From David Del Valle in Madrid Mexico’s largest TV group Televisa is approaching Spain’s largest telco operator Telefonica in an attempt to enter into a pay-TV alliance in the Mexican market edging out dominant player Telmex, controlled by Carlos Slim. The president of Televisa, Emilio Azcarraga Jean, said that the TV group is “looking for […]

The creators of video search engine blinkx are reportedly in talks with the BBC about a deal to supply it with technology for the corporation’s iPlayer, which allows viewers to download programmes over the Internet. The BBC wants the company to provide it with a search facility that will enable users of the service to […]

Envivio, technology provider of IP video convergence encoding solutions from mobile to HD, has revealed that its 4Caster C4 encoders are being used in extensive broadcast trials in Shanghai that, for the first time, combine AVS video encoding with China's standard for DTT broadcasting. This is the first large-scale evaluation of AVS with the DTMB […]

More than half of over-the-air consumers who are aware of the US digital transition prefer to receive free digital television by buying a converter box or digital TV set instead of pay TV services, according to a survey from the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS). Roughly 62 per cent of the approximately 14.5 million […]

France’s competition council has launched an investigation into exclusive broadcasting contracts between pay-TV operator Canal+ and certain specialist channels. The inquiry stems from a complaint lodged last year from French group AB claiming Canal+ has blocked its channels from being broadcast on certain broadband Internet services. Canal+ a unit of Vivendi, has exclusive contracts with […]

Media regulator Ofcom has proposed increasing the number of advertising breaks allowed on UK television. Ofcom has suggested scrapping a rule that requires 20 minutes of programming between advertising breaks on commercial channels. The regulator is also considering giving channels the right to decide how often they want to show ads, the newspaper said. Ofcom […]

US telco Comcast has revealed that its Signature On Demand service claims more than seven billion VOD views and one billion hours watched since launching in 2003. Each month a total of 130 million hours of content is watched through the service.

From Colin Mann in London In a surprise move, the BBC has secured the television rights to show Formula One in the UK from the 2009 season. The five-year deal marks the return of the sport to BBC screens 12 years after rival commercial broadcaster ITV began broadcasting Grands Prix. A new five-year exclusive deal […]

DBS operators have a significant opportunity to gain market share in the pay-TV space thanks to a recently upheld FCC ruling on multiple dwelling units according to the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association. Now that The National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s motion to stay the FCC’s November 2007, order has been denied, satellite providers are […]

FiOS TV customers now enjoy even more home entertainment choices as Verizon has expanded its video-on-demand offer with programmes from CBS, Discovery Channel, Smithsonian Channel, Ovation TV and more. Verizon has also announced new VOD content that features college basketball tournament programming.