Advanced Television

Pay TV

Malone: DirecTV not for sale

John Malone, who's Liberty Media is the largest individual shareholder in DirecTV told US media “I can be the first one to say DirecTV is not for sale”. Liberty Media split off DirecTV last week to combine it with some its cable network assets creating an independent and larger DirecTV. This has sparked speculation the […]

November 24, 2009

New ITV chairman talks pay-TV, as ads surge back

Archie Norman, the new chairman of ITV, is reportedly considering plans to charge for the broadcaster’s spin-off digital channels ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4. Despite Norman not joining the company until January, a number of reports hinted at the direction in which he is preparing to take ITV. 'City sources' told newspapers Norman believes it was […]

November 23, 2009

KDG subs up

KDG's digital pay-TV subscribers totalled 844,000, up 21,000 year-on-year at the end of September. It had 1.7 million broadband and telephony subscribers adding 645,000 on the year. There were 851,700 internet and 872,000 phone customers. Average services per customer increased to 1.31 from 1.23 giving the operator 11.84 million RGUs, up 585,000 year-on-year. ARPU for […]

November 19, 2009

BSkyB sees higher profits as competition increases

BSkyB expects profit and cash flow to grow in coming years as it continues to add clients even as competition increases. “The pay-TV market is an attractive place to be,” Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Darroch said at a Morgan Stanley conference in Barcelona, adding “BSkyB is well-positioned to increase earnings and cash flow.” BSkyB reported […]

November 19, 2009

Disney wants pay TV Everywhere

Speaking on the company's fourth quarter earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger outlined his his disagreements with TV Everywhere. "What we've heard suggests that interest in charging the consumer for greater access isn't a priority and we think it should be," he added that, "if we go to a world of authentication we shouldn't be […]

November 13, 2009

Satellite pay-TV in Eastern Europe sees strong growth

A Screen Digest analysis focused on the Central and Eastern European pay-TV market shows that the recent rapid growth in new satellite TV market entrants in Central and Eastern Europe shows no signs of slowing down. There are at least four new satellite players due to launch in the region in the next few weeks […]

November 13, 2009

Telefonica ups pay-TV 15%

Telefónica increased its pay-TV subscriber base by 15% to 2.5 million in the 12 months to the end of September. The bulk of its pay-TV business remains in Latin America where it has over 1.7 million TV customers, up 15.9% year-on-year with operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. In Spain, the operator […]

November 13, 2009

Sky Deutschland losses widen

Slow subscriber growth hit shares in Sky Deutschland even as the German pay-TV broadcaster reiterated it aimed to be profitable by 2011 after a sweeping restructuring. The company rebranded itself from Premiere to Sky Deutschland in July and launched a huge marketing campaign to win more customers in Europe’s largest TV market. That drive, as […]

November 13, 2009

Asia TV subs higher than rest of world combined

The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has published new data for subscription TV penetration across the Asia Pacific, noting that the region now has 326 million pay-TV, up 26 million homes in 2009. According to CASBAA estimates, backed by global data, subscription television in Asia Pacific now reaches more homes than the […]

November 5, 2009

Discovery Channel leads Latin American pay TV channels

According to TGI Latina, a consumer study covering the region's media industry, Discovery Channel ranked as the number one pay TV channel in viewer satisfaction and weekly viewership throughout the region. Discovery Channel has occupied the top position in the TGI rankings throughout each of the ten years the study has been published. The survey […]

October 30, 2009