UPC Neverland has revealed that its 'day and date' strategy for Video On Demand (VOD) with Warner Home Video Benelux has led to much higher buy rates via cable TV. 'Day and date' means that movie titles for VOD are released on the same day as the DVD introduction to the consumer market. Since the […]
From Branislav Pekic in Rome A total of 6.697.516 receivers for digital terrestrial television were sold in Italy from February 2004 to November 2007, according to research commissioned by DGTVi from the GFK Marketing Services institute. Out of the total, 82.3 per cent of the receivers (5,510,580 units) were made up of decoders, while TVs […]
Disney-ABC International Television has reached agreements with the owners of the Korean VOD IPTV services Mega TV and HanaTV, to supply television series and movie content for on-demand viewing. Under the two agreements, viewers of the KT Corporation-owned Mega TV and HanaTV, owned by Hanaro Telecom, will have access to U.S. series such as Grey's […]
From David del Valle in Madrid Digital terrestrial TV in Spain reached its audience peak in January, with an average share of 10.5 per cent, with Madrid, Valencia, Canaries and Catalonia as the Regions with the highest DTT penetration. Its rapid rise of audience, along with the growth in audience of thematic TV channels (11.2 […]
France's broadcasting regulator, the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA), has issued a call for bids to broadcast a High Definition pay-TV service on one of the country's digital terrestrial multiplexes. The opportunity is available to all pay-TV services currently authorised on DTT who wish to replace their current Standard Definition broadcast with HD. Bids will […]
Filing its response on the deadline for the Ofcom consultation period for upgrading Freeview to HD, the Digital TV Group has said “the regulator's current proposals could seriously compromise DTT's long term viability.” Dermot Nolan, the new director general at the DTG, believes there should be a comprehensive national strategy for HDTV encompassing all TV […]
From David Del Valle in Madrid The largest Spanish pay-TV group, Sogecable, is the first company in the country to distribute nationwide a High Definition channel with the launch of Canal + HD, the HD version of its premium pay-TV service. On trial since last December, the channel will offer a regular HD transmission to […]
More than 40 enterprises will join forces to create the China Terrestrial Digital HDTV IPR Protection Alliance on January 31st. The alliance will have the mandate to manage patents for the Chinese standard for terrestrial digital HDTV, and could potentially become a body like the IGRS (Intelligent Grouping and Resource Sharing) Working Group by setting […]
Gemstar, the News Corp controlled TV listings company, has initiated patent litigation proceedings against Virgin Media in the English High Court. Gemstar allege that the Virgin companies infringe three of Gemstar's European patents, including techniques for providing certain interactive programme guides (IPGs), and for handling recordings from IPGs. We have worked diligently to license Virgin […]
BBC Worldwide is in talks with international broadcasters in relation to launching local on-demand media players, similar to its Kangaroo joint venture with ITV and Channel 4. The US, Australia and Germany are likely targets. A BBC Worldwide spokeswoman insisted any international venture would be separate to the Kangaroo system, but added the BBC would […]