The US Tennis Association and ESPN have agreed an 11-year broadcast deal – reported to be worth $770 million – for ESPN to be the exclusive home in North and South America of the US Open from first ball through the women’s and men’s championships each summer from New York beginning in 2015. ESPN now will air the championship in [...]
Internet TV streaming service Aereo has named Atlanta as the third city to launch as part of the start-up’s 22-city expansion announced in January. Beginning June 17th, consumers in the Atlanta metropolitan region who have pre-registered with Aereo will receive a special invitation to join and be one of the first to experience Aereo’s technology. After June 24th, Aereo will [...]
BT’s pay-TV customer base increased by 40,000 to hit 810,000 in the last quarter with growth rates outpacing Virgin and Sky. Total group revenues for the quarter dipped 2 per cent to £4.785 billion (€5.9bn) while full-year profits climbed 2 per cent to £6.18 billion on annual revenues down 5 per cent at £18.25 billion. BT’s high-profile entry into broadcasting [...]
Spanish telco Telefonica has revamped its IPTV platform, Movistar TV with the addition of a more innovative and user-friendly interface and expanded content line-up with emphasis on HD channels (with an offer of up to 18 HD channels) in an attempt to tackle the constant loss of subscribers. In the first quarter of the year, the company lost 51,000 subscribers to [...]
Baidu, the Chinese language Internet search provider, is buying the online video business of Internet video provider PPS for $370 million to create China’s largest online video platform by number of mobile users and video viewing time. Baidu and PPS expect the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2013, subject to customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the [...]
China’s EKT (Eagle Kingdom Technologies), a supplier of advanced STB solutions and iP4 (iP4.tv GmbH), a developer of advanced STB middleware called solidTV, have joined forces in a merger that sees a seamless integration of the iP4.tv STB middleware and the Advanced Hardware solutions from EKT. The merger allows EKT to offer cost effective solutions ranging from Zappers through to [...]
An independent poll conducted by MPP Global Solutions found that over half of TV broadcasters questioned believe that OTT services will boost their bottom line by a further 50 per cent by 2015. The TV experience is changing rapidly from a traditional, linear model to one which is consumer-driven, mobile, accessible and highly customisable. 2013 is the first year OTT [...]
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released an in-depth research study focused on the growing reach and impact of digital video – revealing that original professional online video (OPOV) captures the attention of 45 million US viewers per month. “Consumers are rapidly turning to digital video for entertainment, news and information, and advertiser demand to reach this growing audience is [...]
PLAiR has begun shipping its portable streaming device to customers in the US. Unveiled at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), PLAiR delivers platform and device agnostic AirPlay-like functionality from Apple, Windows and Android devices to any HDTV with an open HDMI port. “While more and more viewers are holding a phone or tablet while watching TV, over 95 per [...]
Access Digital Entertainment is preparing to launch EzyFlix.tv in Australia, allowing users to download or stream films and TV shows on any connected devices including smartphones, tablets, PCs and Smart TVs. Craig White, CEO of Access Digital Entertainment, said he plans to launch EzyFlix.tv in early May with more than 2,000 new and recent movies and TV shows. Agreements with [...]
