Advanced Television

Netflix pays $2m per episode for The Blacklist

From September 6th, the first season of NBC’s The Blacklist will be available to stream on Netflix. Netflix has entered into what is understood to be the “biggest subscription video-on-demand deal” in history according to Deadline, with Sony Pictures TV receiving $2 million per episode for Season 1, and all future seasons of the series […]

August 29, 2014

StarTimes in DRC row

Pay-TV operator StarTimes Group is potentially in hot water in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), StarTimes is extremely active with subscription TV in Africa and is stuck in the middle of a political dispute between two senior politicians in the country. On the one hand there’s the head of the Congo’s Post & Telecoms […]

August 29, 2014

Envivio powers cloud video in China

Delivery solutions specialist Envivio has deployed what it claims is the first cloud video transcoding service in China for Beijing Gehua CATV Network (BGCTV). It is said to be the first multi-screen video service offered by a Chinese cable network operator using a cloud solution, and the largest multi-screen cable service offered in China, estimated […]

August 29, 2014

Trace Sports expands footprint in Africa

Trace Sport Stars, the sports entertainment channel, has signed a carriage deal with Montage, a new DTH platform currently operating out of Lagos, Nigeria. The Montage deal increases the number of major pan-African operators carrying Trace Sport Stars to three, after DSTV and Canalsat Afrique. With the deal considered as key in the on-going expansion […]

August 29, 2014

O3b makes Pacific progress

O3b is a satellite constellation, backed by operator SES, and designed to bring broadband services to the ‘other 3 billion’ underserved people living in the tropics. The St Helier, Jersey-based company says it has signed up 10 wholesale customers in 11 Pacific islands, and contracted for a total 4.3 Gb/s of capacity. The news emerged […]

August 29, 2014By Chris Forrester

MStar licenses CryptoFirewall

MStar Semiconductor, a semiconductor company for display and digital home solutions, has licensed the Cryptography Research CryptoFirewall security core for integration into its connected TV solution chips. The CryptoFirewall core will provide operators and OTT distributors utilising MStar-based connected TVs with strong hardware security to protect content and services against piracy. “Increasingly, consumers want the […]

August 29, 2014

Samsung commits to global 4K

Amazon’s 2014 original series line-up will soon be available to stream via Samsung Ultra-HD TVs with the launch of the Amazon 4K video streaming service. Samsung has confirmed that Amazon’s Ultra-HD VoD service will launch globally on its 4K TVs in October. Samsung has also announced that the Netflix Ultra-HD Service is expanding in Europe, […]

August 28, 2014

Hispasat drops Spacecom bid

Madrid-based Hispasat has scrubbed its bid for Israel’s SpaceCom which operates the Amos fleet of satellites. Spanish newsletter ‘El Confidencial’ says that the bid, worth some €390 million, had failed because of the differences between the bid and SpaceCom’s asking price. Also cited in the report were anxieties over the Gaza and Israel conflict. Other […]

August 28, 2014By Chris Forrester

OTT TeVolution launches tablet app

French OTT TV service TeVolution has launched its first tablet app. Created by French start-up Leankr, the new app is available for Android and iOS devices and will soon be extended to smartphones. It offers users a total control over the channel packages they subscribe to and various functionalities, including movie selection or TV alerts. […]

August 28, 2014From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

India revokes India MSO licence

India’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has cancelled the digital transmission licence and registration of Kal Cable. The Ministry says it is because Kal Cable has failed to obtain a security clearance by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Evidently the MIB sent a formal letter to Kal on August 20th, saying it had […]

August 28, 2014By Chris Forrester