Trade body the GSMA, which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, has called on the European Commission to accelerate the repurposing of the UHF spectrum band (470-790MHz) better to respond to the changing ways content is being accessed. The move puts the GSMA in direct opposition to the European Broadcasting Union, which argues that […]
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has welcomed the European Commission’s High Level Group report recommending that the EU safeguard access to spectrum below 700 MHz for digital terrestrial television until 2030. However, it is concerned about the early release of the 700 MHz frequencies. The group, chaired by former European Commissioner and WTO Director General […]
The Philippines has moved one step closer to deployment of Japanese digital terrestrial broadcasting standard Integrated Service Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T) following the release of a draft implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the transmission switchover by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). NTC Commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba has invited all affected and interested parties to a […]
Findings from a report looking at the energy efficiency of set-top boxes show that the voluntary STB energy conservation agreement between the pay-TV industry, consumer electronics manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates has saved American consumers approximately $168 million in energy bills. According to the Voluntary Agreement for Ongoing Improvement to the Energy Efficiency of Set-Top […]
Japan is about to announce a major commitment towards 4K broadcasting. It already has a 4K ‘best of 4K’ channel on air (which went live on June 2nd) under the auspices of Japan’s ‘NexTV-Forum’ and representing all of Japan’s broadcasters both public and private. Next week will see Japan’s broadcasting authorities announce their latest roadmap […]
DTG members are about to begin work on the evolution of the technical specification for digital terrestrial television (D-Book 8) to introduce support for Freeview Connected and much more, with Working Group meetings due to begin after the summer break. Simon Gauntlett, the DTG’s Chief Technology Officer, has circulated a plan of activity to the […]
Italy’s Confindustria Radio Televisioni has issued a statement declaring the intention of the country’s broadcasters to move from DVB-MHP to the HTML-5 based HbbTV 2.0 when the specification is released later this year. Italy’s HD-Book 3.0 (due to be published in October) will retain MHP, but the plan is to endorse HbbTV 2.0 as the […]
Investigation Discovery – a channel dedicated to documentary programming about crime and criminal investigations – has been fined £100,000 (€126,000) by UK broadcast regulator Ofcom for what are described as “serious” breaches of its broadcasting Code. The sanction relates to eight episodes of the series Deadly Women which the channel broadcast at various times during […]
The World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) – the coordinating body for broadcasting unions who represent broadcaster networks across the globe – has released an official joint position on radio spectrum allocation, stating their support to maintain the allocation of UHF frequencies (470 to 694 MHz) currently used for terrestrial TV broadcasting. The WBU says that broadcasters […]
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has made available a new fact sheet on spectrum that tackles what it says are common misperceptions about consumers’ TV and mobile usage. Recommendations about the allocation of spectrum in Europe (set to be decided in 2015) are being discussed right now, and will have repercussions for broadcast quality and […]