Advanced Television

Broadcast

Netflix cancels Baz Luhrmann show

Netflix show The Get Down, a musical drama exploring the birth of hip-hop and directed by Baz Luhrmann, has been axed after just one season. The show had a production cost of $120 million – the largest ever for Netflix – but metrics from Variety suggest that it was only attracting around one-fifth of the audience […]

May 25, 2017By Nik Roseveare

Kazakhstan shakes up TV rules

Kazakhstan’s Information & Communications Minister, Dauren Abeyev says that the state’s public broadcasting channels – terrestrial and satellite – are not competitors to each other. BBC Monitoring has reported that the country has recently modernised the portfolio of channels. “We have modernised state media assets and launched a first Kazakh Yel Arna cinema channel, which […]

May 25, 2017By Chris Forrester

EU sets 30% content quota for European SVoD

The European Council has signed off the proposal for a revised directive on audiovisual media services (AVMS). At the heart is a 30 per cent content quota for European SVoD services. The Council says aim of the proposal is to respond to the unprecedented technological and market changes of digital shift and to boost the […]

May 24, 2017

Analysts: Amazon Channels not a threat to pay-TV

According to Jonathan Broughton, Senior Analyst at research firm IHS Markit, and Tim Westcott, Senior Principal Analyst, the launch by Amazon of Amazon Channels, an offering of subscription channels and apps available to Amazon Prime customers, in the UK and Germany, should not be seen as offering an alternative to the Sky packages available in […]

May 24, 2017By Colin Mann

Research: Pay-TV customer satisfaction fades

Customer satisfaction with subscription television is down 1.5 per cent to 64, tied with Internet Service providers for last place among 43 industries tracked by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). New ACSI results show that wireless service is the only telecom industry to improve. Internet service providers, fixed-line telephone and cell phones are unchanged, […]

May 24, 2017

Malta: Melita, Vodafone quad-play merger

In a move that creates a new, fully-integrated communications provider in Malta, Apax Partners Midmarket, Fortino Capital and Vodafone Group are to combine cable, broadband and pay-TV provider Melita and Vodafone Malta. The transaction combines Vodafone Malta, the country’s leading mobile operator with a 4G mobile network covering 99 per cent of the Maltese population, […]

May 24, 2017By Colin Mann

Spain: Pay-TV revenues up 24% in Q4

In the fourth quarter of 2016, the Spanish pay-TV industry saw revenues hit €506 million, up 24 per cent from Q4 2015. A report published by the CNMC reveals that Telefónica took the lion’s share with €420.66 million (against €343.75 million the same period last year) followed by Vodafone with €49.08 million (against €42.86 million […]

May 24, 2017From David Del Valle in Madrid

Survey: Download-to-go drives streaming service loyalty

Results from a survey commissioned by Penthera, a creator of download-to-go (D2G) software for streaming video services, confirm that consumers see D2G as a valuable enhancement to streaming services. Among the findings: More than one-third of 1,000 respondents reported that availability of D2G would make them more likely to subscribe and/or less likely to cancel […]

May 24, 2017

Sky, A+E Networks extend partnership

A+E Networks and Sky are extending and strengthening their long-term partnership by securing the distribution of A+E Networks’ portfolio of leading entertainment brands to Sky’s 22.4 million customers across the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria. With A+E’s commitment to increased investment in local productions across its European markets, Sky’s customers can look forward to […]

May 24, 2017

Viaccess-Orca acquires Squadeo

Content services protection and enhancement specialist Viaccess-Orca has acquired Squadeo, a global provider of secure cross-platform OTT premium video solutions for the TV industry. The integration of Squadeo’s multimedia QuickPlayer further strengthens Viaccess-Orca’s Connected Sentinel Player (CSP) offering, enabling an end-to-end solution for delivering live and VoD content to PC, Mac and connected mobile devices, […]

May 24, 2017