Category: Software

MUMBAI: HBO Latin America has announced that their new entertainment platform, HBO Go, will be available in Colombia for MiDirecTV clients.

Through the platform, HBO/Max subscribers will be able to log in and watch films, series, shows and special programs from HBO online on their computers.

HBO Latin America Group president Emilio Rubio said,”Following the success in Brazil where, only weeks after its launch, HBO Go reached record numbers for access and streaming, we now launch in Colombia, giving our subscribers the opportunity to enjoy their favorite programs anytime, anyplace. We are very proud to bring a product to Latin America that further enhances the HBO Premium entertainment experience in the region”.

HBO Go will have many features to personalise the available services, including the ability to receive alerts and notifications, through Series Pass, when new episodes are available. It will also be possible to create watchlists with favorite programs and to view them in HD, with or without subtitles. The platform has a simple and intuitive navigation, and the content is divided into Series, Movies, Documentaries, Specials, Children and Adults.

In Series, for example, subscribers can find the most recent episodes of the third season of Boardwalk Empire, as well as complete seasons of True Blood and Game of Thrones. In addition to the latest series, customers will be able to view all seasons of The Sopranos, Rome and series produced in Latin America such as Mandrake, Capadocia and Prófugos. Exclusive content distributed in the region by HBO such as Mad Men, Preamar and House of Lies will also be available on HBO GO.

In movies, there are HBO films such as Game Change, Hemingway & Gellhorn and Too Big to Fail, as well as blockbusters that fit right in with the programming found on HBO‘s channels.

HBO Go is currently available for all subscribers who have HBO/Max packages with MiDIRECTV. In the future, it will be available with other pay TV operators that are currently working to integrate the service, which works with an authentication system in conjunction with the operator.

HBO GO can be accessed throughout Colombia by computers with a broadband Internet connection. It will soon be available for tablets and mobile devices.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to take a decision on restoring the licence for digital addressable system to the multi-system operator Home Cable Network [P] Limited within three days.

The order by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Vipin Sanghi says that the order is subject to Home Cable filing ‘within 24 hours‘ all DAS related information sought by the Ministry.

The Court also permitted the MSO to negotiate and enter into the DAS Interconnect Agreements with the Pay TV broadcasters/ Channel aggregators.

The registration of Home Cable and Swami Cable Network had been revoked by the Ministry on 28 August on the ground that they had failed to submit necessary documents.

Both the MSOs were registered with the Ministry and had been asked to furnish information regarding preparations for implementation of DAS and their plans for infrastructure expansion as mandated in the DAS regime.

Senior Advocate Aman Lekhi and Gaurang Kanth, counsel for Home Cable, argued that the impugned order was mala fide and prejudiced against the Petitioner.

It was argued that there was no ground available with the MIB to take such a punitive action against the MSO, which already had already installed DAS and had been running it since 2007 and catering to more than 11,000 Digital subscribers since Conditional Access System was introduced in South Delhi with a capacity to carry 650 digital TV channels.

It was also submitted that Home Cable had failed to get replies to various issues cited by it to the Ministry concerning the interest of millions of the Cable TV subscribers and may result in a situation of complete chaos, blackouts, exploitation of consumers and eventually deficiency in the service provided when DAS is implemented from 1 November in the four metros.

When revoking the licences, the Ministry had said the non submission of data by these MSOs “is indicative of their lack of seriousness to pursue their business as per the terms and conditions of their registration”, adding that in the overall context of implementation of DAS it had taken a serious view of the non compliance of directions of the Ministry by these two MSOs and revoked their registration after due notice.

When contacted, Home Cable founder-promoter Vikki Choudhry told indiantelevision.com that he had submitted all information according to the format of the Ministry and also sent a Consumers‘ Charter, in keeping with the Court order.

A perusal of the documents submitted shows that while there is demand for 40,000 digital set top boxes, Home Cable had installed 9869 as in 18 October and placed orders for another 30,000 since he has only 400 STBs in stock.

The document also states that he had placed the order on 9 August for the Chinese-made STBs, and he expected to seed all cable homes by 31 December this year.

MUMBAI: Internet subscription service for movies and TV shows Netflix has launched in Finland, culminating a week of events that also introduced Netflix to Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Ten million broadband households in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden can now subscribe to Netflix and, for one low monthly price, instantly access a wide selection of Hollywood, local and global TV shows and movies via a range of Internet-connected devices, including Smart TVs, game consoles, Blu-ray players, home theater systems, tablets and smartphones.

Netflix co-founder, CEO Reed Hastings said,”We‘ve received a very warm welcome throughout the Nordics and are thrilled by the excitement we have seen for Netflix in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. Initial signups exceeded our expectations; the Nordic people have definitely shown that they are ready for the future of television.”

Netflix is priced at 79kr a month in Sweden, Denmark and Norway and EUR7.99 in Finland. A free, one-month trial of Netflix is available by visiting Netflix.com. An extended trial is available for a limited time to paying Spotify subscribers as part of a launch partnership with the music streaming company.

At launch, Netflix is offering movies and TV shows from many different providers, including Warner Bros, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, BBC Worldwide, CBS Studios, ITV Studios Global Entertainment, Shine International, Nordisk Film Distribution, AB Svensk Filmindustri, Scanbox Entertainment and Norsk Filmdistribujon.

Among the thousands of hours of great movies and TV shows available at launch are recent big screen hits such as The Expendables and Happy Feet 2. Previous full seasons of American shows such as How I Met Your Mother, Breaking Bad, The Vampire Diaries, Arrested Development, Dexter, Spartacus and The Walking Dead will be available to Netflix members as well as full seasons of British TV including The Inbetweeners and Sherlock. Other titles include a wide-range of documentaries, art house movies and classics ranging from Being Elmo, A Clockwork Orange to There Will Be Blood. Kids titles available at launch include High School Musical 1 & 2, Shaun the Sheep and Babar.

 
In addition to the slate of international viewables, there are also local titles available on Netflix in the Nordic countries. These include:

• Danish movies such as Submarino, Flammen & Citronen, Pusher Trilogy and prizewinning Festen, previous full seasons of Danish favourites including Klovn.


• Finnish titles including Iron Sky and Kolme assaa


• Norwegian favourites including Lilyhammer, Julenatt I Blafjell and Tomme tonner.


• Swedish movies such as Flickan, I taket lyser stjarnorna and Maria Larssons eviga ogonblick as well as previous full seasons of Swedish TV favorites including Bron and 30 grader i februari

Netflix is fully localised, offering subtitles on foreign language movies and TV shows and dubbing for most kids titles. In the coming months, more great movies and TV shows will be added, building upon the great entertainment choices available today.

The company claims to have over 27 million streaming members throughout the Americas, the UK, Ireland and now the Nordic countries.

MUMBAI: New York-based independent digital studio Believe Entertainment Group (BE Group) has announced plans for ‘EpicEDM’, a new, ongoing original content series featuring electronic dance music (EDM) artists, festivals and clubs worldwide that will be the first studio originated content series designed specifically for the Twitter platform.

Financed by Believe Entertainment Group and executive produced by studio co-founders Dan Goodman and William H. Masterson III, EpicEDM is slated to premiere in late 2012 on social media platform Twitter.

EpicEDM will be the inside source for all things EDM, from the artists and tours to the world’s most exclusive nightclubs and biggest music festivals. The new series will live at @EpicEDM along with a range of new content providing 24/7 EDM insider access.

To host this new worldwide hub for EDM and premiere this original content series, Believe Entertainment Group will utilise Twitter’s entire Promoted Suite of products, including Twitter’s latest innovations, such as interest and geo targeting, allowing EpicEDM to showcase the best content and enable real-time conversations among EDM fans.

Believe Entertainment Group co-founder Dan Goodman said, “The social media space is at the heart of this massive, global movement, so it made sense to us to curate an EDM series on the same social media platform that continues to fuel its growth. Our approach with Twitter is to own the social engagement around this movement.”

Believe Entertainment Group co-founder William H. Masterson III said, “We’re building where the EDM community and DJs already intersect to amplify what’s happening. The goal is to create a unifying platform for the artists, fans and everyone involved in the EDM explosion that serves as a dedicated place to share the best things happening anywhere, at any given time in the EDM world.”

A network of official partners, unofficial friends and user Tweets curated by EpicEDM will bring always-on programming including weekly in-studio video updates and exclusive artist interviews with some of the biggest DJs and producers in the world, access to pre and post-events, contests and ticket giveaways, daily news Tweets, video blogs, photos and more.

Believe Entertainment Group will finance and sell EpicEDM. Additional details on advertiser partnerships for EpicEDM will be announced soon.

MUMBAI: AT&T U-verse TV customers can now access an expanded lineup of full-length episodes from Viacom‘s BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Spike and VH1 on demand, on the Web.

AT&T U-verse TV customers can watch episodes of shows online from any computer by logging in to any of the following Viacom authenticated websites with their AT&T U-verse ID.

The new online offering for AT&T U-verse TV customers marks the first “TV Everywhere” offering from AT&T and Viacom. Customers may also have access to Viacom programming on U-verse.com and U-verse apps for smartphones, tablets, and other devices in the near future.

AT&T Home Solutions president of content, ad sales Jeff Weber said, “We‘re excited to give customers online access to Viacom‘s compelling content. This is just one more way we‘re offering U-verse TV customers the best entertainment experience, wherever they are.”

Viacom Media Networks executive VP of content distribution, marketing Denise Denson said,”AT&T U-verse continues to bring great entertainment to its customers in every corner of their lives, and Viacom networks are a powerful part of that experience that viewers can count on to enjoy on every screen”.

MUMBAI: Sportel Monaco, the international market for television and new media which concluded on Thursday, saw 2409 participants from 75 countries representing 980 companies.

The event saw 20 per cent increase in participation from new companies.

“We are excited about the new variety of visitors and exhibitors and also are happy to receive reports of high level of deals being made, even on the last days of Wednesday and Thursday,” Sportel Monaco GM 2011 Amparo Di Fede.
 
Among the highlights during Sportel Monaco 2012 have been the annual Georges Bertellotti Golden Podium Awards, the International Symposium with the subject “Olympic Impact – What is the Legacy of London 2012 for the Sports Media Industry?” and the Sportel & SVG Experts Panels on “2014 technology forecast on Production and TV Anywhere.”

Sportel Monaco will be held from 14 to 17 October next year while Sportel Rio 2013 will run from 11 to 13 March 2013 at the Sofitel Copcabana.

Mumbai: Subhash Chandra-owned direct-to-home television services provider Dish TV on Thursday reported a flat operating profit in the second quarter ended 30 September from a quarter earlier as fall in content costs was offset by a sharp rise in selling and distribution expenses other than commission.

Dish TV‘s Ebitda in the second quarter was Rs 1.55 billion, the same as in the first quarter but up 18.3 per cent from a year earlier. Ebitda margin for the second quarter was 29.2 per cent, at the same level as in the previous quarter.

The DTH service provider‘s average revenue per user (ARPU) was up by Rs 3 to Rs 159 in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, following an increase in prices. This was reflected in a robust 4.73 per cent rise in subscription revenues in the second quarter to Rs 4.72 billion from Rs 4.55 billion a quarter earlier.

Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel said, “In line with our expectation, the price hike initiated in the last quarter flowed through partially to deliver an encouraging ARPU increase.”

Its programming and content costs was down to Rs 1.42 billion from Rs 1.51 billion in the first quarter but selling and distribution expenses other than commission rose 31 per cent to Rs 396.1 million in the second quarter from Rs 302.8 million a quarter earlier.

An exceptional gain of Rs 764 million in the second quarter resulted in Dish TV reporting a net profit of Rs 551 million, against a loss of Rs 323.2 million in the previous quarter. The exceptional gain was on account of a change in the accounting treatment of fluctuation in foreign currency rates following a clarification from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Despite the push towards digitisation in the key markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata from 1 November, Dish TV added only 477,000 new subscribers in the second quarter against 504,000 in the first quarter. The total number of subscribers of Dish TV as on 30 September was 13.9 million, of which 10 million were active subscribers.

Dish TV Q2 Performance:

Particulars	Quarter-ended Unaudited
	30.09.2012	30.06.2012
Total income from operations (net)	53,362	51,996
Total expenses	53,126	51,557
Finance costs	3,172	5,722
Profit / (loss) from ordinary activities after finance costs but before exceptional items	(2,133)	(3,232)
Exceptional items	7,643	–
Net profit / (loss) for the period	5,510	(3,232)

Goel said, “The second quarter took off sluggishly, largely due to the macro headwinds and price hike at the entry level, however, our sound strategy and efficient on ground execution enabled a pickup in additions post the first month. Our launch of ‘Dish+‘, India‘s first standard definition recorder, helped us differentiate and attract consumer interest in a crowded market.”

“In terms of digital conversions, despite regular data on steady growth in digital deployment flowing in, on ground implementation remains lukewarm and nowhere close to numbers doing the rounds. However, with the government sending firm signals against extension of the analog sunset date, we continue to target reasonable subscriber uptake going forward,” he added.

Dish TV‘s total revenues in the second quarter at Rs 5.33 billion were up 2.56 per cent quarter-on-quarter up 2.56% and up 10 per cent from a year earlier.

Goel said “Dish TV continued to be free cash flow positive for the third consecutive quarter. Cost line items remained as projected; an expected hike in marketing cost came in due to additional spends around digitisation.”

Subscriber churn remained at 1 per cent per month despite the package price increase last quarter,” he added.

MUMBAI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has finally set up a Control Room with effect from 15 October with a toll free telephone number 1-800-180-4343 in order to facilitate a seamless transition to digital cable in the four metros ahead of the digitisation deadline of 31 October.

The MIB said that the Control Room will function on all days, including holidays, from 8 am to 10 pm to address and clarify various queries relating to acquisition of Set Top Boxes, various schemes of purchase of STBs, package rates offered by MSOs etc.
Consumers and other stakeholders can call on this toll free number during this period.

Representatives of five national level MSOs namely DEN, In Cable, Hathway, Digi Cable, and Siti Cable are also available in the Control Room during this period to address any specific queries relating to their respective networks/services.

MUMBAI: Social media website Facebook said that it is giving access to mobile app developers for their apps to be promoted within the Try These Games box right in the middle of the mobile News Feed.

One of the possible reasons for beta partners seeing expansion reach with their mobile app ads may be that these ads were not targeted as other Facebook ad products.

Usually on Facebook, advertisers may include the users‘ interests as a targeting parameter. In case of mobile app ads, developers have to use broader targeting options like region, age, gender and mobile operating system. Facebook though has indicated that new targeting parameters may eventually be made available.
 
The social networking website conceded that it will continue to make updates that improve the user experience and the performance of mobile app install ads.

MUMBAI: Dish TV, India‘s largest direct-to-home (DTH) company, is eyeing expansion in neighbourhood countries and is preparing to capitalise its Sri Lanka subsidiary.

Dish TV is planning to invest Rs 700 million in Dish TV Lanka, a joint venture company in which it holds 70 per cent stake while local partner Satnet Private Limited has the other 30 per cent.

Dish TV has got the shareholders’ approval to invest Rs 700 million in the venture. The Sri Lanka operations is, however, not in the immediate agenda as India will take all the attention with digitisation in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai nearing deadline.

Dish TV has not created a broadcasting centre or satellite link facility yet. The company, however, plans to enter into the Sri Lanka DTH market at some stage as the ARPUs (average revenue per user) are much higher.
“The DTH market in Sri Lanka is much smaller than India.But while the ARPUs in India are in the range between $3 and $4, in Sri Lanka it is close to $9. Dish TV is attracted by those ARPUs and Sri Lanka is a neighbouring territory,” said an industry source.

Dish TV Lanka was oncorporated on 25 April. The minority partner Satnet has a DTH Licence in Sri Lanka.

Dish TV said its shareholders have approved a “Special resolution under Section 372A of the Companies Act, 1956 to make loans/investments or give guarantee or provide any security to provide up to Rs 700 million in Dish TV Lanka (Private) Limited, over and above the limits prescribed under the said section.”

In Sri Lanka, the DTH market is dominated by Dialog TV, a subsidiary of telecom major Dialog Axiata. Dialog TV has an estimated 200,000 subscribers and its revenue grew 18 per cent to Rs 2.4 billion in the calendar year.

Shares of Dish TV rose 4.68 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange to Rs 80.35 at close on Wednesday.

Dish TV will announce its fiscal second-quarter financial results tomorrow. Meanwhile, the shareholders of Dish TV have approved the re-appointment of Jawahar Goel as the managing director of the company for a period of three years effective 6 January.