In 2009, more than 100 million satellite set top box (STB) units were sold, which represents more than 50 per cent of the total STB market for that year, reports In-Stat. Cable and DTT STB shipments each represented slightly over 20 per cent of the market, with IPTV capturing the remaining 7 per cent. – […]
Freesat, the DTH version of Freeview, has revealed that the subscription-free satellite service had reached the one million sales mark, after 18 months in business. The 250,000 additional sales since November means Freesat now holds 30 per cent of the market for all set top boxes sold in the UK.
From David Del Valle in Madrid The must-carry obligation traditionally imposed on nation wide terrestrial TV channels to open up their signals to cable and satellite platforms for free distribution is coming to an end in Spain. The new overall TV law (Ley General Audiovisual) frees private TV channels from the must-carry obligation and allows […]
Australia's commercial free-to-air TV networks are putting their weight behind the launch of an electronic programming guide and an aggregated online catch-up TV service as part of their fight with pay-TV platforms. Robin Parkes, the chief executive of the free-to-air marketing body Freeview, has confirmed the launch of a Freeview-branded electronic programming guide in June […]
France's seven main legacy broadcasters – TF1, France 2, France 3, Canal +, France 5, Arte and M6 – have agreed to a simultaneous switching off of the analogue signal currently carried by Eutelsat's Atlantic Bird 3. The move will coincide with the digital switchover of the last region in metropolitan France – Languedoc-Roussillon – […]
UPC Broadband will consolidate its European DTH business in order to drive efficiencies and opportunities to expand the business and services provided to customers. As a result it has centralised its activities in a new company, UPC DTH S.a.r.l. based in Luxembourg. This consolidation coincides with a recent agreement for a long term satellite position […]
From Branislav Pekic in Rome Italy's DTH platform TivùSat has surpassed the figure of 150,000 active users in mid-February, while maintaining a trend of activation of 1,300 to 1,500 smartcards per day. The total number of TivùSat smart cards ordered by decoder and TV set manufacturers has meanwhile risen to 790,000. At the same time, […]
From Branislav Pekic in Rome Croatian business channel Kapital Network has been granted a national concession for experimental broadcasting on the DVB-T network. The decision was reached by Croatia's Electronic Media Council, which announced a tender for three specialised TV channels several weeks ago. As a result, Kapital Network, which has been available since May […]
From David Del Valle in Madrid The dispute between SES Astra and Abertis Telecom over the distribution of DTT via satellite is intensifying, less than two months before the analogue switch-off scheduled for April 3 2010 The Luxembourg-based company has taken the case to the Spanish Telecommunication Market Commission (CMT) accusing Abertis of abuse of […]
ASSOCHAM (The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) has urged Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to withdraw five per cent Customs Duty on STBs in Budget proposals for 2010-11 to provide support to the DTH industry. Customs Duty on STBs had been exempted in 2006 to provide impetus to industries involved in digitisation […]