Advanced Television

VOD

Thomson iDTV for Canal+ VOD

Canal+ and TV set manufacturer TCL have unveiled the first Thomson TV set allowing direct access to the CanalPlay video on demand platform. The partnership, unprecedented in France, represents a breakthrough in access to content on demand among the next generation of connected televisions. Available as of November, the new Thomson mywishTV LCD TVs are […]

November 5, 2009

blinkx rights issue as losses mount

The video search company blinkx is offering increased stakes to existing shareholders to raise £5 million (E5.5n) after burning through £13 million of its cash reserve in the past year on infrastructure costs. blink has seen its cash reserve plummet from $32 million to $10.7 million in the year to the end of September. In […]

November 5, 2009

File sharers also biggest content spenders

People who download music illegally also spend an average of £77 (E85)a year buying it legitimately, a survey has found, while those who claimed not to use peer-to-peer filesharing sites spent a yearly average of just £44. Almost one in 10 of those questioned aged between 16 and 50 said they downloaded music illegally. However, […]

November 5, 2009

Roxio CinemaNow to power Blockbuster On Demand

Sonic Solutions is set to power access to the Blockbuster On Demand movie service across a range of new home and mobile electronic devices. As part a multi-year agreement, Sonic’s Roxio CinemaNow will enable digital delivery of a vast library of content to the living room through TiVo Digital Video Recorders and an assortment of […]

October 24, 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

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

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

33%+ of Aussies have or would download illegally

More than a third of Australians admit they either illegally download movies off the Internet or have thought about doing so. A survey of consumers’ movie rental, downloading and pay TV viewing habits has revealed a significant slice of the population prefer accessing their entertainment through the back door. The national survey by DVD rental […]

October 16, 2009