From Colin Mann in London The UK's trading watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading has referred the proposed video on demand (VOD) joint venture between BBC Worldwide Limited, ITV plc and Channel 4 – also known as Project ‘Kangaroo’ – to the Competition Commission (CC) for further inquiry. The CC now has 24 weeks to […]
ViewCast, provider of streaming hardware and software solutions, has joined the Microsoft Silverlight Partner Initiative to deliver the next generation of .NET-based media over the Internet. By utilising Windows Media/VC-1 format, the ViewCast Niagara SCX encoding platform can deliver streaming video and audio content to users of Silverlight, a cross-browser, cross-platform, and cross-device plug-in offering […]
From Branislav Pekic in Rome LuÃs Nazaré has been named as the chairman of Airplus TV Portugal, a company which is competing with Portugal Telecom for the licence to manage the Portuguese pay-TV DTT multiplexes. At a press conference in Lisbon, Nazaré announced that if the company is awarded the DTT licence it will offer […]
The government is confusing consumers and putting taxpayers’ money at risk with its plan to switch off the analogue television signal by 2012, a parliamentary committee has found. The report by the public accounts committee into preparations for the digital switchover prompted opposition MPs to accuse the government of financial mismanagement and of failing to […]
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Philippines has served its first ever temporary restraining order (TRO) against a pirate cable operator – Turtle Cable, a company in Baao, Camarines Sur province – for copyright infringement. This latest move by the IPO has been applauded by the international pay-TV industry. The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting […]
Ofcom CEO Ed Richards has warned there is “a real possibility” that ITV could give up public service broadcaster (PSB) status as increasing numbers of viewers switch to digital TV. ITV enjoys PSB status in return for broadcasting local news, children's programming and UK-made drama, giving it free access to spectrum, prominent positions on electronic […]
Arris and BlackArrow, a provider of multiplatform ad-management systems for viewer-controlled video, have announced the completion of interoperability testing between the companies’ respective VOD delivery and addressable advertising systems. Built on the SCTE 130 open standard, these combined dynamic, targeted VOD advertising services will help operators and content providers rapidly derive additional ad revenues from […]
Sony will make a strong push into networked media and DTO services as it seeks to make the most of its hardware and software assets for growth. The company said it would aim to double revenues from the fast-growing markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China to 2 trillion yen (E11.7 billion) and invest 1.8 […]
Mike Darcey, BSkyB COO, says Ofcom seems determined to live in the past and perpetuate a broadcasting model (FTA public service) that may not be suited to supporting new technologies. He said propping up outdating models meant a financial burden on the industry, sapping investment that would otherwise go into content. “It is not the […]
Japanese companies are to unify standards for IPTV services. The standardisation process will be led by a forum established by three major telecommunications services firms: NTT, KDDI, and Softbank BB. The forum has been joined by 15 businesses and organisations, its members now include Sony, Matsushita, Toshiba, Sharp, and Hitachi as well as the five […]