Satellite TV Market News

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June 12: Catastrophe or calm?



This coming Friday night could be a nightmare for US viewers as around 1000 TV stations switch of their analogue signals for good. The US government has spent more than $2bn in subsidising converter set-top boxes, and in advertising to warn viewers of the imminent switch-over to digital transmissions. But the latest study, from Nielson, suggests that more than 12m homes are inadequately prepared.

The US has some 114m TV households, and Nielson says that more than 10% are either completely or partly unprepared for the changeover. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) admits that those most unprepared are the nation’s poor and vulnerable, the elderly and many non-English speaking families.

The FCC reckons that some 3m homes will suffer technical problems because of misaligned (or non-existent) aerials, or will discover that rain or even local traffic affects their digital signals. In the New York area alone, the Nielson study stated that 92,000 homes are wholly unprepared, and a massive 348,000 are partly unready.

President Obama, ahead of his Mid-East trip, warned that there could not be another delay, referring to the decision in February to postpone the final switch off.

“There are so many people who are always waiting until the last minute, whether it is college students doing term papers, or people filing taxes, or people like me who wait until Christmas Eve to do their shopping,” said the commerce secretary, Gary F. Locke, in an interview on Friday, speaking to the New York Times.

Sales of digital TV sets are up 32% this year, on an already buoyant 2008 – but stores are expecting another rush this coming weekend when people realise they’ve lost their favourite shows – and a boom time for aerial riggers and installers.

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Project Canvas: Little support for this tent



Project Canvas is the name given to a plan by the BBC, ITV and British Telecom for an Internet Protocol TV-based service, which would allow viewers to watch on-demand output such as the BBC’s iPlayer as well as services from other broadcasters via TV sets.

Back in February the BBC Trust, the BBC’s governing body, launched a public consultation period, which was scheduled to end last week. The Trust has now extended the period of consultation and asked senior BBC staffers to look again at the scheme – but the bottom line is that there’s little support for the idea. The BBC Executive board will now examine the assorted objections, and then report back to the BBC Trust.

And it seems just about every rival player is objecting to the BBC’s ‘Canvas’ plan. Google, Virgin Media, BSkyB, Sony and others have cried foul, arguing that ‘Canvas’ would create a distortion in the market place, and be anti-competitive. Others complained that the Canvas plan would result in free access to the broadcaster’s libraries, and thus diminish their value in the marketplace.

The severity of the backlash is understood to have taken the BBC Trust by surprise, hence the need for more time.

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Spanish govt to mandate HD tuners



Spain's government has decided that from April 2010, television manufacturers will be obliged to include a high-definition DTT tuner in TV sets of over 21 inches.

The decision will be set by a new law which is to be approved on July 1.

The new law will also contemplate the Technical National Plan for digital-terrestrial radio.

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Astra launches German HDTV platform



Satellite operator SES Astra will launch an encrypted digital television package in high definition for DTH households in Germany this autumn, with commercial general interest channels RTL and VOX being the first services on board the offer.

The bouquet, dubbed HD+, will be distributed in MPEG-4/1080i and encrypted in Nagravision. Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland has rented additional capacity on a long term basis on Astra’s orbital position 19.2° East for transmission of the HD services. Viewers will then be able to choose between the analogue or digital versions of RTL and VOX in standard definition, which will continue to be distributed free-to-air, and the encrypted HDTV variations.

RTL HD and VOX HD will provide simulcasts of the conventional channels’ schedules in high definition. Movies, sports events and other programmes which have been produced in the new TV technology will be distributed in real HDTV, while the remaining material will be up-converted.

“We believe that HDTV offers added value which many viewers would like to enjoy,” said Andre Prahl, member of the management board of RTL’s technical subsidiary CBC and head of the distribution unit at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. “RTL is investing in this project despite economically unstable times in order to make television more attractive both for viewers and advertising customers.”

To receive HD+, viewers will have to pay a fee yet to be fixed. SES Astra’s new subsidiary HD+ GmbH will be responsible for the distribution of smartcards. The satellite operator, which stresses that HD+ is open to all interested broadcasters, will now commence negotiations with further channels to enlarge the offer.

[maosat]

10 years of web triumph




To celebrate its ten years, Médiamétrie’s Observatory for internet usage has delivered a round-up on internet development in France. Over the last ten years, internet has cemented its place in French life and even modified its social-economic basis.

The number of 18+ internauts connected over the last month passed from 3 million people in 1999 to 29 million in 2009, the study shows. Ten years ago, internet penetration rate was around 6.9%, jumping to 60.4% in 2009. In 1999, 2.5 million people used webmail vs 25.9 million today.

But the record is achieved by the evolution in the number of online buyers, rising from 209,000 to 20 million over ten years. The study also explains that if internet was a male media (60.8% of the users in 1999), it became more attractive to women over the years. Now, six women out of 10 are using it, which is 48.3% of the internet population. New demographics have also started using the web, such as older people. In 1999, one internaut out of three was aged between 35 and 49, today the 50 + demo represents 29% of the web users.

Internet has also become more democratic, and not confined to upper classes. Average and lower classes now count for 34.1% of users.

The overall profile states that internet users are not located in the Paris area and the country’s biggest cities anymore. 79.3% of today’s users are living all over the French territory and outside the Paris region

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BBC Worldwide in Singapore two-header



BBC Worldwide has struck two deals in Singapore, with rivals StarHub and SingTel’s IPTV platform mio TV, which will see the BBC’s linear channels leave mio TV.

Starhub’s deal makes the operator the exclusive partner for BBC Worldwide channels. Three additional channels will launch from August 1 – BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle and CBeebies. The channels join BBC World News and BBC Entertainment on the platform.

Commenting on the launches, Mr Mark Whitehead, BBC Worldwide Channels’ Senior Vice President and General Manager, said: “Today’s announcement builds on BBC Worldwide Channel’s long-term relationship with StarHub. Strategically, Singapore is an important part of our expansion strategy in Asia. We are excited that our entire suite of channels will be offered together on one platform in this key market.”

Meanwhile, the SingTel deal will see a selection of BBC and ITV content added to the mio on-demand roster. Programming from BBC Worldwide and ITV Global Entertainment will form two new categories in the VOD section, British Drama and British Documentary. The new content will be offered as part of mio TV’s SuperSaver English Pack.

Mio TV will lose its linear BBC channels in favour of the on-demand content.

Low Ka Hoe, Director for IPTV Business, SingTel, said: “We are very excited about the partnerships with BBC and ITV. These allow us to provide a comprehensive and high-quality range of the most current British content to our customers. With these new service offerings, SingTel is reinforcing our leading position in the market as the pay TV platform for on-demand content.”

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ZON Multimedia on expansion trail



Portugal's main multimedia group ZON Multimedia wants to internationalize its business, according to Rodrigo Costa, executive president of the company.

The strategy could begin happening this year. The main goal of the multimedia group will be the African Portuguese-speaking countries and the European market.

Costa said he was certain about the telecommunication's market growth for the next five years, especially with regard to the pay TV market. "Our pay TV market will continue to grow, with us reaching between 60% and 70% of Portugal's total pay TV subscribers.”

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SkyVision signs multi-year deal with Eutelsat



SkyVision, a leading global provider of internet services over satellite and terrestrial fibre optic systems, has signed a multi-year contract with Eutelsat.

SkyVision’s new contract is for one transponder on the newly-launched W2A satellite. The new capacity, launched on May 19, supplements SkyVision's extensive pan-African space segment and private networks inventory

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TV5Monde set to launch youth web TV




French-speaking channel TV5Monde has announced the launch on June 23 of new youth-dedicated internet TV service, Tivi5Monde.

Available for free, this new channel will address kids from 3 to 12 years old and will be accessible via www.tivi5mondeplus.com in non French-speaking Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Arabic world.

Tivi5Monde is part of TV5Monde’s global media evolution strategy. It will offer animated series, entertaiment, educational programming and news coming from TV5Monde partners, France Télévisions, Radio-Canada, RTBF, Télé-Québec and TSR, including some exclusive online programming.

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Crisis loves entertainment



Entertainment is back in international networks’ programming lines, asserts the new IMCA-Médiamétrie’s NOTA study. In the ten countries observed, entertainment programming is seen as a antidote to economic crisis.

The NOTA study examines programming in countries including the UK, Germany, France , USA, Japan and Sweden. It highlights the launch in 2009 of money games like Rico al Instante in Spain, or games with simple rules like Pretty Smart in the Netherlands.

Humour shows are also favored with formats like Let's Dance for Comic Relief (UK) or The College Humour Show (USA). Another trend pointed out by NOTA is the longing for evasion with reality TV like Around the World For Free (USA).

TV channels also invite to nostalgia with shows about infancy like Australian production Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure (ABC).