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Our Latest Issues
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Tuesday
Friday 6th June
3 Italia offers free mobile TV
Sweden abolishes Boxer's DTV rights, EU drops case
TeliaSonera rejects France Telecom offer
BBC1 live online
ITV HD launches for Euro 2008
Social networking poor ad revenue
More privacy for social nets?
S4C and Wesley Clover invest in Inuk
Setanta and Five UEFA deals
Euronews re-brands
GlobeCast to acquire Pacific Century Matrix
Howard leaves Digital One
Alcatel-Lucent evolves triple play services
ESOA elects new Chairman
Inergize deploys Entriq
3 Italia offers free mobile TV
From Branislav Pekic in RomeIn a strategy U turn, Italian mobile operator 3 Italia has decided to offer its DVB-H customers free access to six TV channels (RAI 1, RAI 2, Mediaset, Sky Meteo24, Current TV and the new La3).
The existing 850,000 subs as well as new subs of 3 Italia’s DVB-H Mobile TV service will be able to watch, free of charge, live all of the matches of the Euro 2008, the Olympic Games as well as other sports, entertainment and information programs offered by the main Italian TV channels.
The operator is also launching the La3 TV channel, which represents one of the most advanced mobile TV labs in the world with numerous new formats, on the air from June 9. Last but not least, new clients will also get free internet access with up to 50 MB of data traffic a day (with the option of paying E1 for an extra 50 MB).
DVB-H clients can also subscribe to the Sky package (Sky Sport Mobile, Sky Cinema Mobile and Sky TG24) at the cost of E1 a day or E2 a week. From this autumn, new channels will be added to 3 Italia’s Mobile TV, offering music, TV series, as well as live Italian and European football.
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Sweden abolishes Boxer's DTV rights, EU drops caseThe European Commission has withdrawn its legal case against Sweden at the EU's highest court after the country amended its laws to abolish a licensing system that gave the partly state-owned company Boxer the exclusive right to handle certain digital terrestrial broadcasting services.
The commission referred Sweden to the European Court of Justice in October 2006. Under EU laws from 2002, member states had to abolish all exclusive rights for the provision of electronic communications services, including the encryption of broadcasting programmes by July 2003.
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TeliaSonera rejects France Telecom offerPan-European telco TeliaSonera has confirmed that the company’s Board of Directors have received a non-binding, indicative offer by France Telecom regarding a potential acquisition of TeliaSonera. The Board rejected the bid as ‘it substantially undervalues the company.’
"TeliaSonera is a strong business with excellent growth prospects in its own right. The Board and management are focused on developing the company to its full potential, driving strong and sustainable earnings growth and maximising value for all shareholders. The indicative price of SEK 56.225 (E6.1) per share significantly undervalues this potential," says Tom von Weymarn Chairman of the Board of TeliaSonera.
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BBC1 live onlineBBC1 is to air live over the Internet, making it the first of the corporation's analogue TV channels to be simulcast online. The channel will be available as a live video stream via bbc.co.uk, which is being relaunched with improved listings and programme information.
Despite the move meaning viewers will not need a television to access BBC1, they will still have to pay the licence fee.
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ITV HD launches for Euro 2008UK commercial channel ITV has announced that its high definition television service will commence on Saturday June 7th. ITV HD will launch with live coverage of the Euro 2008 Championships in Austria and Switzerland and will initially be available to viewers watching on Freesat.
In addition to live coverage of the European Championships, ITV’s HD coverage over the summer will also include a range of top movies.
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Social networking poor ad revenueResearch by eMarketer has shown that advertisers will spend just £115 million (E144m) on social networking websites in the UK this year, though this does represent a 77 per cent growth rate in spend on 2007.
The researcher predicts 2009 with advertising spend of £175 million, however, this growth rate will slow to 28.6 per cent in 2010, 15.6 per cent in 2011 and 9.6 per cent by 2012. The report also shows that revenue from websites such as Bebo, Facebook and MySpace in the UK will grow to just £285 million, or 5.5 per cent of total online ad spend, by 2012.
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Nine out of 10 UK people think there should be tighter regulation of information on social networking websites, according to new research. A survey by the Press Complaints Commission found that most Britons believe sites such as Facebook and MySpace should be covered by rules that would help ordinary people complain about intrusive material posted online.
Currently each of the major social networking sites operates under its own set of terms and conditions. However, 89 per cent of those surveyed by the Press Complaints Commission said there should be a set of widely accepted rules to help prevent personal information - such as private photographs - being abused.
Although just 8 per cent of those surveyed said they had been embarrassed by information about them published on a social network, many more were more concerned about the implications: 78 per cent said they would change the information they put online if they thought it would be reproduced by mainstream media.
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S4C and Wesley Clover invest in InukInuk Networks has completed a £9.5 million (E11.8m) second round funding led by broadcaster S4C and venture capital firm Wesley Clover. Inuk will use this investment to further develop its Freewire triple-play platform in the UK, as well as expanding into Ireland and North America. The investment by S4C has been made through its commercial subsidiary S4C Digital Media using commercial revenues only.
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Setanta and Five UEFA dealsUK Pay TV group Setanta Sports has underlined its commitment to securing key football rights by signing a three-year deal to show over thirty exclusively live UEFA Cup games per season, from the 2009/10 campaign onwards.
Meanwhile, Five has also signed a deal with UEFA giving the terrestrial broadcaster first choice of matches in each round of the UEFA Cup and exclusive UK rights to broadcast the final. The three-year deal guarantees Five 15 games a year from 2009-10 onwards.
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Euronews re-brandsEuroNews is undertaking the biggest overhaul of its on-air branding since its launch 15 years ago to create a brand to better compete with rival services CNN, BBC World and al-Jazeera.
The new channel branding has been two years in the making. It includes scrapping its EU blue colour scheme in favour of a "pure" news positioning, introducing a "Pure" strapline and a white circle motif. Euronews' new on-screen branding, created by French advertising agency Fred Farid Lambert, will extend from the look and feel on-air to promotional idents for the channel.
"The problem was first of all increasing competition, when we launched there was maybe five news channels, now there are more than 100," said, the EuroNews managing director, Michael Peters. "The sector is dominated by big brands such as BBC [World], CNN and even al-Jazeera and although we are the most watched international news channel in Europe no one knows this."
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GlobeCast to acquire Pacific Century Matrix
Content management and delivery company GlobeCast and Pacific Century Group have reached a conditional agreement for the acquisition by GlobeCast Asia of Hong Kong-based broadcast services company Pacific Century Matrix (HK) Limited.
When the transaction is complete, PCM will be renamed GlobeCast Hong Kong – GlobeCast’s fifth office in Asia and 18th office worldwide. The acquisition will give PCM clients access to the worldwide reach of GlobeCast, a full of France Telecom, while retaining PCM’s expertise and personnel.
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Howard leaves Digital OneDigital One, the national DAB multiplex, majority owned by GCap Media, has confirmed that its founder and CEO, Quentin Howard, will leave the company at the end of June. Howard was instrumental in the creation of Digital One, the world’s first commercial DAB service in 1998 as a subsidiary of GWR Group with partners NTL (now Arqiva).
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Alcatel-Lucent evolves triple play services
Alcatel-Lucent has confirmed several new enhancements to its Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture (TPSDA). Going beyond the initial, mass-market solution requirements for IPTV, voice and Internet services, ‘the new architecture enhancements now enable consumers and business partners to choose the quality of experience they want, for the content they care about and at a price they are prepared to pay.’
The new features being include hardware and software enhancements for Alcatel-Lucent’s Service Router portfolio that will enable service providers to offer their subscribers a high quality of experience for an expanded portfolio of broadband content and applications.
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ESOA elects new ChairmanChief Executive Officers of the Europe's Satellite Operators Association (ESOA) have elected Giuliano Berretta, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eutelsat Communications, as Chairman of the Board. He will succeed Christodoulos Protopapas, CEO of Hellas Sat. Romain Bausch, CEO of SES, was elected Vice Chairman of the Board.
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Inergize deploys EntriqEntriq has confirmed that Inergize Digital Media (IDM) has deployed Entriq's Media Services in conjunction with IDM's robust web content management system to successfully help over 50 television broadcasters streamline the workflow and distribution of their digital content across multiple platforms. Through a series of digital media solutions powered by Entriq and specifically optimised for the broadcast community, content manager IDM makes it simple and straightforward for broadcasters and other publishers to efficiently network digital content across a portfolio of publishing properties.
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Thursday 5th June
No go for mobile TV in 08
Sony acquires 2waytraffic
EU blocks BBC aided C4 switchover
DAB not compelling
Ofcom fines MTV
CBS sites on Yahoo
UAE illegal decoder crackdown
Satellite DMB failing
Belgacom scores Jupiler League rights
Two Way Media games for BT Vision
ZyXEL and Latens STB solutions
No go for mobile TV in 08Mobile TV in the UK will fail to take off this year, as consumers cut the amount of cash they spend on their mobile phones, according to Deloitte.
Less than 1 per cent of the UK population currently watches mobile TV and Deloitte estimates that the figure will fail to increase this year. As well as suffering from cash cutbacks, Deloitte also said that mobile TV is losing out to people catching up with TV programmes online, a trend that has caught on this year at the expense of mobile TV.
The Deloitte Digital Index, a measure of the take up of digital services, found that online video consumption will continue to increase dramatically. Deliotte revealed that 19 per cent of people in the UK consume online video "on a regular basis". That figure will increase to 50 per cemt within five years, according to Deloitte.
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Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has successfully acquired control of the Dutch entertainment company, 2waytraffic. The acquisition gives SPE new capabilities in the global light entertainment market, which includes games, variety and reality shows, and gives SPE one of the largest gameshow portfolios in the world.
The offer from SPE to acquire 2waytraffic was for an initial cash consideration of £114.3 million (E145m). "The acquisition of 2waytraffic is part of our strategy to expand global production and distribution of light entertainment content," said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of SPE. "This opens the door to new content for us, and brings to our business a solid distribution infrastructure, strengthening our position for an efficient roll-out of formats internationally."
EU blocks BBC aided C4 switchover
The European commission has decided that the UK government's plan to use BBC licence fee money to pay Channel 4's £14 million (E18m) digital switchover costs appears to fall foul of the state aid rules, aimed at halting unfair competition.
Channel 4 played down the impact of the commission's interim ruling, with a spokesman saying it was a "pretty standard" part of the regulatory process and that the UK broadcaster would be arguing that the digital switchover assistance from the BBC should be counted as "special funding", not unacceptable state intervention in the broadcasting market.
It is understood that the culture secretary, Andy Burnham, and media regulator Ofcom will also be lobbying on Channel 4's behalf in Brussels on this issue.
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DAB not compellingDigital radio needs a "technological kick" in order to become a successful and compelling medium, says Deloitte. In a report on the expansion of digital markets Deloitte predicts that 27 per cent of UK households will own a Digital Audio Broadcasting radio set by the end of 2008, compared with 22 per cent at the end of April this year.
But it adds that the sets may be more popular than services available on DAB. "It has to be something more than just the same radio in a nicer box with a maple finish," said Paul Lee, an analyst at Deloitte. "It's a technological kick that is really needed to make it as much of a must-have experience as digital television has become. Perhaps an equivalent of the EPG of stations for radio."
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Ofcom fines MTVOfcom has ined MTV Networks Europe a total of £255,000 (E305,000) for widespread and persistent breaches of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code in respect of its channels TMF, MTV France, MTV UK and MTV Hits. MTV Networks Europe was fined for the broadcast of ‘highly offensive’ language and material before the watershed.
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CBS sites on YahooCBS said it reached a deal to allow its Web videos to be carried by Yahoo, part of a broader plan by the media company to add new outlets for its television shows. The deal would have Yahoo join the CBS Audience Network, which already includes major outlets like Google Inc's YouTube, Time Warner Inc's AOL and Microsoft Corp's MSN, as well as sites like Joost, Veoh, and Bebo.
The Audience Network offers short-form clips from CBS, CSTV and Showtime, and before the inclusion of Yahoo reached nearly 90 per cent of the Web. The clips are advertising-supported and free to consumers.
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UAE illegal decoder crackdownThe UAE Ministry of Economy has ordered port authorities across the UAE to step up measures to confiscate satellite TV decoders being imported illegally into the country. The ministry also issued a fresh warning to those involved in illegally importing the decoders, which decrypt pay TV channels and violate the UAE’s copyright law. The Dubai police have already conducted several raids.
"We will not show any leniency to violators of Intellectual Property Rights; it is high time that traders and users of pirated and illegally imported decoders are held responsible for the consequences of their actions," the Ministry of Economy said.
Other countries in the region will soon adopt similar measures that will curb the entry of illegal decoders into their country, the ministry said.
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Satellite DMB failingThe Satellite DMB service in South Korea is failing. Presently TU Media, an affiliate of SK Telecom and the only S-DMB service provider that enables users to watch TV on mobile phones with a satellite receiver or navigation systems, have about 1.3 million subscribers, almost the same as the last year. It is doubtful whether the number will reach 1.5 million by the yearend.
As TU Media has to attract minimum 2 million users to break even, the company is receiving capital injection from SK Telecom only to make continuous losses.
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Belgacom scores Jupiler League rights
Belgacom has secured the broadcast rights for the Belgian Jupiler Football League. The telecom operator will pay E44.7 million to the Profliga for the rights to show the first division matches for the 2008-11 seasons. Belgacom subsidiary Skynet made the bid, and will work with the broadcasters VRT in Flanders and RTBF in Wallonia on the free-to-air broadcasts.
The operator is still working on finding a production partner for the broadcasts. Belgacom TV’s IPTV channel 11 will continue to show the matches, with new interactive services planned.
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Two Way Media games for BT VisionTurner Broadcasting has appointed UK interactive company Two Way Media to create 16 games over the next two years for BT Vision’s IPTV platform. The deal pioneers the creation of branded games for IPTV and will be based around popular Turner kids’ shows on Cartoon Network and Boomerang such as Ben 10, Scooby Doo and Tom & Jerry.
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ZyXEL and Latens STB solutionsLatens and ZyXEL Communications, provider of complete end-to-end broadband access solutions, have partnered to offer low-cost, highly secure IP/hybrid set-top box (STB) solutions. The integration ensures that the ZyXEL STB-1003 and STB-1001H benefit from Latens’ pioneering content and revenue security solutions, enabling IPTV operators to simplify the launch of advanced IPTV services.
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Wednesday 4th June
Warner Brothers tests OTT VOD site
Telefonica fibre will wait on access rules
Voom claims $1bn from Echostar
Veoh restricts global access
CBS video player
Sci Fi and Trion merging TV show and video game
Akamai supports Perform
Eutelsat’s Tooway for Teldafax
Arm unveils HD mobile TV
Warner Brothers tests OTT VOD siteWarner Bros has rolled out a trial version of an on-demand video website, offering archives of popular shows including Friends, Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as web-exclusive content and social networking features.
Available initially only as a private trial within the US, TheWB.com website said it was targeting the 18-34 audience with "iconic, dramatic video content when, where and how" they want it.
The site offers free, full-length episodes of around half the back catalogues of major Warner Bros TV shows and promises unseen footage as well as new, original programming exclusively for the web. Warner Bros has also introduced some social networking features with the site so users can chat about particular shows, set up viewing parties and play themed games.
It is the latest instance of a major media brand reaching out to viewers directly through the web. Some observers now see these branded sites as more of a threat to traditional platforms than the aggregator sites that have generally failed to take off.
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Telefonica fibre will wait on access rules
From David Del Valle in MadridThe Spanish telco giant has said its investment in achieving an FTTH network will be delayed unless the country’s regulator softens Telefonica’s obligations to open its networks up to competition.
The Telecommunications Market Commission (CMT) recently said that Telefonica had to grant its rivals access to its network by September and that the CMT would regulate what price the former monopoly can charge for its use. But, the CMT does not rule out a delay in its deadline to force Telefonica to open its network to competitors.
The current proposal would allow rivals, mostly internet providers such as France Telecom's Ya.com to also offer services such as IP television. Telefonica’s plans is to operate a fibre optic network at a 100 megabytes speed to distribute triple play, including HD television. To begin with, Telefonica plans to launch in the second half of the year a triple play package, including Imagenio.
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Voom claims $1bn from Echostar
Voom HD has filed an amended complaint against EchoStar, claiming it will suffer more than $1 billion in damages because the satellite provider dropped its 15-channel HD suite last month. Voom claims that EchoStar was looking for ways to terminate the valid 15-year carriage deal it forged with them in 2005 by making "baseless" charges that Voom had violated the agreement.
The affiliation deal initially called for the satellite provider to pay a licence fee of $3.25 a month per HD subscriber receiving Voom.
"With EchoStar’s HD subscriber base already having expanded from approximately 20,000 at the end of 2005 to approximately 1.3 million at the end of 2007, and its HD subscriber base projected to grow to more than 11 million by the end of the term of the contract, Voom HD was expected start turning a profit as early as 2009, and generate billions of dollars in revenue over the life of the affiliation agreement," Voom complained.
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Veoh restricts global accessYouTube rival Veoh has cut back some international access to the site as the firm seeks to prioritise its audience and better serve its advertisers.
Spokesperson for the firm, Gaude Paez, said Veoh has decided to exit certain international markets, to concentrate on the 33 markets where it has its most viewers. Paez said that the markets restricted represent less than 10 per cent of the site's users.Paez also confirmed reports that the firm was looking for funding, saying that the company is always talking to potential investors, technology partners, and potential strategic providers in order to move its business forward. Veoh is backed by Goldman Sachs, Shelter Capital Partners, Spark Capital, Michael Eisner's The Tornante Company, and Time Warner.
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CBS video playerUS TV network CBS will unveil its next-generation video player this week. The player uses a content and advertising engine powered by technology acquired through streaming-music site Last.fm.
CBS's new video player will include: an HD viewing experience that doesn't require a download and content-sharing features and social-viewing rooms that let friends watch and discuss content together. CBS hopes that building in valuable, community-oriented features will persuade people to register to use them, and will thus be able to use that data to give advertisers more immediate, granular ways to measure viewers.
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Sci Fi and Trion merging TV show and video gameThe US Sci Fi cable channel and Trion World Network, a Silicon Valley video game start-up, have announced an entertainment franchise that they say takes audience participation to a new level. TV viewers of the planned show will be able to become video gamers after the broadcast to participate in and influence a developing storyline, even inventing characters, according to the companies.
Trion, whose media backers include Time Warner, NBC Universal and Bertelsmann, is setting up an online platform for video games, with users able to choose different ‘channels’ of games. The game can be accessed through a set-top box, PC, games console or mobile phone.
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Akamai supports PerformAkamai Technologies has confirmed that Perform, formerly known as Premium TV, is leveraging Akamai’s global media delivery network to stream live coverage of major sporting events in the Adobe Flash FLV format. Perform operates over 200 websites including those for over 80 UK Football Clubs and Cricket Australia.
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Eutelsat’s Tooway for TeldafaxEutelsat Communications and TelDaFax Communications GmbH have inked an agreement for the immediate distribution of the Tooway satellite broadband service in Germany. Skylogic, Eutelsat's broadband affiliate, will be directly responsible for the distribution contract with TelDafax.
Eutelsat's 2Mbps broadband service is a high-speed satellite alternative for consumers looking for broadband access in areas with poor or no ADSL infrastructure. TelDaFax Communications is expanding its existing portfolio of broadband solutions with the Tooway satellite broadband service, which it will immediately market under the German brand name "all DSL" via its multiple distribution channels across Germany. The consumer premises equipment for the service comprises a satellite dish and modem. TelDaFax is also working on VoIP as an add-on to the broadband service.
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Arm unveils HD mobile TVChip designer Arm has announced details of a multi-core graphics processing unit (GPU) capable of allowing mobile devices to process full 1080p high-definition TV. The Mali-400 MP has a single vertex processor capable of 30 million triangles a second – "way beyond the requirements even of current consoles," according to Chris Porthouse, senior product manager at Arm.
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Tuesday 3rd June
Time Warner Cable to offer web to TV link
Spain: DTT beats cable TV in ratings
EchoStar sues TiVo
China reorganises telco industry
Tiscali TV search tool
Poland: Mobile TV tender postponed
TV web revenue to hit $1.2bn
News Corp controls TV Riga
Telekom Austria selects Alcatel-Lucent
Ocean Blue CI+ application
Time Warner Cable to offer web to TV linkTime Warner Cable is planning to offer subscribers an easy way to bring Internet video to their television as part of an overall home networking system according to Chief Executive Glenn Britt.
"We're actually going to have equipment we make available to subscribers. It's actually going to be a new wireless cable modem that will allow you to network everything in your house." Britt said the service would be available "within a relatively short time" ... and said it was going to be very easy to get Internet TV on a big screen, estimating it would take between one to two years to popularise such technology.
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Spain: DTT beats cable TV in ratings
From David del Valle in Madrid
For the first time DTT is outstripping cable TV in terms of audience ratings with an average share in May of 13.8 per cent against 13 per cent, respectively, according to consultancy firm Barlovento Comunicacion.
As a whole, more than 32 per cent of homes have DTT, with Madrid (46 per cent) and Canarias (41 per cent) with the highest penetration. DTT is also gaining momentum to the detriment of analogue FTA that now has a share of 67.4 per cent against 68.2 per cent the previous month.
Mediaset-controlled Tele 5 leads the ratings with 19.6 per cent in May, followed by TVE's La 1 with 16.9 per cent, Antena 3, with 16 per cent, FORTA (Regional TV channels), with 14.5 per cent, Cuatro, with 7.8 per cent and La Sexta, with 5.4 per cent. Spaniards spent an average of 226 minutes per day watching TV.
Satellite TV stands has a 5.6 per cent share.
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EchoStar sues TiVoEchoStar has asked a court to find that their new DVR software does not infringe a TiVo patent. In January, the US Court of Appeals said EchoStar had infringed a TiVo patent in building digital video recorders, and upheld a lower court's damage award against Echostar of $74 million plus interest.
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China reorganises telco industry
China unveiled two huge deals as the government overhauls the telecoms industry, with mobile operator Unicom taking over fixed operator Netcom. Unicom said it would pay a total of more than $55 billion for Netcom, more than double Netcom’s current market value.Unicom also agreed to sell a wireless network to fixed-line leader China Telecom for $15.2 billion. Some analysts say these announcements mark the first steps in a sweeping restructuring that is expected to usher China into a more advanced telecoms age while opening the door to foreign investment and billions of dollars in purchases from telecoms gear makers.
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Tiscali TV search toolTiscali has launched a new search tool for Tiscali TV subscribers, enabling viewers to instantly locate on demand, Catch Up and broadcast programming, from within a huge library of content.
Searches can be conducted across a specific channel or all channels, as well as specifying broadcast only, on demand only, Catch Up TV or all of the above. Users can look for programmes by title as well as by credits, including cast members and subject matter, with a simple SMS style text input making queries quick and easy.
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Poland: Mobile TV tender postponedThe president of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) has announced that the mobile TV tender for Poland -which was due in May - will be rescheduled to allow submissions until the end of June. The UKE has thus far not managed to finalise international adjustments concerning five cities (out of the 31 earmarked for broadcasting).
Initial interest in the tender was declared by a consortium of the four main mobile operators. According to the alliance’s representatives, the costs of a DVB-H digital mobile TV launch could amount to E100-200 million. Other potential participants in the tender are Polski Operator Telewizyjny (POT), a subsidiary of TVN and Polsat, and Cyfrowy Polsat.
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TV web revenue to hit $1.2bnUS TV stations’ online revenue is expected to jump from $772 million last year to $1.2 billion in 2008, reported a study from Borrell Associates.
"What Local Media Web Sites Earn" surveyed more than 3,100 local media properties, including 613 TV stations in the US and Canada. The study sees significant growth for local online media in general. "Local Web sites continue to ride a wave that defies even the most optimistic forecasts," it said. "Local online revenues are growing at a phenomenal rate of 50 per cent this year -- even more astonishing considering that retail sales have suffered such a sharp drop."Most of this growth, Borrell said, comes from pure-play Internet outfits selling low-cost advertising and connecting with consumers via web searches.
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News Corp has taken full control of Latvian free-to-air broadcaster TV Riga, acquiring the 20 per cent of the channel it didn't own.
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Telekom Austria selects Alcatel-LucentAlcatel-Lucent has been selected by Telekom Austria, Austria’s major service provider, to enrich Telekom Austria’s IPTV offering. The operator is launching two state-of-the-art features – Time shift TV and High-Definition TV (HDTV), enhancing the service experience of its aonTV subscribers.
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Ocean Blue CI+ applicationOcean Blue Software has produced what it claims is the world's first CI+ application, paving the way for highly interactive subscriber content on IDTVs. The application is the first to use the new Common Interface Plus (CI+) standard, delivering advanced, graphic applications inside a CAM, to run on a CI+ enabled TV. Ocean Blue has been working in conjunction SmarDTV.
Ocean Blue has developed a complete solution, including: CI+ browser software for inclusion in host devices, such as set-top boxes and IDTVs; an application authoring tool with applications for the CAM; test and performance tools to ensure compliance. The solution can deliver advanced, visually rich subscriber applications, such as PVR, Pay Per View and Video on Demand services.
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Monday 2nd June
Mediaset aims to double pay-TV revenue
TiVo Q1 profit rises on lower costs
AirPlus TV aims for 450,000 DTT subscribers by 2012
Onstream takes Narrowstep
Spain: 15% out of DTT reach
Sky’s EPG for HD era
DWA endorses privacy principles
TW profits fall
FastWeb not interested in Tiscali UK
France Telecom closing in on TeliaSonera
Axel Springer and Philips TV Digital Personal
KDG adopts eventIS solution
Symmetricom: 'Ten Video Quality Nightmares'
Mediaset aims to double pay-TV revenueMediaset, the Italian TV company controlled by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has said it plans to double its pay-TV revenue this year, as it seeks to challenge Rupert Murdoch's Sky Italia service. "We closed the first three months with really good results,'" Berlusconi said. "We think we can finish the year in a very positive way."
Mediaset has reported that pay-TV revenue rose 144 per cent to E110 million in the first quarter.
Mediaset recently introduced three pay channels to compete with Sky Italia and also signed exclusive accords with NBC Universal and Time Warner to get films and series for its networks. The broadcaster will offer a Disney channel and a 24-hour football channel via pay-TV beginning July 1st.
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TiVo Q1 profit rises on lower costsDigital video recorder maker TiVo has reported an unexpected first-quarter profit as a result of lower spending on marketing and research and development.
TiVo Chief Executive Tom Rogers said the company enjoyed its best first quarter ever of being "comfortably net income positive," achieved by improved marketing and managing of its standalone TiVo business.
"It's our effort to make sure that our standalone TiVo business won't cloud the enthusiasm people have for our other projects," Rogers told Reuters in an interview..
Rogers said second-quarter results would be lower than expectations because of higher marketing costs related to summer holidays and expenses associated with the EchoStar and Dish litigation.
The company said net income for the quarter ended April 30th rose to $3.6 million, or 4 cents per share, from $835,000, or 1 cent per share, in the year-ago quarter.
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AirPlus TV aims for 450,000 DTT subscribers by 2012
From Branislav Pekic in RomeSwedish group Airplus TV is targeting 450,000 pay-TV subscribers for its Portuguese DTT platform by the 2012 analogue switch-off deadline.
Presenting the company’s plans in Lisbon, Airplus president, Michael Werner, said that the group will invest around E70 million, estimating a positive "cash flow" in two to three-and-a-half years and a complete return of investments in seven years. The monthly subscription for the Basic service, carrying 10 to12 national and foreign TV channels, will cost E11.50. A separate Premium package, with four to six TV channels (two of which will be HDTV) will cost E12.
Airplus is currently in negotiations with Portugal’s national TV operators RTP, SIC and TVI with the goal of creating more local based content. The Swedish company plans to invest E5.2 million annually for the creation of new thematic Portuguese TV channels and has earmarked E25.2 million as subsidies for digital STBs.
Werner also anticipated that Airplus TV will reach an agreement before July with Portugal Telecom regarding access to the TV signal distribution network. Airplus TV and Portugal Telecom are the only two candidates on the tender for the distribution of pay-TV channels via DTT, whose winner will be announced by telecom regulator Anacom in July.
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Onstream takes NarrowstepOnstream Media Corporation, an online service provider of live and on-demand Internet video, is to acquire ‘TV on the Internet Company’ Narrowstep. The combination of Narrowstep’s automated IPTV platform, telvOS, and Onstream’s Digital Media Services Platform (DMSP) is expected to result in a single comprehensive platform with a unique ability to acquire, store, manage, process, protect, monetise and deliver, digital broadcast quality video to TV’s, computers, iPods, mobile phones, etc.
"Since the founding of Onstream Media our strategic direction has been predicated on capitalising on the integration of video-on-the-web and broadcast television, making web-based programming indistinguishable from over-the-air, cable or satellite-originated programming," said Randy Selman, president and Chief Executive Officer of Onstream Media. "With the addition of Narrowstep, we now have a full suite of enabling technologies to address this emerging market requirement. He suggested that the combination of the two companies would make Onstream even more attractive to a wide-range of potential partners, including telecom, satellite and cable companies, and hardware vendors.
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Spain: 15% out of DTT reach
From David del Valle in MadridThe Pro DTT Association Impulsa TDT has warned that 15 per cent of Spaniards run the risk of not having access to DTT when digital migration is completed in April 2010.
The president of Impulsa, Eladio Gutierrez, played this down by saying that in other countries the percentage was higher and "there was no incident at all". By way of comparison, he said that "sixty per cent of Spanish homes have a computer, but only forty per cent use the Internet".
So far, 10 million DTT receives have been sold in Spain, with 33 per cent of the population already watching DTT, with an average audience share of 14 per cent. Gutierrez referred to how DTT is viewed in Spain: DTT national conventional channels are watched through analogue television and thematic channels through DTT". he concluded: "We need all of the channels to be watched through DTT" to boost the use of digital television.
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Sky’s EPG for HD eraUK digital satellite platform Sky is to launch a brand new electronic programme guide (EPG) to offer Sky HD customers even more control over their viewing. The HD Sky Guide is an evolution of Sky Guide, Sky’s current EPG, and will launch on all Sky HD boxes in Autumn 2008.
The HD Sky Guide takes advantage of the latest set-top box technology in order to meet the needs of customers in the high definition era and creates a foundation for future on-demand enhancements. It will offer customers even richer and more intuitive navigation, with a completely new look and new features to make it easier to search, discover and navigate an ever expanding range of content. Its introduction follows extensive customer research and builds on Sky’s experience of offering one of the most easy to use EPGs anywhere in the world.
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DWA endorses privacy principles
The Digital Watermarking Alliance (DWA), an international group of companies involved in commercialising digital watermarking solutions, announced its endorsement of the Privacy Principles for Digital Watermarking issued by the Centre for Democracy & Technology. Digital watermarking is being widely adopted to support new entertainment experiences for consumers, enable new content distribution methods, communicate copyright information, monitor broadcasts and Internet traffic, enhance security of documents, protect brands, and identify specific copies of media.
Even though billions of digitally watermarked objects have been successfully deployed without any known privacy issues, and only a very small subset of watermarking applications have any potential bearing on privacy, the DWA believes that by proactively embracing best practices as recommended by the CDT, potential privacy issues can be effectively addressed prior to new solutions being implemented. This will ease the way for broad industry-wide adoption, enable new media distribution models, and enhance access to valuable content for consumers.
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TW profits falTime Warner has reported that its first-quarter net income fell 36 per cent. However, it also affirmed its full-year outlook and said that a "complete structural separation" of its Time Warner Cable unit would be in the best interests of both companies' shareholders.
The media giant earned $771 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with $1.2 billion, or 31 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue rose 2 per cent to $11.42 billion from $11.18 billion on improved results at Time Warner Cable and its filmed entertainment business.
"Our results this quarter, particularly the underlying operating strength at our cable, networks and filmed-entertainment businesses, gave us the confidence to reaffirm our full-year business outlook," Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes said in a statement.
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FastWeb not interested in Tiscali UKSwissCom’s FastWeb is not interested in purchasing the British activities of broadband provider Tiscali according to Swisscom Chief Executive Carsten Schloter, but he added the operator had yet to decide on whether to make a bid for Tiscali's activities in Italy.
"We are not too sure that Tiscali can really complement the strategic positioning of FastWeb," Schloter said "It is something we are looking at, we don't have a firm opinion. For sure, we are not interested in the UK activities."
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France Telecom closing in on TeliaSoneraFrance Telecom has reportedly approached banks with regards to raising E10 billion in loans to finance the much anticipated acquisition of Nordic operator TeliaSonera, despite the Swedish government, which holds a 37 per cent stake in the group, having concerns about a sale.
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Axel Springer and Philips TV Digital PersonalAxel Springer and Philips have established an alliance for the introduction of a global innovation in the sector of Personal TV. The new offering, TV Digital Personal, is based on the programme guide technology and editorial programme information services of Axel Springer Digital TV Guide.
Powered by Aprico, the software-based technology solution from Philips, the service enables viewers to create personalised TV channels that reflect their viewing preferences on the basis of both conventional TV programmes and available Internet video offerings.
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eventIS has completed an implementation of its CASIS and STAGIS products for the German cable operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG). The successful installation brings improved performance to the operator’s services, as well as offering greater scalability and usability.
The system was tailored to meet KDG’s specific requirements, including a number of custom features to improve usability within the KDG environment. Together, the STAGIS schedule manager and CASIS PSI/SI and access criteria management solutions look after several key functions. They handle SI data generation for all services across the entire KDG cable network in Germany, aggregate EPG data from EPG service providers and live streams, and monitor both system components and EPG data.
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Symmetricom: 'Ten Video Quality Nightmares'Synchronisation specialist Symmetricom is highlighting possible causes of digital video quality problems of advanced digital TV in a new video and reinforcing why perceptual video quality monitoring is a must for operators. Designed to showcase the ‘Ten Video Quality Nightmares’ real viewers might experience, the video encapsulates the potential technical reasons for the top 10 common video quality issues.
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