Category: Software

MUMBAI: Free, an alternative broadband operator, will distribute four Star India channels on its IPTV platform in France.

These include Star Plus, Star One, Star Gold and Star News.

The launch represents Star‘s first IPTV carriage deal in France while also strengthening Free‘s current lineup of Indian content.

Under the partnership, the Star pack that includes Star Plus, Star Gold, Star One And Star News will be available for19.99 euros a month.

MUMBAI: The subscriber base of BBC Worldwide has been steadily increasing. Among pay-TV viewers of BBC Entertainment and CBeebies throughout Latin America, its subscriber base has increased by 36 per cent.

By way of a distribution agreement with Televisa Networks, both channels are beamed in 14 countries across Latin America. In Peru, BBC Entertainment and CBeebies are available to more than 38 per cent of pay-TV homes.

Following additional distribution efforts, both channels are now available to 67 per cent of Sky‘s Central America digital subscriber base that covers viewers in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama.

Said BBC Worldwide Channels managing director Darren Childs, “We are very pleased to have accomplished this level of distribution in Latin American for our newly launched channels in such a short period. Our accomplishments in the region on all business levels reflect the high quality of our content, as well as the strength of our partnership with Televisa Networks.” Added Parthenon Entertainment director of production Danny Tipping, “It‘s been great working with Five to produce this documentary. I feel we have delivered a really exciting up-to-date interpretation of this fascinating subject.”

MUMBAI: Sky1 has commissioned a two-part special on the late Michael Jackson.

Presented by June Sarpong, the hour-long specials – Michael Jackson: The Live Séance and Michael Jackson: The Search for His Spirit – will go on air in November.

Michael Jackson: The Search for His Spirit delves into both Jackson‘s psyche and inspirations. Sarpong will be joined by psychic Bobby Marchesso and close friends of Jackson, including Ian Halperin, author of the Michael Jackson biography Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson, Thriller video co-star Ola Ray and spiritual healer Reverend June Gatlin.

Michael Jackson: The Live Séance will attempt to contact the music legend from a secret location familiar to and previously inhabited by Jackson. Said, Sky1 HD, Sky1, Sky2 and Sky 3 director of programmes Stuart Murphy, “There is an insatiable appetite to find out more about Michael Jackson. These programmes will explore whether it is possible to make contact with Michael and will seek to give his fans new insight into their idol. He was an extraordinary figure and the curiosity surrounding his life-and his death-stretches well beyond fans of his music.”

The specials will air on Sky1 HD and Sky1.

NEW DELHI: Build a robust subscription income, digitise rapidly and develop broadband as a revenue stream. That seems to be the business model all the leading multi-system operators (MSOs) are going to chase after having spread their tentacles across the country.

“The land grab phase is over. There will be truce on the ground and MSOs will now focus on developing other revenue streams,” said Digicable Network (India) Pvt Ltd managing director and chief executive officer Jagjit Singh Kohli.

Speaking at the India Digital Networks Summit 2009, Kohli said Digicable had set up 26 head-ends across the country and would continue to invest in infrastructure. “The answer to growth lies in value-added services,” he added.

Consolidation and last mile acquisitions will continue as MSOs raise fresh capital. Hathway Cable & Datacom and Den Networks are tapping the capital market and the two listings would have a significant impact on how the sector can find funding to support expansion opportunities.

MSOs also need to build a revenue model on digitisation where Cas (conditional access system) is not mandated. “The digitisation process within the cable industry does not have any extra earnings for the MSOs. There is no payback on digitisation. We have to collectively address the issue of building a revenue model on the digital set-top boxes,” said You Telecom India SVP and head of video business Neeraj Bhatia.

Bhatia also emphasised on growing the broadband business as a strong revenue pipeline. “In the US, for example, broadband has come first before IPTV. It is a strong revenue stream for cable companies like Comcast,” he said.

With local cable operators under-reporting their subscriber figures and the government yet to lay out a clear roadmap for digitisation, MSOs are searching for a viable business model. “We need to know the regulatory flight path. How can we build a business model without that? We want to go for a public float only with a proper clarity on our growth path,” said IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd managing director and chief executive officer Ravi Mansukhani.MSOs are also planning to invest in local cable channels in smaller towns. “There is a business opportunity in local news and event-based cable channels in tier-II towns. In metro markets where satellite channels have mushroomed, it is difficult to find a business proposition for such cable channels,” said Mansukhani.

Atria Convergence Technologies, a Bangalore-based MSO, has experimented with IPTV. “We have a presence in three states. We have launched IPTV. MSOs have to search for new revenue streams,” said Atria managing director Sunder Raju.

Tandberg Television VP business development Noel Matthews stressed on the need for cable TV operators to provide differentiated services. “In Western Europe, for example, each platform had to figure out how to differentiate themselves from other service providers. Cable operators need to do the same here. In India, video-on-demand has a great future,” he said.

MSO Alliance president Ashok Mansukhani pointed out that cable TV has a distinct advantage over DTH as “India is a value-for-money market.”

MUMBAI: TDM Satellite Channel, Macau, a new satellite television channel from TDM Teledifusao de Macau has began its free-to-air broadcasting on the newly launched AsiaSat 5.

Asian satellite operator Asiasat and Macau Special Administrative Region‘s public broadcaster TDM have signed an agreement for television broadcasting service across more than 50 countries in Asia Pacific.

During the next few months. testing of service, TDM Satellite Channel, Macau will provide daily scheduled news bulletins in Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese and English languages and also a wide range of current affairs programming on the latest development in Macau.

MUMBAI: The recently merged combined entity, ApnaCircle-Viadeo, has announced the acquisition of Unyk, a Canadian social networking site.

This acquisition includes Unyk’s membership of 16 million users that is growing at a rate of 600,000 new members each month.

Unyk members will now become ApnaCircle- Viadeo members, bringing the global network to over 25 million users and increasing the growth rate of over one million users per month.

This acquisition will also help Indian members of ApnaCircle to double their reach and also help increasing the growth rate of ApnaCircle’s network to 150 thousand users per month.

ApnaCircle founder and CEO Yogesh Bansal says, “This acquisition will help us to grow Indian market organically. This will also get us critical mass, while providing greater usability and value to our members through Unyk’s smart address book and synchronisation technology. We have been growing at a substantial pace and I am sure this acquisition will help us to grow further”.

MUMBAI: Sony India has expanded its Walkman Video MP3 player family with the new NWZ-S540 and the NWZ-E440 series.

The NWZ-S540 series integrates Sony‘s new Digital Linear Phase Speaker System. Combined with its 2.4-inch LCD screen, the NWZ-S540 player allows users to share music with friends and family. The NWZ-E440 series features an extended battery life for longer music and video playback.

The NWZ-S540 series is bundled with a convenient stand, making it easy to prop up the player instead of holding it when watching videos or recording lectures.

The Digital Linear Phase Speaker System is developed by Sony to enhance sound quality from stereo speakers. The advanced audio technology allows for natural sound reproduction and powerful bass sounds to be amplified in a compact body.

Also incorporated are voice and FM recording and multiple codec support for convenient music and video playback. In addition, the included Content Transfer software easily transfers files such as music, movies and photos from Windows Explorer, iTunes® or even Cyber-shot cameras to the Walkman® with its simple drag-and-drop interface.

MUMBAI: UK pay TV service provider Sky has announced the launch of Sky Songs, a new online music service that offers users access to over four million tracks available to download or stream online.

Every track featured in Sky Songs is available via unlimited online streaming and as mp3 files that can be downloaded and stored and used on any mp3 compatible device. The service, which launches on 19 October, will be available to any consumer in the UK with an active broadband connection.

Sky Songs includes new release and back catalogue material from EMI, Sony Music Entertainment UK, Warner Music UK and Universal Music Group, plus a range of independent labels and distributors among others.

Sky Songs offers users unlimited music streaming

, plus download-to-own tracks and albums. Customers can also purchase additional music on a per-track or per-album basis.

Comments Sky COO Mike Darcey, “Our music partners bring an outstanding catalogue and unrivalled expertise that complements Sky’s strengths in content distribution. Sky Songs will reach out to consumers who want legitimate digital services offering choice, ease of use and great value. Offering legal access to digital music is a vital step in combating illegal downloading.”

To celebrate the launch, all Sky broadband customers who access the site will receive a free downloadable album.

MUMBAI: Imation India, which develops and markets offerings that enable people to capture, save and enjoy digital information has announced the introduction of a series of new digital home theatre entertainment products.

Imation’s range of multimedia players support high definition video output (up-scaling to 1080i) for better picture quality and standard 3.5 inch and 2.5 inch hard disk drive (HDD) for the ever-increasing storage demand for digital contents.

Said Imation India head – sales and marketing Sandeep Popli, “Unlike other external hard drives available in the market, Imation multimedia hard disk player not only operates as a USB 2.0 Hi-Speed SATA external hard disk drive but also allows the user to browse and play back the entire media library directly through a TV or home theatre system.”

Imation Multi Media 2.5” Hard Disk Player is USB 2.0 compliant. Users can download video through PC and immediately playback on TV. It comes with features like digital photo viewer with thumbnail preview, play DVD folder, supports complete DVD function including DVD menu, video up-scaling for improved resolution of up to 720P, high-definition JPEG playback for images in true resolution, creation of playlists on computer, straightforward keypad control, most powerful Xivd subtitle display feature, supports both FAT32 and NTFS file systems. The hard disk player comes in 250 GB, 320 GB and 500 GB capacities.

NEW DELHI: The DTH industry has invested Rs 250 billion to build scale into their business model, but it is badly hurting their pockets.

Dragged down by low ARPUs (average revenue per user), high customer acquisition costs and exorbitant taxation, DTH companies are bleeding profusely.

“The DTH sector has piled up a subscriber base of 17.5 million over the first five years. The total investment stands at Rs 250 billion and all of us are bleeding,” said Tata Sky managing director and chief executive officer Vikram Kaushik.

Taking a dig at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Kaushik urged the need for a broadcast regulator. “Trai has an overhang of the telecom sector as that was the first thing they regulated. We desperately need a broadcast regulator who can understand our requirements,” he said, while speaking at the India Digital Networks Summit 2009 here today.

The under-reporting by the cable TV operators is keeping ARPUs artifically low and hurting everybody. “This is the crux of the problem and Trai has not understood this,” said Kaushik, who heads a DTH service that has the “best” and the “healthiest” ARPU among all the operators in the country.

The fierce competition over pricing is also being led by Sun Direct, the DTH company promoted by Kalanithi Maran. “Disruptive pricing is hurting not just the DTH companies but also negatively impacting the entire process of digitisation in India. This is unsustainable,” said Kaushik.

Sun Direct, which has the fastest run in subscriber growth, has an ARPU of under Rs 100 as against Tata Sky‘s Rs 200.

“We have to compete with the cable TV operators and build a business case around it. We have already reached 4.3 million subscribers,” said Sun Direct COO Tony D‘Silva.