Advanced Television

Broadcast

Pre-pay cards for Meo VOD rentals

Portugal Telecom has launched pre-pay cards as a new way for subscribers of its Meo IPTV service to pay for VOD rentals. The cards are available to buy from Portugal Telecom’s website, its retail stores and authorised resellers, with values of €5 or €10, valid for a three-month period.  Once purchased they can be loaded […]

February 21, 2011

Berretta amongst Hall of Fame inductees

Every year the Society of Satellite Professionals elects a handful of VIPs to its Hall of Fame, designed to recognise the special contribution made by the individuals concerned. Past honourees include the ‘father of satellite broadcasting’ Arthur C Clarke. This year’s group will be honoured on March 15 in Washington DC, and includes Eutelsat’s former […]

February 21, 2011By Chris Forrester

Kroes: “Get on with satellite broadband”

Neelie Kroes, European Commission VP for the Digital Agenda, has issued an urgent call to twenty one EU countries to rapidly introduce all the legislative measures necessary to allow the pan-EU deployment of mobile satellite services that could be used for high-speed Internet, mobile television and radio or emergency communications to EU consumers and businesses. […]

February 18, 2011

Sony help RAI set up first Italian “Catch-up TV”

Italian public broadcaster RAI has signed an agreement with Sony, the first of its type in Italy, for the deployment of Web content within the Bravia Internet Video platform. This will open the doors for the creation of the first Italian “Catch-up TV”, allowing viewers to view a selection of programmes available on RAI’s website […]

February 18, 2011From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Astra and Eutelsat report strong growth

Europe’s two giant satellite operators, SES Astra and Eutelsat, have both turned in blisteringly good results. SES’ results (for the year to December 31st) declared revenues up 7.1 per cent to €1.735 billion, and with record operating profits, up 10.8 per cent, to €797 million. Luxembourg’s SES’ President Romain Bausch said that a net 76 […]

February 18, 2011By Chris Forrester

iPlayer links with VOD partners

Users of the BBC’s iPlayer service are now able to search for shows from a range of other broadcasters and other on-demand content providers. Through metadata-sharing partnerships, users can now find programmes from ITV, Channel 4, S4C, Five, SeeSaw.com and new partner MSN Video Player, directly from the BBC iPlayer website. The initiative comes some […]

February 18, 2011By Colin Mann

Online video delivers 47.1% growth

Professional video produced, published and hosted by US online-only media brands rose by 47.1 per cent in 2010 to 72.3 billion views, the highest annual growth rate seen since 2007, according to a report published by AccuStream Research. Growth in 2010 was driven in part by increased episodic TV viewing (over 10 billion total long-form […]

February 18, 2011

TeamCast at BES EXPO INDIA 2011

TeamCast, a specialist in digital modulation technologies for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and Mobile Television, Video Links and Satellite Applications, will be giving demonstrations on its booth n°86D at BES Expo INDIA 2011 in New Delhi, India, on the 24th, 25th  and 26th February, 2011. In addition to these technical demonstrations, TeamCast is taking part […]

February 18, 2011

US Cable: No cord-cutting evidence

Cable TV and telcos that provide subscription services say industry gains in the fourth quarter returned to normal following a spate of cancellations spurred by the end of discounted pricing. Comcast announced its loss of 135,000 video subscribers was about a third less than expected as it held onto more customers with better programming, and […]

February 17, 2011

Redbox going head-to-head with Netflix

Redbox is preparing to challenge Netflix head-on, the kiosk DVD rental company has confirmed. Redbox President Mitch Lowe said his company’s forthcoming digital option will be a subscription-based Internet streaming service. A single monthly fee would allow users to access movies on multiple devices and access discs through kiosks.

February 17, 2011