Advanced Television

Cable

US cable operators continue investing

The increasing competitiveness of the US pay-TV market continues to drive cable TV operators in the US to invest in their networks and roll out new services, reports In-Stat. For example, 90 per cent of US cable TV systems now offer HD video service, the research firm says. This is one of the findings of […]

January 7, 2008

Carlyle buys stake in Numericable

US investment fund Carlyle is set to acquire a 35 per cent stake in French cable operator Numericable, formerly known as Noos, and which has almost total dominance in the French market. Numericable’s current shareholders are Altice with a 30 per cent stake and Cinven with 70 per cent. In a joint statement, the three […]

December 24, 2007

Cable losing out to satellite

More American TV households are receiving video programming via an alternate delivery system (ADS) than ever before while MSOs' penetration continued to fall, according to a TVB analysis of Nielsen Media Research data for November 2007. Fifteen DMAs (Designated Market Areas) are now majority-ADS markets, where more viewers are watching via satellite than over wired […]

December 18, 2007

Jupiter subscription figures

Jupiter Telecommunications, the largest multiple system operator in Japan, has announced that the total subscribing households as of 30th November 2007 served by J:COM's 21 managed franchises reached 2.75 million, up 482,000, or 21.2 per cent since November 30, 2006. Combined revenue generating units (RGUs) for cable television, high-speed Internet access and telephony services reached […]

December 17, 2007

Comcast: we'll loose TV subs

Comcast, the largest US cable television operator, said it expects to lose video customers in 2008 as competitive and economic pressure mounts; its shares fell more than 10 per cent on the news. The comments from CFO Michael Angelakis came after the company lowered its forecast for 2007 cable revenue growth to about 11 per […]

December 7, 2007

ONO, Tele 5, lead ratings in Spain

From David Del Valle in Madrid Spain’s largest cable company ONO leads the pay-TV audience ratings with an average share of 7.11 per centin November, well ahead of the digital DTH platform Digital Plus, with 3.95 per cent, Telefonica’s Imagenio and other cable operators, with 5.64 per cent, according to TNS Sofres. The most widely […]

December 5, 2007

FCC chief hunts votes on cable

The head of the Federal Communications Commission is reportedly struggling to find enough support from agency commissioners to regulate cable television companies more tightly. The five-member commission is set to vote today on a report, proposed by Kevin Martin that would give the commission expanded powers over the cable industry after making a formal finding […]

November 27, 2007

FCC vs cable, it's getting nasty

The stand-off between FCC chair Kevin -Martin and the US cable industry is getting serious, and complicated. Two of his fellow Republican commissioners seem to be doubting the validity of his data for deermining that cable has crossed the arcane 70/70 threshold (see Daily 13th Nov). Martin, a relentless critic of 'big cable', has said […]

November 16, 2007

Pluthero control at C&W

John Pluthero will assume management control of both the international and the Europe, Asia and US divisions of Cable & Wireless following the departure of Harris Jones, the international chief executive, this week. Richard Lapthone, group chairman, said Pluthero was the ideal choice to oversee the division now that the recovery phase in the Europe, […]

November 14, 2007

FCC new rules for 'saturated' cable market?

A report by the Federal Communications Commission is claimed to show that cable TV companies have reached a subscriber saturation point that may lead to the agency exerting greater regulatory authority over the industry. The finding is in an annual report that assesses competition in the pay-television market. The report will conclude that the agency […]

November 13, 2007