There is a Star in the Sky for Premiere

German pay-TV operator Premiere has decided its new DTH service will be known as Premiere Star. Although the name Premiere Sky was initially preferred, it had to be abandoned following a court order preventing the use of the word Sky. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has protected the Sky name Europe-wide with regards to television. However, according to Premiere Star’s CEO Wolfram Winter, the company will contest the original verdict in a Berlin court.

EC approves Italian digital subsidies

The EC has ruled that the tax deductions granted by Italy as subsidies for the reception of digital TV services were legal. In its view, the subsidies – which effectively reduced the cost of set-top boxes by 20% and amounted to almost €40 million – were effectively technology neutral. Moreover, they were justified on the grounds that the deadline for the transition to digital broadcasting could not be met if left to market forces alone. Analogue switch off is being undertaken on a region-by-region basis in Italy, with the first parts of the country to go digital being Sardinia and Valle d’Aosta earlier this year.

Czech Republic prepares for HD

Telefónica O2 will launch what will be the first HD channel in the Czech Republic on July 2. The service – Czech Television (CT) in the format – will be offered to the telco’s 36,000 IPTV subscribers and also made available on its DTT multiplex. Telefónica O2 and CT began HD trials in Brno last autumn, shortly after the launch of the IPTV platform O2 TV.

Back to the peer

Rather than deny access to peer-to-peer networks, operators are looking to embrace individual providers. Julian Clover reports from the C-Cor Global IP Summit

There’s an interesting side plot to the rollout of digital cable and IPTV services. One of the key planks of the triple play proposition is broadband, and by offering high-speed internet access, the door is being opened to people like Joost and Babelgum that arguably compete with the TV side of the triangle.

We spoke last week about the pressure that peer-to-peer operations can place on a broadband network and this was emphasised by speakers at this week’s C-Cor Global IP Summit in Cannes. Marwan Fawaz, CTO of the US cablenet Charter Communications said that peer-to-peer had been responsible for a 50% growth in IP traffic over the past few years. The danger is that it is not sustainable to keep to the speeds being offered on Joost. “It’s not the operators job to decide what should be used on our network. It’s not the cable operator’s job to be the gatekeeper.” He said it remained to be seen as to whether Joost would adjust the quality of its video.

Lorenz Glatz, CTO, Kabel Deutschland pointed to the customer relationship and the quality of service guarantee. “We’re not interfering with the traffic, but we are watching what’s happening…how do you get the people from YouTube to the television he asked?

Hervé Payan, Senior Vice President, Content Services, Orange – France Telecom said that peer to peer was responsible for 50% of traffic, but was no longer growing, he said that growth was now coming from streaming. He added a new dimension through the possibility of partnering with some of the services. “We can optimise the network for partners, and work with a few of them to get it right, but if you’re watching a football match on Joost TV you go bananas after two minutes because the quality isn’t there.”

Earlier this year the Cable Europe conference in Amsterdam spoke as to how entertainment should be at the centre of the operator’s proposition. The evidence here is that there should continue to be considerable emphasis on the pipe.

VPRT protests digital expansion plans

The German association of private broadcasters VPRT has threatened to go to the European Court if public broadcasters ARD and ZDF continue to expand their digital offers. According to chairman Jürgen Doetz the planned activities of the public broadcasters are unlawful.

Doetz says the plans are in conflict with a recent agreement between the European Commission and the German states with regard to the extent to which public broadcasters are allowed to invest in digital ventures. The new media plans include making newscasts available on mobile TV, on-demand online services as well as ARD’s plan to turn Eins Extra into an all-news channel. The VPRT finds all of these plans unacceptable.

New kid on the block

Chris Dziadul looks at the SBS takeover

ProSiebenSat.1’s €3.3 billion acquisition of SBS Broadcasting is likely to have far-reaching consequences on the TV industry in Central and Eastern Europe.
A merger between the two groups, which should be completed at the beginning of July, will lead to the creation of a new media empire spanning 13 European countries and encompassing 24 FTA TV stations, 24 pay-TV stations and 22 radio networks. Among them will be SBS Broadcasting’s TV interests in Hungary (TV2) and Romania (Prima TV), both long-established stations arguably in need of a boost.
TV2 is one of two national commercial stations in Hungary. Launched at the same time as the other (RTL Klub) in late 1997, it has in recent years fallen behind its close rival, especially in the lucrative 18-49 demographic so sought after by advertisers.
Romania’s Prima TV also made its debut 10 years ago. Backed by SBS Broadcasting since 2000 – initially as a minority shareholder, before being finally taken over in 2005 – it reaches 90% of the urban population via terrestrial and satellite-to-cable distribution but operates in an overcrowded and highly competitive marketplace.
Although SBS Broadcasting has over the years been present in other regional markets – it was at one time behind TVN in Poland and Kanal A in Slovenia, and more recently built up a portfolio of radio stations in Bulgaria – the main focus of attention has for some time been Hungary and Romania, with further acquisitions seemingly not on the agenda.
However, the new-look ProSiebenSat.1, incorporating SBS Broadcasting, may soon change all that. By buying SBS Broadcasting, the Munich-based group has given itself a foothold in Central and Eastern Europe and is unlikely to settle for ownership of just TV2 and Prima TV.
Its first priority will be to boost the standing of both stations, after which further acquisitions will probably be on the agenda. Competition with the likes of RTL and CME, market leaders in Hungary and Romania respectively, will certainly intensify.

New Portuguese digital bouquet on Eurobird

Eutelsat has launched its new orbital position of 9 degrees East with the Portuguese digital bouquet TVTel. The following channels are now available on Eurobird 9: RTPN, RTP 1, RTP 2, SIC, Panda, Discovery Channel, People and Arts, TVI, Odisseia, Historia, MTV Portugal, VH1, Travel, MGM, VIVA TV, Fashion TV, NASN, ESPN, Hollywood and The Biography Channel. The public channels RTP1 and 2, RTPN and commercial broadcasters SIC, Viva and Fashion TV can be received free-to-air (FTA), while the other services are encrypted.

Intelsat rocks Live Earth worldwide in HD

Intelsat and Live Earth have today announced the satellite provider will be the official satellite capacity sponsor. When the largest HD music event in history takes place on July 7, Live Earth will use Intelsat to beam global entertainment headliners such as Madonna, Akon, Missy Higgins, Kumi Koda, UB40, The Police, Shakira, Joss Stone and Snoop Dogg to an estimated two billion viewers worldwide in an effort to raise awareness about the climate crisis.

Intelsat will use its network of satellite and terrestrial facilities for the collection and distribution of the Live Earth concerts in SD and HD video formats. The worldwide series of concerts will boast 24 hours of music across seven continents from eight cities and feature performances by more than 150 of the world’s top musical artists.

MNI snaps up interactive channel

The Polish alternative telco MNI Telecom has acquired an 87.8% stake in Telestar, the operator of the interactive TV channel iTV, for a reported PLN21.02 million (€5.56 million). Earlier this month MNI Telecom, which is based in Radom, formed a MVNO joint venture with Telestar. ITV is one of the longest established interactive TV channels in Poland. Aside from iTV, Telestar’s interests in the country include a number of Internet portals. In the UK, it operates – amongst others – The Dating Channel and Gaydatetv.

AIG seeks funding for BTC purchase

Reports indicate that AIG is to borrow €1.64 billion to fund its acquisition of the incumbent Bulgarian telco BTC. AIG agreed to buy 65% of BTC from the Icelandic entrepreneur Thor Bjorgolfsson for BGN2.11 billion (€1.08 billion) last month and has since indicated its intention to secure a further 25%. Also in Bulgaria, the regulatory authorities are to meet next week to discuss the award of terrestrial TV licences in Plovdiv, Varna and the capital, Sofia. This follows protests from some of the participants in the competition, which was won by BBT, Maxchannel and TV7.

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