Category: Software

MUMBAI: Intelsat today announced that China Central Television (CCTV), the national broadcaster of the People’s Republic of China, renewed a multi-year contract for the global distribution of its programming. CCTV is also utilizing Intelsat for its international backhaul transmission of the Asian Games from Doha, Qatar, back to Beijing, which start today and run through December 15.

A long-standing customer since the launch of PAS-2 in 1994, CCTV became the world’s first global Mandarin Chinese television service when it expanded its services internationally via the PAS-3 satellite in 1995.

Intelsat currently provides full-time program distribution services for CCTV via its PAS-1R Atlantic Ocean Region satellite, PAS-9 Atlantic Ocean Region satellite and PAS-10 Indian Ocean Region satellite. Intelsat also provides CCTV with capacity on its Galaxy 3C satellite for direct-to-home (DTH) services in the United States. This renewal contract also expands CCTV’s C- and Ku-band capacity agreement.

“With the increased demand for regional programming distribution, CCTV is pleased to continue growing its relationship with Intelsat,” said He Zongjiu, Vice President of CCTV. “Intelsat has long partnered with us in the expansion of our services, and we are confident that its network will continue to support us as we develop programming platforms.”

David Ball, Regional Vice President, Asia-Pacific Sales, said, “We are proud that CCTV has continued to entrust us with the global distribution of its programming, and the Asian Games. As Intelsat expands its global services, we are strategically situated to provide greater power and coverage for China’s preeminent national broadcaster. Likewise, Intelsat will be well positioned to offer broadcasters of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing a complete suite of global transmission services.”

MUMBAI: Yahoo! News has entered into an agreement with ABC News to offer the BBC News video on its site, whereby users will have access to approximately 30 video clips of BBC News video each day, including videos in the categories of top stories, breaking news, U.S. and world news, sports, business, politics, technology, health and entertainment.

The distribution agreement was made with ABC News, which maintains exclusive representation for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for distribution of BBC News on demand broadband and wireless content in North America, informs an official release.

“We are pleased to bring the renowned journalism of the BBC to Yahoo! News, a leading online news service that reaches millions across the world,” said BBC‘s Global News division director Richard Sambrook. “The demand for BBC content in the United States is growing all the time and we believe our expansion on new digital platforms is critically important to helping us meet that demand.”

“ABC News is committed to expanding the BBC‘s presence in broadband in the North American market,” said ABC News Digital Media Group senior vice president and general manager Bernard Gershon. “This is a strong first step that joins the esteemed journalism of the BBC with the innovation of Yahoo News in effort to reach consumers anytime and anywhere.”
BBC joins dozens of other news broadcasters and publishers on Yahoo! News, including ABC News. All of the video will be available for free to Yahoo! users, and will be advertising-supported, adds the release.

Yahoo! Media Group head of news and information Scott Moore said, “The BBC has established itself as an unparalleled global news-gathering organization, and its content will be a tremendous complement to the world class news already available on our site. The BBC has a cool factor with younger audiences, a natural fit for Yahoo! News users who are generally younger than audiences at other news organizations.”

In January 2006, ABC News announced an agreement to become the exclusive representative for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for distribution of BBC News on demand broadband and wireless content in North America. This marks the first time a U.S. news network has joined an international news organization to leverage content offerings, and expands an established relationship between ABC News and the BBC that began in 1994.

MUMBAI: Organisers for BroadcastAsia2007 have revealed that the show will increase its presence for Comgraphics&Animation2007. Over 80 per cent of exhibition space has already been booked, testament to the event’s relevance and growing importance of the Broadcasting and Animation industries in Asia.

“This is in keeping with market trends and especially across Asia, where the animation industry is set to grow to epic proportions,” said Stephen Tan, chief executive with organiser Singapore Exhibition Services.

For the first time in its 12-year history, BroadcastAsia2007, will dedicate extra floor space to accommodate this new focus area. In 2006, the event was housed in halls 7 & 8 at the Singapore Expo. In 2007, organisers will be utilising half of hall 9 which will incorporate the Comgraphics & Animation 2007 exhibition show floor.

In addition, the show floor at ComGraphics&Aimation2007 will be divided into 4 distinct physical areas.

At the Recruitment Zone, aspiring digital artists can speak to the recruiters looking to hire talented individuals for their company, and those wishing to embark on an education in this area can obtain information from various leading educational institutions. .

At the Interactive Zone, visitors can dive into hands-on demos and get up close with the latest technologies on offer, while at the Exhibitors’ Tech Talk Zone, visitors can listen in to exhibitors who will be sharing insights and knowledge on CGI and Interactive Digital Media techniques and trends in a 45 minute presentation.

As with previous years, the show will also include an Animation Screening & Digital Art Gallery, where visitors can sit back and be treated to a screening of selected animation entries and top-line award winning productions by other professional artists. A tour of the Digital Art Gallery is also offers a kaleidoscope of creative works set around various themes.

Conference & Artist Workshops will also be held alongside the exhibition. The event will also be the venue to host the annual Comgraph Competition, organised by ACM Siggraph Singapore.

Other improvements at BroadcastAsia2007 include gentler hall lighting and an enhanced registration process where visitors only need to register once to access both CommunicAsia 2007 and BroadcastAsia2007 halls.

“We’ve listened to feedback from exhibitors and visitors and have taken steps to improve their overall experience at BroadcastAsia. With less light coming into the halls, products that are receptive to glare can be demonstrated with improved clarity, this would be closer to the environment found in production studios or editing rooms, where lighting tends to be a lot milder. A one-time registration also allows faster and easier movement of people between halls”, added Tan.

BroadcastAsia2007 will be held from the 19 to 22 June and incorporates ProfessionalAudioTechnology2007. The event is held in conjunction with Com Graphics & Animation 2007, Interactive DME, CommunicAsia2007 and Enterprise IT 2007.

MUMBAI: Eros International Plc, the company that owns, creates and globally distributes Bollywood content, is in the process of investing up to ?2.1 million (Rs 178 million) for a minority stake in Singapore-based Anytime Pte Ltd.

As part of the deal, Eros-branded Bollywood video-on-demand (VoD) service showcasing its library of over 1300 titles will be launched in the 14 Asia Pacific countries where Anytime service has a license to operate. Anytime, one of Asia‘s leading supplier of VoD Hollywood entertainment, has shareholders which include CPE Holdings Inc. (Sony), Fox Media Services Inc, Intel Capital, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc, YTC Group (a Singapore based multinational conglomerate), the Macquarie Bank Group and Coote/Hayes Productions LLC (a U.S.-based TV and film production company).

The agreement also provides for the formation of a joint venture that will be majority owned by Eros to distribute Hollywood movies on digital platforms throughout India. “The JV will provide fully programmed and customized premium Hollywood content services to local service providers as well as to consumers over the open internet,” Eros said in a statement.

The deal, which will give Eros a seat on Anytime‘s board, is, however, subject to final due diligence and agreement of full terms. Said Eros International CMD Kishore Lulla, “Anytime’s Hollywood digital entertainment services, world-class technical programming and marketing expertise complement Eros’ strategic vision for expanding choice for consumers in India. Working with Anytime will help us further expand the reach of our extensive Bollywood film library.”

Added Anytime president and CEO Craig Zimbulis, “We are excited about the tremendous value this partnership with Eros International will bring to our shareholders and consumers by expanding ANYTIME’s Hollywood on demand entertainment to a massive Indian market and taking Eros’ premium Bollywood content on VOD to the Asia Pacific region.”

Anytime is the leading VoD channel over IPTV, broadband and digital cable networks in Asia and the Pacific. With four of Hollywood‘s major studios and Intel as its shareholders, Anytime has an extensive content of current and library titles available on demand.

(1 British Pound = Rs 85)

MUMBAI: Wire & Wireless India Ltd (WWIL), the cable outfit of Zee Network, is on a drive to acquire last mile operators. The company is offering to cable operators a valuation of Rs 2,000-3,000 per subscriber. While WWIL will be a 51 per cent partner, the balance 49 per cent will be with the operators.

“We want to expand the size of our network. We are making proposals to operators with decent size where we become partners with 51 per cent,” says WWIL CEO Jagjit Kohli.

WWIL has acquired control over 5 Star which operates in Andheri, a western suburb of Mumbai, adds Kolhi. “We have also poached a few operators from Incablenet in Andheri East and others from multi-system operators (MSOs) are going to join us.”

WWIL, which doesn‘t have a presence in South Mumbai, is also targeting operators in that area. The MSO has linked up optic fibre and is keen to start operations in this lucrative part of the Mumbai market. The government has notified south Mumbai as the area where CAS (conditional access system) will kick off on 1 January.

WWIL is also planning to launch a headend-in-the-sky (HitS) platform and has expressed its intent to broadcasters. “We are going to do HITS. This will provide us a wider footprint and hasten the pace for digitisation in the country,” says Kohli.

The buzz in the market is that WWIL is booking seven transponders on Thaicom 5 for the HITS operations. When queried on this, Kohli declined to comment.

The problem with HITS, however, is that broadcasters are reluctant to get into agreement with MSOs for providing their channels due to fear of piracy.

Even as WWIL sweetens its proposals to rope in last mile operators, it remains to be seen how big the impact will be in the cable TV industry. If migration from rival networks take place, it will set the pace for a fresh bout of price and dirty wars on the ground. As Hathway Cable & Datacom managing director and CEO K Jayaraman had told Indiantelevision.com earlier in an interview: “As far as poaching of operators go, it is an open ground. Cable companies who focus on good service and have capital to create capacity will turn out winners. Competition is not a one-way street

MUMBAI: The Asia-Pacific VSAT (very small aperture terminal) market is firmly in its growth stage, and has come to represent the new battleground for global VSAT players who are faced with declining growth in other regional markets.

VSAT services are beginning to gain greater acceptance among the SME (small and medium enterprise) and SOHO (small office/home office) segments. The continuous expansion of corporate VSAT networks is also beckoning the next stage of growth for satellite services.

New analysis from global growth consulting company, Frost & Sullivan reveals that revenues of VSAT customer premise equipment (CPE) – covering 13 major Asia-Pacific economies – totaled US$73 million in 2005 and is forecasted to reach an estimated US$109 million by end-2012. The total installed base for VSAT applications is likely to grow to over 900,000 sites by end-2012, from the approximate 300,000 recorded in 2005.

“Future growth in the corporate and enterprise VSAT segment will result from the booming number of SMEs and the associated demand for easily deployable, reliable broadband connections in areas underserved by terrestrial services,” notes Frost & Sullivan research analyst James Lye.

Growth of the VSAT market is also likely to be driven by the increasing deployments of rural telecommunications, telemedicine and distance education programs across the region. Rural telecommunications, in particular, is expected to contribute significantly to growth in this segment as many rural communities in emerging markets of the region still lack modern telecommunication access. Most governments in the region have universal access programs that set aside funds and subsidies to tackle this issue. Such developmental subsidies help to partially offset the initial capital expenditure required to deploy wireless and satellite infrastructures.

VSAT service providers in Asia-Pacific will however need to brace themselves for increasing competition from telecom service providers. Sensing the same opportunities in the underserved areas, terrestrial telecommunication providers have been rolling out infrastructure as fast as they can justify it. These telcos are furthermore emphasizing the managed services model among enterprise customers, which increases revenue per customer and builds very strong loyalty due to the provision of complete solutions.

“Telecom service providers often wait until the local market is sufficiently developed before moving in with lower pricing to oust the VSAT providers,” explains Lye. “The hardest hit segment is where VSAT is used solely to deliver broadband access.”

The overall Asia-Pacific VSAT market is expected to experience continued and steady growth over the next few years, offering considerable opportunities for both VSAT equipment vendors and satellite service providers. India and Indonesia are seen as markets with high growth potential. Indonesia‘s geography, combined with the lack of foreseeable terrestrial infrastructure build-out has already created a lucrative SME market in the corporate VSAT segment.

While growth in India‘s VSAT sector will come mainly from the myriad of small and medium businesses that are flourishing as the country opens-up its economy with the liberalization of regulatory barriers to foreign players.

MUMBAI: Nokia has announced its latest digital video broadcast-handheld (DVB-H) broadcast mobile TV pilot with national television broadcaster Doordarshan, using Nokia‘s open standards based DVB-H solution.

The Nokia Mobile Broadcast Solution will be delivered to Doordarshan via SHAF Broadcast in early 2007.

During this pilot, Doordarshan will test the reception quality of the broadcast coverage, and explore the options of supporting
different service schemes, such as advertising and interactive
services. The pilot will also enable Doordarshan to gauge
consumer expectations of the service going forward, informs an official release.

The pilot will use DVB-H technology, a broadcast technology now used to support several field pilots globally, chosen based
on its merit to support mobility, small screens, indoor coverage, optimised use of battery and in-built antenna that are specific to handheld devices such as mobile devices.

“India becomes one of the leading countries in Asia to deploy live broadcast mobile TV bringing Indian consumers a step closer to watching their favourite programmes on their mobile devices,” said Nokia Asia Pacific director multimedia Jawahar Kanjilal. “We are excited to collaborate with Doordarshan to enable their mobile TV services. This is a great opportunity for the vibrant content industry in India to take advantage of bringing television into the pockets of the Indian consumers.”

MUMBAI: Rajshri Media, the digital entertainment arm of the Rajshri Group, has appointed content delivery network Limelight as the exclusive provider of streaming content delivery services for Rajshri.com, the recently launched broadband entertainment destination.

Utilizing Limelight‘s worldwide network, Rajshri.com will be able to deliver its library of content globally.

As reported earlier, Rajshri.com, which aims to cater to the diaspora, was launched with the premiere of Vivah on the portal simultaneously with its theatrical release. Focusing on India centric video content, the site currently claims to serve more than 3,000 hours of full length Indian movies, music videos, TV shows, short films, documentaries and other video content and programming.

The content offering is being scaled up and Rajshri.com will soon introduce new channels featuring content on spirituality, yoga, recipes, astrology and numerology. In addition, the website is also looking at original video programming, conceived and produced for distribution via new media to digitally connected consumers worldwide. The scalability of the Limelight network will ensure that viewers are provided with a high-quality media experience at all times, informs an official release.

Rajshri Media managing director Rajjat A Barjatya said, “The non-resident Indian audience is estimated to be more than 25 million strong with an equally strong non-Indian audience. This audience is fragmented and difficult to reach through traditional media but connects very strongly with Indian entertainment, especially Bollywood. The penetration of broadband and 3G networks, especially in developed markets, gives us the ability to distribute rich content, including long form video, to consumers worldwide, including markets which traditional media has not been able to penetrate. We are proud to partner with Limelight and are happy to announce we have received a phenomenal response, having already crossed 4 million video streams within a fortnight of launch.”

“We are delighted that Rajshri Media has chosen us as their exclusive partner to deliver high quality video content to audiences across the globe,” said Limelight Networks vice president Asia-Pacific Matthew H. Sturgess. “To make Rajshri‘s vision a reality, our highly scalable next generation content delivery network enables them to simultaneously deliver huge video files–including feature films that are over three hours long–to audiences of any size, anywhere in the world.”

MUMBAI: Tata Sky is increasing the monthly subscription rate of its direct-to-home (DTH) service to Rs 300, sources in the industry say. The revised rate, up from Rs 200, is likely to come into effect from 1 December.

Tata Sky, however, has decided not to offer “tiered” channel packages at this stage of the DTH market. “Bundling channels and fixing different rates is confusing to the consumers. The mobile telephony market has shown that to everybody in this country. Tata Sky will continue to offer a single package unlike its competitor Dish TV,” sources add.

When contacted for a comment on the developments,
Tata Sky CEO Vikram Kaushik remained noncommital.

Tata Sky offers 102 channels (including Star, Sony, Zee, Discovery, Cartoon Network, Disney, ESPN Star Sports and National Geographic) and six interactive services (Actve Khabar, Actve Newsroom, Actve Star News, Actve Games, Actve Sports and an on-screen guide).

Tata Sky claims to have a subscriber base of 250,000 and says it is on target to achieve one million within a year of operations. The southern region continues to be a weak spot with the Sun group of channels yet to join the platform. Tata Sky has moved the TDSAT, hoping to get a positive verdict which would ensure the supply of the channels from the Sun stable.

The Tata Sky set-top box (supplied by News Corp owned NDS), hardware and installation cost has been priced at Rs 3,999 (inclusive of taxes) with a full service warranty for one year.

MUMBAI: A few days ago Paris based communications service provider Alcatel successfully demonstrated Europe’s first broadcast of live TV channels on mobile handsets in S-band. It is using the new DVB-SH standard (Satellite services for Handhelds), which is currently being drafted by the DVB Project. To perform this demonstration, Alcatel was assisted by UK broadcasters Sky, ITV and BBC.

Representatives from European mobile operators, TV broadcasters, industry analyst firms and regulatory bodies attending this demonstration were able to enjoy high quality images displayed on SAGEM myMobileTV handsets. These terminals are using the S-band telecom frequency between 2.17GHz and 2.20GHz, which is adjacent to the 3G/UMTS band. 30MHz of spectrum is currently available all across Europe and in other major regions in the world.

DVB-SH is a new technology targetting the S-band. DVB-SH is a related standard to DVB-H. With DVB-SH technology, Mobile TV signals can be broadcast from satellites as well as from terrestrial transmitters directly to handhelds. DVB-SH handhelds can be designed in such a way that they become compatible with DVB-H so that both standards can be received in one end-user terminal.

In addition, Alcatel demonstrated two possible key technical features using the DVB-SH standard. Reception Antenna Diversity, a feature using two antennas inside the same mobile device, enables improvements in the signal quality under difficult conditions. Furthermore, improved Time Interleaving overcomes fading impairment in mobility conditions. The significant quality enhancement was demonstrated by implementing these DVB-SH features.

Professor Ulrich Reimers, Chairman of the Technical Module of DVB Project said, “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to witness a live Mobile TV demonstration in the S-band even before the new Mobile TV standard has been finally designed. Within the DVB -Project, we have decided to give that standard a new name – DVB-SH – digital video broadcast from satellite for handhelds. DVB-SH is a perfect complement to other standards, such as DVB-H, which is typically using UHF frequencies but is capable of using the L-band. Thus DVB-SH may have a significant impact on the global Mobile TV industry.”

Alcatel’s mobile broadcast activities president Olivier Coste said, “Quality of service is essential for operators to attract and retain Mobile TV users. Today, we demonstrated that high quality live Mobile TV using the S-band works. This can be up and running commercially very soon. With the additional benefits of universal indoor and countrywide coverage, the fundamentals of our solution are already solid enough to enable operators to profit from sustainable mobile TV market growth thanks to the S-band