Global media and entertainment company Starz has confirmed details of the Starz Play Arabia launch on April 2nd in 17 countries. The first international Starz Play is a new, premium content, direct-to-consumer multiplatform subscription video service developed in conjunction with the Parsifal Entertainment Group for select markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). […]
Remote controls that come bundled with smart TVs in Europe will soon feature a dedicated Netflix shortcut button. Smart TVs from Panasonic, Philips, Sony, Toshiba and Vestel going into retail this year will come with a Netflix button providing a direct shortcut to the online streaming service. Bill Holmes, head of business development for Netflix […]
BBC iPlayer had its biggest week ever beginning on February 16th, when audiences wanted to catch up on the 30th anniversary episodes of EastEnders, with 75 million requests. Total requests for the month were at 299 million, making it a successful month given that February is three days shorter than January (which saw 343 million […]
Renowned film-maker Lord Puttnam has called for a European digital single market that retains scope for territorial licensing to boost cultural diversity and consumer choice and warned against an inflexible approach to release windows. Puttnam, President of Film Distributors’ Association (FDA), made his comments during a keynote address at an FDA event for the UK […]
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has suggested that introducing global content will disincentivise would-be subscribers from using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access different versions of the service. Speaking to Gizmodo Australia – in a territory where it has been suggested there are are as many as 200,000 ‘subscribers’, despite there being no operation there prior […]
ISP iiNet has blamed Telstra – Australia’s main telco – for the slower Internet connection speeds that have hit some of its customers since the arrival of Netflix in the country. The online streaming service launched its Australian service last week and proved to be a hit with iiNet customers, accounting for 15 per cent […]
Mike Williams, telecoms analyst at investment bank Exane BNP-Paribas, says the battle for eyeballs – and subscribers – is escalating among pay-TV players and as OTT content quality and quantity continues to improve. The bank’s report says: “We expect them to increasingly try to compete as substitutes (rather than complements). Additionally, as OTT players, most […]
Conviva, a specialist in OTT video experience optimisation, has released the findings of its inaugural report, which found that stream interruptions, inadequate picture fidelity and other poor streaming experience issues prompt nearly three-quarters of all OTT video viewers to give up in the first four minutes of playback. The report reveals the steep challenges OTT […]
Authenticated video usage has surged 467 per cent over a 24-month period, according to Adobe’s latest report on US digital video trends. Sports continue to dominate TV Everywhere (TVE) use
Analysis from MoffettNathanson asks the all-important question as to the position of US cable & satellite if so-called ‘cord-cutting’ turns out to be actually worse than expected. MN reports that the last 3 months have seen a flurry of