Advanced Television

Insight TV premieres DarkFEST

Insight TV, aproducer and broadcaster of adventure travel and extreme sports genres in true, unscripted 4K UHD HDR, is launching Secrets of DarkFEST a behind-the-scenes, no holds barred film that delves into the trials and tribulations of creating one of the world’s craziest mountain bike (MTB) events, Pure Darkness: DarkFEST, co-produced with Monster Energy. Secrets […]

August 30, 2017

UK broadcasters risk losing £1bn a year to online rivals

UK broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV, BT and Sky could lose a combined £1 billion (€1.07bn) per year if rival services from Amazon, Facebook and YouTube become dominant players in the TV industry over the next decade, according to a report by by OC&C Strategy Consultants. The report says that the TV industry could […]

August 29, 2017

CBS to acquire Network Ten

In a deal it says will accelerate its global growth strategy in a key English-speaking market, CBS Corporation has agreed to acquire Network Ten, one of three major commercial broadcast networks in Australia. The transaction adds Network Ten to CBS Corporation’s global content and distribution portfolios. In addition to core linear channel TEN, the deal […]

August 29, 2017By Colin Mann

North America to add 59m SVoD subs by 2022

The North American SVoD sector is by far the most mature in the world, with 112 million SVoD subscribers by end-2016. However, there is plenty of growth left in the sector. The SVoD total is forecast to climb to 171 million by 2022 – up by 59 million on 2016 or by 53 per cent. […]

August 29, 2017

RIP Elemental’s Sam Blackman

Advanced Television is deeply saddened to learn of the untimely death of Sam Blackman, co-founder of Elemental Technologies. He led Elemental Technologies from a start-up before selling it to Amazon in 2015 for $296 million. He stayed on as CEO. The editorial team at Advanced Television always found Blackman to be an enthusiastic and knowledgeable […]

August 29, 2017

Mexico joins AT&T rebellion

Mexico has joined Brazil in saying that the AT&T planned merger with Time Warner cannot go ahead unless AT&T sells off its Sky Mexico pay-TV subsidiary. Brazil issued a similar demand last week. Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) regulator said that once AT&T disposes of its 41 per cent stake in Sky Mexico, and that […]

August 29, 2017By Chris Forrester

Mayweather vs McGregor: 239 illegal streams

The Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor boxing match was not the only competition generating attention this past weekend. Data from digital platform security specialist Irdeto indicates that piracy continues to be a tough contender. Irdeto identified 239 streams that illegally redistributed the bout. Of those streams, 67 were provided via traditional pirate streaming websites. Underscoring […]

August 29, 2017By Colin Mann

Fox, Panasonic, Samsung boost for HDR10+

20th Century Fox, Panasonic Corporation and Samsung Electronics have forged a new partnership to create an open, royalty-free dynamic metadata platform for High Dynamic Range (HDR) through an associated certification and logo programme, tentatively called HDR10+. Together, the three companies will form a licensing entity that will begin licensing the HDR10+ platform in January 2018. […]

August 29, 2017

Game of Thrones continues to set viewing records

The final episode of Season 7 of Game of Thrones has once again, somewhat unsurprisingly, set another viewing record for HBO – which airs the show in the US. Some 16.5 million people tuned in live or streamed the hour-and-a-half-long episode on August 27th, marking an all-time high for the fantasy juggernaut. The episode’s total […]

August 29, 2017

ICASA wants Multichoice monopoly broken up

Last week South Africa’s media regulator ICASA issued its proposals on how the mighty Multichoice/DStv “dominant position” in the market might be softened. ICASA issued six possible remedies, and has invited stakeholders to respond by October 31st. The proposals include limiting contract lengths to five years, and possibly forcing unbundling rules on broadcasters, and following the European […]

August 29, 2017By Chris Forrester