From Branislav Pekic in Rome Italy's Communications Authority has opened its investigation into the satellite distribution of RAI channels, although it has has no objections to the launch of the TivùSat platform, set up jointly with Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media. According to the Authority, the inquiry “will determine the distribution mode for the smart […]
UPC Broadband is rolling out a new generation of 'green' set-top boxes with its suppliers Cisco, Pace and Thomson. The STBs have been designed to use less than 1W in stand-by mode and consumer an average of 5.5W. This will significantly reduce power consumption with an anticipated annual power consumption of 32KWh for the HD […]
ITV has welcomed a Government U turn on product placement. Ben Bradshaw, the culture secretary, is expected to propose this week that commercial broadcasters and TV producers will be able to receive payment to include brands in their programming. The move will bring the UK into line with Europe and the US, where product placement […]
Nagravision has debuted its new widget publishing platform. Internet-enabled set-top boxes or set-top-less TVs can run TV-centric widgets on the TV screen that are controlled by the customer’s standard remote. The platform allows operators to jointly develop with content partners, advanced widgets services in relation to live or on-demand content for pay TV subscribers. Additionally, […]
UK MSO Virgin Media is planning to migrate its legacy digital video delivery infrastructure to an IPTV platform and has selected Cisco Systems as its technology partner for the project. When completely deployed, the new TV platform will be capable of delivering advanced services to more than 12.6 million homes across Virgin Media’s footprint in […]
From Colin Mann in Amsterdam The demand for high definition TV services will drive the growth of pay-TV in the Middle East, according to Mohamed Youssif, the CEO of YahLive, the partnership between satellite operator SES Astra and Yahsat to offer Direct-to-Home (DTH) television capacity and services to more than two dozen countries in the […]
Fourteen media companies have formed a research organization to pursue new methods to measure audiences. The Council for Innovative Media Measurement, said they would finance studies and promote innovation in audience measurement. They will seek answers to the question: how should the buyers and sellers of advertising time take into account the consumers who are […]
Bridge Technologies, developer of the first complete satellite-to-set-top-box monitoring solution for digital TV operators, has revealed that its VideoBRIDGE system has been selected to provide the monitoring solution for Virgin Media’s digital broadcast TV platform. Virgin Media will roll out an all-IP broadcast installation at its 54 headends and four core IP sites to complement […]
CBS Studios has signed a programming deal with Chello Media. The joint venture, the first of its kind by CBS outside the US, will put thousands of hours of classic television on Chello's Zone channels, including Star Trek and Dynasty. The terms of the joint venture have not been released, but they will see Chello's […]
Nearly a year after the BBC first offered its iPlayer to rival UK broadcasters, none of which have joined, now, at IBC, Erik Huggers has declared open door for international TV companies. Huggers told the conference: "It is not a concept of aggregation, but federation. It's about making sure each of the broadcasters around the […]