According to The Nielsen Company, more than 9 million households are not ready for the upcoming transition to all-digital broadcasting and would be unable to receive any television programming at all if the transition occurred today. Another 12.6 million households have at least one television set that will no longer work when the digital transition […]

From Colin Mann in Cannes Italian triple play telco FastWeb is teaming up with i-concerts to launch a Video-on-Demand (VoD) channel offering concerts and live music performances. FastWebTV’s subscribers will be able to watch hours of the most popular A-list artist performances, and live concerts. "i-concerts on-demand not only enriches our branded channels," said Andrea […]

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has issued a new IPTV licence to the Beijing-based company Huaxia Network. Previously, SARFT had awarded licences to operators including the Shanghai Media Group (SMG), China Central Television (CCTV), Southern Media Corporation (SMC), China Radio International (CRI), and Hangzhou-based Wasu.

The entry of a broad range of new mobile devices able to display video will have a profound effect on the mobile video market, reports In-Stat. The reach of new device choices will provide more markets for mobile operators, mobile broadcasters, advertisers and other content owners, the high-tech market research firm says. "Even though cellphones […]

AmberFin announced the results of a research survey conducted at this year’s IBC conference in Amsterdam. AmberFin spoke to industry experts attending to gauge their opinion on what issues would most influence the industry in the coming year. The results clearly demonstrate the use of multiple platforms such as broadband, IPTV and mobile handsets as […]

Channel change time and image quality are central to TV service suppliers in today's competitive market. Witbe carried out a study of digital TV services (via DSL, cable, FTTH, satellite and DTT), looking at 30 operators in 16 countries on 4 continents. The average channel change time measured using P+/P- was 1.9 seconds. If the […]

From Colin Mann in Cannes Project Kangaroo, the joint venture between BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and ITV, plans to launch in closed beta by the end of the year, CEO Ashley Highfield has said at MIPCOM: “With the Competition Committee’s blessing, we hope to launch in closed beta by Christmas time.” As to how Kangaroo […]

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has said that the FCC will propose allowing mobile unlicensed devices to operate in the white spaces between DTV channels. Martin said that he was proposing allowing devices with both remote-sensing and geo-location capabilities–like laptops and so-called smart radios–to operate in the DTV band so long as they can tap into […]

Outgoing Ofcom chairman David Currie has said that his successor should expect the communications regulator to have an expanded remit with responsibility for stricter control over internet content. Currie said there was an appetite among legislators for putting a tighter rein on the internet now the medium had moved beyond its formative stages. Echoing comments […]

The BBC chairman, Sir Michael Lyons fired a shot across the bows of regulator Ofcom over the proposals laid out in the regulator’s second review of public service broadcasting. Lyons warned against a “quick fix” and pointed out that it was not in Ofcom’s remit to help plug Channel 4’s funding gap by giving the […]