Advanced Television

FTA

Comcast-NBC merger on course for January approval

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has revealed that he will vote to approve the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal as long as certain conditions are met. Julius Genachowski December 23 issued a draft order of approval for the merger on the condition that the companies promise to share TV shows not […]

December 24, 2010by Colin Mann

Japan’s NHK boosts HDTV

  Japanese public broadcaster NHK will shortly consolidate its three digital satellite channels into two in order that extra HDTV programming can be shown. Currently NHK transmits three of its main channels over satellite, one in HD and the other two showing standard definition programming.  From April the two channels will be given a new […]

December 9, 2010By Chris Forrester

CBS: We won’t rush to OTT

Leslie Moonves, CBS CEO, says the network is in no hurry to see its content on new OTT platforms like Google TV or Netflix. “People want our content. We’re going to be paid. We’re going to take our time making the right decision,” he told the annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. Moonves referred […]

December 8, 2010

Research: BARB says linear TV still popular in UK

TV viewing figures reveal that people in the UK watched an average of 27 hours, 34 minutes of live, linear TV each a week during July to September 2010 (3 hours, 56 minutes a day), with growth across every age group. This represents an increase of 1 hour, 50 minutes on the same period last […]

December 2, 2010From Colin Mann in London

CSA seeks on demand DTT

France’s Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) has issued a request for expressions of interest in the broadcast of audiovisual media services on demand (SMAD) on digital terrestrial television, with the aim of  the platform providing the public with access to a richer and more diverse audiovisual offer. The CSA will authorise either one or several […]

December 2, 2010

TF1, M6, Canal+ Free may break EU rules

France has two months to respond to European Union complaints that free channels awarded to Canal Plus, TF1 and M6 could violate competition rules. The manner in which the channels were granted, to compensate for the switch from analogue to digital television, could violate European Commission rules of transparency and non- discrimination. France’s culture ministry […]

November 30, 2010

Research: Pay-TV trumps free-to-air

Paid-for television content – whether through cable, satellite or the Internet – is preferred over free-to-air services – even in markets where free programming is more readily available, according to global research from Motorola Mobility. Motorola Mobility’s Global 2010 Media Engagement Barometer – an independent global study of video-consumption habits among 7,500 consumers in 13 […]

November 18, 2010

OTT will win 30% of German TV revenues

Apple and Google will claim a significant part of the German TV business in the next few years, according to a study by Booz & Company. “Until 2015, about 30 per cent of the total revenues in the German TV and video ecosystem will go to competitors from the new media sector,” forecast the experts. […]

October 13, 2010By Chris Forrester

Freeview hits 60m sales, HD in 0.25m homes

Freeview says it has now sold 60 million units in the UK and that Freeview HD is expected to reach 250,000 homes this month. About 420,000 Freeview HD-enabled devices, including both STBs and television sets with the technology built in, have been sold. Freeview estimates that of these, 230,000 are being used to receive the […]

October 7, 2010

GlobeCast partners with Shanghai Media Group

GlobeCast and Shanghai Media Group have reached an agreement to jointly provide a host of production and transmission services to serve the needs of international broadcasters and to establish a video fibre link into and out of China. The goal of the agreement is to combine the best of SMG’s domestic Chinese capabilities with GlobeCast’s […]

September 16, 2010