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Our Latest Issues
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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 28th August
HbbTV hybrid consortium takes on Canvas
BSkyB defends 3DTV initiative
TiVo files infringement case against AT&T and Verizon
French channels can’t agree carriage
Major studios sign deals for movie burning
NBC appoints O'Donoghue
Czech TV broadcasts HDTV with Media Broadcast
HbbTV hybrid consortium takes on CanvasA consortium of leading European television companies have confirmed the launch of ‘Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV’ or ‘HbbTV’, a new pan-European initiative aimed at harmonising the broadcast and broadband delivery of TV content to the end consumer through TVs and set-top boxes with an optional web connection.
The consortium includes broadcasters Canal+, France Televisions, and TF1, German research institute Institut für Rundfunktechnik, satellite operator SES ASTRA, as well as the software and media solutions providers ANT and OpenTV. The HbbTV specification was developed effectively manage the rapidly increasing amount of available content targeted at today’s end consumer. It is based on elements of existing standards and web technologies including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum), CEA, DVB and W3C.
HbbTV products and services will provide the consumer with a seamless entertainment experience with the combined richness of broadcast and broadband. HbbTV says "this entertainment experience will be delivered with the simplicity of one remote control, on one screen and with the ease of use of television that we are used to."
Through the adoption of HbbTV, consumers will be able to access new services from entertainment providers such as broadcasters, online providers and CE manufacturers – including catch-up TV, VOD, interactive advertising, personalisation, voting, games and social networking as well as programme-related services such as digital text and EPGs. HbbTV products and services will be developed for all broadcasting technologies including satellite, cable and terrestrial networks.
The attempt to bring to market a cross platform standard as a consumer brand will see HbbTV potentially in direct competition with Canvas, the BBC lead consortium also aiming to launch a broadcast / broadband standard.
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BSkyB defends 3DTV initiativeBSkyB has denied claims its 3DTV service will ferment a standards war, instead encouraging broadcasters to launch 3D services using its platform.
"We are using one of the most common standards - MPEG-4 - which is the way in which most of the world's HDTV is delivered. Other broadcasters should join with us. We have pioneered HD and DVRs and we make no apology for innovating again," said Sky.
"Sky is taking a lead here. We've created some fantastic content to huge acclaim just as we did with HD. Then we took risks and we're doing so again. The alternative is to sit back and still be waiting for 3D to happen ten years from now." In Sky's model the left and right images are squeezed side-by-side into a single HD frame and transmitted by satellite via Sky+ HD boxes to select 3D Ready TVs where the images are re-interlaced and viewed with polarised glasses.
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TiVo files infringement case against AT&T and VerizonTiVo has filed complaints in the US District Court against AT&T and Verizon Communications for infringement of three TiVo patents – ‘Multimedia Time Warping System’, ‘System for Time Shifting Multimedia Content Streams’, and ‘Automatic Playback Overshoot Correction System’. The complaints seek damages for past infringement and a permanent injunction, similar to that issued by the US District Court against DISH/EchoStar.
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French channels can’t agree carriageTalks between TF1 and M6 and pay-TV platforms about carriage of their respective thematic channels have reached a deadlock say reports. DTH operator Canal Plus currently holds exclusive rights to the channels, including Histoire, TV Breizh, Ushuaia TV, Odyssee, Serie Club and Eurosport, for which it pays approximately E60m. The broadcasters have offered their channels to IPTV operators but offers from Orange, Free and Neuf have failed to meet expectations.
TF1 and M6 must decide whether to renew their contract with Canal Plus next month, if they go non exclusive it is estimated Canal + will half payments.
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Major studios sign deals for movie burningWarner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures and Lionsgate have begun offering the first movie downloads that can be burned to disc using virtually any DVD or Blu-ray Disc burner for playback on a range of devices.
The four studios are offering the downloads through online movie service Film Fresh, which made the first US movie delivery deal with popular video format DivX. DivX has its own built-in copy protection so films can only be played back on certified Divx devices that a consumer registers for their downloads. Film Fresh will allow consumers to make an unlimited number of copies of movies in the Divx format for playback on registered devices.
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NBC appoints O'DonoghueNBC Universal has appointed Denise O'Donoghue, co-founder and former joint managing director of UK-based Hat Trick Productions, as head of its international production division. She has a brief to grow the business aggressively both organically and through acquisition.
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Czech TV broadcasts HDTV with Media Broadcast
From August 31st, Czech Television, the public TV broadcaster in the Czech Republic, will broadcast its HDTV channel via T-Systems Czech Republic and Media Broadcast's HDTV satellite services. As part of a bidding consortium, Media Broadcast sends the programme signal to the Usingen teleport close to Frankfurt, Germany. From the teleport, the programme will be distributed via the ASTRA satellite platform at 23.5°E.
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Thursday 27th August
Mediapro's deals with Jazztel and Orange
Five tops RTL losses
Zon Multimédia still losing pay-TV share
BskyB global online ad sales
Users cash in on YouTube
EchoStar, DISH win Freetech piracy case
Philips unveils uWand
FCC to explore multiplatform ratings system
DTG and Mirifice partnership
ADB solution for Tivù
Foxtel selects NDS audience measurement system
Mediapro's deals with Jazztel and Orange
From David Del Valle in MadridMediapro, shareholder in TV channel La Sexta and owner of DTT channel Gol TV, have reached an agreement with telco operators, Jazztel and Orange, to distribute its DTT channel through their networks.
Orange will distribute the channel within its triple play offer with more than 100,000 subs. Gol TV will be marketed at a fee of E13.50 a month for clients with a premium package and E14.90 for those only subscribed to the basic tier, with half-price promotions over the first two months.
Jazztel will distribute the channel through its IPTV network Jazztelia TV at E14.90 a month. New distribution deals with other telco operators are to come while, at the same time, Mediapro is weighing up whether to join Abertis Telecom's DTT platform or Dahlia's DTT proposition. Dahlia TV already announced that it would invest E150 million to launch its DTT platform.
In the meantime, the conservative party has announced that it will vote against the new DTT legislation on the grounds that it is "an abuse of power".
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Five tops RTL lossesChannel Five's revenues fell 35 per cent in the first half of 2009 as the advertising recession hit hard, making it the worst-performing part of RTL Group's pan-European broadcasting and production business.
The UK broadcaster's revenues were just E138 million in the six months to June, down from E212 million for the same period last year. This 34.9 per cent year-on-year decline was far worse than the 18.5 per cent fall RTL recorded in Germany and the 16.5 per cent in the Netherlands.
RTL, majority owned by German company Bertelsmann, also reported that the Five family of channels – including the digital channels Five USA and Fiver – lost market share in the first half of 2009, accounting for 7.9 per cent of the TV advertising market, down from 8.9 per cent in 2008.
RTL chief executive Gerhard Zeiler said, as a relatively small player in the UK broadcasting market, Five had been hit disproportionately hard by the downturn.
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Zon Multimédia still losing pay-TV share
From Branislav Pekic in RomeThe number of subscribers of pay-TV services in Portugal surpassed 2.37 million in the second quarter of this year, according to the country’s telecommunications regulator Anacom.
This figure represents an increase of 47,000 subscribers on the previous quarter and of more than 232.000 subscribers when compared to the same period last year.
Zon/TV Cabo is still the leader with a pay-TV market share of 68.4 per cent, despite dropping 1.7 percentage points in comparison to the first quarter. PT Comunicações is the second biggest operator, having increased its share by 2.2 percentage points, to 18.7 per cent. Third is Cabovisão, with a 11.1 per cent share, down 0.7 percentage points on the previous quarter. AR Telecom had slightly over 1 per cent while the remaining operators managed to capture only 0.8 per cent of the market.
The main motors of growth were "other access technologies", followed by satellite (DTH).
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BskyB global online ad salesBSkyB has signed an international online ad sales deal. It has appointed global ad sales house AdGent 007 to sell online ad inventory across 23 of its websites in the US and Canada, which between them attract 1.35 million users.
AdGent 007 will represent Sky-owned sites such as Sky.com and Skysports.com, as well as those managed by its ad sales house Sky Digital Meda, including Football 365 and Premiership club sites such as Liverpool and Arsenal.
Sky has already appointed ad network .Fox Networks to sell ad inventory in European and Latin American markets, Admax for South-East Asia and The Multi Channel Network for the Australian market.
Louisa Wong, Sky Digital Media’s head of network advertising, said the deal would allow the company to make more incremental revenues.
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Users cash in on YouTubeThe Internet video portal will try to widen participation in a 20-month-old advertising program by actively recruiting the makers of widely watched clips. "Now, when you upload a video to YouTube that accumulates lots of views, we may invite you to monetise that video and start earning revenue from it,'' said YouTube product manager Shenaz Zack.
YouTube said a user whose video is eligible would receive an email and an "Enable Revenue Sharing'' message would appear next to the video. "Once you've chosen to enable revenue sharing, YouTube will sell advertising against your video and pay you a revenue share,'' YouTube said.
Google won't specify how much it pays each of its ad partners, though it typically ranges anywhere from 70 per cent to 90 per cent of the revenue. Individual video partnerships would only be available in the US for now but that it hopes to extend the program internationally soon.
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EchoStar, DISH win Freetech piracy caseDISH Network, EchoStar Technologies and conditional access provider NagraStar have confirmed that a US District Court has ordered a $97 million consent judgement and permanent injunction against Freetech, the maker of a device used to pirate DISH's DBS signal.
The judgement, which came as the result of a lawsuit filed by DISH and the other plaintiffs, also included $9 million in damages against three of Freetech's corporate officers/owners. As a result, Freetech agreed to forfeit all of its liquid assets and inventory to DISH Network and shut down operations immediately.
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Philips unveils uWandPhilips Electronics has unveiled details of its uWand, a new ‘remote touch’ technology that allows users to interact with their TVs from a distance.
The uWand intuitive pointer and 3D control technology uses a small infrared camera embedded in the handheld device. This gives uWand a ‘remote touch’ capability that enables users to control objects and operate applications by pointing, clicking and using fluid 3D gestures, as if they were touching them directly, but from a distance. This means users can enjoy the traditional ‘lean back’ experience of the TV as well as the interactive experience of the PC.
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FCC to explore multiplatform ratings systemThe FCC, as part of a review of the effectiveness of the V-chip, reportedly plans to examine the possibility of instituting one ratings system that would be used for movies, video games and mobile phones, as well as TV.
The need for such additional research is said to be among the findings of a report on the V-chip requested by Congress that is expected to be made public next week. In an interview, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said: "When you and I were kids, parents only had to worry about the TV in the living room with a small number of channels. Now they have to worry about the TV with a lot of channels because of cable, as well as computers, the mobile phones they carry around in their pockets."
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DTG and Mirifice partnershipThe Digital TV Group (DTG), the industry association for digital TV in the UK, has formed a strategic partnership with Mirifice, an innovator in test and monitoring systems for broadcast, to introduce automation to the DTG’s digital television test and conformance regimes. DTG Testing, The Industry’s Test Centre, will be introducing Mirifice’s MiriATE automation system into its testing processes from September in order to align with the requirements of ISO17025, further improve the reliability and repeatability of tests and to greatly increase the throughput of the Test Centre.
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Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB), supplier of technology to the global digital television industry, has confirmed the launch of an interactive digital satellite set-top box, the i-CAN1110SH designed for the Italian Tivù Sat offering. The product, marketed under the i-CAN brand, will be distributed in retail outlets throughout the country via ADB's distribution partner ZAP. This will be ADB's first satellite product deployed in Italy.
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Foxtel selects NDS audience measurement systemNDS, provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, has revealed that Foxtel, Australia’s leading pay-TV provider, has chosen NDS Dynamic Audience Measurement System, integrated with TNS Media Research’s RaPidView solution, to track and analyse audience behaviour across its network and to enable the introduction of advanced advertising solutions.
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Wednesday 26th August
UK to cut off file sharers
ITV about to join Hulu?
RAI and Mediaset increase pressure on Sky Italia
STB shipments rise
Arqiva names VOD chief as Kangaroo acquisition completes
STBs $3bn by 2014
BSkyB sponsors O2 Arena
Telkom to launch IPTV
AmberFin appoints Bargery as VP Sales EMEA
QuickPlay mobile STB solution
UK to cut off file sharersUnder pressure from content and media companies the UK Government has published new measures that could see people who illegally download films and music cut off from the net. The amendment to the Digital Britain report would see regulator Ofcom given greater powers to tackle pirates. The measures are likely to include suspending the ISP accounts of "hardcore copyright pirates".
It is reported that Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has intervened personally to beef up the policy. The original Digital Britain report, published in June, gave Ofcom until 2012 to consider whether technical measures to catch pirates were necessary.
However, the government says that timeframe is now considered "too long to wait". Stephen Timms, minister for Digital Britain, explained the change:
"We've been listening carefully to responses to the consultation this far, and it's become clear there are widespread concerns that the plans as they stand could delay action, impacting unfairly upon rights holders," he said.It proposes that internet service providers (ISPs) are obliged to take action against repeat infringers and suggests that the cost of tracking down persistent pirates be shared 50:50 between ISPs and rights holders.
ISPs have repeatedly argued that it is not their job to police the web.
The Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) said it was "disappointed by the proposal to force ISPs to suspend users' accounts. ISPA and consumer groups consider disconnection of users to be a disproportionate response, a view that was recently supported by the European Parliament," it said. European politicians recently ruled that cutting off someone's internet connection could be a breach of their human rights. The challenge came in response to France's tough policy on file-sharers. ISPA also said that the changes had been proposed "without consultation with the internet industry.
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ITV is said to be closing in on a deal to take a significant stake in Hulu, the US online TV venture of News Corporation and NBC and ABC.
Hulu has been exploring options to launch a UK service with broadcasters since Project Kangaroo was blocked by competition regulators in February.
It is understood that Hulu has offered ITV an equity stake of about 25 per cent in the UK venture. It is not thought to have made an equity offer to other UK players such as Channel 4. In its US operation NBC, News Corporation and ABC each hold about 27 per cent in Hulu.
A sticking point, as it was with Project Kangaroo, has been the question of ad sales. ITV has been reluctant to give up control of selling its own ads – it had wanted the contract for all ad sales for Project Kangaroo content – and splitting the sales of online ads for content on ITV Player and a Hulu UK service is problematic. Hulu US is understood to have allowed ABC to maintain control of ad sales around its programmes on the service, and ITV wants a similar arrangement for the UK deal.
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RAI and Mediaset increase pressure on Sky Italia
From Branislav Pekic in RomeSince the beginning of August, Italian public broadcaster RAI has encrypted over 170 events on the satellite-feeds of its three flagship TV channels (Rai Uno, Rai Due and Rai Tre), making life difficult for Sky Italia subscribers.
As part of its battle against the DTH operator, which saw the withdrawal of the RaiSat channels on August 1st, RAI is encryping all events for which it has not acquired the foreign TV rights, most of which were broadcast by the Rai Due channel. However, the encryption of movies, TV series, football games and cartoons has also led to RAI lose around 1 per cent of its audience.
Commercial broadcaster Mediaset is opening a new front this autumn in its battle against Sky Italia. From October, two highly popular reality shows "Grande Fratello" (Big Brother) and "Amici" will be aired exclusively on the pay-TV DTT service Mediaset Premium. Previously, the daily live coverage of the two programmes was a regular staple of the Sky Vivo channel (now Sky Uno).
For its part, RAI has announced that live broadcasts of the third edition of talent show X-Factor will feature heavily on the program schedule of Rai 4, its free-to-air channel available exclusively on the TivuSat DTH platform launched on July 31st, together with Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media.
Defying the current economic turmoil, global set-top box (STB) shipments are expected to rise in 2009 as a result of rising demand from Asia and from products supporting High Definition (HD), Digital Video Recording and IPTV, according to iSuppli Corp.
Worldwide STB shipments are set to grow to 136.7 million units in 2009, up 4.2 per cent from 131.2 million in 2008. Shipments will rise to 201 million systems by 2013, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9 per cent during the forecast period.
"In the fourth quarter, when the wheels were literally coming off of the world’s economies, the leading STB makers were reporting surging sales," said Jordan Selburn, principal analyst for semiconductor design and STBs at iSuppli.
"This phenomenon carried over into 2009 and beyond with first-quarter shipments of STBs. And while they were down from the fourth-quarter holiday season, they were still ahead of the first quarter from 2008—an unusual event for any product in today’s depressed electronics market."
Although terrestrial and satellite STB shipments were essentially flat during this time period, cable boxes have showed very strong growth, driven in particular by increasing rollouts in China and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region. IPTV STBs are continuing to proliferate as well, shipping over 50 per cent more systems in 2008 than during the previous year. The growth of IPTV STBs nearly matched that of cable in terms of the number of systems shipped in 2008.
"Premium boxes - like DVR-enabled STBs and HD products - will grow at a substantially higher rate than the 4.2 per cent level for the overall STB market in 2009, Selburn said. "These STBs will buoy the entire market as non-DVR and standard-definition from this point forward." Shipments of premium boxes in 2008 almost doubled to 22.4 million systems. This growth will continue to be substantial in 2009, with a 28 per cen rise. "This is a strong growth number for any era, but considering the state of the economy and business environments, it is even more impressive," Selburn said.Among premium boxes, HD STBs are on their way to becoming the new standard in the home. Shipments of these boxes are set to grow at a 22.8 per cent CAGR between 2008 and 2013, and by the end of the forecast period will take the lead in market share. This is being helped by a number of factors, including HD display sales, increasing access to broadband technology and improving HD content from service providers.
DVR-enabled boxes are growing at a rapid rate as well and will maintain a CAGR of 18 per cent through 2013. The plummeting cost of hardware—especially Hard Disk Drives (HDDs)—is making the DVR HDD a more affordable purchase for consumers. However, rising sales of whole-home DVRs used as in-home media servers will continue to push sales of non-DVR boxes that act as clients to a central STB containing a hard drive.
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Arqiva names VOD chief as Kangaroo acquisition completes
Arqiva has has confirmed the completion of its acquisition of the platform assets of Project Kangaroo, the VOD platform developed by a joint venture set up by BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4. Arqiva plans to use the assets to launch a new video-on-demand service to UK consumers in the coming months.
Arqiva has also confirmed the appointment of Pierre-Jean Sebert as CEO of the new VOD business. Sebert was Managing Director UK for Eurosport from 2001 to 2005.
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In line with the global phenomenon of switching over from analogue to digital TV services, set-top boxes now have a more crucial role in the home for accessing of entertainment and information services provided by television service operators, according to new set-top box market data from ABI Research.
This is especially apparent in mature high-speed Internet economies where service providers strive towards providing interactive bi-directional television, thereby leading to the growth of IP set-top boxes. According to ABI, IP STBs will generate a market value above $3 billion by 2014.
This analogue-digital switchover has also brought about a progressive momentum towards sophisticated box types as well as advanced compression technologies. As ABI Research industry analyst Serene Fong notes, "shipments of basic boxes across all television platforms have declined and will continue to fall throughout the six-year forecast period. In contrast, shipments of boxes with HD capabilities and MPEG-4 compression technologies – including HD hybrids – will head north. This is closely associated with consumers’ thirst for higher quality content, which is often satisfied through HD quality videos. The increased ownership of HDTVs especially in the homes of technologically advanced nations is a good indicator of where the market is heading."
In terms of vendors' market standing, Motorola and Cisco Systems continue to sit at the top of the cable STB vendor list with a combined market share close to 50% in 2008. Thomson and Panasonic ranked highest in the DBS and DTT segments respectively in the same period. "Vendors’ strategies for retaining their market shares are targeted towards emerging technologies such as HDTV, IPTV, and digital TV, as these are expected to be the main driving forces for STB sales in the coming years," Fong concludes.
ABI Research’s new Market Data release - Set-Top Box Shipments and Vendor Market Share - which is updated quarterly, addresses STB shipments information and examines the growth potential across four digital video platforms: CATV, DBS, IPTV, and DTT.
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BSkyB sponsors O2 ArenaBSkyB has struck a sponsorship deal with the O2 Arena, the London-based music venue, that will include the launch of a VIP ticketing service for the broadcaster's subscribers and the rights to broadcast shows on Sky channels and online.
The five-year deal, reported to be worth about £3 million (E3.44m) per year, gives Sky first refusal on TV and online broadcast rights for the majority of music gigs and other events that are hosted at the venue.
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Telkom to launch IPTVIndonesian state telco PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) has welcomed a ministerial decree governing IPTV in Indonesia, and confirmed that it is planning to launch a service. "The regulation will bring legal certainty in the IPTV business," said Eddy Kurnia, Telkom’s VP of public and marketing communication. "Telkom has readied infrastructure to make available triple play access," he confirmed.The initiative, according to Kurnia, is in line with Telkom's business strategy and transformation, especially in new-wave growth. "IPTV can be an effective medium to revitalise the declining business of fixed line," said Kurnia.
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AmberFin appoints Bargery as VP Sales EMEA
AmberFin has confirmed the appointment of Paula Bargery as Vice President Sales EMEA. In this role, Bargery will be responsible for further bolstering AmberFin’s profile in the region, driving growth and customer acquisition through all sales channels.
With over 20 years’ sales experience, Bargery’s expertise crosses both broadcast specific and enterprise software. Bargery joins AmberFin from Infor, the enterprise software company. Prior to this Paula was Director of Business Software Sales EMEA at Harris Corporation specialising in airtime sales, scheduling, content management and automation. Bargery’s career began in broadcasting, working in airtime sales for ITV.
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QuickPlay mobile STB solutionQuickPlay Media, provider of solutions that manage the business of mobile video, has unveiled its new Mobile Set-Top Box solution. The solution will enable TV service providers to easily extend set-top box capabilities beyond the living room to popular consumer electronic and mobile devices. This seamless integration will allow subscribers to experience portable entertainment in its most flexible form, providing access, control and personalisation of programming.
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Tuesday 25th August
Lack of STBs hampers pay DTT
Mobile TV slow to take off
InStore Broadcasting picks up Prisa stake
China accelerates bi-directional DTV
No smooth sailing for Pirate Bay sale
Verizon V CAST on Blackberry Smartphones
TVNZ to debut shows online
Karstensen joins Bridge
Cridland leaves BBC Future
Rovi for Pace
ADB integrates Civolution watermarking technology
Lack of STBs hampers pay DTT
From David Del Valle in MadridThe lack of pay DTT-ready STBs is to delay the beginning of the pay-DTT business in Spain for at least the next two months. Manufacturers are to begin producing the pay-DTT boxes in September and the first devices will not be ready until at least the end of the month.
This is a setback to Mediapro’s plans to distribute pay DTT content through its football TV channel Gol TV coinciding with the beginning of the Spanish football League next Saturday. By contrast, it is to Sogecable’s benefit as its DTH-based pay TV football channel Canal Plus Liga will have less competition.
Pay DTT devices will have to be open and compatible with all technologies, according to the Government’s mandate which has also suggested as "highly recommended" the use of a common interface. But, apart from technology, the decision to use one or two different platforms is still to be decided. There are two different options on the table: on the one hand, Abertis Telecom, the current domestic broadcast agency, which almost has the monopoly of the carriage of TV signals and which relies on Nagravision’s technology to implement pay DTT services; or the Dahlia platform which is to distribute a plethora of TV channels using Spanish technology and which has committed itself to paying broadcasters (above all Mediapro) for exclusive distribution rights. Both options are still open with the decision to use one of them or both up to the broadcasters.
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Mobile TV slow to take offMobile TV has so far failed to deliver on its promise of ubiquity, but analysts expect global user numbers to increase to 54 million in 2009.
Analysts also predict that by 2013 there will be about 300 million people watching TV on the so-called ‘third screen.’The study, conducted by In-Stat, revealed that mobile TV users watch at least three times a week, with 20 per cent watching daily. Two-thirds of respondents in the white paper said they watched mobile TV for 30 minutes or more on the days they tuned in. By comparison, in the leading markets of Japan and Korea, viewers are glued to their third screen for over an hour.
"Mobile TV is just not as big a deal as we all thought it would be," Frank Dickson of In-Stat commented. "The idea combines the two biggest things around: TV and phones. Everyone has a TV and everyone has a mobile phone. So of course the industry thought the prospect of bringing the two together was going to be huge. "In reality, live mobile TV has been very slow to take off," claimed Dickson.
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InStore Broadcasting picks up Prisa stakeUS-based InStore Broadcasting Network has agreed to take a 5 per cent stake in Prisa as part of a distribution joint venture covering Spain and Latin America.
The Spanish company said the deal was the latest in a series aimed at "bringing in strategic partners that contribute technology and new markets". Prisa has been under pressure to sell assets or bring in other investors for about 18 months, after being forced to buy out minority investors in Sogecable, a subsidiary of Prisa, which runs its Digital Plus pay television service and free-to-air channel Cuatro. The move loaded about E2 billion of debt onto the company.
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China accelerates bi-directional DTVAt the 2009 China Digital TV Forum, Wang Xiaojie, director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's (SARFT) Department of Science and Technology, said that SARFT will increase its demands on the ongoing DTV conversion efforts, calling on networks which have already converted to DTV to more quickly switch to bi-directional DTV, and on networks which have not yet completed conversions to convert directly to bi-directional DTV (i.e. to directly provide subscribers with bi-directional STBs).
Wang said that by the end of 2010, bi-directional DTV coverage in all major and mid-sized cities throughout the country would top 60 per cent; by the end of 2011, coverage in these areas will reach 95 per cent, and in other cities will top 50 per cent. By the end of 2012, total bi-directional urban coverage throughout the country is targeted to exceed 80 per cent of all subscribers.
Also at the forum, Zeng Jiezhong, general manager of Hunan TV Cable Network Group, said that Hunan province will convert 500,000 cable subscribers to bi-directional interactive digital TV set-top boxes by the end of the year.
Meantime SARFT has revealed plans for urban deployment of terrestrial HD. Before the end of this year, self-governed municipalities as well as a handful of other cities will launch two terrestrial HDTV channels, while each prefecture-level city will launch one. Xie Jinhui, vice president of SARFT's Academy of Broadcasting Planning, said that terrestrial HDTV will be provided free of charge and unencrypted as a public service.
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No smooth sailing for Pirate Bay saleThere is uncertainty surrounding the purchase of file-sharing website The Pirate Bay by Swedish-based Global Gaming Factory (GGF). Trading in GGF shares has been suspended and there are reports that the firm's chairman - Magnus Bergman - has resigned.
GGF paid £4.7 million (E5.4m) to take over The Pirate Bay in June. The Swedish stock market is now investigating whether GGF has sufficient funds to complete the sale.
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Verizon V CAST on Blackberry SmartphonesVerizon’s V CAST Video on Demand service is now available to BlackBerry smartphone customers. Available immediately, users can download the application directly to their BlackBerry Storm smartphones and start watching video programming on demand.
V CAST Video now features more than 100 full-length programmes from leading broadcast and cable networks. V CAST Video also delivers live sporting events, including NHL hockey games and college football games.
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TVNZ to debut shows onlineTVNZ is planning to build on the success of its OnDemand service by making some shows available online before they screen on TV. Head of emerging business Jason Paris said the broadcaster was among a limited number outside the US to embrace the concept, which it launched in 2007. "I suppose it was a little bit of a leap of faith but we were reasonably confident it wasn't going to cannibalise our existing television audience and the research has shown it hasn't."
TVNZ's next step will be to put first episodes of some shows online before they are broadcast. "It won't be something we do for all shows," said Paris. "We'll pick particular shows that probably haven't played in New Zealand before and might be difficult to explain simply through a 30-second promotion or a billboard. We'll give people the opportunity to watch the full episode so broadcast."
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Karstensen joins BridgeBridge Technologies, developers of the satellite-to-set-top box monitoring solution for IPTV operators, have announced that Tor Karstensen has joined the company as marketing and design executive. Karstensen will assume overall responsibility for the visual identity and branding of Bridge Technologies. Karstensen has a wide-ranging base of experience in visual branding and online presence development for clients including Sun Microsystems, Deloitte, and Glaxo SmithKline, and has founded two cross-media communications companies. He has also worked as a content developer in the Second Life virtual world platform.
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Cridland leaves BBC FutureAfter two years as the head of the audio and music section of the BBC’s future media and technology department, James Cridland is leaving. Cridland joined the BBC in 2007 as part of a round of appointments by the then head of BBC future media and technology, Ashley Highfield. He joined the BBC after serving as digital media director at Virgin Radio.
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Rovi for PaceRovi Corporation (formerly Macrovision Solutions Corporation), hs confirmed that Pace is using the Rovi Connected Platform solution to enhance its next-generation set-top boxes for cable operators and service providers throughout the Americas.
"We are committed to working with our customers in the service provider and cable markets to provide consumers with a cutting-edge entertainment experience that allows access to multiple types of digital media in the home," said Bruce Gureck, VP of product development, Pace. "The Rovi Connected Platform is a comprehensive solution that enables us to easily integrate with the latest interoperability standards that help to enable access to premium, recorded and personal content from a variety of locations and devices."
This announcement expands on an existing relationship between Rovi and Pace. In 2007, Pace and Rovi (then Macrovision) collaborated to demonstrate a multi-room digital home experience using Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) specifications. Pace added DLNA capabilities to its set-top box and server products by integrating Rovi’s media player and media server software with existing Pace software to show how digital content could be accessed and viewed from any room in the home.
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ADB integrates Civolution watermarking technologyAdvanced Digital Broadcast (ADB), supplier of technology to the global digital television industry, is adding watermarking capabilities to its TV convergence solutions portfolio. ADB has integrated Civolution’s VTrack watermarking technology into its digital TV set-top boxes, thus providing operators with further means of protecting content.
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Monday 24th August
Spanish pay DTT: a E5bn business
Apple TV in 2011
ITV.com may triple revenue
Sky.com shuts sites
FLO TV and Rentrak measure mobile TV
The Queen in 3D on C4
Roku improves set-top navigation for Netflix
Lattelecom 30’000+ IPTV subs
Spanish pay DTT: A E5 bn business
From David Del Valle in MadridPay DTT in Spain will generate E5 billion of business over the next four years, with STB and IDTV manufacturers and CA companies taking the lion's share, more than E2.6 billion, according to Government figures.
Pay DTT will bring a boost to STB manufacturers of E1.4bn, with broadcasters, TV signal carriers and installers profiting from E1.3 billion. E750 million will go to TV content producers and E350 advertising companies, call centre services and the financial sector.
The Ministry of Industry has confirmed that the STB for pay DTT services will be open and compatible with all technologies using a common interface.
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Apple TV in 2011Investment analysts Piper Jaffray have predicted Apple will enter the TV market by 2011 with an Apple-branded television set with digital video recording and home media functions.
"With the popularity of ad-based Internet TV and subscription models, we believe a-la-carte (iTunes) video purchases have lost share against other video models in recent months. As such, we believe Apple is exploring a subscription-based offering for its TV content in iTunes," senior analyst Gene Munster says.
"Apple could leverage its deep library of content with many network and cable channel content owners to provide unlimited access to a sub-library of its TV shows for a standard monthly fee. Such a product would effectively replace a consumer's monthly cable bill and offer access to current and older episodes of select shows on select channels."
As evidence for Apple's interest for pushing deeper into the living room, Munster cites: COO Tim Cook's statement last month that the company will continue to invest in Apple TV because "we fundamentally believe there is something there for us in the future." There are also patents covering digital video recording and a five-year $500 million partnership with LG to produce LCD screens.
Munster notes that Apple currently controls an addressable user base of more than 65 million iTunes users and has sold more than 48 million iPhones and iPod touches that could be used as TV remotes or interactive TV game controllers.
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ITV.com may triple revenueITV.com, the broadcaster's online TV service, looks on course to more than triple this year to over £30 million (E34.7m) according to Screen Digest.
ITV has struggled to build a sizeable revenue stream from its digital activities, most recently selling off Friends Reunited at a £150 million loss on its purchase price in 2005. However ITV.com is forecast to make as much as £34 million in ad revenue this year.
Screen Digest estimated ITV.com's revenues at £8.9 million in 2008.
"The revenue increase comes from a mixture of increasingly large audience levels and ITV becoming a world leader in monetising its content," said Dan Cryan, an analyst at Screen Digest. "ITV have a higher number of ads running per programme viewed as video-on-demand than any other broadcaster in any other major market."Screen Digest also predicts that in 2009 Channel 4 will make £9.3 million from its online TV service, 4oD, and Channel Five's Demand Five service will bring in £1.9 million.
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Sky.com shuts sitesSky.com is to close a number of its sites, including its dating, careers and teen channels, following a review of its online business.
The move, which Sky has described as "rationalising", will see the closure of seven sites in total, which it claims account for less than half a per cent of total page impressions across the entire portfolio.
The axed sites – money & property, dating, careers, stars, life & style, MyKindaPlace and Monkeyslum – account for 0.25 per cent of inventory on Sky.com.
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FLO TV and Rentrak measure mobile TVFLO TV, provider of the FLO TV live mobile TV, and Rentrak, a multi-screen media measurement and research company serving the entertainment industry, have aligned to launch the mobile television industry's first comprehensive viewership and advertising impression reporting using Rentrak's TV Essentials media measurement system. Through their collaboration, FLO TV and Rentrak will deliver reporting that will serve as the currency for advertising sales on FLO TV and provide deeper insights into FLO TV audience viewing patterns while not divulging any individual subscriber's personal information.
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Channel 4 is to show previously unseen footage of the Queen shot in 3D during her coronation year. The two hour-long shows will tell the story of two men - now in their 80s - who filmed the 3D newsreel. Special glasses needed to view them will be given out free in Sainsbury's stores before they air later this year.
The programmes will be shown in Danish ColorCode 3D, which looks almost like an ordinary image when viewed without the glasses, which have an amber and a dark blue lens. The programme will be part of a 3D week on C4.
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Roku improves set-top navigation for NetflixRoku is redesigning the user interface feature in its set-top box that customers use to order video-streamed titles from Netflix so it works similar to the one Microsoft recently launched for its Xbox 360 video-game console.
Browse and add functions for ordering Netflix’s digital titles, similar to the new features on Xbox 360, will be integrated into Roku’s new navigation, Roku spokesman Brian Jacquet confirmed, though he declined to say when the new features would be in place.
Roku’s set-top boxes last year were the first components Netflix used to make its video-streaming titles playable directly on TVs, and Amazon began streaming its digital movie and TV titles through Roku set-top boxes in March. Closely held Roku is looking to further boost demand for its set-top boxes by launching channels for content providers such as Major League Baseball and podcast provider Mediafly.
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Lattelecom 30’000+ IPTV subsLatvian telco Lattelecom has announced that its IPTV service 'Lattelecom Interactive TV' has surpassed 30,000 subscribers. Lattelecom has also recently launched commercial tests of a new DTT service, available in a 70 kilometre radius around the Latvian capital city of Riga.
