Advanced Television

Broadcast

Open wins on Liberate

OpenTV Corp said it will get $1.5 million related to the settlement of a 2002 lawsuit against former competitor Liberate Technologies Inc over patents concerning interactive television. Liberate, whose assets have since been acquired by TVWorks, acknowledged that OpenTV’s patents are valid and enforceable and admitted infringement, OpenTV said in a statement. TVWorks, a joint […]

November 13, 2007

Ads: biggest upheaval in 50 years

The advertising industry is facing more upheaval in the next five years than in the previous half century, according to a new report. "The End of Advertising as We Know It” from IBM Global Business Services shows more-empowered consumers, more self-reliant advertisers and evolving technologies are redefining how advertising is sold, created, consumed and tracked. […]

November 13, 2007

Dahlia TV launches in Spain

From David Del Valle in Madrid Dahlia TV has been specifically created to provide pay-TV services on the DTT platform. Directed by a former executive of Spain’s largest cable company ONO, Fernando Ojeda, Dahlia TV claims to have reached agreements with some of the major networks in the country. The company hopes the government will […]

November 12, 2007

TiVo offers viewer profiles

TiVo is reported as offering a new service giving advertisers detailed profiles of its users. TiVo – which sells advertisers second-by-second ratings of programs and commercials based on subscriber viewing habits – plans to announce that it will soon add demographic data about the viewers themselves the WSJ reported. The information includes age, income, marital […]

November 9, 2007

BBC social networking show

BBC3 is to screen an entertainment show early next year, hosted by singer Lily Allen, based on the social networking phenomenon that helped launch her career. Viewers will shape the show online by becoming her virtual friends and contributing to topical discussions, putting questions to guests and presenting parts of the show. The audience will […]

November 9, 2007

Spain: 9m DTT by year-end

From David Del Valle in Madrid The rapid take-up of DTT in Spain is boosting the sale of DTT boxes with plans to reach 9 million DTT devices by the end of the year, according to Andres Tejero, CEO of Veo TV. The latest report from the Pro DTT Association Impulsa TDT has revealed that […]

November 8, 2007

Premiere scraps 2008 outlook over TV rights timing

German pay TV broadcaster Premiere, whose profits depend largely on its ability to show live Bundesliga football matches, scrapped its 2008 forecast on uncertainty over the next TV rights auction. “The bidding process will begin much later than expected and an agency has been commissioned to manage the process. We cannot rule out that this […]

November 8, 2007

DT selling broadcast unit

Deutsche Telekom is selling its German media broadcast business to private equity firm in a transaction worth between E800 million and E900 million. They will chose between bids from the Macquarie Infrastructure Group and TPG private equity of the US. Deutsche Telekom’s chief executive, René Obermann, had signalled the possiblesale of the media broadcast business […]

November 8, 2007

Joost IM service

Joost has appointed Meebo to power its instant messaging service. The deal means that Joost users will now be able to chat while watching content from its 250 channels. Meebo claims 3.5m accounts are now registered with its service. Mike Volpi, CEO of Joost, said: “Participation in community activities has emerged as one of the […]

November 8, 2007

Telescope and Akamai voting platform

Telescope, player in participation media services and Akamai, service provider for accelerating content and applications online, have provided the first multi-channel voting platform for participation media events, part of a growing industry that has become more significant to broadcasters. The two companies have successfully delivered the application, which enables audience members of participation TV shows […]

November 7, 2007