV Phase II: QOE Is Mission Critical. "The ability to measure the quality of the video signal delivered to real subscribers is a huge issue that will directly affect the success of telco TV ˆ and that means the ability to monitor the performance right to the TV set, using quantitative metrics to evaluate what essentially is a subjective evaluation."
IPTV QOE monitoring can be the most expensive test and measurement initiative for telcos, but it's essential to guarantee user satisfaction, Masud says. "With video services, telcos are entering a very competitive market sector in which baseline expectations have already been set by cable and satellite network operators," he explains. "Telcos at minimum have to match the perceived quality of existing services before they can expect to leverage some of IP's inherent advantages as a video delivery platform."
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BitBand takes on ScaberiaBitBandTechnologies has signed a contract with Scaberia, the Norway-based technology and innovations consultancy firm. The aim of is to enhance the current BitBand strategy and to expand its market activities via Scaberia’s ‘know how’ in the telecommunications and media industries.
"The market is demanding new innovative solutions in much shorter cycles than before. Our relationship with Scaberia ensures that BitBand’s technology and solutions are always at the forefront, enhancing our position as a market leader with innovative solutions for video content delivery. I strongly believe that numerous companies in the industry would benefit from partnering with firms such as Scaberia in order to move forward," stated Ervin Leibovici, CEO, BitBand Technologies.
"Scaberia’s basic strategy is the convergence of technology and content to increase companies’ level of market readiness. BitBand’s Video Content Delivery Network and their new Fast Channel Zapping solution create a very interesting offering and I fully believe that we can assist BitBand in enhancing its strategy by offering additional innovative products and optimizing its solution’s configuration," comments Frank Schmull, CEO, Scaberia.
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Entone, the IPTV connected home company, has confirmed that their Hydra HD IPTV video gateway and Amulet HD IPTV receiver have been selected by Netstream for their operator’s HD IPTV service deployments in Switzerland. Netstream is an ISP based in Dübendorf, Switzerland, providing managed services and systems integration to a host of operators throughout Switzerland.
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Wednesday 9th July
Screen time still grows
Sky Brazil introduces pre-paid
Olympics "billion-dollar research lab" for NBC
Ofcom will protect broadband investment
Microsoft, Yahoo mull media partner options
Profits grow at BBC Worldwide
OTE selects ODG to manage on-demand service
Edgeware and Dreampark enhance TV services
Two Way IPTV games deal with BabyTV
Screen time still growsThe first in a series of new ‘three-screen’ reports by Nielsen shows an emerging shift toward a more video-centric use of the Internet, but not at the expense of television viewing. The report is an effort by Nielsen to "follow the video" as consumer viewing habits shift.
The average American spent 127 hours of time with TV in May, up from 121 hours in May 2007; and 26 hours on the Internet, up from 24 hours last year. More than 282 million people watch television in a given month and nearly 162 million use the Internet. Two-thirds of Internet users in the United States, 119 million people, watched video in May.
The amount of online video viewing is low compared with TV — 2 hours and 19 minutes a month on average — and Nielsen does not have a comparable estimate for last year. But given its popularity, it has attracted much interest from media companies and advertisers. All that viewing, 7.5 billion streams and 16.4 billion minutes in total, amounts to new advertising time for the taking.
The report also suggests that mobile video viewing is becoming significant. A Nielsen survey of about 2,000 Americans projects that 4.4 million subscribe to mobile video on their phones. With 217 million people carrying mobile phones in the United States, wireless video is still far from the mainstream. But the survey found that the average user watches 3 hours and 15 minutes a month, a significant amount of time to be watching such a comparatively small screen.
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Sky Brazil introduces pre-paid
From Branislav Pekic in RomeBrazilian pay-TV operator Sky is to launch a pre-paid service based on a package of 35 TV channels (8 of them free-to-air) and 46 audio channels.
In order to get "Sky Pré-Pago", the consumer needs to acquire the basic reception equipment (dish and decoder) for $187 (E120), including installation. One month of viewing is free of charge, after which they can opt for 7-day ($12), 15-day ($19) or 30-day ($31) top-ups. In comparison, Sky’s basic "post-paid" package has an equipment and installation charge of $31 plus a monthly subscription of $55.
According to Sky’s vice-president for commercial issues, Delfim Moreira, the main target of this new offer are clients who want more channels, but are not prepared to pay for them every month. The operator is confident that the service will help increase the subscriber base by 100.000 people by the end of the year. Currently, Sky has an estimated 1.7 million subscribers, representing 30.3 per cent of the Brazilian pay-TV market (cable operator Net is the market leader with 45.9 per cent).
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Olympics "billion-dollar research lab" for NBCNBC is using the Olympics as a "billion-dollar research lab" to get a sense of how people are using different media platforms to experience the Beijing Games next month. Besides giving advertisers a clearer picture of how much consumers are paying attention to the games, NBC hopes its research provides a comprehensive picture of how people are supplementing TV viewership with tools such as video streaming, video on demand and mobile phones, said Alan Wurtzel, the company's research chief.
NBC has scheduled 3,600 hours of Olympics programming on its main network, along with Telemundo, USA, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo. In addition, the company is planning to make 2,200 hours of streaming video available on NBCOlympics.com. Consumers may also get video on demand via their computer and Olympics content through their mobile phones.
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Ofcom will protect broadband investmentOfcom has re-affirmed its intention to offer a ‘new framework for investment’ in Britain’s broadband networks. The media regulator has challenged the industry to back the proposed rollout of super-fast broadband networks across the UK. Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive, outlined the proposals and stressed that a regulatory framework would be put in place that enabled operators to "make and keep a rate of return that is commensurate with the risks they are taking".
"We want investment in a competitive environment," he explained. "Over the last few weeks there has been a step change in the level of interest and engagement on Next Generation Access issues from a range of companies and organisations."
Ofcom plans to launch a new regulatory framework for super-fast broadband networks this September.
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Microsoft, Yahoo mull media partner optionsMicrosoft and Yahoo have been holding separate talks with other potential media partners after their negotiations with each other broke down, according to reports.
Microsoft - rebuffed this year in efforts to buy all of Yahoo and then just its search business - is talking about alternative deals with Time Warner, which owns AOL, and News Corp, parent of MySpace, but any negotiations remain in preliminary stages.
Meanwhile, talks have continued for months between Yahoo and Time Warner over a potential merger of AOL with Yahoo to create a more formidable advertising and media player, but they are reportedly no closer to a deal.
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BBC Worldwide has reported a 17 per cent increase in year-on-year operating profits of £117.7 million (E144m), on turnover up 13 per cent to £916.3 million, a margin of 13 per cent.
In terms of the trading outlook for BBC Worldwide, chief executive John Smith said the current worsening global economic situation "indicated that profits for the current financial year could be affected by the changing global economic conditions".
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OTE selects ODG to manage on-demand serviceOn Demand Group (ODG), a subsidiary of SeaChange International, will provide an outsourced video-on-demand solution to the Hellenic Telecommunication Organisation (OTE). OTE, Greece’s largest telco with 5 million fixed lines and over 700,000 broadband customers, has plans to extend its service offering and roll-out IPTV services to its customer base.
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Edgeware and Dreampark enhance TV servicesDreampark, provider of middleware for cable, terrestrial and IPTV services in the European market, and Edgeware, supplier of server systems for On-Demand TV, have announced the completion of a joint integration project that enables operators to provide TV services. The combined offering, already selected by multiple operators in Europe, is one of the first fully integrated IPTV offerings to enable a wide range of interactive features, including network Personal Video Recording (nPVR), Time Shift TV with trick play, Start Over TV, Historic Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and Scheduled Recordings.
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Two Way IPTV games deal with BabyTVInteractive games specialist Two Way Media has been appointed by BabyTV, the 24/7 network for infants under three, to be its exclusive games provider for interactive TV networks worldwide, creating a new subscription games service. Parents and their young children will be able to interact with a series games created by Two Way Media. Two Way Media will initially create 10 carefully tailored games for IPTV, which will include memory games, colour-matching games and interactive songs.
Tuesday 8th July
Portugal Telecom to manage FTA DTT
Broadband improvements show ‘Neilsen’s Law’
NBC agrees Weather Channel deal
Dutch reach 40% digital
Hong Kong DTV services to expand
ESPN for cricket
NetFlix to add content partners
Military History advances
Samsung and SmarDTV bring pay-TV services to Italy
Globecast renews SES deal
Portugal Telecom to manage FTA DTT
From Branislav Pekic in RomeThe commission responsible for evaluating the bids on Portugal’s Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) tender has given the green light to the project that Portugal Telecom plans to launch in the framework of Multiplex A that will carry free-to-air TV channels.
Portugal Telecom now has 10 working days to accept the decision. Last week ago, the commission preferred Portugal Telecom to Sweden’s Airplus TV for the pay-TV licences (Multiplexes B to F). The deadline for submitting appeals on the pay-TV tender expires at the end of this week, with Airplus TV announcing it will challenge the decision.
Portugal Telecom plans to use both DTT licences to complement its pay-TV strategy, which is currently based on the Meo IPTV service and via satellite. The FTA platform will carry the four existing national TV channels (RTP1, RTP2, SIC and TVI), as well as a future fifth TV channel. The pay-TV multiplexes will carry up to 52 channels, with different packages, starting with an 18-channel basic. Portugal Telecom plans to launch its DTT offer in 2009.
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Broadband improvements show ‘Neilsen’s Law’According to a report from the FTTH Council Europe, improvements in broadband connectivity speeds are having a direct impact on consumer bandwidth usage, with demand per broadband home growing at almost 20 per cent per annum over the last 5 years. The research, undertaken with Ventura Team, is believed to be the first of its kind to directly test the hypothesis of Nielsen’s Law of Internet bandwidth against patterns of fibre and ADSL broadband usage in Europe.
Joeri Van Bogaert, president of the FTTH Council Europe, explains, "Everyone is familiar with Moore’s Law for Computing, and Nielsen’s Law takes a similar approach to measuring Internet bandwidth. Whilst Moore sees computing power grow 60 per cent annually, Nielsen states that the bandwidth available to a high end user grows at 50 per cent per year. For the first time, we wanted to find out if this increase in available speed is true and is related to an increase in consumer demand and usage."
The FTTH Council Europe report states that European broadband speeds are rising at 50 per cent+ per annum, high end broadband usage per home is growing at 20 per cent per annum and FTTH broadband homes drive 3x more traffic than ADSL in Europe.
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NBC agrees Weather Channel dealNBC Universal and private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group have agreed to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications.
The terms of the deal have not been revealed, but the price tag is reported to have been almost $3.5 billion. The channel will be run as a separate business from the company's other channels, which include MSNBC and CNBC.
The Weather Channel was put up for sale in January, but its owner was reported to be hoping to sell it for $5 billion. It is the third most distributed US cable channel, reaching 97 per cent of US homes with cable, while its website is accessed by nearly 40 million users per month.
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Digital penetration in The Netherlands has reached 40 per cent according to the latest research from Intomart/GfK for the SKO, the organisation for audience research of the combined broadcasters.
The percentage of people watching analogue signals has fallen from 78 per cent to 73 per cent, and the DTT provider Digitenne now has a market share of 7 per cent (up from 5 per cent). IPTV and DTH remain constant at 2 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. The percentage of people that watch video on their computer is 26 per cent. Of those, 86 per cent watch on-demand programmes and 11 per cent say they watch streaming video.
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Hong Kong DTV services to expand
The second phase of digital terrestrial television services will be launched in early August involving six additional transmission stations, bringing service coverage to 75 per cent of the Hong Kong population, in time for 2008 Beijing Olympics.The Office of the Telecommunications Authority said the additional transmitting stations will help extend digital TV service coverage to Hong Kong South, Happy Valley, New Territories North, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung, Tseung Kwan O and Sai Kung.
A recent survey found 6,300 of 10,000 buildings will have their communal aerial broadcast distribution systems upgraded to receive digital TV signals by early August.
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ESPN for cricketESPN Star Sports has confirmed an eight-year broadcast partnership with Arab Digital Distribution (ADD), the largest pay TV platform management company in the Middle East and North Africa, for all International Cricket Council (ICC) events from 2008 to 2015 - including the global showpiece event of the cricket calendar, the ICC Cricket World Cup due to take place in 2011 in Asia and 2015 in Australia.
Covering all television and new media platforms including internet and mobile, this distribution partnership will make ICC events available to cricket fans across the Middle East and North Africa. These arrangements promise to extend the popularity and reach of ICC events, heightening the international game of cricket to the region and promising unmatched coverage to audiences, while continuing to strengthen its popularity in core cricket territories.
The deal covers the Middle East and North Africa, including Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
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NetFlix to add content partners
Speaking about the set-top box Netflix by Roku that allows the Internet content to be streamed on the TV, Tim Twerdahl, Roku's vice president of consumer products, said that in the near future a software update will allow the box to stream content from other "big name" providers. The device, unveiled by Netflix and Roku in May, has no hard drive, and simply streams more than 10,000 movies and TV shows from the Netflix library, through an ethernet or Wi-Fi connection. Users can fast-forward and rewind the video streams with a remote control.
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Military History advancesThe Military History channel is to launch in the UK and Ireland after securing capacity on Sky Digital. It is the first time the brand has appeared as a linear channel outside the United States. Play out and sales will be handled by The History Channel (UK), a joint venture between AETN and BSkyB.
"Military History complements our existing channels by providing a 24/7 channel for those fascinated by the events and technologies that really can be said to have changed the world," said Richard Melman, Managing Director (Acting), The History Channel UK.
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Samsung and SmarDTV bring pay-TV services to Italy
Continuing the strong momentum of TV manufacturers using SmarCAM Italia, SmarDTV, a Kudelski Group, has revealed that Samsung has achieved DGTVi certification and will offer SmarCAM Italia together with its TV sets in Italy. Samsung has also bundled a Mediaset smart card with the SmarCAM Italia, thus providing consumers with superior ease-of-use and many hours of TV viewing.
When used together with a DGTVi-certified TV set, the SmarCAM Italia offers TV viewers who have purchased credit on Mediaset, La7, and Pangea the ability to watch their programs directly on their digital-ready TV sets without the use of an external set-top box. The first Samsung TV sets with a bundled SmarCAM Italia will be available in electronic retail stores from this month. In addition these TVs will come with a smart card giving access to Mediaset premium services.
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Globecast renews SES dealSES New Skies and GlobeCast, a subsidiary of France Telecom, have signed 5-year contracts for the continued use of two 36MHz transponders on the NSS-806 satellite at the orbital location of 319.5° East. NSS-806 is located at 319.5º East, providing coverage of Latin America while also reaching the Iberian Peninsula, the Canary Islands, Western Europe and much of Eastern Europe.
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Monday 7th July
BSkyB considers Digital Plus bid
Ofcom: Broadband investment will be rewarded
Google ordered to hand over YouTube personal info
News Corp returns Montenegro TV licence
iPlayer pre-book service
Starman acquires ZUUMtv
Dubbing 10 system launches
Former Kangaroo boss joins Nettv247
Sony to stream Hancock in homes
BSkyB considers Digital Plus bid
BSkyB has confirmed it is considering a bid of more than E2.5 billion for Digital Plus, the Spanish pay-television platform. However, as reported in advanced-television.com, there is debate at News Corp over funding priorities as it determines how to expand its European pay-TV business. News Corp, 39 per cent owner of Sky, is currently pursuing a takeover of Germany’s Premiere.
Digital Plus ultimate parent Grupo Prisa is expected to auction it later this year. News Corp might find it difficult to fund both deals and so will let Sky go after Digital Plus while it completes on Premiere.
Prisa, Spain's largest media company and the owner of El Pais, is expected to sell Digital Plus to repay debts incurred in this year's highly-priced buy-out of other shareholders in Sogecable, the television group that owns Digital Plus and Cuatro, the free-to-air channel.
BSkyB or News Corp could face strong competition for the Spanish assets. Potential bidders for Digital Plus are expected to include Vivendi, Telefónica, ONO and Orange.
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Ofcom: Broadband investment will be rewardedUK media regulator Ofcom has called on fixed line operators like BT and Virgin Media to offer much faster broadband speeds and has promised to let them make a return if they make the necessary heavy investments.
With the UK under pressure to offer faster download speeds to remain competitive, Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards told a trade conference that industry leaders should accelerate the roll-out of super-fast broadband across the UK. "Ofcom favours a regulatory environment for the next generation of networks and access that both allows and encourages operators to make risky investments, to innovate for the benefit of consumers and, if the risks pay off, for the benefit of their shareholders too," said Richards. "We are very clear that if operators are going to make investments in new infrastructure, investment that is inherently more risky than developing the existing infrastructure, then they need to know that the regulatory framework will allow them to make and keep a rate of return that is commensurate with the risks they are taking."
His comments were welcomed by BT. "We welcome Ofcom's comments and commitment to removing the barriers to making a return from next generation broadband," said BT chief executive Ian Livingston.
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Google ordered to hand over YouTube personal infoGoogle is being forced to hand over the personal information of every person who has ever watched a video on the YouTube website as part of the billion-dollar copyright case brought by Viacom.
A judge in New York has ordered that Google, which owns YouTube, must pass on the details of more than 100 million people to the broadcasting company that owns channels including MTV and Nickelodeon. The data will include unique Internet addresses, email accounts and the history of every video watched on the website, giving Viacom's experts the ability to conduct a detailed examination of the viewing habits of millions of people around the world, raising fresh controversy for Google on privacy.
Catherine Lacavera, Google’s senior litigation counsel, said Google was "disappointed" by the ruling.She said Google would ask Viacom to "respect users’ privacy and allow us to anonymise the logs before producing them under the court’s order".
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News Corp returns Montenegro TV licence
From Branislav Pekic in RomeNews Corporation Europe has decided to quit the project for the launch of Fox TV Montenegro and return the broadcasting licence to the country’s Broadcasting Agency (ARD).
According to the Chief operating officer of News Corp Stations Europe, Gary Davey, the corporation believes the project would not be viable, taking into account the economy and the nature of the media market in Montenegro. He added that the decision is exclusively based on the evaluation of the economic viability of the project.
The Fox Montenegro TV channel received a licence last September and had already started set up a TV studio and acquired all the necessary broadcasting equipment.
The BBC has formally proposed a new feature for its iPlayer video on demand service: a pre-booking function. The service would allow viewers to queue up TV shows they wish to download up to a week before they air. A similar feature is already offered on various other TV download services, including 4oD and Sky+.
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Starman acquires ZUUMtvEstonian cable operator Starman is set to become the sole owner of DTT platform ZUUMtv. Reports indicate that the cable operator has agreed to buy the 34 per cent held by the TDF-backed national transmission company Levira for around E2.68 million.
ZUUMtv is one of the few fully operational DTT platforms in Central and Europe Europe and currently has 16,500 subscribers.
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Dubbing 10 system launchesThe ‘dubbing 10’ system has launched in Japan, making it legal to make as many as 10 copies of digital television broadcasts, up from the current one. Audiovisual equipment makers and retailers are hoping to cash in on the new system now that demand for DVD recorders and TVs is expected to increase with the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing drawing near.
All programmes on terrestrial digital broadcasts as well as broadcast satellite-based programmes except those provided by pay-TV broadcasters are eligible for the dubbing 10 system. The new system is available on hard disk drive-equipped DVD or Blu-ray disc recorders, TVs and personal computers.
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Former Kangaroo boss joins Nettv247Lesley Mackenzie, former boss of the Kangaroo project, has been appointed chief executive of web TV business, Nettv247.com. The company, founded by Ian West, vice-chairman of TopUpTV, plans to develop a range of Internet and web TV businesses. Nettv247 recently launched its first venture, 123webtv.com, an EPG for Internet TV.
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Sony to stream Hancock in homesStan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president, has said that summer blockbuster movie Hancock will be Sony’s first test for streaming a movie into the homes of buyers of its Bravia TV sets. Users would need to have purchased a $299 Internet Video Link accessory to attach to the TV and they will also have to pay a fee, yet to be determined, to watch the stream. Their viewing experience will be in standard definition as broadband speeds are not up to high-definition standards.
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