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Our Latest Issues
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Tuesday
Friday 7th May
Italy could bring forward ASO to 2011
RTL strong Q1
Unity Media eyes acquisitions
New fibre net for Italy
FCC ‘will’ control US broadband
EC digital action plan
DirecTV doubles operating profit
Cisco acquires DVN STB business
First live transmission for DVB-C2
ETSI publishes latest hybrid TV standard
Eutelsat and Euro1080 partner for 3D content
Hathway chooses NDS
Numericable builds HD 3D VOD platform with Cisco
Italy could bring forward ASO to 2011
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItaly could bring forward the final analogue switch-off to 2011, according to the Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Paolo Romani.
Speaking during the Fifth Annual Digital Terrestrial Conference in Milan, Romani said that he will talk to the presidents of the Regions (Tuscany, Umbria, Sicily and Calabria), for which the ASO is due to take place in 2012, adding he expects to be able to bring ASO forward.President of the DGTVi (The Association of Digital Broadcasters), Andrea Ambrogetti agreed that there is no plausible reason to wait two more years to complete. He said that at the end of this year 70 per cent of the Italian population will have definitely abandoned analogue, while digital terrestrial penetration will have reached close to 85 per cent. Ambrogetti proposed that the timetable must be "immediately revised", so that all the remaining regions are scheduled for next year in order for the transition to be completed in early 2011.
Also in Milan, the vice-president of Mediaset, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, revealed that the broadcaster plans to launch an over-the-top TV (OTTV) decoder by Christmas that combines digital terrestrial and broadband functions. He added that Mediaset is currently working on an offer that is "completely independent" from telecommunications operators. In the meantime, the broadcaster plans to launch an HD box in July for the reception of its Premium On Demand service on digital terrestrial.
For his part, the director general of Telecom Italia Media, Marco Ghigliani, used the event to announce the launch of the MTV+ channel (dedicated to music and entertainment) and La7 on Demand (catch-up service) on DTT. The first will launch on May 17th, while the latter will be available by the end of May to those viewers equipped with a broadband connection.
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RTL strong Q1Europe's biggest commercial broadcaster RTL Group expects to see results improving this year compared with 2009 after it posted strong first-quarter earnings thanks to a recovery in TV advertising markets.
Compared to a weak first quarter in 2009, most of the Western European TV advertising markets recorded robust growth during the first quarter 2010, with Germany, France and the UK showing the best development, RTL said.
RTL reported a 7.2 per cent year-on-year increase in underlying revenue to E1.3 billion (£1.1bn) in the first three months of 2010. It is the first year-on-year revenue growth the company has seen since reporting a 3.2 per cent increase in the last quarter of 2008. Reported EBITDA surged by 126 per cent year on year in the first quarter to E197 million. Channel Five group reported an operating loss of E10 million last year.
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Unity Media eyes acquisitions
From Colin Mann in CologneUnity Media, Germany’s second largest German cable TV operator is seeking new takeover targets to compete more effectively with dominant telco Deutsche Telecom. "We expect a consolidation in the market," said, Gene Musselman, the new head of Unity Media, who is also a senior European manager for Unity Media parent company Liberty Global.
Primarily, the cable MSO is targeting the operators of the so-called level 4 cable companies. These provide cable networks to residential complexes with several thousand households, with TV programmes being supplied by operators such as Unity Media. "If the opportunity arises, we will buy these companies and take over their expiring contracts," Musselman revealed. Currently, Unity Media serves 4.5 million customers in Germany.
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New fibre net for ItalyVodafone, Wind and Swisscom’s Fastweb are collaborating to build a rival Italian broadband network to Telecom Italia’s.
The three Italian operators are preparing to launch a E2.5 billion broadband network plan. Under the five-year plan, the telcos are aiming to replace the traditional copper network by building a superfast broadband network in 15 cities. The move is likely to put pressure on Italy’s former fixed-line phone monopoly, Telecom Italia, in which Telefónica is a significant shareholder.
The companies are planning to co-invest in an optical fibre network and are seeking other network investors. The project will be open to all the other operators, including Telecom Italia, which is due to spend E700 million by the end of 2012 on fibre infrastructure in 13 cities.
Italian telecoms regulator, Agcom, has backed the creation of a new company, based on a consortium of operators and private and public investors.
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FCC ‘will’ control US broadbandThe FCC considers broadband service a sort of hybrid between an information service and a utility and that it has sufficient power to regulate Internet traffic under existing law, despite recent court cases that say it doesn’t. Last month, a federal appeals court ruled that the FCC had exceeded its authority by telling Comcast the nation’s largest cable company, that it had to give Internet users equal access to all online content providers, even if some of their content was clogging Comcast’s network.
The FCC decision is likely to be seen as a victory for OTT providers. The FCC has limited authority over information services but it has vast powers to regulate certain utilities. It contends that a mix of those powers can be applied to broadband service.
"The chairman will seek to restore the status quo as it existed prior to the court decision," a senior FCC official said, "to fulfill the previously stated agenda of extending broadband to all Americans, protecting consumers, ensuring fair competition, and preserving a free and open Internet," the NYT reported a commissioner as saying.
The FCC is expected to assert that the agency, under its powers to regulate phone service, is permitted to require broadband service providers to follow certain transmission guidelines, including safeguarding privacy, not discriminating against certain types of content providers, offering service to rural customers at the same rate as urban customers and providing access to people with disabilities.
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EC digital action planOn May 19th, The European Commission will adopt a ten-year ‘digital agenda' aimed at unleashing the economic potential of its information and communication technologies (ICT) sector. The agenda, which has mainly been drawn up by Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for the digital agenda, will cover investment, the removal of regulatory barriers, and legislation to improve consumer confidence in online shopping.
The draft of the paper describes the EU's online single market as "seriously incomplete". It outlines legislative plans to improve "the governance and transparency" of online copyright management by 2011, and to introduce "pan-European licences" for online use of creative content.
The Commission envisages an EU-wide "online dispute resolution system", EU "trust marks" for internet retailers, and revised legislation on e-signatures to give consumers more confidence to shop on websites based in other member states. There are also plans for increasing research and development spending on ICT, developing e-health applications, and tackling cybercrime.
The Commission warns in the paper that Europe is "lagging behind" in rolling out next generation broadband (that is, in replacing copper networks with fibre). It plans to "reinforce" funding for high-speed broadband from the EU budget, including through "credit enhancement" schemes linked to the European Investment Bank. The Commission will also issue a recommendation (expected in June) clarifying the financial conditions that telecoms companies can impose on rival firms that want to share their networks. Operators have long complained that a lack of clarity in this area has prevented them from installing fibre networks.
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DirecTV doubles operating profitDirecTV reported an increase in first quarter 2010 revenues of 14 per cent to $5.61 billion, operating profit before depreciation and amortization of 44 per cent to $1.58 billion and a more than doubling of operating profit to $956 million compared to last year's first quarter. DirecTV reported that first quarter net income more than doubled to $558 million.
"We're starting 2010 with record-setting financial results that point to the tremendous operating and financial strengths of our businesses in both the US and Latin America," said Mike White, president and CEO of DirecTV. "Driven by our differentiated and compelling suite of products and services offered throughout the Americas, DIRECTV achieved solid double digit revenue growth, significant margin expansion and a more than doubling of free cash flow in the quarter to an all-time high level."White finished, "Looking forward, we plan to build on DIRECTV's operating momentum and its heritage of innovation. We have already begun extending our HD leadership as we launch more than 30 new HD channels over the coming weeks. Later this year, we will introduce several other compelling products including a greatly enhanced DIRECTV Cinema, multi-room viewing, 3D programming and the debut of our much-anticipated home media center. We also have exciting growth plans in Latin America highlighted by unparalleled coverage of the FIFA World Cup beginning next month including the region's most comprehensive HD coverage and daily broadcasts of original content."
ARPU of $85.47 increased 6.4 per cent due to programming package price increases, higher HD and DVR service fees, and higher advertising sales. Net additions of 100,000 were lower than a year ago primarily due to last year's transition of free-to-air broadcasts from analogue to digital as well as a tougher competitive environment. DirecTV US ended the quarter with 18.66 million subscribers, an increase of 3 per cent over the 18.08 million subscribers reported on March 31st, 2009.
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Cisco acquires DVN STB businessCisco has completed its acquisition of the STB business of DVN. Listed in Hong Kong with major operations in China, DVN is a market and technology leader in digital cable solutions in China and shares Cisco's vision of a high-performance, scalable and services-rich cable interactive platform extending into every home.
The newly-acquired business will run entirely from within China – from design, sourcing and logistics through to marketing, sales and service. The acquisition will enable Cisco to offer customers in China an end-to-end solution, including DVN's STB products and the Cisco IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) platform.
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First live transmission for DVB-C2
The DVB Project has announced a major milestone with the success of the first live transmission employing DVB-C2, the new second-generation baseline transmission system for digital television via cable networks. The significance of the live transmission demonstrates that DVB-C2 is now ready for implementation and will provide real opportunities for MSOs to introduce new tiers of HDTV, VOD and interactive TV services.
DVB-C2 employs the latest modulation and coding techniques to enable highly efficient use of cable networks. It offers a range of modes and options that can be optimised for the different network characteristics and the requirements of the different services planned for delivery to cable customers. It offers greater than 30 per cent higher spectrum efficiency under the same conditions as today’s DVB-C deployments. After analogue switch-off the cable networks can be optimised for digital transmission. This will result in a capacity increase of about 60% for DVB-C2 as compared to DVB-C.
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ETSI publishes latest hybrid TV standardIMPALA, the International MHEG Promotion Alliance, announces that ETSI – the European Telecommunications Standards Institute – has published the latest version of the public standard interactive TV middleware as a formal European standard.
Version 2.1.1 of ETSI standard 202 184 – to give it its official title – contains a raft of very significant updates to the original ETSI MHEG specification from 2004, representing the most important increase in the technology’s capabilities since its inception. These include support for the IP-based MHEG Interaction Channel, which enables hybrid broadcast broadband receiver operation via an IP connection – already being used by Freesat in the UK for catch-up TV services – and full support for HD graphics with increased colour depth and screen resolutions.
The latest version of MHEG was submitted to ETSI in late September and has now been fully ratified. David Cutts, MD of S&T, a Founder Member of IMPALA, says, "The publication of the new version of MHEG by ETSI is a significant milestone for the world’s most popular open standard interactive TV middleware. These developments are a step change in the capabilities of the globally deployed technology providing broadcasters with a cost-effective route into a new world of hybrid service provision and therefore revenue growth."
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Eutelsat and Euro1080 partner for 3D contentEutelsat Communications and Euro1080 have announced the signature of a new partnership designed to further enrich the content of Eutelsat's 3D channel which is broadcast across Europe by the Eurobird 9A satellite.
In this exclusive agreement, Euro1080 together with its TV production company Alfacam, a pioneer in HD production and broadcasting, will bring to the 3D channel their extensive experience of production and recording in 3D of sports events and concerts, as well as their technical resources. They will also bring a unique directory of over 100 hours of 3D content including football, tennis, boxing, cricket, documentaries and concerts.
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Hathway chooses NDSNDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, today announced that it has signed a new agreement with Hathway, the leading Multi System Operator (MSO) in India, which will enable Hathway to rapidly accelerate deployment of digital STBs and significantly boost its digital cable TV subscriber base over the next 12 months.
NDS will provide Hathway with a customised, end-to-end solution, to include the sourcing of digital STBs, integration of NDS Conditional Access System (CAS) and middleware, management of the deployment and ongoing maintenance and support.
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Numericable builds HD 3D VOD platform with CiscoCisco has announced that French cable service provider Numericable is building one of the world's first HD 3D VOD service based on the Cisco Content Delivery System platform. The company originally deployed the platform to support VOD, catch-up TV and user-generated content services. The award-winning Cisco Content Delivery System provides Numericable with the flexibility and scale to expand its service offering as its 3.5 million TV customers start setting their sights on the third dimension.
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Thursday 6th May
1.5m ABC plays on iPad
Liberty Global: focus on speed and iDTV
CME begins recovery
News profit up on 3D
TW profit flies
CNN and CBS revive talks
Sirius 19m subs
Wyplay closes E9m round
Unitymedia and household device control from ruwido
Chorus-NTL renamed UPC
Finecom deploys security from Verimatrix
Ensequence interactive content for Showtime Sports
1.5m ABC plays on iPadWalt Disney has said that owners of Apple’s iPad played more than 1.5 million episodes of ABC television shows since the computer went on sale. More than 400,000 copies of the free ABC player have been downloaded since April 3rd, Disney said. Free shows are sponsored by advertisers, others are for sale from the Apple’s iTunes store.
The new version of ABC’s player software released this week improves the rewind and fast-forward functions, Disney said.
Sky Deutschland is planning services for the iPad it revealed at Anga this week.
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Liberty Global: focus on speed and iDTV
From Colin Mann in CologneManuel Kohnstamm, Managing Director, Public Policy and Communications at Liberty Global has revealed that the global cable operator’s strategy moving forward is to concentrate on accelerating broadband cable’s speed advantage over telco DSL and developing interactive digital television (iDTV) services.
Recognising that the cable industry’s success in rolling out high-speed broadband networks had forced the competition to accelerate investment in network upgrades, Kohnstamm told delegates attending the ANGA Cable Broadband Summit that although cable was a large player, it was competing with other, larger players across Europe and in Germany.
"With limitations on size and geographic reach, we are focusing on our unique selling propositions," he said. Central to this was speed. "Cable starts where DSL ends," he asserted. "We had to play catch-up. Now it’s our way of grabbing market share back. We are now benefiting from structural investments and cable is leapfrogging DSL"
"iDTV is essential to compete," he added. "We will deploy advanced sets of services that will increasingly integrate with high-speed broadband. We want people to fall back in love with the TV. We’ll be extending co-operation with content providers and using our broadband superiority to lead in TV innovation. Accelerating speed and developing iDTV are the two cornerstones of our strategy."
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CME begins recovery
Central European Media Enterprises (CME) had revenues of $143.641 million for the first quarter, an increase of 5 per cent on the period in 2009. The net loss eased by 5 per cent to $42.294 million.Adrian Sarbu, president and CEO of CME, said: "We have rebuilt CME as a vertically integrated media and entertainment company to better face the challenges in our industry. Demand for TV advertising continued to decline in the first quarter although at a slower pace. Central and Eastern Europe will gradually emerge from the crisis during the first half of 2010 and in the second half the demand for TV advertising is expected to show single digit growth. As recovery progresses we will convert our leading audience and market shares into strong revenues and operating margins."
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News profit up on 3DNews Corp. sales and operating income got a big boost in the quarter to March 31, thanks to blockbuster movie Avatar. News Corp. reported that filmed entertainment operating income rose 76 per cent, to $497 million, thanks to the highest grossing film of all time.
Total revenue at parent group News Corporation was $8.8 billion during the first three months of this year, up $1.4 billion and 19 per cent when compared with the same period in 2009. Operating income was $1.25 billion, a 55 per cent increase year on year, and net income of $861 million, down 69 per cent year on year.
The Newspapers and Information Services division, of which News International is a large part, had an operating income of $131m in the first three months of this year, up from $102 million in the same period of 2009.
News Corp's share of UK pay TV broadcaster BSkyB's earnings (it owns 39 per cent of Sky), during the first three months of 2010 was $176 million, up from losses of $7 million in the first three months of 2009.
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Time Warner enjoyed the most profitable quarter in its history thanks to an ad recovery and strong movie performance. Net income rose to $725 million, up from $660 million in the prior period. Revenue was up 5 per cent, to $6.3 billion, for the quarter, the company's biggest gain in almost two years.
Time Warner's cable TV unit also showed a remarkable rise in ad revenue, up 9 per cent or $67 million on the year ago period thanks to stronger scatter pricing and growth at international operations at international operations. The increase is a major sequential improvement compared to fourth quarter when the unit saw a 4 per cent dip in ad revenue.
Subscription revenue rose 7 per cent, or $131 million, partly due to growth at international channels and favourable foreign exchange rates. Content revenue from programme and product sales grew 22 per cent, or $46 million. Revenue at the networks unit rose 9 per cent, or $252 million, to $3 billion.
Elsewhere, the publishing segment revenue fell 1 per cent, to $799 million, while revenue at the film unit grew 2 per cent, to $2.7 billion.
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CNN, part of Time Warner, and CBS News have rekindled discussions to strike a news-gathering partnership for the third time over the last 13 years. A partnership would aim to defray the high cost of news gathering at a time when viewers have flocked to less objective channels such as MSNBC and Fox News, or online.
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Sirius 19m subsThe first quarter 2010 report from Sirius XM showed that the satellite radio provider closed March 31st closed with 18,944,199 subs, up approximately 2 per cent from the 1Q09, though according to CEO Mel Karmazin the company passed the 19 million last week.
The vast majority of the company's subscribers (approximately 11.4 million in Q1) were OEM subs, indicating the success of the company's in-car strategy.Net sub additions in the quarter totalled 171,441, a mega improvement from the more than 400,000 lost in 1Q09. Quarterly pro forma revenue was up 11 per cent over the year earlier period to $670.6 million; free cash flow, however, tumbled to -$127.2 million from -$3.6 million in 1Q09. Sirius XM continues to project net sub additions of 500,000 for 2010.
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Wyplay, a pioneer in the development of the HD Media Center, has closed a E9 million euro third round of financing. Amundi Private Equity Funds, who led this 3rd round, was joined by A Plus Finance, Elaia Partners and Sofinnova Partners, Wyplay’s second round lead investors reflecting their continued confidence in the company. Together with the two previous investment rounds totaling E14 million, the third round of investment brings the amount raised by Wyplay to E23 million over three years.
Wyplay provides state-of-the-art solutions for Connected-HDTVs, Media Center CE devices, HD IPTV boxes, HD Set Top Boxes, and in-home media-HDD products. Wyplay has to date experienced an immediate and remarkable success among international Tier 1 clients that include SFR-Vodafone, the world’s 3rd largest IPTV operator, and D-Link, the leading end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumers and business.
"Together with Sofinnova, Elaia Partners and A Plus Finance, we have built an international recognized company in the CE industry by delivering disruptive solutions to major international customers" said Jacques Bourgninaud, Wyplay CEO. "This new round will enable us to expand our current offering by adding breakthrough web services including an Application Store and the aggregation of hundreds of on-line TV content providers."
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Unitymedia and household device control from ruwido
From Colin Mann in CologneRemote control specialist ruwido austria is to supply German cable operator Unitymedia with the remote control for its new HD box.
The remote was specially adjusted to the on screen graphical user interface, reducing the number of buttons to provide an enhanced user experience. Besides controlling the available HDTV service, the new remote includes a TV database in order to perform basic actions like the turning on/off of the TV set.
ruwido has also developed a learning functionality application for its voco media interactive IPTV platform. This function enables consumers to control a number of devices in the home through the set-top box. Via the new application, the main functions of any device that that operates through infra-red, can be controlled on the TV screen.
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Chorus-NTL renamed UPCIrish Cable TV company Chorus-NTL has renamed itself UPC as it seeks to distance itself from an often patchy customer service in the past and to sell new services such as super-fast broadband. The company has moved to the name UPC used by owner Liberty Global in several European countries.
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Finecom deploys security from VerimatrixVerimatrix, provider of software-based digital video security, has announced the deployment of the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) for DVB Hybrid on the Finecom Telecommunications DVB-C / IP hybrid network. Combining an IP-based fibre to the home (FTTH) network with its existing DVB-C plant enables Finecom to offer its triple-play Quickline service line for high-speed broadband Internet, telephony and digital TV. Finecom is the second largest cable operator in Switzerland with more than 200,000 subscribers in 196 municipalities.
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Ensequence interactive content for Showtime SportsEnsequence, the interactive TV company, has been selected by premium channel Showtime Networks as the developer of choice to help bring EBIF Interactive TV to the network’s sports programming. Ensequence worked with the Showtime Networks in-house interactive TV team to add data-driven interactivity to Showtime Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts programming. Initially available on Verizon FiOS TV, the interactive TV application gives fight fans access to stats, fighter profiles, polling, fight calendars and a trivia game.
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Wednesday 5th May
Linear and on-demand grows
Sky Deutschland success based on HD
ANGA Chief: Applaud investment
Virgin Media exceeds 200m on demand views
RAI to air Italian cup final in 3D, and relaunch TV offer
Comcast worst US company?
Ziggo backs Pirate Bay
KD goes CI+
Kabel BW’s DOCSIS 3.0 upgrade
Pace targets Indian and UAE markets
Harmonic secures Romanian and Austrian deals
Widevine for DISH Network's TV Everywhere
Linear and on-demand growsNew figures show that people in the UK watched 30 hours of linear TV a week during the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 2 hours, 29 minutes on the same period last year with growth seen across every age group.
The figures from The Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) and published in Thinkbox’s Q1 Review, show that commercial broadcast TV viewing accounted for 61.46 per cent of total viewing in Q1. The average viewer watched 18 hours, 29 minutes of commercial TV a week in Q1, up by an hour on the same period last year.
The figures, which do not include TV viewed on devices other than TV sets, underline the continuing popularity of the linear TV schedule in the UK as on-demand TV services are increasingly available. Nonetheless ‘time-shifted’ viewing accounted for a total of 6.9 per cent of TV consumption in Q1. In households that have digital television recorders such as Sky+ or Freeview+, timeshifting represented 13.7 per cent. 80.2 per cent of timeshifted viewing took place within 7 days of the original broadcast; time-shifted and on-demand viewing that occurred after 7 days is not included in the BARB figures.
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Sky Deutschland success based on HD
From Colin Mann in CologneBrian Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of Sky Deutschland, has stated that the future success of the satellite pay-TV platform will be based on HD and differentiating on quality.
Speaking during the ANGA Cable Strategy Summit, Sullivan recognised that Sky was replacing an established, but damaged brand in Premiere. "We’ve recapitalised and acquired Bundesliga rights, but these things aren’t consumer facing," he admitted. "HD will be a big part of our success going forward," he said, adding that Sky would be offering three more HD channels in August. He also doubted that the platform would be offering increasing amounts of additional channels. "There will be no SD channels that don’t have a complementary HD channel," he said, noting that at the present time, HD was not a driver of pay-TV success in Germany.
In terms of enhancing the subscriber experience, Sullivan said that Sky would be offering new and innovative ways to consumer content, via DVRs and other CE devices. "We’ll be doing it everywhere, TV has to be exciting. It‘s not just a case of putting more marketing money in," he advised.
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ANGA Chief: Applaud investment
From Colin Mann in CologneInvestment in high-speed broadband networks should applauded, not punished, according to Thomas Braun, President of ANGA Association of Cable Operators.
Delivering the welcome address at the opening of the ANGA Cable Trade Fair, Braun noted that although cable had perhaps been late in developing its networks, it had made great progress in recent years. "We’re an important driver of competition, and we’re seeking to increase our market share," he said. "We would like to see the Federal Ministry get involved. We’re one of the few industries that has grown, but there’s still potential left."
Hans-Joachim Otto, Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, said the Ministry was aware of the importance of the industry, but suggested that competition was the best driver for innovation. "State subsidy is not relevant," he said. "Our belief in a competition driven market is correct."
In an effort to ensure that the majority of citizens had access to at least 1 Mbps downstream by the end of 2010, he suggested that there be co-operation between cable companies and telcos to use existing infrastructure.
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Virgin Media exceeds 200m on demand viewsVirgin Media had 200 million views of on demand TV content in the first three months of 2010. Channel 4’s on demand service, 4oD, enjoyed a record-breaking three months with nearly 19 million views of catch up content during Q1 2010. BBC iPlayer saw over 50 million views during Q1 2010.
There is no news on monetizing this expansion in VOD. So far, it’s only selling ads against its VMtv channels and only to one agency, Aegis, on an exclusive basis.
Meanwhile Virgin is to boost its marketing spend by as much as 30 per cent this year, to about £170 million, (E196m) with heavy advertising planned for products including high definition services and high-speed broadband.
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RAI to air Italian cup final in 3D, and relaunch TV offer
From Branislav Pekic in RomeItalian public broadcaster RAI has teamed up with The Space Cinema Circuit and Infront Italy for the first 3D transmission of a sports event in Italy.
On May 5th, RAI will be broadcasting the Italian Cup Final, played between Roma and Inter, in 3D. The signal will be encrypted and will only be received in 8 cinemas belonging to the Space Cinema Network in Rome, Milan and Parma. The satellite transmission will be ensured by the Atlantic Bird 3 satellite (5 degrees West).
RAI is also preparing for a relaunch its TV offer and to redesign its logos on May 18th, the date of the partial ASO in Lombardy, Eastern Piedmont, Parma and Piacenza.
Besides Rai 1, Rai 2, Rai 3, Rai 4, Rai News, Rai Storia, Rai Sport 1, the line-up will also include Rai Movie (previously RaiSat Cinema), Rai Yoyo (previously RaiSat Yoyo, for pre-school children), Rai Gulp (for boys), Rai Sport 2 and Rai HD (launching during the World Cup) and Rai 5 (cultural channel, including documentaries, features and magazines). After the World Cup, the Rai HD channel will air sports, movies and TV series in High Definition.
RAI Deputy Director, Giancarlo Leone, does not exclude the possibility of RAI launching a pay-TV offer, but adds that such a decision must be made and included in the new business plan to be approved by the Board of Directors.
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Comcast worst US company?Comcast ‘won’ the Worst Company In America award from readers of The Consumerist blog, where "shoppers bite back".
It seems tough given the behaviour of banks and the fortunes of Toyota, for instance, but shows the dangers of poor customer service in a business that deals with customers all day long.
Fairly or unfairly, Comcast’s reputation had got so bad the company took the opportunity of a new product launch to change its customer-facing name to Xfinity. But it’s not just customer service, readers had also been annoyed by what they see as above-inflation price rises, throttling Internet access, and Comcast’s plans to buy NBC Universal.
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Ziggo backs Pirate BayDutch ISP Ziggo, the country’s largest, is facing court action for its refusal to block subscriber access to Swedish BitTorrent tracker site The Pirate Bay. It insists that it’s simply a conduit to the Internet and shouldn’t be forced to filter the results, especially considering there’s no legal basis for such a request. "We are simply a channel," said a spokesman for the telco. "We give people access to the Internet and support an open Internet."
Anti-piracy organisation Stichting Brein counters that it does have a legal basis for demanding that copyright infringing websites be filtered. It says that although the "Internet is public but there is no right of access to an illegal site."
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KD goes CI+
From Colin Mann in CologneKabel Deutschland, Germany’s largest cable network operator and biggest triple play provider, is to introduce Common Interface Plus (CI+) modules based on the NDS VideoGuard conditional access (CA) system. KD is the first operator to support the CI+ specification in Germany.
The CI+ specification is based on extensions to the European DVB-Common Interface standard, put in place to address a critical security need to ensure that content is protected – a feature not present when delivered through CI modules. It allows consumer electronics manufactures to launch a wide range of devices, such as integrated Digital TV-sets that can easily and securely provide access to KD’s Digital TV programmes through plug-in CI+ modules. KD introduced their CI+ modules on May 3rd.
Wolfgang Zeller, Vice President Service Engineering of Kabel Deutschland, noted that the CI+ standard had been strongly advocated by the consumer electronics industry, and that he expected to see a wide variety of devices on the market in the near future.
Separately, NDS revealed that Sky Deutschland, the largest pay-TV operator in Germany and Austria, had chosen NDS XTV secure integrated digital video recorder (DVR) technology to power its Sky+ HD DVR service.
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Kabel BW’s DOCSIS 3.0 upgrade
From Colin Mann in CologneGerman cable MSO Kabel BW has selected EuroDOCSIS 3.0 solutions from Motorola to offer personalised media experiences to customers in cities in the German federal state Baden-Wuerttemberg, with broadband speeds of currently up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps). Kabel BW currently has over 2.3 million customers
The extended services portfolio of Kabel BW is based on Motorola’s BSR 64000 Integrated CMTS (I-CMTS) and TX32 decoupled downstream module. The EuroDOCSIS 3.0 and channel bonding solutions enable Kabel BW to deliver additional advanced multimedia via higher-rate broadband service tiers while protecting existing DOCSIS deployments and investment.
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Pace targets Indian and UAE marketsPace Networks, a specialised division of Pace plc, has signed Kromtek as its latest Networks Approved Partner (NAP). United Arab Emirates-based Kromtek will rollout the MultiDweller distribution platform to its payTV customers in India, opening up payTV and other entertainment services as the sub-continent moves from analogue to digital. Kromtek will also target hotels in Dubai.
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Harmonic secures Romanian and Austrian deals
From Colin Mann in CologneDigital Cable Systems (DCS), Romania’s third largest cable and direct-to-home (DTH) satellite service provider, has deployed Harmonic’s market-leading digital video delivery solutions to power its new AKTA TV digital service. Harmonic's fully integrated IP-based solutions enable DCS to reduce capital and operating expenditures by using a national IP transport backbone to deliver high quality digital TV services to remote headends across the country.
Harmonic also confirmed that Kabelsignal has deployed Harmonic’s IP-based video processing solutions for its kabelDigitalTV service in Austria.
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Widevine for DISH Network's TV EverywhereWidevine, a provider of digital entertainment solutions, has been selected by DISH Network to provide adaptive streaming, virtual DVD-like "trick play" and digital rights management (DRM) for the pay-TV provider’s TV Everywhere service. Widevine’s video optimisation and DRM platform will ensure that DISH Network customers viewing their live and on demand shows throughout the home with TV Everywhere receive the highest-quality entertainment, while at the same time ensuring that DISH Network programming is securely delivered wirelessly to any device anywhere in the home.
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Monday 3rd May
Sky deal makes others gamble
Google TV software in May
C4 Lygo goes to ITV
Time Warner Cable uplift
Apple v Adobe Flash
KDG DOCSIS build out
Virgin HD ads
Clearleap lean back
Sky deal makes others gambleBSkyB and Ofcom have reached an interim agreement on how to handle the period of Sky's appeal to the Competition Appeals Tribunal for Ofcom's wholesale price regulation order to be suspended.
In essence, the terms of the WMO (Wholesale Must Offer) order are narrowed to specify, for now, the beneficiaries of lower prices as BT, Top Up and Virgin (on cable and DTT). For the period the appeal is in process current prices will be paid by these companies but the premium to the new prices specified by Ofcom will be held in escrow accounts until the appeal is determined. At the conclusion of the appeal, the CAT will determine the distribution of the monies held in escrow.
Sky said: “We are pleased to have been able to put forward an agreement which provides substantial protection against the short-term impacts of Ofcom's decision. We remain fully focused on our substantive appeal, which will be filed with the CAT in due course.”
While the move looks like a Sky compromise, in fact it puts the onus on the other providers to decide whether to gamble on launching new lower priced packages not knowing what the ultimate cost to them of those packages will be. They will have to calculate whether launching the services will create a momentum that will make WMO more likely, or whether it's an unacceptable risk without cost certainty.
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Google TV software in MayGoogle is planning to introduce Android-based television software to developers at an event in May, according to US reports.
The technology is attracting interest from partners that include Sony, Intel and Logitech International, which are expected to offer products that support the software.
Google is planning on sharing some details about the technology with more than 3,000 developers expected to attend its Google I/O conference in San Francisco May 19 and 20. The decision to address developers suggests the search giant may be hoping to kick-start a race to build applications for its TV platform, much in the same way that Apple and others have courted developers for smartphones.
The app-store approach has already begun to gain traction among some players in the TV market, too, aided by the advent of connected TVs.
But before developers invest in TV apps from Google, they'll want to see significant adoption of the software among hardware makers. Intel, the dominant player in chips for PCs, has been trying for years to play a bigger role in set-top boxes, with its efforts focusing lately around a chip called Atom that is used in low-end laptop PCs.
Reports say Sony has agreed to use a version of Atom in forthcoming products that include TVs and a set-top box. One of them said that while many of the company's product roadmaps will include Google software based on Android, Sony is not betting exclusively on the technology.
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C4 Lygo goes to ITVITV announced the appointment of Kevin Lygo as Managing Director of ITV Studios. Adam Crozier, new Chief Executive of ITV, said: “A clear outcome of the ongoing strategy review is the importance of our in-house production arm to the future of ITV's business.
“Kevin's appointment underlines our commitment to ensuring home-grown content stays at the heart of our business and our focus on attracting the very best creative talent, both on and off-screen, to ITV. His track record in finding hit programmes and exploiting content will be invaluable as ITV focuses on improving its hit rate across all platforms – television, online and mobile.
Kevin Lygo said: “ITV Studios is one of the most successful commercial producers in the UK and owns some of the biggest brands in TV. Our goal is to keep those programmes fresh and relevant, develop new hits and exploit the full value of those properties across all platforms in the UK and internationally.”
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Time Warner Cable upliftTime Warner Cable's first-quarter net income rose to $214 million, compared with $164 million a year earlier. Free cash flow rose 78 per cent, to $652 million, as it lowered capital spending.
Revenue rose 5.4 per cent, to $4.6 billion, during the quarter. The cable company was also helped by a rebound in advertising sales, which rose 19.3 per cent, to $173 million. The company said it was confident it would meet its goal of a 15 per cent rise in ad sales this year.
Landell Hobbs, the chief operating officer of Time Warner Cable, said that the company had added twice as many high-speed Internet customers as AT&T and Verizon combined in the first quarter.
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Apple v Adobe FlashSteve Jobs, Apple chief executive has published an open letter explaining why it is continuing to reject the most widely used format for viewing internet videos. Jobs elaborated on comments made in February against the use of Flash, the most widely-used format for viewing videos on the internet, which is controlled by Adobe Systems. He said Flash videos drained device batteries twice as fast as those encoded in other formats; that Flash was the leading cause of system crashes on Apple's Mac computers and that Flash programmes performed poorly on mobile devices – especially those controlled by touch rather than a mouse.
In place of Flash, Apple backs other formats including HTML5, an open web standard that it is urging more websites to adopt.
The letter underscores the group's determination to keep the allegiance of as many software developers as it can as competition grows among high-tech devices. “Our motivation is simple – we want to provide the most advanced and innovative platform to our developers, and we want them to stand directly on the shoulders of this platform and create the best apps the world has ever seen”, Jobs wrote.
Apple products do not support Flash content, meaning websites that use it will not play videos on the iPhone, iPod or the new iPad tablet device. Programmers who write applications based on Flash have been able to convert them for use in Apple gadgets, but this month Apple clamped down and said it would reject such apps from its massive online store, citing their poor performance.
Adobe posted a short response saying the legal terms Apple imposed on software developers had led it to shift its focus away from Apple.
Kevin Lynch, Adobe's chief technology officer, wrote in a blog: "We feel confident that were Apple and Adobe to work together as we are with a number of other partners, we could provide a terrific experience with Flash on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch."
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KDG DOCSIS build out
Kabel Deutschland, Germany's largest cable operator, is launching DOCSIS 3.0 products in two additional cities, Hanover and Munich.
Later in the summer of 2010, Kabel Deutschland will rollout DOCSIS 3.0 in the city of Berlin. Later in the year, the cities of Leipzig and Dresden will follow.
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Virgin HD adsVirgin Media unveiled its first High Definition (HD) TV advertising campaign. The new ads showcase Virgin Media's growing HD line up, including BBC HD, ITV1 HD, ESPN HD, LIVING HD and, soon to launch, Film4 HD. Virgin Media currently offers 12 HD TV channels across sport, entertainment, film, nature and documentaries, all available at no extra monthly fee, alongside hundreds of hours of on demand HD content. The new ad will air from May 1st.
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Clearleap lean backClearleap, the web based TV technology platform today unveiled an EBIF application designed to give cable, IPTV and satellite TV subscribers a continuous, lean back viewing experience for short form programming on VOD. The application, dubbed MyPlaylistTV, provides TV viewers with the ability to generate pre-populated play lists from their VOD libraries and have the video segments stream in a linear fashion, with numerous options to navigate forward, backward and between different play lists without the usual stops and starts of today's VOD systems.
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The web-like user interface, which was developed in partnership with itaas, sorts content by category or genre and leverages Clearleap's cloud based video management platform and footage from its Content Marketplace, a collection of scouted, vetted, and licensed programming from national, special interest and best-of-web programmers.
Designed to target a large footprint, this application was developed to run on both legacy and next-gen EBIF enabled set-top boxes.
