The number of pay-TV subscribers in 20 MENA countries will increase from 17.32 million in 2022 to 19.20 million in 2028, according to the Middle East and North Africa Pay TV Forecasts report from analyst firm Digital TV Research. Legitimate pay-TV penetration will remain at only 19 per cent. IPTV subscribers overtook pay satellite TV […]

The Spanish government has postponed the migration of all standard definition (SD) DTT channels to HD until February 14th 2024. The Economy Vice president, Nadia Calviño, says that the delay is due to the lack of HD-equipped TV sets in the market as a result of the pandemic. She adds that delaying the migration will […]

Italy will complete the switchover from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 with AVC encoding for DTT broadcasting on December 21st. Most of the national TV channels had already switched to MPEG-4 AVC encoding since March 8th, but smaller broadcasters were given more time to adjust to the new regime. The switch was necessary in order to free […]

João Cadete de Matos, the  president of Portugal’s National Communications Authority (Anacom) has acknowledged that Meo (Altice Portugal) has requested the renewal of the DTT network licences. During a meeting with journalists, Cadete de Matos said that the regulator has six months to make an assessment, including financial issues, as ‘DTT has to be cost-orientated.’ […]

After months of uncertainty, Altice Portugal has requested the renewal of the DTT network operator licence for its Meo multimedia unit from Portugal’s National Communications Authority (Anacom). Meo (formerly Portugal Telecom) was awarded the licence to operate Portugal’s DTT only multiplex in 2008 for a period of 15 years. The company had until today (December […]

France’s Arcom (Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique/Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority) has issued a call for applications for the award of two national FTA High Definition DTT licences. This call comes in light of the expiry of the authorisations currently granted to the TF1 and M6 services. The spectrum, available […]

As more than 90 million households, or 30 per cent of European TV homes, still rely exclusively on free-to-air channels for their TV consumption, the ongoing evolution of DTT transmission standards could be seen as a way to rejuvenate a TV access mode which does not appear as prosperous as it was in the past, […]

A study published by the European Commission supports the EBU position that there should not be any change in the way that UHF spectrum is allocated in Europe. The study makes clear that both DTT and wireless audio equipment for programme making and special events (PMSE) will continue to require the sub-700 MHz spectrum currently […]

Spain’s pay-TV revenues grew by 2.5 per cent to €506.1 million in the second quarter of the year, according to the CNMC. By contrast, FTA TV saw its revenues fall by 7.1 per cent to €403.4 million. In terms of subscriber numbers, pay-TV reached 9.1 million, up 7.7 per cent compared to the same period […]

The Portuguese Government has provided assurances that DTT broadcasting will continue in the future. The confirmation came from the Secretary of State for Infrastructures, Hugo Santos Mendes, during a Parliamentary hearing, who added that the Government is in negotiations with DTT network operator Altice Portugal (Meo). This follows uncertainty regarding the future plans of Altice […]