Naxoo unveils HD offer
Geneva-based Naxoo has revealed a six-channel HD package in time for Switzerland’s co-hosting of the Euro 2008 football championship. The package comprises public channel HD Suisse alongside Arte HD, Luxe TV, HD1 and sister channel I-Concert, based on the Belgian channel Exqui; and National Geographic Channel. Read the story »
Orange tests Slovak HD
Orange has begun an HD trial in Slovakia. Read the story »
KidsCo appears in Spain
New launch KidsCo has signed its first distribution deals in Western Europe through carriage agreements with Spanish operators Teuve, Ono, Orange and R Cable. The launch is being followed up later in the year by a video on demand service. Read the story »
Pay-TV boost for Finnish Welho
Pay-TV homes on the Finnish cablenet Welho increased by almost a third in the first quarter. The halo effect brought about by the compulsory digital switchover of Finland’s cable networks helped pay-TV subscribers climb to 103,000 on March 31, 2008 from 69,000 at the end of December. Read the story »
CaixaBI to hold Zon’s stakes in cable operators
Portuguese media conglomerate Zon Multimedia has announced that CaixaBI will hold Zon’s shares in three cable TV companies until the Portuguese competition authority Autoridade da Concorrencia approves the transaction. Read the story »
Strong growth for Croatian IPTV
Croatia’s incumbent telco T-HT ended Q1 with 56,000 subscribers to its MAXtv IPTV service, or 3.5 times more than the 16,000 only 12 months earlier. Read the story »
Lattelecom promotes exec
Juris Gulbis has been appointed the executive director and board chairman of Latvia’s Lattelecom. Read the story »
Boom time for Bulgarian telco market
The Bulgarian telco market was worth BNG3.9 billion (€2 billion) in 2007, or almost 30% more than the previous year, according to data supplied by the country’s Communications Regulation Commission (CRC). Read the story »
Magyar Telekom paints mixed IPTV picture
The incumbent Hungarian telco Magyar Telekom’s fixed line division T-Com ended Q1 with 735,000 broadband subscribers. Read the story »
Bluewin TV take-up grows
Swisscom’s IPTV service Bluewin TV ended Q1 with 64,000 subscribers, or 5,000 more than three months earlier. Read the story »
Comstar launches IPTV in Odessa
Comstar-Ukraine has launched a double play service in the city of Odessa, offering viewers high-speed internet access and IPTV in one package. Read the story »
iTunes UK adds Universal content
The UK Apple iTunes store has added a collection of content from NBC Universal. Included are the latest series of Heroes and House and classic series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and The Incredible Hulk. Read the story »
Dish seeks $1bn damages in NDS hacking case
Closing arguments have been heard in the case brought against technologists NDS by the US DTH platform DISH in a Santa Ana court in California. The News Corp company is accused of maliciously hiring a team of hackers in order to crack the Nagra technology used by DISH. NDS supplies conditional access technology to DISH’s larger rival DirecTV. Read the story »
Agora eyes Polish DVB-H licence
The leading Polish media group Agora has emerged as a possible bidder for a DVB-H licence. Read the story »
Indian summer for YouSee analogue
Revenues at Danish cablenet YouSee grew by DKK100m in Q1 2006 to DKK786m. The TDC-owned operator’s analogue service is enjoying a resurgence, boosted by a new programme line-up, alongside growth to the digital TV and broadband internet subscriber base. Read the story »
More News »Special Coverage
Czech Cable ConferenceCzech Broadband CAEC 2008 – PRAGUE. On May 6 Chris Dziadul is in Prague for the annual conference of CAEC, the Czech cable TV association, formerly known as CACC. Read his reports in Broadband TV News
Premium
Heavy competition from rival platforms put further pressure on Canal Digital in the first quarter. Although Telenor Satellite Broadcasting describes subscriber numbers as “stable”, the number watc. […] Read the story »
French TV platforms – an overview of DTT and DTH
France has an interesting digital TV market with DTT, DTH, cable and IPTV all present. According to the most recent Digital Barometer from TDF, DTT is the most widely available service, with 22.9% of. […] Read the story »
UPC claims success with day and date VOD titles
UPC Nederland has been very successful with the first trial of day & date VOD titles, which include recent blockbusters such as Harry Potter, Ocean’s 13 and 300 from Warner Home Video. Made avai. […] Read the story »
Speaker's Corner
Vision without the tellyAre agencies letting their clients down by not having the tools of the trade themselves, asks Bill Gash? Read the story »
Clover's Week
Freesat’s brilliant ideaFreesat must be given time to find its place in the market, but the public service broadcasters should make up their minds where they stand, writes Julian Clover Read the story »
Chris Dziadul
UPC’s defining year2008 is likely to go down as a defining year for Liberty Global and its operations in Central and Eastern Europe. Read the story »
Briel on Europe
Connected TV – who’ll get it right?The race is on for the best way to connect the regular TV set to the web in a way any consumer can understand. The issue is really about who will control the screen when you switch on your set to watch television.
Video
Can Hi-Tech bring families closer?Some tech companies are asserting high technology can bring families together.
High Technology such as computers, cell phones, or hand held devices have separated families from having quality time together. But now, some tech companies are asserting that High Technology like big screen HDTVs, HD DVDs and family friendly video games can provide new ways for families to have fun together.
Kyoko Gasha reports for Reuters.
Events Diary
- May 14, 2008 - May 16, 2008
Future TV Show 2008
Grimaldi Forum, Monaco
Web: www.futuretvevent.com
- May 18, 2008 - May 21, 2008
NCTA - The Cable Show
Morial Convention Center, New Orleans
Web: http://2008.thecableshow.com
- May 23, 2008 17:30 - 20:00
Broadband TV 2.0
Jurys Inn, 101 Stroudley Road, Brighton BN1 4DJ
Web: http://www.use8.net/index.php?pmctsys=us8&pmshow=theevent
- May 27, 2008 - May 30, 2008
ANGA Cable 2008
Cologne, Germany
Web: http://www.angacable.de
- June 5, 2008 - June 7, 2008
Driving Digital Content: Generating Revenues and Engaging the Consumer
London, UK
A two-day event focusing on the business opportunities presented by the continued rise of digital content delivery and its impact upon the wider industry.
www.uands.com/ddc08 <http://www.uands.com/ddc08>
- June 8, 2008 - June 13, 2008
Festival de TV 2008 (48th Monte Carlo Television Festival)
Grimaldi Forum, Monte Carlo
Web: http://www.tvfestival.com


