Advanced Television

Pay TV

Spain’s pay-TV to grow 16.5% a year to 2012

From David Del Valle in Madrid Despite the current pay-TV deadlock in the country, the latest report by PricewaterhouseCoopers forecast that the market will experience a 16.5 per cent annual growth over the next five years. Currently, there are around 4 million pay-TV subscribers in Spain, with Sogecable-owned satellite platform Digital Plus taking the lion’s […]

October 27, 2008

BSkyB faces 'a perfect storm'

BskyB is facing a "perfect storm" according to a melodramatic note from broker Collin's Stewart on the day Sky shares plumbed a three-year low. The on-coming recession, threats from changing technology and tighter regulation threaten to demolish its core business model, says the broker. It warns Sky risks missing its target of 10 million pay […]

October 23, 2008

Pay TV will feel squeeze

Almost a quarter of UK pay-TV customers are considering cutting back or dropping their subscription packages as the credit crunch takes hold. A report by Continental Research found 24 per cent of pay-TV customers surveyed planned to reduce the amount they spent on services such as movie and sports channels over the next year. The […]

October 21, 2008

Premiere CMO quits

Premiere's chief marketing officer Oliver Kaltner is leaving the pay-TV operation after just three months in post. In a statement, Premiere said the Supervisory Board had accepted his resignation with immediate effect."I decided to leave Premiere immediately. It has been a very difficult decision for me leaving the company after just three months. I wish […]

October 10, 2008

Now Sky Italia on regulation rack

BSkyB is beset by competition enquiries and now Sky Italia is facing an investigation by the competition authority AGCOM into whether the pay-TV platform is abusing a dominant position.The probe, lead by the financial police, the Guardia di Finanza, was launched after a complaint from Conto TV, a third party channel carried on the Sky […]

October 6, 2008

Sky Italia cannot impose decoders

From Branislav Pekic in RomeA Magistrate in Naples has ruled that DTH operator Sky Italia cannot impose on its subscribers the use of its own digital box.In its ruling, the justice condemned Sky Italia for “breach of contract and contractual and personal damage” towards one of its clients, identified as Mr. V.D.P., defended by the […]

October 6, 2008

Ofcom: BSkyB is dominant

Ofcom has said that BSkyB has "market power" over live Premier League football and Hollywood films and has launched a consultation that could force it to make the content available to all other pay TV operators at more competitive prices.Publishing the findings of its review of the UK pay-TV market, Ofcom said that BSkyB has […]

October 1, 2008

BSkyB ITV appeal – they should sell more

In more bad news for BSkyB, the company may have to sell even more of its stake in ITV than it was expecting after the Competition Appeal said an original antitrust ruling may not have been tough enough.With ITV's share price at record lows this would crystallize yet more losses on the deal for BSkyB. […]

October 1, 2008

DTH dominates Spanish pay-TV penetration

From David Del Valle in MadridSatellite beats cable and IPTV in the pay-TV distribution in Spain. A report from ONTSI, Spanish telco Observatory reveals that 48.9% of Spanish homes have access to pay-TV services through satellite with more than 2 million subscribers. Pay-TV cable distribution represents 36.2% of all pay-TV consumers, with ONO taking the lead […]

October 1, 2008

Sky Italia to become leading Italian broadcaster in 2010

From Branislav Pekic in RomeItalian DTH operator Sky Italia will overtake public broadcaster RAI and commercial rival Mediaset by 2010 in terms of market share, according to a new market survey by ItMedia Consulting.Sky Italia’s share of the overall TV market will rise to 32 per cent, ahead of RAI and Mediaset with 31 per […]

September 29, 2008