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Our Latest Issues
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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 16th May
Comcast socialising with Plaxo
NDS v DISH case on brink
BT Vision 214,000 subs
blinkx posts loss
CBS buys Cnet
EU examines Murdoch’s Premiere investment
ITV battles advertising downturn
Virgin can use same lawyers for court and regulators
Eutelsat strong Q3
Intelsat Q1 up 11%
Kangaroo this autumn
Vivendi Q1 profits down
Dutch going HD
Clix 3D IPTV
Comcast socialising with PlaxoUS cable giant Comcast has bought the website Plaxo as part of a strategy to bring social networking into the mainstream. The deal is estimated to be worth around $150 million.
Plaxo offers an extensive online address book, as well as a sister social networking site branded Pulse, and claims 50 million user accounts and 1.5 million regular unique users each month. Comcast plans to integrate Plaxo's online social networking services with its own subscriber base of 24.2 million customers through comcast.net, the film site Fandango and entertainment site Fancast.
Plaxo commented "Together, we intend to deliver on a vision of making social media a natural part of the lives of regular people, not just early adopters. You should be able to securely post family photos online in Pulse, and have them viewable by any of your family members, whether they are online, at work, on their mobile device, or in their living room watching TV. And you should be able to discover new shows to watch, based on what your friends and co-workers have recommended."
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NDS v DISH case on brinkLocal press report that the California Judge in the NDS v DISH and Nagra CA hacking case is holding a sealed verdict from the jury. The delay in announcing the verdict is because it has been claimed a jury member engaged in conversation with DISH lawyers.
Today the Judge will decide if this is a material matter – in which he may order a retrial – or alternatively he will declare the verdict.
DISH and its conditional access provider NagraStar are seeking $1 billion in punitive damages in the litigation, alleging that NDS compromised the conditional access technology utilised by the satellite TV service.
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BT Vision 214,000 subsBT has reported that its BT Vision broadband TV service accelerated during the first quarter of 2008, with customer numbers reaching 214,000, that’s 94,000 net additions in the quarter.
The news came along with BT’s financial results showing revenue up 2 per cent at £5.42 billion (E6.77bn) with ‘new wave’ (i.e. not fixed line voice) revenue accounting for 42 per cent. Operating profit was £714 million. For the full year the revenue was £20.7 billion and operating profit £2.5 billion, flat against a year ago.
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Video search engine blinkx posted a net loss of $3.2 million for the six months to end-March on revenues of $3.6 million, but said it is ahead of plan in its move towards profitability.
blinkx said content hours have more than tripled since its IPO in May 2007 to 26 million from 7 million, and added that it achieved daily video search run rate of over 5 million per day in March 2008. Shares in the site have recently surged 50 per cent following rumours of a possible buyout bid from Google or News Corp.
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CBS buys CnetUS broadcaster CBS has beefed up its Internet presence with the $1.8 billion purchase of Cnet Networks, the network of technology and entertainment focused websites.
CBS said the deal would make it one of the 10 most popular Internet companies in the US, with a combined 54 million unique users per month, and approximately 200 million users worldwide.
The media group is seeking to ramp up its digital activities at a time when a slowing economy and new technology are pressing the traditional TV and radio businesses that supply the majority of its revenues.
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EU examines Murdoch’s Premiere investmentThe European Commission is to review News Corporation’s stake in German pay-TV operator Premiere. The Commission stated: "We are examining [News Corp’s acquisition of 22.7 per cent] of Premiere on the basis this may give News Corp de facto control."
In an echo of the regulatory difficulties BSkyB has faced in the UK with its stake in ITV, the concern is that the shares would be sufficient to be the determining factor in decisions reached at an Annual General Meeting. BSkyB – which is 39 per cent owned by News Corp – has been told by UK regulators it must reduce its stake in ITV below the level where this would be possible.
The Commission stressed this was a preliminary review and did not imply it would place limits or restrictions on the stakeholding. It has said it will decide by mid-June, prior to the company’s AGM, whether to approve the acquisition or whether it needs to conduct a more in depth investigation.
News Corp acquired its initial stake in Premiere in January when it purchased the 14.58 per cent share held by cable operator Unitymedia, since then it has steadily increased the holding. Murdoch is seeking to have two representatives elected to the company’s Supervisory Board.
Meanwhile, Premiere announced Q1 losses of E28.1 million, blaming piracy for a slow down in revenues and subscribers. Premiere is still ahead of a year ago with 4,242,467 subscribers at March 31, 2008 up from 3,460,572 in March 2007.
Along with the results Premiere announced a new pricing structure that reduces the number of packages to four. From July subscribers will be able to choose from Premiere Sport, Premiere Fussball Bundesliga, Premiere Film and Premiere Family, each at E19.99 per month with savings of up to 40 per cent for taking more than one selection. Existing subscribers will pay the new prices when their existing contract comes to an end. Two additional packages, Premiere HDTV and Premiere Star, can be purchased in conjunction with the four standard packages or as standalone products.
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ITV battles advertising downturnITV has predicted that advertising revenue will not grow during the first half of 2008 as the UK economy slows. However, executive chairman Michael Grade said ITV would still beat the rate of growth in the UK ad market as a whole for the first time since 2000.
The firm said first-quarter revenues rose, helped by growth in its online businesses and production commissions from abroad. ITV said that revenues for the first quarter of 2008 had increased by 3 per cent to £492 million (E615m) compared with £479 million in 2007 and net advertising revenue was up 2 per cent in the first quarter. However, the group said that revenue from its broadcasting operation fell by about 2 per cent to £409 million for the period.
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Virgin can use same lawyers for court and regulatorsBSkyB has lost a pre-trial appeal against Virgin’s use of the same legal team for the High Court action as for submissions to regulators. Sky was concerned that there was a conflict of interest, as the disclosure procedure for Court would mean the lawyers would see documents not available to them in the regulatory process. The court did not accept the argument.
Since Virgin filed suit last April alleging abuse of dominant position by Sky, the satellite broadcaster has sent over 8,000 documents to court the vast majority classified as confidential. The case is unlikely to come to trial before 2009.
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Eutelsat strong Q3Eutelsat, the world's third-largest satellite operator, reported an 8.9 per cent rise in third-quarter and raised its full-year guidance. Sales rose to E223.9 million euros ($346.2 million), compared with an average forecast for turnover of E217 million.
Eutelsat said it had decided to raise its full-year sales target. It was now aiming for sales of between E860-870 million for 2008, compared to a previous target for sales of between E850-860 million. Eutelsat also reported it was distributing 35 HDTV channels on its satellites at the end of March, or over twice as many as 12 months earlier.
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Intelsat reported for the three-month period ended March 31, 2008 with revenue of $572.7 million and a net loss of $412.7 million which included $313.1 million in restructuring and transaction costs incurred in connection with the February 4, 2008 acquisition of all of the equity ownership of its parent, Intelsat Holdings Ltd., by Intelsat Global, Ltd. (formerly known as Serafina Holdings Limited), an entity controlled by funds advised by BC Partners HoldingsnLtd., Silver Lake Partners and certain other equity investors.
Intelsat CEO Dave McGlade commented, "Intelsat delivered a strong first quarter. We achieved broad-based revenue growth, with increases reported by each of our three primary customer sectors, Media, Network Services and Government. The powerful forces of globalisation, technology – including mobility, IP networks and high definition television – and deregulation continue to drive demand for our global communications infrastructure, as illustrated by our record contract backlog at quarter end of $8.3 billion."
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Kangaroo this autumnKangaroo, the Internet TV joint venture between BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4, is set to launch this autumn.
The ITV chief operating officer and finance director, John Cresswell said the partners were hoping it would launch in September or October. Cresswell said that the BBC's outgoing director of future media and technology, Ashley Highfield, who will join Kangaroo as chief executive on July 1, would review the service when he joins and that there would be a be a beta launch before a full rollout. He will also choose a name for the venture.
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Vivendi Q1 profits downFrench media giant Vivendi posted first quarter profits down to E697 million from E771 million 12 months earlier, mainly due to lower sales by its video games division and a one-off tax credit in 2007. Sales were up 5.2 per cent at E5.28 billion.
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Dutch going HDThe Dutch public broadcasters have announced plans to launch HD services in 2009. A temporary simulcast of Nederland 1 will commence next month offering Dutch DTH and cable viewers HD coverage of the Euro 2008 and The Olympics.
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Clix 3D IPTVClix, the triple play brand of Portuguese telecommunication operator Sonaecom, has launched a new VOD offering on its SmarTV service which offers movies and documentaries in 3D.
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Thursday 15th May
Four candidates for Digital Plus
UGV growth faster than expected
Vodafone bids for Tiscali
Portugal Telecom teams up with TVI for HDTV
Telcos remain in positive financial territory
PBS selects thePlatform
New CEO for Viasat Baltics
Four candidates for Digital Plus
From David Del Valle in MadridPrisa’s takeover of Sogecable, owner of Digital Plus and Canal Plus,
has lead to reports of four candidates in play to buy the DTH platform Digital Plus, which has two million subs.The likely buyers are seen as Telefonica, News Corp, Vivendi and the Mexican TV mogul Carlos Slim. Prisa is said to have begun negotiations with Slim and Prisa CEO Juan Luis Cebrián, and former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González (a Slim advisor) are preparing to travel to Mexico for face to face talks that could end up with Slim taking up to 20 per cent in Prisa and acquiring Digital Plus and Canal Plus.
Nonetheless, it is felt in Madrid that the most likely candidate remains Telefonica, which after pulling out of Sogecable's shareholding structure could find it easier to merge its IPTV service Imagenio with Digital Plus avoiding legal obstacles from the Competition Authorities.
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UGV growth faster than expected
With significant growth in the Chinese market, the forecasts for User-Generated Video (UGV) use and revenue have shifted upward since last year, reports In-Stat. With expectations of higher quality content (e.g. HD video) and increasing file sizes, the demands on bandwidth will likely continue to grow at a faster rate than the number of files/videos served.
"User-generated video (UGV) and the video sharing sites that exemplify this form of content have spread across the globe," says Michael Inouye, In-Stat analyst. "China is a prime example of UGV's global reach and appeal, capturing a significant portion of the world market, making it second only to the US. In general, viewing of online video has increased in the US in the past year, although participation is still stratified by age."
Research by In-Stat found that total worldwide UGV revenue is expected to eclipse $1.19 billion by 2012. One hundred and sixty billion UGV served videos are forecasted for 2012.
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Vodafone has emerged as a surprise frontrunner to acquire Tiscali after submitting a £1.1 billion (E1.37bn) bid for the group. A possible deal would give Vodafone a fixed-line broadband presence in the UK, and allow it to merge Tiscali's Italian operation with its Tele 2 business there.
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BSkyB, BT, Swisscom-owned Fastweb, and Italian mobiles group Wind have also made it through to the second round of the auction.
Portugal Telecom teams up with TVI for HDTV
From Branislav Pekic in RomePortugal Telecom has teamed up with national commercial broadcaster TVI to offer live coverage of the upcoming Euro 2008 in high definition to the subscribers of its pay-TV service Meo.
All subscribers of the Meo IPTV and DTH service will be able be to follow, for no additional costs, from June 7, all of the matches of the Portuguese national football team, as well as the quarter finals, semi finals and final in HDTV. TVI owns the Portuguese broadcasting rights for the event (together with pay-TV channel SporTV).
According to the CEO of Media Capital (owner of TVI), Juan Herrero, TVI and PT will collaborate on the HD front over the next four years. He added that the partnership with the Portuguese telecom operator could be extended to free to air, internet and mobile TV platforms.
For his part, PT executive president, Zeinal Bava, announced the launch of other new products and services for Meo subscribers over the next six months. From June, IPTV and DTH subscribers will get new digital boxes with 160 GB of memory permitting around 140 hours of recording. The new Meo Satélite PVR box will cost E9.90 a month, but will be free of charge until September 1st.
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Telcos remain in positive financial territoryThe new worldwide IPTV Forecast from MRG confirms that the increased revenues of Telcos and IPTV Operators remain in positive financial territory, and are not negatively impacted by the global turmoil in the credit, oil and housing sectors. The forecast, based on most recently verified subscriber and revenue growth data, shows IPTV subscribers growing from 24.4 million to 92.8 million 2008-2012; and service revenue totalling $37.1 billion by 2012, with CapEx growing to $5.5 billion. While Europe’s subscriber size in 2012 will remain dominant, Asia’s subscriber base will nearly equal Europe’s in 2012, followed by North America.
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PBS selects thePlatformThe Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the US has chosen thePlatform to power its new online video initiative that will significantly increase the amount of PBS video available on both pbs.org and local PBS station Web sites.
PBS will use thePlatform, the broadband video management and publishing company, to publish and manage its national broadband video programming on its websites. The agreement also allows PBS to enable online video distribution of national programming to PBS member stations and their respective websites. In addition, local PBS stations will have access to thePlatform's publishing system and video player technology to publish locally produced content to their individual websites and to make it available to other local PBS stations.
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Vilma Marciuleviciute has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Viasat Baltics, and will be responsible for the digital satellite TV platform in the region. She is returning to the Baltics after three years in Moscow as CEO of the free-TV channel DTV. Vilma has worked within Modern Times Group MTG AB for more than ten years, since she became CEO of TV3 Lithuania in 1997.
Viasat Baltics is the only digital satellite TV platform in the region and has doubled its subscriber base year-on-year for the last two years, and had 175,000 subscribers by the end of March 2008.
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Wednesday 14th May
Sky’s Picnic postponed
TV Cabo to launch VOD and HDTV services
XM, Sirius suffer on merger wait
BT awards STB contract to Pace
DISH Network Q1
BT PodShow website
Online videos viewed up 13%
IPTV operators searching for competitive differentiation
HBO on iTunes
News Corp promotes Mockridge
GLD, SubscriberWise partner
2m subs for Tata Sky on NDS platform
Hello HD deploys Conax solution
Sky’s Picnic postponedBSkyB's plans to launch a pay-TV service on digital terrestrial television (DTT) will remain on hold following Ofcom’s decision to launch a fresh consultation.
The regulator has decided that an inquiry into the Sky/National Grid Wireless DTT proposal feeds into the wider pay-TV investigation and is effectively linking the two: "In the consultation Ofcom recognised that there are issues raised by the Sky/NGW proposal that will inform the market investigation and vice versa. Engagement with stakeholders has confirmed that the issues regarding the Sky/NGW proposal, such as access to premium content, need to be considered alongside the wider market investigation," said Ofcom.
Ofcom has received a range of views from Sky and industry rivals such as Virgin Media, BT, Setanta and the BBC on the planned service and on the broader issue of Sky's place in the UK pay-TV market. The media regulator said it would now put out a further consultation document on each subject by the end of the summer.
This would appear to make it unlikely that Sky could launch its DTT pay-TV service - if it were given permission to do so - before the summer of 2009. Sky's service, branded Picnic, would involve four paid-for Sky channels offering news, sports, movies and entertainment. Because Sky would include live Premier League football in the proposition, it may favour a summer launch to coincide with the start of a new football season.
The satellite broadcaster is hoping to tap into the significant DTT market created by the success of Freeview, hoping to persuade viewers with free-to-air set-top boxes to upgrade to pay-TV.
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TV Cabo to launch VOD and HDTV services
From Branislav Pekic in RomePortuguese pay-TV operator TV Cabo plans to launch new services for its cable and satellite subscribers such as VOD and HDTV, in a response to rival service Meo IPTV from Portugal Telecom.
According to the head of marketing of Zon Multimédia (owner of TV Cabo), Luís Lopes, the pay-TV operator will introduce video on demand and new interactive interfaces, as well as a new 250 GB HDTV-compatible digital box, permitting up to 200 hours of digital recording. He added that the new digital boxes will be available by the end of May. Although the monthly lease of the boxes has not yet been defined, it is likely to be around E5 a month.
The VOD service will rely on the content provided by Lusomundo, an audiovisual company owned by Zon Multimédia. Lopes also confirmed that TV Cabo is currently in negotiations with the Portuguese TV rights owners for the Euro 2008 (TVI and SporTV), in order to transmit the event in HDTV, on the lines of a similar agreement signed by Portugal Telecom.
XM, Sirius suffer on merger wait
XM Satellite Radio reported slower growth and wider losses as it hangs on for the merger with rival Sirius Satellite Radio. The Justice Department has signed off on the combination, leaving the Federal Communications Commission to decide whether to put conditions on its likely approval of the merger.
With the deal in limbo, XM has seen sales stagnate, its costs to acquire subscribers have increased, and its debt level jump 12 per cent in three months, to $1.66 billion. These are uneasy times for a company with heavy losses, coming off a rapid growth phase and now entering a sluggish consumer environment. In February, with no merger in hand, and its cash level down to $156 million, XM tapped $187.5 million from its $250 million credit line.
For the first quarter ended March 31, XM posted an adjusted loss of $30.7 million, compared to a loss of $27 million, in the year-ago quarter. Sales were $308 million, up 16 per cent from the $264 million level last year. But the top- and bottom-line results missed analysts' targets calling for a loss of 39 cents on $313 million in revenue.
Despite one million gross subscriber additions, the company managed to add only 303,000 net new users after subtracting all the people who canceled service. That compares to the 868,000 gross additions and 285,000 net subscribers gained in the same period last year.
Sirius reported in-line results Monday in after-hours. On customer gains, the company said gross subscriber adds were 1 billion with a total of 332,538 net new subscribers. That compares with 988,458 gross additions and 556,500 net adds a year ago. Like XM, Sirius said it would hold off on a business forecast until it received an FCC decision about the merger.
Sirius also reported a 33 per cent increase in first quarter revenue, to $270.4 million. The net loss for the three-month period was $104.1 million, an improvement over the first quarter 2007 net loss of $144.7 million.
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BT awards STB contract to PacePace has been awarded a contract by BT for its next-generation V-box.
Pace will supply advanced second-generation hybrid personal video recorders (PVRs) for the BT Vision IPTV service. The HD-capable V-Box PVR will provide access for up to 40 Freeview TV channels and 30 radio channels, the ability to record an average of 80 hours of content, on-demand access to a huge library of films, TV shows, music videos and sport and a range of interactive applications. The V-box uses Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV middleware and Nagravision CA.
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DISH Network Q1DISH Network has reported total revenue of $2.8 billion for the quarter ended March 31, a 7.5 per cent increase compared with $2.6 billion for the same period in 2007. Net income totalled $259 million for the quarter compared with $157 million during the corresponding period in 2007.
DISH Network added approximately 35,000 net new subscribers during the quarter giving the company close to 14 million subscribers.
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BT PodShow websiteThe PodShow, which gathers more than 1 million hours worth of podcasts, aims to boost BT's positioning as an entertainment provider following a recent content tie-up with Universal Pictures around its BT Vision TV service.
The audio, video, speech and music podcasts cover a wide range of genres including gaming, finance and advice. Cooking, gossip and sports podcasts are expected to follow. Consumers are also able to upload their own shows to the BT PodShow network. Content is available to download to mp3 players and iPods.
Adam Curry, president of BT PodShow, said, "The BT PodShow network has a broad range of programming to suit every taste. Audiences can view online at any time, or choose to subscribe for automatic download to their iPods."
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Online videos viewed up 13%comScore, has released March 2008 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, indicating that US Internet users viewed 11.5 billion online videos during the month, representing a 13-per cent gain versus February and a 64-per cent gain versus March 2007.
In March, Google Sites once again ranked as the top US video property with more than 4.3 billion videos viewed (38 per cent share of all videos), gaining 2.6 share points versus the previous month. YouTube accounted for 98 per cent of all videos viewed at Google Sites. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 477 million videos (4.2 per cent), followed by Yahoo Sites with 328 million (2.9 per cent) and Viacom Digital with 249 million (2.2 per cent).Nearly 139 million US Internet users watched an average of 83 videos per viewer in March.
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IPTV operators searching for competitive differentiationIn the past five years, IPTV has grown from a handful of deployments by a few pioneering telcos and ISPs to an established part of the pay-TV landscape with services spanning the globe from Australia to the Ukraine. But now, according to ABI Research, this "adolescent" industry must find ways to create a distinct identity so it can continue to grow and prosper, with IPTV operators creating unique service offerings that are differentiated from the traditional video services of their key competitors.
Some services have recently crossed the symbolically important 1-million-subscriber threshold. But, says senior analyst Cesar Bachelet, "IPTV operators must now leverage the characteristics of the new platform to produce a differentiated offering, redefining the experience of television."
"From a technology perspective," Bachelet concludes, "all the tools are there, enabling IPTV operators to move to the next level and bring greater choice, convenience, and control to consumers. However, operators must tread carefully in order not to overwhelm subscribers with too many new features at once, and business models still need to be defined for some of the new value-added services in order to monetise them without alienating subscribers."
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HBO on iTunesHBO cable network is expected to start selling shows on Apple iTunes digital entertainment service, with flexible pricing. Episodes of some HBO shows are likely to be sold at the standard price of $1.99 per episode or higher marking the first time Apple has agreed to selling television shows at different prices in the US.
Studio and music company executives have pushed for variable pricing, such as the ability to sell some content at lower prices and new releases at higher prices, which they believe would improve sales from its older catalogues.
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News Corp promotes MockridgeNews Corporation has confirmed that Tom Mockridge, Chief Executive of Sky Italia, has been appointed to the additional role of Chief Executive, European Television. In this new role, Mockridge will directly oversee the company’s television operations in Europe, outside the UK.
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GLD, SubscriberWise partnerGreat Lakes Data Systems has announced a partnership with SubscriberWise to offer broadband service providers a powerful risk management solution. Operators will have real-time access to data that will help them better understand subscriber payment behavior and credit risk, all from within the WinCable subscriber management and billing software.
"Fully integrating our solutions will add significant value and enhance the cable operations experience for our mutual customers," said David Howe, president of SubscriberWise. "By combining GLDS’ expert knowledge of subscriber management systems with the proven power of SubscriberWise decision analytics and best practices, this alliance will boost our customers’ success through automation, increased efficiency, and cost savings"."GLDS sought out SubscriberWise as part of a larger commitment to helping WinCable users better understand their customers," said Garrick Russell, VP Operations at GLDS. "SubscriberWise has a field-proven solution that, when combined with customer information from WinCable, will provide operators with an unparalleled understanding of their customers."
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2m subs for Tata Sky on NDS platform
NDS has announced that Tata Sky, the leading provider of Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite Pay TV services in India, has achieved the milestone of 2 million subscribers within a period of 20 months. Protected and powered by a suite of NDS solutions, Tata Sky delivers advanced TV services to its subscribers.
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Hello HD deploys Conax solutionHD Platform Kft., Hungary’s first provider of high definition services, has launched its next generation HD platform roll-out, Hello HD, using a conditional access system (CAS) from Conax. The Hello HD offering provides consumers throughout the entire country the option to choose value-added services via cable and satellite for the highest quality picture available in Hungary. Conax CAS7’s encryption technology provides Hello HD with the necessary security to protect its pay-for-content revenues.
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Tuesday 13th May
Prisa control Sogecable
Microsoft Messenger TV
Ads will move to Internet TV
6m missing from prime time
Playboy poor quarter
Blockbuster moves on Circuit City
Orb enables live TV on iPhone
Comtech acquires Radyne
Foxtel, emuse and MCn interactive advertising
Horowitz departs SES Americom
Anevia teams with Ina
Prisa controls Sogecable
From David Del Valle in Madrid
In a surprise move, Telefonica is selling its 16.8 per cent stake in Sogecable, Spain's largest TV group and owner of Digital Plus and commercial TV channel Cuatro, for an estimated at E650 million to Prisa.
This takes media group Prisa’s holding in Sogecable to over 95 per cent. It is said to be studying potential joint operations and even the merger of the two companies. Prisa, owner of newspaper El País, will also look at possible asset sales "especially in the audiovisual and telecommunications sectors", which local analysts see as an indication for a potential sell off of the Digital+ DTH platform leaving Prisa with the TV network Cuatro. Telefonica could be a natural buyer for Digital Plus, given its own pay-TV business, Imagenio.
In any case, a potential sale is likely to be put on hold until Prisa resolves a football rights conflict with Mediapro, shareholder in La Sexta, currently in the Courts.
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Microsoft Messenger TVMicrosoft has launched Messenger TV, software which combines its Windows Live instant messaging service with video functions. The application, available throughout Europe, is part of the group's efforts to increase potential sources of Internet advertising revenue.
Microsoft has struck initial deals with the likes of EMI, Channel 4, National Georgraphic, Reuters and ITN to provide a range of content and clips to drive the launch. Advertising opportunities will include pre-roll ads and a banner that runs at the bottom of the Messenger TV window.
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Ads will move to Internet TVYankee Group has claimed that there is a significant shift taking place in the advertising industry—cable and IPTV operators will lose out to Internet video platforms in the competition for the incremental ad revenue that supports investments in interactive television. By the time cable and IPTV operators will be able to deliver interactivity to a large number of households, content owners and advertisers will have already made long-term interactive platform investments online.
According to the Yankee Group Report, The High-Water Mark for Interactive Cable, digital and interactive advertising is the cornerstone for the infrastructure investments necessary to support interactive programming. Cable networks will continue to command large linear audiences and above-the-line advertising revenue, but cable operators will be limited in their ability to deliver interactive experiences that can compete with Internet video.
"Ubiquitous broadband connectivity is driving a new media mix for time-shifting and ad-skipping audiences," said Daniel Taylor, senior analyst, Yankee Group Consumer Research group. "Advertisers see interactive television as a way to reach viewers in this increasingly saturated media environment. But in light of recent Internet video developments, it's time for cable operators to face facts about their abilities to deliver interactive experiences."
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The US television upfronts — in which the broadcast networks present their schedules to advertisers — have revealed there are six million less prime time viewers than last year.
That’s the number who were watching prime time television last May, a month affectionately known as ‘sweeps’, but have disappeared this year, according to the overnight Nielsen ratings. Each of the major broadcast networks, save for Fox, has seen its audience decline this season.
Research shows there has been a sharp increase in time-shifting. Some of the six million are still watching, but on their own terms, thanks to DVRs, streaming video, and cable video on demand offerings. So while overall usage of television is steady, the linear broadcasts favoured by advertisers are in decline.
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Playboy poor quarterThe Playboy company showed declines in all its domestic units, and it lost $3.1 million in the quarter on revenue of $78.5 million. In the 2007 period, Playboy earned $1.4 million on revenue of $85.4 million. Certain divisions fared better than others. Domestic television revenue was down 16 per cent and online revenue 3 per cent, while the publishing group, which includes the flagship magazine, dropped 14 per cent.
Playboy said its weak spot was the domestic media division, which publishes the company’s flagship magazine. The division got a scissors kick from the difficult advertising climate and from the easy availability of bare flesh on the Internet.
New initiatives include the Playboy Audience Network, which will put videos on YouTube.
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Blockbuster moves on Circuit CityCircuit City has agreed to allow Blockbuster to review its books, setting in motion the process of putting itself up for sale. Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes initiated the offer in February saying "The combination of Blockbuster and Circuit City will result in an $18 billion retail enterprise uniquely positioned for the convergence of media content and electronic devices."
"We would seek to differentiate products in both Blockbuster and Circuit City stores by offering exclusive content and content-enabled devices. Both companies would benefit from complementary products, marketing, management strengths, technology and distribution and the resulting synergies would significantly improve consolidated financial performance."
Blockbuster, the Dallas-based movie rental and retail company operates over 6,000 stores worldwide. In the US, 95 per cent of Circuit City's 682 stores are within 5 miles of a Blockbuster outlet. Circuit City has been struggling to compete with Best Buy, Wal-Mart and others in the discount electronics space. The retailer's revenue fell 5.5 per cent in 2007 to $11.7 billion.
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Orb enables live TV on iPhoneOrb Networks has unveiled a way to stream live TV to the iPhone and iPod touch, allowing users to enjoy the immediacy of live sporting events and fast-breaking news whilst on the move.
To get around the iPhone’s extreme limitations on supported video formats, Orb created a special application, OrbLive, to enable the streaming of any video format to iPhones. "Although the iPhone provides users with a great way to experience the web, it offers a sub-par streaming video experience. When all the carriers’ free phones can stream lots of things that my iPhone can’t, something’s seriously wrong," said Joe Costello, CEO of Orb Networks. "OrbLive finally brings the iPhone’s streaming video experience up to par with other mobile phones."
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Comtech acquires RadyneTransmission specialists Radyne it has been purchased by Comtech Telecommunications. Under the terms of the agreement, Comtech will pay $195 million.
Myron Wagner, Chief Executive Officer of Radyne, said, "This strategic combination makes sense for both companies and I firmly believe it is the right step at the right time for all of Radyne's stakeholders. Our shareholders will benefit from a significant premium to Radyne's stock price, our customers will benefit from greater resources and product offerings, and our employees will benefit from being part of a larger, more diversified company."
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Foxtel, emuse and MCn interactive advertisingFollowing the signing of a major deal, leading international interactive advertising service provider emuse will now become the preferred technology partner for interactive advertising on Australia's Foxtel television platform. The deal between emuse, Foxtel and Multi Channel Network (MCn), Australia's primary subscription television sales group, will run for an initial three-year period.
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Horowitz departs SES AmericomSES Americom President and CEO Edward D. Horowitz has resigned from the company to pursue opportunities with Global Entertainment and Media Holdings Corporation, the satellite services provider said. Romain Bausch, SES chief executive and chairman of the SES Americom Board, willt akeover until a replacement is found.
Bausch said Horowitz was instrumental in the further integration of SES Americom into the SES family and developing new market areas, such as IP-Prime. Because of that work, "The company is on track to grow in each of its market sectors, thus maintaining its industry leadership in North America," he said.
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Anevia teams with InaAnevia, providers of video streaming solutions, are teaming with VOD and TV archiving specialists Ina to release a new range of IPTV services. Ina's move to IPTV establishes the full-IP approach in the video market.
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Monday 12th May
blinkx soars on bid speculation
Sogecable demands analogue switch-off delay
Cablevision down, WiFi for NY
IPTV to drive take-up of pay TV in Western Europe
TorrentSpy to appeal
Mobile satellite TV ‘massive growth’
Regulation to hamper mobile TV?
Holy Moly TV
blinkx soars on bid speculation
Shares of video search engine Blinkx surged 50 per cent late last week on talk that Google and News Corp may bid for the firm. With stock at a six month high the company had a value of over £100 million (E123m).
Blinkx, founded in 2004 by Suranga Chandratillake, floated in May 2007 following a merger with another UK search engine firm, Autonomy. More people visited Blinkx-linked videos by weekly market share than Google's UK service, data compiled by third party reporting.
Meantime other takeover rumours include Microsoft now turning from Yahoo to Facebook and Google targeting Yahoo.
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Sogecable demands analogue switch-off delay
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Spain’s largest TV group, Sogecable, has asked the Government to postpone the analogue switch-off, scheduled for April 3, 2010, due to the "inability" of the market to meet that deadline.The CEO of the Group, Javier Diez de Polanco, said that "the Government should rethink the DTT take-up plan, not due to the inability of the private operators, but the inability of the market to make sure that the DTT penetration is complete by 2010".
He hinted that Spaniards are uninterested in DTT bearing in mind that its current penetration only represents 30 per cent of all households, with a coverage of more than 85 per cent.
Diez de Polanco also criticised the uncertainty over whether the operators will be able to distribute certain pay-TV services through DTT or not, a possibility that has been rejected by both Sogecable and Mediaset-controlled Tele 5.
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Cablevision down, WiFi for NYCablevision Systems first-quarter loss widened despite its success in adding video, phone and Internet subscribers. Meanwhile, Cablevision said it would spend more than $300 million to roll out Wi-Fi wireless Internet technology across the New York metropolitan area.
As the competition with Verizon Communications Inc. for subscribers intensifies, Cablevision is hoping the service will help it hang on to customers. "Creating this value proposition for customers will enhance our service and cement our relationship with our customers for the long haul," Chief Operating Officer Tom Rutledge said.
So far, Cablevision, which has 3.1 million video subscribers, has repeatedly defied analyst predictions of imminent video-customer losses by posting gains instead. In the first quarter, it added 2,000 basic-video customers and 41,000 digital-video customers. Rutledge said Cablevision has seen little impact from Verizon's FiOS TV service, which is now available in most Cablevision markets. Since Verizon began the service, losses have been a single-digit percentage of subscribers where they compete, he said.
The company posted a first-quarter net loss of $31.6 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $26.3 million. Results were weighed down by a large loss on derivative contracts and weakness in the company's Madison Square Garden operations.
The telecommunications segment increased earnings 38 per cent amid 11 per cent revenue growth, as it benefited from its Optimum Lightpath-branded commercial data and voice services. Overall, revenue climbed 10 per cent to $1.72 billion.
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IPTV to drive take-up of pay TV in Western EuropeThe pay-TV market in Western Europe is generally considered to be mature, but the increasing deployment of IPTV services will see the market enjoy a modest rate of growth in the number of households subscribing to pay-TV services, according to the research published by Analysys Mason.
According to the report, ‘Pay TV in Western Europe: market sizings and forecasts 2005-2013’, the number of households subscribing to pay-TV services will increase at a CAGR of 3.2 per cent from 90.6 million in 2007 to 109.2 million by the end of 2013.
"The adoption of IPTV services will be driven by a combination of factors, including the proliferation of multi-play strategies; latent broadband growth; improving brand recognition, broadening content offerings, and the general move towards digital TV services as the analogue TV signal is switched off in Western Europe," said the report's author Richard Hadley. "However, the growing popularity of IPTV among households will contribute to a slow down in pay-TV spend as these predominantly lower-value TV packages are increasingly bundled with telecoms services."
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TorrentSpy to appealA TorrentSpy lawyer has vowed to appeal a $110-million legal judgement against the website for directing people to unauthorised online copies of films and TV shows.
Valence Media shut down its TorrentSpy website in March and filed for bankruptcy last week in the face of a lawsuit brought against it by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). A Federal judge has ruled that TorrentSpy should pay $110 million dollars in damages for its role in online piracy of copyrighted motion pictures and television shows.
TorrentSpy says that the judge's decision stemmed from Valence's refusal to reveal the identities of website users and that whether the website infringed copyrights was never resolved in court. It argues that TorrentSpy was no more culpable for copyright infringement than major Internet search engines because it did not link to indexed files but only provided text files letting people know where to find them.
Mobile satellite TV ‘massive growth’
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan's Space & Communications Group, European Mobile Satellite TV Markets, finds that that the market earned revenues of $1.92 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach $3.3 billion in 2014."As Mobile TV services continue to grow across Europe, customers and operators require a reliable and pervasive service coverage, which can transmit high-quality, dedicated programs," notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Natalie Bentz. "The distribution and transmission by satellite, through the hybrid network or backhaul, will both greatly contribute to the success of Mobile TV by providing what the industry and the customers ask for."
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Regulation to hamper mobile TV?A recently published study conducted by industry association the Broadcast Mobile Convergence Forum (bmcoforum) analyses the status of national licensing frameworks for terrestrial mobile broadcast TV in 23 countries, among them 21 from Europe. It concludes that a significant number of countries are still lagging behind most advanced countries in defining their regulatory framework including the licensing conditions and processes.
Operational in Italy for two years, some one million users own mobile TV capable devices. Licence granting is completed in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland and in process in France and Hungary. Therefore, notes bmcoforum) the majority of continental European countries have assigned terrestrial frequencies, established regulatory and licensing frameworks and have started or are about to launch mobile broadcast TV services in 2008. Other countries such as Belgium, Greece, Portugal and Spain as well as the majority of Northern and East European countries have not yet decided upon licensing conditions and processes.
According to bmcoforum, these processes normally take quite some time and effort requiring public consultations and law changes. bmcoforum therefore sees an urgent need for these countries to speed up the decision process in order to take advantage of the present market opportunities for terrestrial mobile broadcast TV. "As according to the European Commission, mobile broadcast TV can reach a worldwide market worth up to €20 billion by 2011, bmcoforum is urging all national regulators to allow for a fast service kick-off in their countries," said Claus Sattler, executive director of bmcoforum.
Further analysis of regulation and licensing practice, and of the experiences of countries more advanced in these processes, is under way at bmcoforum to support implementations of regulatory frameworks in countries which are about to decide on their regulatory frameworks and preferred business models.
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Holy Moly TVPopular celebrity gossip website Holy Moly is to be relaunched in the summer after its creator sold a substantial stake in the company to digital media outfit Perform. The revamped site will feature streaming video, branded Holy Moly TV, including weekly celebrity roundups and interviews, as well as an expanded social networking offering.
Perform was born out of the merger of Premium TV and the Inform Group last year. Holy Moly TV will feature a weekly entertainment news programme and interviews with celebrities from launches and red carpet events.
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