DIGITAL TV GROUP SUMMIT, LONDON – Calls for spectrum to be set aside for high def transmissions from the UK’s public service broadcasters failed to move the Minister of State for Industry and the Regions, Margaret Hodge. The DTG, whose members include both broadcasters and manufacturers, lobbied hard, but the minister said she had heard […]
Dublin DTT trial enters second phase
Several thousand people in the greater Dublin area are to be given free digital set-top boxes as part of the second phase of Ireland’s digital TV trial. Iniitally 500 participants, drawn from the Dublin and Louth areas will receive specially adapted DTT set-top boxes, later rising to 1,000. The trial is being designed to provide […]
Cablecom signs RTL and NBC low-pay channels
Swiss cable operator Cablecom has signed an agreement to carry the three low-pay channels from RTL, RTL Crime, Passion TV and RTL Living from April 1st, 2007. The channels will be made available to the operator’s 1.37 million homes that are capable of receiving the digital service. At the moment Cabelcom has 138,500 digital subscribers. […]
Mediaset to launch 8-channel DTT pay service
The Italian Mediaset company will launch an 8-channel pay service on DTT, according to a report in the daily Corriere della Sera. The new service would compete with News Corp owned DTH service Sky Italia in the battle for Italian viewers.The service would retail at 8 euro a month and offer movies, cartoons and women’s […]
Czech digital transition continues
According to Pavel Dvorak, the head of the Czech Telecom Office (CTU), between 400,000-600,000 people, equivalent to 5-7% of the population, will no longer be able to receive analogue TV signals by the end of the year. Although limited DTT services are already available in Prague, Brno and Ostrava, the transition to digital, undertaken on […]
Flemish analogue switch-over in 2008
Flanders (Belgium) will switch off its analogue terrestrial television signals at the end of 2008, the Flemish government has decided. The Dutch speaking part of the country is highly cabled with around 97% of all homes connected and it is thought about 60,000 homes will be affected who only receive television over the air. A […]
Luxembourg agrees digital cable package
The Luxembourg government has signed an agreement with the country’s cable operators as the country aims to become the first country in Europe to have an all digital TV service. Cablenets in the Grand Dutchy will offer subscribers a selection of 75 international channels. “This agreement prepares the ground for the switch to an all […]
French lead Euro HD
France has pulled ahead of other European countries by setting aside terrestrial capacity for high definition television. Strategy Analytics new research piece “Digital TV Transition: Europe Watches France’s Mandates As Terrestrial HDTV Arrives” says the country has taken an important step towards HDTV on the ‘TNT’ platform by allocating capacity for HD channels and mandating […]
Dutch DTT exceeds 250K
The number of Digitenne DTT customers in The Netherlands stood at 265,000 at the end of 2006, or 44% more than a year earlier. At the same time, KPN’s new service offering Dutch Premier League football (Tele2 Voetbal) for its Digitenne customers had attracted more than 15,000 subscribers at the end of last year. With […]
Viasat pay-TV benefits from Swedish switchover
Viasat Broadcasting is continuing to underpin the activities of Sweden’s Modern Times Group. The combined DTH satellite platforms in the Nordic and Baltic regions recorded a combined 15% year-on-year growth to 929,000 subscribers at the end of 2006. However, while Sweden is providing fertile ground for pay-TV subscriptions as the country moves through the digital […]