Advanced Television

Future of DTV depends on ITU decisions

According to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the future of digital TV could be adversely affected by decisions taken at the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) opening this week in Geneva. One of the items on the Conference’s agenda concerns the identification of frequency bands for international mobile telecommunications (IMT) services. The bands under consideration […]

October 24, 2007

Viacom won't back down on Google

Viacom has stated that it will not drop its $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube parent Google. Philippe Dauman, Viacom’s chief executive, said that Google had not done enough to prevent content from being illegally uploaded to YouTube. Viacom, owners of MTV and Nickelodeon, claims that Google allowed more than 160,000 clips of its programming to […]

October 23, 2007

EDS begins Sky defence

Lawyers for Electronic Data Systems will hit back at charges by British Sky Broadcasting that the US IT outsourcing company deceived Sky when it put in an ill-fated bid to build a “world class” customer-care centre to look after its subscribers. BSkyB alleges that EDS misrepresented its capabilities in order to secure the £48 million […]

October 23, 2007

MySpaceTV originals

MySpaceTV unveiled its first original Web series to give its users a television-like experience with the interactive benefits of the Internet. “Roommates” will track the lives of four women in their 20s who have recently graduated from college and are living together in Los Angeles. The Web show runs through December for a total of […]

October 23, 2007

FACT shuts pirate site

The first closure of a major UK-based pay-TV pirate site was accompanied by raids and an arrest, the anti-piracy group Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) has reported. Kieron Sharp, FACT Director General, said: “We at FACT have stated very clearly that we intended to pursue those who are openly exploiting and facilitating the distribution of […]

October 23, 2007

Gilat assesses bids

Gilat the Israeli satellite network group, is evaluating interest from several strategic and private equity buyers in buying the company. The company, which is listed on Nasdaq in the US and in Israel, could fetch more than $500m in a sale. Bids are due at the end of this week. Participating in the auction are […]

October 23, 2007

Ofcom warns adult channels

Ofcom has warned that all adult channels face being encrypted following a spate of complaints over explicit content including allegations of on-air masturbation and the promotion of premium-rate services. The media regulator has upheld complaints against five free-to-air unencrypted outlets known as “babe” channels, in which scantily clad women invite viewers to contact them via […]

October 23, 2007

Virgin emphasises broadband

Virgin Media seems to acknowledge that it cannot compete with Sky in premium pay-TV and is instead planning to entice customers with an updated broadband services. Acting chief executive Neil Berkett wants to move the focus away from TV and onto more mass-market households who do not need Sky’s sports and movie channels but do […]

October 23, 2007

Axiom.TV family-focused Internet TV channel

Axiom.TV is set to Beta launch the first comprehensive technology to make Internet TV user- friendly, legal and safe for families. To celebrate its international Beta launch, Axiom.TV will give away the movie 'Benji' to the first 33'000 subscribers. Axiom.TV is currently in final negotiations with several of the major studios for additional movie content, […]

October 23, 2007

Vecima for Red Helio

Vecima Networks has been selected by Red Helio and a number of its service provision partners (“Red Helio”) to supply a customized 5.25-5.80 GHz Broadband Wireless Internet Network (“BWIN”) solution of base stations and customer premise equipment (CPE) for deployment covering the county of Murcia, Spain. Red Helio expects to extend the network of Vecima […]

October 23, 2007