Advanced Television

Business

SABC wants Netflix & DStv to pay licence fees

South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC, in a presentation to the nation’s parliament, said that it was time for broadcasters such as MultiChoice/DStv and Netflix to pay licences fees for their users who watch TV on computers and mobile phones. It seems that Deputy Communications Minister Pinky Kekana agrees. She said during the presentation that the […]

October 22, 2020By Chris Forrester

Bank: “Netflix retention remains healthy”

Netflix’s Q3 subscriber growth – or lack of – made headlines around the world and sent its share price down 6 per cent on October 20th in after-hours trading. Netflix said that Covid had brought forward better subscriber growth earlier in the year and this meant that its Q3 growth (2.2 million compared to guidance […]

October 22, 2020

ViacomCBS promotes Sears

ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI) has announced the promotion of Lee Sears to Executive Vice President and General Manager, Digital and Ad Sales for ViacomCBS Networks International. Based in London, Sears will report to Kelly Day, President, Streaming and Chief Operating Officer, VCNI. Previously Senior Vice President of Velocity International, VCNI’s in-house advertising sales, branded content […]

October 22, 2020

GeoGuard support for anti-piracy advocacy

Noting that online content piracy has surged during the pandemic, as more people at home are using VPNs and DNS proxies to circumvent territorial restrictions in order to illegally access content, and to help the media industry combat this serious and growing problem, geolocation-based security and digital content protection specialist of GeoGuard has joined the […]

October 22, 2020By Colin Mann

Technicolor, Google accelerate Hybrid Android TV

Technicolor is partnering with Google to accelerate the development and deployment of the Google Broadcast Stack software platform onto a wide array of customer premises equipment (CPE) and consumer electronics devices used to access video services. This is the latest development in Technicolor’s Connected Home’s ongoing commitment to leverage open and innovative technologies for network […]

October 22, 2020

Netflix growth stutters

Netflix added 2.2 million new subscribers in the three months to September 30th – significantly lower than the 3.4 million predicted by analysts. Revenue growth also fell short of expectations as a result, but net profits still rose to $790 million (€667m) from $665.2 million  in the same period last year. Netflix had already warned […]

October 21, 2020

Mediapro’s Telefoot plays on; reports 600K subs

Football pay-TV channel Telefoot is to continue in business and is already claiming 600,000 subscribers. Jaume Roures, CEO of Chinese-Spanish group Mediapro, says he has no intention of exiting the deal it has to cover top flight football in France and has confirmed that conciliation talks with the French football league LFP are taking place. “We […]

October 21, 2020From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

Sky to open UK retail shops

Sky has revealed plans to launch retail shops across the UK – bringing its pay-TV, mobile and broadband products to UK high streets for the first time. The first few shops are to set to launch in 2020, with the very first opening in Liverpool on October 26th. Sky has plans to open further shops […]

October 21, 2020By Nik Roseveare

Hicks exits Spaceport America

Spaceport America, which operates out of a desert location in New Mexico, has reportedly removed its CEO/Executive Director, Dan Hicks. Spaceport America is home to the likes of Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace, Exos Aerospace and others. Its owner is the New Mexico Spaceport Authority. The Authority’s board members reportedly voted 6-1 to remove Mr Hicks […]

October 21, 2020By Chris Forrester

Ultra HD Forum adds emphasis on NGA

The Ultra HD Forum has refreshed its website to better reflect its activities during this time of constrained in-person interactions. Version 2.4 of the Forum’s Guidelines includes more material on live OTT distribution of UHD. The Forum’s online UHD service tracker has received a significant upgrade, including new prominence given to Next Generation Audio (NGA). […]

October 21, 2020