Advanced Television

FTA

3 Sky channels join Freesat

Freesat has agreed a deal with Sky to add three new channels to its subscription-free satellite platform –  Sky News, Pick TV and Challenge TV. Sky News is now available on Freesat channel 202, delivering 24-hour rolling news coverage produced by an award-winning global operation. Pick TV, the channel that was formerly Sky3, is available […]

December 3, 2012

Viacom tops Euro pay-TV channel revenues

Total revenues for Europe’s top pay-TV channels will reach $4.24 billion in 2012, according to a new report by Digital TV Research. The TV Channel Revenues in Europe report expects this figure to grow by $1.04 billion to reach $5.28 billion by 2017. The report covers 195 international channels/networks (non-premium) from 11 groups. The estimates […]

November 27, 2012

Tony Hall new BBC DG

The BBC Trust has appointed (Lord) Tony Hall, former BBC chief of news and current CEO of the Royal Opera House, as the new Director General replacing George Entwistle, who resigned in the wake of the Savile and McAlpine scandals. Hall was made a Lord in light of his role with several public and charitable […]

November 22, 2012

BBC the Big British Compromise

There has been a consensus since the hapless George Entwistle was assisted onto his sword point a couple of weeks ago that the BBC should appoint an outsider as the new DG. All senior insiders were, to some extent or other, either tainted by the events that brought poor George down, or had no editorial […]

November 22, 2012

UKTV secures additional DTT slot

Multichannel provider UKTV, a commercial television network in the UK co-owned by BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, has secured a deal for a fourth DTT channel slot. Dave Ja Vu, a catch up service for entertainment channel Dave, will hold Freeview channel 25 for a limited time from January 2013 while UKTV firms up […]

November 22, 2012

1.7m active cards for Tivùsat in Italy

Italian DTH platform TivùSat has announced that the number of active smart cards reached 1.7 million in mid-November, which means that 5.6 per cent of Italian households are receiving its TV and radio services. The Italian regions with the highest penetration level are Calabria, where 12 per cent of households have opted for TivùSat, followed […]

November 21, 2012From Branislav Pekic in Rome

ITV, C5 licences renewed, PSB commitments upped?

UK Culture secretary Maria Miller has told ITV and Channel 5 that they may be expected to up their public service broadcasting commitment to news and original programming, as she confirmed the 10-year renewal of their licences. Both of the commercial broadcasters will have their licences renewed as expected after their current agreements expire at […]

November 21, 2012

Fransat debuts December 12th

From December 12th, TV viewers across metropolitan France will be able to watch six new DTT channels broadcast exclusively in HD: Chérie 25, HD1, L’Équipe 21, Numéro 23, RMC Découverte and 6TER. The launch of these brand new channels marks another milestone in the expansion of free-to-air digital broadcast services in France and the progressive […]

November 20, 2012

MTG to boost free-TV in Denmark

Modern Times Group (MTG), the international entertainment broadcasting group, has signed a channel distribution agreement with Boxer TV-Access A/S (‘Boxer’) in Denmark, which will significantly boost the national penetration of MTG’s TV3 and TV3 PULS Danish free-TV channels. The Group also announced that it has signed an agreement with Canal Digital Denmark to further strengthen […]

November 16, 2012

ITV: Olympics hurts ads, online up 20%

ITV reported a 6 per cent year-on-year fall in TV ad revenues in the third quarter of 2012 as advertisers held back spend while the BBC covered the London Olympics. Meanwhile ITV Studios is forecast to make profits of more than £100 million (€125m) this year. TV ad revenues fell 10 per cent year-on-year in […]

November 13, 2012