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NEWS Monday 25th November - Monday 2nd December 2002
Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
| Tuesday | |||||
French regional channel to stop
UK analogue switch off delayed to 2014
Low iTV take up in Australia
MobilCom in E9.9 bn 3G writedown
Dream-Magic iTV service launches in Philippines
i-Cable Communications subscriptions up
NASN broadcasts on GlobeCast's Eurobird
New Zealand's first Christian channel on SKY
French regional channel to stop
By Sotires Eleftheriou
French TV channel Regions could end broadcasting in May 2003 according to reports in Le Monde newspaper. The channel was set up in 1998 by France Telecom and France Televisions, who were then also shareholders in TPS, which was short of channels and has exclusive satellite carriage for Regions.
Since then, France Televisions and France Telecom have both withdrawn from TPS (now owned entirely by TF1 and M6). TPS now has a much stronger line up of channels and intends to stop carrying the channel when the present contract ends in May 2003. Meanwhile the cable operators have reduced the payment from E0.46 to E0.29 per subscriber.
Three years after launch the audience figures remain very low, only about 0.2 per cent of TPS subscribers. France Telecom via its subsidiary Wanadoo, which owns 39.9 per cent of Regions, is withdrawing as part of its restructuring programme to concentrate on its core activity. The other shareholder, Dexia (10 per cent) also intends to withdraw. This would leave France Televisions alone to carry the costs of the channel in the face of dramatically reduced revenues.
The channel is based in Lyon where it shares premises with Euronews. It employs around 60 people, half of whom are on secondment from France 3, France Televisions' terrestrial channel which has a regional structure. Its programming is drawn from the regional offices of France 3.
The Director of France 3, Remy Pfimlin, has stated that work at the Lyon site is to continue, possibly becoming an integrated production unit with France 3, to provide material for regional opt-outs. Pfimlin is also looking at other possible partnerships.
In the meantime, personnel at Regions are on strike, as part of the ongoing strike by journalists at France Televisions. It is unclear how the problem at Regions affects France Televisions' plan for a much more ambitious regional channel for DTT.
Contacted by Advanced Television, France Televisions declined to comment.
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UK analogue switch off delayed to 2014
UK terrestrial broadcaster Granada has taken a E390 million write-down on the value of its digital assets after deciding that the Government will miss its 2010 target date for switching off the analogue TV signal.
The UK government had committed itself to turning off the analogue TV signal between 2006 and 2010. Granada, which is trying to merge with Carlton, the country's other main ITV player, said, "in light of the likely deferral of analogue switch off to 2014 it had to take an impairment charge of E390 million against the goodwill on the balance sheet for its digital licences." The figure, together with more than E312 million of exceptional charges for the failed ITV Digital venture, saw the company fall to a net loss of E590 million, for the year ended 30 September.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, said the Government was still sticking to a 2010 deadline, subject to "affordability and accessibility" criteria whereby 95 per cent of homes have switched to digital by then.
Charles Allen, Granada's Executive Chairman, said there was a reference to a 2014 switch-off in this month's Communications Bill, which the company couldn't ignore. He said the shift in date did mean a corresponding rise in the value of Granada's analogue licences but under the accounting rules, the company is not allowed to reflect this in the figures.
Group operating profit for the period, for continuing operations before goodwill and exceptionals was E259 million, down from E289 million the previous year. Like-for-like net advertising revenue was down 12 per cent in the first half, but up five per cent in the second six months of the financial year.
The three months since the year end has seen advertising sales running two per cent higher than 2001 but Allen said it was impossible to predict 2003.
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Low iTV take up in Australia
By Owen Hughes
This weekend's (Sunday 1/12/02) broadcast of Australia's first interactive rock music concert will highlight the lack of penetration that the technology has achieved in the market so far.
When the government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) airs Long Way to the Top - Live in Concert - only 300,000 TV homes - four per cent of the total - will be able to experience the interactive features.
The interactive content will include backstage interviews, archival footage and the ability to switch camera angles. The ABC concedes that the broadcast will not match the standards set for other iTV programmes internationally, but points out that it is the most advanced programme ever shown in Australia.
The bulk of the viewers able to access the interactive features subscribe to regional and rural pay TV platform Austar. City viewers with digital TV will hear the surround sound carried during the two-hour show.
The ABC says it is encouraged by viewer response to the Walking with Beasts series screened earlier this year. Austar viewers who used the interactive features and responded to a survey said overwhelmingly that the extra content made the series more entertaining - 89 per cent; 98 per cent said they wanted to watch more iTV.
The ABC's Director of New Media and Digital Services said that the interactive content of Long Way to the Top - Live in Concert added just E30,000 more to the show's budget.
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MobilCom in E9.9 bn 3G writedown
German mobile network MobilCom cleansed its' balance sheet by writing down the whole cost of its former 3G ambitions.
The company took a E9.9 billion write down on its abandoned 3G plans, leading to a huge third-quarter loss. The write-downs were partly offset by a special gain of E7.1 billion taken after former partner France Telecom agreed to take on MobilCom's debt, settling a long running argument over funding.
In results dramatically skewed by these two items, the company delivered a net loss of E2.9 billion on revenues of just E518.8 million.
The company said, "All risks related to our 3G business are now cleared from our balance sheet. "
Under the terms of the split from France Telecom it will cover E4.8 billion in MobilCom's bank loans, E1.2 billion in vendor financing and a billion euros of shareholder loans it has pumped into MobilCom since 2000.
In turn, the French will receive 90 per cent of the proceeds that MobilCom might receive in selling its 3G assets including the biggest item, its 3G licence acquired for E8.4 billion.
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Dream-Magic iTV service launches in Philippines
By Owen Hughes
Filipino digital direct to home satellite platform Dream has helped to launch the country's first two-way digital interactive service - Magic Box.
Dream, owned by Philippines Multimedia Systems, is rolling out the Dream-Magic iTV service which will offer messaging, onscreen email, games, chat and information.
Subscribers will pay a subscription of E14 a month, compared to the average cable TV subscription of E9. Dream-Magic customers will also pay an E90 installation fee.
Dream hopes to extend the platform around Asia, including China, India, Malaysia and Thailand, although it has not yet cut any deals with would-be partners in these markets.
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i-Cable communications subscriptions up
By Owen Hughes
Hong Kong pay TV leader i-Cable Communications says that it has picked up on its subscriber rates that fell from an all-time high after the platform's exclusive coverage of the football World Cup when shown in the former British colony.
i-Cable's subscriber total topped the 600,000 mark, around 28 per cent of Hong Kong homes, during the tournament in May and June. For the first time a pay platform had exclusive coverage of all 64 matches, although it shared the semi-finals and finals with the two terrestrial stations.
But Chief Executive Stephen Ng admitted that customer numbers fell in July and August, but he added that the company hoped to reach the 600,000 mark again by the end of 2002.
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NASN broadcasts on GlobeCast's Eurobird
From next week NASN (North American Sports Network) will begin direct-to-home delivery via GlobeCast digital DTH Eurobird platform targeting 6.3 million British homes equipped with Sky Digital.
France Telecom-owned satellite service provider GlobeCast will add the new sports channel, to its third Eurobird platform, adding to a community of 25 international channels already distributed across the UK and Ireland by GlobeCast since the first platform was created in April 2001.
NASN is a 24/7 channel dedicated to the best of American and Canadian sports. Targeting the 500,000 North American expatriates living in the UK and Ireland, NASN will broadcast professional and collegiate sports action, including baseball, American football, basketball and ice hockey plus the top US sports news, highlights and talk shows.
A key feature of NASN will be a minimum of 15 live games per week, including live games guaranteed for Saturday and Sunday peak time slots. In addition, the channel will showcase a large number of delayed games and the best sports news and entertainment shows acquired from the major North American sports broadcasters. Subscription to the channel will cost E14.99 per month.
GlobeCast is providing NASN with 24/7 end-to-end channel distribution. Program content is downlinked at GlobeCast's New York teleport from satellites serving the major US sport networks with turnaround to GlobeCast's teleport in London via the company's proprietary transatlantic ATM fibre network. The signal is fed via fibre to NASN in Dublin to the transmission playout facility, then returned to GlobeCast London for digital encoding and uplink to the DTH Eurobird platform. GlobeCast provides NASN with monitoring, encryption services and integration with the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) operated by Sky Digital.
Setanta currently uses GlobeCast's end-to-end services to send encrypted content throughout Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East via Asiasat 2 NSS7 and Telstar 5.
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New Zealand's first Christian channel on SKY
Sky Digital subscribers will be able to watch New Zealand's new Christian channel, Shine TV, from this Sunday December 1. The channel will be available on SKY Digital Channel 99 and also on UHF Channel 56 in Christchurch (previously Freedom TV).
Shine TV will reach all 360,000 subscribers on Sky's digital service, (a potential audience of 800,000 New Zealanders), plus the majority of people in the Christchurch region, broadcasting a mix of international and locally produced programs, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The latest interactive product to be launched by SKY Television on Sky Digital is the TV e-mail service. Subscribers can send and receive text emails on their television screens using a special interactive infrared keyboard. Sky has 513,000 subscribers, 72 per cent of whom subscribe to the digital service.
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Thursday 28th November 2002
Astra bird 'not lost'
Denmark's TV2 in DTT launch
Granada 3Q results
Vivendi's "cash crisis over"
Pace issues fifth profits warning
HK cable TV market is saturated
AOL goes interactive on BSkyB
Astra bird 'not lost'
French satellite builder Alcatel Space has denied rumours that the SES Astra 1K satellite launched from Baikonur, Khazakstan on Tuesday has officially been classified as lost after it failed to reach its intended orbit, having being put in the wrong orbit due to a failure aboard the Proton launch vehicle carrying the bird.
"We have established control over the satellite, the solar panels have been partly deployed and the satellite is doing fine. We are analysing the situation to decide the best course to take now," a spokesman from Altcatel said.
The satellite, which was intended to transmit television programmes, multimedia or internet data to the whole of Europe (19.2 degrees East), was the first such project designed by Alcatel for SES Astra, part of the SES Global, a Luxembourg-based world satellite operator.
Proton launch services from the Cosmodrome in Baikonur were provided by International Launch Services, a US-Russian joint venture led by Lockheed Martin.
SES Astra said it has full insurance coverage for Astra 1K and the launch failure will not impact existing services at 19.2 degrees East. Furthermore, Astra 2C, already operational at the same orbital location, offers comprehensive back-up for the Astra low-bands at this slot and will remain there until further notice, the company said. Interactive Ka-Band services will continue to be provided by the existing Ka-Band payload on Astra 1H.
With an existing available surplus capacity of roughly 20 per cent aboard the 13-satellite strong Astra fleet in space, SES Astra said that during the coming months it will reassess future needs and make investment decisions on replacement capacity accordingly.
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Denmark's TV2 in DTT launch
Danish TV2 Nord has launched interactive digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T) using Network Electronics' routers to facilitate signal switching for the historic project announced Michael Ambye, Network Electronics Denmark CEO.
The project, sponsored by private and public institutions, is a trial system that facilitates the terrestrial broadcasting of digital television signals and enables viewers to choose either passive viewing or active viewing.
TV2, established in 1988 and comprised of eight regions, is Demark's second public service television channel. TV2 is headquartered in Odense. Network Electronics is the manufacturer of the VikinX router.
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Granada 3Q results
UK commercial broadcaster Granada released its 3Q results revealing a five per cent rise in second half advertising revenue, reducing the full year's decline to four per cent. The company reported a full-year loss of E256 million after writing down the value of its digital TV licences by E390 million - last year it had a E72 million profit.
The group is also hopeful that ITV will deliver a rise in net advertising revenue of two per cent in the three months to the end of December.
Although there was a growth on advertising, Granada said to the local press that it was too early to predict the state of the market in the first quarter of next year and put its emphasis on the importance of the merger with its ITV network partner Carlton.
Granada's Executive Chairman was reported as saying, "We now have a clear vision for the future. One ITV company, with one management and one focus to build a stronger ITV for our viewers, advertisers and shareholders."
For the year to the end of September, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were down eight per cent at E315 million, but ahead of analysts' forecasts. Granada delivered a loss before tax and after goodwill and exceptional items of E256 million, after goodwill write-downs of its digital division of E390million.
But the group said its internal restructuring plan aiming to save E101million a year in costs was well ahead of target. Allen was reportedly saying that Granada had cut a further 408 jobs over 2002 after pouring an extra E156 million into the network's programming budget and beating cost reduction targets.
Last year Granada trimmed 1,000 jobs from its 6,500-strong workforce. The group delivered cash for the year of E129 million before the payment of dividends.
Granada has also appointed James Crosby as a non-executive director. James is Chief Executive of HBOS plc and a non-executive director of St James's Place Capital plc. "He has had a long and distinguished career in the financial services sector and will bring a breadth of experience to the Granada Board", the company said.
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Vivendi's "cash crisis over"
Debt-laden Franco-American media conglomerate Vivendi Universal reported results only slightly below expectations.
Vivendi's net loss increased by 28.5 per cent in its third quarter - E1.23 billion in the three months to 30 September, compared with a loss of E960 million at the same time last year, but it had a 25 per cent growth in core profits.
There has been a deteriorating performance in Vivendi's US entertainment assets. The operating earnings of Universal Music Group, Vivendi's music division and the world's largest record company, fell 51 per cent and Vivendi Universal Entertainment's operating income fell 30 per cent.
This results appear to back the French conglomerate's decision to seek a larger stake in its profitable and fast-growing telecom arm, Cegetel SA, which Cegetel's operating earnings rose six per cent in the third quarter.
Chief Financial Officer Jacques Espinasse was reported as saying that the company, "will look at any offer for our entertainment assets," but he asserted, "Vivendi's cash crisis is now over."
Since taking over from ousted head Jean-Marie Messier, Jean-Rene Fourtou, Vivendi's CEO, has been mobilising his troops to reduce the company's debts by selling assets and restructuring.
With a successful asset disposal programme under way, the media giant agreed with its banks on a E1 billion credit facility instead of the E3 billion bridge facility meant to finance the company until it sold off its assets. Fortou is said to expect to have raised E7 billion by the end of the year.
Vivendi also had an extension to a E 1.6 billion loan facility provided to its subsidiary Vivendi Universal Entertainment LLLP. This extension is provided by Bank of America Securities LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc, as Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners. The loan has its final maturity date on June 30, 2003. The new facility extends an existing loan for the same amount maturing in November 2002 and which was originally arranged to fund the acquisition of USA Networks which closed on 7 May, 2002.
Vivendi now seems to have the necessary facilities to pre-empt Vodafone's bid for BT Group's 26 per cent stake in French telecom firm Cegetel.
December10 is Vivendi's deadline to counter Vodafone's bid for the remaining shareholdings in Cegetel held by BT Group and SBC Communications.
Daniel Scolan has also been appointed Executive Vice President Investor Relations of Vivendi Universal, reporting to the Senior Executive Vice President and CFO, Jacques Espinasse.
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Pace issues fifth profits warning
UK set-top boxes maker, Pace Micro Technology, issued its fifth profits warning since January saying that trading conditions within the global digital TV market have been difficult and this will result in a greater than anticipated loss.
Pace's performance in the UK remained solid, where it has big customers such as NTL, British Sky Broadcasting, and Telecast. However, sales in mainland Europe and the US are not yet meeting targets, despite having recently started shipments to our second major US customer, said the company.
The company's cost savings plan, which was to reduce expenses by approximately E23.4 million in a full year, was accomplished by the end of September. Further actions are being taken to lower the cost base to a level that is commensurate with reduced revenue expectations.
Pace remains confident saying that, "With shipments of UK cable inventory in line with our expectations, cash balances remain positive."
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HK cable TV market is saturated
By Owen Hughes
Hong Kong's largest pay TV provider i-Cable Communications isn't betting on increasing its revenues from new subscriptions after the government announced it was legalising betting on football matches.
Analysts said that the Hong Kong cable TV market was close to saturation with i-Cable serving nearly 600,000 households, a penetration rate of 28 per cent of all TV homes with many customers signing up for the sports coverage. The platform carries English Premier League football through its exclusive carriage of the ESPN channel and it also had exclusive rights to all 64 games in the World Cup earlier this year.
Other observers said Hong Kong's football and betting-mad punters would make wagers regardless of whether or not they could see the games. i-Cable said that it wanted to build the subscriber base and was planning to target family and female viewers. i-Cable's share price rose 1.56 per cent on news of the legalised gambling approval.
The decision to legalise football betting follows a series of scandals involving illegal books being opened with allegations that players in European leagues were being paid by Hong Kong gamblers to throw games.
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AOL goes interactive on BSkyB
UK satellite operation British Sky Broadcasting launched AOL Time Warner's UK Internet unit on Sky Active, delivering AOL's first interactive TV service to its customers in the UK. AOL members can access instant messaging, email, headline news, sport and weather on Sky's interactive TV service.
AOL on Sky Active is accessible via remote control and can be used while simultaneously watching a Sky channel.
The Sky Active interactive TV offering incorporates enhanced TV applications such as Sky News Active, Sky Sports Active, Sky Movies Active and services such as e-mail, messaging, games, banking, shopping and betting.
Once connected, users are charged an initial fee of 12p, after which they are billed at local telephone rates for each subsequent minute.
Neither company knows how many Sky customers are AOL subscribers, reported Reuters, but Sky is viewed as a fertile ground for cross-promoting Internet products and services to its gadget-friendly customers.
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Wednesday 27th November 2002
French 'free speech' channel launched
Faster 3G development sought
UK bid for public 'must carry' on Sky
Carlton losses down
Austar seeks new customers
British TV import safeguards
Next-Generation i-Headend Management System
Inscriber's new information channel solution
YooMedia games on UK Cable
Arris launches CM400
French 'free speech' channel launched
New independent French channel, Zalea TV, began broadcasting on channel 35 in Paris yesterday (26/11/02). The channel, founded in January 2000 by activists from the Free Media Movement, defines it self as a national community television channel which is an, "activist zone for free speech in the audiovisula media."
"It's the first community television to have been licensed in France by the CSA (French regulator) on cable and satellite TV," Zalea said and added that the channel, "intends to stay free, ie non-profit, non-commercial, and independent of all economic, political and institutional authorities."
In fact last year Zalea had a six month temporary authorisation from the CSA to broadcast but at an extremely low power, barely reaching a few neighbourhoods in Paris. It was also carried for six weeks on the Canal Satellite platform on the "temporary events" channel. Canal Satellite provided the carriage free of charge. Earlier this year it carried out a pirate transmission, which brought the wrath of the CSA down on it, but peace was made when Zalea handed over its pirate transmitter during the public hearings for DTT.
Zalea was turned down in its application for a DTT licence. It has also requested carriage by TPS and the cable operators, but, "they have shown no interest in carrying a channel like ours that is non-commercial," said a Zalea spokesperson. Negotiations with Canal Satellite are under way.
The CSA authorised this temporary broadcast, but Zalea was delayed by broadcasting company TDF which required six months broadcast fees in advance. Finally the agreement between Zalea and TDF was that other associative editors will be gradually using channel 35, splitting broadcast costs between all of them.
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Faster 3G development sought
UK mobileco Vodafone will have to speed up its 3G developments in Sweden. Vodafone's Swedish subsidiary, Europolitan, had asked the Swedish telecoms regulator, the Post and Telecoms Agency (PTS), for an extension to the deadline for rolling out third-generation mobile phone services in the country by an extra two years (2005 instead of 2003), but the motion was rejected.
Vodafone was complaining about having problems getting building permits for new masts. The PTS was reported as saying that it considered Vodafone's reasons for having the deadline extended were, "not enough to change the terms of the 3G licence."
The rules are equal for everyone in Sweden; last September Vodafone's competior Orange had asked for an extra three years to roll out 3G services but the petition was also turned down by the PTS.
Meanwhile new mobile operator Hutchison, which is aiming at launching 3G services in the UK and Italy next month, has targeted 5.2 million UK subscribers spending an average of E79 a month by 2005, according to its original UK business plan according to the FT.
It is understood that the aggressive UK targets, the first glimpse of Hutchison's ambitions for any of its global operations, bear strong similarities to its plans in other markets including Australia, Hong Kong and Italy.
Originally, Hutchison had hoped to attract 400,000 users in the UK by the end of 2001 and 1.5 million customers by the end of 2002. But delays in the delivery of 3G handsets have prompted Hutchison to scale back its ambitions, aiming to attract at most 100,000 users in the UK and Italy by the end of the year.
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UK bid for public 'must carry' on Sky
Even though the UK government outlined no changes on the current system of channel delivery, BBC Chairman Gavyn Davies is lobbing to change the law so that BSkyB is obliged to carry public service channels on its satellite platform, the Guardian newspaper reports.
Davies was quoted as saying that the lack of any rules forcing BSkyB to carry channels including BBC1, ITV1 and Channel 4 could both delay the switch to digital broadcasting and result in licence fee payers subsidising the satellite firm's commercial activities.
Public service broadcasters claim the fees BSkyB charges to carry channels are too high, and that as a consequence the public ends up subsidising its free set-top boxes. BSkyB CEO Richard Freudenstein dismissed the complains and said that the BBC should pay a commercial rate for satellite carriage, just as it pays the market rate for electricity and other utilities.
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Carlton losses down
UK independent broadcaster Carlton Communications has reported a total pre-tax loss of E245 million for the year ended September 30, 2002 - which is a E400 million improvement in comparison with the E645 million loss a year before. The results include an E156 million exceptional charge related to the closure of ITV Digital, the collapsed digital terrestrial pay-TV platform, and ITV Sport Channel.
Although in the second half of the year the ad revenues recovered by two per cent, the loss for the whole year was six per cent. Carlton's pre-tax profit rose to E84 million from E48 million last year, excluding discontinued businesses such as the now defunct ITV Digital.
The E56 million drop in advertising revenues resulted in a seven per cent fall in turnover to E1,518 million in the year to September 30 compared with E1.6 billion previously.
Recently Carlton and rival Granada agreed an E4 billion merger deal in priciple. A detailed submission for the merger has been put forward to the Office of Fair Trading.
The company is very keen on promoting its unified ITV strategy. Chairman, Michael Green was reported as saying, "We are making good progress with our partners in streamlining ITV's management and resource. Creating 'one ITV' has long been a strategic goal for Carlton and the Board is convinced that the merger is the right move at the right time. A single company with a single management team and a single focus will benefit viewers, advertisers and shareholders. By unifying ITV we can eliminate duplicated costs and concentrate all our energies on maximising the performance and value of Britain's most watched commercial television channel.
However ITV's share of national television advertising revenue has fallen to its lowest ever level, according to the Guardian. The network's share of revenue for December has slipped below 52 per cent for the first time.
The two companies are looking at cost savings in transmission, purchasing and some support services, they also want to merge their media sales house - which sell airtime on ITV - but it is thought this may not be allowed by the competition authorities.
This week Carlton and Granada are expected to report combined annual losses of more than E472 million.
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Austar seeks new customers
By Owen Hughes
Australia's number two pay TV provider Austar is planning an aggressive drive to sign-up new customers in 2003, hoping that the improved financials and the approval of the Foxtel and Optus channel sharing plans will stimulate the sector overall.
Chief Executive John Porter said Austar planned, "to get all hands to the pump on growing subscribers in the first quarter," of 2003. Austar, which serves regional and rural Australia and has around 435,000 subscribers, has seen a fall of 6.5 per cent of its customer base in the last quarter as a severe drought has lowered incomes in country areas. Austar, 81 per cent owned by United Global Communications, will benefit from Foxtel and Opaccord gaining government approval because it has a programming joint venture with the former.
Now that these channels will be seen by a further 280,000 Optus customers Porter believes that will add a further E10 million a year in subscriber revenue. Austar was on course to be cash flow positive by the 2004 financial year according to the company's Chief Executive.
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British TV import safeguards
The UK government has indicated that it will introduce stronger safeguards to prevent foreign broadcasters from 'swamping' British TV screens with cheap imports after ownership rules are relaxed, reported the local press.
In a government-commissioned report on the British TV production market, the Independent Television Commission said the reforms were needed to ensure the strength of the British television industry.
The report calls for tough UK production quotas to be imposed on any foreign media that takes over a British broadcaster. It also says the new super-regulator Ofcom should enforce a mandatory code of practice to ensure the BBC and other broadcasters deal fairly with independent producers.
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Next-Generation i-Headend Management System
Motorola Inc’s Broadband Communications Sector an d SeaChange International Inc have jointly developed a Global System Resource Manager (GSRM) designed to enable broadband operators to effectively manage the bandwidth and complexity of their interactive digital headends.
The GSRM software platform is intended to allow interactive and broadcast applications to utilise all of the bandwidth on the cable plant under the control of a centralised resource manager. The GSRM will enable equipment manufacturers and service providers to share bandwidth on a 'single pipe' for services such as video-on-demand (VOD), data, voice over IP (VoIP), broadcast TV, and IP streaming. It will also enable the management of various encryption methods as well as network interface devices.
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Inscriber's new information channel solution
US based Inscriber launched InfoCaster, a solution for creating and scheduling information displays and channels that target digital signage and in-house communications markets.
Inscriber InfoCaster leverages Inscriber’s broadcast character generator quality to create multi-zone screens that integrate crawls, rolls and animations.
InfoCaster is also linked to databases to drive up-to-the-minute information displays. InfoCaster costs E2,500. It is a communication tool for in-house information channels displayed by corporations, government, schools, hotels, churches, resorts and entertainment facilities. In addition, InfoCaster can drive digital signage for retail advertising, airport or other transportation scheduling and numerous creative applications.
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YooMedia games on UK Cable
Interactive entertainment company YooMedia will develop a series of pay-to-play interactive TV-based games for Cartoon Network on the Telewest cable platform due for launch at the beginning of 2003.
This is Cartoon Network’s first incursion into gaming on a cable platform, building on its existing portfolio of games within Sky digital’s Gamestar iTV service.
Cartoon Network charges users 50 pence a time to play and Telewest subscribers will be billed on their monthly statement. The planned games coincide with Telewest’s new micro-billing engine, which, like Sky’s existing service, can charge users a fee by making the set-top box dial a premium-rate number.
YooMedia CEO Andrew Fearon is expecting the partnership to provide revenues for the interactive entertainment firm itself. The company has recently laid off around a third of its workforce in an effort to reduce costs.
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Arris launches CM400
UK manufacturer Arris has launched its next generation of Touchstone cable modems, data gateways and embedded multimedia terminal adapters (E-MTAs), the Cable Modem 400.
The Touchstone Cable Modem 400 (CM400) is a DOCSIS 2.0-based product. It has the same design as the Touchstone Cable Modem 300, but its new features include: Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (S-CDMA), a bridged 10/100 Base-T Ethernet and USB data interface which will support multiple PC home networking.
It also contains a standby button that disconnects the Ethernet and USB ports from the network for customer security and operator convenience.
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Tuesday 26th November 2002
Murdoch to buy 30% of Hughes/DirecTV?
Channel sales merger expected
Classic joins music TV generation
New travel channel in Germany
Hungarian cable faces finance problems
Interactive 'soccer predictions' game launches
tenten digital and DITG pair off
Noos takes on the pirates
String 'Em In game in Four Active
Vivendi raises E1.86bn in water stake sale
Murdoch to buy 30% of Hughes/DirecTV?
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is understood to have sounded out General Motors, the major shareholder in the US satellite broadcaster DirecTV's parent company Hughes, about a E30 billion stakeholding, reported the Guardian.
The media mogul has previously expressed his interest in Direct TV, which is part of Hughes Electronics, in which General Motors has a 30 per cent holding, but was beaten in bidding by Echostar of the US. Now that the US regulator has rejected Echostar's bid, Murdoch is interested once again, but this time he is expected to confine himself to acquiring only GM's stake in the company.
Industry sources say that Murdoch's American-based financial advisers JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers last week held secret talks in New York with DirecTV's advisers, Merrill Lynch and CSFB, to discuss the financial structure of any transaction. Such a purchase, even without overall control, would still enable Murdoch to pursue his plans for a global satellite system, allowing advertisers to reach the majority of the world's population via one media company.
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Channel sales merger expected
UK terrestrial commercial channels four and five are planning to merge their sales operations if the dominant ITV companies Carlton and Granada get the go-ahead to form a single ITV.
The Sunday Times newspaper quoted an unidentified source as saying, "The conversations have moved on from 'what if?' to 'when and how'. I think if the ITV merger goes ahead, a single sales house for the other television players is inevitable."
It was suggested that if there was one ITV, Channels 4 and 5 would be put together "the following day. We would have to do it to protect ourselves. If they let a single ITV go through with more than a 50 per cent share of the market, the competition authorities could not refuse to have a combined Channels 4 and 5 facing it. Our combined market share, after all, is less than ITV's."
The report also suggested that the two channels would want to involve BSkyB in such a deal - extending the pay company's move into terrestrial TV, from its bridgehead in the Freeview digital terrestrial line-up.
*A surpise spanner has been thrown into the anticipated smooth merger of Carlton and Granada with Carlton chief Michael Green saying he intends to become a full-time, hands-on chairman of the new ITV company - despite the plans that Granada boss, Charles Allen, should become Chief Executive of a combined ITV. Allen has confirmed that he would be in charge of any merged entity.
Green has not said if he will take an executive or non-executive role, but said he would not accept a part-time role.
The two companies are expected to report losses due to the ongoing advertising slump and hefty write-downs, with Carlton expected to report a loss of about E225 million for the year to September, and Granada a lossof about E180 million - with the result that investors are critical of management ahead of the merged entity being formed.
Plans for the merger are due to be submitted to the Office of Fair Trading, which can approve them, or refer the project to the Competition Commission for a prolonged inquiry.
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Classic joins music TV generation
Radio channel Classic FM plans to launch a 24-hour television channel in the UK by the end of next month, featuring video clips of prominent classical music artists and movie soundtracks. Unlike other culture-oriented TV channels, there will be no documentaries or concerts.
Classic FM TV wants to be seen as another variety of 24-hour music television station, grouped with MTV, Smash Hits TV, and Kerrang 1among 5 music channels on Sky Digital's satellite TV system, rather being grouped in 'elitist territory' alongside the likes of BBC4. "The manner and style we are adopting is of pop music TV," said Roger Lewis, managing director of Classic FM. It is likely that the TV channel will get the same kind of criticism that the radio channel did when it launched, as its 'populist' approach was criticised by those who preferred a more 'serious' approach to classical music. The channel's aim is similar to that of the radio station, to broaden the appeal of classical music "in a way which is modern, relevant, inclusive, and, most importantly, accessible and not intimidating". Consequently The channel will not be geared toward complete operas or concerts, preferring the 24/7 video clip formula of pop channels which favour individual stars
Classic FM TV is believed to be the first music channel to be devoted solely to classical music. Sony and EMI are reported to have been "hugely supportive." The channel has been in development for two years; a library of thousands of hours has been built up. The channel is aiming to achieve an audience share of 0.2 per cent initially. It will be a free channel, funded by advertising rather than subscription.
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New travel channel in Germany
By Dieter Brockmeyer
German travel channel sonneklar tv, an analogue free to air TV service, is to launch on December 1 and it will reach over 26 million German TVs, says the channel's owner Euvia Travel GmbH.
In addition, the service will also serve about another 1.39 million digital TV homes via satellite. The travel channel is an expansion of the existing travel format 'sonnenklar' (sun bright) that was televised on the German participation channel Neun Live, also owned by the Euvia Travel, Euvia Media AG.
Euvia Travel CEO, Christiane zu Salm, says that the format has grown by almost 50 per cent on a quarterly base, which is much better than they expected. However, competition will be strong for the new service which already has at least three German travel channels.
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Hungarian cable faces finance problems
Hungarian merged cable company Matav-Cable Systems Media faces delays in its financing agreement as the smaller banks - United Mizrahi Bank, Union Bank of Israel and Mercantile Discount Bank - no longer wish to participate.
Matav's debt per subscriber is E600, and the smaller banks do not want to replace that with an arrangement for a company whose debt per subscriber is over E1,000. In addition, the banks are wary of the amount Matav will withdraw from the merged cable company cash reserves, due to the difference of the debt per subscriber in its favour. There are also Technical restrictions on Bank Hapoalim, with which the Dankner family is affiliated, that block its participation in the financing arrangement. Also, the company's debts to Bank Leumi and The First International Bank of Israel are approaching the lending limit to a single borrower. And finally, there is the absence of a creditors arrangement for Tevel.
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Interactive 'soccer predictions' game launches
UK channel Sky Sports and interactive TV provider Two Way TV have developed a new interactive football prediction game, 'Beat The Pundits,' that pits viewers, live, against the football experts.
Sky Sports viewers watching Barclaycard Premiership matches on Sky Digital can use their remote control to make predictions about a live match. Both viewer and pundit answer the same challenges to score points and their running totals are displayed together on-screen. Predictions include: number of goals in the match, who will have the first shot on target , time of first penalty or corner and the number of red or yellow cards.
To take part, Sky digital viewers press the red button on their remote, and select Beat the Pundits from the Interactive Services Menu. Participants will pay £1 (E1.5), which is collected through a special rate phone call from the set-top-box. Flexible game play also allows viewers to choose to play just the second half for 75p. Winners can then win cash prizes and football merchandise.
Sky Sports Active Executive Director Piers Croton said, "Beat the Pundits is an entirely new interactive gaming experience. It's easy and quick to get into and has a really strong edge to it - competing against some of the best football experts in the land. On top of that there are cash prizes for first and second half winners as well as those who've played for 90 minutes."
Two Way TV Chief Executive Matthew Tims said, "Beat The Pundits has all the right elements for a successful enhanced TV show with the interactivity allied to compelling content. We have all worked closely together to ensure that the join-in-from-home elements blend in with the live programme while the sense that you are playing against football experts significantly boosts the entertainment value."
'Beat The Pundits' broadcast for the first time for the Charlton vs Blackburn game last Sunday, 24th November at 4pm on Sky Sports 1.
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tenten digital and DITG pair off
British company Digital Interactive Television Group (DITG) and tenten digital are teaming up to provide services for interactive TV - including revenue maximisation, content design and functionality, channel delivery, enabling software, full return path capability and project management.
tenten digital, founded in 2000 by executives from ntl, BSkyB and Accenture, designs and deploys digital interactive TV solutions that can include Internet and mobile devices. DITG's interactive technology and infrastructure will support tenten's content solutions, with a range of services including interactive text, voting, betting, chat rooms and games.
Recently tenten digital launched the idTV application on the attheraces channel which broadcasts live horseracing. The attheraces idTV application provides extensive dynamic betting information over the broadcast stream and the ability to place bets using the handset. DITG provided all technology for the new interactive entertainment and games channel Avago, which launched on Sky in July 2002. The channel format integrates the broadcast and interactive streams, which the company says is a UK interactive TV first.
"By working with tenten digital we are providing one point of contact for all interactive TV requirements, making it quicker and easier to get an interactive TV channel up and running or add iTV services to existing formats," said Neil MacDonald, Managing Director of DITG.
"Combining our technology and experience of launching new interactive channels with tentendigital's creative and project management skills we can provide any interactive solution, be that for services such as voting and games or even the development and launch of a brand new channel," he adds.
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Noos takes on the pirates
By Sotires Eleftheriou
French cable operator Noos, part of the Suez group, has embarked on an anti-piracy campaign aimed at two groups simultaneously: users of pirate viewing cards, and unofficial connections to the network.
The campaign will involve advertisements in the press and hoardings depicting a pair of handcuffs with the slogan that a pirate card for extra channels can lead to chains.
A free-phone number is given for any viewers who may be in doubt whether their card is pirate or not. Noos does not expect many calls from users of pirate cards; presumably they are well aware of the nature of their card, but could well get calls from neighbors who take objection to others getting free what they have to pay for.
Pirate viewing cards, which have become very widespread, are used in conjunction with the official digital decoders. Subscribers take out a subscription at the lowest rate and then use a pirate card to obtain full access to all the channels including PPV. Noos has coupled this with electronic counter measures, which knock out the pirate cards, obliging the users to contact the pirate supplier for an update.
The other arm of the Noos attack, on unofficial connections, aims at people who are receiving the analogue service without paying for it. This may be where an analogue subscription has been cancelled but Noos technicians have not got round to putting in the filters (this may take several years in some cases), or where people have installed an unofficial connection to a Noos junction box.
Noos is to put up notices in the lobbies of the buildings likely to be concerned, saying that Noos technicians will check connections in the coming weeks and inviting people to make their subscriptions official by means of a free-phone number. It is not clear what conditions are available to people wishing to upgrade from an unofficial to an official subscription.
Noos declined to comment on the scale of piracy that it suffers, but did say that it constitutes a substantial loss of earnings. Until recently it had insisted that piracy was only a marginal phenomenon.
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String 'Em In game in Four Active
UK terrestrial Channel 4's newly launched interactive channel Four Active, is to broadcast one of Two Way TV's most popular game formats, String 'Em In.
String 'Em In is described by Two Way TV as a combination of every type of word or letter game, in which words are formed from a grid of letters within a 20-minute deadline. Some letters are worth more than others and the longer the word formed, the higher the value. Each time a word is formed the letters drop out and the grid reshuffles.
On Two Way TV's own games channels in cable homes String 'Em In's most ardent fans pay-to-play approximately 13 games a month. Around a third of all digital cable homes have played String 'Em In at least once. The service cost 50p per game.
Channel 4 Head of Interactive TV Peter Good said, "Adding String 'Em In to the range of content and services we provide through Four Active makes perfect editorial and business sense. String 'Em In is a proven and successful format and fits our strategy of increasing our commitment to compelling interactive TV games."
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Vivendi raises E1.86bn in water stake sale
Cash-strapped French media group Vivendi Universal, is to sell 20.4 per cent stake in its water and waste subsidiary, Vivendi Environnement, to a group of "stable investors" for about E1.86billion - E22.50 per share - as part of its ongoing restructuring.
Vivendi said that with this transaction the company's net debt should reach E14 billion at December 31 2002, compared to E37 billion in December last year.
Vivendi Universal's 40.4 per cent stake, worth E4.1billion at market prices, is being sold in two stages through off-market transactions to comply with the terms of a lock-up agreed ahead of a capital increase this summer. The water company is looking for a new name to shed its association with Vivendi Universal, reports the FT newspaper.
Jean-Rene Fourtou, Vivendi Universal's new Chief Executive, has until December 10 to gather at least E4 billion if it is to pre-empt Vodafone's bid for a 26 per cent stake in Vivendi controlled telco Cegetel.
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Monday 25th November 2002
French DTTV plans confirmed
Buena Vista backs Kirch Media
Sky broadcasts Four Active
Vodafone's new i-channel
Vivendi's on-of sale
Premiere increases subscriptions
TiVo subs exceed 500K
UBC losses dropped by E23.3 m
French DTTV plans confirmed
France's plans to combine the country's private DTTV channels on to four multiplexes (mux) have been confirmed by the French regulator, Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA).
Each 'mux' mixes free and pay for channels, and avoids direct competition in the same mux. In few months time, each mux will choose a commercial distributor or platform.
The draft proposal for the channels is as follows:
* Network R2: iMCM, Canal+ ,Canal J, Match TV, Direct 8, AB1, NTI
* Network R3: CanalPlus, i-Television, SportPlus, Cinecinemas, Planete
* Network R4 : M6, M6 Music, TF6, Paris Premiere, TMC, Cuisine TV / Comedie
* Network R6 : TF1, LCI, Eurosport, TPS Star, NRJ TV
In addition, the Public Service will have two multiplexes including existing analogue channels and other channels that have yet to be determined.
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Buena Vista backs Kirch Media
By Dieter Brockmeyer
Insolvent German media group Kirch has signed a deal with Buena Vista International Television to secure blockbuster entertainment for its major free-to-air channels ProSieben, Sat.1 and Media AG which are controlled by Kirch Media.
The insolvent Kirch Group's creditors recently decided to sell Kirch Media, the company's core business, to a consortium led by the German publishing house Heinrich Bauer Verlag.
From early next year there will be two Disney branded blocks on ProSieben during the weekends, including animation serial highlights such as 'Tarzan' or 'Buzz Lightyear' and Disney feature classics.
The deal also includes Disney blockbuster feature films that will premiere on free TV on either ProSieben or Sat.1 such as 'Signs', 'Sweet Home Alabama' or 'Santa Claus II'. Classics films such as 'Armagadoon', 'The Rock' or '101 Dalmatines'are also included in the package.
Competitor RTL was going to broadcast these films on its free to air channels. Fred Kogel of the Kirch Media board said that this deal is strengthening the position of Kirch Media for its future under new ownership. However, this new ownership is currently under investigation.
Bauer Verlag will become the strongest German integrated media house with a major publishing unit, a considerably more powerful German TV guides section and a TV division that controls about one third of the German Free TV viewing market share and almost half of the TV advertising revenues.
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Sky broadcasts Four Active
The UK's Channel 4 terrestrial service has finally launched its interactive channel Four Active on BskyB's digital platform. The service was designed jointly by Channel 4 and tentendigital, and was developed by Sky's in-house interactive department, providing seamless integration with Sky's own Sky Active service.
Although the launch was scheduled for two weeks ago, the terms of the deal were still under discussion.
Four Active is Channel 4's bid to expand its interactive services across its entire range of programmes. Viewers will now be able to access Four Active services - such as shopping, email, voting and games - 24/7. This is the first time that a non-Sky channel has incorporated the elements of Sky Active.
Gerry Bastable, Channel 4's Managing Director of digital services was reported as saying, "Having a permanent behind-screen presence makes great business sense. Viewers want the option of more interactivity on TV."
The service is currently only available to Sky Digital customers but the broadcaster is planning to expand on to digital cable.
Sky is also launching a gamepad for its digiboxes on December 1, according to Digital Spy. Trialling for the gamepads, which will work with software version EPG 3.1a.5 OS 1.2s4bp, is beginning in the next few days.
Another game on Sky, but this one involving money to be won, will be the National Lottery. Camelot, as part of the E71 million investment in interactive channels, has signed a deal with Sky Interactive to develop an iTV version of the game which is expected to be available on digital satellite next year.
Digital satellite viewers will be able to purchase National Lottery tickets through the Sky Active platform, as well as getting information on results, games, good-cause beneficiaries and winners.
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Vodafone's new i-channel
Sogecable, Spain's largest Pay-TV Group and UK mobilephone giant Vodafone have launched a new interactive channel on Canal Satelite Digital (CSD).
Vodafone's channel, called Vodafone live!, is designed to give information about the company, its products and promotions and it provide interactive access to different services.
All CSD customers can access the channel through OK plus.
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Vivendi's on-of sale
Last week Vivendi Universal Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou turned down an informal bid of E15 billion plus take over of an additional E5 billion of debt from an investor group led by oil-billionaire Marvin Davis for the French company's US music and entertainment assets.
At the time Foutou said that the business wasn't for sale but now the FT reports people close to Fortou saying he values the assets at about E25 billion and would consider any offer around that figure.
In just over two weeks, Fortou will have to have accessed at least E4 billion if he's to pre-empt Vodafone's bid for French telecom group Cegetel. The talks between Vivendi and Davis are expected to resume in January 2003, but by then it could be too late for Cegetel.
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Premiere increases subscriptions
By Dieter Brockmeyer
German digital pay TV platform Premiere added 62,000 new customers in October to reach a grand total of 170,000 subscriptions.
The company has done better than expected, said Premiere CEO Georg Kofler, who intended to pass the 2.5 million subscriber bench mark by the end of this year.
Since its re-launch in August, Premiere has announced a net increase in subs of 83,000 to reach its current 2.479 million subscribers. Kofler believes he will reach his target this month (November).
In addition to the positive development in winning new clients, the number of cancellations has also been decreased significantly compared to last year. Currently the cancellation (churn) rate is at 15 per cent compared to 20 per cent before.
Kofler says that this proves that the clients are increasingly satisfied with the quality of the Premiere programming.
Over the last two years Premiere has remained pretty stable at around 2.4 million subscribers. Since Kofler took over Premiere and the insolvency of the platformŽs parent company KirchGroup, the CEO has cut down significantly on costs and has so far avoided the expected insolvency of the platform itself. Kofler hopes to announce new investors in Premiere by the year end.
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TiVo subs exceed 500K
US Digital video recorder maker TiVo released its 3Q results showing a growth on its subscriber base to 510,000 and a 70 per cent narrowing of its losses.
TiVo's net loss for the quarter improved to E11.5 million, compares to a loss of E34.5 million reported in the third quarter a year before.
The company also added 46,000 net new subscribers during the period, which amounts to an 80 per cent increase in subscriptions.
TiVo's revenue from service and technology for the quarter grew 139 per cent to E12.7 million, compared to E5.3 million for the same period last year. Operating cash usage for the quarter, as measured by adjusted EBITDA, was E4.6 million.
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UBC losses dropped by E23.3 m
By Owen Hughes
Thailand's largest pay TV platform, United Broadcasting Corp reported that in the nine months to September of this year it had a net loss of E1.25 million compared to E24.6 million for the same period in 2001. The dramatic fall suggests that UBC is set to go into the black on an operating level, which may allow it to reactivate its digitisation and interactive TV plans that have been on hold since mid-2001.
In mid-2002 UBC said it was on course to meet its target of adding 60,000 subscribers by the end of 2002 after revealing new customer sign ups in the first quarter of 2002 were four times greater than the same period in 2001.
These ambitions have been scaled back to between 40,000 and 45,000 for the year as UBC faces up to the competition from provincial cable operators who undercut the company by allegedly running movies and other programming that is pirated or unlicensed. UBC predicts that subscriber growth will get back on track once the Thai government cracks down on piracy. The company is also still fighting a four-year battle to be allowed to pass through advertising on its overseas channels as Thai pay TV operators are forbidden to run commercials and collect subscriptions.
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