Advanced Television

Broadcast

$22bn in US ads will move to VoD and new devices

Customers’ adoption of new viewing formats, including VoD and viewing on media tablets and smartphones, will cause up to $22 billion (30 per cent) of the US pay-TV advertising market to shift to new formats by 2016. Western Europe will see similar shifts, while the rest of world will lag in its transition of advertising […]

January 6, 2012

Xmas boom for iPlayer app

The BBC’s popular iPlayer app was downloaded 220,000 times on Christmas Day – almost a five-fold increase on the previous day. On Boxing Day the BBC’s catch-up service was downloaded a further 130,500 times, triple the average day’s total. This frenzy of app downloading also proved to be a boon for live TV. The iPad […]

January 6, 2012

M6 partners with SyncTV on Xbox VoD

SyncTV, a specialist in delivering television services to connected TVs, mobile platforms, and other media-enabled devices, has announced that M6 (RTL Group), one of France’s largest broadcasting and media organisations, has selected SyncTV to develop its first OTT service for the Xbox 360 gaming console. Christian Bombrun, Deputy Managing Director of M6 Web, commented: “Our […]

January 6, 2012

Disney, Comcast agree major multi-platform deal

Comcast Corporation and The Walt Disney Company have reached a long-term, comprehensive distribution agreement that will deliver Disney’s sports, news and entertainment content to Comcast’s Xfinity TV customers into the next decade on television, online, on tablets and handheld devices. The new agreement enhances the multichannel business model and supports the companies’ mutual goal to […]

January 5, 2012

Deloitte: Accessibility drives US content demand and consumption

The proliferation of devices is increasing access to content, which recent data suggest is driving more consumption, according to consultancy firm Deloitte’s sixth edition State of the Media Democracy survey, which reveals that the introduction of new platforms has led to increases in the consumption of movies and books. The survey assesses media consumption preferences […]

January 5, 2012By Colin Mann

DTT switchover in Portugal hits problems

Technical problems and the lack of new TV channels have so far marred the introduction of DTT in Portugal. On January 5th, the country’s Parliament started an urgent debate to discuss the migration of Portugal’s TV system to digital, as a result of motions filed by the Communist Party (PCP) and the Socialist Party (PS). […]

January 5, 2012From Branislav Pekic in Rome

DirecTV to buy Brazil’s Acom MMDS

Sky Brazil, a subsidiary of DirecTV, in a statement says it plans to buy Acom Comunicacoes, the biggest provider of pay-TV and Internet services in Brazil. Acom uses MMDS to distribute its signals using wireless operating in the 2.5 GHz band. Sky Brazil, in a statement, said it is now seeking formal approval from local […]

January 5, 2012By Chris Forrester

CCTV on FreeviewHD

Vision IPTV has confirmed the launch of the first dedicated Chinese language channels to use the company’s Internet broadcast playout services, delivering entertainment via FreeviewHD. Through this service, China Central Television (CCTV), the largest TV network in China, is able to use the FreeviewHD electronic programme guide (EPG) to deliver new channels to the Chinese […]

January 5, 2012

Sirius-XM added 1.7m subs in 2011

Pay-radio operator Sirius-XM, which operates in North America, added 1.7 million net new subscribers last year, according to the company. Sirius-XM finished the year with almost 21.9 million subs, up 540,000 net new subs  in the pre-Christmas quarter, taking the overall gain for the full year to 1.7 million.  Actual end-of-year numbers will emerge in […]

January 5, 2012By Chris Forrester

Sensio launching 3D VoD service

Sensio Technologies has announced the launch of a 3D Video-on-Demand store: 3DGO! a unique product to boost consumer 3D adoption. With 3DGO! consumers across the US will benefit from a complete 3D solution to access and view high-quality 3D titles in the Sensio Hi-Fi 3D format. Available in Spring 2012, 3DGO! will offer a wide […]

January 5, 2012