China’s most popular online video site, Youku.com, is trying to shed its reputation for abetting piracy by taking a page from YouTube’s playbook: using technology to ‘fingerprint’ videos, making it easier to find unlicensed copies. The Beijing-based company, which has been sued over pirated videos, has developed a content-filtering system that generates identifying codes based […]
TeliaSonera has reported it had 823,000 customers for its pay-TV services across all markets by the end of the first quarter of 2010, up 135,000 during the period, with 633,000 of the total being IPTV subscribers. Nearly 27 per cent of its broadband base across all markets now subscribe to its IPTV services, available in […]
US movie channel Epix has it signed a carriage agreement with Dish Network that will give Epix nationwide distribution for the first time, marking a breakthrough in its efforts to reach more viewers. The agreement will make Epix, a joint venture between Lions Gate Entertainment, Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), available to 14 million additional […]
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP), a technology that protects premium entertainment content between a digital set-top box, digital video recorder or Blu-ray disc player and a digital TV, is evolving to support a broader range of digital and wireless interfaces. One of the first new wireless interfaces addressed by the HDCP revision 2.0 specifications is […]
Seagate, a global provider of hard disk drives and storage solutions, revealed that its FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player now delivers easy access to content from Netflix and other providers such as YouTube, vTuner and Mediafly. Customers of these services will have access to an even larger pool of both user-generated and licensed Internet-based media […]
Lynne Frank, the senior vice-president and managing director of ESPN for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, who oversaw the grab for Setanta’s Premier League rights, is leaving. Frank plans to return to her native California for family reasons, with a successor due to be appointed by September. She will stay on to oversee the […]
Set-top box maker Pace has predicted a World Cup sales boost as pay-television firms rush out HD technology ahead of this summer’s football tournament. Pace said sales for the first six months of 2010 would outstrip the second half of 2009, although trading for the overall year will be in line with expectations. The firm […]
BlackArrow, a global provider of advanced advertising solutions for New Television platforms, has closed $20 million in Series C financing. The round was led by strategic investor NDS Group – and included existing investors Cisco Systems, Comcast Interactive Capital, Intel Capital, Mayfield Fund and Polaris Venture Partners. This financing provides new capital to expand product […]
YouTube wants viewers to stay on the site for much longer giving the video platform the opportunity to garner more TV advertising spend. Chad Hurley, CEO, says he wants users to become more like TV viewers with the ultimate aim of getting them to spend nearer five hours at the site, rather than the current […]
From David Del Valle in Madrid Spain's National Competition Commission (CNC) has limited to three years the duration of contracts between TV operators and football teams to broadcast the matches “to guarantee free competition in the market”. The CNC has imposed fines of E150,000, E100,000 and E25,000 on Sogecable, Mediapro and Audiovisual Sport, respectively for […]