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Our Latest Issues
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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 26th June
Tivù Sat to launch July 31
Global ad spend down again
Packaged media superior to electronic
Freeview HD set for December
FLO TV cuts prices to boost take-up
Canalsat on demand for TV
Belgacom TV adds 250,000 subs
BT extends GMN reach
Ericsson powers interactive TV for Ucom
MTVNL to roll out DMB
Five launches soap website
MGM man for Premiere
Truveo relaunches sites for 17 countries
TechniSat launches CableStar Combo HD CI
Espial MediaBase 9.0 VOD platform
Tivù Sat to launch July 31
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItaly’s new digital satellite TV platform, Tivù Sat, will launch on July 31, with 19 TV channels provided by the country’s leading broadcasters.
In order to receive the Tivù Sat offer, viewers will need to acquire a satellite dish, pointed at the 13° East orbital position, as well as the Tivù Sat digital box (bundled with the smart card), available from mid-July and costing around E100. Viewers already equipped with a Nagravision satellite receiver can request a dedicated smart card from RAI, paying only postage costs. Furthermore, conditional access modules (CAMs) will be on sale from 2010, which will enable reception on many of the existing digital satellite receivers on the market.
The line-up will include 10 channels from public broadcaster RAI (Rai Uno, Rai Due, Rai Tre, Rai4, Rai Gulp, Rai Gulp +1, Rai Sport +, RaiNews24, Rai Storia and Rai Edu 1); 7 channels from commercial broadcaster Mediaset (Canale 5, Rete 4, Italia 1, Iris, Boing, Boing+1 and Mediashopping); as well as La7 and Sat 2000. A package of HD channels will be added later on.
A decision has yet to be made by the broadcasters whether all or part of the programming (for which the foreign TV rights have not been acquired) will be encrypted. Mediaset has already made known it is likely to scramble its most watched TV channel, Canale 5.
RAI and Mediaset each have 48 per cent in the new venture, while Telecom Italia Media has the remaining 4 per cent.
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Global ad spend down againGlobal advertising spend is expected to drop 5.5 per cent in 2009, more than previously thought, before a mild recovery begins in 2010, according to a forecast from WPP's GroupM. Spending on measured media is expected to drop to $417 billion in 2009 and to be down 1.4 per cent to $411 billion in 2010, according to the forecast which looked at 70 countries. Its previous forecast in March put the 2009 decline at 4.4 per cent.
GroupM, which acts as the parent company to the WPP media agencies, said the BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China were set to lead the recovery. Spending on advertising in the US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan was forecast to lag behind the recovery.
"China's economic stimulus has already bolstered confidence, and the demand for advertising in Russia will recover quickly if $70-a-barrel oil prices are here to stay," said GroupM Futures Director Adam Smith. "Brazil and Indonesia remain among the top growth contributors, and India is predicted to come back strongly after pausing in 2009."
Advertising spend in the US was forecast to fall 4.3 per cent in 2009 followed a 6.5 per cent drop in 2010.
"Advertising lagged economic recovery for about 18 months after the recession of 1992 and about 12 months after the one in 2001," Smith said. "Our global forecast for 2009 has finally stopped tumbling. The 15 countries still reporting positive ad growth in 2009 has become 33 in 2010, and the number could rise as we phase through the year."
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Packaged media superior to electronicThere's still life left in packaged media, largely because it provides a superior experience to programmes delivered electronically, according to studio technology chiefs at the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy conference.
Studios can still make money on DVD/Blu-ray Disc, despite the fact that users can get much electronic content for free, the execs said. Currently, downloads and streams generally lack the universal compatibility with various hardware devices that DVD/Blu-ray enjoys. Downloads also are at a disadvantage to physical because it is too easy for hardware devices to fail and destroy stored digital material.
"When we put out downloads, it was like the equivalent of VHS," Andy Hair, chief technology officer at Walt Disney Studios, said. "And we improved its portability and permanence when we went to DVD. We went backwards; we went to electronic sell-through."
Because of today's difficulties in accessing digital content on all platforms, studios should think about making new revenue off of improving downloads' usability.
"We want to create an environment that can play on any player in any environment," said Chris Cookson, president of Sony Pictures Technologies. "If you go to a different bank ATM than your own, people charge you to get your own money. But there is convenience in that. If you make content readily available for people, they will think it's easier [to access] than figuring out how to steal it."
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Freeview HD set for DecemberThe UK’s first terrestrial HD TV service will launch before the end of the year. Graham Plumb, Head of Distribution Technology for BBC Operations Group, has confirmed a December 2nd launch date for Freeview HD on the BBC’s technology blog, saying that the first transmissions will come from the Winter Hill transmitter serving Manchester and Liverpool.
Plumb adds that his team is looking for ways to upgrade transmitters that serve large sections of the population early. One example is London, which is scheduled to get Freeview HD in 2012; however a transmitter upgrade is being planned for December this year. He writes: "There are another four main transmitters that we plan to upgrade in the first half of 2010. We can give the names and dates of these transmitters in a little while when plans are a bit firmer. We are also planning an upgrade to the Digital UK postcode database, which will tell viewers when they can expect their transmitter to be upgraded to Freeview HD."
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FLO TV cuts prices to boost take-up
Qualcomm is reportedly cutting the subscription price of its mobile TV service, FLO TV, in an attempt to increase its usage.
Currently, AT&T and Verizon sets the price of FLO TV, which is often bundled with other video services to boost the entire cost of the package to $25 and up a month. FLO TV’s head, Bill Stone, acknowledges this is too expensive. FLO TV plans to drop the price down, "probably less that $10 a month" for an annual plan. It is also considering one day passes—priced at perhaps $5 a month, while month-to-month subscriptions may cost around the $10 mark.
Other plans include to increase its distribution selling a gadget the size of a keychain that would receive TV signals over the air and send them over WiFi to smartphones, including the iPhone, Blackberry devices, and other smartphones without a built in TV receiver. The company is also looking beyond mobile phones to other gadgets that could be embedded with a receiver.
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Canalsat on demand for TV
Following its launch on PC six months ago on PC, Canalsat on demand is being made available to the TV set, at no extra cost to the subscriber. Existing subscribers using either the Dual S or Le Cube receivers, or via the ‘Free’ ADSL network, will now be able to access the catch-up service from the TV set, as well as the PC. Programmes will be refreshed several times a day and remain available up to one month after their first transmission.Some 20 channels are offered this way, including CinéCinéma, TCM, Planète, Voyage, Odyssée, Historie, Ushuaia TV, Disney XD, Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney, Boomerang, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Canal J, Filles TV, Tiji, Game One, Jimmy, Comédie, MTV, MTV Base, MTV Pulse, MTV Idol and Eurosport.
The catch-up service will shortly be extended to all Canalsat distribution platforms.
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Belgacom TV adds 250,000 subsBelgacom TV, the leading Belgian IPTV service provider, has added 250,000 new customers since January 2008, representing an increase of 45 per cent over 2007. The figures mean that, in less than four years, Belgacom has captured a 30 per cent share of Belgium’s digital TV market.
The company claims its success is driven by the implementation of an end-to-end IPTV platform from Nokia Siemens Networks that introduced HDTV, VOD, PVR and interactive services for both new and existing Belgacom TV subscribers.
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BT extends GMN reachBT Media & Broadcast has signed an agreement with CET Teleport – a provider of media broadcasting and corporate VSAT1 services – to extend its Global Media Network (GMN) reach. The deal enables media and broadcast organisations, in particular local and regional companies in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia as well as Central and North-East Asia, to deliver and exchange large bandwidth content such as high quality, real time video.
BT’s existing GMN coverage of more than 70 locations across ten countries will be massively extended providing connectivity across most of the globe, via CET Teleport’s access to over 200 geostationary satellites. GMN is a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) enabled IP network designed specifically for business-grade broadcast traffic. Under the terms of the agreement, CET Teleport will be offering services and solutions based on BT’s GMN in areas where they have previously not been available. Customers also gain access to BT’s globally deployed IP network that already touches over 300 points of presence in 170 countries.
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Ericsson powers interactive TV for UcomEricsson is bringing interactive TV to viewers in Armenia through a deal with operator Ucom. Ericsson will deliver its IPTV solution including GPON technology in the first contract of its kind.
The solution will also give UCOM viewers access to a flexible, customised portal that offers a wide range of broadcast channels, video on demand, an electronic programme guide and personal video-recording capabilities. Roll-out will start in July 2009.
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MTVNL to roll out DMBDutch digital TV operator Mobiele TV Nederland (MTVNL) will launch its T-DMB broadcast in The Hague area this year, followed by a nationwide roll-out in the first quarter of 2010. In February, MTVNL won a licence for terrestrial digital TV and has opted for the T-DMB (Digital Media Broadcast) standard.
In 2010, MTVNL will offer 98 per cent coverage outdoors and 90 per cent indoors. The company will offer several dedicated TV feeds, developed with the three media groups Dutch Public Broadcasters, RTL and SBS and production company IDTV.
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Five launches soap opera websiteUK commercial broadcaster Five is to create a series of branding-free, genre-based websites around subjects such as TV soaps, featuring its own shows as well as those of rival broadcasters.
The strategy kicked off this week with the launch of Holy Soap, a website based around Five's Australian shows Neighbours and Home and Away. But the soap site will also include news and gossip about rival broadcasters' shows such as EastEnders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks.
Holy Soap will not have any Five branding in a bid to pull in viewers who are interested in soaps across the different channels.
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MGM man for PremiereMarcus Ammon, managing director of MGM's German pay-TV channel, will join pay TV platform Premiere on July 16th the vice-president of its film division. In his new job, Ammon will oversee all of Premiere's film channels, including MGM. MGM Deutschland programming head Christine Brand will replace Ammon as managing director of the pay channel.
Premiere is set to adopt ‘Sky’ branding in July across its service.
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Truveo relaunches sites for 17 countries
Truveo has announced a major update to its website that makes it easier than ever to find video on the Web. The site now features localised versions of the new Truveo experience available in 16 countries. Truveo is the second largest video search engine worldwide, with 25.6 million unique visitors, 11.4 million of those in Europe.
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TechniSat launches CableStar Combo HD CITechniSat Digital has launched its CableStar Combo HD CI - a DVB PC USB box offering DVB-C and DVB-T TV and radio services. With an integrated Common Interface (CI) Slot, the CableStar Combo HD CI is also ready for Pay TV. Furthermore, with the additional DVB-C/DVB-T Switch from TechniSat it is possible to switch between DVB-C and DVB-T without changing the cable. CableStar Combo HD CI is a USB 2.0 box designed for the reception of radio, SDTV and HDTV programmes via DVB-C or DVB-T, facilitated by the integrated Combo Tuner.
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Espial MediaBase 9.0 VOD platformEspial Group, a specialist in the delivery of TV software, has released the Espial MediaBase version 9.0 VOD platform. Building on proven capabilities serving millions of live IPTV and cable subscribers, Espial MediaBase 9.0 claims breakthrough performance and extended support for cable operators.
Sanjay Mehta, VP Engineering of Espial, said the company was continuously optimising its products to leverage the ever-increasing power and performance of COTS server and storage devices, and that customers could plan to double their storage capacity and streaming performance at least 200% every 18 months. "At the same time, they will also dramatically reduce the physical rack space and power requirements required for their on-demand services," he said.
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Thursday 25th June
Liberty eyes Setanta
Tiscali: Broadcasters should pay for online TV
US cablecos shape TV Everywhere
Digital media revenues decline
BBC chief rejects top-slicing
RAI streams HD Italy matches for free
Hybrid STBs jump-starting IPTV services
Germany slams door on mergers
Alcatel-Lucent for AT&T U-verse
OpenTV powers digital cable launch in China
Allot launches MediaSwift
Envivio and Telemak partnership agreement
Liberty eyes SetantaInternational cable group Liberty Global is reportedly interested in purchasing the Irish unit of Setanta Sports, which has called in the administrators.
Setanta Sports appointed Deloitte as administrators on Tuesday after failing to secure additional financing. Half the 400 staff were laid-off immediately. Setanta International and Setanta Ireland, which have about 200,000 subscribers, were not covered by the administration and continue trading.
"We would be interested in the Irish side of the business," Liberty Chief Strategy Officer Shane O'Neill told The Irish Times. "We like the channel and it's liked by our customers."
Liberty Global owns UPC Ireland, the country's largest cable television operator serving 550,000 customers.
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Tiscali: Broadcasters should pay for online TVTiscali director of television Simon Hunt has backed BT’s recent call for broadcasters to pay for the online distribution of their content. "The example I always come back to is the BBC and satellite. The BBC spends a lot of money on Sky so we can watch its programmes at home. It also spends a lot of money putting them on DTT so they can be picked up, but this is just another form of digital distribution; so why is this free of charge?" he told Digital Spy.
Jody Haskayne, Tiscali's director of public relations, called the recent row between the BBC and BT over speed throttling of video streaming on its lowest tier of broadband service "unfortunate" but said that a conversation about how online distribution is paid for needed to happen.
Haskayne said that people are now starting to realise that "someone has to pay" for VOD usage, whether that may be for the "content or the bandwidth. I think Canvas will only make it a necessity even more because people are just going to buy a box off the shelf, they are not buying the service from the ISP, or buying something from BBC or Channel 4, they are just buying a box and they expect everything to come with it."
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US cablecos shape TV EverywhereComcast and Time Warner announce a partnership on the "TV Everywhere" initiative. Both companies have been leading proponents of the "authentication" online concept, intended to reinforce the pay-TV model by including access to programming delivered via the Internet as part of the monthly subscription.
But until now, they've taken different approaches. Time Warner’ TV Everywhere envisions a decentralised authentication mechanism, which would allow consumers to log in to any number of participating sites to access content. Comcast's On-Demand Online plan was to be available to the MSO's subscribers only through the company's own Fancast entertainment portal.
The first test of the new system is based on TV Everywhere with authentication on line. The trial will involve about 5,000 Comcast subscribers, and television shows from the Time Warner networks TNT and TBS.
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Digital media revenues decline
The Q1 2009 Global Digital Media Index (DMI) from the Strategy Analytics Digital Media Strategies Service shows that along with the worsened economic environment, digital media revenue growth continues to drop since Q1 2008.The Digital Media Index grew only 0.9 per cent in Q1 2009 on a seasonally adjusted annual TTM basis, down from 3.4 per cent in Q4 2008 and from 6.6 per cent in Q1 2008. On a year-over-year basis, quarterly digital media revenues grew 3.6 per cent in Q1 2009, down from 29.2 per cent in Q1 2008. While the prolonged economic recession decelerates digital media growth significantly, digital media companies, based on consumer-paid models, are withstanding the economic downturn better than companies focused on advertising.
"Although many digital media companies will still choose the advertising revenue model given the relative ease of gaining user traffic, Strategy Analytics believes that the consumer-paid model is more resilient in the recession as it maximizes the value of content." commented Jia Wu, Analyst at Strategy Analytics Digital Media Practice and author of the DMI.
"As the US digital media market’s major players suffer from revenue decline, the international market—in particular the European and Asian markets—is still weathering the economic downturn," said Martin Olausson, Director of Digital Media Strategies.
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Mark Thompson, the BBC’s director general, has accused a small group of "ideologically focused" people within the UK government of trying to undermine his organisation’s financial security.
The BBC chief directed particular attack on the government and Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, listing a series of causes – including the funding of Channel 4 and the provision of regional news programmes on ITV – for which the broadcasting regulator had been keen to top-slice the licence fee.
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RAI streams HD Italy matches for freeRAI.IT, the Internet company of RAI, the Italian broadcast host of FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009, is offering free, live Web broadcasting in HD quality of the Italian soccer team matches during the tournament.
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Hybrid STBs jump-starting IPTV servicesA global report from MRG shows how hybrid IPTV set-top boxes (STBs) are helping IPTV Operators "jump-start" early service deployment or extend the reach of their existing video IP Networks. By merging existing digital video broadcast programming with IPTV services, Operators are finding they can significantly slash CapEx and lead-time costs from typical IPTV deployment costs. In 2008, there were already 14.4 million installed hybrid STB units worldwide, with estimated growth to 22.3 million in 2012.
The report explains how by using existing broadcast sources in addition to on-demand IPTV service, the content acquisition and early network infrastructure requirements are simplified significantly.
"Use of hybrids can solve some serious problems presented by technical restrictions or lack of content," says Huw Price-Stephens, MRG Analyst. "They can also create new and bigger problems unless acquired with an effective exit strategy, which does not require swapping out the STBs."
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Germany slams door on mergersGermany's federal cartel office has confirmed it won’t be changing its mind on banning the merger of the main three MSOs KDG, Unity and Kabel BW. It also made it clear it would also disallow a merger between any two of them. In a swipe at the companies now struggling investors, the president of the cartel Bernd Heitzer told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "It is not our job to the secure business affairs of private equity companies"
However the cartel office did say it would look at allowing a national cable broadband brand and pricing offer – so cable can compete with telco offers - but it draws the line at an equity merger.
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Alcatel-Lucent for AT&T U-verseAT&T has extended Alcatel-Lucent’s contract for end-to-end multivendor network integration for AT&T U-verse. Under the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will continue to provide end-to-end multivendor network integration for AT&T U-verse, including Microsoft Mediaroom IIPTV software platform.
The AT&T U-verse portfolio brings together U-verse TV, U-verse High Speed Internet and U-verse Voice services all delivered over AT&T's advanced Internet Protocol (IP) network using Alcatel-Lucent’s Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture (TPSDA). AT&T U-verse services are now offered in 93 markets in 19 states, with more than 1.3 million U-verse TV customers.
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OpenTV powers digital cable launch in ChinaOpenTV has launched an end-to-end middleware solution for Southern Yinshi Network Media, a subsidiary of Southern Media Corporation, one of China’s leading broadcasting groups. Southern Yinshi is responsible for the digital conversion of 18 municipal and city cable networks of Southern Media Corporation.
The end-to-end solution, powered by OpenTV Core2 middleware, enables one of the most comprehensive digital cable offerings in China featuring a variety of enhanced services including: a user interface, an interactive mosaic, as well as weather and customer care applications. The solution has initially launched with Southern Yinshi in the Yangjiang municipality of the Guangdong province.
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Allot launches MediaSwiftAllot, a specialist in IP service optimisation and revenue generation solutions based on deep packet inspection (DPI), has launched Allot MediaSwift, a revenue-generating network and subscriber service designed to intelligently accelerate internet content delivery (HTTP streamed video and P2P traffic) to broadband subscribers. MediaSwift synergises Allot's DPI and caching competences to provide a unified intelligent media caching solution, which delivers improved quality of experience. MediaSwift is offered as an internal blade or as an external solution with Allot Service Gateway.
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Envivio and Telemak partnership agreement
Envivio and Telemak have reached an agreement that addresses the content encoding and distribution needs of mobile operators, broadcasters and Internet service providers. Under the agreement, Telemak will sell, integrate and support Envivio products to its customers. Telemak is also deploying Envivio mobile TV and web TV headend solutions at its own operations centre in Belgium. The installation includes Envivio 4Caster C4 convergence encoding solutions and the new Envivio iLiveTV solution for the Apple iPhone.
Wednesday 24th June
Setanta goes into administration
ESPN scores as Setanta stumbles
RAI to launch international TV channel
BBC exec: HD unstoppable
Cashing in on IPTV
Sky must pay ITV appeal costs
Mobile entertainment industry remains confident
TV Fandex measures TV ‘engagement’
DMTV enlarges commercial mobile TV in Africa
RGB and OpenTV advanced advertising for cable
ARM technology for LG DTVs
Setanta goes into administrationFollowing the loss of its English and Scottish top-flight football rights (see below), Setanta Sports is to go into administration. Neville Kahn, Lee Manning and Nick Edwards of Deloitte have been appointed Joint Administrators to Setanta Sport Limited and Setanta Transmissions (UK) Limited. David Carson, of Deloitte in Ireland, was appointed Receiver to Setanta Sport Holdings Limited, Setanta Media Holdings Limited, Setanta Media Limited and Setanta Sport (PPV) Limited. Setanta International and Setanta Ireland are not covered by these appointments.
Kahn said that after a huge effort by the Setanta board, management team and its backers, it had not been possible to save the GB business, which will be wound down in due course. "This decision means that it will shortly cease broadcasting to its customers in Great Britain. However, the International and Ireland businesses continue to trade on air whilst we are in discussions with parties to take on those businesses as going concerns" he confirmed.
"Regrettably, approximately 200 employees will be made redundant in respect of the GB business. Setanta has today suspended the collection of subscription payments from customers in Great Britain. Setanta customers should go to www.setanta.com for further information. We can confirm that no further monthly subscriptions or direct debits will be accepted from customers of the UK business."
In a statement, the Board of Setanta Sport Holdings Limited announced that it had not proved possible to secure the additional financing required to ensure the future viability of Setanta. "As a consequence, the Board has taken the decision to seek the appointment of Receivers to the parent company, Setanta Sport Holdings Limited, and certain subsidiaries in Ireland, and Administrators to certain English subsidiaries."
The decision means that Setanta will shortly cease broadcasting to its customers in Great Britain. It has today suspended the collection of subscription payments from customers in Great Britain. Setanta customers should go to www.setanta.com for further information.
Setanta said that existing investors were prepared to commit substantial additional funds to the business, subject to improvements in its operating performance. Setanta sought to make significant reductions in its cost base by measures that included renegotiating its agreements with commercial partners and rights holders. Although progress was made, the improvements achieved were insufficient to ensure that the business could become profit-making. Sir Robin Miller, chairman of Setanta, said that in a difficult and highly competitive market, and despite strenuous efforts by the board and management, it had not been possible to find sufficient additional funds in the time available to ensure Setanta’s its survival.
Khan confirmed that the International and Ireland businesses continued to trade and Channel Ireland remains on air whilst Deloitte’s was in discussions with parties to take those businesses on as going concerns.
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ESPN scores as Setanta stumbles
Disney-owned ESPN is to broadcast live English Premier League football action in the UK for the first time after securing the rights to show 46 games for the 2009/2010 season and 23 games in each of the three following seasons until May 2013. The rights were made available by the EPL after the holder, Setanta, failed to make a due payment. It didn’t say how much it had bid but Premier League sources were reported as claiming ‘they weren’t out of pocket. Setanta paid £159 million (E187m).
Lynne Frank, ESPN MD in Europe, Middle East and Africa described the successful bid as "a huge step" for ESPN’s business. The broadcaster plans to make its coverage widely available across multiple pay-TV platforms. As a first step to this distribution strategy, it has reached an agreement for its coverage to be retailed by Sky to residential and commercial customers. It is in talks with Virgin Media, Top Up TV and BT Vision to wholesale its coverage to customers on those platforms.
The loss of EPL rights, together with those for the Scottish Premier League, also for non-payment, proved fatal for Setanta. It hit trouble after failing to secure sufficient subscribers to cover the cost of its sports rights. It had 1.2 million direct subscribers but needed nearer 1.9 million to break even. Setanta won the rights in 2006, breaking BSkyB's hold on English Premier League football, with a £392 million (E458m) deal over three seasons from 2007. It is understood ESPN’s bid was nearer £250 million.
In a separate deal, US soccer-centric channel Gol TV has handed off some of its rights to Spain's La Liga football action to ESPN. In March 2009, Gol TV, which has aired La Liga action in the US for the past six seasons, renewed its deal with for the 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons with rights-holder Mediapro. Gol TV will continue to air 120 matches, with two to three matches per weekend, over La Liga's 38 rounds. ESPN’s deal gives them the ability for ESPN Deportes to air up to 114 matches while ESPN2 will show approximately 20.
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RAI to launch international TV channel
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItalian public broadcaster RAI will launch a new free-to-air satellite TV channel for international audiences on June 28th. Yes Italia will promote Italy’s cultural and historical heritage, with four-hour blocks of programmes dedicated to cuisine, travel, Italian design and cultural events. It will target both international viewers and foreign tourists interested in Italy, as well as Italians living abroad. The programmes will be aired in Italian and subtitled in English and, later on, also in Spanish.
Initially, the channel will be available in Europe, the Mediterranean area and the Americas and will have a potential audience of 20 million TV viewers, before being extended to Australia and Asia. Reception in Europe will be via the Hot Bird 6 satellite (13° East).
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BBC exec: HD unstoppable
From Colin Mann in LondonDanielle Nagler, Head of BBC HD, has described high definition television as "the new, mainstream television proposal," and suggested that is "truly unstoppable". She also confirmed that by 2012, the BBC hopes to see 70 per cent of its programming made in HD.
Delivering a keynote speech at the HD Masters Conference, Nagler told delegates that contrary to expectations - which suggest the great appetite in HD is for sport, for films, for jaw-dropping natural history - BBC research showed that what viewers want in HD are the programmes that they love to watch in SD. "It is the way that we need to make television going forward because it is the way that our audiences want to view television," she said. "As such, it is truly unstoppable."
She noted that through Freesat and Freeview, as well as the iPlayer, the BBC was working to open up the routes into HD for audiences. "While Sky and Virgin Media will undoubtedly continue to be an important part of our HD landscape, the non-subscription services in which the BBC is a partner – to be joined in time we hope by Project Canvas - offer important alternatives."
She argued that leaving HD as a premium product – whether in terms of content or platform – might make profits for some but would leave us ultimately failing to realise the true potential for UK audiences. "Opening up the technology, to the point where it simply becomes the next television standard across the board, can deliver far, far more for all of us," she said.
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Cashing in on IPTVThe market growth for IPTV is crucially dependent on the economic viability of its business models according to a study by Berlin-based consulting company Goldmedia. It says the construction and operation of an independent IPTV platform is economically viable only for telecom companies with at least 2.5 million broadband customers.
Revenues from TV services alone do not make IPTV an attractive business model for telecommunications providers. Even for the large network operators, IPTV makes economic sense only after the effects of subscriber churn and growth of customer base are taken into account.
A high degree of quality is decisive for IPTV’s success. Technical start-up difficulties and problems with the service can quickly diminish quality and lead to increased customer loss. Without customer growth and acquisition of new customers, IPTV will remain a subsidised undertaking, even among the large telecommunications companies.IPTV can also be profitable for smaller companies if they market pre-existing offerings. This so-called "reselling model" is feasible for companies with only 250,000 broadband customers. To present, however, such offerings have spread only minimally in the GSA region (Germany, Switzerland, and Austria). Relevant examples can be found only in Switzerland. They are possible here because of compatible terms of copyright.
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Sky must pay ITV appeal costsThe UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has ordered BSkyB to pay all legal costs derived from Sky’s attempts to fight the Compeition Commission’s original decision that it must sell its 17.9 per cent stake in ITV down to a maximum of 7.5 per cent.
The bill will include the costs of the Competition Commission, ITV, the Secretary of State for Business and Virgin Media for their costs in challenging BSkyB’s judicial review proceedings.
Should Sky lose in the Court of Appeal it faces a massive writedown on the £940 million it paid in late 2006 for the ITV stake, the commercial broadcaster’s share price was then 135p and is now 34.7p.
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Mobile entertainment industry remains confidentThe findings of the latest MEF Business Confidence Index (BCI) on the $32 billion global mobile entertainment industry has shown that the industry remains confident despite the current economic challenges, predicting average revenue growth of 28 per cent for the coming year.
Commenting on the findings, Andrew Bud, Global Chair of MEF, said: "In spite of an incredibly difficult economic landscape, the prediction for average revenue growth in the mobile content sector is up 1 per cent on the annual growth prediction from the last BCI to 28 per cent. This echoes the finding that 81 per cent of respondents are as confident about the future of their organisation as they were at the end of last year."
The analysis also shows that the ‘marketing mix’ of communication channels within the industry is evolving. Mark Harding, Director of Digital Content at KPMG, added: "The revenue growth and confidence shown by the sector proves that, despite tougher economic times, consumers are still prepared to spend money on mobile content. The coming of age of the smart phone has no doubt helped to support this, by improving the customer experience and access to exciting mobile applications.
"More organisations in the mobile entertainment value chain are moving their marketing budget towards the industry’s own platform of mobile, at the expense of online and sponsorship and events. However, the mobile entertainment industry’s marketing budgets remained constant over the last quarter and are predicted to remain so over the next, with 87 per cent predicting their marketing budget will remain the same or increase."
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TV Fandex measures TV ‘engagement’
Wetpaint has released the TV Fandex, the first measurement tool that gauges online engagement with popular TV programmes rather than just measuring size of viewing audience.Measured from sources including Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Wetpaint fansites, the rankings are generated through an algorithm that tracks consumption and creation of content and fan buzz. The TV Fandex is calibrated to measure both the online footprint of popular shows with a large established fan base, as well as the velocity of emerging TV shows as they generate early online buzz.
"It’s clear there is a fundamental decentralisation underway in how consumers experience TV programming, but the measurement tools have remained substantially the same." said Ben Elowitz, CEO, Wetpaint. "Fans now have the tools to connect and evangelise and they are using them with gusto. The TV Fandex provides networks and producers with the first gauge of the winners and losers in creating and retaining an online audience."
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DMTV enlarges commercial mobile TV in AfricaNokia Siemens Networks is providing mobile television provider DMTV with a state-of-the-art Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H) solution in Ghana, Kenya, Namibia and Nigeria. The system will allow operators across the region to provide an enhanced TV viewing experience on multiple devices, including the latest Nokia phones.
The solutions offered by Nokia Siemens Networks are based on the open DVB-H and OMA BCAST standards. They allow short implementation time as well as end-to-end capability, combining the equipment, services and devices to create a unique solution for Mobile TV service providers. The launch of "DStv mobile" in Ghana, Kenya, Namibia and Nigeria will provide a blueprint for other Mobile TV service launches in various African countries. DStv is a service from DMTV, Africa’s leading digital satellite television service, which has been distributed in Kenya exclusively by Safaricom since last year and which runs on the DVB-H and OMA BCAST mobile broadcasting technology.
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RGB and OpenTV advanced advertising for cableRGB Networks, expert in network video processing, and OpenTV, a provider of advanced digital television solutions, have developed a joint demonstration that shows how cable television operators can use the companies’ advanced, standards-based advertising capabilities to generate new ad revenues from their VOD services and traditional linear programming.
Using the combined OpenTV-RGB solution – which is comprised of RGB’s Broadcast Network Processor (BNP) and OpenTV’s campaign management solution – operators can digitally overlay video, graphics or text onto ads or directly within programmes. Based on the SCTE 35 and SCTE 130 standards, RGB’s overlay capability combined with OpenTV’s real-time insertion and campaign management solution gives cable operators several advanced advertising options. The first is to 'localise' national ads by adding locally-relevant information. Operators can also use overlays as ads themselves, which can be added to live or on-demand programming. Because these ads appear within actual programmes, they cannot be skipped and do not interrupt programme viewing. Additionally, overlays can be used as "triggers" for interactive or telescoping ads.
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ARM technology for LG DTVsARM has confirmed that LG Electronics, one of the world’s largest digital TV brands, has licensed ARM technology to power its digital TV development revolution. The ARM11 MPCore multicore processor provides flexible and cost effective processing in next generation DTVs and enables LG Electronics to target a range of platforms with the same architecture by implementing single or multiple SMP cores. ARM Mali-200 and Mali-400 MP graphics processors will open the path to true 1080p resolutions, affording consumers a home cinema experience that includes HD graphics, whilst improving the browsing experience on DTV user interfaces.
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Tuesday 23rd June
Labels sue Irish ISPs over P2P
Canoe sunk
Setanta out as rival soccer bids in
Carter: Broadband tax is the only option
Illegal downloading still common
Four new Open IPTV Forum members
Sci Fi recording rap
Bluewin TV goes football crazy
Guangdong DTV exceeds 5m subs
Technisat Freesat HD box
TFN Media deploys Tandberg
Bridge appoints HFC Technics
Labels sue Irish ISPs over P2PBT Ireland and UPC Ireland are being taken to court by the big four music labels Universal, Warner, Sony and EMI, over illegal downloads and file sharing.
The operators have been issued with a plenary summons by the four main record labels with a hearing for both scheduled on July 6th. The case stems from the out-of-court settlement agreed between IRMA, which represents the big four labels, and Eircom in January whereby Eircom agreed to implement a 'three strikes and you're out' policy against illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) downloaders. Eircom also agreed to work with data provided by the four labels to help them pinpoint and pursue illegal downloaders and uploaders.
The ruling set a precedent and it was expected that all other ISPs in the Irish market would be compelled to co-operate with the music industry. In recent months, ISPs have received legal letters from IRMA's solicitors asking them to follow Eircom or face legal action.
UPC issued a statement over the weekend, saying it will not agree to "a request that goes beyond what is currently provided under existing legislation. There is no basis under Irish law requiring ISPs to control, access or block the internet content its users download."
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Canoe sunkCanoe Ventures has cancelled plans to introduce its Community Addressable Messaging (CAM 1.0) product, citing a range of technical difficulties with the offering. The service, which was set to launch this summer, would have allowed advertisers to run one spot in 370 pre-selected, high income cable "zones" and another in the rest of the country.
Canoe, a joint venture of the US's six largest cable operators said the decision came down to the fact that there were too many technical and business limitations in place to offer the service as intended. Verklin did, however, stress Canoe's commitment to the CAM concept and said the group would try it again down the road with a more flexible configuration. The rock on which the project founded was said to be the level of incompatibility between Motorola and Cisco (SA) STBs.
Canoe CEO David Verklin said "At some point you have to decide, Is that dog going to hunt? We were trying to use 20th-century technology to enable a 21st-century advanced-advertising product."
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Setanta out as rival soccer bids in
The English Premier League will take until the end of the week to decide between the bids it has received for Setanta’s relinquished 46 EPL games. The smart money is on half going to Sky (it can’t take all of them because of competition regulation) and half to ESPN.
Pay-to-watch service Top Up TV has been mentioned as another potential bidder. It is backed by Russian-American industrialist Len Blavatnik, whose Access Industries walked away from rescue talks with Setanta last week.
Restructuring partners from Deloitte are understood to have been lined up to act as administrators should the forfeiture of Premier League rights prove to be a fatal blow for Setanta. The broadcaster also controls rights to FA Cup matches, England games and Scottish Premier League fixtures, and some top golf and boxing.
The company has signed up about 1.2 million subscribers – and it needs 1.9 million to break even. It is believed to be operating at an annual loss of almost £100 million (E118m). New subscriptions were suspended this month and the business has also missed a £3m payment to the Scottish Premier League. Setanta shareholders include Doughty Hanson, Balderton Capital and -Goldman Sachs.
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Carter: Broadband tax is the only optionUK communications minister Lord Carter has defended plans to levy a £6-a-year tax (E7.1) on every phone line to raise up to £1.5 billion to help pay for the next generation of super-fast internet networks, as the most transparent way of investing in a critical part of Britain's infrastructure.
Having looked at the investment plans of the two companies putting money into the networks – Virgin Media and BT – he concluded they would reach only 60 per cent of the population. "If we as a country want to have a new-built fixed infrastructure and the market will not pay for it, where is it going to come from? If we don't want it, we don't have to pay for it. If we do want it, then we do have to pay for it."
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Illegal downloading still commonEight per cent of consumers across the UK, France, Germany and the USA admitted to downloading video content illegally from file sharing websites, a consumer research study by Futuresource Consulting reveals.
The study, ‘Living With Digital: Consumer Insights into Entertainment Consumption’, used a representative sample in each country and provided respondents with a list of legal and illegitimate download sites from which to select. When focusing solely on the downloader segment, the study revealed that 15 per cent of all downloaders admitted to acquiring video content illegally, with France topping the charts at 25 per cent. This widespread availability of illicit content presents a major obstacle to the development of online content services, and continues to heavily impact upon revenues, despite governments’ and industry authorities’ renewed attempts to tighten up the system.
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Four new Open IPTV Forum membersThe membership of the Open IPTV Forum (OIPF) has been reinforced by the addition of four significant new members. British Telecom, Pirelli, Netgem and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) have joined the effort to develop open, end-to-end specifications for IPTV; based on existing technologies and open standards.
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Sci Fi recording rapThe Sci Fi Channel has been found to be in "serious and significant" breach of its licence conditions after the channel failed to produce a recording of its output. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a viewer complaint over the volume levels of commercials on Virgin Media feed. The ASA brought in Ofcom when Sci Fi admitted it did not have a recording of the sequence, putting it in breach of Licence Condition 11, requiring broadcasters to retain a recording of their output for up to 60 days after transmission.
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Bluewin TV goes football crazySwisscom is expanding its football offerings through its IPTV service 'Bluewin TV' from July 1st, adding live games from England, Spain, Portugal and France as a pay-per-view service.
In time for the 2009/2010 season, customers will be able to view games from the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Portugal's Liga Sagres and France's Ligue 1, in addition to existing coverage of the Italian Serie A and the German Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League. Coverage of the Swiss AXPO Super League is also being enhanced, with almost all games to now be broadcast live.
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Guangdong DTV exceeds 5m subsZeng Peixian, deputy director of the Radio, Film & TV Administration of Guangdong Province, has revealed that DTV subscribers in Guangdong now number 5.17 million.
Digital conversion work in county levels and above in Guangdong province is expected to be essentially completed by the end of 2009. Digital subscribers currently number over 1 million each in the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Dongguan.
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Technisat Freesat HD boxTechniSat has launched a new Freesat HD digital box in the UK, equipped with a range of advanced features which will give viewers greater functionality and ease-of-use. The TechniSat HDFS Freesat digital box comes with an extended feature set which allows the playback of movies, music and pictures from either USB memory sticks, memory cards, or from a PC using the LAN connection or a TechniSat WiFi adaptor. The receiver is also eco-friendly, consuming just 0.25 watts in standby mode.
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TelstraClear, Verimatrix, Digisoft partner for PVRTelstraClear has contracted two leading developers to deliver a next generation personal video recorder (PVR) for its cable television customers. IPTV solutions provider Digisoft and content security specialist Verimatrix will jointly develop a hybrid HD DVB–C set-top box with PVR, IPTV and supporting services in New Zealand.
The PVR will be future proofed to deliver advanced interactive options. Digisoft's Digihost Service Delivery Platform and advanced Java middleware solution means TelstraClear is geared for feature-rich, revenue generating HD services in the future.
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TFN Media deploys TandbergTandberg Television, part of the Ericsson Group, has confirmed that TFN Media (Taiwan Fixed Network) has selected the company to provide a complete broadcast headend and EdgeQAM solution for the launch of its digital cable services in Taiwan. Home business group of Taiwan Mobile, TFN is one of the largest MSOs in Taiwan and offers a 100+ channel analogue TV service to around 540,000 homes.
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Bridge appoints HFC TechnicsBridge Technologies has confirmed that Budapest-based HFC Technics has become a distributor of the VideoBridge series of IP Probes for IPTV monitoring. HFC Technics will supply VideoBridge's award-winning technology to broadcasters, telcos, and network operators throughout Hungary, providing an advanced end-to-end monitoring solution.
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Monday 22nd June
Canal + for the weekend
Online video viewing up 49%
US ranks 20th in broadband household penetration
BBC cross platform audience measure
New Orange VOD
TV.com adds TiVo function
Metro Content launches RedHotTV
New comedy head at Sky
Digital pirate fined $80,000 per song
Wimbledon and Perform launch Wimbledon Live
Canal + for the weekendThe French pay-TV operator Canal+ will test a special ‘weekend subscription’ this autumn. CEO Bertrand Méheut said the subscription will cost around E15 a month, about half the usual price for a package from Friday evening to late Sunday night.
Méheut also said there are 6.2 million households subscribing to either the Canal+ or the CanalSat bouquet, out of a potential of 26 million homes. Churn rate is 10.6 per cent.
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Nielsen Online has released overall online video usage and top online brands ranked by video streams for May 2009. Compared to the same month in 2008, unique viewers, total streams, streams per viewer and time per viewer were up, led by a 49 per cent growth in time per viewer.
YouTube was far and away the top online destination by video streams, with more than 6 billion total streams during the month, and more than 95 million unique viewers. Hulu, Yahoo, Fox Interactive Media and ABC.com rounded out the top five.
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US ranks 20th in broadband household penetration
Sixty per cent of US households accessed the Internet via broadband in 2008, according to a report published by analyst firm Strategy Analytics, compared to 95 per cent of South Korean households. This number puts the US in 20th place out of 58 leading countries worldwide.Five of the top ten scorers in the Strategy Analytics rankings are Asian countries, underlining the rapid broadband growth in the region. The firm predicts that the subscriber base in the Asia Pacific Region will grow on average by a further 15 per cent a year between 2009 and 2013.
South Korea’s dominance in broadband penetration is attributable in part to its highly urbanised population, as well as to the existence of a comprehensive government-backed broadband policy.
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BBC cross platform audience measureThe BBC is developing an audience measurement tool which will provide insight into how audiences ‘pick and mix’ content across a variety of viewing platforms.
The new Cross Media Insight system will factor in all time-shifted and online viewing. It will be designed to count repeats, iPlayer figures, recorded programmes, red-button, mobile-access and viewings via third-party sites such as YouTube. The tool will then aggregate figures after a programme’s initial broadcast. Currently in beta phase, the new single source system is based on the weekly media diaries of 650 viewers.
Head of Audiences Helen Normoyle said that it will provide a ‘more nuanced’ and segmented view of the market place. Rentrak Corporation and Concurrent recently announced a partnership to introduce a full-scale approach to collecting media data across cross-platform services.
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New Orange VOD
Orange is to launch a VOD site in France called Welles (after Orson Welles), offering "mid-tail" recent archive shows. Most videos (500,000 at launch) will be ad-supported but some premium content is planned.
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TV.com adds TiVo functionStreaming site TV.com has made a deal with TiVo that allows the digital video recording pioneer’s subscribers to find and schedule TV shows to record on their TiVo DVR directly through TV.com.
TV.com users click the 'Record to TiVo' button on the site’s show pages, and the request will be sent directly to their DVR.
TV.com is owned by CBS and rivals Hulu.com.
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Metro Content launches RedHotTVAdult entertainment outfit Metro Content has launched its high-quality flash streaming IPTV website, RedHotTV. The 24-hour-a-day, globally available, pre-programmed guide will give viewers many niche options for viewing content.
While traditional IPTV sites simply host streaming movies for user viewing, RedHotTV enhances the user’s experience by allowing communication between viewers. Each of the RedHotTV channels contain chat rooms where users can interact with each other while viewing the same movie.
Sky1 has appointed the BBC's Lucy Lumsden as the satellite channel's first head of comedy. Lumsden worked with Stuart Murphy, programme director of Sky 1, on many of BBC3's early comedy successes.
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Digital pirate fined $80,000 per song
A woman in Minnesota, USA has been ordered to pay $80,000 a song to record companies for illegally downloading tracks and violating copyright laws.A federal jury ruled that Jammie Thomas-Rasset wilfully violated the copyrights on 24 songs, and awarded record companies $1.92 million. She was found liable for using the Kazaa peer-to-peer file-sharing network to download the songs over the Internet.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and big music labels have sued thousands of people for downloading and sharing music illegally, with most agreeing to settlements of between $3,000 and $5,000. Thomas-Rasset was the first among those being sued to refuse a settlement and instead took the case to court, turning her into the highest-profile digital pirate in America.
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Wimbledon and Perform launch Wimbledon LiveThe All England Lawn Tennis Club and global digital sport and entertainment specialist Perform, has re-launched Wimbledon Live, Wimbledon’s official pay per view video broadband service, for The Championships, 2009.
The service will stream live coverage from the top six courts throughout the tournament. Users around the world will be able to access all the latest live video coverage alongside full match action delayed, on a pay per view basis, by purchasing either a full tournament or day pass.
