Advanced Television

OTT

Verizon opens Widget Bazaar on FiOS TV

US telco Verizon has launched the Widget Bazaar applications store as part of its ‘FiOS TV’ service – which includes a Facebook and Twitter widgets, and Internet Video on TV. The company also plans to offer an open development platform to permit developers to write interactive FiOS TV applications that will be available through the […]

July 15, 2009

IIF now considering Internet-sourced content

The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) has announced that the mission of its IPTV Interoperability Forum (IIF) will be expanded to include the standardised delivery of Internet-sourced content over an IPTV network. Until this time, the IIF has concentrated on delivery of a TV service over a managed IP network. The IIF is a […]

July 15, 2009

Macrovision EPG for Canal+

Macrovision Solutions Corporation has announced that Canal+ Group, a leading pay-TV operator in France, has signed a multi-year licensing agreement for Macrovision's electronic program guide (EPG) patent portfolio. The multi-year agreement allows Canal+ Group to use Macrovision's licensed intellectual property in its EPGs deployed on its various platforms. ….

July 15, 2009

Sky ditches DT

Sky Deutscheland has terminated its distribution contact with Deutsche Telekom for the its IPTV platform. The 'T-Entertainment' branded service will is no loner available through Sky, though both companies have acknowledged that the possibility of further talks remains. Premiere announced plans to rebrand as Sky Deutschland in April, which has since seen the two pay-TV […]

July 13, 2009

Video revenue for Italy’s telcos triple by 2014

In Italy’s telecom market, video revenue will triple its share of total revenue by 2014, presenting a $4.4 billion revenue opportunity for operators, according to a report from Pyramid Research, the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network. Italy’s pay-TV market generated $2.9 billion, with 5.6 million subscriptions at the end of 2008, […]

July 10, 2009

Opportunities beyond quad play depend on alliances

Many telecom companies are shifting away from traditional communications access providers and targeting the needs of a digitalised society. To this end, they have started looking for ways to not only offer Quad Play services that include fixed telephony, fixed broadband, TV and mobile communication services but also to enable end users to perform their […]

July 8, 2009

Volpi blames VOD squeeze for Joost demise

Joost was squeezed out of the market by broadcasters setting up their own VOD channels admits Mike Volpi, who resigned as CEO. He said that in April, when Disney joined the Hulu joint venture, it became pretty clear Joost had to do something else — it is becoming a white label video provider. Explaining how […]

July 8, 2009

BBC Huggers: future is Canvas

The BBC’s director of new media and technology Erik Huggers says that the future for free-to-air digital platforms like Freesat and Freeview is ‘unclear’ – suggesting that only IPTV and Project Canvas venture will give consumers the services and features that they need. Huggers said that, despite work on adding HD to Freeview and continued […]

July 7, 2009

IPTV subs increases in Korea

Total subscribers have increased to 1,687,833 by 34,000 in just 6 months. On July 2nd, Korea's three IPTV operators reported that KT's Qook TV has 724,564 subscribers while LG Dacom's My LGTV and SK Broadband's Broadband&TV have 188,289 and 774,980, respectively. Noticeably, the statistics of June show that although subscribers of the VOD service have […]

July 6, 2009

Hulu bound for UK

Johannes Larcher, senior vice president at Hulu, has confirmed that the service will be coming to the UK with an expected launch date in September, but didn’t specify which UK media companies would provide content for the service. "We are talking to everyone. The UK is our number one priority in terms of international expansion. […]

July 6, 2009