Realitatea Bites

On location in Bucharest, Romania, I found myself in the studios of The Money Channel talking about the European media scene. The appearance was live, unrehearsed and unscripted. Not that it matters what was said given that my turn was simultaneously translated into Romanian.

That Romania has a finance channel at all must surely come as a surprise when only 10% of the population earn enough money to purchase the western goods in the newly refurbished stores in Central Bucharest. The

Money Channel is the latest launch from Realitatea Media, a fast growing company whose interests span print, radio, television and advertising. The look and feel of both The Money Channel and news channel Realitatea have more than a nod to the BBC and CNN, for which Realitatea is a contributor to the World Report programme.

Read more on Realitatea in Broadband TV News: Central and East Europe and New Television Insider.

Joe Le Taxi

In the grand journalism tradition this week’s lead story in New Television Insider was sourceduring a taxi ride in Cannes. My colleague Robert Briel was returning home from Mipcom when Le Deep Throat gave him the background to the Franco Freesat plan to put the French free-to-air channels, a relay of the digital terrestrial TNT service, onto satellite. The question is which one?

Subscribers can also read further information on Poland’s latest digital platform n, delays to BT Vision, and why Swedish cable viewers need not worry about analogue switch-off.

Chris Dziadul has also been on the road at the Hungarian cable show.

www.newtelevisioninsider.com

Worldspace’s Italian Job

It was clear from the recent European DARS Summit in London that the main satellite radio protagonists are ready to roll (and rock). But if Worldspace is planning a launch in Italy this winter what will happen to the existing clients of Afristar 1? The answer from CEO Benoit Chereau can be found in the latest Inside Satellite TV. There’s also news of Ondas Media’s programming plans.

Editor Chris Forrester is well known for his knowledge of the Middle East satellite market. So it comes as no surprise that Inside Satellite TV also has the inside track on Peter Einstein’s departure from Showtime.

More details at www.insidesatellite.com

Malfunction warning for Korean DMB users

Users of Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (T-DMB) mobile TV receivers in Korea are being asked to check with manufacturers for an upgrade as soon as possible, according to a news report from the Asia-Pacific Broadcasters Union (ABU).
The Korea Times reported that most of the T-DMB mobile TV receivers sold before March are expected to experience malfunctions due to technical glitches when local broadcasters – KBS, MBS and SBS – start transmitting BIFS (Binary Format for Scenes) signals on 16 October.
A number of users have already reported receiver breakdowns in trial areas of Pusan and Kwangju.
There are around 120 companies selling various types of DMB receivers in Korea, and many of them have yet to offer the necessary upgrade for the BIFS signals.
The BIFS is a two-way communication technology that enables users to interact with broadcasters. Broadcasters have been pushing for the adoption of the system to increase ad revenue, as they have failed to ake profits so far.

In-Di: first with HD on Belgian cable

Belgian cable operator Interkabel (which comprises the networks of Interelectra, Integan, PBE and WVEM) will launch the first HD platform in the country on their digital In-Di service. The first channel to be carried is the new Flemish cultural channel Exqui (from Euo 1080), which has just started broadcasting over the Astra satellite. The In-Di networks are already carrying the new channel, but so far only in SD quality. As soon as HD cable tuners will be available in the Belgian market a switch to HD will be made by In-Di, probably in January 2007. The four In-Di networks reach about 800,000 homes in Flanders.

Broadband World Forum

This promises to be a busy week. In Paris there is the Broadband World Forum, at the same time in Cannes the MIPCOM starts.

The Broadband World Forum Europe is one of the largest events in the telecom sector and will host more than 100 of the world’s leading vendors and operators, including France Telecom, Alcatel, Siemens, Accenture, Alcatel, Ericsson, Huawei, Cisco, ECI, Italtel, KEYMILE, Motorola, NEC, PacketFront, ZTE, ADVA, AVM, Nokia, Pirelli, Tellabs, Visionael, Texas Instruments, Operax, and Redback Networks. It is also expected to attract more than 200 of the world’s telecom and business media and more than 7,000 attendees.

MIPCOM is the global content event for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content across all platforms. It provides the key decision-makers in the TV, digital and audiovisual content industry with the only forum to network, discover future trends and trade content rights on a global level.

About us

Broadband TV News comprises a website and three e-mail editions written by leading analysts Robert Briel, Julian Clover and Chris Dziadul, and delivered free to Europe’s broadcast professionals. Its aim – to understand and explain the commercial, technical and regulatory impacts on broadcast markets. We also publish two subscription newsletters, New Television Insider and Inside Satellite, and a number of management reports for further insight.

Broadband TV News launched in January 2003 with a single weekly edition. Following a meeting at the ECCA conference in Prague that spring the Central and East Europe and Dutch language editions were added in March 2003

Inside Satellite, edited by Chris Forrester, launched in January 2004 and New Television Insider the following March.

A number of conferences have been organised under the TV Conferences brand. These include So You Want to Start Broadcasting and three editions of The European HDTV Summit.

The publications are independently owned by the editors.

Travel with us

Keep up to date with the Broadband TV News editors as they report from live events around Europe and the World. Check back regularly for the latest news.

Future coverage includes:

• Broadband World Forum
• Mipcom
• PIKE: Polish Cable Conference