Advanced Television

Broadcast

Mexico licenses 146 DTT channels

Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Commission (FTC) has licensed a record 146 new digital terrestrial channels in the 10 months to June. The new services bring the total authorised DTT channels to 224. Mexico is scheduled to switch off its analogue transmissions in 2015, although this decision – decreed by the FTC – is under examination by […]

September 6, 2011By Chris Forrester

China boosts satellite services

China is planning to serve some 200 million rural families with satellite signals, and switch off its analogue terrestrial signals by 2015. A pilot project tested the concept in the north and northwest of China in the Ningxia, Hebei and Inner Mongolia regions has paved the way for expansion to other rural areas, said Zhang […]

September 6, 2011By Chris Forrester

Netflix launches in Brazil

Netflix has launched its movie and TV streaming service in Brazil, the first deployment in an intended series of roll-outs across Latin America. The company plans to expand into 43 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. “What Netflix seeks to do is connect the world to provide the world’s content to the world’s citizens,” […]

September 6, 2011By Colin Mann

Sundance launches HD VoD on UPC Poland

Sundance Channel Global has launched a new HD VoD on UPC Poland. UPC Poland’s on demand service allows Sundance Channel On Demand to have a dedicated user interface where subscribers can search across title, actor, descriptions and genre categories. Sundance Channel will also create banners for the branded user interface promoting specific films and programmes […]

September 6, 2011

Dish plans Netflix rival

US satellite broadcaster Dish Network is to launch its ‘Blockbuster’ movie streaming service next month as a direct challenge to rival Netflix. Reports suggest the new Blockbuster service’s launch is timed to coincide with Netflix upping its prices. Netflix is proposing to charge separately for mail-delivered DVDs as well as streamed movies. If users want […]

September 5, 2011By Chris Forrester

Fifth DTT HD channel for UK

A fifth HD digital terrestrial TV channel is expected to launch by April next year in the UK. Ofcom has invited public service broadcasters to apply for the slot. The media watchdog said the extra capacity needed for HD on DTT had been created by reorganising existing TV services and introducing MPEG-4 and DVB-T2. The […]

September 5, 2011

Canal Plus challenges for Vivendi

Last week’s Vivendi results were close to the market’s expectations, although there was subsequently some changes to guidance during the post-results analysts’ calls. For example, Vivendi’s Activision-Blizzard games division saw its guidance raised substantially, with the potential of even further progress. Vivendi is a much diversified business, especially in the telecoms sector, and while the […]

September 5, 2011

380,000 US pay-TV subs cut cord in Q2

The number of pay-TV households in the US declined by nearly 380,000 in the second quarter as traditional cable and satellite video providers continued to lose subscribers because of economic factors and lower-priced Internet video solutions, according to IHS Screen Digest. Total US TV subscriptions in the second quarter decreased to 100.9 million, down from […]

September 5, 2011

Sky News charges for iPad app

Sky News is to introduce charges of £4.99 (€5.70) per month. The fees will go through iTunes App Store as an auto-renewing subscription, so Apple will take a 30 per cent cut. App access will continue to be free for those who can authenticate by means of their Sky ID, so app users will be […]

September 5, 2011

UPC Direct rebranded freeSAT

Liberty’s European DTH platform UPC Direct is being rebranding as freeSAT. The new freeSAT pre-paid card will offer viewers a basic package of nearly 90 digital TV channels, plus movies from HBO MaxPak, for six months to a year. The basic freeSAT service, known as freeSAT lite, will cost CZK149 a month.

September 5, 2011