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Our Latest Issues
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Tuesday
Friday 17th July
Sky, ESPN take SPL rights
Schmid leaves Tele Columbus
UK adults ‘embrace’ digital piracy
Teletext off TV early
Cox to sell Travel stake
Macrovision becomes Rovi Corporation
Kudelski committed to OpenTV
Paid video to overtake free video online in 2009
Shorter pre-roll plus lower 1/3 ads best for online vids
blinx man joins Myvideorights
GlobeCast delivers Russia Today to Asian networks
Sky, ESPN take SPL rightsBSkyB and ESPN have struck a £65 million (E75m) deal with the Scottish Premier League to air 60 live Clydesdale Bank Premier League matches each season across the UK and Ireland. The deal will last until the end of season 2011/12 with the SPL having an option to extend for a further two seasons.
Lex Gold, chairman of the SPL, said: "We are pleased that in just over three weeks we have been able to strike this deal. Sky and ESPN are two of the biggest names in sports broadcasting and they will bring first class production standards and a wide audience to the table. We are looking forward to working with both in the coming years to raise the profile of the SPL for our clubs, fans and partners."
It had been thought that the SPL might not accept the Sky and ESPN bid. Previous SPL UK rights holder Setanta had a £125 million, four-year package.
Rangers FC said this week that that it was looking to buy the rights - a move which could precede the launch of a new TV channel backed by the clubs - because the terms on offer from Sky and ESPN were too low. The club said: "Rangers and Celtic have had discussions with regard to buying out the SPL television rights. Both clubs felt obliged to do this given the offer from Sky and ESPN is so low."
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Schmid leaves Tele ColumbusMarkus Schmid, CEO and President of the Tele Columbus Group, is leaving the company at his own request. Michael Buhl, CFO of the Tele Columbus Group, will temporarily assume the position of president of the Management Board. Markus Schmid led the company for over two years through a phase of strategic reorientation, first as Managing Director B2C, subsequently as COO and President and finally as CEO.
Former Premiere Board Member Schmid has been Managing Director of the Tele Columbus Group since April 2007 as well as PrimaCom AG's CEO since April 2008. The two cable network operators are allied through a common holding company.
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UK adults ‘embrace’ digital piracyThree out of five UK adults don’t believe that musicians should profit from their singles and music videos being downloaded online, according to a survey of 2,000 adults carried out for network integration specialist Telindus. The British disdain for content owners profiting from their art online increases when it comes to film and TV makers, with over two thirds of UK adults believing that they shouldn’t derive any royalties.
Forty-four per cent of people that download music, films and video games admitted to never paying for content that they were supposed to. Men proved to be the most prolific online pirates with half never paying for content, compared to 38 per cent of women.The reluctance to pay for online content may be due to the fact that confusion is rife over the Intellectual Property rights of material posted on the Internet. The majority of consumers view access as a ‘free for all’. Only a quarter of people believe that they still own the rights to the content they post on sites such as Facebook, YouTube and MySpace, 19 per cent felt that no one had ownership rights to content once it was in the public domain and 37 per cent had no idea who owned online content.
The threat of legal action is clearly failing to deter UK adults from illegal downloads. While 59 per cent of people stated that they were aware of the Internet piracy laws governing the downloading of digital content and half knew the consequences, a fifth admitted that they knew which websites to visit to illegally download material.
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Teletext off TV earlyAssociated Newspapers is bringing forward the shutdown of analogue Teletext services from 2012 to January next year, and will even shut several of its Freeview digital text services, saying Ofcom’s refusal to give public funding beyond 2014 contributed to the decision.
Teletext has been offering digital text services on ITV’s red button since the advent of Freeview and has tried to replicate its brand name on the web, but the company has been losing money and Associated has been trying to save money by outsourcing more jobs to Teletext’s content producer, the Press Association.
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Cox to sell Travel stakeCox Communications has decided to sell a majority stake in the Travel Channel in an auction expected to value the cable network at $600 million or more and break the drought in media industry deal-making.
Scripps Networks Interactive, owner of the Food Network, is widely seen as the front-runner in an auction likely to test large media groups’ continued appetite for cable programming. The auction is also expected to attract interest from Time Warner, which remains flush with the proceeds of splitting off its cable business. Time Warner examined the Weather Channel last year, before its eventual sale to a group led by NBC Universal.
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Macrovision becomes Rovi Corporation
Macrovision Solutions Corporation has announced the official change of its name to Rovi Corporation, and unveiled its new brand positioning and visual identity. The company will now officially operate under the banner of Rovi Corporation, and its common stock will trade under the stock symbol ROVI on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.
"Over the past two years, we have been focused on an ambitious strategy to change the digital entertainment experience. As a result, we have made dramatic changes to our solutions portfolio. With our leading guide solutions and extensive entertainment metadata, we believe we are now positioned as a key enabler for digital entertainment. Today’s announcement is the next step in uniting our technology and people under one shared identity, allowing us to move forward in creating a highly enjoyable entertainment experience for the consumer," said Fred Amoroso, president and CEO of Rovi Corporation.
The news also coincides with the company’s launch of a new media guide, code named "Liquid." This new media guide is capable of connecting consumers to entertainment content on the Internet and digital content stored at home, as well as broadcast and cable TV in a single, elegant user interface designed to simplify access to content.
Rovi also announced t that it is working with Blockbuster to easily integrate access to Blockbuster OnDemand content and services directly through the Liquid guide. This integration will enable consumers to enjoy Blockbuster’s growing library of digital content with their family and friends directly and easily on the TV.
The Liquid guide is designed to provide a direct access to content from leading online entertainment services such as Slacker radio and YouTube XL, a website that is optimized for watching YouTube videos on large displays, allowing people to easily interact and engage with content they choose to consume on their own time. It is also compatible with leading movie technology provider Roxio CinemaNow.
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Kudelski committed to OpenTV
From Colin Mann in GenevaSenior executives from the Kudelski Group have reiterated the company’s commitment to OpenTV, despite its failure to take control of convergent media solutions provider.
Kudelski has made a non-binding proposal to acquire all of the Class A ordinary shares of OpenTV not currently owned by Kudelski or its affiliates, for $1.35 per share in cash. A Special Committee of the Board of Directors of OpenTV rejected what it described as an "unsolicited proposal" and inadequate, not being in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders. The Special Committee said it had reached its
conclusion after careful consideration, including a thorough review of OpenTV’s business and prospects, and other factors, with its independent financial advisor, UBS.
At the time, Kudelski said it continued to firmly believe that its proposal would deliver superior value to OpenTV shareholders relative to other options currently available to them as stockholders of OpenTV as a stand-alone entity, and said it would advocate through its board representation that OpenTV substantially increase its investment in next-generation solutions, mainly organically but also potentially through acquisitions.
Yves Pitton, senior vice president and head of corporate development, Nagravision, said the rejection didn’t change the fact that Nagravision was collaborating with OpenTV as it had been previously. "We have been working over the last six months on daily business activities as we did in the past and it will go on like this," he told a press briefing at the company’s Cheseaux, Switzerland headquarters. "We’re not interested in selling our stake," he said. "If nothing is done, we really think that OpenTV is at risk. Investments have to be made; things have to change." It was best if this could be done by acquiring 100% of the shares, but there were other ways. "With the voting rights we have, we can enforce changes, particularly in terms of investment for the next generation of products." Kudelski has 74.7 per cent of OpenTV’s voting shares, and a 26.7 per cent equity stake
His comments were subsequently reinforced by André Kudelski, Chairman and CEO, who said that his company would continue to find ways to safeguard the company’s future.
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Paid video to overtake free video online in 2009
Strategy Analytics' digital media analyst, Martin Olausson, has predicted that the global paid online video segment will reach $3.8 billion in 2009, and exceed the free online video segment, which is expected to reach $3.5 billion this year. The total online video sector is predicted to grow 38 per cent annually until 2012, with the paid video segment growing faster than the free video segment in the coming years.While the free web video segment – consisting of web video ads and public broadcasting web video – is expected to continue to show rapid growth at 37 per cent compound annual growth rate in the next four years, the paid online video segment, including download-to-own, rental and subscription services, is expected to grow even faster, at 39% annually, during the same period according to this latest Strategy Analytics research.
"The economic downturn and diminishing advertising budgets have increased the focus on consumer paid content on the web in the last six months," said Martin Olausson, Director of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics. "Increased consumer awareness and uptake of services, such as Netflix WatchNow and Xbox Live Video Store, in combination with new services such as the TV Everywhere initiative announced by Comcast and Time Warner Cable will also help drive the paid online video segment in the coming years."
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Shorter pre-roll plus lower 1/3 ads best for online vids
A five-second pre-roll combined with a ten-second lower 1/3 ad unit takes top prize as both the most effective and the most audience-friendly ad product for short-form online video, according to "Project Inform," a study by MTV Networks. The first large-scale study to survey real consumers through millions of short-form online video streams, "Project Inform" uniquely measured both the effectiveness and likeability of various ad formats across a range of audience, content and advertiser categories.
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blinx man joins MyvideorightsMyvideorights.com, the agency trying to distribute TV clips to video websites on TV companies’ behalf, is hiring video index blinkx’s sales director Ian Samuel as its own UK sales director, as it starts to sell video advertising in to the clips. The company distributes clips for clients like Hat Trick, ESPN and All3Media to sites like YouTube, aiming to take a cut on any display ad revenue.
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GlobeCast delivers Russia Today to Asian networksGlobeCast and Russia Today have concluded a deal to distribute the channel in Asia to a variety of distribution networks and platforms, beginning with India. Russia Today is now available on cable and DTH platforms in India including WWIL, Dish Hits, InCable, 7Star, Big TV and SunDirect platforms – representing a potential viewership of 7 million homes.
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Thursday 16th July
Canvas or Tiscali TV for Talk Talk?
Spanish regulator to limit football TV rights
BBCWW, C4 deal "imminent"
CBS joins ‘TV Everywhere’ trial
Virgin completes NGN
Jetix Italy MBO
Verizon opens Widget Bazaar on FiOS TV
ESOA elects Bausch as Chairman
Star channels on Clix
Canvas or Tiscali TV for Talk Talk?Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse (owner of Talk Talk and Tiscali UK) is studying whether its Talk Talk phone and broadband business should expand Tiscali’s TV service and whether that would be via Canvas or the existing platform.
Carphone completed its deal to buy Tiscali’s UK assets for £236 milllllion (E275m) last week, including Tiscali TV, a service that provides customers with Freeview channels and video-on-demand content.
Dunstone has previously made sceptical noises about becoming a TV provider but told the FT it was not planning immediately to "switch off" Tiscali TV, which has just 50,000 customers. He said Talk Talk was considering participating in the BBC-led project Canvas, and also developing Tiscali TV. "We might say Canvas isn’t the answer and we will go and reinvigorate Tiscali TV."
Talk Talk is the UK’s second biggest broadband provider. BT, Carphone’s main telephone rival, launched a TV service in 2007.
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Spanish regulator to limit football TV rights
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The Spanish Competition Authorities have proposed to limit to three years (until 2012) the current contracts for football TV rights in a move to avoid dominant positions in the a market that generates around E1 billon a year.The measure would directly affect Mediapro, shareholder in La Sexta, that holds the majority of the Spanish football TV rights until 2014, with contracts in force with 33 out of 42 football teams in the Spanish Premier and second Division Leagues, among them Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The Competition's move takes place when Mediapro and Prisa, owner of Sogecable, are negotiating a possible merger including commercial channels Cuatro and La Sexta.
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The BBC Worldwide chief executive, John Smith, is confident a deal to form a joint venture with Channel 4 will be signed within weeks following the tabling of a new streamlined proposal that he claims has gained traction with both parties.
Smith said the new proposition would pull in parts of Channel 4's operation, including ad sales as well as using its strong heritage in genres such as gardening, property and food.
Communications minister Lord Carter had urged a final plan to be submitted for inclusion in last month's Digital Britain report. The failure to do so left the report calling weakly for further discussions on "the practical and strategic implications of further structural separation".
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CBS joins ‘TV Everywhere’ trialCBS has become the first network to sign up to trials of an online VOD in the US. The broadcaster’s alliance with Comcast, the cable group which unveiled plans for its On Demand Online service last month, could help CBS build up an alternative to Hulu, the fast-growing online video site backed by three rival US networks – NBC, News Corp’s Fox and Walt Disney’s ABC.
To date, CBS has declined to offer its content through Hulu, preferring instead to build up its own online video site, TV.com, which has not matched Hulu’s traffic.
Comcast said the technical trial would start "in the coming weeks" with 5,000 customers across the country, in the industry’s first big test of the ‘TV Everywhere’ idea that consumers should have access to full length video online if that have already paid for it through a pay-television subscription.
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Virgin completes NGNVirgin Media has announced that the company has completed its next generation fibre optic broadband network. Virgin has been working for 18 months on increasing its network capacity and offering ultrafast broadband speeds of up to 50Mb to over 12 million homes.
In an attempt to entice some of those 12 million homes into signing up to the service, the company has cut its prices. From September 1st, the 50Mbps service will cost £38 (E44) per month, or £28 per month if users sign up to a landline as well. "The 50Mb service continues to be free of traffic management", promises the company.
The company is already piloting 200Mb fibre optic broadband speeds in Ashford, Kent. It is also piloting faster upload speeds, up to 10Mb. Critically this trial will explore the demand for higher upstream broadband speeds to support video conferencing, multiplayer gaming and home working.
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Jetix Italy MBOWalt Disney Company has agreed to a management buy-out of its Jetix channels in Italy. The management team, led by MD Francesco Nespega has established Switchover Media to take control of two Disney-owned channels in the territory.The deal comes as Disney continues its Jetix rebranding effort across Europe, dropped the boy-skewing channel's name in favour of Disney XD.
Switchover Media will take 100 per cent ownership of the GXT and K2 kids channels and will continue to manage other Jetix activities in the country till Disney XD arrives in autumn, according to C21 Media.GXT is the pay-TV channel targeted at young males and is exclusively available through Sky Italia to 4.7 million homes, while K2 is aimed at kids aged 4-14 and is distributed via digital terrestrial to 8.5 million homes, via satellite to 6.5 million homes and - for two hours per day - via analogue terrestrial to 17 million homes.
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Verizon opens Widget Bazaar on FiOS TVUS telco Verizon has launched the Widget Bazaar applications store as part of its 'FiOS TV' service - which includes a Facebook and Twitter widgets, and Internet Video on TV.
The company also plans to offer an open development platform to permit developers to write interactive FiOS TV applications that will be available through the Widget Bazaar. The addition of Internet Video on TV will allow users to search and view a variety of online videos on their TV screens from a number of providers, including Veoh and Dailymotion.
The new Widget Bazaar applications marketplace, located within FiOS TV's Interactive Media Guide, is launching with free Facebook, Twitter and ESPN Fantasy Football Widgets.
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ESOA elects Bausch as ChairmanESOA (the European Satellite Operator’s Association) has elected Romain Bausch, CEO of SES as Chairman of the Board. Bausch, a satellite industry veteran, joined SES in 1995 as CEO and has been President and CEO since 2001. He also serves as Chairman of the SES Executive Committee, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SES Astra and SES Americom-New Skies, the two major divisions of SES, as well as Chairman of the Board of SES Sirius.
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Star has launched the Hindi general entertainment channel Star Plus and movie channel Star Gold on Clix's IPTV platform in Portugal. Both Star Plus and Star Gold will be available to Clix subscribers as part of the "Star Pack" for E9.99 per month.
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Wednesday 16th July
BBCWW £1bn sales, profits fall
Italian consumers question RAI encryption
Rangers and Celtic eye soccer rights
Kylin Chinese TV for Europe
Blockbuster to stream video rentals
Over 13m DTH subs in India
HBO joins Comcast's Internet TV trial
Macrovision EPG for Canal+
AnySource adds content
ESPN Star Sports appoints Lefebvre as VP
BBCWW £1bn sales, profits fallBBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm, saw yearly revenue hit £1 billion (E1.16bn) for the first time, but profit fell because of write-offs on Kangaroo and damage from the collapse of its video distribution joint venture with Woolworths. In the year to March 31st, revenue rose 9.5 per cent, while profits were just £85.7 million.
BBC Worldwide made more than half of its revenue from abroad, from just below half last year. Five per cent of revenue came from online activity.
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Italian consumers question RAI encryption
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItalian consumers association Altroconsumo has lodged a complaint to the country’s Communications Authority (Agcom), the Antitrust Authority, and to the European commissioners for Competition and the Information Society, regarding the issue of encryption of the satellite broadcasts of Italian public broadcaster RAI.
According to Altroconsumo, in the period between April 16th and June 21st, more than 1.8 million Italian TV viewers equipped with satellite receivers were not able to watch some 357 programmes (including at least 18 news bulletins) aired on the Rai Uno, Rai Due and Rai Tre channels. Also, as of July last year, RAI is not making available on digital satellite, even partially, the public service channel Rai 4, which can be received exclusively via digital terrestrial.
The independent consumers association wants the AgCom to intervene by opening an inquiry in order to guarantee the public broadcasting service. Altroconsumo is also requesting that AgCom verifies press reports regarding the Nagra encryption technology adopted by the new DTH platform Tivu Sat, to be used by RAI, Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media from August 1. According to reports due to the new encryption technology more than 6.4 million decoders present in Italian households will not be able to receive the content aired on the new platform.
Rangers and Celtic eye soccer rights
Rangers and Celtic football clubs are in talks to acquire the live UK rights to air Scottish Premier League football. The collapse of previous SPL UK rights holder Setanta means the rights are effectively back on the market
Speculation has been rife that the SPL has been conducting talks with Sky and ESPN over a new rights deal worth a reported £65 million (E75m). Rangers FC said, however, that it is looking to buy the rights - a move which could precede the launch of a new TV channel backed by the clubs - because the terms on offer from Sky and ESPN are "so low".
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Kylin Chinese TV for EuropeKyLinTV, the Chinese IPTV platform, has partnered with Phoenix China News and Entertainment to deliver a range of Chinese TV channels to the European market. KyLinTV Europe will offer over 20 Chinese TV channels from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, including Phoenix CNE, Phoenix InfoNews, CCTV-9, MASTV and Sun TV.
Based in New York, KyLinTV already offers more than 60 Chinese channels and over 30,000 hours of video-on-demand programming to Chinese-speaking households in the US. Phoenix CNE is the European arm of Phoenix TV, a Chinese TV broadcaster headquartered in Hong Kong.
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Blockbuster to stream video rentals
Blockbuster UK has confirmed an agreement that allows consumers to instantly view movies and video from its OnDemand service on Samsung's televisions and electronics devices.
Under the deal Blockbuster's OnDemand service will be integrated into new Samsung HD TVs, Home Theatre Systems and Blu-ray players.
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Over 13m DTH subs in IndiaThe Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has said the DTH subscriber base has swelled to more than 13 million in the country, indicating an increased penetration of the service.
TRAI said "total number of reported registered Direct to Home (DTH) subscribers served by five private DTH operators, offering paid service, had gone up to 13.09 million till the end of March 2009".
At present, apart from the free DTH service of Doordarshan, there are six private DTH licensees. While five are already in operation, the sixth is in the process of rolling out its services, TRAI said.
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HBO joins Comcast's Internet TV trial
HBO will provide some 750 hours of movies and original series to Comcast's On-Demand Online trial, becoming the latest programmer to sign on to the cable operator's 5,000-home Internet video-on-demand test.HBO's participation comes on the heels of the announcement that Starz Entertainment will deliver about 300 movies and original shows for On-Demand Online.
Customers will be able to view some new programmes online immediately after they air on HBO and Cinemax, the companies said. Following the launch, HBO and Cinemax programming will be "updated frequently," and will eventually include programs in HD format.
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Macrovision EPG for Canal+Macrovision Solutions Corporation has announced that Canal+ Group, a leading pay-TV operator in France, has signed a multi-year licensing agreement for Macrovision’s electronic program guide (EPG) patent portfolio. The multi-year agreement allows Canal+ Group to use Macrovision’s licensed intellectual property in its EPGs deployed on its various platforms.
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AnySource adds contentAnySource Media, creator of the Connected HDTV Platform which allows consumers to directly connect to 100s of on-demand channels "out of the box" in new HDTVs being introduced this year, has confirmed two new content partners in Comedy Time and Salacious Streets TV. The Connected HDTV Platform extends the value of paid channels and increases revenue opportunities for ad-supported partners' existing video and advertising assets by creating a comfortable 10-foot viewing experience for Internet video.
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ESPN Star Sports appoints Lefebvre as VPESPN Star Sports (ESS) has appointed Jon Lefebvre as its new Vice President, Sales Operations and Strategy. He will be based in Singapore and will report directly to Charles Less, Senior Vice President, Advertising and Multimedia Sales. Prior to his move to Singapore, Lefebvre was based in Australia where he ran J&M international, a boutique sponsorship consulting firm representing corporations to source, develop and negotiate sports and arts sponsorship.
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Tuesday 14th July
EU wants DSO cooperation
Illegal file-sharing between teens falls
4oD with Facebook
Orbit and Showtime to merge
Serbia to invest up to E115m in digital switchover
IIF now considering Internet-sourced content
MTV Networks expands HD global reach
Virgin boosts HD line-up
Fox Latin American Channels VOD with Brightcove
SBB expands Total TV platform
Miniweb and Central Index launch TV118
EU wants DSO cooperationThe European Commission has launched a consultation to determine how to better work together at EU level to get the most from the DSO opportunity. The consultation will run until 4 September 2009.
"The digital dividend comes at a critical moment when we want to connect all parts of Europe to high-speed broadband, ensure high quality broadcasting, and expand consumer choice in future wireless services," said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media. "Europe will only achieve all of this if it adopts a coordinated approach using radio spectrum in the most efficient way. Depending on the choices we make, the potential impact of the digital dividend can be increased by billions of euros. We want to better understand what the public, broadcasters, mobile operators and other market players think of these choices before we finalise our proposals."
The Commission says consumers have high expectations for the future development of broadcasting, such as increased choice, high definition, and mobile television and broadband. To achieve this the Commission is proposing that all DTT receivers sold after January 1, 2012 should at least be as efficient as the current H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard.
The Commission wants to foster co-operation between member states already committed to upgrading their networks to next generation systems. The UK, France, Greece, Norway, Serbia and Latvia are among the countries moving towards MPEG-4 and/or DVB-T2 transmissions. Single Frequency Networks (SFNs) are also being favoured over Multiple Frequency Networks (MFNs). An increase in the minimum standards required for terrestrial broadcasting would outweigh the costs by between E4 billion and E10 billion, according to a study conducted by Analysys Mason, DotEcon and Hogan & Hartson.
As a matter of urgency the Commission wants member states that have not already completed analogue switch off to reaffirm their intentions to do so by January 1, 2012 and to have all the necessary measures in place during 2011. It also wants the 800 MHz band – already used in the UK for digital broadcasting – to be opened for EU-wide electronic communications services.
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Illegal file-sharing between teens fallsAccording to the UK digital music firm Music Ally, in January this year only 17 per cent of web users said they regularly downloaded music from illegal file-sharing sources on the web, compared to 22 per cent in December 2007. When it comes to teens, the fall has increased with just 26 per cent of 14-18 year olds admitting to illegally downloading this year, compared to 42 per cent in December 2007.
Music Ally also revealed that 65 per cent of teens are streaming music from services such as Spotify on a regular basis.
"File sharing is a moving target, so industry and government policies need to recognise this," says Music Ally CEO Paul Brindley. "It's already being somewhat displaced by other means of accessing music for free. Some are licensed, many are not licensed and some involve a bit of both. Kids find services like YouTube much more convenient for checking out new music than file-sharing. But even YouTube can become a source of piracy with some kids ripping YouTube videos and turning them into free MP3 downloads."
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4oD with FacebookC4’s VOD strand has is testing Test Tube Telly - a combo of 4oD with Facebook Connect that tells Facebook friends which C4 shows you’re watching. Aggregators Joost and Boxee have broadcaster-wide social viewing feeds.
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Orbit and Showtime to mergeBahrain-based Orbit and Dubai’s Showtime Arabia are merging between the two rival pay-TV businesses. The new company is an "equal partnership" between Orbit, up until now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Saudi Arabia-based Mawarid Group, and Showtime Arabia/Gulf-DTH which was owned by Kuwait’s KIPCO and Viacom. The new business will offer new packages to viewers on August 1, and will include HDTV in their offering.
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Serbia to invest up to E115m in digital switchover
From Branislav Pekic in RomeThe introduction of Digital Terrestrial Television by 2012 will require between E87 million and E115 million, according to the Strategy for the Switchover from Analogue to Digital Broadcasting which has been adopted by the Serbian Government.
Digital broadcasting equipment alone will require some E75 million, a sum which Serbia hopes to secure from international loans. Procurement will take place from the fourth quarter of 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2011, with the paying back of the loans planned from 2015.
Serbia’s Ministry for Telecommunications and the Information Society has applied for a E13.5 million grant from the Pre-Accession funds of the European Union for the acquisition of broadcasting equipment and the project has been classified as "high priority", which means that Serbia is likely to receive the necessary funds. The broadcasting equipment will be available to all broadcasters, as the transmission unit of state broadcaster RTS will be separated into a separate company.
The government plans to earmark between E12 million and E40 million in the budget for subsidies to citizens for the acquisition of the set-top boxes. The lower figure will be needed if the E50 subsidy will be issued only to 30,000 less well-off citizens, while the higher amount will be required if E25 subsidies are given to all 1.6 million TV license fee payers. According to the Strategy, the second option will prevail if "the state of the global economy improves".
Although STBs currently cost between E60 and E70, the Ministry expects that their price will drop to E50 by 2011. The Strategy also foresees that measures will be adopted in the first quarter of 2010 for the stimulation of local manufacturers of STBs and reception equipment.
Serbia has set an ASO deadline of April 4th 2012.
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IIF now considering Internet-sourced contentThe Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) has announced that the mission of its IPTV Interoperability Forum (IIF) will be expanded to include the standardised delivery of Internet-sourced content over an IPTV network. Until this time, the IIF has concentrated on delivery of a TV service over a managed IP network.
The IIF is a leading IPTV standardisation body, with more than 25 participating companies representing diverse IPTV-related interests. The IIF is unique in that it is both transport-technology and access-device agnostic. Materially, this means the IIF develops video-enabling data structures and standardised session flows that can navigate diverse networks, and be used on a variety of platforms.
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MTV Networks expands HD global reachMTV Networks International (MTVNI), owned by Viacom, has announced the ongoing expansion of its first international high-definition service, MTVNHD, with new launches in Germany (Deutsche Telekom), Hungary (Hello HD) and Switzerland (Quickline).
From July, UK cable operator, Virgin Media, and Russian DTH platform, NTV Plus, are also slated to launch MTVNHD, bolstering the channel’s existing distribution in the UK & Ireland (Sky) and Russia (Platforma).
MTVNHD, which launched in September 2008, is currently available in 21 countries worldwide and MTVNI plans to expand the channel’s reach to another eight countries including Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Portugal and Spain by the end of the year.
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Virgin boosts HD line-upVirgin Media has named four new high definition channels which will soon be available on its award winning TV platform. For the first time, Living will be broadcast in HD and will be joined by HD channels from FX, MTV Networks International and National Geographic. All four channels will be available to Virgin Media’s 3.6 million TV customers, with the first channel set to launch at the end of July.
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Fox Latin American Channels VOD with Brightcove
Brightcove, the online video platform, has confirmed that Fox Latin American Channels has chosen to build its online VOD service on the Brightcove platform. Brightcove is enabling Fox Latin American Channels to deliver more than 800 hours of premium, advertising-supported, long-form video content in Spanish and Portuguese from some of the network’s most popular shows through its Mundo Fox portal. In the short time since launching the new online VOD initiative on June 16th, Fox Latin American Channels has already generated 1.5 million unique users and 2.5 million page views for Mundo Fox.
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SBB expands Total TV platformSerbia Broadband (SBB) has expanded its Total TV platform with new multi-year contracts concluded with Eutelsat Communications for two transponders at its 16 degrees video neighbourhood. SBB and Eutelsat have also agreed on the long-term extension of contracts for the two transponders already used since 2006 to broadcast Total TV from Eutelsat’s specialist video neighbourhood for central European digital TV markets.
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Miniweb and Central Index launch TV118Business Directory provider Central Index and Miniweb, the Interactive Service Provider that is enabling Internet video, interactivity and targeted, web-style advertising on TV, have launched TV118, a new business directory service for the TV, which is made available to consumers free of charge. TV118 enables companies to promote their services locally, regionally or across the UK on the main entertainment screen in the home. Businesses of any size, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), can now claim their free TV directory listing giving them access to over nine million UK households on the Sky network. The service will be built and hosted by TV Express, the web and TV Site design partner.
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Monday 13th July
Sky ditches DT
French senate votes through three strikes law
Sogecable and Ono appeal against pay DTT
Zucker: Market has bottomed
US DTV added 653,000 subs
Over 640m broadband households by 2013
New stage in cable piracy battle
Netflix movies on Sony TVs
AirTies HD, wireless, video STB
Sky Deutschland has terminated its distribution contact with Deutsche Telekom for its IPTV platform. The ‘T-Entertainment’ branded service is no longer available through Sky, though both companies have acknowledged that the possibility of further talks remains.
Premiere announced plans to rebrand as Sky Deutschland in April, which has since seen the two pay-TV platforms become increasingly competitive.
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French senate votes through three strikes lawSenators have voted through the ‘Hadopi 2’ law, which will allow judges to impose punishments on those found to have made illegal downloads.
The law is a complement to the Hadopi (the Internet watchdog) 1 law, setting up a new body for Internet piracy. It was originally proposed that this law would allow for the Hadopi body itself to cut off people’s Internet access as a punishment but this was ruled unconstitutional.Under the new law, Hadopi would merely issue two warnings – by email and then recorded delivery post. Details of repeat offenders would be passed to a judge, who would have an armoury of sanctions available including cutting net access, heavy fines and even prison sentences.
The owner of an internet account which is used by someone else, unknown to them, to make illegal downloads, could also face a smaller fine and one-month of cut access for being negligent. A fine is also set out for someone who tries to get around a ban by changing to another Internet service provider.
The law will now go to the National Assembly on July 20th.
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Sogecable and Ono appeal against pay DTT
From David Del Valle in MadridThe two largest pay-TV groups in Spain, Sogecable (more than 2 million subscribers) and Ono (over 1 million subs) have issued appeals against the Government's Royal Decree bill that will allow pay TV services through digital terrestrial TV.
Both argue that it breaks competition rules. For Ono, the bill changes the rules of the game as "it modifies the awarding DTT conditions" that laid down that the DTT transmissions would be free to air.
Sogecable has asked the Government not to approve it on the grounds that "it does not meet any social demand" adding that the bill reveals the political bias of the Administration. The company also says that the bill is only to the benefit of DTT companies and to the detriment of other pay-TV operators (satellite, cable and IPTV). This "discrimination" is against the EU Treaty, concluded the company.
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Zucker: Market has bottomedNBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker has said that while the overall marketplace is still challenged, he thinks it may have bottomed out.
"It’s still quite uncertain and we don’t really see the full recovery we are all hoping for," he said. "It’s still tough out there, but I think we have seen a bottom. Our local television stations seem to be improving."Zucker also predicted no major deals in the media space through the end of the year. "I think this is a year about getting your house in order. I think we’ll see nothing in the media space for the rest of the year."
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US DTV added 653,000 subsWells Fargo Securities has estimated that the digital transition added about 653,000 new subscribers to cable, satellite and telco companies, but said that cable operators, which reaped big benefits from the transition in the first quarter, won't likely see another big boost from the federal initiative until the third quarter.
Analyst Marci Ryvicker estimated that the bulk of the benefit from the digital transition - originally slated for February 17th but extended to June 12th occurred for cable in the first quarter. Overall, Ryvicker estimated that pay and 47,000 at DirecTV. That growth is expected to slow down to 122,337 in the second quarter and tick back up to 162,304 in the third quarter.
Cable operators are expected to gain the most through the DTV transition (475,000 subscribers) according to Ryvicker, followed by satellite TV (137,000) and the telcos (41,000).
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Over 640m broadband households by 2013The global demand for high-bandwidth applications will jump in the next few years as the number of households with broadband will reach around 650 million by 2013, according to research firm Parks Associates. The firm's report ‘Broadband Services: Global Outlook’ warns that service providers will have to continue investing in network technologies to accommodate multiple services such as video-on-demand and converging social-networking applications.
Parks Associates reports the number of broadband households worldwide grew by over 18 per cent in 2008 to exceed 400 million. Asia-Pacific is the largest market, accounting for over 160 million subscribers, and it will have over 49 per cent of the global market share by 2013.
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New stage in cable piracy battleThe Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has announced a new direction in the battle against pay-TV piracy in the Philippines. A breakthrough settlement by Turtle Cable, an infringing cable operator in Camarines Sur, is underpinned by a legally binding undertaking to refrain from broadcasting unauthorised TV programming and exclusively distribute legally authorised television broadcasts to its subscribers.
Legal experts believe the outcome of this test case has established a strong precedent for the settlement of future pay-TV piracy complaints.
"We are delighted to see the settlement of this first cable TV IP (intellectual property) case in the Philippines," said Simon Twiston Davies, CEO of CASBAA. "It is a significant step towards guaranteeing copyright protection for broadcasting in the Philippines. The other good news is that Turtle Cable can now resume business as an authorised pay-TV provider. We wish them every success in the future."
The case against Turtle Cable was the result of a series of complaints filed by CASBAA on behalf of broadcasters who own their copyrighted programmes.
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Netflix movies on Sony TVsNetflix has formed a partnership with Sony Electronics that will enable Netflix subscribers to instantly watch movies streamed from Netflix on Sony Bravia models compatible with Sony's Bravia Internet video link module. Launching in Autumn, Netflix members on an unlimited plan can use the service to instantly watch more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix for a monthly fee.
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AirTies HD, wireless, video STBAirTies, the wireless home networking vendor, is launching a high definition, 802.11N wireless video set-top box featuring self-service secure wireless network setup with a single push of a button and solid state storage on NAND flash. Air 7124, the high definition, wireless, IPTV/WebTV set-top box (STB), targeted at IPTV operators, eliminates the need for cables between multiple STBs, allowing the device to be located anywhere in the home and allowing single-touch, automated customer installation.
