Advanced Television

Regulation

DPP and SMPTE launch IMF spec

The Digital Production Partnership (DPP), the media industry’s international business network, has announced the release of a new technical specification to support the mastering and international exchange of content: SMPTE TSP 2121:2018 IMF Application DPP (ProRes). The new specification builds on the existing Interoperable Master Format (IMF) standard developed by the Society of Motion Picture […]

August 17, 2018

Spain: Vodafone ‘Movistar abusing football rights’

Vodafone Spain has submitted a complaint to regulator CNMC against Movistar over alleged breaches of competition rules in its football pay-TV offers. Vodafone has asked the CNMC to step-in and order Movistar to eliminate its promotion of free-of-charge football until 2019 arguing that it is an abuse of a dominant position to the detriment of […]

August 16, 2018From David Del Valle in Madrid

UK: CMA probes celebrity social media endorsements

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into whether celebrities are making it clear when they are paid to endorse a product on social media. The CMA said social media influencers have the power to influence the shopping habits of millions with posts endorsing goods or services, but they may not be […]

August 16, 2018

MPAA updates content security best practices

As part of its dynamic improvement efforts, US movie industry trade body the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has announced the first update of its Content Security Best Practices since the formation of the Trusted Partner Network (TPN), which was launched in April 2018 in a joint venture with the Content Delivery and Security […]

August 16, 2018By Colin Mann

YouTube bans horror trailer

YouTube has pulled a five-second teaser trailer for upcoming horror movie The Nun after a number of users complained that it was too frightening. The trailer was essentially a jump-scare tactic similar to the prank videos that were popular in the early days of YouTube, where users would be asked to focus on a small […]

August 15, 2018By Nik Roseveare

Italy to switch from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4

Italy will switch from the MPEG-2 coding in favour of MPEG-4 on the DVB-T standard from January 1st 2020. This decision is included in the schedule for the release of the 700 MHz band, published by the Ministry of Economic Development. The rationale for the adoption of the MPEG-4 format is to enable more efficient […]

August 14, 2018From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Taiwan: Industry, government anti-piracy co-operation

Taiwan’s leading video-on-demand (VoD) industry associations have come together with the government at a roundtable event to share and promote best practices that foster growth while safeguarding consumer interests through self-regulation and collaborating on anti-piracy efforts. The event was hosted by the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), the Asia Pacific trade association for the video […]

August 14, 2018By Colin Mann

India declines to regulate kids TV

India’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) is declining to impose special regulations or controls on kids TV. A parliamentary debate last week saw questions raised about the non-stop transmission of cartoons on both private and public channels. India’s government admitted that the exposure to kids’ channels and in particular cartoons could affect youngsters, but […]

August 13, 2018By Chris Forrester

Cisco, Google, Disney & more join ASWF

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and The Linux Foundation have launched the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) to provide a neutral forum for open source software developers in the motion picture and broader media industries to share resources and collaborate on technologies for image creation, visual effects, animation and sound. “We are thrilled […]

August 13, 2018

US: Energy-efficient STBs save $3.5bn

Consumers have saved $3.5 billion, and more than 20 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have been avoided as a result of the voluntary set-top box energy conservation agreement among US pay-TV providers, manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates, according to a new report on the industry Voluntary Agreement for Ongoing Improvement to the […]

August 13, 2018