Advanced Television

Pay TV

thePlatform reaches for the SKY

White-label video management and publishing company thePlatform has been selected by New Zealand pay-TV operator SKY Television to provide the back-end video management for the iSKY online TV service. The iSKY service is currently available to SKY subscribers and provides the opportunity to view their favourite programmes and movies on their computers. John Fellet, CEO […]

February 1, 2011

Sky Italia, Fastweb combine TV offers

News Corp digital satellite operation Sky Italia and broadband operator Fastweb have agreed to combine Sky’s satellite TV offer with Fastweb’s broadband Internet and landline services in a deal aimed at boosting customer numbers in Italy. Under the terms of the new offer, named ‘Home Pack’, consumers will be able to choose entertainment, connectivity and […]

January 31, 2011

Sky Deutschland settles investor suit

Sky Deutschland is to pay €14.5 million in compensation to institutional investors who claim they suffered losses as a result of the pay TV operator overstating of subscriber numbers. When News Corp took control of Sky Deutschland in 2010 it restated subscriber figures for 2008 from three million down to only 2.4 million, and the […]

January 31, 2011

Research: Next-gen TV closing gap on cable

Cable will retain dominance in the global multi-channel TV market over the next five years but the threat from the new generation of digital and IP services will take its toll, predicts Ovum. Globally cable TV will reach 573 million households by 2015, but will grow by an average of only three per cent per […]

January 31, 2011

Sky 3D in 70,000 homes

Sky has revealed that 70,000 UK homes have signed up to its 3D package since it launched the service on October 1st 2010. Chief executive Jeremy Darroch, said that the service has got off to a very good start in reaching this total in just a few months. He added that they are very happy […]

January 28, 2011

Sky profit jump, tops 10m subs

BSkyB has reported a 26 per cent jump in half-year pre-tax profit as it surpasses 10 million subscribers. Pre-tax profits at the broadcaster rose to £467 million (€541m) in the last six months of 2010, with revenues up 15 per cent to £3.2 billion. BSkyB said demand for HD television services – up by 68 […]

January 27, 2011

Cloud intros Sky Anywhere

BSkyB confirmed it has bought UK WiFi network The Cloud from its investor, DFJ Esprit, and that it use it “to allow easy access to Sky content on multiple devices in and out of home”, via a new service, Sky Anywhere, that will launch in October. Sky said The Cloud “complements existing broadband and mobile […]

January 27, 2011

Murdoch Snr to lead Hunt talks

Rupert Murdoch has cancelled a visit to the Davos economic summit to personally lead negotiations with UK culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, as News Corp seeks to offer guarantees to safeguard Sky News independence and win approval for its complete takeover of BskyB. Following publication of the Ofcom report recommending a referral to the Competition Commission, […]

January 26, 2011

Italy’s football league may rescue Dahlia TV

Italy’s Lega Calcio Serie A could end up being the saviour of fledgling Italian pay-TV platform Dahlia TV, after Sweden’s Wallenberg Group decided to call it a day. According to local media reports, the Italian Football League has already obtained a positive opinion, in principle, of the Competition Authority, Ministry of Economic Development, and liquidator […]

January 26, 2011From Branislav Pekic in Rome

KPN TV passes 1m

The Netherland’s KPN revealed it had 1.197 million TV customers for its IPTV and DTT services at the end of 2010,  up 22 per cent year-on-year. The numbers were unveiled with financial results posting fourth quarter revenues of €3.371 billion, up 0.5 per cent, and EBITDA of €1.359 billion, up 4 per cent. Revenue for […]

January 26, 2011