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Our Latest Issues
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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 11th September
Mediapro faces Spanish anti-trust probe
Ball offered top ITV job
3D TV must pay
Pace’s 3D STB UI
Croatia to get fourth IPTV platform
Pirate Bay bidder delisted
US TV viewing moving online
BT broadband stores
ITV1 ad sales rules to be relaxed
Netgem and Monaco Telecom next gen TV service
Broadcom's hybrid STB solution
GlobeCast secures capacity with Intelsat for OU
Cisco enriches digital video experience for SBB
Mediapro faces Spanish anti-trust probe
From Davie Del Valle in MadridSpanish competition watchdog the CNC has launched an inquiry into media group Mediapro and its pay-TV football channel Gol TV over possible anti-trust practices.
The CNC argues that Mediapro may be breaking the competition legislation, damaging the pay-TV market by not reselling its football TV rights to the Spanish League (La Liga) and the King’s Cup matches to third parties. Mediapro could be obliged to provide the signal for the three to four weekend pay-TV games to its rival Prisa's subsidiary Sogecable.
The probe comes at a time when both groups Mediapro and Prisa recently failed to merge their TV business divisions and are now fiercely competing through their football-dedicated TV channels Gol TV and Canal Plus Liga.
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ITV has offered the job of chief executive to Tony Ball but has so far been unable to agree terms with the former head of British Sky Broadcasting, according to reports.
ITV and Ball were said to be holding talks over the structure and conditions of a turnaround incentive award for Ball akin to a similar plan in place for Michael Grade, the current executive chairman.
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3D TV must pay
From Colin Mann in AmsterdamFox Sports chairman David Hill told IBC broadcasters will not invest in 3D until they know there will be a pay back and warned that, typically, whatever spend was budgeted to implement 3D the reality was likely to be 10 times as high.
Hill pointed out that as a broadcaster it had been impossible for him to go to advertisers seeking an increase in rates to cover the additional costs of HD. "HD cost us all a fortune, not just in all our trucks, but our internal infrastructure. We’re not a public service broadcaster." He could see the same thing again with 3D.
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Pace’s 3D STB UI
From Colin Mann in Amsterdam
Digital TV technologist Pace has unveiled a hybrid set-top box with a fully integrated 3D user interface (UI). The new 3D UI capabilities will enable operators to roll out increased levels of interactivity through a range of graphic enhancements and effects. The content rich experience it delivers will open up powerful new functionality for end-users, allowing end-user access to a mix of cross-platform content more easily.
Pace has embedded a set-top box chipset with 3D graphic capabilities and is making it available to software and middleware partners for the development of operator solutions. The 3D interface is able to support a range of enhanced services such as video on demand, advanced IP based EPG information or graphic animation for screen and application transitions.
It is initially targeted at telco and IPTV operators, but can be fully customised for any service operator interested in launching an advanced UI for its subscribers or in offering greater visual interactivity to better complement the delivery of HD services.
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Croatia to get fourth IPTV platform
From Branislav Pekic in RomeCroatia is set to get its fourth IPTV platform, after T-Com’s MAXtv, Iskon’s Iskon.tv and Metronet.
The country’s largest alternative telecommunications services provider, Optima Telekom, plans to launch its own IPTV platform called Opti.TV by October 1st. This will enable it to finally offer a triple-play package with telephony, high speed internet and TV. A total of five packages will be available: the cheapest (3 Mbps + 2 GB of traffic) will cost HRK 231.87 (E31.66), while the most expensive (3 phone lines, 5 Mbps Flat Rate connection) will be offered for HRK 292.36.
Initially, the Opti.TV service will offer more than 70 channels, most of which will be in the Croatian language or with Croatian subtitles. Opti.TV will in fact be the only platform in Croatia to carry all six Discovery channels - Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Discovery Science, Discovery World, Discovery Travel + Living and Investigation Discovery. Three of them, Discovery Network, Investigation Discovery and Animal Planet, will be available in Croatian.
Three additional channel packages will be available – HBO (HBO, HBO Comedy and HBO Digital) for HRK 56.58 (E7.73), Cinemax (Cinemax 1 +2) for HRK 36.90 and HBO/Cinemax combination for HRK 67.65.
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Pirate Bay bidder delistedThe chances of Global Gaming Factory X’s buying file-sharing site Pirate Bay have receded even further now the Swedish stock market has delisted GGF’s stock for violating its "transparency principle." GGF’s purchase of Pirate Bay is being funded in part by issuing shares, so it’s no longer clear if the deal can go through even if the company does have investors lined up.
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Nearly one out of four US households watches TV online, up from 20 per cent last year, reports The Conference Board and TNS. And Hulu.com is fast becoming the hot site – just behind YouTube.com – for watching TV programmes. The number of households visiting Hulu.com has increased almost fourfold in the last year.
The Consumer Internet Barometer, a quarterly report produced by The Conference Board, the global business membership and research association, and TNS, a global market insight and information group, surveys 10,000 households across the country and tracks who's doing what on the Internet.
Nearly 80 per cent of consumers log on daily for entertainment. In fact, entertainment is cited as one of the most important Internet activities, behind only personal communication and work-related activities.
Consumers are moving away from "appointment" TV, preferring to watch programmes whenever they choose. Being able to view favorite shows at any time, along with personal convenience, are the two major reasons cited by more than half of consumers for turning to online TV. Consumers also cite portability as another benefit.
News shows are the most popular online programmes – watched by about 43 per cent of online TV viewers. About 35 per cent enjoy sitcoms, comedies and dramas, while 19 per cent of online TV viewers indulge in reality shows and 18 per cent follow sports. Other forms of online content include previews, user-generated content, additional content from favourite shows, soap operas and advertisements.
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BT broadband storesBT is aiming to raise awareness of its super-fast broadband technologies such as fibre-based connectivity, its BT Vision TV service, and other home and business-related applications with the launch of its first dedicated Broadband stores.
The stores will work in much the same fashion as Apple's own-branded shops by showcasing BT products in a more traditional sales environment to drive take-up of its new services.
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ITV1 ad sales rules to be relaxedThe UK competition regulator is preparing to announce a relaxation of rules governing how ITV1 sells advertising, but is unlikely to scrap all the controls binding the channel, and could call for a complete review of Britain's TV ad trading system.
The Competition Commission aims to announce the results of its review of the contract rights renewal within the next few days. CRR, introduced when Carlton and Granada merged in 2003, is a set of rules designed to protect advertisers against ITV1 abusing its dominant position in the TV ad market. Changes to it could affect a wide range of media developments, including the proposed merger of Channel 4 and BSkyB's ad sales operations.
The Office of Fair Trading has recommended a relaxation to CRR. Some TV executives believe that removing or simplifying the rollover contract system, which is based around the old regional Carlton and Granada operations, could allow ITV to cut its sales force by up to 25 per cent, or 100 staff.
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Netgem and Monaco Telecom next generation TV serviceIPTV set-top box manufacturer and software developer, Netgem, and Monaco Telecom have confirmed the impending launch of an interactive TV service that integrates multiple and heterogeneous sources of contents into one easy to use experience.
Built upon Monaco Telecom's existing cable and Internet network, the service has been developed using NetgemTV, a next generation software platform featuring a highly visual and intuitive user interface as well as VOD, Media Centre, numerous Internet-based services, such as web radio, local Internet TV and a service information portal.
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Broadcom's hybrid STB solution
From Colin Mann in AmsterdamSemiconductor specialist Broadcom is to collaborate with SoftAtHome, a software provider of home operating platforms that help service providers deliver convergent applications for the digital home, to develop a solution for hybrid, satellite and IP set-top boxes (STBs) accelerating time-to-market for advanced video and TV services.
Broadcom and SoftAtHome have collaborated to create a customised software interface which leverages Broadcom’s high-performance silicon hardware and is running on a range of Broadcom high definition (HD) STB solutions.
Broadcom’s high performance STB solutions with support for the SoftAtHome Operating Platform will enable service providers worldwide to deliver value-added services to their subscribers that includes: The ability to access personal digital content from a mobile phone, PC or TV; play content stored in the home from any TV in the world; record TV programming when travelling; navigate through recommended programmes on a TV based on a personal profile, and manage home settings or access content from favourite web sites – all of which position the TV as the hub of the digital home.
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GlobeCast secures capacity with Intelsat for OUIntelsat, the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, announced it signed a contract with GlobeCast, the content management and delivery company, for occasional use (OU) capacity that spans Intelsat’s entire satellite fleet. The multi-year contract offers GlobeCast increased satellite transmissions infrastructure to fulfill its customer needs for distribution of live sports, breaking news and special events.
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Cisco enriches digital video experience for SBBCisco has revealed is developing an end-to-end digital video solution for Serbia Broadband (SBB) and Telemach in Slovenia to provide rich, interactive and personalised media experiences to their subscribers. Starting November 2009, consumers will be able to access HD video, to be followed by a variety of interactive services such as real-time VOD, digital video recording, gaming, and information retrieval for live news and weather updates.
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Thursday 10th September
YouTube $300m on bandwidth – no profit
Israeli court allows Premier League streaming
Dogan fined $2.5bn
Tesco and Microsoft launching online movie service
Spain Pay-DTT: Technology ready; content unavailable
GE mulling NBCU sale?
Microsoft picks another BBC man
DTV adoption now 99%+ in US
NetGear Digital Entertainer Live STB
Televisa contracts with Intelsat
Sky Deutschland deploys NDS
iPlayer booms on PS3
Portugal Telecom chooses Appear TV
YouTube $300m on bandwidth – no profitYouTube will spend approximately $300 million on bandwidth in 2009 -- meaning it won't be profitable, according to an analysis by Credit Suisse.
According to the report’ authors that means YouTube still would not be profitable at the gross level this year, given their original 2009 revenue estimate of $240 million (a top-line increase of about 20 per cent year over year). YouTube is far and away the Internet's biggest video outlet. In July, YouTube and other Google video sites registered a record 8.9 billion video views, accounting for 42 per cent of all videos viewed online, according to research firm comScore.
Credit Suisse does, though, see a profitable future for You Tube: "Our work suggests that unit economics for video streams that are being monetised by YouTube carry attractive 35 per cent plus margins, implying that YouTube's profitability should improve if the per cent of videos monetised increases."
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Israeli court allows Premier League streamingThe English Premier League’s latest efforts to block unauthorised streaming of matches in Israel have failed, following a court ruling in favour of free coverage. The EPL was hoping to put a stop to online piracy. However, Israel’s Tel Aviv District Court ruled that the website in question was functioning under the principle of "fair use."
The Premier League also failed to expose the identity of the person behind LiveFooty.org, a website that relies on Israeli servers to provide free match streams. The Court supported the site due to the fact that no profits are being made, with Judge Michal Agmon-Gonen pointing out that sports events should "remain in the realm of mass entertainment, and not just be for those who can afford it."
Judge Agmon-Gonen further noted that the online streams have no effect on broadcasting revenue, and merely make the viewing experience available to those who cannot afford to pay.
It is now feared that the ruling could set the precedent for future cases of online piracy within the country. According to Israeli law, breach of broadcasting copyrights apply only to cable and wireless transmission, not online streaming.
The judge ruled to keep the matter within Israel, despite efforts made by the Premier League to have the case transferred out of the country. She explained that without solid Internet laws in place, the Court was forced to choose between copyright holder rights and user rights. The Premier League is now ready to appeal the issue at high court.
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Dogan fined $2.5bnThe Turkish government has fined media firms controlled by Turkish group Dogan Yayin $2.53 billion for allegedly unpaid taxes. Dogan Yayin, which controls more than half of the domestic non-state media market, was fined $500 million earlier this year for tax irregularities connected with sale of a 25 per cent stake in the firm to German publisher Axel Springer.
Dogan has denied any wrongdoing in that case and accused the government of treating it unfairly because of its newspapers and television stations' critical political reporting. The media companies were fined twice the level of their unpaid taxes.
The Finance Ministry issued the fines after examining company accounts for 2005, 2006 and 2007.
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Tesco and Microsoft launching online movie serviceSupermarket giant Tesco and Microsoft have signed a collaboration agreement to launch an online video service. Starting in the autumn, Tesco will allow customers in the UK who purchase certain home video titles from Tesco to download 'digital' versions of movies to their PCs in a 'virtual DVD' experience.
In addition, the digital versions will provide consumers with extra network-connected features such as auto-updated trailers, exclusive bonus content, movie viewing parties with online chat, related music offerings such as MP3s and ring tones, and networked games.
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Spain Pay-DTT: Technology ready; content unavailable
From David Del Valle in MadridWhile technology companies like Nagravision take up positions in the Spanish pay-TV market following Abertis Telecom's decision to choose its CAS to secure its DTT platform, pay-DTT content is conspicuous by its absence.
The lack of a real pay-DTT offer and the confusion about how to implement it technologically and commercially are paradoxically fostering pay-TV subscriptions to Sogecable-controlled digital DTH platform Digital Plus, which in a month has captured 320,000 clients through its premium football channel Canal Plus Liga (E15 a month).
Pay-DTT is not reality yet in Spain. The much-trumpeted football TV channel Gol TV (E14.90 a month), owned by Mediapro, shareholder in the commercial TV network La Sexta and holder of the majority of football TV rights, is not available through DTT yet, but only through other distribution platforms, such as cable or IPTV.
There are hardly any pay-DTT-ready devices available in market, of the total 21 million DTT devices already sold, only 2 per cent are ready for Pay-DTT. Nagravision has announced that NAGRA Media ACCESS is being integrated into TDT Premium homologated set-top boxes and conditional access modules (CAMs) to support the new platform operated by Abertis Telecom. According to the company, the first pay-DTT devices would be available this month. Nagravision claims to have closely collaborated with numerous IDTV, set-top boxes and CAM manufacturers such as OKI, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony, Vestel, ADB, Echostar, Motorola, Pace, Sagem, Siemens-Gigaset, Zinwell, SmarDTV, as well as the leading Spanish manufacturers Engel, Fagor, FTE Maximal, Ikusi and Televes.
For many experts, Mediapro is to blame for the lack of pay-DTT content available now. "Mediapro’s doubts about how to develop the business are ruining all industry’s expectations", said a pay DTT expert adding that "it seems that everyone is waiting for September 17th". On that day, the Spanish Parliament will vote for or against the Royal Decree Law that the Government approved last August to allow the distribution of pay DTT services.
Meantime, the Government is considering bringing forward the analogue switch-off scheduled for April 2010, to the end of February or beginning of March next year. According to the latest report from Pro DTT Association, Impulsa TDT, DTT coverage already reaches more than 96 per cent in the country (43.3 million people), with 11 million homes already connected to DTT, representing a penetration of 67.3 per cent, and 21 million DTT boxes sold. DTT viewing share stands at 43.4 per cent, 7.9 points above analogue TV.
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GE mulling NBCU sale?Wall St is speculating General Electric is paving the way for a possible change of the ownership structure at media company NBC Universal as Vivendi’s annual option to sell its 20 per centcomes around again in November.
The WSJ quoted a source: "Talk to people in the media banking community; there is a book out on NBCU. The crux of the matter is that right now, there is little or no value in the GE stock price from owning NBCU… The Vivendi thing pushes it from a timing perspective and adds a little more urgency to the situation."
When asked whether GE is actively looking for new partners for NBC Universal and whether there is a proposal document or so-called "book" in the market, GE said "As you know, Vivendi has an annual option, exercisable later this year, to sell its stake in NBCU in the public market. If Vivendi determines to exercise its option, GE has several options, including bringing a new partner into NBCU, proceeding with an IPO or buying Vivendi's stake."Vivendi has said it has no interest in upping its stake and this is backed by moves away from pure entertainment. It is said to be about to buy GVT, a Brazilian telecoms provider, in a E2 billion offer that, if accepted, would give the French communications and entertainment group an important foothold in the fast-growing Latin American market.
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Microsoft picks another BBC manBBC Worldwide’s head of sales and business development of digital media, Peter Mercier, has left the company to join Microsoft. He becomes Microsoft’s senior director of content acquisitions and strategy and will develop partnerships for its entertainment and devices division building relationships across Xbox, Windows Media Centre and mobile platforms.
Mercier was head of mobile for BBC Worldwide before moving to the cross-platform role in 2008. He joined the BBC from mobile TV provider MobiTV. He follows Ashley Highfield, former BBC director of future media and technology, who joined Microsoft as MD and VP of consumer & online last November after four months as CEO of video-on-demand service Kangaroo, now at Arquiva.
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DTV adoption now 99%+ in US
The Nielsen Company has reported that as of August 30th 2009, 99.4 per cent of US homes are able to receive digital television signals. This is a gain of more than 572,000 homes in the last month and 1.8 million homes since the week of the June 12th digital television transition. As of August 30th, only 710,000 homes were unable to receive digital signals.
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NetGear Digital Entertainer Live STBNetGear has launched the newest Internet-connected set-top box in its popular "Digital Entertainer" product family. The Digital Entertainer Live (EVA2000) is an Internet set-top box that enables viewers to play their digital media collections, YouTube videos and a wide range of other Internet content on big-screen TVs. Rather than having to watch downloaded movies and online videos on computer screens, users can now enjoy media collections stored on USB storage devices, computers and network storage directly on their HDTVs.
In addition to personal media collections and YouTube, consumers can now easily browse, download and play newly released pay-per-view movies from Roxio CinemaNow. They can also view videos on their TV from a wide variety of Internet sources, such as Hulu, Netflix and CBS, through free software trials and optional subscriptions.
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Televisa contracts with IntelsatIntelsat, the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, has signed a contract with Mexico’s Televisa, Latin America’s prime broadcaster and the world’s principal producer of Spanish-language content, for expanded international distribution of Televisa’s programming.
Under this contract, Intelsat will distribute Televisa’s Pay TV programming to viewers throughout Europe via the Intelsat 905 satellite located at 335.5º E. The broadcaster will utilise Intelsat’s teleport in Fuchsttadt, Germany, for turnaround services of its content into Europe. Televisa has also secured additional capacity via the Intelsat 11 satellite, located at 317º E, to expand its programming bouquet with new channels for the Latin American cable TV sector. The agreement also provides Televisa with supplemental capacity on the Galaxy 16 satellite, located at 99º W, to augment its domestic distribution requirements.
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Sky Deutschland deploys NDSNDS has revealed that Sky Deutschland, the largest pay-TV operator in Germany and Austria, has deployed the latest version of NDS MediaHighway middleware to support the launch of its new pay-TV service. The new middleware uses a Flash-based engine to take the TV user interface, graphical experience and ease-of-use to a higher level. New satellite HD-STBs will run MediaHighway with support for MPEG-4.
iPlayer booms on PS3Sony’s PlayStation 3 console now accounts for 10 per cent of iPlayer viewers according to the BBC. Anthony Rose, head of Future Media and Technology online at BBC, said, "We’ll have to wait and see whether this holds up in the coming weeks, but this enthusiastic reception makes it clear that users do want iPlayer on their TV."
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Portugal Telecom chooses Appear TVAppear TV, a global provider of next-generation head-ends for broadcast and IP television, and Satcab, a leading Portuguese systems integrator and Appear TV business partner, has announced that Portugal Telecom, Portugal’s leading telecommunications and multimedia service operator, has chosen Appear TV DC1000 head-ends as part of PT’s next-generation networks project.
The DC1000 head-ends, which are to be situated at 10 metropolitan head-end sites throughout Portugal, will play an important role in ensuring that Portugal Telecom can provide its customers with advanced TV services.
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Wednesday 9th September
SES: Handouts mean we won’t push broadband
ANGA: German pubcasters must pay us to carry HD
Euro broadband grows to 135m subs
Online TV ads up?
FTTH flourishing in smaller economies
OIPF Architecture Specification for IPTV
Pace to launch Viasat’s next-gen Hybrid HD PVR
Ericsson and Espial for Com Hem
DirecTV selects Ateme
Brightcove partnership with Boxee
SES: Handouts mean we won’t push broadbandUS and European economic stimulus packges are hampering the prospects for delivering broadband Internet access via satellite, SES, the world’s largest satellite operator, has warned.
Support for wireless broadband technologies through tax breaks in the US and auctions of broadcast spectrum in Europe were giving terrestrial technology the edge, Romain Bausch, chief executive, said. "I personally believe the rollout of terrestrial broadband will be such that you can’t demonstrate the viability of satellite in the long term," Bausch told FT.
SES provides two-way satellite broadband to 45,000 customers in Europe but would not invest in new capacity, he said. Instead, it was focusing on a hybrid satellite-terrestrial strategy for broadband, which offers its satellites to telecoms clients to reach the 40-50 per cent of households whose fixed-line connections cannot carry a full video service.
Shielded from economic fluctuations by decade-long contracts, SES expects recurring revenue growth of 3-4 per cent this year. Bausch predicted similar growth for the next seven years from the spread of multichannel television and mobile phones in emerging markets, the rollout of HD video technologies and increasing military demand.
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ANGA: German pubcasters must pay us to carry HDANGA, the association of German cable operators, has suggested that the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF should have to pay for the distribution of their HD channels over cable networks. "ARD and ZDF are spending licence fees for satellite distribution, but expect the cable operators to pass on the extra cost to cable customers," voiced ANGA president Thomas Braun.
Braun added: "We want to distribute all the new HD channels as soon as possible in our networks...[but].... It cannot be that ARD and ZDF pay many millions to Astra for HD broadcasting via satellite, but that they do not want to pay the cable operators for the extra costs. This goes against the public service mission of ARD and ZDF – cable customers should also have access to their HD channels at market rates. This discrimination against cable viewers is unacceptable and violates the public service remit. Cable customers are not a cash cow for the public broadcasters."
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Euro broadband grows to 135m subs
In the past twelve months, broadband subscription in Europe grew 13 per cent overall, to reach 135 million, which included an impressive growth of 29 per cent in the Eastern European territories. Europe is the second largest broadband region in the world, and holds four of the top 10 country spots (Germany, France, UK and Italy), according to the Broadband Forum.
Europe also continues to lead in IPTV with 13,631,074 subscribers, a 51 per cent growth over the twelve months leading up to July 2009. In the second quarter of 2009, there was a healthy six per cent growth in Western Europe. France remains the ‘champion’ IPTV country with more than seven million subscribers – and 12 per cent in Eastern Europe, where new services in countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Russia are in demand.
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Online TV ads up?A recent study revealed that media buyers will be increasing their budgets for online video advertising. According to a biannual report from the video advertising network Web TV Enterprise, which surveyed 101 UK media buyers booking pre-roll advertising campaigns, 97 per cent were planning on maintaining or increasing video advertising spend.
According to the survey, 25 per cent of firms spend between £25,000 (E28,400) and £50,000 a year on online video ads, with the majority of budgets still between £10,000 and £25,000. But the budgets for the pre-roll ad placements of between 10 and 20 seconds are rising. Ninety-seven per cent of the firms surveyed expect their online video ad spend to grow over the next 12 months, and more than half (54 per cent) predict this growth to be as much as 50 per cent.
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FTTH flourishing in smaller economiesThe FTTH Council Europe has unveiled the latest figures showing which EU countries are leading the way in the penetration of fibre-to-the-home. Sweden leads the line-up of the top 10 adopters of FTTH services with more than 10 per cent of FTTH penetration, followed by Norway, Slovenia, Andorra, Denmark, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Finland.
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OIPF Architecture Specification for IPTVThe Open IPTV Forum (OIPF) has published the Architecture Specification for IPTV infrastructure elements and services to be included in Release 2 of the OIPF Specifications. The Architecture Specification is freely available for download from the Publications section of the Forum website www.oipf.tv.
Release 1 of the OIPF technical specifications was published early in
2009, and the Forum technical workgroups are now actively engaged in developing Release 2. The Release 1 profiling specification, which will finalise the first release, is expected at the end of September. The newly published Release 2 Architecture Specification provides the additional functional components and technologies needed to support the Release 2 requirements published earlier.
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Pace to launch Viasat’s next-gen Hybrid HD PVRModern Times Group’s Viasat Broadcasting, the largest free-and pay-TV operator in Scandinavia and the Baltic States, has chosen long-term set-top box partner Pace to launch a second generation HD personal video recorder with built-in hybrid functionality.
The hybrid functionality of the set-top box will provide users with access to a broader universe of programming, allowing them to receive content in a variety of different ways and giving them increased control over their TV service.
Pace is a long-term technology provider to Viasat having previously supplied the operator’s first HD PVR in January 2008, and remains Viasat’s provider of PVRs to date. The new TDS855NV 320GB HD PVR replaces the existing TDS850NV 250GB HD PVR and allows up to an additional 40 hours of content to be stored, yet has a smaller and more compact design. Supporting both MPEG-2 and H.264 content, the TDS855NV HD PVR allows users to record up to 80 hours of HD or 160 hours of standard definition content and with dual DVB-S2 tuners, allows the user to record and watch content in a combination of different ways to maximise the time they spend viewing television.
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Ericsson and Espial for Com HemEricsson is enabling Sweden’s largest cable television operator, Com Hem, to deliver new advanced entertainment services to its consumers via an interactive TV platform. The new on-demand services will mean viewers can catch up on their favourite TV programmes anytime.
The on-demand TV platform supports a wide range of advanced services, such as VOD, catch-up and start-over TV programmes and music on-demand, and also includes a flexible interactive portal for Com Hem’s new Landlord-Tenant service. The rollout of the new services has started, with around 500,000 subscribers reached by December 2009.
Com Hem has also revealed that it has chosen Espial IPTV middleware for its next generation digital TV and VOD services.
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DirecTV selects AtemeDirecTV, the world’s largest Pay-TV service, has selected Ateme, H.264 video compression solutions provider, to bring quality content to its subscriber base via its on demand service.
By switching to Ateme Kyrion File Encoder solution, DirecTV is also able to streamline its tapeless content production process, automating the encoding of its video content so that the whole process becomes seamless and putting DirecTV in more control over how and when this content is delivered to its subscribers. DirecTV can also accelerate content delivery to customers for any type of assets, from full HD quality down to low resolution applications.
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Brightcove partnership with BoxeeBrightcove, the online video platform, has announced a partnership with Boxee, the ‘social’ media centre, to provide Brightcove media customers with turn-key distribution options to the living room television via Boxee's interface. The partnership gives Brightcove customers new opportunities to expand audience reach and advertising inventory, while bringing online video from some of the biggest names in news and entertainment programming to Boxee users. The first Brightcove customers to take advantage of the distribution partnership include Conde Nast Digital, Qubo, and TheStreet.com.
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Tuesday 8th September
3 strikes row escalates
"Explosive" growth forecast for Asia pay-TV
EC will probe RTVE funding
News Corp launches NewsCore global
BBC Worldwide chairman stepping down
New campaign to educate 'GenerationY-pay'
Xunlei, CRI joint venture to operate IPTV?
Fast Forward Video launches JPEG2000 Alliance
SES Americom New Skies now World Skies
DMC expands FOXlife in Europe
3 strikes row escalates
Further to UK Intellectual property minister David Lammy's defence of the government’s revised plans to disconnect the most persistent illegal file-sharers as reported in ATV News (4/09/09), he is facing opposition from a further range of industry bodies.
The Featured Artists’ Coalition, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and the Music Producers’ Guild say in a statement: "We vehemently oppose the proposals being made and suggest that the stick is now in danger of being way out of proportion to the carrot." They accuse the government of taking a negative, small-minded view and warn: "We will not be a party to any system that alienates our members’ existing audience and potential new audiences."The statement argues that turning fans away from even illegal downloading could mean fewer connecting with music and less live concert and merchandise sales. They rubbish the government’s claim the legislation could erase £200 million (E229m) of piracy-related losses a year as this assumes all pirate downloads would be replaced with a legitimate sale. They site other studies that show downloaders are also among the highest buyers of CDs and paid downloads as well.
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"Explosive" growth forecast for Asia pay-TV
The valuations of Asia’s leading pay-TV operators are set to climb strongly amid rapid profit growth over the next five years, according to a study by Media Partners Asia (MPA).
Profit growth of more than 10 per cent each year until 2015 will be driven by an increase in subscribers and higher revenues from a rising take-up of digital and broadband services, according the study.
MPA said that the average valuation of the 10 could rise within a year from eight times forward earnings to almost 11-times – or nearly double that of pay-TV operators round the world.
"Many Asian pay-TV operators are either in the middle or on the cusp of a high-growth phase similar to the one that accelerated both public and private market valuations for cable operators in North America between 1997 and 2005," said Vivek Couto, MPA executive director.
Across the Asia-Pacific region there are 330 million homes with pay-TV, which MPA forecasts will climb to 437 million by 2015. The take-up of digital services over the same period will treble to 350 million. Pay-TV revenues in the region are forecast to double to $60 billion by 2015, with China and India accounting for half of all revenues.
China is expected to end this year with 170 million pay-TV households, although the take-up of high-premium digital services is low. The rising growth rates are expected to tempt some owners of pay-TV providers, which in Asia include News Corp, Telstra and private equity firms, to monetise their investments with stock market listings.
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EC will probe RTVE fundingThe European Commission is to investigate Spain’s new funding model for state-owned broadcaster RTVE. The new model will see Spain compensating falling advertising revenues with taxes paid by private broadcasters and telecom companies. Private broadcasters will have to allocate 3 per cent of their revenues to public broadcasters, a figure that will be reduced to 1.5 per cent for pay-TV platforms and 0.9 per cent for telcos. Spanish telco Telefónica along with Vodafone and Orange are preparing official complaints.
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News Corp launches NewsCore globalNews Corp is launching a global service that will make all its news stories and videos instantly available to its entire network of TV, print and online news outlets.
The service, called NewsCore, will operate like a global wire service for all the company's newspapers, TV networks and websites. News Corp is describing the venture as a "21st-century multi-media information service that will draw on the worldwide news and sports resources within News Corporation and make them available to other News properties everywhere".
The NewsCore service will scan the company's electronic story queues, satellite feeds and websites and make all the content available to company newsrooms around the planet. NewsCore will distribute text, video, audio and citizen journalism around the world in real time.
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BBC Worldwide chairman stepping downThe chairman of BBC Worldwide, Etienne de Villiers, is to step down at the end of the month after almost three years in the role. De Villiers, who served on ITV's board as a non-executive director from 2004 to 2007, was appointed as chairman of the BBC's commercial holdings board in September 2005 with a remit to oversee the growth plans of the corporation's commercial businesses, including BBC Worldwide. He became chairman and non-executive director of BBC Worldwide in January 2006.
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New campaign to educate 'GenerationY-pay'Less than one in two 16 to 34 years olds believe they should pay to download TV and movies from the web, according to The Industry Trust for IP Awareness (Itipa). Despite this, 74 per cent happily pay for cinema tickets and DVDs.
Itipa is launching 'Connected to British Film and TV', a new awareness campaign being backed by a number of actors. The campaign aims to show web users that the money spent on purchasing cinema tickets and downloads is re-invested into the industry in a bid to create new content.
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Xunlei, CRI joint venture to operate IPTV?Online P2P video service Xunlei has partnered with China Radio International (CRI) to establish a joint venture company, according to reports. The joint venture would solve Xunlei's Internet TV licensing issues. CRI holds an online audio-visual broadcasting license from China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) that permits it to act as a content provider in a variety of mediums.
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Fast Forward Video launches JPEG2000 AllianceFast Forward Video (FFV) has announced the launch of the JPEG2000 Alliance, a consortium of broadcast industry leaders dedicated to ensuring that JPEG2000 continues to develop into a leading compression standard. In addition to FFV, charter members of the JPEG2000 Alliance include 360 Systems, Analog Devices, Barco, Digital Rapids, Doremi Labs, the Fraunhofer Institute, Front Porch Digital, intoPIX, Media Links, Media Matters, and Miranda Technologies. In addition to developing their own JPEG2000 technologies and products, these companies will collaborate to ensure widespread acceptance, deployment, and support of the compression standard for the benefit of the media and video industries.
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SES Americom New Skies now World SkiesSES Americom New Skies, a division of SES has unveiled SES World Skies as the name for its newly integrated operation. "With the integration of SES Americom New Skies nearly complete, SES World Skies more precisely describes the reach of our evolving fleet, the depth of our expertise, and our rock solid customer commitment around the globe," said Rob Bednarek, President and CEO of SES World Skies.
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DMC expands FOXlife in EuropeThe Digital Media Centre (DMC), one of Europe’s leading providers of channel playout services, TV distribution and content delivery, will begin broadcasting the FOXlife channel in Holland and Belgium as of this week. Fox will deliver all channel content electronically over the Internet using Signiant. FOXlife will be simulcast in Standard Definition (SD) and HD and will be fully localised by means of subtitles and Dutch audio. The channel will be delivered over fibre to a variety of platforms, including Ziggo and UPC Nederland, in the Netherlands, and Telenet in Belgium.
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Monday 7th September
DTG testing Freeview HD in October
AT&T video portal
UK FTA ratings free fall
Downloads and streaming rise on mobiles
BTV launching HD
Arqiva appoints Keeling to launch VOD service
Viaccess and Opentech secure ART pay-TV platforms
TechniSat MultyText for interactive DTV
Tele Columbus selects Alcatel-Lucent for interactive TV
DTG testing Freeview HD in OctoberThe DTG, the industry association for digital TV in the UK has confirmed that the test and conformance regime for the Freeview HD and Freeview+ HD service is to launch on schedule in September 2009 with product testing commencing in October.
"Testing against Freeview HD brand requirements will mark a step change in market compliance. The DTG can now utilise eight years of test suite development as a foundation to ensure that Freeview HD receivers will meet levels of compliance, only achieved previously on vertical or lower volume proprietary standard platforms," said DTG Director General, Richard Lindsay-Davies. "This world first will deliver the best of both worlds, the high volumes of an open standard, horizontal market, but with the compliance levels of a vertical or lower volume platform."
Freeview HD Test Suites, which include MHEG-5 with HD and IC extensions, Freeview HD SI and Freeview HD Linear Services are now available from the DTG’s test and conformance centre.
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AT&T video portalAT&T has publicly launched the beta version of a video portal -- which serves up free TV shows and movies to any Internet user, and promises even more to U-verse TV customers -- with content from more than a dozen programming partners.
The site promises U-verse TV customers "bonus content" if they log in but doesn't spell out what that extra content is. The free section of the site offers shows and movies from CBS; ABC and ABC Family; NBC and NBC Universal's USA, Bravo, Syfy and CNBC; MTV Networks' MTV and VH1; Lionsgate; MGM; Universal Studios; PBS; and Current TV. The site also lists Hulu, the joint venture of NBC, Walt Disney and News Corp, as a partner.
The company added, "This site is another step forward for our three-screen strategy to provide more content to more customers across any device."
AT&T in May had said it was working on an "authentication" system that would provide a TV Everywhere-like service to subscribers, with content available on both its own site and programmers' sites.
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ITV1 and BBC1 suffered their worst ever month of ratings in August, while Channel 4 clocked up its poorest score for 25 years, as viewers turned off summer schedules on the main networks. Overnight ratings figures show that ITV1 pulled in an average all-day share of just 15.15 per cent for the whole month, eclipsing its previous worst figure of 16.1 per cent in July. Meanwhile, BBC1 also had its worst monthly all-time share, at 19.51 per cent.
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Downloads and streaming rise on mobilesQuickPlay Media has unveiled the findings of its latest quarterly US consumer consumption analysis. The results-aggregate usage statistics from 17 representative QuickPlay-powered services revealed a rise in consumer demand for video downloads as well as a sharp increase in average length of stream views.
The latest findings, compiled between April 1st and June 30th, 2009, showed an increase in total video downloads and average downloads per user over the previous quarter. The increase in total downloads was driven in part by the release of PrimeTime2Go, a premium mobile TV service featuring full episodes of TV shows from leading networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN and MTVN.
Meanwhile, the results revealed that consumers of streaming video are watching content in longer sessions. While the total number of TV and video streams and the average streams per user were down slightly, there was a notable jump in the length of time spent viewing each individual stream.
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BTV launching HDBeijing TV Station (BTV) will take the lead in China to broadcast HD programmes starting from September 28th. BTV aims at broadcasting high definition programmes in three channels over the upcoming three years, and gradually finishing the reform of HD interactive cable TV networks as well as promoting HD interactive set-top boxes at the same time.
The TV station expected to develop 300,000 subscribers in key urban demonstrative sub-districts, and boost the user number to 2.6 million in three years. Currently, 240,000 subscribers are capable of receiving HD digital TV signals in the city.
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Arqiva appoints Keeling to launch VOD service
Arqiva has confirmed the appointment of former UKTV Controller and COO John Keeling to the role of Platform Controller for its new VOD service. Keeling will be responsible for overseeing all programming and marketing functions including brand development and content supply. He will also be responsible for appointing key programming and marketing staff for the forthcoming platform.
Arqiva announced its move into online content supply in July, with the aim of hosting top-end, quality content from leading broadcasters and independent content providers targeted at a discerning UK audience.
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Viaccess and Opentech secure ART pay-TV platforms
Viaccess and Opentech, a Korean company that produces digital STB technology, have signed a joint agreement with ART (Arab Radio and Television Network), the leading broadcaster of Arabic family programming, to secure ART Pay TV satellite platforms in the middle east region.
In the next coming months, ART and Viaccess are going to deploy Opentech MPEG-4 SD STB and the Praha Card (Proactive Against Hacker Attacks), one of the leading conditional access systems which is proactive against card sharing and enables hacker attack analysis.
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TechniSat MultyText for interactive DTVTechniSat, in cooperation with the German Weather Service and Strategy & Technology (S&T) of the UK, has unveiled TechniSat Germany & Regional weather service – the first MHEG-5 application in Germany.
The company is committed to equipping all of its digital receivers and IDTVs with TechniSat MultyText technology, thus paving the way for MHEG-5 to gain access to the German TV market. TechniSat MultyText is based on the successful open MHEG-5 standard used by the extremely successful Freeview digital terrestrial television (DVB-T) and Freesat digital satellite platforms in the UK. Freesat already carries HDTV, while Freeview is to begin HD broadcasts later this year.
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Tele Columbus selects Alcatel-Lucent for interactive TV
Alcatel-Lucent and Tele Columbus, one of the largest German cable operators serving 2.5 million households, have signed an agreement to introduce interactive television applications and a new TV experience to its independent cable networks throughout Germany. The service is scheduled to go live during the fourth quarter of 2009.Interactive TV services will enable viewers to use their remote controls to access and purchase additional content linked to a specific consumer brand product. Other services include voting, quizzes and games.
