Advanced Television

FTA

TF1 Group acquires Star Wars saga

TF1 Group has signed an agreement with The Walt Disney Company France for new Marvel Studios and Star Wars productions. This free TV deal, across all TF1 channels, encompasses back-catalogue and upcoming Marvel Studios films, as well as existing and future Star Wars movies. It also includes the free TV rights for upcoming Marvel live […]

August 26, 2014From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

Over-the-Air DVR from TiVo

DVR specialist TiVo has unveiled the limited edition TiVo Roamio OTA DVR with an initial retail price of $49.99, for those US consumers who do not have cable or satellite service, yet still want a DVR. “Many top TV shows in America are available with a simple HD antenna,” said TiVo CMO Ira Bahr. “TiVo […]

August 26, 2014

Court deals further blow to Aereo

A US court has delivered a further setback to Internet entertainment streaming service Aereo’s continued attempts to resume operations by being designated a cable company. Aereo suspended its operations June 28 following the Supreme Court copyright decision in favour of US broadcasters and has suggested that after the Supreme Court’s decision, Aereo should be recognised […]

August 22, 2014By Colin Mann

Ex-BBC DG: Scotland could lose BBC

Lord John Birt, a former director general of the BBC, has warned that the corporation would be forced to make deep cuts if Scotland votes for independence, losing up to a quarter of its current spending. He said the BBC would have to make “fundamental” changes to its programming and operations after a yes vote, […]

August 20, 2014

Saorview reaches 653,000 Irish viewers

The number of households opting for national DTT service Saorview has increased by 41,000 over the last four months, taking the total number of Irish homes with Saorview to 653,000. According to data from Nielsen, this brings the proportion of all TV homes in Ireland that have Saorview – either on its own or combined […]

August 13, 2014

Birmingham TV launch date unrealistic

Rival bidders for Birmingham’s local TV licence claim it is now impossible to launch a quality television service before the government’s deadline, following the encumbent going bust. City TV, the holder of the local TV licence for Birmingham, has appointed administrators to try to find a buyer for the licence. While rival local TV firms […]

August 12, 2014

MTV leaves Sky for HD+ in Germany

US media company Viacom is preparing to migrate its German MTV HD channel from Sky Deutschland to HD+, the SES-backed HD satellite platform, from the beginning of September. MTV HD will become a free-to-air service on satellite, with HD+ viewers paying an annual fee to receive the bouquet of services on the platform. The Disney […]

August 12, 2014

Birmingham City TV goes bust

Birmingham’s City TV has gone into administration, before broadcasting any programmes. The company local TV licence was granted in 2012 and the channel would have served 1.2 million households in the Birmingham area. It had until November to start broadcasting but did not have studio premises or equipment, having been unable to secure sufficient financing. […]

August 11, 2014

Free Sky Sports for Premier League kick-off

Sky Sports is making its bouquet of channels available for free to Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk and UPC households on the opening day of the Premier League football season. From 6am on August 16th all viewers who don’t have a Sky Sports subscription can watch sporting action in full HD on Sky Sports 1, 2, […]

August 11, 2014By Nik Roseveare

DTT on Xbox One across Europe

Microsoft is launching a digital TV tuner adapter for the Xbox One later this year in Europe in a bid to expand the console’s live TV features to more markets. Scheduled to launch towards the end of October in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain, the adapter will plug into a USB port, allowing […]

August 8, 2014