Advanced Television

Pay TV

Sogecable accuses La Sexta of piracy

From David Del Valle in Madrid Sogecable, owner of Canal Plus and digital DTH platform, Digital Plus, has accused commercial TV channel La Sexta of pirating the signal of its premium channel Canal Plus, by broadcasting a review of the football match between Real Madrid and Getafe, offered by the pay-TV channel. The pay-TV company […]

April 24, 2009

News Corp raises Premiere stake

German pay-TV group Premiere has completed a E450 million capital increase, which saw Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp raise its stake from 25 per cent to 30.5 per cent. The company announced the two-step rights issue in December in order to fund last autumn’s purchase of rights to show live Bundesliga soccer. ….

April 24, 2009

India's pay-TV bubble to burst

India's pay-television industry is facing a shake-out amid intense competition during the recession according to a report by Media Partners Asia (MPA). "All of the players have to rationalise their costs because advertising sales and subscriptions are falling," said Vivek Couto, executive director at MPA. India has been a standout market in Asia for pay-TV […]

April 22, 2009

TDG offers Pay TV strategies

According to research advisory company The Diffusion Group (TDG), Pay TV operators must execute three specific tactics in order to defend against emerging competitors and take full advantage of their unique position in the video value chain. Specifically, TDG argues that Pay TV operators must: – Push existing cable network TV programmes online; – Deliver […]

April 14, 2009

Over 1.4bn subs for TV services by 2013

Broadband households in Europe and the US consistently rank primetime anytime VOD services as the most valuable service out of all TV 2.0 offerings, according to the Parks Associates report 'Television Services: The Global Outlook'. The international research firm says that primetime anytime services, which allow viewers to watch a show on-demand on their TV […]

April 14, 2009

German watchdog to probe Premiere

German financial watchdog Bafin has launched a probe into possible insider trading and market manipulation involving shares in German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere. The investigation focuses on trades that may be related to a correction of Premiere subscriber numbers last year, a Bafin spokeswoman said. Premiere also confirmed that the probe was under way but declined […]

April 14, 2009

Entertainment spending not declining

According to Entertainment Trends In America, a tracking study conducted by market research company The NPD Group, most consumers plan to hold steady or increase their entertainment spending in 2009. According to the NPD report, 75 per cent of consumers surveyed said they will spend the same amount or more on digital music downloads as […]

April 14, 2009

Most Americans not cutting back on pay TV

Nearly 70 per cent of consumers responding to the survey, sponsored by market research provider Pike & Fischer, said they plan to keep their current cable or satellite TV service this year. Only two of the 600 respondents to the survey, conducted in March with the help of Amplitude Research, said they plan to drop […]

April 10, 2009

Half of UK digital homes choosing pay TV

Almost half of digital television households in the UK are now choosing to pay for access to additional television channels, with satellite and cable services driving growth of digital TV according to research from Ofcom. Its Digital Progress Report for the fourth quarter of 2008 reveals that 49.5 per cent of households have a pay […]

April 7, 2009

Pay TV market worth $40bn+ by 2014

Research from Informa shows that 44 per cent of TV homes in the Asia Pacific region will receive digital signals in 2014, up from just 17 per cent at the end of 2008. The 13th edition of Asia Pacific TV report shows that China will account for more than half of the region's digital total […]

April 6, 2009