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Our Latest Issues
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Tuesday
Friday 21st November
UK tops digital TV, HD and DVR league
Spain’s Canal Plus opens up to the Internet
Teracom takes control of Boxer
Amino buys Tilgin STB business
Oz film companies sue iiNet 'for allowing piracy'
11% of young adults watch TV online weekly
STB shipments to peak in 2012
Sky will wait on ITV decision
CCTV record ad sales
Nokia Siemens joins MDTVA
Over half of NZ watch DTV
PermissionTV and Move Networks offer HD
MLB Network to launch via Intelsat
UK tops digital TV, HD and DVR leagueOfcom's third International Communications Market Report into the £876 billion (E1,100bn) global digital communications market finds that UK consumers are getting a good deal for their money when buying communications services compared with people in other countries.
Of the larger countries surveyed, the UK has more households with digital TV on their main set, at 86 per cent, up 9 per cent on the previous year as switchover gets underway here. This compares with the US where 70 per cent of households have a digital TV, up 15 per cent over the past 12 months. France was next at 66 per cent of households with digital TV, and it had the highest growth during the period - an increase of 25 per cent.
Consumers across the seven main countries surveyed are also making more sophisticated choices. High Definition (HD) services were relatively new in 2006 but now take-up of HD subscriptions has been huge, especially in the UK, US and Canada. Take-up doubled during 2007 to around 9 million subscribers across the 7 larger countries surveyed.
Although the US has the highest number of households with HD subscriptions at 6 million (6.2 per cent) the number of HD households in Canada is nearly 2 million, representing 17.6 per cent of households. The UK leads Europe with 700,000 HD households (6 per cent), higher than the combined number of HD households in France, Germany and Italy (500,000).
More households are also choosing to pause, record, store and fast-forward TV programmes with a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). Ofcom's report shows that the UK leads the way with 30 per cent of people saying they own a DVR. The recorders are also popular in Italy (21 per cent), Canada and the US (20 per cent) and least popular in Japan (7 per cent). Across the seven largest countries, around 28 million pay-TV homes had a DVR in 2007, up from 14 million on the previous year.
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Spain’s Canal Plus opens up to the Internet
From David Del Valle in MadridCanal Plus Spain is opening up its premium content to Internet users through its new portal www.plus.es/plustv. On PLUSTV, users will be able to have access to a wide range of Canal Plus premium content under genre categories: cinema, documentaries, series, football and other sports, music, programmes... Content will be updated every day and with the tool Mi PLUSTV users will be able to design their own schedule.
VoD or SvoD events will be also made available, as well as Canal Plus Retro that will make possible to re-watch TV content stored in the 18 years of Canal Plus’ history.
PLUSTV aims to become a new Canal Plus’ TV window. "We see this as an opportunity as different (TV) screens do not canibalize each other, but create new opportunities", said Miguel Salvat, Director of Canal Plus.
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Teracom takes control of BoxerTeracom has become the sole shareholder of Boxer, the Swedish DTT operating company, after buying out the 30 per cent of private equity firm 3i.
Crister Fritzson, CEO of Teracom, who previously held the same position with Boxer said there would be no change of direction. "Teracom has always been the main shareholder in Boxer and acquiring all the shares is a logical continuation of that ownership. Boxer will continue its successful business in the same manner as before, that is being a pay-TV operator dedicated to terrestrial platforms and working independently of any individual broadcaster."
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Amino buys Tilgin STB businessIPTV platform supplier Amino Communications is to acquire Swedish vendor Tilgin AB’s IPTV set-top box (STB) division in a £2.5 million (€3.17m).
The company says the purchase of Tilgin IPTV, which offers a range of H.264 HD IPTV STBs within its ‘Mood’ product line, will further enhance Amino’s award-winning product portfolio and add new software functionality across its entire range. Tilgin IPTV has previously sold and delivered almost 500,000 STBs.
The acquisition will also give Amino immediate access to additional middleware solutions – such as Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks – as well as extending the Group’s customer reach. Amino expects to enjoy R&D cost synergies delivered through the development and maintenance of common ST Micro based STBs. New features stemming from the acquisition will include picture-in-picture, whole-home connectivity and green-power: all designed to satisfy a growing market demand.
"Tilgin IPTV is the perfect acquisition for Amino, delivering an extended product portfolio with exciting leading-edge features as well as valuable middleware partners and wider customer reach," said Andrew Burke, CEO of Amino. "The market is demanding consolidation coupled with innovation and Amino is ideally placed to deliver this elusive mix as the shape and nature of the IPTV industry evolves."
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Oz film companies sue iiNet 'for allowing piracy'The Australian film and television industry has launched a major legal action against one of Australia's largest Internet service providers for allegedly allowing its users to download pirated movies and TV shows.
The action against iiNet was filed in the Federal Court by Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Disney and the Seven Network.
Mark White, iiNet's chief operating officer, said the company did not support piracy in any form but it could not disconnect customers just because the movie industry claimed they engaged in illegal downloading.
Adrianne Pecotic, executive director of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT), said the action followed a five-month investigation by the industry. "We identified thousands of infringements of copyright by iiNet's customers and we provided iiNet with about 18 separate notices of those infringements and, unfortunately, iiNet did not do anything to address that copyright infringement," she said.
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11% of young adults watch TV online weeklyEleven per cent of adults in the US aged 18 to 34 now watch TV online at least once a week, according to the latest findings by MultiMedia Mentor from Knowledge Networks. These young adults spend 80 per cent more time online than the general 18-to-34 population, and 16 per cent more time (about 1.25 hours per day) with media generally; they are also much more likely to belong to and use social networks.
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STB shipments to peak in 2012The global market for set-top boxes will grow gradually over the next few years, then will peak at around 110 million shipments in 2012, according to a report from ABI Research. Thereafter STB unit volumes for all platforms – DTT, IPTV, DBS, and CATV – will begin a gradual decline.
STB revenues show a different pattern. According to principal analyst Robert Clark, "STB revenues for all platforms have declined significantly between 2007 and 2009, but will recover by 2010 and remain relatively stable through at least 2013."
Sales of basic STBs have already been falling for some time; now HD-only and PVR-only STBs are also showing the first signs of downturn. From 2009 on, Clark expects to see a greater share of combined HD/PVR sales, especially in the DBS segment.
The decline in shipments after 2012 is due in part to the expected completion, in most developed countries, of the transition to all-digital television broadcasting. Pay-TV platforms in particular are affected through 2012 by the threat of displacement by over-the-top video, and the substitution potential of residential gateways, media hubs and gaming boxes. STB components will increasingly be integrated into TVs themselves.
On the revenue side, IPTV has been the most affected of all the pay-TV platforms by the current dip. It was already forecast to slow down because network operators have been rethinking their future investments, especially from the standpoint of differentiation. The recent economic upheavals have exacerbated the decline.
"The STB won’t disappear as a result of threats from other set-top devices," adds Clark. "But in the DTT sector where the needs are more basic, there is an opportunity for STB component integration into newer flat screens."
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Sky will wait on ITV decisionSky still wants to hold on to its stake in ITV, but will wait until the last moment before deciding whether to continue its legal fight to do so, said Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of the satellite broadcaster.
The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal last month upheld the Competition Commission’s original decision that the 17.9 per cent holding imposed a restriction on the UK television market, and the satellite broadcaster has until December 1 to take the case to the Court of Appeal.
Darroch told an audience of investors in Barcelona that the company’s position on its investment, which cost £940 million (E1.159bn) two years ago and is worth about £215 million today, remained the same. "We think there is no reason to believe that this stake affects competition in the UK market and we believe that the decision as it stands affects our freedom to invest."
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CCTV record ad salesChina Central Television, the network with most viewers worldwide, has attracted record sales for prime time advertising slots next year, in stark contrast to the fall-off in ad spending in other markets. The state-owned TV network said its annual auction of prime time slots brought in $1.4 billion, up almost 16 per cent from 2008.
CCTV reaches 359 million households – more than three times those of networks such as CBS, NBC and Fox.
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Nokia Siemens joins MDTVAThe Mobile DTV Alliance has confirmed that Nokia Siemens Networks, one of the world’s largest telecommunications infrastructure providers, has joined the Mobile Digital Television Alliance (MDTVA) to help speed the global deployment of mobile digital TV. Earlier this year the MDTVA broadened its scope to include multiple bearer technologies and to concentrate on harmonising the application and service layer.
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Over half of NZ watch DTVNew Zealand is moving into the digital age with analogue television likely to be phased out by 2012, a report commissioned by NZ On Air has found. About 55 per cent of households now have digital television provided by either Sky TV (45 per cent of households) or Freeview (10 per cent). New Zealand broadcasters planned to switch off analogue television services once the 75 per cent threshold was reached or in 2012, whichever came first.
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PermissionTV and Move Networks offer HDPermissionTV, an online video platform provider, and Move Networks, a provider of Internet television services, have announced a strategic reseller and integration partnership. Under the agreement, both companies will offer an integrated platform, which enables the rapid creation and deployment of interactive, HD-quality video applications.
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MLB Network to launch via IntelsatIntelsat announced that MLB Network – the new 24-hour cable network devoted to Major League Baseball and other baseball programming – has signed a multi-year contract for capacity on Intelsat’s Galaxy 17 satellite, a cable distribution platform within Intelsat’s global fleet. The capacity will be used to transmit standard and high definition programming for MLB Network, which will launch in approximately 50 million cable and satellite homes in the US. on January 1st, 2009.
Thursday 20th November
Trust to rein in BBC Worldwide?
Telefonica launches Imagenio HD
blinkx still after MIVA
Unitymedia Q3 profit up
Mobile TV to generate $10bn in 2013
BBC One and Two live online
Vudu launches advanced on-demand box
TNTSAT tops 750,000 households
Trust to rein in BBC Worldwide?The BBC Trust has hinted it will rein in the broadcaster’s commercial ambitions. The BBC Trust will tighten the guidelines for the operation of BBC Worldwide, the corporation’s commercial arm, Sir Michael Lyons told MPs.
Sir Michael said the Trust had heard the chorus of complaint from the commercial sector about the reach of BBC Worldwide. "The trust has already decided that we need to tighten both the mission and the guidelines around BBC Worldwide," Sir Michael told the House of Commons select committee on culture, media and sport.
"It is now an appropriate time to review the boundaries of [Worldwide’s successful activities] and we are of the view that they need to be modestly contained and the detail of that we will make public once we have finished our inquiries." The hearing was convened to take the BBC’s evidence on the activities of Worldwide, a separately run arm that last year had revenues of £919 million ($1.4bn) and profits of £117m, which it returned to the public service arm of the corporation.
Sir Michael acknowledged the concern of critics and said the Trust had decided to launch an internal probe into the matter. It was "well advanced" but unfinished. "I can assure you they are going to be tested ... and I don’t think you are going to be disappointed with the conclusions."
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Telefonica launches Imagenio HD
From David Del Valle in MadridSpain’s Telefonica is launching Imagenio on High Definition through its FTTH network for subscribers to Trio Futura at 10 or 30 Megabites. The move comes at a time when the Spanish Telecommunications Market Commission (CMT) has just authorized the company to distribute services over its new FTTH network on condition that it allows other competitors to effectively install their own infrastructure.
Initially, the regulator had banned Telefonica from operating services over its FTTH network obliging the company to share its new 100 Mbps network with competitors. Now, the CMT has lifted that obligation on condition that the company shares information on the physical layout of the network and process requests from other operators for wholesale access.
Telefonica has been distributing triple play services over the new FTTH network to 54,000 clients in Madrid and Barcelona and plans to reach more than 1,000 FTTH customers by year end.
Apart from the HD service, the company is developing a new system to distribute VoD content on 3D through its IPTV service Imagenio, which currently has almost 600,000 clients.
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blinkx still after MIVA
Despite dropping its pursuit of pay-per-click ad network MIVA last month after being rebuffed, blinkx’s now restarted the reverse-takeover bid after recording strong earnings last week ($19 million), the new bid is far less than the $41 million first offered back in August, but is still 108 per cent up on MIVA’s Tuesday close.MIVA’s share price has dropped by 85 percent this year and the outfit last week raised a $10 million credit facility after seeing Q3 losses widen from $3.3 million to $10.5 million. blinkx said the buy is still attractive to shareholders "in light of issues in the MIVA business and current market conditions; however, because of MIVA’s continued loss-making performance and rapidly declining cash position, time is of the essence".
blinkx itself last week tripled its year-on-year revenue between April and September. CEO Suranga Chandratillake said: "We trust that the MIVA board will recognise that expediency is critical to realising the benefits of this opportunity and providing stability to MIVA shareholders, customers and employees."
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Unitymedia, Germany's second biggest cable provider has posted higher net profit and sales, which were mainly boosted by new broadband and fixed line services. Net profit for the quarter ended September 30th was up to E16.4 million from E12.1 million in the year-earlier quarter.
"Compared with the prior quarter, cable network providers had higher growth rates in the third quarter in the broadband market than many other broadband providers. Customers are switching from broadband providers to cable," Unitymedia Chief Executive Parm Sandhu commented.
Sales for the period were up to E288.3 million from E272.8 million. The arena satellite platform lost 113,000 customers compared with the year-earlier period, leaving the subscriber base at 221,000 as of September 30th.
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Mobile TV to generate $10bn in 2013Mobile TV services will generate $1.5 billion in revenues in 2008, rising to over $10 billion in 2013. At present the revenues are predominantly from subscription fees but this is expected to change over time as the advertising business model starts to gain prominence. Informa Telecoms & Media believes that by 2013 nearly half of the revenues will come from advertising.
In the next two years, growth is anticipated to be strongest in the pioneering markets of South Korea and Japan before the rest of the world starts to catch up around 2010/2011. Despite isolated success stories in places like Italy and Austria, Europe is not expected to see rapid growth in Mobile TV until 2009. The US is expected to take even longer as confusion over standards prevents growth. Eventually, concerted momentum behind ATSC-MH is expected to boost the market for mobile TV in North America.
"As the owner of the marketing and billing relationship with subscribers, operators are in the best position to offer mobile TV services", comments Shailendra Pandey, Senior Analyst. "It seems that a good approach for mobile operators will be to start with a free-to-air business model which also involves minimum capital investmen. Once user uptake of services starts to grow, operators can then think of developing new revenue models that can be established on top of the free-to-air content platform", adds Pandey.
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BBC One and Two live onlineBBC One and BBC Two will be available to watch live online from 27th November. The channels join BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies and BBC News which are already simulcast. The can all be watched online via their channel sites on bbc.co.uk through a wide range of internet enabled devices and also through the BBC iPlayer.
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Vudu launches advanced on-demand boxVudu has debuted the Vudu XL2, a new Internet movie player designed specifically for professional home theatre installations. In addition to providing access to hundreds of titles in Vudu's proprietary HDX format and with a large HD library available on-demand, the XL2 will allow home theatre owners to choose from more than 10,000 titles for instant viewing.
Designed from the ground up to seamlessly integrate into custom theatres, the XL2 offers a terabyte of storage, enough to store more than 500 films. XL2 also offers IP and IR control that allow it to be integrated into most high-end home control systems, 1080i HD output over component, and the ability to route and switch HD signals through the home with the use of off-the-shelf video switchers.
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TNTSAT tops 750,000 householdsSES Astra has revealed that the French digital terrestrial free-TV offer via the Astra Satellite System, TNTSAT, has extended its nationwide reach. At the end of October, 750,000 TNTSAT receivers had been distributed to French households.
TNTSAT is a service targeted to regions where TV households cannot receive signals from terrestrial transmitters. It offers French TV viewers the full range of digital terrestrial free-TV channels over the ASTRA satellites, allowing a 100 per cent coverage of France. At the time of the analogue switch-off in France, the number of households which will not be covered by terrestrial transmitters is estimated to be around 1.5 million, representing five per cent of the French population.
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Wednesday 19th November
Sky $600m bond
Blyk raises E40m
Vodafone and Digital Plus launch a joint IPTV offer
Mediaset sells 2.7 million pre-paid cards
Sky on 3
ITV renegotiating on Kangaroo ads?
Consumers will accept new forms of advertising
IPTV takes root in CEE
HDTV owners prefer Blu-ray to streaming
FTTH Council proposes regulatory improvements
ODG VOD for TTNET
Sonemea expands Intelsat deal
GridNetworks launches GridCast TV
BigBand teams with Verimatrix on ad insertion
AT&T and Samsung launch Eternity phone
Sky $600m bondBskyB is to raise $600 million in a bond issue to institutional investors to provide funding for activities including possible acquisitions and the refinancing of debt. It launched a private placement late yesterday of 10-year bond notes at 9.5 per cent interest.
"It is expected that the net proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate purposes," Sky said. "In addition, the company may use the proceeds for the refinancing of existing debt and for acquisitions of business and/or assets in support of its strategy."
Sky has been linked as a potential bidder for Carphone Warehouse's telecoms operation, Talk Talk, to boost its broadband subscriber base. CW has recently said it is considering splitting its telecoms and retail operations. The company is also favourite to buy the UK assets of Italian broadband group Tiscali, with a bid reported to be about £450 million.
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Blyk raises E40mAd-funded, youth-oriented mobile virtual network operator Blyk has raised an impressive E40 million round from its existing investors. CEO Pekka Ala-Pietilä warned that, "like everyone else, [we] are feeling the impact of the world’s financial situation" and Blyk has "taken decisive steps to cut costs and streamline our organisation."
Since its launch in September 2007, Blyk UK has amassed 200,000 members and claims that the average response rate is over 25 per cent for the 2,000+ campaigns it has run. The company, which was started by ex-Nokia Ala-Pietila, has not disclosed who all its investors are but has scored two previous VC rounds - one in 2006 known to include Paris’ Sofinnova Parners and another this January known to involve Goldman Sachs and Industrial & Financial Investments Company.
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Vodafone and Digital Plus launch a joint IPTV offer
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Vodafone and Sogecable-owned digital DTH platform, Digital Plus, have signed an agreement to jointly distribute an ADSL and TV offer, called Vodafone ADSL & Digital +, under "attractive" promotions to their clients over the next three months.Vodafone ADSL service users will be able to have access to any Digital Plus package for free over the next three months and enjoy pay TV football for free for two months. Digital Plus’ clients, for their part, will be able to have access to ADSL without any cost as the installation and the connection fee will be free of charge. Users will have a discount of 15 per cent for six months when hiring Vodafone ADSL.
"We are pleased that Vodafone España has chosen Digital Plus as its TV offer to complete its triple play package", said Carlos Abad, General Director of Sogecable, adding that "with this agreement, Digital Plus’ clients will be able to have access to this new Vodafone’s fixed and mobile broadband service at the best price".
This joint service will be marketed with two options: Vodafone ADSL at a regular fee of E 39.9 a month at 12 Mbps or E34.9 at 6 Mpbs and Vodafone ADSL UNO, at E34.9 a month with a speed of 12 Mpbs and E29.9 for 6 Mbps.
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Mediaset sells 2.7 million pre-paid cards
From Branislav Pekic RomeItalian commercial broadcaster Mediaset has sold a total of 2.7 million pre-paid cards for the reception of its pay-TV service on digital terrestrial, Mediaset Premium, launched in 2005.
This figure represents an increase of 100,000 smart cards since the end of June. Also, around 1.5 million Italian families subscribe to the "Premium Gallery" package with eight pay-TV channels (Joi, Mya, Steel, Disney Channel plus their time-shifted versions), resulting in a turnover of E400 million.
The latest data was revealed by the vice-president of Mediaset, Piersilvio Berlusconi, during the presentation of the "Premium Fantasy" pay-TV package aimed at younger viewers. The new offer, available from December 8 on DTT, will cost E8 a month if acquired separately, E4 if combined with other packages and E24 for the entire bundle (Gallery + Calcio + Fantasy). The "Fantasy" package includes the Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney as well as the new Hiro channel produced by Mediaset.
Berlusconi also pointed out that, despite the global economical and financial crisis, Mediaset is still targetting a break-even for its DTT activities in 2010, as well as an average annual expenditure per family of E100.
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BSkyB is adding its channel lineup to 3’s mobile TV offering in the UK. The satcaster’s channels are already available through services offered by Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and in O2’s now-finished mobile TV trial since 2005.
Sky will be charged at £5 (E6.3) a month. It says its 30 live linear channels have over 200,000 subscribers; with the news and sports channels most popular on mobile. Sky is routing the channels "off-portal", meaning the stream will not come via the operator’s network but over Sky’s own infrastructure, managed by video delivery network Vidiator. This will mean that data will not be zero rated; the service will prompt customers to consider taking an internet add-on in advance of streaming videos - internet add-ons are available from £2.50 a month for 10Mb of data. This isn’t likely to boost take up, but it’s in keeping with Sky’s strategy to take control of its mobile assets – it recently won control of its mobile ads back from T-Mobile and Vodafone.
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ITV renegotiating on Kangaroo ads?
ITV won the contract to sell ads for the venture as it guaranteed a high level of revenue. But ITV is understood to be trying to change the terms of the arrangement. Media Week reports they have become concerned the BBC won’t supply full i-Player content but rather abridged versions. A BBC spokesman said: "BBC Worldwide hasn't signed a binding ad sales agreement with ITV and discussions are still ongoing."
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Consumers will accept new forms of advertising
IBM's second global online survey of consumer digital media and entertainment habits revealed that consumers are adopting digital content services -- such as social networking and videos – on mobile phones and personal computers at an accelerated pace, and it is impacting traditional consumption habits.
The survey, which was conducted with 2,800 people in six countries - Australia, Germany, India, Japan, the UK and the US - also shows that people are willing to get personal with advertisers by sharing information about themselves if it results in targeted incentives that match their lifestyle. This presents companies with significant advertising revenue opportunities among today's informed and empowered consumers.
"With the rise of Web 2.0, millions of people can instantly create, publish and consume content. In order to survive, advertisers must understand how to reach their target audiences across multiple devices," said Dick Anderson, General Manager, IBM Media & Entertainment. "Knowing distinct consumer segment preferences and delivering consistent content and messaging are essential for long-term success."
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IPTV takes root in CEEThe growing popularity of IPTV services offered by a number of leading service providers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) bodes well for the region's telecoms industry, as it searches for ways to diversify its voice and Internet access businesses. A study published by IDC indicates that, despite relatively limited uptake of IPTV in previous years, total IPTV subscriber connections in CEE are poised to grow more than 100 per cent in 2008, from approximately 290,000 connections in 2007.
"While demand for basic broadband Internet connectivity services remains strong, operators cannot expect to maintain some of the high double-digit or even triple-digit broadband growth rates experienced in the past," said Joshua Budd, programme manager, Telecommunications, IDC CEMA. "Operators must diversify their services portfolios. Offering value-added services over broadband Internet, such as IPTV, is a natural move that can pay off — if implemented under the right conditions."
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HDTV owners prefer Blu-ray to streamingA consumer study commissioned by the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) indicates HDTV and Blu-ray Disc player owners still find packaged media — such as Blu-ray discs — preferable to alternative Internet streaming and download services to play premium HD movie and video content.
The independent study surveyed the inclinations and behaviour of more than 1,100 HDTV owners in the US, along with 500 HDTV owners each in the UK and Japan.
HDTV owners familiar with Blu-ray favour the format over downloading and streaming by a nearly 10-to-1 margin, with almost 70 per cent of those respondents citing the fact that "you actually have a physical disc that you can keep" as a key factor in their decision to buy Blu-ray. Additionally, nearly nine out of 10 Blu-ray users express likelihood to recommend the format to potential buyers.
The study found that 96 per cent of Blu-ray owners said they had experienced downloading or streaming video over the Internet, but when they compared them the majority sided with Blu-ray while only 3 per cent said downloading or streaming was better than Blu-ray. Thirty-five percent of respondents were in the middle. Sixty per cent thought the sound quality of Blu-ray was better than streaming or downloading; 57 per cent said the overall entertainment experience was better with Blu-ray than with streaming and downloaded material. Thirty-seven per cent said the availability of content was better for Blu-ray vs. 16 per cent for downloaded or streaming content. On price, Blu-ray didn’t fare as well but still held a slight lead over downloading and streaming.
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FTTH Council proposes regulatory improvementsThe FTTH Council Europe has concluded its input into the European Commission’s public consultation exercise on regulatory approaches to Next Generation Access (NGA) networks.
Joeri Van Bogaert, President of the FTTH Council Europe explains the guiding principles of the response: "The FTTH Council Europe believes that, where feasible, competition based on access to passive infrastructures offering all operators the ability to make NGA investments is the best mechanism for ensuring an appropriate and timely NGA deployment."
The FTTH Council calls on the Commission to incorporate the following FTTH positions in the final draft of the Recommendation on NGA:
- Base the sharing of indoor cabling up to and including the fibre concentration point on symmetrical remedies and not on Article 7 remedies. The Commission should advocate the adoption of national laws which would reflect the proposed changes in Article 12 Framework Directive.
- Strongly promote mandatory pre-cabling for new buildings as well as harmonising the technical implementation for pre-cabling across Europe.
- Strongly promote the over-provisioning of fibre in all buildings.
- Specify how legacy obligations can be met on NGA infrastructure to avoid new copper deployment.
- Place more emphasis on the role of commercial negotiations in network deployment and give more guidance to regulators on how they can facilitate the sharing of risk between the operators.
In addition, in order to avoid dampening investor sentiment, the FTTH Council asks that the Commission:
- Clarify the issues regarding Wholesale Broadband Access (WBA) access remedies and how readily available such remedies should be.
- Clarify operators’ ability to price differentiate at the retail level and the need for corresponding WBA products as appropriate. Without the ability to effectively price discriminate at the retail level, the FTTH Council Europe does not believe operators will have the incentives they need to invest.
- Clarify the Commission’s position on geographic sub-markets and/or regulators’ ability to apply different remedies in different geographic areas.
- Initiate a dialogue with NRAs and other stakeholders on a number of issues, such as decommissioning of copper.
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ODG VOD for TTNETOn Demand Group (ODG), a subsidiary of SeaChange International, has been appointed to manage a Video-on-Demand service solution for TTNET, Turkey’s largest ISP.
TTNET was the 13th largest ISP in the world in terms total subscribers in 2007 and reached 4.9 million subscribers as of first half 2008. The roll out of IPTV services to its customer base represents a key expansion to its service offer.
UK based ODG is Europe’s leading video-on-demand content acquisition and management partner to operators including Europe’s largest cable operator, Virgin Media. ODG helped establish Virgin Media’s TV VOD service, which now serves 3.4 million homes, and has been actively expanding in Europe working in the German, Austrian and Greek markets amongst others.
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Sonemea expands Intelsat dealIntelsat announced that Sonema, a provider of leading telecommunication services in Europe and Africa, expanded its current agreement with Intelsat for contracted satellite capacity, which will increase Sonema’s enterprise services offerings.
Sonema, a company that has been developing telecommunications services for more than two decades, uses Intelsat’s capacity to provide satellite communication transmissions to businesses, such as financial institutions, in some of the most isolated regions of Africa. Under this new multi-year contract, Sonema will use capacity on Intelsat’s IS-904 satellite located at 60º East, and renew its capacity contract on the Intelsat IS-1R satellite, located at 45º West. The satellite-enabled transmissions within Sonema’s telecommunications network will deliver critical services such as voice, Internet connectivity, video conferencing and financial transactions, to approximately 300 sites for 25 of the most established banks in sub-Saharan Africa.
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GridNetworks launches GridCast TVVideo delivery platform provider GridNetworks has launched GridCast TV, a new service that enables content distributors and owners to stream video directly over the Internet to viewers' TVs.
The GridCast TV service can already reach over 35 million homes, because it leverages existing UPnP (universal plug and play) devices such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Internet-enabled TVs. The service doesn't require a set-top box or any other additional hardware. Unlike portal sites or third-party distributors, GridCast TV is a service, so content owners maintain complete control of their brand, content and revenue model. Some GridNetworks customers, including Revision3, IndieFlix and havocTV, have already begun using GridCast TV to deliver high-value video to their viewers' TVs, and others will follow in the weeks ahead.
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BigBand teams with Verimatrix on ad insertionBigBand Networks has announced interoperability between its recently unveiled media services platform, the BigBand MSP2000, and Verimatrix's Video Content Authority System (VCAS). This provides a cost-effective solution for inserting advertising on encrypted high-definition and standard-definition video streams, in both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4/H.264 formats. The ability to insert ads directly into encrypted streams improves the operational efficiency of ad targeting while maintaining the security of programming content.
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AT&T and Samsung launch Eternity phoneUS communications holding company AT&T and Samsung Mobile have confirmed the launch of the Samsung Eternity - an advanced touch-screen phone with support for AT&T Mobile TV.
AT&T Mobile TV uses MediaFLO from Qualcomm, that provides users with instant access to continuous streaming television content and sporting events from top networks. AT&T announced the availability of a 30-day free trial for new AT&T Mobile TV subscribers, which is available to the end of 2008.
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Tuesday 18th November
Kangaroo test-run before competition ruling
SES Astra threatens legal action against Spanish govt
Wizzgo online PVR most go
Brits embrace convergence
Hulu success emphasises YouTube ad struggle
Hulu looks to international
GE on look out for buys, sticks with NBC
ITV catch-up for BT Vision
Asian subscription TV retains strength
ITV backs product placement flagging
Price of US Pay TV critical
Voole online cinema launched in Beijing
NTTC and SMS combined IPTV licensing strategy
Red Bee joins the AMWA
Kangaroo test-run before competition rulingProject Kangaroo, the joint venture between ITV, the BBC and Channel 4, is planning a test launch in January ahead of a competition ruling that will decide its ultimate fate. It is currently the subject of a Competition Commission investigation assessing its impact on the online video-on-demand market, but is forging ahead with technical development of the Internet TV venture.
It is understood that Project Kangaroo will be uploading programming content in December and aims to launch beta trials of the service early next year. The trials will see a limited number of users allowed to access the service in a strictly closed test of the service's usability and functionality.
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SES Astra threatens legal action against Spanish govt
From David Del Valle in MadridSES Astra is to make a formal complaint before the European competition authorities against the Spanish Government for its alleged preferential treatment to Abertis Telecom in the deployment of DTT in the country.
The Luxembourg-based company has accused the Spanish Administration of helping out its main competitor in the market Hispasat, controlled by Abertis with a 33.4 per cent stake, to win contracts to distribute DTT via satellite in those areas with poor DTT coverage.
SES Astra’s executives will hold a meeting over the next weeks with the European Competition Authorities to raise the issue. "We will see whether a legal proceeding will be started and whether the Ministry of Industry has to take account of that", says Luis Sahun, General Director of Astra in Spain.
SES Astra points out that the Ministry of Industry is putting pressure on the Regional Governments so as not to have public tenders as the satellite distribution will be given for free to Hispasat. "The Government is in the hands of Abertis, which has the responsibility that the analogue switch-off in April 2010", Sahun claims.
SES Astra has already taken the case to the Spanish Telecommunications Market Commision (CMT). It has also appealed against a public tender in the Spanish region of Castilla y Leon, in the north, arguing that it is anti-competitive. Now, the company has announced that it will take the Cantabria Administration, in the north of Spain, to Court for cancelling a recent contract with SES to distribute DTT via satellite to the whole region.
In a letter, SES Astra urged the Minister of Industry, Miguel Sebastian, to guarantee transparency in the public aids to the satellite distribution and competition in the market.
By law, DTT coverage must reach 96 per cent of the population in private TVs’ case and 98 per cent regarding public television by 2010. But, in certain regions, due to geographical problems, satellite distribution will be needed to cover up to 10 per cent.
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Wizzgo online PVR most goThe three major French broadcasters – TF1, France Television and NT1 – have won an injunction against the online virtual PVR service Wizzgo. The programmes of TF1, France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 and NT1 must be removed from the service within eight days.
Wizzgo offers Internet software allowing users to record programmes broadcast on the digital terrestrial service. The recorded programmes are stored in Wizzgo’s online server and can be replayed at a later date on a number of devices, including a computer, a video iPod or a Media Centre. Last summer, the commercial broadcaster M6 secured a similar ruling for its channels M6 and W9. Wizzgo appealed this ruling and the case will continue on November 25th.In the new case, the court found that the activity of Wizzgo "avoided any payment for intellectual property rights" and was therefore "manifestly illegal".
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Brits embrace convergenceThe British public are adopting an on-demand lifestyle of choice and control enabled by converging technologies. The widespread take-up of online TV services like the BBC iPlayer, along with significant penetration and use of Sky+ and on-demand TV services is delivering a wholesale change to the way in which respondents relate to television programmes and, to a lesser extent, movies. The consumption of audiovisual content is beginning a transformation which may already be reaching its destination for the consumption of music. While there remain huge pressures for content to be free, the hunger for people to watch "what they want, when they want" creates real opportunities for content owners and other businesses to profit from what is becoming a "Digital Britain". These are the conclusions of "Converging Media: The Olswang Convergence Consumer Survey 2008."
Olswang's fourth annual survey, conducted in conjunction with YouGov, comprised a survey of 1,162 consumers. The four key demographic segments include two which would be expected to ride the convergence wave – the "Tech Vanguard" and the "Kids" (13 to 15 year olds), as well as segments representing the "Mainstream" and the "Laggards" – who help us to understand whether convergence is happening for everyone or whether there are some to whom it will never be of interest.
While more people still watch live TV more frequently than any other form of television, large numbers of respondents are spending significant chunks of time watching programmes on their TV sets from a variety of other sources: in particular, DVD recorders, digital video recorders (DVRs) and personal video recorders (PVRs), from which more than a third (36 per cent) are watching television content for at least five hours per week. On demand services, such as BT Vision and Virgin Media, from which 16 per cent of Tech Vanguard respondents are watching five hours or more per week; and television programmes on pre-recorded DVDs (bought or rented), from which 15 per cent are watching five hours or more per week.
Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of respondents (and more than 40 per cent of the Tech Vanguard) are watching through iPlayer for at least one hour a week. 17 per cent watch legitimate online TV services other than iPlayer for at least one hour a week and 9 per cent (admit to) watching illegal online TV for at least one hour a week. This adds up to a huge amount of online TV. John Enser, Media, Communications and Technology Partner at Olswang, said, "Our fourth Convergence Consumer Survey shows that iPlayer has been the catalyst to transform online television from a minority interest into a daily activity, much as iPod and iTunes did for digital music."
The iPlayer is the service most used by the overwhelming majority of the survey base to watch online TV, with 69 per cent of respondents using iPlayer more than any other online service. Catch-up TV in particular is fast becoming a part of daily life: of those watching online TV, 6 per cent (and 10 per cent of the Kids surveyed) visit an online service daily for catch-up content, 54 per cent doing so at least weekly and 81 per cent doing so at least once a month.
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Hulu success emphasises YouTube ad struggleYouTube is in danger of being upstaged commercially by Hulu - backed by News Corporation and NBC Universal - as the video-sharing site struggles to make its massive global audience appeal to advertisers.
Hulu, a video site showing only professional TV shows and movies, is forecast to draw level with Google’s YouTube in US advertising revenues next year.The feat suggests traditional media companies can make money online without having to cede control to Google, as the music industry did to Apple, whose iTunes music store dominates the digital music market. It also shows the difficulties other social networks might have in generating revenues from their amateur content.
YouTube, for which Google paid $1.65bn two years ago, is by some distance the most popular online video destination, with 83m unique viewers in the US in September, compared to Hulu’s 6m, according to market researcher Nielsen.
But Hulu’s advertising revenues are growing more quickly, according to Screen Digest. Neither company breaks out its advertising revenues but the researchers forecast that in 2008 YouTube will generate about $100 million in the US, compared with about $70 million at Hulu. Next year both sites will generate about $180 million in the US, they say. YouTube currently earns around half of its revenues in the US, while Hulu has not yet launched internationally (see below).
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Hulu looks to internationalHulu hopes to expand internationally and is interested in Britain, France, Germany and Japan. Peter Smith, President of NBC Universal International, told reporters that his firm would love to roll out the online video joint venture further but that there were no concrete plans to announce yet.
He said they were interested in Britain, France, Germany and Japan because online video was already popular and growing strongly in those countries. "Hulu is on this tremendous growth curve and it's very compelling to advertisers."
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GE on look out for buys, sticks with NBCGE has declared its interest in buying media assets in a sign that a slumping economy has not shaken General Electric’s confidence in its television and film business, NBC Universal. Jerry Immelt, GE chief executive, told the FT the company had the resources to capitalise on bargains as it wades through the downturn.
"There are going to be some opportunities in media consolidation, in infrastructure, oil and gas, aviation," Immelt said. "And my hope is that we can play in some of those as time goes on." Immelt’s stated willingness to expand his media business comes as Vivendi, which owns 20 per cent of NBCU, neared its annual window to exercise a put option that would force GE to buy back the stake.
In spite of repeated statements by GE executives that they would not sell NBCU, some investors and industry insiders remain convinced that Vivendi might trigger the put just to force GE’s hand on its commitment to the media company. They reason that GE would rather sell all of NBCU than tie up cash to a business that does not fit within the conglomerate’s sprawling portfolio of industrial and financial businesses.
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ITV catch-up for BT VisionITV has signed an agreement with BT to supply a range of current and library programming to customers of BT’s digital TV service, BT Vision – ITV’s first deal of this type with a VOD operator. BT Vision customers will be able to enjoy a range of library content on demand from December.
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Asian subscription TV retains strengthA consistent theme of this year’s CASBAA convention was affirmation of the strong consumer base from which the Asian industry is working in late 2008. "We now have a customer-base of 300 million pay-TV connections across Asia Pacific creating a minimum annual turnover of more than $20 billion year," said Simon Twiston Davies, CEO of CASBAA. "While the Asian TV ad spend may stumble in the coming months, we see few signs of a slow down in subscription revenues."
A panel of pay-TV platform operators from Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Indonesia were estimated to represent $780 million per year in annual collections from subscribers. "These are the vital revenues ultimately passed up the value chain to content creators, the channels, satellite operators and the providers of hardware and services," said Twiston Davies.
Nevertheless, said Terry Clontz, the CEO of StarHub in Singapore: "The rising cost of content meant that, at least for StarHub, profit has not risen commensurately with revenue. We're doing it more, but enjoying it less."
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ITV backs product placement flaggingITV has signed up to a new product placement code of conduct, which includes an on-screen symbol signalling to viewers that a brand is being plugged. In a bid to show that broadcasters are willing to accept regulation in return for being allowed to raise revenue through product placement, TV producers' trade body Pact has put together the code, with ITV already signed up. It is understood that Channel 4 is also set to sign up to the code and other broadcasters have indicated their support.
A study exploring consumer attitudes towards pay-TV services, with particular emphasis on consumer perceptions of telcos as providers of TV services, has found that price of service and discounts are particularly important for attracting new subscribers.
The Making TV Pay study marks the first survey to explore the mindset of pay-TV subscribers after the credit crunch has hit the US, and offers a glimpse into the impact of the current economic climate on the pay TV business.
"Pricing and discounts dominate the decision process for new customers. Features, content packages and HD are secondary decision drivers for new subscribers considering switching to a new provider," said Adi Kishore, Heavy Reading senior analyst. "This would suggest that marketing campaigns without a discount kicker will not be effective in driving new subscriptions".
The study also finds the following trends:
- Advanced applications (VOD, DVR, HD) are valued by subscribers but don't appear to be attracting new subscribers to a provider.
- There does not appear to be a significant preference for any type of provider (cable/satellite/telco) when respondents consider switching providers.
- Satisfaction is fairly high across various measured parameters, but significantly lower when asked about price of the service.
- Churn appears to be slowing, with significant percentage of subscribers uninterested in switching providers.
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Voole online cinema launched in Beijing
The Voole website has launched in Beijing, offering a digital entertainment platform for Chinese mainland Internet users featuring a number of copyrighted high-definition TV and movie entertainment programmes.Warner Bros. inked a deal with Voole Technology at the end of August this year, becoming the first Hollywood studio to operate transactional video-on-demand services in China.
The service will be priced and positioned to make it competitive with pirated DVDs and compatible with China's fast-developing broadband Internet service. Movies will be available for DRM-protected rental- only at 1 yuan-5 yuan ($0.75) each or at 5 yuan for a monthly payment for all movies and TV series voole.com boasts. At present, about 2,000 movies and 10,000 episodes of TV series are available on the website.
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NTTC and SMS combined IPTV licensing strategyContent licensing leaders NTTC, (National Telco Television Consortium) and SMS, Satellite Management Services, have forged a strategic relationship to provide increased options for IPTV and SMATV system operators in the US. The move is aimed at reaching farther and deeper into traditional residential style IPTV systems by adding a variety of content deployment products.
"NTTC traditionally provides consultative content licensing strategies to our core Telco, Powerco, networking and Municipality members in order to determine the best content offerings needed to build their successful IPTV deployments," said William Shepherd, NTTC CEO. "We are excited to work with SMS because NTTC has growing opportunities in the hospitality and multi-tenant markets. SMS gives us the added ability to serve our member systems with those alternative deployment solutions where common IPTV deployments may fall a little short in reaching the most subscribers."
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Red Bee joins the AMWA
Red Bee Media has joined the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) to help promote solutions that increase the efficiency of television broadcast workflows. As an international service provider that employs complex workflows to meet the diverse business requirements of clients, Red Bee Media is increasingly expected to provide complex, dynamic interfaces to 3rd party data and content management systems.
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Monday 17th November
Meek criticises Kangaroo NGN freebie
Zon: New conditions for acquisition of cable operators
Telefonica IPTV surpasses the 2 million mark
Canal Sat catch up
STB market solid, TV sets slump
ComHem subs up
Cyfrowy Polsat still growing
MobiTV: Ads not answer for mobile TV
APAC ad growth to stall
Verizon: Telcos can reinvent video viewing
China terrestrial DTV draft standard completed
MediaFLO expects to double its markets in 2009
Walker to join myvideorights.com board
StarHub launching new HD DVR
Genta joins Solaris
Meek criticises Kangaroo NGN freebie
The head of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, which advices UK government on broadband, has heavily criticised Project Kangaroo, the online video joint venture between ITV, Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide, for benefiting from the next generation of broadband without bearing any of the costs.
Kip Meek, BSG chairman and former Ofcom exec, made his remarks to an audience which included Stephen Carter, the minister for communications. Meek said: "Imagine a commercial version of the BBC’s iPlayer. Let’s give it a code name – say, Kangaroo. Imagine underlying demand for it is fantastically high, requiring BT and ISPs to invest heavily to maintain service levels. In this environment, Kangaroo would have benefited from next generation access but borne none of the risk. On the evidence to date it looks difficult to contemplate the [risk] allocation issues will be solved any time soon."
A spokesman for Kangaroo countered: "The creation of any on-demand content platform carries its own investment risks and the truth is great content is helping ISPs build their businesses. Everyone has a role to play and for content providers it is to create interesting content and services which, in Project Kangaroo’s case, will be overwhelmingly free."
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Zon: New conditions for acquisition of cable operators
From Branislav Pekic RomePortugal’s Competition Authority (AdC) has placed new conditions on Zon Multimédia for the acquisition of cable operators TV-Tel, Bragatel, Pluricanal Leiria and Pluricanal Santarém.
The completion of the deals by the owner of Portugal’s largest cable TV operator, TV Cabo, has now suffered a new delay, as contributions from interested parties in the process, mainly rival Cabovisão, have led the AdC to increase the requirements for Zon. Among the new committments is the obligation for Zon to sell 50 per cent of the networks and clients of the four companies, and not 30 per cent as was initially proposed.
Market analysts point out that the latest conditions could significantly reduce the attractiveness of these contracts, although much will depend on the interest of potential buyers and consequent sale price.
Meanwhile, Zon Multimédia launched a pilot project on November 14, offering 100 Mbps broadband internet in the area of Amoreiras. According to CEO, Rodrigo Costa, Amoeiras will also be the first area in Portugal where the service will be commercially launched, before extending it nationwide.
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Telefonica IPTV surpasses the 2 million mark
From David del Valle in MadridSpain’s telco Telefonica has surpassed the 2 million mark in the number of its IPTV subscribers to its worldwide pay-TV operations. The company added 130,000 pay-TV clients in the third quarter of the year to reach 2.1 million customers, up 54 per cent on the year.
In Spain, Telefonica’s IPTV service reached 589.551, adding 12,993 in the quarter and 78.464 in the first nine months of the year, with a market share of 13.5 per cent.
In Latin America, Telefonica counts 1.5 million pay-TV clients compared to 880,000 one year previously, with operations in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Brazil, and October also seeing the launch of a pay-TV service in Venezuela.
Its Brazilian subsidiary Telesp had 426,123 pay-TV customers at the end of September, while its operations in Chile saw a year-on-year rise of 27 per cent to reach over 250,000 pay-TV customers. Its Colombian division saw the local pay-TV subscriber base increase threefold year-on-year to reach 137,508 customers, while Telefónica del Perú saw its number of cable TV customers increase 2.9 per cent year-on-year to reach 645,974.
In the Czech Republic, the company has 108,061 subscribers for its local IPTV service 'O2 TV' with 10,143 new clients in the third quarter.
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Canal Sat catch upCanalSat has launched an on demand version of its basic channel packages, allowing subscribers to view content at a time of their choosing for one month after the programmes original transmission.
Content is available from CineCinema, Planere, Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney, Canal J, Filles TV, Tiji, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TCM and Voyage. Canal says it intends to progressively increase the number of featured channels. CanalSat à la demande can be accessed through the PC, satellite or ADSL.
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STB market solid, TV sets slump
As economic woes increase, suppliers in the consumer electronics and digital TV markets are expecting a difficult 2009. IMS Research is forecasting that, setting aside the US DTV converter box program, that set-top box revenues in the region will decline 5 per cent from 2008 to 2009 and that volumes will actually rise, albeit at a relatively weak 9.3 per cent annual rate over the same period. Globally, IMS Research is forecasting a 2 per cent decline in revenues from 2008 to 2009 on 5 per cent volume growth.
Anna Hunt, IMS‚ Consumer Electronics Research Director, states, "While many consumers will very likely cut back on their entertainment budgets, TV remains a relatively cheap form of entertainment. Nonetheless, we are expecting ARPU growth to slow or even decline during the period. As a result, set-top suppliers are expecting considerable pressure on pricing in 2009, and low-cost segments such as cable DTA adapters could see considerable growth during the next two years."
However, according to Stephen Froehlich, a senior analyst in IMS‚ Consumer Electronics group, "The assumed recession hits the TV set market at a particularly critical juncture, destroying a major profit opportunity for TV manufacturers. By the time the economy recovers in 2010 or 2011 and consumers are willing to buy more expensive sets, the high-performance (120 Hz, high contrast ratio), LCD TV market will be much more commoditised than it is now, removing a major profit opportunity for competitors in the luxury TV segment."
IMS Research expects global TV set revenues to be off by 11 per cent in 2009, down to $90 billion from $101 billion in 2008 on a volume decline of just 2 per cent.
Froehlich continues, "TV suppliers are cutting costs in their designs for now but are also working feverishly to find ways to add new value to their sets, exploring features such as Internet video and 3D goggle support. However, our current analysis is that neither of these are likely to be major profit generators for anyone except the studios."
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Com Hem the Swedish cablenet added another 22,000 digital subscribers on the quarter, to reach 450,000 at the end of September. Broadband subscriptions put on another 8,000 to reach 503,000, while telephony added 13,000 and now stands at 300,000. Triple play subscribers now represent 192,000 of Com Hem’s 1.76 million subscriber base. Revenues were SEK2,827 million (E281.6m) in the first three quarters of 2008, an increase of around 9 per cent on 2007. EBITDA of SEK1,241m was 6 per cent up on the same period in 2007.
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Cyfrowy Polsat, the largest DTH satellite platform in Poland, posted its financial results for the third quarter of 2008. Subscriber numbers increased by nearly 707,000 to 2.403 million; EBITDA increased by 73 per cent to PLN109.2 million. EBITDA margin grew to 38 per cent from 32 per cent in comparable period of 2007. DTH EBITDA margin was 41 per cent when compared to 32 per cent in the comparable period of 2007. Net profit went up by 86 per cent to PLN84.2 million, and the net profit margin reached the level of 29 per cent on 23 per cent in the third quarter of 2007.
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MobiTV: Ads not answer for mobile TV
Despite industry talk of advertising as the catalyst to kick-start mobile TV adoption, mobile TV provider MobiTV isn’t so sure. Paul Scanlan, president and co-founder of MobiTV, told TelcoTV attendees that advertising won’t be the monetisation model of the future. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing for business model-driven wireless carriers.
"There’s an opportunity for broadband operators particularly to take advantage of billing relationships to leverage the free content and add the layer of premium content," Scanlan said. "That’s the biggest opportunity."
Scanlan said that mobile TV is an inexorable component of the television industry’s future. The TV industry is rapidly going the way of the music industry – all online and free for the taking – creating a TV landscape marked by both excitement and pure panic. As the most immediate, personal and relevant devices, mobile devices can be leveraged to revitalise the TV market and create TV 2.0.
"What we see is a little bit of panic," Scanlan said. "The TV industry is looking at the music industry and wondering if that will happen to them. If it does, it could be disaster ahead."
Monetisation, the most critical piece of value chain, is the cause of the panic, he added. Advertising is widely prized but not a silver bullet, Scanlan said. MobiTV has close ties to the content industry and is confident, ESPN, for one, is not going to deliver its channel on just an ad-supported model. With almost 90 per cent of ad dollars made across 2 per cent of video content, the prime-time content that’s always been free, the model doesn’t translate to coveted channels like ESPN.
"The production value of prime-time content is declining because their ad base is declining," Scanlan said.
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APAC ad growth to stallAdvertising growth in Asia-Pacific will slow to 2.5 per cent in 2009, its lowest rate since 2002, according to the latest forecasts from Media Partners Asia (MPA). In 2008, regional ad revenues are projected to grow by 5.6 per cent to top US$91 bn in net terms.
"Global contagion has clearly hit Asia," said Vivek Couto, executive director at Media Partners Asia. "We expect advertising to decline in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as in Australasia, next year. There will be a slowdown in China, India and Indonesia, though growth in these markets will remain relatively robust. In other markets, including Korea, Taiwan and much of ASEAN, there will be little growth next year."
Shrinking ad spend in two of the region’s biggest ad markets, Japan and Australia, will apply the brakes to Asia-Pacific’s regional growth story, though MPA also anticipates negative growth next year in smaller regional markets Hong Kong and Singapore. This means that the focus on cost control for media owners will become even greater as profit margins come under pressure. Non-ad revenue streams, while still robust next year, will also moderate. At the same time, risk aversion, tightening credit, the rising cost of capital and currency volatility, will adversely impact the growth and funding of media distribution and content in key markets such as India and China.
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Verizon: Telcos can reinvent video viewingDuring his TelcoTV keynote address, Verizon’s John Harrobin, senior vice president of marketing and digital media, said that the current model of watching linear broadcast TV "lacks intimacy and control" for the viewers. While the number of linear channels has increased dramatically, the TV audience is more fragmented. Harrobin said telcos have the best opportunity to reinvent the video-viewing experience.
Harrobin talked about Verizon’s ability to offer video content across the three screens of TVs, PCs and mobile devices. For example, both Verizon and AT&T had distribution deals in place for the Summer Olympics in Beijing that allowed them to present live event coverage on linear TV, broadband Internet and mobile device platforms.
Harrobin said the telcos can do a better job of delivering content where viewers want it and when they want it. "Our job is to determine the right technology for the right trends," he said. "The magic happens when we connect all of those platforms, and the customers decide how they use it," he said. "TV is far from dead, but it’s in desperate need of revitalisation. No one is in a better position to reinvent television than telcos."
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China terrestrial DTV draft standard completed
Assistant director Bai Weimin of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's (MIIT) Electronic and IT Product department in China has revealed that the draft specification for terrestrial DTV has been completed. The draft will be instituted early next year, with full DTV coverage throughout the country to be completed within the next three to five years.
Nationwide terrestrial DTV coverage will be split into two stages: first, simultaneous high-definition and standard definition broadcasts of CCTV in 37 major cities and municipalities; second, SD broadcasts in 333 cities and 2,861 counties.
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MediaFLO expects to double its markets in 2009MediaFLO USA expects to nearly double the number of markets it serves by the end of next year, and is working hard at developing temporary channels and original content for its mobile broadcast TV service, according to Bob Bradley, MediaFLO USA’s Senior Director of Content.
The Qualcomm subsidiary, which was a big participant in the last spectrum auction, is waiting anxiously for broadcasters to clear spectrum on February 7th, 2009 as part of the digital TV transition so that it can have more airwaves to expand its services. Today, it operates in 62 markets, and aims to be in 108 markets by the end of 2009.
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Walker to join myvideorights.com boardPatrick Walker, Director of Video Partnerships, Europe, Middle East and Africa, for YouTube is to join the Board as a Non-Executive Director of Ashley Mackenzie's myvideorights.com which currently includes Peter Bazalgette ex-chief creative officer of Endemol, Rupert Dilnott-Cooper former CEO of Carlton TV International, Richard Mansell former Director of Protiviti Technology Consulting in the UK and Kelvin Mackenzie ex editor of The Sun newspaper.
Patrick brings his skills and over 15 years of experience in the television, radio and online media industry, including his tenure as General Manager of International Video Services for Real Networks to myvideorights.com. Patrick joined Google in January 2006 to lead the development of content strategy and partnerships for Google Video in EMEA.
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StarHub launching new HD DVRHubStation HD, StarHub's new high-definition DVR, will enable its customers in Singapore to watch and record both SD and HD programmes and also provides access to free broadband Internet service and StarHub's Digital Voice service. Available now, HubStation HD will be made available to StarHub TV customers on a monthly rental basis. HubStation HD includes features such as one-touch recording via on-screen TV guide, the ability to pause and replay live TV broadcasts and a user-friendly interface for easy navigation.
Genta joins SolarisDublin-based Solaris Mobile has announced the appointment of Daniela Genta as Director of Regulatory Affairs. Genta, who has previously held strategic roles at Eutelsat and Thales Alenia Space having previosuly held roles at Eutelsat, and will strengthen the management team at Solaris Mobile as the company prepares to launch next generation mobile TV services via satellite.
