Three weeks from now, just before the Christmas holiday, will see a Russian rocket launching Eutelsat’s Ka-Sat, a wonderful piece of satellite engineering complexity that will provide copious two-way broadband connectivity to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. At 6.1 tonnes in weight it is one of the heaviest satellites ever launched and will […]
AirTies has won a significant order from Turkey’s TTNET to supply its innovative set-top box and clever IPTV wireless solution for distributing HDTV signals around the home. AirTies’ home gateway supplies one of its Air 7120 high-def boxes along with its 4420 video bridging devices, taking advantage of any DNLA-enabled consumer items in the home, […]
VOD service SeeSaw has launched Ad Selector in the UK, which enables users to choose the ad they watch before streaming a programme. In what the online TV service from Arqiva is claiming as “a landmark first for the UK,” consumers will have the opportunity to choose from three separate ads by an individual brand […]
A planning meeting next week between the UK’s main networks on TV plans for next April’s marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton will discuss 3D-TV coverage. Jana Bennett, BBC Vision’s director, acknowledged that BSkyB had certain 3D plans of their own, but that the ‘pool’ of UK networks including the BBC and ITV channels […]
Media group Prisa, main owner of digital DTH platform, Digital Plus, is to get a cash injection of E650 million following the approval by shareholders of US investment group Liberty Acquisitions Holdings. Under the agreement, Prisa will buy 100 per cent of Liberty through the issuance of approximately E225 million new ordinary shares and 403 […]
Italy’s leading broadcasters, RAI and Mediaset, have launched two new TV channels, with the goal of further boosting their DTT offerings. Rai 5 will be taking the place of Rai Extra, ending the diversification of the 14-channel strong package from Italy’s state broadcaster. The schedule will be made up of varied and diverse programming, mainly […]
Chellomedia’s Digital Media Centre (DMC) in Amsterdam is marking its 10th anniversary of operations by revealing that it is to be renamed Chello DMC, reflecting the greater role it is set to play within Chellomedia. Built and launched 10 years ago to encode and distribute content digitally across Europe, the DMC has been at the […]
Marc Dorcel, a player in the European adult entertainment market, has confirmed the launch of its 3D subscription VOD service in Europe. The new service offers users a privileged access to more than 60 exclusive videos especially designed for 3D and produced with the latest recording technologies (3D cameras, side by side, full HD). The […]
MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) set-top box shipments surpassed MPEG-2-only set-top box shipments for the first time in 2010, with about 53 per cent of MPEG-4 shipments worldwide, suggests ABI Research. Despite the support for advanced encoding, however, pay-TV operators worldwide have been slow to support interactive features on set-top boxes. The research firm notes that historically, […]
Michael Grade, the former head of Channel 4, has called for the group to be funded by the BBC licence fee, “to repair a broadcasting model that is fast breaking down”. Grade, who was chief executive of C4 in the 1990s, said the move would allow C4 to abandon advertising as its source of funding, […]