Advanced Television

Broadcast

Gol TV reaches 665,000 subs

From David Del Valle in Madrid First Spanish pay DTT channel Gol TV, operated by Mediapro, claims to have reached 665,000 subscribers since the beginning of the month with 15,000 through DTT and 650,000 through other pay-TV platforms (cable: Ono, R, Telecable, Euskaltel; IPTV: Imagenio, Jazztel and Orange). The company hopes to speed up the […]

October 21, 2009

BBC Trust vetoes plan to share iPlayer

The BBC’s plan to offer Channel 4, ITV and Channel Five the free and open use of its iPlayer online video technology has been blocked by the BBC Trust because it will not deliver value to licence-fee payers. Open iPlayer, originally dubbed Project Marquee, was intended to create a “federation of on-demand public service broadcasting […]

October 20, 2009

Sky wants 3D advertisers

The pay-TV group is in talks with media agencies about offering 3D ads to run on its new 3D platform, which will incorporate advertising capabilities. Sky said: “Although it’s still very early days, we anticipate there being a range of exciting new creative opportunities for advertisers. As we prepare to launch a commercial service next […]

October 20, 2009

Spain approves new overall TV law

From David Del Valle in Madrid A Spanish cabinet meeting has approved a new overall TV law (Ley General del Audiovisual) paving the way for the creation of an Audiovisual Council, the exploitation and development of pay DTT, Mobile TV and HDTV and allowing TV cross-ownerships, among other things. With the new legislation, TV operators […]

October 19, 2009

US mobile digital TV standard approved

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has confirmed the approval of A/153 ATSC Mobile DTV Standard. The ATSC Mobile DTV Standard defines the technical specifications necessary for broadcasters to provide new services to mobile and handheld devices using their digital television (DTV) transmissions. “Development and adoption of the ATSC Mobile DTV Standard is a major […]

October 19, 2009

700+ on-demand audiovisual services in Europe

The European Audiovisual Observatory and the Direction du développement des médias (France) are publishing a new study entitled Video on Demand and Catch-Up Television in Europe. The study provides a survey of the on-demand audiovisual services existing in Europe and is based on the criteria established in the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive, which was […]

October 19, 2009

German broadcasters reveal switchover date

German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF plan to switch off their analogue transmissions on Astra on April 30th 2012, according to Carl Eugen Eberle, ZDF Director of Legal Affairs. Analogue television being completely discontinued on the date seems unlikely. Just 30 per cent of German cable households have so far made the switch to digital […]

October 19, 2009

Canal+, AlloCiné team up

Canal+ and Internet movie information specialist AlloCiné have signed a deal to promote video on demand on the French market. By the end of the month, CanalPlay, the platform for downloading videos at the request of Group Canal + will be available on the new site Allociné. CanalPlay is currently the only platform for VOD […]

October 19, 2009

Sky Player on Freeview, Canvas compromise?

Sky has announced a deal that places Sky Player on set-top boxes made by IP Vision who's FetchTV hybrid DTT/IP STP has a built-in PVR, and offers BBC iPlayer, C 4 VOD, Sky Sports News, Discovery Channel and CNN. The box, called Freeview+ is priced at £219 (E237). While not significant in volume terms, the […]

October 16, 2009

YouTube C4 deal

Channel 4 has signed a landmark deal with YouTube to make its TV shows available to users. The deal, which has been under negotiation for the last six months, will see Channel 4 make its existing 4oD online video catch-up service available via YouTube shortly after shows have aired on TV. YouTube users can watch […]

October 16, 2009