Advanced Television

Pay TV

Subscribers will switch for discount

Over two-thirds of American pay television subscribers would be willing to switch providers if offered a price discount of 20 per cent, according to a report just published by Strategy Analytics. While Cable customers were the most likely to churn, only half as many (33 per cent) of Telco TV/IPTV subscribers would switch. The report, […]

February 3, 2010

ITV looks to PPV to make it safe

Plan for ITV to introduce a pay-per-view service for ITV2, 3 and 4 under new chief executive Adam Crozier seem to be firming up. ITV has said it will undergo a thorough strategic review which will rule nothing out, including a move away from the free-to-air advertising model to a much broader media platform by […]

February 2, 2010

Sky: Good Q2, launches 3D

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB has reported strong second quarter results and confirmed that it will launch Sky 3D, Europe's first dedicated 3D TV channel, this April. As part of the final preparations for the launch, and to preview the service, Sky will become the first TV company anywhere to broadcast a live 3D TV sports event […]

January 29, 2010

Pay-TV ad limits will harm Sky Italia

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's move to lower advertising ceilings for pay TV will hurt Sky Italia unit and curtail growth at the other networks it says. New Italian regulations would gradually limit the maximum amount of advertising per hour of pay television to 12 per cent in 2012 from 18 per cent now. Free-to-air […]

January 28, 2010

FCC rebuffs cable firms on sports

The Federal Communications Commission has voted to stop cable operators from withholding local sports channels from rivals in the US, potentially giving consumers more choice of pay-TV providers. Federal law requires cable operators to offer access to channels they partially or wholly own to rivals at reasonable rates. But the law includes a loophole that […]

January 22, 2010

Ofcom ready to rein in Sky as rivals prepare price cuts

A board meeting at Ofcom is set to approve the regulator obliging Sky to cut its wholesale prices on its sports channels. In choreographed weekend interviews BT set the ground claiming it would definitely significantly undercut Sky with its retail price if it gets access to the channels at the kind of prices put forward […]

January 19, 2010

Disney for Apple TV online subscriptions?

ABC and CBS networks are considering joining a the proposed Apple TV online subscription venture first floated last month. ABC is a unit of the Walt Disney Company, which could also make two of its cable channels, ABC Family and the Disney Channel, available through the proposed service. The CBS Corporation owns half of the […]

December 23, 2009

Portugal Telecom has until Jan to launch pay-TV on DTT

From Branislav Pekic in Rome Portugal Telecom has less than two months to start commercial exploitation of pay-TV services on Digital Terresterial Television (DTT). The Portuguese operator has to move forward with this project by 31 January 2010 or risks losing their license won in an open tender organised by the country's telecommunications regulator Anacom. […]

December 21, 2009

Pay-TV providers missing the middle market for gaming

Premium pay-TV gaming features do not currently maximize the market's revenue potential, according to a report from international research firm Parks Associates Many pay-TV providers, including Comcast, Cablevision, DISH Network, and DirecTV, offer premium packages that include simple, single-player games. The report finds roughly 5 per cent of broadband households in North America and Western […]

December 17, 2009

Italian limits (Sky's) ads on pay TV, greenlights Cielo

From Branislav Pekic in Rome The Italian Government is to limit advertising on all pay-TV broadcasters, including Sky Italia and Mediaset Premium. The decree, which has been prepared by Deputy Minister for Communications, Paolo Romani, could be approved by the Government today (December 17.) The draft foresees that the amount of hourly advertising on pay-TV […]

December 17, 2009