Advanced Television

Broadcast

Just 39,000 cut Comcast cord as NBCU consolidated

Comcast lost 39,000 cable television subscribers in the first quarter as its video subscriber count slipped to 22.76 million, similar to that of Netflix which recently achieved 22.8 million US customers. The three per cent dip in overall video subscribers was less than analysts expected and marked the company’s narrowest loss in years. It came […]

May 4, 2011

Time Warner profit sinks on box office bombs

Time Warner announced lower first quarter profits despite higher revenues from its TV business because of lower earnings at is movie unit. Net income was $653 million down 10 per cent from $725 million a year ago. Revenues rose 6 per cent to $6.7 billion. Advertising revenues were up 20 per cent, driven by a […]

May 4, 2011

Google on TV

Google is making a very rare move into advertising on TV. The ads, in the US, are for its Chrome browser. It believes that people who use its Chrome Web browser will be more likely to keep using Google search. The 90-second ads show off Chrome, which it introduced in 2008. “As people look for […]

May 4, 2011

Major glitch for new Intelsat

Intelsat’s ‘New Dawn’ satellite launched April 22 but has a major in-orbit problem. One of a pair of C-Band reflector antennas has failed to open. Intelsat has decided to pause an attempt to open the second antenna while attempts are made to dislodge the jammed device. New Dawn is intended to serve Africa. Unfortunately, this […]

May 4, 2011By Chris Forrester

Uruguay has 500,000 pay-TV subs

According to official numbers from Uruguay’s communications regulator, the nation had 491,000 pay-TV subs at the end of last year, up 9.5 per cent on 2009. This represents a 36.5 per cent penetration. Clarin Group-owned cable outfit Cablevision has a 25 per cent market share in the city of Montevideo, although only about 10 per […]

May 4, 2011By Chris Forrester

NDS secures Sky Deutschland HD+

Digital pay-TV technology solutions provider NDS has confirmed that its NDS VideoGuard conditional access (CA) is enabling the secure delivery of HD+ content to Sky Deutschland subscribers. Following a co-operation between Sky Deutschland and HD+, Sky HD subscribers will be able to receive both Sky and HD+ services through Sky HD receivers. HD+ content will […]

May 4, 2011Colin Mann @ ANGA Cable

International HbbTV platform from teveo and Mediapool

German TV viewers will be able to access international programmes via hybrid, HbbTV-compliant devices following a deal between teveo interactive and Mediapool Content Services. The companies unveiled their HbbTV-based content platform ‘International TV’ at ANGA Cable. The platform will use the authorisation and payment system TV-ID, developed by teveo. Within the framework of the partnership, […]

May 4, 2011Colin Mann @ ANGA Cable

Orange sees surge in pay TV subs

France Telecom Orange’s first quarter revenues dipped slightly from a year earlier and intensifying competition in its home market also eroded its operating margins. But its European pay TV subscribers grew significantly in the 12 months to March 2011, adding 967,000 customers to reach a total of 4.4 million. In France, the telco reported 3.711 […]

May 3, 2011

4oD launches on iPad

Channel 4 has released an iPad app for its 4oD TV catch-up service, joining the BBC and its iPlayer application. The app, which unlike the website will only feature catch-up TV and not archived programming, is free to download from the Apple App Store. TV episodes are available to watch for up to 30 days […]

May 3, 2011

MTV MVNO promotions

Viacom International Media Networks has launched a global integrated campaign to promote MTV’s mobile price plans. Called Gif Me More, it was partly devised by MTV Facebook fans, who selected the campaign’s main character Gif God from a selection of five. Gif Me More is aimed at promoting MTV Mobile’s price plans and boosting its […]

May 3, 2011