BT Vision has tripled the number of customers receiving the IPTV service to 70,000. The UK telco has a further 30,000 customers waiting to be connected and has introduced a self install option. BT Vision combines a DTT receiver with a series of on demand packages. The most high profile package is BT Vision Sport, […]
Thor 5 set for February launch
Telenor Satellite Broadcast has confirmed February 8, 2008 as the launch date for its new Thor 5 satellite. The launch had been delayed by the September 6 failure of JCSAT II. Thor 5 will be equipped with 24 high powered capacity transponders, serving Nordic Countries, Europe and the Middle East. Telenor is also investing in […]
Two million cards sold by Mediaset Premium
Mediaset Premium, the PPV service distributed over Italy’s DTT network, has passed the two million card mark for the first time. It follows a successful October for the sports and entertainment service that officially recorded sales of more than 1.8 million smart cards in the first nine months of the year. The cards can be […]
Deluxe plans 24/7 Dolby
German broadcaster Deluxe is planning to broadcast 24/7 in Dolby Digital 5.1 from 2008. The music station will be the first TV channel in the world to adopt the multi-channel surround sound format that includes six audio channels on a 24-hour basis. “This is a quantum leap for television entertainment, and marks the development of […]
TDF buys Telekom’s Media & Broadcast
Deutsche Telekom has sold its Media & Broadcast transmission division to the French TDF for €700 million, according to Financial Times Deutschland. Media & Broadcast is a part of Telekom’s T-Systems business unit. Neither Telekom nor TDF have made any official comment. Earlier this year Deutsche Telekom was reportedly seeking €1 billion from the sale […]
Subtitles underline YLE licence fee gap
Finnish public broadcaster YLE has opened a viewer hotline to deal with problems arising from the country’s move to digital broadcasting. It follows a significant fall in TV licence revenues following problems with subtitling on receivers for the new digital system. A funding shortfall of €10 million has arisen following a decline in licences of […]
RTS Innovation Awards honour Adobe
The role of Adobe Flash in the development of broadband TV services has been recognised by the Royal Television Society. The technology was given the Judge’s Award in the RTS Innovation Awards 2007, which also honoured Sky HD. The judges said that Adobe had become the power behind television’s invasion of the Web. “From its […]
Discounting building Virgin loyalty
Virgin Media has reported an improved third quarter with 13,000 customer additions compared to the 70,300 loss in the previous period. There was also a dramatic improvement in the number of RGUs, the so-called revenue generating units, which increased to 172,900 from 40,300 in the second quarter. Some 122,900 of these were broadband internet customers, […]
Digiturk, RCS dump IPO plans
Turkish DTH platform Digitürk and its Romanian-based counterpart RCS & RDS SA have dropped plans to list themselves on the London Stock Exchange. Both companies have put the blame on market conditions as banks reassess credit conditions amid huge losses. Digitürk’s last minute decision – the listing was scheduled for November 9 – had planned […]
Sky to increase minimum EPG hours
Sky is planning to stop channels from sitting on positions within the EPG by increasing the number of broadcast hours required to maintain a position in the guide. The move comes following Sky’s recent proposals to cease accepting applications for new channel launches – an action expected to be accompanied by an increase in channels […]