CABLE CONGRESS – AMSTERDAM. Today EuroCableLabs announced that Cabovisão Televisao por Cabo, S.A. of Portugal, an affiliate of Cogeco Cable Inc. of Canada, and OpVista joined EuroCableLabs. Cabovisão is becoming a Member, while OpVista joins the EuroCableLabs Associate Supporter Program. Both OpVista and Cabovisão will contribute towards the development of future broadband cable technologies and […]
Cable can learn from Google
CABLE CONGRESS – AMSTERDAM. Should traditional parties such as cable companies and commercial broadcasters are afraid of newcomers such as Google? On the contrary was the message of Vincent Dureau, head of TV technology at Google. “Ad skipping is a good thing in the long run for the TV industry,” he told a fully packed […]
Ready, Steady, Cable
CABLE CONGRESS – AMSTERDAM. The congress theme is That’s Entertainment, and under the watchful eye of BBC Prime’s Ainsley Harriot at the Convention Factory we were. The celebrity chef, turned presenter, guided Cable Europe president Manuel Cubero through the first course. As an appetiser guests were shown clips to BBC shows, not under the Prime […]
Cable Europe seeks regulatory harmony
CABLE CONGRESS – AMSTERDAM. Certain European member states still believe their markets are different and require special legislation. That’s the view of Cable Europe vice president Manuel Kohnstamm, addressing a press briefing at the Cable Congress in Amsterdam. Kohnstamm said that Cable Europe was working with the European Commission, where it could, in order to […]
European cable sector reports double digit growth
CABLE CONGRESS – AMSTERDAM. The European Cable Communications Association, Cable Europe, has reported a 53% increase in digital cable penetration. In his opening statement to the Cable Congress, Manuel Cubero, president of Cable Europe and a member of the management board of Kabel Deutschland said that 2006 had been a landmark year with double-digit growth […]
Telenet Digital hits 250,000
Flemish cable operator Telenet announced today that it has reached the milestone of 250,000 subscribers for its digital tv service, following what it describes as a successful year-end campaign. Telenet covers around two-thirds of Flanders. “We’re seeing that interactive tv is about break-through with a mass audience”, explained Jo Van Gorp, the MSO’s Executive Vice […]
Arena to screen English Premiership
German pay-TV platform Arena has secured the rights to English Premiership football. The three-year deal will run from the beginning of the next season. Arena, owned by cable operator Unity Media, already has the rights to Spain’s Primera Division, Italy’s Serie A and the German Bundesliga, in the process dealing a blow to rival Premiere, […]
UPDATE: BBC Prime stays on HOT
Israel’s cable platform HOT has reached a last minute agreement with BBC Prime to keep the entertainment channel on the network. New contracts have also been established with Hallmark, Eurosport News and National Geographic’s Adventure One. The agreements followed a heated period of negotiations after content costs spiralled to NIS800 million (€146m) in 2006. HOT […]
Easy.tv CI module able to receive Arena
Decimus, a subsidiary of Primacom, has announced the discontinuation of its easy.TV programme package with effect from mid-March. But the move does not affect the availability of the Mascom easy.TV Common Interface module, according to the manufacturer. “The easy.TV module is the optimum basic module for German-language Pay-TV”, says MASCOM managing director Heinz Gruber, “It […]
Cablecom continues Swiss switchover
Cablecom has announced details of the channels that will move to digital only broadcasts in German-speaking Switzerland during 2007. The migration process will be carried out in two phases in April and June 2007 and follows last November’s agreement with the price regulator. The capacity will be used for a new standard digital service, beginning […]