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Spain: Sky plans NOW TV September launch

Sky is reportedly finalising plans to launch its NOW TV on demand service in Spain in September as a test bed for its expansion into other European countries. The service is currently available in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. Sky plans to offer the pay-TV service with TV series and films, among other […]

May 25, 2017From David Del Valle in Madrid

BBC Store confirms closure

The BBC has confirmed it will close its digital download service, BBC Store, after just 18 months. The service, which offered people the chance to buy and download digital copies of major BBC series or single episodes once they left iPlayer, failed to compete with streaming services offered by the likes of Netflix and Amazon. […]

May 25, 2017

Netflix cancels Baz Luhrmann show

Netflix show The Get Down, a musical drama exploring the birth of hip-hop and directed by Baz Luhrmann, has been axed after just one season. The show had a production cost of $120 million – the largest ever for Netflix – but metrics from Variety suggest that it was only attracting around one-fifth of the audience […]

May 25, 2017By Nik Roseveare

EU sets 30% content quota for European SVoD

The European Council has signed off the proposal for a revised directive on audiovisual media services (AVMS). At the heart is a 30 per cent content quota for European SVoD services. The Council says aim of the proposal is to respond to the unprecedented technological and market changes of digital shift and to boost the […]

May 24, 2017

Survey: Download-to-go drives streaming service loyalty

Results from a survey commissioned by Penthera, a creator of download-to-go (D2G) software for streaming video services, confirm that consumers see D2G as a valuable enhancement to streaming services. Among the findings: More than one-third of 1,000 respondents reported that availability of D2G would make them more likely to subscribe and/or less likely to cancel […]

May 24, 2017

Older viewers embrace catch-up, but not SVoD

A study of TV viewing habits in 13 countries by Ampere Analysis reveals that people aged 55-64 are yet to embrace SVoD services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, preferring linear TV channels and their catch-up services. In the US, only two in 10 people aged 55-64 in the viewed Netflix in the past month, […]

May 23, 2017

Netflix dominates Cannes discussions

A technical mishap at the start of a screening of Okja, Netflix’s Cannes movie entry into the festival’s competition for ‘Best Film’, didn’t curb discussion amongst delegates at the importance, threat and perhaps even opportunity for the film and content market from Netflix. Brett Ratner, speaking in Cannes Friday and quoted by trade mag Hollywood […]

May 22, 2017By Chris Forrester

Survey: Netflix #1 app for TV streaming

US TV brand and streaming content provider TCL has published the results of a new national survey conducted by Ipsos on TV app usage, the proliferation of streaming on the big screen and the popularity of specific apps. According to the survey which uncovered and ranked the Top 25 apps used for streaming on TVs, […]

May 19, 2017

Netflix resurrects The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal, a cult movie from the 80s, is set for a return on Netflix, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance will be a 10-episode series serving as a prequel to the 1982 film. The series will be shot in the UK, and will star an ensemble of fantastical, state-of-the-art creatures created by The […]

May 19, 2017By Nik Roseveare