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Our Latest Issues
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Tuesday
Friday 10th April
EC to probe public broadcaster expansion
Spain issues digital pay TV licences
Most Americans not cutting back on pay TV
10m VOD for Canal+ Demande
KIT acquires Narrowstep assets
STB fraudster jailed
AnySource enables broadband connected HDTV
EC to probe public broadcaster expansionMoves by European public sector broadcasters to expand their activities into new areas, such as mobile TV and video on demand, could be subject to more prior scrutiny under revisions to controversial proposals published by Brussels.
The European Commission is in the process of revising its 2001 guidelines for applying EU state aid rules to public service broadcasting. The current rules have become increasingly outdated as technologies have changed; in particular, with more distribution opportunities available, broadcasters generally have been keen to diversify. This has led to a rise in complaints to Brussels from commercial operators about the activities of the PSBs and the extent to which public money is allegedly being used to cross-subsidise their forays into these areas.
The commission’s original revamp of its guidelines suggested that PSBs should have more flexibility to charge for services and build up reserves to expand operations. But it also recommended reinforced controls on their activities at national level, including independent advance assessments of the market impact and public value of new services.
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Spain issues digital pay TV licencesSpanish television channels can apply for licences to broadcast digital pay television programmes, starting immediately, the government has said. Broadcasters applications for licences to offer digital pay TV programmes will be subject to approval by the cabinet, the Industry Ministry said. The Ministry clarified in a subsequent press release that it has not authorised concessions of digital pay TV yet and will not do so until the cabinet approves a report from its advisory council, known as El Consejo del Estado.
Spain has set 2010 as the cut off date for analogue television broadcasting to end.
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Most Americans not cutting back on pay TVNearly 70 per cent of consumers responding to the survey, sponsored by market research provider Pike & Fischer, said they plan to keep their current cable or satellite TV service this year. Only two of the 600 respondents to the survey, conducted in March with the help of Amplitude Research, said they plan to drop their multichannel video service to cut household expenses.
However, nearly 15 per cent of respondents said they intend to downgrade to a lower-priced video subscription this year, through such means as giving up premium channels. Only 8 per cent of respondents said they plan to upgrade their service to receive expanded numbers of channels or advanced services such as high-definition TV.
A substantial number of respondents said they are turning to the Web to watch video. About 32 per cent of respondents to the survey said they regularly watch video from Web sites such as Hulu, YouTube and iTunes.
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10m VOD for Canal+ DemandeCanal Plus says there have been over 10 million video-on-demand views on its Canal Plus A La Demande service. Canal + issued usage data that revealed 32.6 per cent of all VOD activity related to movies, 23.3 per cent to TV series and 19.8 per cent to magazine and general entertainment shows. Canal Plus launched its VOD service one year ago. It is currently available on PC and Free’s IPTV service, and Canal Plus plans to extend distribution to the SFR, Orange and Numericable TV platforms this year. Canal Plus said that over 60 per cent of users currently viewed the service on TV.
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KIT acquires Narrowstep assetsKIT digital, a global provider of IP-based video enablement technologies, has acquired the assets and assumed certain current liabilities of London-based Narrowstep , an Internet TV platform company supporting content providers, broadcasters, telcos and other corporations. The acquisition expands KIT digital’s client delivery capabilities - particularly in live-streaming, long-form delivery and delivery using the Microsoft Silverlight technology.
Narrowstep’s proprietary telvOS Internet TV platform specialises in long-form video-on-demand and live streaming for enterprise customers, using Silverlight and its own content delivery network services.
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STB fraudster jailedA man who made £360,000 (E396,000) from selling illicit set top boxes in the UK has been jailed for two years. Paul Boswell, aged 56, illegally modified the boxes so viewers could access digital TV subscription channels for free. Virgin Media’s security department had been investigating Boswell after learning he was selling the boxes at a computer fair.
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AnySource enables broadband connected HDTVAnySource Media has confirmed the availability of Internet Video Navigator 1.0, an embedded platform that aggregates and organises video, photos and music content from across the Internet and allows consumers to easily find, view and listen to it on their HDTVs using the remote control. Internet Video Navigator will drive value-added services for consumer electronic manufacturers, content owners, advertisers, and others with a strong internal recurring revenue business model driven by advertising and movie rental and purchase commissions.
AnySource Media is currently working with leading HDTV manufacturers to integrate Internet Video Navigator 1.0 client software directly into high-volume, mainstream HDTVs that will be available in retail stores later this year. TV viewers can interactively select sites and jump to specific videos, photos, home networks and music, or they can passively sit back and watch any Internet-based video like a traditional broadcast experience.
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Thursday 9th April
France may postpone analogue TV switch-off
AGCOM sets Italian DSO conditions
French Freesat set for June
Digital piracy grows
Tiscali stands still
DirecTV and Sky+ record apps for iPhone
MAXtv reaches 150 000 users
Anevia secures $7m in capital investment
Pace on up
Virgin Media TV appoints Webb
4OD now on Macs
France may postpone analogue TV switch-offFrance's analogue TV switch-off could be postponed to 2013 or 2014, from its current deadline of 30th November 2011, according to Philippe Levrier, the head of France Tele Numerique, a public body tasked with helping the public adopt the new broadcasting system.
French newspaper Les Echos reports that he has informed digital development minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet that he wishes to propose a new timetable. Under the revised plan, analogue broadcasting would be turned off simultaneously in two or three regions in the second half of 2010. A total of 24 regions will eventually switch to digital, starting with Alsace on 2 February 2010 and Lower Normandy on 9th March 2010. After then, there is no timetable for regional DSO, and the analogue switch-off may have to be postponed, he said.
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AGCOM sets Italian DSO conditionsAGCOM, the Italian communications regulator, has adopted a resolution that clears the way for the final shutdown of analogue networks and the conversion of existing digital networks. The act provides that the 21 DVB-T national networks will be subdivided as follows:
a) Eight networks devoted to the conversion of existing analogue networks. The existing national operators will have sufficient transmission capacity allocated for the broadcasting of programmes in standard definition and high definition; Each operator will be guaranteed at least one multiplex;
b) Eight digital channels will be devoted to single frequency conversion of current digital networks that use the less efficient multifrequency arrangements. Each operator will be entitled to conversion an existing digital network;
c) The outcome of the conversion of the national television system will produce a ‘dividend’ of five national networks.
The dividend will be available for bidders within criteria designed to ensure an open competition and the development of new programmes.
Tenders will be admitted to all those involved in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Further measures are being implemented to increase the level of competition in the national television system.
The five lots made tender (i.e. 5 national TV networks) will be divided into two parts:
1) A, equal to three lots, reserved for new entrants. Operators who have two or more national analogue channels may not bid;
2) Part B, of two lots, open to any bidder.
Any offers will be subject to a cap. The cap is set at a level that would prevent any bidder obtaining more than five national multiplexes.
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French digital terrestrial channels will be available from June on the Eutelsat Atlantic Bird 3 satellite in a package to be marketed as Fransat. The satellite has always been used to broadcast the DTT channels to homes beyond DTT reception. The 18 channels will be available from June for free though viewers will need to buy an STB with smart card for E99.
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A US Congressional field hearing has heard media executives both describe a deteriorating situation in which $20 billion annually in copyrighted movies, music and other entertainment are being lost to global piracy networks that are tolerated or encouraged by countries like China, Russia, and India. A panel of entertainment executives chronicled what appeared to be a largely failing effort to stem the illegal sale of copyrighted material in an increasingly wired world.
Richard Cook, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios, traced an elaborate chain of events under which the studio’s animated hit "Wall-E" was duplicated by a camcorder at a theater in Kiev last July. In less than a month, he said, the single copy was traced to illegal sales in more than a dozen countries.
Zach Horowitz, president and chief operating officer of the Universal Music Group, estimated that only one in three music CDs and one in 20 downloads around the world are sold legitimately. Horowitz and others drew particular attention to Baidu, a Chinese search engine that offers links to sites offering pirated material.
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Tiscali stands stillOfcom’s most recent quarterly report said Tiscali added no new subs in Q408. Its customer base was virtually flat at 100,000, or 0.3 per cent of homes with TVs. That’s below the 398,000 rival BT Vision reported for the same period.
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DirecTV and Sky+ record apps for iPhoneThe Sky+ Remote Record application is now available from the Apple App Store. The free application enables iPhone users with a Sky+ or Sky+HD set-top box to set recordings wherever they are.
The application gives customers access to Sky’s seven-day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), where they can browse listings by time, day or programme name, and then select programmes to record. Once a recording request has been sent to the customer’s set-top box, a message appears on screen confirming that the show will be ready and waiting for them when they get home.
In similar news, DirecTV has announced its DVR Scheduler App has been downloaded over 100,000 times since its launch last week. The new app allows customers to tap the DirecTV icon on their iPhone or iPod touch to begin remotely scheduling and recording DirecTV programming on their home DVR whilst on the move.
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MAXtv, the interactive digital television of T-Com, has reached more than 150’000 users in Hungary. Launched in September 2006 and exclusively available through T-Com’s high-speed broadband network, MAXtv offers more than 100 local and international TV channels as well as a Video on Demand Library. It also includes high-definition TV and a video recording system that can be managed using the Internet or SMS. Besides, MAXtv service is also available to users with fixed line only.
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Anevia secures $7m in capital investmentAnevia, supplier of IPTV and VOD solutions, has secured $7 million in a second round of financing led by Seventure Partners alongside CDC Innovation, a shareholder from the first round funding in 2005. Anevia leads the IPTV market with more than 10,000 live channels and over 4 million end users on the telecoms and hospitality markets. This new round of funding will enable Anevia to increase its international presence and finance the roll out of its Triple Screen strategy. Anevia’s solutions allow customers to broadcast audiovisual content live or on-demand simultaneously over TVs, PCs and mobile phones.
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Pace on upPace issued a "significant" upgrade to its trading position, the statement said:
"Since announcing preliminary results on 3 March 2009, demand for Pace's products has increased across many of the Group's global markets and technologies."
"Consequently, Pace now expects that its performance will result in a very significant increase on management's expectations for 2009 and also that it will be in a strong position as it enters 2010. The market for high-end products is growing rapidly, even in an advanced market such as Western Europe, less than 2 per cent of television households are so far subscribing to a high definition TV service (Screen Digest data, April 2009). The Pace Board recognises that these factors have created an exceptionally positive situation for Pace, which is expected to continue, reflecting the strong foundations established over the last three years."
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Virgin Media has confirmed that, following the departure of former CEO Malcolm Wall, Jonathan Webb has been appointed to the new position of Executive Director, Virgin Media Television. Webb will be responsible for leading the continued development of the company’s portfolio of multiplatform entertainment brands, including Living, Virgin 1, Bravo and Challenge.
Webb was appointed Managing Director of VMtv in November 2006.
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4OD now on MacsChannel 4 television's online catch-up service, 4oD Catch-Up, is finally available to Mac and Linux users after the broadcaster introduced a new streaming service. The service offers a selection of shows from Channel 4 and E4 up to 30 days after their original broadcast.
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Wednesday 8th April
Setanta seeks funds
BBC criticism may leave C4 stranded
German cable consolidation blocked?
Pay TV market worth $40bn+ by 2014
Virgin buys into gaming company
Oz A$43bn broadband network plan
Solaris satellite launched
ART selects CoreTrust
Setanta seeks fundsIrish sports pay broadcaster Setanta has held a fresh round of talks with private equity firms in a bid to raise up to £100 million (E110m) following the pay-television company’s failure to retain both its Premier League football rights packages beyond 2010.
In February, Setanta won the auction for only one of the six available live broadcast packages for Premier League football the season after next. That outcome forced Setanta to review its business model, previously based on financing bids for TV rights with fresh capital, before recouping it through subscriptions.
The TV company has considered handing back some of its portfolio of sports rights and is looking closely at the value of all its assets. It owns rights to the Scottish Premier League and shows some England international matches and FA Cup ties.
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BBC criticism may leave C4 strandedAn MPs' committee has heavily criticised the BBC’s commercial arm for damaging independent company’s business with an aggressive sales tactics and a low priority on the bottom line. It was particularly scathing of the recent acquisition of the Lonely Planet guides.
The committee was also deeply sceptical about the proposed tie up between BBC Worldwide and Channel 4 to the extent it is said Channel 4 is now considering ‘self-help’ options because it accepts the BBC deal won’t happen and it doesn’t want to merge with Five – the widely touted alternative.
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German cable consolidation blocked?According to German press reports the federal compeition authorities are set to block any putitive merger of the country’s major operators.
There has been much specualtion that the major three networks, KDG, Unity and Kabel BW – all owned by private equity and all derived from the former Deutsche Telekom network – want to ‘re-merge’ and benefit from the economies of scale. All three are heavily indebted. However, the Bundeskartellamt is said to object to such a deal as it would be anticompetitve and recreate a defacto monopoly.
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Pay TV market worth $40bn+ by 2014Research from Informa shows that 44 per cent of TV homes in the Asia Pacific region will receive digital signals in 2014, up from just 17 per cent at the end of 2008. The 13th edition of Asia Pacific TV report shows that China will account for more than half of the region’s digital total by 2014.
In terms of revenues, the pay TV market will undergo a more than seven-fold increase in value, to be worth more than $40 billion by 2014. This will be assisted by the rise of triple-play bundles, from both IPTV and cable, which are starting to have a major impact on the sector, particularly as a customer retention tool.
Informa’s forecasts indicate that by 2014, only 34 per cent of IPTV subscribers will be standalone TV subscribers, with the other 66 per cent taking bundles with broadband or telephony. For cable, triple-play will be a little less pervasive, with 70 per cent of TV subscribers standalone and the other 30 per cent taking bundles.
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Virgin buys into gaming companyVirgin Media has bought a 9.9 per cent stake in AIM-listed interactive gaming company NetPlay TV as part of a deal that gives NetPlay the rights to produce VMED’s Challenge Jackpot gaming website, TV channel and online games until 2013. The TV channel is currently available on Virgin On Demand, Sky and for three hours a day on Bravo and Virgin1, both available on Freeview. The company will expand the brand’s online and mobile games offering as well develop its own SuperCasino.com, Bingos.com and Eurotelemillions brands.
Also as part of the deal, NetPlay will acquire Two Way Gaming, a JV between Two Way Media and US games company Win Gaming which currently runs Challenge Jackpot’s games.
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Oz A$43bn broadband network planThe Australian Government has revealed plans to set up a majority owned company to build a A$43 billion national high speed broadband network after no single company was willing to meet its needs in a tender process.
The new company, which could be 49 per cent owned by the private sector, will invest the A$43 billion over eight years to build the network. The planned new network will connect 90 per cent of Australians with broadbande speeds of up to 100 megabits per second via a fiber to the premises network, and will connect the remaining 10 per cent of Australians through next generation wireless technologies.
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Solaris satellite launchedA satellite carrying Europe’s first S-band payload - operated by Solaris Mobile - has successfully launched at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Dublin based Solaris Mobile, a joint venture between two of the world’s leading satellite operators, Eutelsat Communications and SES Astra, aims to provide fully digital mobile video, navigation and emergency assistance services to Broadcasters, Telco operators, the Automotive industry and Data & Communication providers.
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ART selects CoreTrustCoreTrust content protection solution CoreCrypt for IPTV will secure major contents for the Satellite Hybrid IP-VOD service that will be launched later this year. ART (Arab Radio and Television Network) the leading broadcaster of premium Arabic family programming and entertainment worldwide, will deploy CoreTrust DRM solution to secure its Satellite Hybrid IP-VOD platform in the Middle East region.
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Tuesday 7th April
Half of UK digital homes choosing pay TV
Orange eyes Kangaroo technology
Ziggo on demand
UK consumers OK with online ads
Record turnover for Internet connections
BBC live on mobiles
SBS and MGM programming deal
Dutch Sport1 renews football rights
Virgin Media appoints Wheeler for music role
Synacor for Bresnan
Viasat sign up for Piero with Red Bee Media
Half of UK digital homes choosing pay TVAlmost half of digital television households in the UK are now choosing to pay for access to additional television channels, with satellite and cable services driving growth of digital TV according to research from Ofcom.
Its Digital Progress Report for the fourth quarter of 2008 reveals that 49.5 per cent of households have a pay satellite or cable service on their main television set, up from 48.6 per cent on the previous quarter. This compares to nearly forty per cent (39.3 per cent) of households which had free television services through digital satellite or digital terrestrial television (DTT).In total, 88.8 per cent of households in the UK had a digital TV service connected to their main set at the end of 2008, up by 2.4 percentage points since the end of 2007.
Homes with access to a HD service rose to an all time high with over 1.5 million in total. BSkyB's HD service saw the highest ever number of new homes added during the quarter bringing the total to almost 780,000 subscribers, up 188,000. There were a further 521,000 cable customers subscribing to Virgin Media's V+ service which allows viewers to watch programmes in HD, while sales of BBC/ITV freesat HD receivers had reached 172,000 by the end of 2008. HD will also begin to become available on DTT from late 2009, with nationwide coverage by the end of digital switchover.
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Orange eyes Kangaroo technologyMobile phone firm Orange has emerged as a potential buyer for the technology behind Project Kangaroo, the defunct broadband TV joint venture between ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC.
Project Kangaroo's partners are understood to have invested about £20 million (E22m) developing the technology behind the proposed video-on-demand service, which is now likely to be sold for just a few million pounds.
The joint venture partners have been looking to sell the assets of Project Kangaroo, primarily the technology behind its video-on-demand service, following a decision by the Competition Commission in February to block the venture because of concerns it would dominate the nascent UK broadband TV market.
Orange is one of two companies – the other is thought to be a technology firm – that are serious contenders to buy some of the Project Kangaroo assets.
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Ziggo on demandHolland's largest cable operator, Ziggo, has launched on-demand services across its entire network. Viewers will require a new set-top box to access the service, with Samsung and Cisco currently offering devices.
Ziggo, currently connected to 3.2 million homes, has signed a number of on-demand deals, including ones with Disney and Warner Bros. Ziggo will offer selected titles on a "Day and Date" basis. The price per title ranges from E2.95 to E7.95. After purchase each title is available for unlimited viewing for 24 hours.
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UK consumers OK with online adsBrits are happy to watch advertising on the Internet or their mobile phones if this means they will get videos, music or other content for free, a survey has found. About 60 per cent of people polled by KPMG, the professional services group, said they would rather watch advertising on the Internet in return for free content, rather than pay for it. Only 16 per cent of consumers said they would rather pay for content and avoid ads.
Even on mobile phones, 40 per cent of consumers said they would watch adverts in exchange for free music, while 28 per cent said they would do so in exchange for access to free instant messaging. KPMG says the figures send a strong message to companies that advertising, rather than subscription-based business models, are likely to work for internet and mobile content businesses in the UK.
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Record turnover for Internet connections
The market for fixed-net Internet access in the EU is forecast to grow in 2009 by 8.4 per cent to a new record value of E37.9 billion, according to market research institute EITO.According to EITO calculations, total data traffic in the Internet is increasing every year by around 50 to 60 per cent. The volume of data of private Internet users in particular is rapidly growing, as more and more high resolution photos, videos and films are transferred in the Internet. "With the growing number of videos and films on offer, users increasingly need faster Internet connections", said EITO chairman Lamborghini. This means that, as well as provision for areas not yet connected, further development of broadband networks is needed for higher speeds of operation.
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BBC live on mobilesThe BBC has begun delivering live TV broadcasts to mobile users. The live TV service, currently in beta and launched as part of a revamped BBC Mobile homepage, provides mobile users with the ability to tune into live simulcasts of BBC channels - including BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC and BBC News.
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SBS and MGM programming dealSBS Broadcasting has closed an exclusive contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM). With this agreement, SBS in the Netherlands has acquired the free to air TV premieres of high profile titles like the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. The contract also includes TV rights for an assortment of MGM’s library feature films and a selection of its popular television shows. The MGM feature films and television series will air on SBS' three TV channels - NET 5, SBS 6 and Veronica - in the coming years.
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Dutch Sport1 renews football rightsDutch premium sports channel Sport1 has extended its international sports rights package. The UEFA Champions League rights have been renewed for another three-year period, including the rights to live TV, Internet and mobile phone services.
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Virgin Media appoints Wheeler for music role
Virgin Media has appointed its first head of music in a bid to develop its music strategy including new services across mobile, TV and online. Richard Wheeler is joining the company from Orange UK where he was head of music and film partnerships.
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Synacor, a specialist in enabling cross-platform delivery of content and services, has announced that Bresnan Communications has deployed Web solutions that leverage Synacor’s content and technology portfolio to cable broadband subscribers in the Western United States. Bresnan has launched an enhanced broadband presence that includes Synacor’s customizable portal and toolbar, and plans to add Family, Educational and Games premium content in the near future from the Synacor portfolio of value-added services. In addition, the Synacor solution increases the ability of Bresnan subscribers to manage their television and Web video experiences at their personal computers.
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Viasat sign up for Piero with Red Bee MediaViasat, the Scandinavian satellite broadcaster, has joined the list of sport media brands globally that use Piero. The 3D virtual graphics system puts a new graphically enhances video content and provides sophisticated analysis graphics, from live or archive footage, showing play from angles that cannot be captured by conventional cameras.
Viasat will be the first broadcaster to utilise Piero’s new improved live interface. It will allow them to overlay virtual graphics, such as off-side lines and free kick circles, onto live footage at the game, significantly reducing their set up time compared to the camera sensor-based system that Piero replaces.
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Monday 6th April
Disney: "TV everywhere difficult to embrace"
TW announces HBO Go
Dotcoms may bar Phorm
Canal Plus digital package
Sky broadcasts UK’s first live 3D TV
China clamps down on Web video
Macrovision IPGs for UPC
Vodafone IPTV R&D centre in Germany
Sagem PVR for HanseNet
SK broadband selects Alcatel-Lucent
RCom promotes Behl to head
Disney: "TV everywhere difficult to embrace"
Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger has told NCTA that cable must find an online model that works for both programmers and distributors, appearing to dismiss a subscription model proposal, TV Everywhere, made earlier this year by Time Warner.
"Cable television is vitally important to our company. It provides us with a crucial connection with consumers.," Iger said. But he added that the prevalence of online video cannot be ignored. While recognising that operators have a problem with programmers who allow content to be watched over the Internet while charging operators to carry it, he wouldn’t endorse the ‘multi screen sub’ proposal of Time Warner. "Preventing people from watching any shows online, unless they subscribe to some multi-channel service could be viewed as both anti-consumer, and anti-technology, and would be something we would find difficult to embrace," he said.
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TW announces HBO GoIgnoring Bob Iger’s dismissal of the online subscription model, Time Warner chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes unveiled HBO Go, a broadband complement to the premium network only for subscribers to the linear service.
"We're all being too slow," Bewkes said. "We should put up all our networks on the Internet, out on broadband right now. Get it out on home screens, broadband screens, put it on the Hulus and YouTubes, but only if people are subscribing to the video plant."Subscribers will access HBO Go through their cable provider Web site. From there, they would be able to view movies and series and set up their own watch lists. The other cable network executives appeared to support the Bewkes model.
News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch said that cable networks have to find a way to monetise the Web, before consumers begin to expect to get their content for free. "The fact is with free content, people are used to it being free on the Internet," Murdoch said. "Nobody is making any real money from the Web except search. We have to monetise it."
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, however, expressed some concerns about the TV Anywhere model for traditional ad- supported cable networks."That anywhere model works well for Showtime or Epix,...When you're relying on an affiliate revenue stream, it becomes a more complex issue."
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Phorm, the ad targeting company, is facing a major setback, with several of the world's largest dotcom companies considering boycotting its controversial online advertising technology. Last month Open Rights Group, the privacy campaign group, sent a letter to nine of the internet's biggest names – including Google, Bebo, Facebook and Yahoo – asking them to opt out of Phorm's technology "to protect your users' privacy".
Phorm has developed technology that allows internet service providers to track what their users are doing online. ISPs can then sell that information to media companies and advertisers who can use it to place more relevant adverts on websites the user subsequently visits.
Although Phorm emphasises that the information is made anonymous and consumers can opt out, it has been attacked by privacy campaigners as online snooping.
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French pay TV group Canal Plus has announced a switchover from analogue to digital via an offer available to subscribers immediately.
All new subscribers to the group's analogue service will now have access to Canal Plus Cinema and Canal Plus Sport, plus HD viewing and all 18 channels on the country's DTT platform via a special decoder. The "all access" offer will be cheaper for consumers than the group's current rate for access to Canal Plus' main network in analogue.Canal Plus plans to see all of its subscribers shift completely from analogue to digital viewing by the end of 2010. In addition to the DTT platform, Canal Plus group's networks remain available via cable, satellite and ADSL.
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Sky broadcasts UK’s first live 3D TVSky has successfully broadcast the UK’s first live event in 3D TV to a domestic 3D TV set, via its satellite network and existing Sky+HD set-top boxes. The broadcast was part of a 3D music event co-produced by Sky, specialist 3D production company Nineteen Fifteen Productions and Island Records to coincide with Keane’s live performance that saw a 3D webcast of the gig via the band’s website.
Sky broadcast a simulcast of Keane’s live gig and transmitted it over a high definition satellite transponder and displayed the event on a 46 inch high definition 3D TV screen. The VIP audience were able to view the full live Sky transmission in the Abbey Road studio in London next door to the live gig. A separate 3D webcast over the Internet using the traditional anaglyph (red/green) glasses was made available to Keane fans internationally. A live test was also broadcast via a satellite downlink to a Vue cinema kitted out with 3D equipment.
Using polarisation technology, this is the first time a live event has been broadcast to a domestic 3D TV screen in the UK. The content was delivered using Sky’s digital satellite broadcast platform and existing Sky+HD infrastructure (including cameras, transmission facilities and satellite uplink / downlink). Playback, via a Hyundai3D Ready TV, was direct from a standard Sky+HD set-top box.
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China clamps down on Web videoThe Chinese government has ordered a crackdown on online video and audio content which could result in a tightening of internet censorship and limit the broadcasting of western films and entertainment programmes on the web.
In a notice published on its website earlier this week, the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (Sarft) published a long list of video and audio content that it declared illegal. The statement warned Internet companies that they must edit or erase such content.
In addition, it said that foreign films, television series, cartoons and other TV programmes could be broadcast on the internet only after the site operator obtains an individual licence for the respective programme.
It was unclear whether the move was part of an overall effort to tighten control over the internet or was motivated by an attempt to block a back door for foreign entertainment content into the Chinese market. China has several authorities involved in Internet censorship and regulation, but Sarft is not normally one of them.
The list of banned video and audio content ordered Internet companies to edit or erase video content that "maliciously damages the image of the People’s Liberation Army, the armed police, the police or the judiciary, or which relates to the torturing of prisoners and the questioning and torturing of criminal suspects". This follows the blocking of YouTube in China after users uploaded videos to the site that appeared to show a man being tortured by security forces in Tibet.
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Macrovision IPGs for UPC
Macrovision Solutions Corporation says UPC Broadband has entered into a multi-year license for IPGs in several European countries. Meanwhile Macrovision has signed an agreement with UPC to distribute certain IPG and interactive television technologies developed by UPC to other service providers.
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Vodafone IPTV R&D centre in Germany
Mobile network Vodafone has selected Eschborn in Germany as the location for a new global research and development centre for IPTV, video and home entertainment products and services. All of Vodafone's development and marketing activities for IPTV and connected home products will now be based in Germany. The group said it chose Eschborn near Frankfurt because fixed line services provider Arcor, which Vodafone acquired last year from Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Bahn, is headquartered there.
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Sagem PVR for HanseNetGerman broadband operator HanseNet, owned by Telecom Italia, has selected a HD PVR from Sagem Communications for its IPTV service 'Alice homeTV'. The Sagem HD PVR features a 160 GB hard drive, capable of recording up to 80 hours of content, as well as time-shift functions and the ability to pause live TV.
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SK broadband selects Alcatel-LucentKorean broadband operator SK broadband has selected Alcatel-Lucent to supply and maintain its IP service routing solution in order to support the company's IPTV service. Alcatel-Lucent's IP/MPLS solution will enable SK broadband to deliver advanced broadband services - including linear and high-definition content on its IPTV service, VOD, voice over IP and high-speed Internet access - as well as increased service level guarantees.
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RCom promotes Behl to headReliance Communications (RCom) has confirmed the appointment of Sanjay Behl as the company’s CEO for DTH and IPTV businesses operating under Big TV brand name. Behl currently serves as RCom Group Head Brand and Marketing Operations. He will continue to oversee the current responsibilities as well. Behl’s association with RCom dates back to 2005 and is credited with pioneering a futuristic brand architecture model named "Brand Cube", which is now IPR of Reliance ADA Group.
