Advanced Television

Thomson iDTV for Canal+ VOD

Canal+ and TV set manufacturer TCL have unveiled the first Thomson TV set allowing direct access to the CanalPlay video on demand platform. The partnership, unprecedented in France, represents a breakthrough in access to content on demand among the next generation of connected televisions. Available as of November, the new Thomson mywishTV LCD TVs are […]

November 5, 2009

CIMM audience measurement to meet with STB data firms

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement has confirmed it will meet with five of the research firms currently providing set-top box data as a first step towards figuring out how the data could be used to measure TV audiences. The five companies asked to participate in the proprietary meetings are Nielsen, Rentrak, TiVo, TRA and […]

November 5, 2009

Asia TV subs higher than rest of world combined

The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has published new data for subscription TV penetration across the Asia Pacific, noting that the region now has 326 million pay-TV, up 26 million homes in 2009. According to CASBAA estimates, backed by global data, subscription television in Asia Pacific now reaches more homes than the […]

November 5, 2009

Australian rights case 'we have no right to disconnect'

Australian ISP IINET chief Michael Malone has told the NSW Federal Court that the ISP’s service agreements did not provide it with sufficient contractual rights to take action against customers who infringe copyright online. Malone made the comments during cross-examination by lawyers representing a loose coalition of 34 entertainment companies – represented by the Australian […]

November 5, 2009

Canvas will cost £115m, no need for owners to be PDBs

BBC executives have told the BBC Trust, which is examining the Canvas project, that its total cost over its first four years will exceed £115m (E128m) including £48m+ of marketing costs. To help attract new shareholders and spread that cost executives have proposed the stipulation that the company must be controlled by PSBs should be […]

November 5, 2009

EU 'compromise' on file-sharers

The European Parliament and Council will include in its Telecoms Reform Package an entitlement for all broadband customers in all 27 EU states to be put through a “fair and impartial procedure” before being disconnected. The outcome is a compromise agreed after intense lobbying from ISPs in one side and rights holders on the others. […]

November 5, 2009

BBC iPlayer on Freesat this month

The BBC has confirmed that it will start beta testing its popular iPlayer service on Freesat from the end of this month. BBC's iPlayer debuted on Virgin Media's cable service last year, but this will be the first subscription-free platform to get the fully-fledged version of iPlayer. ….

November 5, 2009

Comcast profit up 22%

Comcast Corp’s quarterly profit rose 22 percent, beating expectations, as it sold more phone and Internet subscriptions, helping the top U.S. cable operator fight competition from phone and satellite companies for video subscribers. It reported 361,000 new high-speed Internet customers and 375,000 new digital phone subscribers in the third quarter, offsetting the loss of 132,000 […]

November 5, 2009

RVU welcomes first promoter members

The RVU Alliance has announced that Motorola, Humax, Thomson, Pace, Entropic, NXP Semiconductors, and JetHead Development have joined as the first Promoter members. The RVU Alliance encourages the rapid, broad and open industry adoption of remote user interface technology optimized for thin-client networked CE devices in the home "The newly formed RVU Alliance is capturing […]

November 5, 2009

Pace on track

Set top box maker Pace said it was on course to meet management expectations as it delivered a bullish trading update. “As anticipated in the half yearly statement, average selling prices are increasing in the second half of 2009 when compared to the first half due to a greater proportion of HD PVRs in the […]

November 5, 2009