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Freeview extends Vestel deal

Freeview has renewed its contract with Vestel, the biggest manufacturer of TV sets in Europe, for a further five years. The deal means that the Freeview Play service will have prominence on all new Vestel manufactured TV sets. As well as being Europe’s largest set manufacturer, Vestel is a market leader in the UK, producing […]

November 10, 2020

Research: Online sources preferred for favourite shows

Findings from Hub Entertainment Research’s annual Conquering Content study, which tracks how TV viewers discover and watch new TV shows, suggests that a perfect storm of developments – the steady stream of new viewing platforms, the rapid growth in exclusive streaming content, and the continuing decline in MVPD subscriptions – has combined to accelerate the […]

November 9, 2020

Research: 60% US homes sub to pay-TV and SVoD

Findings from Leichtman Research Group indicate that 60 per cent of US TV households have both a pay-TV service and at least one SVoD service. In addition, 20 per cent of TV households have an SVoD service but not pay-TV, 14 per cent only have a pay-TV service, and 6 per cent have neither pay-TV […]

November 9, 2020

Discovery pivots to D2C, slams T-Mobile

David Zaslav says Discovery’s international streaming service will be fully unveiled in December. The Discovery CEO says the service will be “differentiated” from others such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, with originals, local sport and news content among the plans. Zaslav told investors the streamer’s offering had now “come into clear focus […] We have […]

November 6, 2020

Netflix testing linear in France; wins Turkey licence

Netflix is testing a linear channel that is currently exclusive to France. The streaming platform began rolling out the channel in select areas on November 5th, with plans to expand throughout the whole of the country during the last few weeks of the year. The OTT channel, branded Netflix Direct, can only be  accessed via […]

November 6, 2020

myCanal OTT going global

With 14.9 million unique visitors per month in France and 1.4 billion views, Canal+ Group is set to expand its myCanal OTT app to TV screens as well as worldwide. The company revealed during a virtual press conference that its OTT service is going to be launched on MacOS in the coming days, along with […]

November 5, 2020From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

Report: Global streaming up 57% in Q3

Conviva has released its Q3 State of Streaming report, revealing that, globally, viewers spent 57 per cent more time streaming when compared to the same period last year, as the ongoing pandemic continues to keep people in their homes. Other highlights from the report include: Connected TV devices lost market share in viewing time but […]

November 2, 2020

MPs to quiz Amazon, YouTube

Executives from Amazon and YouTube will face the Digital, Media, Culture and Sports Committee of the UK parliament on November 3rd to give evidence on the UK’s broadcasting environment, its trends and their views on its future. The rise of on-demand programming online has given rise to questions over how public service broadcasting fits into […]

October 30, 2020By Colin Mann

OTT in 50% of Spanish homes

The pandemic has boosted the use of streaming platforms in Spain, with a growth of 33 per cent in the second quarter of the year against the same period last year, according to CNMC. This significant growth has driven streaming platforms to be in 50 per cent of all connected households. In just three years […]

October 30, 2020From David Del Valle in Madrid

Filmzie launches in UK

Free movie streaming and social platform Filmzie is now available as a channel on Samsung TV Plus in the UK as it continues its mission to connect with the nation’s film lovers. The launch sees Filmzie run as a linear channel on Samsung TV Plus, meaning it will be seamlessly integrated to its viewers’ connected […]

October 30, 2020By Colin Mann