Advanced Television

Cabezas to direct The Gypsy Bride

ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) and Diagonal TV, Banijay group’s fiction production company, have announced that Paco Cabezas (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, The Alienist: Angel of Darkness) will direct The Gypsy Bride, the TV series coproduction that the two companies announced earlier this year. Recognized internationally for his writing, directing and production career in film […]

September 30, 2020

Nokia becomes BT’s 5G partner

Nokia has extended its long-term strategic relationship with BT into the 5G arena, following its selection as a 5G RAN vendor for the UK operator. The selection of Nokia follows the telco’s decision to exclude Huawei from its 5G network following guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre. As part of the deal, which will make […]

September 29, 2020

BritBox: ‘Ahead of subs plan’

Subscriber numbers for the UK BritBox SVoD service are ahead of plan, according to its MD, Will Harrison. Although unwilling to reveal exact numbers, Harrison told members of the UK Broadcasting Press Guild that BritBox was “very happy” at how the service had performed since its November 2019 launch.  He said that 2020 has been […]

September 29, 2020By Colin Mann

Zapi OTT rolls out in Spain

Mirada, a provider of integrated software solutions for Digital TV operators and broadcasters, has announced the commercial launch of Zapi in Spain, a new OTT-based pay-TV platform developed by Mirada for Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores (PMO). PMO is a company created by multiple Spanish local telecommunications services providers, which unifies the country’s cable industry under […]

September 29, 2020

Report: Addressable ads drive consumer engagement

Research from addressable TV provider Finecast suggest that consumers are more likely to engage with relevant TV ads. The Thinking Inside the Box study into TV viewing habits and addressable advertising in 2020 was conducted in collaboration with research and insight firm DRG, and was designed to understand both the viewer and the industry’s perceptions […]

September 29, 2020

France: 5G spectrum auction starts

French telecom regulator Arcep has launched the country’s 5G spectrum auction which had been delayed as result of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. Operators Bouygues, Orange, Free and SFR are the four players taking part to the bidding which will allocate the eleven 10MHz lots still available into the GHz 3,4-3,8 frequency band. The […]

September 29, 2020From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

Streaming fails to offset EFL match day losses

Some 150,000 football fans in the UK streamed English Football League matches (games from the Championship, League 1 and League 2) during the first two weeks of the 2020/21 season, according to a report by the Daily Mail. With sporting events being playing out behind closed doors for the foreseeable future, a deal struck with […]

September 29, 2020

China wants 13,000 LEO satellites

China reportedly has plans to build and launch almost 13,000 new broadband satellites in a massive constellation. In essence there are two phases planned, dubbed GW-A59 and GW-2, accoirdng to the Dongfang Hour podcast. Dongfang says that the two phases will absorb 7 sub-constellations within the plan. In total 12,922 satellites are involved. The scheme […]

September 29, 2020By Chris Forrester

Australia: TV the favoured news source

Research from Roy Morgan shows over 13.1 million Australians (62.4 per cent) said TV was a main source of news during the June quarter 2020, up from 12.6 million (60.0 per cent) during the March quarter. TV emerged as the favoured news source during the period of lockdown for more Australians than any other as […]

September 29, 2020

Magnite supports Discovery’s dplay

Magnite, the independent, omnichannel sell-side advertising platform, has announced its expanded relationship with Discovery in support of its streaming service, dplay, to maximise programmatic advertising capabilities. Magnite’s platform provides Discovery with control for ad podding, inventory hierarchy, targeting, and real-time reporting. Magnite will also develop custom solutions to support Discovery’s product range and roadmap, as […]

September 29, 2020