Category: Software

Digital cable has penetrated the highest in the Cas zone of Mumbai with 44 per cent of the C&S homes opting for set-top boxes (STBs) till 15 June, according to Tam estimates. Out of the total 572,000 homes, cable has pocketed 249,985 households who have gone in for STBs.

DTH, in contrast, has seen just 3 per cent penetration with 16,852 homes flocking to it. Despite aggressive marketing, DTH players have seen a 1 per cent rise in penetration over a five-month period.

DTH has performed better in the South Delhi Cas market, having a 6 per cent penetration with 43,332 out of 723,000 total homes migrating to the platform. Digital cable, however, has a 29.4 per cent penetration with 212,384 households buying STBs.

Under the Cas zone in Kolkata, there has been a low offtake for digital services with cable seeing a 18.1 per cent penetration (94,162 homes) comparable with 1.8 per cent (9,167 homes) DTH households.

The Tam study shows that the upper segment of the socio-economic strata are the leading consumers of digital cable. In the Cas market of Mumbai, the highest purchase for STBs is from SEC A and B (31 per cent each). This is followed by SEC C (20 per cent of the total STB population in Mumbai), SEC D (11 per cent) and SEC E (8 per cent).

Delhi has a higher SEC A STB ownership skew with 57 per cent of STB ownership in the city coming from this segment, followed by SEC B (24 per cent). The other strata account for just 19 per cent, according to Tam estimates.

Kolkata is seeing a similar trend with SEC A and B accounting for 74 per cent of the STB population while the remaining 26 per cent is distributed among the other socio-economic strata.

Source : TAM 2007 study on CAS penetration in 3 cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Calcutta.
Wave 1 – January 15th 2007.
Wave 2 – June 15th 2007.

This will bring all the action of X Games 13 – including live competitions, behind-the-scenes coverage and commentary – to mobile phones. EXPN will be available for the duration of X Games 13.

Live coverage starts on 2 August and concludes on 5 August. Highlights of previous years’ X Games also will be shown on the dedicated channel till 1 August and ‘Best of the X Games‘ and X Game 13 replays will air from 6-7 August.

Viewers can expect to see:

• Live coverage of events provided by ESPN for eight hours each day from 2-5 August.
  
• Everything from practices to qualifying events to event finals.
  
• A daily ‘Best of the X Games‘ segment that will show viewers all of the extreme highlights.
  
• An ESPN debut of a double box segment during the rally car races, giving fans the opportunity to see the race from each driver’s viewpoint as they compete side-by-side.
  

ESPN senior VP digital media production John Zehr says, “X Games fans want to see the action as it happens. By teaming with MediaFlo USA to offer this channel through Verizon Wireless, ESPN is reaffirming our commitment to our fans by showing all the extreme action while expanding our multi-platform approach.

Verizon VP digital media programming Ryan Hughes said, “EXPN on V Cast mobile TV is another example of how Verizon Wireless is harnessing innovation to bring the best in entertainment to our customers. Whether it’s the excitement of the X Games or the drama of classic sports rivalries, content from the worldwide leader in sports on V Cast mobile TV helps Verizon Wireless customers stay informed and entertained while on-the-go.”

The dedicated X Games channel will supplement live coverage of the X Games on ESPN mobile TV, one of the eight regular channels available on V Cast Mobile TV from Verizon Wireless. The Flo TV service is provided by MediaFlo USA, which is available to consumers through Verizon Wireless as V Cast Mobile TV.

MediaFlo USA aims to unleash the power of TV for mobile consumers, by combining content, an intuitive user interface and a multicast network. The MediaFlo USA mobile entertainment service, called Flo TV, offers full-length simulcast and time-shifted programming.

MUMBAI: The widespread deployment of broadband combined with promotions by content providers has helped pave the way for mainstream audiences to adopt online video viewing.

A report from Pew shows that the majority of adult internet users in the US (57 per cent) report watching or downloading some type of online video content and 19 per cent do so on a typical day.

Three-quarters of broadband users (74 per cent) who enjoy high-speed connections at both home and work watch or download video online. Looking separately at those who have access to a high-speed connection at home, 66 per cent report online video consumption, compared with 39 per cent of home dial-up users.

Yet, some online video viewers who have dial-up at home are able to supplement their access with broadband connections at work. Among those who are truly relegated to slow connections at home and work, just 31 per cent say they have watched or downloaded video online.

Young adults (aged 18-29) are among the most voracious video viewers. Three-in-four young adult internet users (76 per cent) report online consumption of video, compared with 57 per cent of online adults ages 30-49.

Less than half (46 per cent) of internet users in the age group of 50-64 years watch or download video and just 39 per cent of those aged 65 and older do so. On a typical day, young adults‘ video consumption also outpaces that of older users:

Roughly one in three (31 per cent ) internet users aged 18-29 said they watched or downloaded some type of video on a typical day during the period of this survey. By comparison, 18 per cent of internet users ages 30-49, 12 per cent of those 50-64 and 10 per cent of those 65 and older watch or download any type of video on the average day.

News outlets are most popular – except among the young: News outlets were among the first big investors in the online video realm and their early-mover advantage shows. News content captures the attention of users across all generations, and is the most popular genre with every age group except for those ages 18-29. Overall, 37 per cent of adult internet users say they watch news videos, followed closely by comedy or humorous videos at 31 per cent.

For young adults, comedy is a bigger draw, with 56 per cent watching humorous videos, compared with 43 per cent of internet users ages 18-29 who say they watch news videos.

Video viewers who actively exploit the participatory features of online video – such as rating content, posting feedback or uploading video – make up the motivated minority of the online video audience. Again, young adults are the most active participants in this realm.

Online video consumers are just as likely to have shared a video viewing experience in person as they are to have shared video online. The picture of the lone internet user, buried in his or her computer, does not ring true with most who view online video.

57 per cent of online video viewers have watched with other people, such as friends or family. Young adults are the most social online video viewers; three out of four video consumers (73 per cent) ages 18-29 say they have watched with others.

Overall, 62 per cent of online video viewers say that their favorite videos are those that are ‘professionally produced‘ while 19 per cent of online video viewers express a preference for content ‘produced by amateurs‘. Another 11 per cent say they enjoy both professionally-produced video and amateur online video equally.

For young adult men – one of the most coveted audiences for advertisers — there is a much narrower pro-am gap. 43 per cent of online video users in this cohort express a clear preference for professional video, while 34 per cent say they prefer amateur content. Another 19 per cent of male video viewers ages 18-29 say they enjoy both amateur and professional content.

Providing free access to video content has been central to the popularity of YouTube and other online video portals. At the moment, few online video viewers are paying for any of the video they watch; just 7 per cent say they have paid to access or download video online.

However, young adults, who are often thought to have little interest in paying for music and other digital media, are actually more likely than older video viewers to have paid for online video content. While 10 per cent of online video viewers ages 18-29 have paid to access or download online video, just three per cent of video viewers ages 50-64 have done so.

Sales rose 4.8 per cent to $1.11 billion from $1.06 billion year-on-year.

Eutelsat said the growth in revenue was driven by a strong momentum in video applications.

There was an improvement in profitability with an EBITDA margin at 78.7 per cent, maintained at the highest level among leading fixed satellite service operators.

Eutelsat chairman and CEO Giuliano Berretta said, “This new year of growth confirms the strong momentum of our markets and the effectiveness of our strategy which combines the development of our in-orbit resources, positioning in the most profitable applications of the Fixed Satellite Services sector, and innovation.

“With the launches of our Hot Bird 7A and Hot Bird 8 satellites we have substantially renewed capacity at our premium video neighbourhood at 13 degrees East and opened three new orbital positions by redeploying in-orbit satellites. The opening of the 9 degrees East position, which can be combined with the Hot Bird neighbourhood for television channel reception with a single antenna, brings the Group important potential for development in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin.

“As a result of the priority allocation of additional resources to video applications in order to support the strong dynamic of digital broadcasting, we have been able to increase the share of video in our business portfolio to over 72 per cent, thereby reinforcing strong visibility on revenues.

“In parallel we have continued to develop our portfolio of value added services on internet markets, with a strong focus on addressing corporate and local administrations and have launched new broadband access solutions for the specific markets of business aviation and rail transport.

“Encouraged by this year’s excellent performance, by our privileged position in emerging markets and by prospects for growth presented by high-definition television and mobile services, we are confident in our ability to pursue earnings growth over the long-term. Our revenue target for 2007/2008 is between $1.15 billion and $1.16 billion and we have revised upwards our EBITDA margin objective to above 77.5 per cent.”

The firm says that its in-orbit resources were strengthened and optimised with 43 additional operating transponders and opening of three new orbital positions. Video applications showed an increase of $83 million to $797 million. There was a 23 per cent year-on-year growth in the number of channels broadcast across Eutelsat’s fleet. In European Union countries served by the Hot Bird and Eurobird 1 premium video neighbourhoods, channels increased by 13 per cent.

At the end of the fiscal year, the group’s Hot Bird neighbourhood, which was strengthened in October 2006 by the entry into service of Hot Bird 8, was broadcasting 1,097 channels to 121 million cable and satellite homes in extended Europe, of which close to 48 million homes are equipped for Direct-to-Home (DTH) reception.

The search engine giant plans to generate a library of digital video fingerprints that would be used by a computer system to screen clips being uploaded to YouTube. The screening process would take only a few minutes to determine whether a clip is copyrighted or not.

This is the first time that Google has set a firm launch date for a filtering-system roll out.

“We hope to have the testing completed and technology available by sometime in the Fall,” said a Google spokesman. “But this is one of the most technologically complicated tasks that we have ever undertaken, and as always with cutting-edge technologies, it is difficult to forecast specific launch dates.”

Google currently faces several lawsuits related to the copyrighted videos hosted on YouTube by its users. These lawsuits have been filed by companies including Viacom, The Football Association Premier League Ltd. and Bourne Co.

According to its data, Sony‘s PlayStation 2 accounted for 42 per cent of video game console usage during June in the US and PC gamers played World of Warcraft more than four times as much as any other PC game.

68.1 million individuals used a video game console in June, playing an average of 7.5 days during the month. On the days they played, Xbox 360 users logged an average of 2.2 sessions, with an average session length of 61 minutes. In contrast, PlayStation 3 users‘ logged an average of 1.9 sessions, with an average session length of 83 minutes, on the days they played.

Nielsen Games and Nielsen Wireless VP Jeff Herrmann says, “With Nielsen GamePlay Metrics, we have significantly advanced the understanding of how video game consoles are used and which games are actually being played.

“This is the first glimpse of metered in-home video game player data, providing game publishers, console manufacturers, advertisers and competing entertainment media with the most accurate, objective, and quantifiable metric available. We believe this will change the discussions surrounding which games get developed for what consoles and how publishers represent their actual audience to advertisers.”

Nielsen GamePlay Metrics provides electronic ratings and proprietary survey data to show who is playing games, on which systems, at what times and, when integrated with other Nielsen data, illustrates which other media platforms are also engaging gamers and which consumer goods they‘re likely to buy. Ultimately, GamePlay Metrics will establish a metric that can be used for buying and selling dynamic and static advertisements in PC and console video games.

World of Warcraft from Blizzard Entertainment was the most played PC game in June, according to Nielsen‘s GamePlay Metrics, outranking the next most-played game by four times. In addition to World of Warcraft, the top five PC games for June included Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 from Microsoft Game Studios, The Sims from Electronic Arts and RuneScape from Jagex. Legacy blockbuster franchises with strong customisable communities (“modders”) like Grand Theft Auto and Counter-Strike rounded out the top 10.

Nielsen GamePlay Metrics is built upon the same data collection infrastructure as Nielsen‘s TV ratings system, and can derive in-depth information about console gamers and their households.

According to The New York Times (NYT), CBS will broadcast edited moments from the World Series of Video Games Tournament held in Louisville, Kentucky last month.

CBS Sports senior VP Rob Correa said, “Who knows, in 10 years we could be looking back on this as a very significant moment. There are an enormous amount of people of all ages who play video games these days, so we’re going to try to see if video games’ popularity can translate into a viable television audience.”

However, it is not the first time that video game coverage will appear on television. Cable networks like Spike, ESPN and USA have occasionally shown game coverage and smaller networks like G4 and Gameplay HD have focused on gaming culture, says the NYT report.

Considering that Americans bought about $13 billion worth of video game systems and software last year, more than they spent at the film box office (around $10 billion), there is reason why advertisers have shown interest in CBS‘ broadcast. The current list of sponsors includes KFC, Intel and the Marines.

“Every sport and every entertainment medium has to be presented differently, and we are just starting to figure out what works for video games,” said Games Media Properties president Matthew Ringel, speaking to NYT. The company produced the world series of video games the finals of which CBS is broadcasting.

“The audience knows how to watch a music video. They know how to watch boxing. And now all of a sudden they are in this fantasy world. So we need to bring them into that world and give them the help they need to understand what is happening,” he said.

Other major broadcast networks have, however, said that they have no major plans to cover video games as a sporting event. This is a sharp contrast to a country like South Korea where video games are one of the most popular pastimes and three full-time video game television networks.

MUMBAI: The BBC Trust in the UK has started its first service review of the BBC‘s online service, bbc.co.uk.

Under the terms of the BBC‘s charter and agreement, the Trust is responsible for issuing service licences for the BBC‘s UK public services. These service licences include the remit of the service, the key requirements necessary to meet the remit and ensure the BBC‘s public purposes are delivered, and headline budget. The Trust must carry out a full review of each BBC service which has a service licence at least once every five years and consult publicly.

In the course of the review, the Trust will look at bbc.co.uk‘s role, how it is contributing to the BBC‘s public purposes, the distinctiveness of the service and the way it should respond to changes in user expectations and the web environment.

BBC trustee Patricia Hodgson said, “The Trust must ensure that the BBC provides distinctive, high quality services to everyone in the UK. bbc.co.uk supports the BBC remit with a large website, covering a wide range of subjects including news, sport, weather, learning, entertainment, children’s and lifestyle.

“This review will consider bbc.co.uk‘s performance against the terms of its service licence and will assess whether the licence needs to be developed or changed in any way.”

The review of bbc.co.uk will include a three-month consultation period and the Trust hopes to gain responses from a wide range of licence fee payers and stakeholders. The Trust will draw on existing data on bbc.co.uk and may also commission new audience and market research. The BBC Executive will be invited to make a submission to the review. The consultation responses and the executive‘s submission will be published at an interim stage in the review.

The Trust‘s review of bbc.co.uk will be published early next year.

BBC director general Mark Thompson said that the arrival of the ‘on-demand‘ iPlayer is as important as the first colour broadcasts in the 1960s.

The service lets users in Britain download TV shows a week after they have been telecast on television. The shows have been configured in a manner that they automatically erase themselves from the computer after a period of 30 days.

BBC is confident that its copyright protection software will keep users from making copies of the shows. The network, however, faces competition from similar services provided by Channel 4 and ITV and from increasingly popular video-sharing sites such as YouTube.

Presently, viewers can choose from nearly 400 hours of programming which includes shows like Planet Earth, Doctor Who and EastEnders amongst others.

BBC director of future media and technology Ashley Highfield said, “We are working towards making the service universal, not just over the internet but also on cable and other TV platforms and eventually on mobiles and smart handheld devices.”

Thanks to the rise of the internet and change in viewing patterns, broadcasters are now trying new means to hold on to their audiences by giving them the flexibility of watching their preferred TV shows.

iPlayer can be downloaded at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer. The facility is open for users in Britain who use computers that deploy the Microsoft XP operating system.

BT had released only one handset which supported the technology – the HTC manufactured ‘Lobster‘ phone. But sales of that device were poor. A lack of appropriate handsets and a divergence over the kind of system to be used for delivering TV on mobile phones is believed to have hampered progress in deploying the service.

Consumer demand for Virgin‘s service has been low and BT also cancelled its deal with radio company GCap to provide spectrum for broadcasting TV content to mobile phones. It also shut down its Movio division that was established to offer wholesale mobile TV content.

“BT can confirm that following a review of its wholesale solutions, the decision has been made not to continue with the Movio service,” a statement from the company said on Thursday.

“BT is discussing the timescale for the closure of the service with Virgin Mobile. While the feedback from users on the service has been complimentary, Movio sales have been slower than originally expected mainly due to a lack of compatible devices from the big brands. This in turn has been caused by the fragmented nature of the mobile TV market and hesitancy on the part of the main network operators as they seek to fill their own largely under-utilised 3G networks.”

Virgin launched its mobile TV service with much fanfare in October 2006 when it spent ?2.5 million on advertising featuring actress Pamela Anderson. The service provided only a limited number of channels to consumers.

Other operators such as 3, Vodafone and Orange have launched limited mobile TV services that deliver content to an individual handset via a 3G network but a fully fledged broadcast network for mobile TV has not yet been put in place.