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Our Latest Issues
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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 27th November
Telefonica completes on 21% of Digital+
ITV buys Disney out of GMTV
Freesat sells 750,000+ units
HD push from Sky Deutschland
UK broadband tax per line, not household
Italy mobile TV forecast
Dogan to court over tax fine
German IPTV use up 150%
Seven unveils TiVo on-demand strategy
3 UK partners with Mobix for Mobile TV SVOD
Alcatel-Lucent, Solaris and towerCast team for DVB-SH
BSNL pan-India IPTV services
Telefonica completes on 21% of Digital+Spain's Telefonica has agreed to buy 21 per cent of Digital+, the pay television business of indebted media group Prisa, for E470 million. Only E240 million will exchange hands as the remaining E230 million corresponds to debt owed to Telefonica by Prisa.
Telefonica and Prisa have drawn up a shareholders' agreement whereby the Spanish telecom will have the right to appoint two members to the board of Digital+. The acquisition is dependent on regulatory approval.
Telefonica has been in talks to buy the stake for months, a move expected to boost content provision for its pay-TV service Imagenio. Prisa has been selling assets to try to pay off some of its E5 billion debt and reshape its media business.
The two companies have also signed an agreement to explore possible collaboration in developing audiovisual and other businesses in Spain.
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ITV buys Disney out of GMTVITV has paid £18 million (E19.7m) cash for Disney’s 25 per cent stake in GMTV. The acquisition forms part of ITV’s strategy to focus on its core activities and will allow closer integration between ITV and the breakfast service.
John Cresswell, Chief Operating Officer at ITV, said: "GMTV is the gateway to the ITV day and a perfect fit with ITV’s existing daytime programming. It represents an exciting opportunity to create a highly complementary daytime schedule offering great programming from 6am to 6pm."
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Freesat sells 750,000+ unitsFreesat has revealed that it’s sold over 750,000 units since the service launched last year, and could breach the one million mark early next year.
Freesat managing director Emma Scott said that the company sold over 200,000 units in the three months up to September 30th 2009. The firm's results surpassed Sky's reported 94,000 new subscribers gained during the same period, making Freesat the fastest growing TV platform in the UK.
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HD push from Sky DeutschlandSky Deutschland is making HDTV the centrepiece of its latest campaign with a new HD start package for E199. The pack is an HD STB and a subscription to all seven HD channels through to July next year.
This means, in addition to the Bundesliga, new subs will be able to watch all matches of the soccer World Cup 2010 in high definition. The HD starter package for satellite households can be purchased until 12 January 2010 from local retailers and directly from Sky, while the cable version will become available from 7 December.
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UK broadband tax per line, not householdThe Government’s proposed £6 (E6.5) a year broadband tax will be levied on each phone line rather than each household. Newspaper reports also say that VAT will be added on top of the 50p-a-month tax.
The broadband tax was first proposed by the Digital Britain report, but was held back from last week’s Digital Economy Bill.
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New forecasts by technology and media specialist Coda Research Consultancy show that mobile phone users in Italy accessing video content via their devices will climb to 5.1m in 2015, and that revenues will reach $685 million.
Coda’s report into the Italian TV market shows that users accessing TV content via DVB-H alone will double from its present 1.2 million users to 2.5 million in 2015. In particular, the 2010 World Cup will act as a stimulus for accessing mobile TV services, as it did in 2006, and Coda estimates that regular usage will climb to 1.6 million at the end of 2010.
However Steve Smith, the report’s author, commented that mobile TV take-up in Italy, although respectable when compared to the rest of Europe, has failed to meet expectations. "People tend to use their phones for video, games, texting, social networking and so on when they are between spaces and events, such as when commuting or meeting friends. In Japan and South Korea, where mobile TV penetration is significantly higher, people spend a lot more time commuting on public transport and so have more time available."
Where Coda does see the opportunity for significant growth is in users downloading video onto their phones either via 3G or from their laptops and PCs, with that caveat that content and rights owners allow them to do so.
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Dogan to court over tax fineTalks between Dogan Yayin Holding and Turkish tax authorities on settling a record TL4.8 billion ($3.2bn) fine have failed and Turkey’s main media group is goinf to court.
The fine and other regulatory setbacks followed a row between Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, and Aydin Dogan, the group’s billionaire owner, over critical coverage of the government. The failure of talks means Dogan Yayin, whose assets include influential TV channels and the country’s top-selling Hurriyet newspaper, must now contest the fine in court.
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German IPTV use up 150%IPTV usage is up 150 per cent according to a survey carried out by goetzpartners. In September and October 2009, it conducted a representative survey among Germans aged between 14 to 69 years, asking, in addition to usage intensity, about requirements, ideas and willingness to pay for IPTV.
There is a clear indicator that consumers are turning increasingly towards IPTV. Seventy three per cent of participants (among them 67 per cent irregular and 6 per cent regular (at least once a week) users are using WebTV; 45 per cent more than in the past year. Video on Demand represents about 34 per cent (including 1 per cent regular users). This constitutes a remarkable increase of 111 per cent, compared to the 2008 survey.
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Seven unveils TiVo on-demand strategy
Seven Media Group has unveiled its on-demand television content strategy as competitors scramble to deliver new video services to Australians' TV screens over the Internet. The group, whose Hybrid TV subsidiary owns the licence for the TiVo TV set-top box in Australia and New Zealand, will offer TV series via the broadband-connected TiVo on a pay-per-view basis from next week, along with an expanded film download service, music videos and education services.
Commercial services, such as ordering pizza with the TV remote, will launch from April next year, along with advertiser-funded content.
The announcement came as the group launched a trial with the Tasmanian government in which it will give away TiVo boxes.
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3 UK partners with Mobix for Mobile TV SVODMobile 3G operator 3 has launched the first mobile TV subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service, giving subscribers on-demand access to entire episodes of hit TV shows.
The SVOD service, called ‘TV on Demand’, is fully managed and powered by Mobix Interactive, now part of On Demand Group. 3’s TV on Demand fulfils the industry’s anytime, anywhere personal TV vision to provide programmes to any handset with complete on-demand control.
Subscribers will pay either £5 per month (E5.50) or £1.49 per day for unlimited access to all shows in the service.
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Alcatel-Lucent, Solaris and towerCast team for DVB-SHAlcatel-Lucent, Solaris Mobile and towerCast have announced the first satellite broadcast infrastructure to demonstrate the potential services of mobile TV, digital radio and data using digital video broadcasting satellite service to handhelds (DVB-SH) standard to be deployed in Paris and surrounding suburbs. This technology will help lower service provider CAPEX expenses to provide mobile TV services and give end-users wider service coverage with less gaps.
With the efficiency of DVB-SH in S-band, this four month trial offering a hybrid satellite/terrestrial system will benefit from the use of a satellite to attain coverage even for rural areas. In places where satellite reception is not possible, especially in indoor reception, service availability is secured by using terrestrial repeaters.
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BSNL pan-India IPTV servicesIndian telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) has formed an agreement with the SmarTV Group for the launch of pan-India IPTV services, following a test launch of the service in a few major cities. BSNL has plans to add 100,000 customers to its IPTV service by March 2009. The SmarTV Group, which consists of Smart Digivision and Smart Broadband Services, has also entered a long-term contract with another telco, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), for the delivery of similar IPTV services.
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Thursday 26th November
iPlayer and ITV Player on Freesat
Project Canvas could be delayed until 2011
Virgin selects TiVo for next gen platform
Spain's CMT an Ofcom wannabe
Virgin Media rolls out on demand TV advertising
iPhone users more willing to pay for content
APAC IPTV subs to hit 9.4m
Korean ISPs earn $1.7m from piracy
Pay-TV infrastructures migrating
Media companies struggling to fund productions
Greek decoder hackers arrested
Eutelsat Tooway for SFR
SES partners with Milano
Pace for Cablevisión’s MAX
iPlayer and ITV Player on FreesatFreesat has inked a deal that will see the BBC iPlayer launched on the digital TV service next month. The digital satellite platform, a joint venture between the BBC and ITV, is also planning to launch ITV's catch-up TV service, the ITV Player, in the first half of next year.
Freesat will be the first free-to-air service to launch the ITV Player, allowing viewers to watch on-demand programming via their TV set rather than a computer. The iPlayer is already available to customers of BT Vision and Virgin Media.
The deals will mark the first extension of Freesat to offer catch-up TV services with a limited, closed ‘beta’ version of the iPlayer set to launch on December 7th for "a few hundred" selected users.
Freesat said it was aiming to launch an open beta version of the iPlayer, accessible to around 230,000 Freesat households with compatible set-top boxes, by Christmas.
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Project Canvas could be delayed until 2011Project Canvas – the joint technology venture between the BBC, ITV, BT and Five that could bring on-demand programming to Freeview and Freesat – is unlikely to be rolled out until 2011 because it is mired in a complicated approval process.
Erik Huggers, head of future media and technology at the BBC, warned that delays in the consultation process could mean that the service isn't launched for at least another year. The BBC Trust is currently considering the proposals for the joint video-on-demand service, which will enable viewers to watch shows from a variety of programme-makers and channels through an Internet-enabled set-top box.
"My hope is that before the end of this year we will get interim conclusions from the BBC Trust. If we get those and they are pointing in the right direction – if they are positive – then I am fairly confident that it is possible to launch in 2010, although it will be towards the end of 2010. If we do not get those, I’m afraid we will not be able to launch until 2011," commented Huggers.
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Virgin selects TiVo for next gen platformTiVo and Virgin Media have entered into a strategic partnership under which TiVo will develop Virgin Media’s next generation TV platform. Under the mutually exclusive agreement, TiVo will develop a converged television and broadband interactive interface to power Virgin Media’s next generation, high definition set top boxes. The terms of the deal are not disclosed.
TiVo will become the exclusive provider of middleware and user interface software for Virgin Media's next generation set top boxes. Virgin Media will become the exclusive distributor of TiVo services and technology in the UK.
The deal marks TiVo’s re-entry to the UK market, six years after the US group gave up selling its digital video recorders in Britain. TiVo once worked with digital satellite platform BSkyB in the UK, but Sky’s Sky+ DVRs are now based on NDS technology.
News of the deal came as TiVo posted a loss in the latest quarter as sales dropped 12 per cent. The company was coming off a big profit a year ago that was caused by a payout from a legal victory.
The company reported after the market closed November 24 that it lost $6.7 million, or 6 cents per share, in the three months ended Oct. 31, its fiscal third quarter.
It compares with a profit of $100.6 million, or 98 cents per share, in the same period last year. That figure includes more than $100 million in proceeds and interest income as a result of litigation with satellite broadcaster EchoStar, who TiVo accused of infringing on patented technology.
TiVo said it anticipates a net loss of $13 million to $15 million and service and technology revenue of $43 million to $45 million in the current quarter.
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Spain's CMT an Ofcom wannabe
From David del Valle in Madrid
The Spanish Telecommunications Market Commission is demanding a similar role in the market as the Ofcom in the UK or Agcom in Italy with jurisdiction in both the audiovisual and the telco industries.
To this end, CMT - which currently only regulates the telco market – is seeking to change the overall Audiovisual Law Bill, now under debate in the Parliament, which paves the way for the creation of an independent Audiovisual Council different from the CMT. The CMT also wants to have the final say in the allocation of radio spectrum, currently under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry.
"The Audiovisual law is obsolete, it does not bear the future in mind but the past, as the media convergence is a reality and this is not included in the new legislation", said a member of CMT.
TV channels are against the CMT intervention and for self-regulation with no interference in TV content, but with regulation of technical issues such as mergers.
Virgin Media rolls out on demand TV advertising
Virgin Media has launched dynamic advertising on its on demand TV platform. Ads from brands including L'Oreal, Sony Ericsson, Kellogg’s and Microsoft, will appear around on demand content from the Living, Virgin1 and Bravo channels. Advertising will also roll out across Virgin Media’s on demand TV service, currently in 3.7 million households, beginning with 300,000 homes from this month.
Cindy Rose, executive director of TV at Virgin Media, said: "With over 66 million views of on demand content each month, there is a clear opportunity for on demand television to deliver relevant and effective ads to a growing audience. We saw a positive viewer response when we trialled dynamic advertising earlier this year and our customers welcomed campaigns that worked within the context of the programme they’d chosen to watch."
Thirty second pre-roll and post-roll ads will be matched to the programme being watched: hair care ads shown before Britain’s Next Top Model or a supermarket campaign after Restaurant in our Living Room for example.
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iPhone users more willing to pay for contentUsers of the Apple iPhone are among the heaviest users of digital content and are also more willing than any other consumer to pay for a wide range of types of content, according to findings in this year's Olswang Convergence Survey.
iPhone users are heavy users of services such as on-demand TV - not only on their phones (19 per cent of iPhone users compared to three per cent of the survey base, which is representative of users of the UK online population as a whole) but also on other devices, such as the main TV at home (37 per cent of iPhone users compared to 26 per cent of the survey base).
When asked about their future desire to use these services, iPhone users retained this extra enthusiasm – with 37 per cent wanting to access on-demand TV via their mobile phones in the future (as against 11 per cent of the overall survey base).
iPhone users also demonstrated greater willingness to use micropayments and subscriptions to pay for access to a broad range of content.
Matthew Phillips, Partner, Olswang, said the survey results demonstrate that the iPhone is changing consumer behaviour in some remarkable ways. "Having discovered the habit and simplicity of paying for apps and other services on the iPhone, it would seem that iPhone owners are more willing to pay for content of many types than the general online population. To maximise their revenue opportunities in the digital environment, companies need to build payment solutions into consumer propositions on other platforms that are as easy to use as that on the iPhone."
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APAC IPTV subs to hit 9.4m
The Asia-Pacific IPTV subscriber base is expected to grow by 51 per cent in 2009 to close at 9.4 million users and account for 37.6 per cent of the global subscribers, according to analyst firm Frost & Sullivan.
The firm’s Adeel Najam reports that the region has seen rapid uptake of IPTV services, clocking year-on-year subscriber growth rates of over 60 per cent annually for the last three years. He expects Asia-Pac to be the second largest IPTV market in the world by the end of this year; a very close second after Western Europe - which is the oldest IPTV market - housing 38.3 per cent of the world's subscription.
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Korean ISPs earn $1.7m from piracySix local Internet service providers made nearly 2 billion won ($1.7 million) by selling pirated copies of films and broadcast materials during the June-November period, a government report on a nationwide digital piracy crackdown has revealed.
South Korea, often criticised for its loose enforcement of anti-piracy laws, pledged to get tougher on digital theft following the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak government in February last year. Digital theft is blamed for an annual loss of more than 2 trillion won (about $1.5 billion) in South Korea, the world’s most wired country, with nearly 20,000 files of copyrighted content circulating illegally last year alone, according to recent government data.
During the six-month crackdown from June, police nabbed 87 people on charges of posting and circulating bootleg files of copyrighted materials on local file-sharing sites, the culture ministry said.
The illegally made profit will be confiscated by the government under the state law on criminal proceeds, revised in March, the ministry said.
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Pay-TV infrastructures migratingTraditional Video-on-Demand services, and traditional ‘siloed’ video services currently use a great deal of proprietary, or industry-specific, equipment. Market research firm, In-Stat sees traditional and pay-TV service providers migrating to more efficient Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and data centre models based on server virtualisation. This migration enables content portability and will have a direct impact on equipment vendors, service providers and content owners.
"Increasing usage of ‘over-the-top’ Internet video is driving traditional TV service providers to launch TV Everywhere initiatives," says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst. "The data centre approach promises more flexibility to manage content for delivery to multiple device types, enabling service providers to offer any content, on any platform, in any location."
In-Stat believes next-generation on demand approaches increase content owner influence, and greatly expand the delivery options. Among other impacts, content owners and service providers will need to re-negotiate licensing agreements that will reflect more flexibility and responsiveness to consumer demands. The CDN trend will also drive a shift in the type of equipment and features that manufacturers provide to service providers to handle video delivery.
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Media companies struggling to fund productionsSixty nine per cent of key media figures are currently experiencing difficulty funding their productions, according to an online survey conducted by business and financial adviser Grant Thornton.
The survey also revealed that 85 per cent of respondents do not have all of their content tied up with one distributor, indicating the growing need to diversify risk during the current economic climate. 89 per cent regarded distribution income as a significant part of their growth strategy. In addition, respondents felt the Asian (72.7 per cent) market to be the most important sales territory, followed by North America (54.5), Europe (non-UK 45.4 per cent) and Australia/New Zealand (13.6 per cent).
According to Christine Corner, media partner at Grant Thornton, the TV industry is facing unprecedented challenges; a sharp drop in advertising revenues against the backdrop of a severe economic slowdown has inevitably impacted companies across the industry and there has been much talk of cost reductions and restructuring.
"Advertising levels are likely to remain flat for the best part of 2010 and the drastic fall in advertising revenues (by between 15-17 per cent in 2009) has led to the need to increase deficit funding. We are seeing a growing trend towards companies seeking alternative sources of funding; including overseas tax credits, advertiser funding and monies from NGOs and companies wanting to promote their CSR messages," says Corner.
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Greek decoder hackers arrestedThree people have been arrested in the north-eastern Athens suburb of Aghia Paraskevi on suspicion of breaking the encryption codes used by the Greek digital satellite pay-TV platform Nova and offering free viewing to tens of thousands of people around Greece.
The three men are alleged to have sold to their clients, for a one-off fee of E300, a special decoder imported from South Korea, which, when connected to the Internet, would break Nova’s codes and allow viewers to watch all the platform’s channels without paying the monthly subscription fee.
According to police, some 100,000 people bought decoders from the three men, which is roughly one-third of the number of Nova’s regular subscribers. Authorities estimate that over the last two years, the satellite TV platform and the Greek state missed out on E31 million in unpaid subscription fees and taxes.
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Eutelsat Tooway for SFREutelsat Communications has confirmed the signature of a far-reaching contract concluded between its Skylogic broadband affiliate and SFR, one of the leading telecommunications operators in France. SFR has selected Tooway to meet demand for broadband from its customers beyond ADSL coverage. Called the 'Satellite Internet Pack' the new service supplied by SFR uses capacity on Eutelsat's Hot Bird 6 satellite. It will be extended on Eutelsat's new-generation KA-SAT satellite whose launch is scheduled for end 2010.
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SES partners with MilanoSES Astra, an SES company, has entered into a partnership with Italian broadcast and network service provider Milano Teleport to offer capacity from its 23.5 degrees East orbital position to Italian broadcasters. 23.5 degrees East is SES Astra’s increasingly attractive orbital position offering high quality coverage of the Italian market. Milano Teleport intends to use the capacity to provide transmission services to local and regional channels, as well as to ethnic channels that want to reach out to their particular target group and extend their coverage beyond terrestrial transmission following the completion of the terrestrial analogue switch-off in 2012.
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Pace for Cablevisión’s MAXPace, global developer of digital TV technologies, has confirmed it will be providing the HD DVR set-top boxes to support a new, advanced service offering from Latin America’s largest cable operator, Argentina’s Cablevisión. Pace’s set-top box, developed exclusively for operators like Cablevisión, will be launched in conjunction with the new MAX service at the end of November 2009, which will be the most advanced digital TV service in Latin America.
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Wednesday 25th November
BBC Trust: No more deals – except Virgin Media
BSkyB reopens Project Canvas attack
Adconion picks up Joost assets
Reding against Internet cut-off for infringement
Fox CEO wants Internet pirates cut-off
TF1 offloads Canal Plus France stake
Google adds TiVo data
Telegent to raise up to $250m in IPO
Goodbye Tandberg Television, hello Ericsson
Rovi TV guide widget on Samsung HDTVs
Arris rolls out Docsis 3.0 in Czech Republic
Allot launches WebSafe
BBC Trust: No more deals – except Virgin MediaBBC Worldwide will be allowed to acquire Virgin Media's 50 per cent stake in pay-TV joint venture UKTV to help secure the financial future of Channel 4, despite a ban on all other merger and acquisition activity imposed by the BBC Trust.
Sir Michael Lyons, the BBC Trust chairman, outlined a tighter remit for BBC Worldwide that will prevent the corporation's commercial arm making further acquisitions such as the Lonely Planet travel publisher deal.
But Lyons said a deal to buy Virgin Media's UKTV stake would be approved as exceptional if it was done as part of a partnership with Channel 4 in a deal designed to bridge C4’s apparent £100m (E112m) funding gap. The BBC is pushing a C4 / BBCWW deal in order to avoide top slicing of the license fee to help C4.
Lyons said that he was hopeful that the protracted and fraught negotiations with BBC Worldwide might result in a deal now that Channel 4 was coming close to resolving uncertainty about senior management. "Discussions have been going on some time. They have been complicated by different views in Channel 4 about their priorities. I encourage them getting on and completing those discussions."
When the talks with BBC Worldwide were taking place earlier this year, the idea was to create a joint venture encompassing assets including UKTV's channels, Channel 4's own digital services such as E4, and possibly 2Entertain, the DVD distributor in which the corporation's commercial arm owns 60 per cent.
Meanwhile, The BBC Trust has set out a series of changes to the future remit for BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm. These changes follow an 18-month review of the mandate, strategy and governance arrangements for BBC commercial activity, initiated by the Trust.
The changes include:
- An end to mergers and acquisitions unless there are exceptional circumstances; An exit from any activity that is not in keeping with the BBC brand; Divestment of stakes in non-BBC branded international channels over time where it makes commercial sense.As a specific point, the Trust would not expect to consider a commercial deal of the scale and nature of the Lonely Planet acquisition in future. The Trust will want to ensure that BBC Worldwide's plans for it secure the best value for licence fee payers and will keep its long-term future under review.
Sir Michael Lyons, Chairman of the BBC Trust said: "Worldwide is a successful business which brings both significant financial benefits for the licence fee payer and a tangible boost to the creative economy. But the Trust and the Executive both acknowledge that the boundaries for Worldwide activity need to be clearer."
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BSkyB reopens Project Canvas attackRecent peace with BSkyB hinting it might use Canvas has ended with the pay broadcaster has accusing the BBC of paying no more than "lip service" to allowing other broadcasters to join Project Canvas, and again called for the initiative to be blocked.
These comments are in a new submission to the BBC Trust. This comes after BBC management submitted additional information on Project Canvas's proposed governance structure and costs to the trust.
BBC management said that non-public service broadcasters could become partners, but that the costs for each partner are likely to be in excess of £20 million (E23m) in Project Canvas's first four years.
Sky argues that the BBC Trust should still not allow the project to go ahead. "Given its unique and privileged position in receipt of substantial and guaranteed public funding, the current proposals remain inconsistent with the BBC's obligations to adopt the least intrusive and most proportionate means of fulfilling its core public service purpose. Sky does not believe that Canvas should be allowed to proceed, or at least, not with the BBC, and the licence fee, playing an active role.
The proposals for membership of the joint venture remain exclusionary. The new proposals pay lip service to the idea of an open joint venture and the governance changes will make little difference in practice to the current Canvas members' ability to pick and choose their partners in the future."
BBC management attempted to preserve the original idea that Project Canvas will primarily benefit public service broadcasters by adding clauses to protect the core purpose in the articles of association that all partners must agree to.
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Adconion picks up Joost assetsJoost’s been assets have been acquired by US online ad network Adconion Media Group. Adconion is also part funded by Joost backer Index Ventures.
Adconion revealed that it plans to keep operating Joost.com the consumer video service. Joost gave up the consumer online video market back in June, and decided to focus on white label services. Adconion says that fits well with its own business, as it recently expanded into video advertising.
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Reding against Internet cut-off for infringementThe European Commission would oppose the Spanish government if it cuts the Internet access of users that download copyrighted material, the European Commission's top telecommunications policy-maker, Viviane Reding, has said. "If Spain cuts off Internet access without a procedure in front of a judge, it would certainly run into conflict with the European Commission," Reding commented.
Reding added Spain should consult with the European Commission before implementing this kind of legislation. "We need to find more modern ways to protect intellectual property and artistic creation, but repression alone will not alone solve the problem."
Earlier this month, the European parliament agreed that those suspected of using the Internet for downloading copyrighted material, can't have their Internet access cut off without a prior hearing.
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Fox CEO wants Internet pirates cut-offThe chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment has said the US should join France in cutting off the Internet connection of users who repeatedly download copyright-protected films.
CEO Jim Gianopulos said Internet piracy is the single biggest threat to the film industry worldwide, and independent films are the hardest hit. He said Internet service providers can track down subscribers whose IP address — the unique number assigned to every computer that connects to the Internet — has been spotted downloading films illegally and issue warnings.
Gianopulos said punishing repeat offenders would help create "a level playing field" for filmmakers. "If we can do that, it would be a big victory against piracy," he said, cautioning that taking away the small percentage of profit many films make threatens the industry.
TF1 offloads Canal Plus France stake
Vivendi/Canal+ has bought broadcaster TF1’s 9.9 per cent stake in Canal Plus France for E744 million. After the deal - originally planned for the first quarter of 2010 - is completed, Vivendi's Canal Plus Group will own 74.9 percent of Canal Plus France.
TF1 has held a put option since January 2007 following Vivendi/Canal Plus Group's acquisition of TPS. Vivendi also revealed that it has made an identical offer to French broadcaster M6 for its 5.1 per cent stake in Canal Plus France. The remaining 20 per cent of Canal Plus France is held by French media group Lagardère, which is likely to sell its stake to Vivendi in 2010 or 2011.
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Google adds TiVo dataGoogle has signed a licence agreement with DVR company TiVo that enables the Internet search provider to integrate TiVo set-top box viewing data into its measurement of audiences for inventory sold through the Google TV Ads platform.
The deal adds approximately 3.6 million subscribers to the universe of set-top boxes that Google TV Ads has to draw on to analyze the second-by-second TV viewing behavior of audiences. Google also has a deal with Dish Network and access to more than 13 million set-top boxes via the satellite carrier.
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Telegent to raise up to $250m in IPOTelegent Systems, a developer of semiconductors that enable mobile TV services, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $250 million in its initial public offering (IPO).
The company, which plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol "TLG," has yet to announce details such as the number of shares to be sold or their expected price range. Telegent previously raised $50 million in three rounds of funding, and generated $123.9 million in revenue for the year ended March 31st.
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Goodbye Tandberg Television, hello Ericsson
From Colin Mann in LondonThe name of Tandberg Television is set to disappear from the broadcast technology sector. Two and a half years after Ericsson acquired the multimedia technology specialist, the company has confirmed that the Ericsson name will be used for all the company’s TV solutions from January 25 2010, and that it will stop using Tandberg Television.
In an e-mail to customers, Staffan Pehrson, President of Tandberg Television and VP and Head of Solution Area TV, Ericsson Group, said that television was a cornerstone of Ericsson’s multimedia strategy, and Tandberg Television’s market leading technologies and expert team were at the core of this strategy. "Together we will draw on decades of broadcast TV market leadership and technology innovation, as we move to deliver on our vision for more on-demand and more HD, with multi-platform and converged television across cable, satellite, telco and terrestrial platforms," he said.
He suggested that the combination of Ericsson and Tandberg Television had always made sense. "We provide the technology solutions, integration, and consultancy expertise across television, broadband and mobile to empower our customers to create completely new consumer experiences. Our focus is to help you differentiate your services, drive customer loyalty and deliver new revenues," he told customers.
Giles Wilson, CTO of Solution Area TV, Ericsson Group, told advanced-television.com that recent major contract awards, such as the 10-year contract to provide television transmission services to TV4, one of the biggest broadcasters in the Nordic region, would not have been possible before the two companies teamed up, and was typical of the new opportunities for the unit.
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Rovi TV guide widget on Samsung HDTVsRovi has confirmed that its TV Guide widget, an application to help viewers find out information on TV shows and programmes that are airing, has launched on Samsung HDTV’s Yahoo! TV Widget Engine platform. Users can access TV programme listings, descriptions and airing times. Users can also select from several "Hotlists" including the Daily Hotlist of popular prime-time shows, Movies, Family and Sports.
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Arris rolls out Docsis 3.0 in Czech RepublicArris, in cooperation with its value-added reseller Lica, it has deployed Docsis 3.0 C4 CMTS’ at 4 MSOs across the Czech Republic. The companies now deploying service are: Elsat, BKS Capital Partners, Self Servis, and Kabelova Televize Koprivnice. Approximately 93 per cent of the Czech Republic’s 1.2 million homes passed by cable are served by these companies. The Arris Docsis 3.0 CMTS solution consists of the C4 CMTS and WBM760B wideband modems, capable of delivering high speed data service. The technology is based on the Docsis 3.0 standard that supports both Upstream and Downstream channel bonding capabilities.
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Allot Communications, an expert in IP service optimisation and revenue generation solutions, has launched Allot WebSafe , a network service designed to block online illegal and harmful content. The solution is designed to protect subscribers by enabling fixed and mobile broadband service providers to build a safer and more protected Internet environment. At the same time, it allows operators to comply with emerging legislation. WebSafe is offered as an integrated service within Allot Service Gateway. It is also offered as a solution with other Allot platforms.
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Tuesday 24th November
Telefonica buying 20% of Digital Plus
New ITV chairman talks pay-TV, as ads surge back
Bolloré interested in French pay-DTT
Time Warner, News Corp interested in MGM?
Malone: DirecTV not for sale
Krishnan eyes Australian Internet TV
Ennals heads Digital Radio
Roku announces first 10 new channels
Intelsat 14 launch successful
MYtv selects NDS for hybrid service
Telefonica buying 20% of Digital Plus
From David Del Valle in MadridTelefonica is set to take a 20 per cent stake in Prisa-controlled DTH platform Digital Plus, for E400 million, valuing the platform at E2 billion - far from Prisa's original expectation of E2.5 billion. The acquisition takes place 18 months after Telefonica sold its 16.73 per cent stake in Sogecable, Prisa’s subsidiary that controls the pay-TV platform, for E650 million and after Prisa rejected a joint bid by Telefonica and Vivendi Universal.
It is not ruled out that Italy’s Mediaset may take another 20 per cent in the platform as the group has been looking to widen its presence in Spanish TV, where it already owns the controlling stake in free-to-air channel Telecinco.
Prisa has been looking to sell the digital platform to help pay off its E5 billion debt and restructure its media business, including commercial TV channel Cuatro. At the end of September, Digital+ counted 1,899,216 subscribers paying an average of E39.30 a month.
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New ITV chairman talks pay-TV, as ads surge backArchie Norman, the new chairman of ITV, is reportedly considering plans to charge for the broadcaster's spin-off digital channels ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4.
Despite Norman not joining the company until January, a number of reports hinted at the direction in which he is preparing to take ITV. ‘City sources’ told newspapers Norman believes it was imperative that ITV changed from a free-to-air business, though ITV1 is likely to be unaffected.
Norman is expected to retain ITV's production arm and conduct a shake-up of the boardroom.
Meanwhile ITV is expected to achieve 12 per cent up YonY for December, bringing in at least £10 million (E11.5m) more than forecast.
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Bolloré interested in French pay-DTTInternational investment and industrial group Bolloré is interested in taking over one of two pay digital terrestrial television (DTT) frequencies vacant since the closure of AB1 and Canal J earlier this year, according to Les Echos. The Bolloré Group already broadcasts the Direct8 channel on free DTT.
France Telecom’s Orange, which launched pay channels Orange cinema series and Orange Sport to its ADSL subscribers in 2008, is also considering the possibility of running a pay service.
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Time Warner, News Corp interested in MGM?News Corp, Time Warner and Qualia Capital are interested in buying Hollywood's Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio Bloomberg has reported. Burdened by about $4 billion in debt, Los Angeles-based MGM said last week it was weighing options, including a possible sale of the company.
Creditors are hoping to get at least $2 billion, from a single buyer or by selling the assets separately.
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Malone: DirecTV not for saleJohn Malone, who’s Liberty Media is the largest individual shareholder in DirecTV told US media: "I can be the first one to say DirecTV is not for sale".
Liberty Media split off DirecTV last week to combine it with some its cable network assets creating an independent and larger DirecTV. This has sparked speculation the new company could be bought by one of the telcos. The satellite company appointed former PepsiCo executive Mike White as chief executive.
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Krishnan eyes Australian Internet TVMalaysian billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan has seized an opportunity created by the government's proposed national broadband network.
Krishnan has taken a significant stake in internet-delivered TV company Fetch TV, which is expected to launch in Australia early next year. Former ACP Magazines chief and Optus executive Scott Lorson, and telco executive Simon Cathcart, are believed to be fronting Fetch TV Australia, which is expected to begin to test low-cost pay-TV as well as on-demand TV and movie services.The business model relies on signing up a number of second and third-tier telcos and internet service providers. These would on-sell Fetch TV's internet-enabled set-top box and video content to their broadband customers. That would enable smaller ISPs to compete directly with the Tbox unveiled by Telstra last week.
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Ennals heads Digital RadioFord Ennals, the former head of TV switchover body Digital UK, has been appointed chief executive of the digital switchover delivery body Digital Radio UK. He will be coordinating the industry's efforts as it moves towards the 2015 digital switchover.
He joins Digital Radio UK from Nike, where he was president of global commercial for its footwear and leather goods division.
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Roku announces first 10 new channelsRoku, maker of the popular family of Roku players, has announced the Roku Channel Store and the first 10 free channels for Roku customers to enjoy on their TVs. From Internet radio to video podcasts, professional web content to photo sharing and personal videos, the Roku Channel Store provides an open platform for delivering content to the TV. New channels now available for customers to add to their Roku experience via the Roku Channel Store include: Pandora, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Mediafly, TWiT, blip.tv, Flickr, FrameChannel, Motionbox and MobileTribe.
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Intelsat 14 launch successfulIntelsat, the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, has announced that an Atlas V rocket provided by United Launch Alliance successfully launched the Intelsat 14 satellite (IS-14).
The satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral, will provide high-powered data services through its C- and Ku-band payload to Intelsat customers throughout Latin America, Europe and Africa. Once IS-14 is operational, it will replace Intelsat’s 1R satellite at 315º E, providing customers with capacity that has a useful life slated to last the next 16 years.
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MYtv selects NDS for hybrid service
MYtv has chosen professional services and an end-to-end solution from NDS for its hybrid satellite direct-to-home (DTH) pay-TV platform. MYtv is planning to launch its pay-TV service in late 2009.
With NDS MediaHighway STB software, MYtv will have the ability to introduce advanced features such as pay-per-view and interactive services. NDS is also managing the systems integration including the deployment of NDS VideoGuard conditional access, an NDS EPG and XTV DVR technology.
At launch, MYtv will offer a high definition DVB-S2 XTV DVR, as well as a HD/SD zapper STB to receive both MYtv packages and satellite FTA channels. Subscribers can watch SD and HD channels broadcast by satellite (DVB-S2) as well as using DVR technology to record and playback programmes.
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Monday 23rd November
UK publishes Digital Britain, will it make law?
Babelgum scaling back
Spanish operators rely on HD to boost pay subs
Ofcom: broadcast spectrum needs future consideration
C4 to charge for web content?
GE and Vivendi stall on NBC stake valuation
BT Vision STB to support Freeview HD
IFC movies on Netflix
UK publishes Digital Britain, will it make law?The Government’s introduction of the Digital Britain bill on Friday last week will "secure the UK’s position as a world-leading digital economy", say ministers. "We need to make sure copyright and the systems around it work in the digital era."
The Government was "likely to get this bill through" they say but others doubt it will make it through the process before June’s general election.
The bill includes controversial plans, recently appended to the legislation, to give ministers the power to amend copyright law through a statutory instrument. The move is an attempt to "future proof" the bill’s measures to prevent piracy of music and movies.
For broadcasters, the government’s biggest changes come in its plans to switch over most FM radio stations to digital broadcast by 2015, and the creation of independently funded news consortia, to protect the "plurality" of local and regional news. But plans to pay for these consortia using £130 million (E145m) from the BBC’s licence fee have been delayed until after the election, leaving open the question of how these new bodies will be funded.
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Babelgum scaling backFollowing the demise of Joost, the other internet video aggregator service Babelgum is shutting its Dublin HQ. There are also reports that offices in London, Milan and New York will be consolidated.
Babelgum told paidContent:UK: "This decision allows Babelgum to streamline its approach, improve its cost effectiveness and ensure its continued growth in future years. Babelgum remains one of the very few aggressive players in the new media market."
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Spanish operators rely on HD to boost pay subs
From David Del Valle in MadridSpanish operators are relying on HDTV services to give a boost to the deadlocked pay-TV market.
Telefonica is launching its new VDSL services for over 2 million homes with a higher broadband speed (30 and 25 Megabites), including triple play and, from December, HDTV services such as AXN HD and Gol TV.
In its package Trio Futura, the company will also include a DVR service with a high storage capacity and HD cinema titles on demand. Its IPTV service is now called Movistar TV instead of Imagenio following the global rebranding of the company.
Digital DTH platform Digital Plus is also betting on HDTV services and is already distributing 9 TV channels: MTVNHD, Eurosport HD, National Geographic HD, FOX HD, Canal + HD, Canal + Liga HD, Canal + DCine HD, Canal + Deportes HD and Taquilla HD. All these channels can be watched through an iPlus Set-top-box with a 160GB hard disk which allows to record and play more than 80 hours of programming.
Spain’s largest cable company ONO is also following suit and is set to launch HDTV services over the next weeks.
Pay-TV in Spain is suffering tough times. In the third quarter of the year, Imagenio (now Movistar TV) added 45,000 new clients reaching 654,300 subscribers as of September 30, up 11 per cent against the same period last year. At the same time, Digital Plus lost 40,000 clients, putting its subscriptions at below 1,900,000. Ono was down 7.6 per cent losing 80,000 TV clients in a year and 14,000 in the third quarter to 977,000 clients.
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Ofcom: broadcast spectrum needs future consideration
From Colin Mann in LondonFuture assessment of the UK's wireless spectrum should take into account whether optimum use is being made of broadcasting spectrum in an age of widespread broadband data, according to Ed Richards, CEO of Ofcom. "We need to continue to ensure that spectrum is put to good use for all our customers," Richards told delegates at the FT World Telecoms Conference.
He noted that 10 years ago, many people had questioned the need for digital switchover of television broadcasting. "Now it's an accepted wisdom in most developed economies," he said.
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C4 to charge for web content?Channel 4 is looking to extend its brand online with more standalone web content – unrelated to its TV shows – and is considering content charging models.
Kevin Lygo, the director of content and television at Channel 4, outlined changes to the broadcaster's public service remit referred to in the Digital Economy Bill. These include the introduction of a commitment to film production.
Lygo said three areas would be detailed – distribution of content; online enhancements of TV programmes; and online-specific content. And he revealed that he was relaxed about charging for programmes. "We need to look at charging. If you have a successful show, why shouldn't we put the first episode out and then, through iPhones or whatever, say if you want to see the next episodes you can pay?"
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GE and Vivendi stall on NBC stake valuationApparently General Electric and Vivendi are $1 billion apart in their valuation of the French group’s stake in NBC Universal, damping hopes of a quick resolution to the stand-off holding up Comcast’s bid for a majority stake in the group.
GE and Comcast, the cable operator that wants to take a 51 per cent stake in NBC Universal, have been eager to unveil an agreement but GE and Vivendi remain $1bn-$2bn apart on the valuation of the French group’s 20 per cent stake in NBC Universal.
Comcast’s offer values NBC Universal at about $30 billion, implying a $6 billion valuation for Vivendi’s stake. Vivendi in June estimated the value of the stake at $6.3 billion, so would have to take a further writedown should it receive less.
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BT Vision STB to support Freeview HDMichael Barry, Head of Programming at UK telco BT, has confirmed that the next set-top box to be issued for its hybrid DTT/IPTV service BT Vision will be capable of receiving Freeview HD terrestrial channels. Freeview HD broadcasts will start to become available in the UK from next month, starting in the Granada region and London, with other regions to follow in early 2010.
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IFC movies on NetflixNetflix has acquired the rights to an initial 53 indie movies from the Independent Film Channel (IFC). The movies are available to Netflix customers immediately for streaming, and more titles will be added in the future.
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