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Our Latest Issues
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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 14th March
TiVo brings YouTube to TV
AOL swoops for bargain Bebo
Viacom can’t ‘punish’ Google
DirecTV VOD
BBC plugs iPlayer hole
Sony makes offer for 2waytraffic
Thomson launches push VOD
Changes to DSL forum board
Inuk chooses Edgeware platform
Conexant and Latens team up
Telenor selects Ruckus
TiVo brings YouTube to TVTiVo has announced an agreement with YouTube that will deliver millions of Web videos directly to users’ TV screens. "TiVo’s strategy is to bridge the gap between Web video and television and make as much content available as possible for our subscribers," said Tara Maitra, TiVo’s vice president and general manager for content services.
Just as users can sign up for a season pass to record "Desperate Housewives" on ABC, they will be able to subscribe to CNet video clips, CBS episode recaps and other segments and have the content downloaded to their hard drives. The YouTube clips, however, will be streamed by broadband Internet connection.
When it is introduced this year (the exact time has not been specified), the YouTube service will be available only to TiVo users who have up-to-date hardware — a Series 3 or HD set-top box — and a broadband connection. Of the four million TiVo users in the US, more than half get their set-top box from a cable operator. Of the 1.7 million who bought their box directly from TiVo, only about 800,000 have the necessary broadband connection.
Users will be able to log into their accounts and gain access to playlists on the video-sharing site directly from their televisions. The company also plans to let users subscribe to video feeds from across the Internet by using software called an R.S.S. reader.
The integration of Web video and TiVo was a result of YouTube’s decision, announced last August and made public this week, to open the YouTube platform for outside developers. The platform promises to make it easier for other sites to upload and manage videos.
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AOL swoops for bargain BeboAOL, the Internet arm of Time Warner is set to pay $850 million to acquire social media network Bebo, which has total global membership of more than 40 million. Bebo is one of the largest social networks in UK, and is ranked number one in Ireland and New Zealand and number three in the US, according to AOL.
As social networks such as Bebo have grown in popularity, so has their value to media companies as potential goldmines for online advertising dollars. News Corp., which also owns the Fox television and movie studios in addition to its newspaper and Internet holdings, bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005, but has estimated the network is now worth more than $15 billion, although the price tag placed on Bebo makes this seem a little high.
"Bebo is the perfect complement to AOL's personal communications network and puts us in a leading position in social media," said Randy Falco, chairman and chief executive of AOL. AOL said current Bebo president Joanna Shields will continue to run the company, reporting to AOL President and Chief Operating Officer Ron Grant.
The acquisition is part of AOL's shift from a subscription-driven business to becoming a public Web site that generates income from building traffic and selling advertising, similar to rivals Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN. AOL, which has launched 17 international Web sites over the last year and has plans to expand to 30 countries outside the U.S. by the end of 2008, said Bebo plans to launch in five countries this year, and will be "featured prominently" in AOL's international expansion efforts after the deal is closed.
No financial figures were given for Bebo but social networking has proved difficult monetize so far and most, including Facebook, have seen their phenomenal growth falter in recent audience figures.
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Viacom can’t ‘punish’ GoogleViacom cannot amend its complaint against Google in its $1 billion copyright lawsuit to add a claim for punitive damages, a US judge has ruled. District Judge Louis Stanton denied Viacom's request, saying common law punitive damages cannot be recovered under the Copyright Act.
Viacom sued Google a year ago for copyright infringement on its YouTube service.
The No. 1 satellite-TV provider is testing its own version of an on-demand movies and television service that it plans to launch in the second quarter. DirecTV On Demand uses a combination of DVR broadband connections in a Sky Active look-a-like service. DirecTV's satellites will automatically transmit a limited number of popular movie titles to customers' digital video recorders, where they will be stored for viewers to order whenever they want. Viewers will be able to order other titles by streaming them from the Web through a high-speed Internet connection on the DirecTV set-top box. DirecTV says that about half of its customers currently have high-speed Internet connections.
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BBC plugs iPlayer hole
The BBC says it has plugged a loophole that let viewers download shows from its iPlayer without any copy protection. The web-based iPhone edition of the TV catch-up service downloads shows in the handset’s preferred, QuickTime-friendly H.264 video format, minus the Windows DRM layer. Some users spoofed the site by getting their desktop browser to pretend it was the iPhone’s Safari app.The BBC said "We’ve released a fix to prevent unrestricted downloading of streamed TV programmes on BBC iPlayer. Like other broadcasters, the security of rights-protected content online is an issue we take very seriously. It’s an ongoing, constant process and one which we will continue to monitor."
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Sony makes offer for 2waytraffic
Sony Pictures Entertainment is making an offer of E156m for Dutch entertainment company, 2waytraffic the company which creates, produces, licenses and distributes light entertainment content across television, mobile and digital platforms. The acquisition will enhance Sony Pictures’ global capabilities in the light entertainment market, which includes game shows, reality programming, variety shows, quiz shows and competitions.
"With the potential acquisition of 2waytraffic, we would have the opportunity to expand our access to new content and increase our interactive and distribution capabilities around the world." said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of SPE.
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Thomson launches push VOD
From Colin Mann at the IPTV World Forum in LondonMedia, entertainment and communications technologist Thomson has launched new modules to its Smartvision video service platform designed to deliver video on demand over hybrid broadcast networks (Digital Terrestrial Television and IP or Satellite and IP).
The platform now comprises a push video mechanism which allows delivery of video on demand applications via DTT or satellite networks to personal video recording (PVR) set-top boxes, without the need for a return request path or IP network and with the same comfort, security and revenue generation opportunities as with standard VOD services. It combines now both push and pull VOD capabilities, offering progressive downloads, file transfer and streaming solutions via the IP connection to set-top boxes.
"As the demand for bandwidth-hungry services such as VOD and HD video grows, many operators are turning to hybrid modsels as a solution for optimising network resources for video delivery," said Tiaan Schutte, General Manager of Thomson's Software Service Platforms, within the Systems division. "
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Four of Europe’s leading telecommunications network operators have been elected to the DSL Forum Board of Directors. The new members include Kevin Foster, of BT; Christophe Alter, from France Telecom; Mauro Tilocca of Telecom Italia; and Marcin Drzymala from Telekomunikacja Polska. Frank Van der Putten of Alcatel-Lucent, Les Brown of Infineon and Phil Skeba of Intel also were re-elected to the board.
These strong industry players will help drive the standards work and direction of the Forum, whose activities now involve a much wider scope than its original DSL mandate – including increasing activity around IPTV, fibre deployments and management of the digital home.
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Inuk chooses Edgeware platform
From Colin Mann at the IPTV World Forum in LondonEdgeware, supplier of server systems for on-demand TV, has revealed that triple-play service provider Inuk Networks has selected the Orbit 2x streaming platform to add video on-demand (VOD) functionality to its Freewire IPTV service in the UK, Ireland and Canada.
Edgeware's server solution enables Inuk Networks to add on-demand services to the Freewire offering. The VOD service will be launched to UK students from Spring 2008 and will include a range of movie, catch up TV and music content, as well as providing universities with a platform to deliver their own content. Inuk's Freewire service was launched in September 2006 and is currently available to over 100,000 UK university students living in halls of residence. In April 2008, the Freewire will be rolled out as an off-campus residential proposition using DSL.
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Conexant and Latens team upConexant Systems and Latens have joined forces to increase security and lower costs for satellite, cable, and digital terrestrial pay television broadcast network operators. Conexant has integrated the Latens BCAS (Broadcast Conditional Access System) security software into its CX2415X family of set-top box solutions. To speed product development efforts, a reference design based on Conexant and Latens’ solutions is also available.
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Telenor selects RuckusRuckus Wireless has been selected by Telenor, the world's seventh largest mobile operator, to supply Smart Wi-Fi 802.11g systems for the wireless distribution of its IPTV service, offered to subscriber homes throughout Sweden through the wholly owned subsidiary Bredbandsbolaget. Under the agreement, Ruckus Wireless is supplying Telenor with its award-winning MediaFlex 802.11g Smart Wi-Fi systems.
Thursday 13th March
IP set top market doubled in 2007
Time Warner to shed cable?
Google completes DoubleClick purchase
Ofcom drops PSP
Arqiva, NGW cleared
Neilsen in cable STBs
EC OK’s Thomson’s Quaero
ONO clears 1 million subs
NEC targets IPTV business
Astra claims 9m+ German DTH
Mixed Signals for Europe
GridNetworks raises additional capital
Anevia, Smart Com mark IPTV compliance
Microsoft and Harmonic DiviCom Ion AVC encoder
Quative selected by B.Net Croatia
IP set top market doubled in 2007The IP set top box market almost doubled in 2007 reports In-Stat. North America was one of the fastest growing regions, as AT&T ramped up the pace of installations. The impact of these subscribers on the set top market was enhanced due to the fact that most North American subscribers need multiple boxes.
"IP set top box hardware features are now stable, with the exception of the integration of home-networking technologies," says Michelle Abraham, In-Stat analyst. "New features will come in software, rather than hardware, in the future."
In-Stat considers that falling box prices will cause annual IP set top box revenues to remain about $2 billion once they reach that level in the future and that home-networking technologies are being integrated into IP set top boxes on a deal-by-deal basis.
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Time Warner to shed cable?TW CEO Jeff Bewkes has signalled he is leaning towards a complete spin-off of Time Warner Cable, telling investors a split between the two companies could be beneficial for both. The board has been conducting a formal review into whether and how Time Warner should change its 84 per cent ownership of Time Warner Cable, a separate public company. Bewkes told investors that a decision would be made by the end of April.
"It might be better if it were able to live as a separate ownership position for us as well as for all of you as shareholders," Bewkes told the Bear Stearns media conference. Time Warner Cable is the second biggest cable operator after Comcast, serving about 14.6 million customers.
Investors have long expected Time Warner to sell down its stake in the cable company to less than 50 per cent. But depressed cable valuations have recently led to some calls for Time Warner to go in the other direction and consider buying back the 16 per cent stake currently in public hands. But Bewkes said it has more to do with issues such as whether Time Warner Cable's strategic options would be improved "if it was a separate piece of paper you owned, instead of just owning it by necessity with Time Warner."
Bewkes acknowledged that spinning off the cable business would significantly shrink Time Warner, but he said: "It doesn't matter whether Time Warner as a conglomerate of holdings is larger or smaller, it just matters whether the return on capital is higher."
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Google completes DoubleClick purchaseGoogle has completed its $3.1 billion acquisition of online advertising group DoubleClick after receiving the green light from European competition authorities, setting the stage for a broader push into the online display advertising market.
The clearance also increased the likelihood that a future acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft would also pass regulatory scrutiny, since Google would loom as a more formidable force in online advertising markets.
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Ofcom drops PSPThe Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards, has confirmed the UK regulator is to abandon plans for a "public service publisher". He said the idea had "served its purpose" in shifting the debate on the future of public service broadcasting by emphasising the importance of digital media.
It is understood that Ofcom no longer envisages recommending the creation of a specific body tasked with producing, distributing or funding public service content. The PSP, which Ofcom first proposed in 2004 as a solution to broadcasters' dwindling ability to afford making public service programming, was originally envisaged as a body that would have a budget of £300 million (E403m). Its projected costs were scaled back last year to between £50 million and £100 million a year, with a revised focus on exploiting opportunities in new media.
Ofcom's basic idea of the PSP was to provide competition to the BBC and to avoid the UK being left with just one public service broadcaster. Richards warned that it was important to maintain plurality in public service broadcasting after digital switchover in 2012.
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The two transmission companies owned by Australian bank Macquarie can merge creating a de-facto monopoly, says the UK Competition Commission "subject to the agreement of a package of measures to protect the interests of their customers".
The Commission admits there will be a "substantial lessening" of competition in the supply of broadcasting services for TV and radio broadcasters. "The merged company will therefore be required to agree a package of measures, including price reductions for customers on new and existing contracts and the appointment of an adjudicator to resolve disputes.
The CC has decided that the proposed measures will be effective in addressing the adverse effects of the acquisition, whilst preserving the benefits that could arise from the acquisition, including reducing the risks associated with the digital switchover process and passing back cost savings to customers. However, if suitable undertakings cannot be agreed, then the Commission will order a substantial divestment of the NGW business acquired under the deal," said the Commission report.
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Nielsen will offer a new service that uses cable set-top boxes to shed light on people's TV-viewing habits. Under the deal with Charter Communications, Nielsen receives information from 320,000 households in Los Angeles and then develops second-by-second data that it can sell to clients like media agencies and advertisers.
Nielsen has worked for years with many telephone, cable and satellite-TV operators. But this is the first time it is offering a service to its clients based on set-top-box data.Supporters of set-top-box data say it is more useful to marketers and less burdensome to participants than traditional Nielsen ratings. The set-top boxes cover many more households, and, unlike the panels, researchers don't have to secure agreement from those households to participate.
"With advertisers asking for more accountability, we thought it would be a great opportunity to work with a trusted research name to be able to take this aggregated anonymous data and to begin to understand it better so we in turn can give our advertisers more intelligence," says Jim Heneghan, senior vice president of Charter Media.
Nielsen says its service will give clients more data on smaller, niche channels and high-definition viewing. Later on, Nielsen expects to merge its second-by-second data with information from its panels and other Nielsen data, such as consumer-purchasing information, or data from Claritas, which provides demographic information.
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EC OK’s Thomson’s QuaeroThe European Commission has cleared France’s E99 million state aid for Quaero, the multimedia search index being built by a consortium of electronics and other companies. Former French president Jacques Chirac agreed to fund Thomson for the project back in 2005.
The EC said the project in fact "brings positive externalities for the community as a whole". Quaero will build a service to search audio, images and video, including professional/academic search services and historical A/V. It will cost E199 million over five years.
"Quaero will ultimately enable Thomson to enhance its commercial range of internet protocol audiovisual content distribution platforms (IPTV, video on demand, etc.) and of digital multimedia content management systems. The clients targeted by Thomson are chiefly IP network operators, content distributors and film production studios," said Thomson.
EC competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said: "The objective of the Quaero project is to improve key technologies for processing digital multimedia content. We are confident that the positive contribution the programme will make to European research will outweigh any distortion of competition caused by the aid."
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ONO clears 1 million subs
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The largest cable operator in Spain, ONO, has surpassed one million subscribers to its pay-TV offer, following the company adding 51,000 clients in the last quarter of 2008.
The operator is leading the audience ratings in the pay-TV market with an average share of 7.34 per cent in February, representing almost 4 million viewers.
ONO offers the triple play (telephony, Internet and TV) with TV packages like Esencial, with more than 40 TV channels, Extra, with 70 TV channels, and a total with 95 TV channels. Subscribers can have access to its pay-TV service from E28 per month.
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NEC targets IPTV business
From Nick Snow at the IPTV World Forum in LondonComputing and networking giant NEC Corporation is to launch a full-scale IPTV business with what it describes as high-profile NGN (Next Generation Networks) carrier applications. It is looking to providing end-to-end IPTV solutions to network operators on a global scale. The says it company will draw on its NGN know-how and extensive experience with broadcasting technology to deliver highly competitive solutions in a sector predicted to generate E3.16 billion in sales by 2010.
"With the addition of NGN we can provide a variety of services, including high-grade video-on-demand (VoD) and value-added information services," said Dr Botaro Hirosaki, Executive Vice President of NEC. "NEC aims to expand services and meet carrier demands for smooth migration from current services and advanced service architecture incorporating NGN capabilities by providing next-generation IPTV solutions that couple our extensive technical achievements in broadcasting with our core competence in the area of IT/Network integration."
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Astra claims 9m+ German DTHAstra says it has added 1.72 million households in Germany to bring the total number of DTH homes reached to 9.75 million. In total, Germany had 36.98 million analogue and digital TV homes last year. The number of satellite households remains stable at 16.7 million or 45 per cent of all TV households while cable serves 17.9 million TV homes or 48.4 per cent. These figures come from the latest Satellite Monitor, conducted annually by TNS Infratest on behalf of SES Astra.
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Mixed Signals for Europe
From Colin Mann at the IPTV World Forum in LondonDigital content monitoring system provider Mixed Signals has signalled a move into Europe by opening of a European sales and support office. The North American company plans to enhance its European business development efforts to strengthen its position in the rapidly expanding European video services market.
Sam Kershaw, formerly vice president of EMEA at BigBand Networks, will head Mixed Signals’ European team, with a focus on the Video Service Provider markets. "The industry understands that in order to compete with other video service providers, it is necessary for the customer experience to be the same as, if not better than, the competition," said Kershaw.
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GridNetworks raises additional capitalGridNetworks, provider of managed Internet television delivery services, has announced that Cisco Systems has made an investment as a strategic investor in GridNetwork’s first round funding. With this latest investment, GridNetworks raised a total of $9.5 million financing.
GridNetworks streams television and film content with HD clarity and high-fidelity sound to a computer or a television screen via the Internet. The company’s technology provides content providers who are delivering video to the home with software, real-time service management, and intelligent, network friendly video streams working in tandem, to help ensure that millions of viewers can simultaneously watch full screen HD programming from the Internet.
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Anevia, Smart Com mark IPTV compliance
From Colin Mann at the IPTV World Forum in LondonVideo over IP sever specialist Anevia is teaming up with middleware vendor Smart Com to promote an IPTV ecosystem compliance that aims to strengthen marketing and sales to European telecom operators and ISP of integrated solutions, featuring Smart Com's IPTV middleware and Anevia's live TV and VOD solutions. The initiative aims to maximise the synergies between their flagship products for telecom operators and ISPs in Europe.
Miroslav Sravs, Smart Com’s CEO, said that the pair were extending the list of compatible VOD vendors and enabling IPTV service providers choice to pick best of breed components for IPTV ecosystems.
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Microsoft and Harmonic DiviCom Ion AVC encoderMicrosoft and Harmonic have announced that Harmonic's new DiviCom Ion AVC encoder has successfully completed encoder conformance testing for the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV and multimedia software platform. The test was administered by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft Mediaroom Interoperability and Qualification Lab program. A Microsoft Mediaroom ecosystem partner, Harmonic powers the video head ends for a majority of Microsoft's IPTV customers.
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Quative selected by B.Net CroatiaQuative, a Kudelski Group company, has been selected by B.Net Croatia, the national cable operator, to provide an end-to-end interactive TV solution for their broadband cable system. The solution features the Quative Service Platform (QSP) and the Lysis Content Management System (CMS), along with Harmonic’s complete video delivery solution encompassing compression, stream processing, on-demand delivery and edgeQAMs. As the end-to-end systems integrator, Quative is providing B.Net with a comprehensive and seamless on-demand cable and IPTV solution that simultaneously supports both types of networks.
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Wednesday 12th March
Hulu public debut
News Corp won’t rescue Yahoo
Freeview sales hit all-time high
Global IPTV subscriptions pass 12m at end 2007
DTT in 30% of Spanish homes
Internet beating TV for kids' attention
GCap sticking with digital radio?
Five News on MySpace
MTG sells DTV to CTC
Babelgum Web TV platform
Paramount movie clips on Facebook
Rubery joins Electra
Canal+ Catch Up
Portugal Telecom chooses Nagra
Highwinds raises $55m
DEN selects NDS
Philips launches CineFence
Hulu public debutHulu, the online video JV of News Corp and NBC Universal, makes its public debut today with programming from Warner Bros, Lionsgate and major sports leagues as well as its owners. Hulu offers full-length episodes of more than 250 TV series and over 100 movies. It also has licensing deals with the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League.
In a new twist with Hulu is allowing users to choose the commercials they watch. Jason Kilar, Hulu’s chief executive, said this would deliver more targeted audiences to advertisers. "We want to put users in control," he said, adding the company has deals with Intel, Nissan and Best Buy. "The Holy Grail of advertising is to be as relevant and interesting as the content. This is an important step towards that end." Users will be able to choose one of three commercials and will also be offered the opportunity to forgo any commercials in the middle of the programming in return for watching a film trailer before the programme begins.
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News Corp won’t rescue YahooNews Corp will not get into a fight with Microsoft over Yahoo, chief executive Rupert Murdoch said. "We're not going to get into a fight with Microsoft, which has a lot more money than us," Murdoch told investors at a media conference. Microsoft has made an unsolicited $41.4 billion bid to buy Yahoo. Time Warner has also held talks to combine its AOL Internet division with Yahoo, another source said last week.
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Freeview sales hit all-time highFreeview has confirmed that sales for 2007 hit an all-time high with 9.7 million Freeview branded products sold, up 64 per cent year-on-year. The Q4 figures also reflect the success of Christmas sales with 3.8 million purchases, Freeview’s best quarterly figures to date.
Freeview Playback, which now accounts for half of the total DTR market received a boost with sales jumping by 78 per cent in December. iDTVs and STB sales continued to be strong during Q4 with 2.1 million iDTVs being sold in the quarter, an increase of 133 per cent on the previous year. Freeview STBs, largely bought to convert second sets, is still growing by 26 per cent year-on-year and there are around 19 million remaining to convert.
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Global IPTV subscriptions pass 12m at end 2007The total number of IPTV subscribers grew by 117 per cent in 2007 to reach 12.34 million, up from 5.71 million at the end of 2006, according to research by Informa. The biggest world region remains Western Europe, which passed 6.9 million IPTV subscribers in 2007 to account for 57 per cent of the global total. The bulk of subscriptions were in France, where incumbent France Telecom and alternative operators Free, Neuf and Telecom Italia's Alice, had attracted more than 5 million IPTV customers by bundling the service free with broadband.
Whilst a large proportion of these subscribers may not be paying for additional content, they do receive free-to-air channels with their basic triple play packages. France is in a league of its own when it comes to IPTV subscriptions. The country has nearly 10 times as many IPTV subscriptions as second-placed Spain and close to 75 per cent of the Western Europe total.
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DTT in 30% of Spanish homes
From David Del Valle in Madrid
According to the latest report from Pro DTT Association Impulsa TDT 29.2 per cent Spanish homes (there are 15 million TV households in the country) already have access to DTT, following the sale of 1.37 million DTT tuners last Christmas, up 48 per cent, reaching a total of 8.81 million devices (4.6 million of which are STBs, 4.21m iDTVs) since March 2003.
The sales of digital TV sets surpass that of analogue TVs, with 2,025,000 digital sets sold in 2007 versus 1,976,000 analogue. 5.7 million people watch DTT each day with an average of 1.5 hours in front of the TV and an average audience share of 11.5 per cent in February. Madrid, Valencia, Canaries Islands and Catalonia are the regions where DTT is most widely watched. More than 40 per cent of homes in Madrid are connected to DTT, followed by Canaries with 38.5 per cent, Catalonia, with 33.9 per cent and Murcia, with 29.9 per cent. The most widely watched DTT channels are Telecinco (16,2 per cent), Antena 3 (13,2 per cent) and La 1 (11,2 per cent).
Internet beating TV for kids' attention
TV, loses to the internet as a kids media, according to a study on social networking by Grunwald Associates, an independent research firm that specialises in new media market intelligence. Sixty-four per cent of kids go online while watching television, and nearly half of US teens (49 per cent) report that they do so frequently -- anywhere from three times a week to several times a day. Multitasking on the Internet, on mobile phones and MP3 players, and on other new media suggests that companies must respond with much more creative, multimedia marketing campaigns for their messages to penetrate.
The study reveals that 73 per cent of TV-online multitasking kids are engaged in "active multitasking," defined by Grunwald Associates as content in one medium influencing concurrent behaviour in another. This trend represents a 33 per cent increase in active multitasking since 2002. While kids are using more media, their attention primarily and overwhelmingly is focused on their online activities.
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GCap sticking with digital radio?Plans to abandon digital radio technology by GCap Media, Britain’s largest commercial radio group, have been put on ice because of a takeover bid. GCap Media, which is the subject of a takeover approach from Global Radio, last month announced plans to stand down from the Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) platform as part of its defence against possible takeover. It is now being reported that it has been forced to hold off on the sale of its stake in Digital One, which it had planned to sell to Arqiva, while takeover talks continue with Global. The sale of the Digital One stake was central to GCap’s planned shift away from DAB.
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Five News on MySpaceChannel Five has inked a deal with MySpace to launch a youth-focused version of Five News. The deal, which Five claims is the first between a UK news broadcaster and a social networking website, will see the launch of a co-branded daily news bulletin on MySpaceTV. The bulletin, will be recorded each weekday after the 3pm TV update on Five and posted online within two hours for MySpace users to view. It will be between three and four minutes long.
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MTG sells DTV to CTCModern Times Group (MTG), the international entertainment broadcasting group is selling national Russian free-to-air television network ‘DTV Group’ to CTC Media for approximately $395 million on cash. MTG owns 39.5 per cent of CTC Media, which is Russia’s largest independent television broadcaster. The transaction is subject to approval by the relevant regulatory authorities.
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Babelgum, has launched its new Web 2.0 version which features social networking tools. Additionally, the platform is now compatible on Macs as well as with Windows. With the new platform, viewers can now join one of three Babelgum Communities: Films & Festivals, Motorcycling and Nature & Conservation, these three being the first of a series to come. Each of these niche collaborative environments includes video clips, an interactive message board, and links to custom profiles of other members that share an interest in the subject area.
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Paramount movie clips on FacebookParamount Pictures, a unit of Viacom, will become the first major studio to make clips from thousands of its movies available for use on the Internet. Paramount is teaming with the Los Angeles-based developer FanRocket to introduce the VooZoo application on Facebook. The service will give Facebook users access to footage from thousands of movies to send to others on the networking site. The studio will market DVDs of the movies after each clip is played, and hopes to use the service to market new releases.
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Rubery joins ElectraCo-founder of Pace Micro Technology Barry Rubery is returning to the digital TV industry by joining interactive technology provider Electra Entertainment as Chief Executive. Rubery joins Electra coinciding with the launch of its next-generation interactivity technology platform for digital terrestrial and satellite television
Electra is part of General Entertainment Technology Corporation, the newly-established holding company that also controls Static 2358 which incorporates the world’s largest interactive games portal PlayJam, businesses recently re-acquired from Open TV by their founder Jasper Smith.
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Canal+ Catch UpFrench pay TV group Canal Plus has launched its On Demand service. Subscribers to the group's basic Canal Plus le Bouquet package will now have access to every show aired on Canal Plus and its thematic channels immediately after broadcast until one month after the original air date.
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Portugal Telecom chooses NagraNagravision has announced that Portugal Telecom has selected a suite of Kudelski Group (Nagra parent) products for the national rollout of its new hybrid satellite-broadband Pay-TV services to be launched in 2008. The Kudelski Group will serve as the end-to-end system integrator for this project. The company is leveraging its entire suite of products to seamlessly introduce new subscription SD and HD services.
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Highwinds raises $55mHighwinds Network Group, a multi-platform IP services and content distribution provider, has closed a $55 million round of equity financing led by General Catalyst Partners and Alta Communications. The financing will fund the infrastructure build-out of Highwinds’ RollingThunder network, including a content delivery network offering.
Highwinds’ RollingThunder network was unveiled in conjunction with an announcement of a partnership between Highwinds, Digital Rapids Corporation and Knack Networks to create advanced IPTV solutions for media companies.
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DEN selects NDSNDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, announced that DEN (Digital Entertainment Networks), the new entrant in the Indian digital cable market, has selected a suite of NDS digital broadcasting solutions to launch the company’s digital cable service. NDS will provide DEN with the VideoGuard conditional access system (CAS), MediaHighway middleware and an advanced electronic programme guide.
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Philips launches CineFencePhilips Electronics has confirmed the commercial availability of its CineFence forensic marking technology for both digital cinema image and sound. Five major Hollywood movie studios have approved Philips’ CineFence forensic marking of digital cinema sound tracks to deter piracy. The approval makes Philips’ CineFence the first forensic marking solution for both image and sound tracks for digital cinema.
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Tuesday 11th March
Experts propose Advanced Digital Television Services
US cablecos combine on ads
ITV joins Bebo
Viaccess to buy Orca
Private equity groups target Virgin Media
Open IPTV Forum end-to-end Architecture specs
Tandberg powers VOD for Multimedia Polska
VOOM HD for Norway
Amino to deploy Caribbean IPTV
Intel, SMG Cooperate on DTT
Entriq acquiring DayPort
TVB Selects Thomson
Experts propose Advanced Digital Television Services
From Colin Mann in LondonA group of telco and broadcasting industry senior executives has revealed what it described as ‘radical proposals’ to increase significantly the number of HD services carried on the UK digital terrestrial network, and with further developments could reach 40, plus the inclusion of mobile TV and portable services.
The group, comprising officials from global digital TV standards group DVB and UK industry body Digital Television Group (DTG), presented its proposals at the DTG’s 2008 Summit. Technical Group chairman Dr Ian Fields said the plan built on regulator Ofcom’s current proposals, which envisaged the adoption of DVB-T2 and MPEG-4 to allow for the transmission of up to four HD channels using a proportion of the radio frequency used by current digital television services.
The group suggests that DVB-T2 and MPEG-4 are introduced at the earliest possible opportunity – together they increase carrying capacity by approximately 100 per cent. In addition, it propose the development of a low-cost ‘plug-in’ module for the ‘Common Interface slot’ already incorporated in virtually all HD-ready TVs above 30cm, to allow DVB-T2/MPEG-4 services to be received on suitable existing TVs. It is also proposed that national Single Frequency Networks be adopted, which would quadruple the available capacity compared to the existing regional Multi-Frequency Networks, while mobile TV could be provided using the DVB-H standard in conjunction with the new MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) system. This would also permit transmission of the five public service channels in Standard Definition for free-to-air reception on mobile devices and portable sets using indoor aerials.
Field anticipated the proposals would initiate discussion and debate within the industry and regulators, and said they gave the opportunity to create a truly world-class, FTA Advanced Digital Television Service, maintaining the UK’s position as a leader in television production and broadcasting, and providing a highly-compelling service to consumers.
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US cablecos combine on adsAmerica’s six largest cable companies are making plans for a jointly owned company that would allow national advertisers to buy customised ads and interactive ads across the companies’ systems.
For the last six months, executives from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Charter Communications and Bright House Networks have been planning the move. Stephen Burke, president of Comcast, and Landel C. Hobbs, the chief operating officer of Time Warner Cable have been leading the move code-named Project Canoe.
Getting the right advertisement to the right person, based on that individual’s own tastes and lifestyle, has been the promise of cable television for years and the reality of the Internet. Cable companies and even Google — which has a deal with the satellite TV company EchoStar to sell television ads — see customised features in television as a potential gold mine.
Collectively, the cable companies will initially put about $150 million behind the effort in order to build a national service that can sell targeted advertising across all six cable systems.
Combined, the nation’s cable operators generate about $5 billion in revenue from selling local advertising in markets where they own the infrastructure to people’s homes, a small slice of the $70 billion television advertising pot. They largely compete with local newspapers and radio stations. But Project Canoe will allow the industry to sell ads on a nationwide basis through a joint platform.
ITV.com has unveiled a partnership with Bebo by preparing to join the ‘Open Media’ platform, giving free and open access to ITV content to Bebo’s community of 40 million users worldwide.
ITV will have a member profile on Bebo that host numerous media channels, each promoting individual programmes. Bebo users will be given the opportunity to become ‘Fans’ of programmes meaning they will be notified when new content is uploaded to the profiles.
The broadcaster’s first channel launch will be US acquisition Gossip Girl, ITV2, available immediately, with other channels planned for rollout later. The programme channels will draw on itv.com’s Brightcove video player with video content to include teaser clips and interviews.
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Viaccess to buy OrcaFrance Telecom subsidiary Viaccess has agreed to acquire 100 percent of Israel's Orca Interactive for $21.4 million. Orca Interactive, a subsidiary of telecom group Emblaze, develops software for IPTV. It has gross assets of $15.9 million and posted a net loss of $4.3 million in 2007. Emblaze said the deal is worth about 59 cents per Orca share. Viaccess is a European leader in IPTV with over 1.2 million active subscribers worldwide.
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Private equity groups target Virgin MediaAccording to some British press four private equity groups are considering launching a takeover bid for Virgin Media despite continuing turmoil in the credit markets. According to The Observer, Cinven, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Providence Equity are prepared to offer $6 billion to $7.5 billion for the company in which Richard Branson's Virgin Group holds a 10.5 per cent stake.
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Open IPTV Forum end-to-end Architecture specsFollowing the first version of the Service and Platform Requirements document, for both Managed and Open Internet models released in the autumn of 2007. The Open IPTV Forum has released the first Architecture specification. The agreed Architecture specification is publicly available via the Open IPTV Forum home page and the Service and Platform requirements via the publications area.
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Tandberg powers VOD for Multimedia PolskaTandberg Television has confirmed that its OpenStream Digital Services platform has been fully deployed by Multimedia Polska to power its entire on-demand (VOD) services. Multimedia Polska has over 600,000 customers and is one of the leading Polish providers of triple-play.
The VOD service is a critical part of the Polish operator’s deployment of a major, advanced multimedia offering. Programming includes a broad line up of movies, sports and entertainment and is available either via free, subscription, transaction or ‘time-shift/catch-up’ services. Multimedia Polska also launched a HDTV offering last year using Tandberg Television encoding and future plans will see the operator introduce more advanced, revenue generating services such as mobile TV.
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VOOM HD for NorwayVOOM HD Networks has launched the VOOM HD channel by Get, Norway’s second leading cable television provider. Get, which has aggressively incorporated high-definition television into its evolving digital platform, will feature VOOM HD in its new HD channel line-up this month. Building on VOOM HD’s growing reach throughout Scandinavia, this latest carriage deal was made possible through the efforts of NonStop Television AB, which distributes the VOOM HD channel throughout both the Nordic and Baltic regions.
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Amino to deploy Caribbean IPTV
Amino, IPTV platform supplier, has confirmed that Telefonia Bonairiano (Telbo), the Dutch Caribbean’s telecommunications company, has selected the AmiNET125 multi-codec Set-Top-Box to power "mitv", the first IPTV service in the Caribbean island of Bonaire over ADSL2+ network.
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Intel, SMG Cooperate on DTT
Intel and the Shanghai Media Group (SMG) have announced that the two companies would join forces to promote wireless DTV. The transmission network for the solution promoted by the two companies would be a blend of DMB-TH (for the wireless HDTV signal) and Wi-Fi hotspot networks (for interactivity relating to television programmes).
Wireless broadcasting for this plan will be provided by Tsinghua Tongfang Legend Silicon Tech; interactive solutions will be provided by i-Vision Interactive. As the platform manufacturer, Intel will provide Centrino-based technology solutions and developer coordination, while SMG will be responsible for content, operations, and market promotions. Users of the service will be able to use Centrino-based notebooks paired with DTV signal decoders to watch television programming, at a market price of approximately RMB 300.
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Entriq, the CA / DRM company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire DayPort, a player in video publishing, content, workflow, and syndication solutions.
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TVB Selects Thomson
Thomson has revealed that leading Hong Kong-based broadcaster, Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), has selected Thomson’s Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) solutions for its deployment in Hong Kong for the MFN and SFN networks.
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Monday 10th March
Google advertising for UK TV?
Virgin Media names Berkett CEO
Tiscali expands IPTV service
CASBAA membership grows
BBC Resources break up
iPlayer on iPod
Blockbuster turn round
Classic Disney online
M:Metrics mobile advertising tracking service
Sky plans EPG shake up
ITV2 going 24/7
Edgeware for TeliaSonera
Google advertising for UK TV?Google is considering bringing its TV advertising service, currently being tested in the US, to the UK market. It would be its first entry into offline advertising this side of the Atlantic.
The company has been working with the US' second-largest satellite operator, Dish Network on technology that allows advertisers to see how many people are watching their adverts. In the UK, Google already has a partnership with BSkyB, under which it is the satellite broadcaster's search-and-video technology partner. BSkyB is keen to improve the targeting of advertising.
Mario Queiroz, who heads Google's product management operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the company would look at opportunities in the UK TV market if the US trials are successful. The Google TV Ads service takes information from set-top boxes to calculate how many people are watching which ads. The platform is built on Google's successful AdWords service, which allows advertisers to "purchase" keywords which, when searched for by Google users, will also bring up that advertiser's advert.
Meanwhile, European Commission regulators are prepared to give Google’s $3.1 billion acquisition of online advertising firm DoubleClick the go-ahead, reports the FT. The EC’s approval is likely to come without any major conditions, although officials had voiced concerns about the impact the merger would have on users’ privacy.
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Virgin Media names Berkett CEOVirgin Media has confirmed the appointment of Neil Berkett to the role of Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. Berkett has been Acting Chief Executive Officer of the company since the resignation of Steve Burch in August 2007. Neil will also be joining the Board of Directors of Virgin Media. It also announced Jacques Kerrest, the CFO, has told the board he is to resign next month, three years after joinning NTL.
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Tiscali has launched a new PVR (personal video recorder) for its ‘Tiscali TV’ IPTV service in the UK. The Tiscali+ has a 160 GB hard drive and three TV tuners, allowing users to record two channels while watching a third. The PVR supports high-definition content and is compatible with the BBC’s iPlayer, and Channel 4’s 4oD, on demand services. Tiscali is believed to be in talks with ITV and Channel 5 to provide access to their on-demand content as well. Tiscali intends to make its Tiscali TV IPTV service available to 50 per cent of UK homes by summer 2008.
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CASBAA membership growsCable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) announced new membership growth for Q1 2008 of one new Patron Member and seven new Corporate Members of the Association.
The new Patron Member is Voom HD Networks Asia, a high-definition channel operator based in the US. The seven Corporate Members are multilingual, pan-European television news channel EuroNews; India-based communications, media and entertainment services provider Reliance Big Entertainment, Taipei-based cable TV MSO Kbro; UK-based broadcasting network solutions and services provider Arqiva; India-based channel operator INX Network; global media and telecoms strategy consultancy Spectrum Value Partners and US-based wireless entertainment device manufacturer Universal Electronics.
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BBC Resources break upBBC Resources is to be broken up, with the subsidiary's outside broadcast unit set to be sold to racecourse TV company Satellite Information Service and the corporation keeping its studios business at Television Centre in west London.Staff in Resources' third business, post production, are awaiting their fate as the BBC continues discussions with just one bidder - understood to be a company based in west London.Apparently SIS has bid more than £20 million (E28m) for the outside broadcast unit.
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iPlayer on iPod
BBC iPlayer has launched its seven-day catch up service on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Users can access the service, which launched in beta today, by connecting to the internet via a Wi-Fi connection. The iPlayer will not use the iPhone's EDGE connectivity, which it deemed too slow to stream video.
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Blockbuster’s net income has more than tripled in the fourth quarter. The movie-rental company said 2007 was a year of "transition" as it slashed costs and made changes to its online service that competes with Netflix. The company said it expects to return to profitability in 2008 -- forecasting net income where analysts had seen a loss.
Blockbuster Chief Executive James Keyes has been attempting to refocus the business through new initiatives, including shedding unprofitable customers by raising prices on its online proposition. Blockbuster also has improved the availability of titles and added more merchandise for sale in its stores, including movies and videogames. The company expects 2008 net income of $5 million to $25 million.
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Classic Disney onlineThe Walt Disney Company will begin showing some of its classic back catalogue television shows through the Internet, its chief executive, Robert A. Iger has confirmed. "In the near future, you’ll see more of that product available on Disney.com, either for free or through some sort of subscription," Iger, said. "Providing physical goods on DVD is tougher and tougher these days because shelf space is limited."
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M:Metrics mobile advertising tracking serviceM: Metrics, the mobile media analyst, has unveiled M:Ad, its competitive tracking service for mobile advertising, in the UK, revealing the first definitive metrics for measuring mobile advertising inventory. The measurement firm reports that online retail companies such as Electronic Arts, Glu and Ebay are placing the bulk of mobile ads, with the category comprising of 39 per cent of all mobile ads tracked by M:Metrics.
"Early findings are encouraging, as they indicate that mobile is increasingly being incorporated into mainstream media buys," said Paul Goode, senior analyst, M:Metrics. "In January, M:Ad has tracked major brands across a range of industries, including Avis, BMW, Cadbury’s, Citroen, EMAP and IBM, using mobile advertising."
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Sky plans EPG shake upSky is planning a reshuffle of its electronic programme guide (EPG) to create more spaces in 13 of its genres. The broadcaster is planning to fill gaps created by channel launches and departures, with existing channels moving up in the guide. They will, however, retain their positions relative to each other.
Six genres - lifestyle and culture; religion; music; shopping; gaming; dating - will be moved to different channel number blocks. The changes will be made during summer 2008 and channels will be informed of their new positions towards the end of April.
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ITV2 going 24/7Later this month digital channel ITV2 is set to become a 24-hour operation, replacing its current 6am to 1.30am broadcasting hours. ITV channels' director of operations Jonathan Rogers commented: "ITV2 is the number one digital channel in the UK and is more than ready to broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These moves are designed to maximise the ongoing success of ITV's portfolio of digital channels."
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Edgeware for TeliaSoneraEdgeware announced that TeliaSonera has deployed the Orbit 2x server system to deliver on-demand TV and video services to its rapidly growing IPTV subscriber base in Sweden. Edgeware says its distributed server architecture enabled TeliaSonera to cost-effectively integrate on-demand capabilities into its existing network, and to deliver new services to its 300,000 subscribers in record time.
The architecture is based on Edgeware’s Orbit 2x, which is a high density, high performance and ultra low power consumption video server appliance. Each Orbit 2x hosts up to 3 TB of flash memory content storage and is capable of reliably streaming 20 Gbps to more than 16,000 concurrent users from anywhere in the network. The TeliaSonera installation consists of both central and edge servers, hierarchically distributed throughout the country, and managed by the Origin remote management system. Content is automatically distributed by Edgeware’s Convoy asset propagation system. The installation automatically ingests video content from multiple providers and performs time shift of live TV channels at virtually zero latency.
