ITV

Tag: Digital TV

  • China Digital TV Announces Unaudited First Quarter 2016 Results

    China Digital TV Announces Unaudited First Quarter 2016 Results

    BEIJING, China, May 17, 2016 — China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STV) (“China Digital TV” or the “Company”), the leading provider of cloud-based application platforms and conditional access (“CA”) systems which enable China’s digital cable television market to offer and secure diversified content services, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016.

    “We are off to a solid start in 2016, as evidenced by the better-than-expected performance of our traditional business, and the growth and early-stage monetization of our cloud offerings,” stated Mr. Jianhua Zhu, China Digital TV’s chief executive officer. “In the first quarter, we were able to expand the registered users on our cloud platform to 2.3 million from 1.7 million only a quarter ago. In addition, we have already begun to monetize our cloud offerings in Beijing and Chongqing through subscription fees and purchases of virtual currency. Furthermore, we solidified new partnerships with telecom and cable operators to launch the platform in Sichuan, Qingdao, Guizhou and Hebei. Taken together, we expect that these developments will help us to further accelerate user growth and develop our cloud offerings into meaningful revenue sources in 2016. Going forward, we will focus not only on driving the regional expansion of the platform, but also on refining the content offering, as we add more TV-based games and later expand into other content, such as education and online shopping. Our progress on the cloud front speaks to our innovative spirit and reaffirms our commitment to establishing ourselves as the leading gateway for interactive cloud-based content into the living room.”

    Ms. Yue Qian, China Digital TV’s acting chief financial officer, commented, “We expect smart card business to remain challenging and average selling prices (“ASP”) continue to be under pressure in this quarter. The slight uptick in shipment volumes was supported by growing demand from India. These large and rapidly-digitizing markets, which also include Southeast Asia and the Middle East, represent a substantial growth opportunity for us to promote not only smart card solutions but also digital rights management (“DRM”) solutions. Lastly, we are excited about our plan to separately list our conditional access and related businesses domestically on the New Third Board, and we hope to complete this process by the end of this year.”

    First Quarter 2016 Results

    In the first quarter of 2016, China Digital TV’s smart card shipments increased by 2.3% to 3.02 million from 2.95 million in the prior year period, primarily driven by increased shipments to international markets, but partially offset by a decline in domestic shipments due to the overall maturity of the CA business.

    China Digital TV’s net revenues decreased by 7.3% to US$13.0 million from US$14.0 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in smart card revenues caused by the decline in the ASP of smart cards. The decrease in smart card revenues was partially offset by an increase in revenues from other services.

    Revenues from the Company’s top five customers accounted for 36.0% of total revenues, compared to 28.4% in the prior year period, primarily attributable to the consolidation of certain cable operators in the market.

    Unless otherwise stated, all financial statement measures stated in this press release are based on generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”).

    Revenue Breakdown

    Revenues from smart cards decreased by 21.6% to US$10.1 million in the first quarter of 2016 from US$12.8 million in the prior year period, primarily due to a decline in ASPs. Sales of smart cards accounted for 76.4% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 89.4% in the prior year period.

    Revenues from other products increased by 146.8% to US$0.9 million in the first quarter of 2016 from US$0.4 million in the prior year period. The increase was mainly attributable to an increase in sales of surface mounted chips. Sales of other products accounted for 7.0% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 2.6% in the prior year period.

    Revenues from services increased by 91.5% to US$2.2 million in the first quarter of 2016 from US$1.1 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to head-end system development and integration, as well as the expansion and monetization of the Company’s emerging cloud platform. Revenues from services accounted for 16.6% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 8.0% in the prior year period.

    Cost of revenues from smart cards and other products increased by 2.6% to US$2.3 million in the first quarter of 2016 from US$2.2 million in the prior year period. The increase was mainly due to an increase in cost of revenues from other products, and was partially offset by a decline in cost of revenues from smart cards. Cost of revenues from smart cards and other products accounted for 52.3% and 16.1%, respectively, of total cost of revenues in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 65.0% and 3.4% in the prior year period.

    Cost of revenues from services in the first quarter of 2016 remained relatively stable at US$1.0 million compared to the prior year period. Cost of revenues from services as a percentage of total cost of revenues also remained relatively stable at 31.6% in the first quarter of 2016, compared to the prior year period.

    Gross profit in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 10.3% to US$9.7 million from US$10.8 million in the prior year period. Gross margin, was 74.7% in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 77.1% in the prior year period. The decline in gross margin was primarily due to the decreased portion of total revenues accounted for by net revenues from smart cards, which have a higher gross margin than other products and services.

    In the first quarter of 2016, the ASP of smart cards decreased by 23.0% year over year, while the unit cost of smart cards decreased by 19.5% year over year.

    Operating expenses in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 18.4% to US$7.8 million from US$9.6 million in the prior year period.

    ● Research and development expenses in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 11.5% to US$3.4 million from US$3.9 million in the prior year period. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in personnel-related expenses.

    ● Selling and marketing expenses in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 31.3% to US$2.4 million from US$3.5 million in the prior year period. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in personnel-related expenses.

    ● General and administrative expenses in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 10.4% to US$2.0 million from US$2.2 million in the prior year period. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in personnel-related expenses.

    Income from operations in the first quarter of 2016 increased by 53.8% to US$1.9 million from US$1.2 million in the prior year period.

    Income tax expenses in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 11.1% to US$1.3 million from US$1.4 million in the prior year period, primarily attributable to a decrease in taxable income.

    Net income attributable to holders of ordinary shares in the first quarter of 2016 increased by 219.3% to US$1.2 million from US$0.4 million in the prior year period.

    Non-GAAP net income2 attributable to holders of ordinary shares in the first quarter of 2016 increased by 163.1% to US$1.2 million from US$0.4 million in the prior year period3.

    Balance Sheet
    As of March 31, 2016, China Digital TV had cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash totaling US$70.9 million.

    Business Outlook
    Based on information available as of May 17, 2016, China Digital TV expects smart card shipment volumes in the second quarter of 2016 to be in the range of 2.0 million to 2.3 million. Net revenues in the second quarter of 2016 are expected to be in the range of US$7.2 million to US$8.2 million.

    About China Digital TV
    Founded in 2004, China Digital TV enables television network operators to manage, extend and diversify content services across households and public areas in China. China Digital TV is the leading provider of cloud-based application platforms and network broadcasting platform (“NBP”) services to Chinese cable operators, helping them to effectively bring mobile gaming apps and other entertainment options to household television sets, and extend cable programming outside the home to any mobile device. China Digital TV is also the leading provider of Conditional Access (“CA”) systems in China’s digital television market. CA systems enable television network operators to secure the delivery of content to their subscribers. The Company has existing cooperation with nearly all of China’s cable television operators.

    For more information please visit the Investor Relations section of China Digital TV’s website at http://ir.chinadtv.cn.

    Safe Harbor Statement
    This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

    These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “may,” “should” and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the outlook and comments by management in this announcement about trends in the CA systems, digital television, cable television and related industries in the PRC and China Digital TV’s strategic and operational plans and future market positions. China Digital TV may also make forward-looking statements in its periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about China Digital TV’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from projections contained or implied in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: competition in the CA systems, digital television, cable television and related industries in the PRC and the impact of such competition on prices, our ability to implement our business strategies, changes in technology, the progress of the television digitalization in the PRC, the structure of the cable television industry or television viewer preferences, changes in PRC laws, regulations or policies with respect to the CA systems, digital television, cable television and related industries, including the extent of non-PRC companies’ participation in such industries, and changes in political, economic, legal and social conditions in the PRC, including the government’s policies with respect to economic growth, foreign exchange and foreign investment.

    Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in our annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. China Digital TV does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this press release.

    Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures
    Non-GAAP net income attributable to holders of ordinary shares excludes certain non-cash expenses, such as share-based compensation expenses, amortization of intangible assets acquired from business acquisitions and equity method investments. The Company believes that the Non-GAAP net income provides meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s performance by excluding certain non-cash expenses that may not be indicative of its operating performance from a cash flow perspective. The Company believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to this additional information in assessing the Company’s performance and when planning and forecasting future periods.

    However, the use of non-GAAP financial measures has material limitations as an analytical tool. One of the limitations of using non-GAAP financial measures is that they do not include all items that impact the Company’s net income for the period. In addition, because non-GAAP financial measures are not measured in the same manner by all companies, they may not be comparable to other similar titled measures used by other companies. In light of the foregoing limitations, you should not consider non-GAAP financial measure in isolation from or as an alternative to the financial measure prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

  • China Digital TV Announces Unaudited First Quarter 2016 Results

    China Digital TV Announces Unaudited First Quarter 2016 Results

    BEIJING, China, May 17, 2016 — China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STV) (“China Digital TV” or the “Company”), the leading provider of cloud-based application platforms and conditional access (“CA”) systems which enable China’s digital cable television market to offer and secure diversified content services, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016.

    “We are off to a solid start in 2016, as evidenced by the better-than-expected performance of our traditional business, and the growth and early-stage monetization of our cloud offerings,” stated Mr. Jianhua Zhu, China Digital TV’s chief executive officer. “In the first quarter, we were able to expand the registered users on our cloud platform to 2.3 million from 1.7 million only a quarter ago. In addition, we have already begun to monetize our cloud offerings in Beijing and Chongqing through subscription fees and purchases of virtual currency. Furthermore, we solidified new partnerships with telecom and cable operators to launch the platform in Sichuan, Qingdao, Guizhou and Hebei. Taken together, we expect that these developments will help us to further accelerate user growth and develop our cloud offerings into meaningful revenue sources in 2016. Going forward, we will focus not only on driving the regional expansion of the platform, but also on refining the content offering, as we add more TV-based games and later expand into other content, such as education and online shopping. Our progress on the cloud front speaks to our innovative spirit and reaffirms our commitment to establishing ourselves as the leading gateway for interactive cloud-based content into the living room.”

    Ms. Yue Qian, China Digital TV’s acting chief financial officer, commented, “We expect smart card business to remain challenging and average selling prices (“ASP”) continue to be under pressure in this quarter. The slight uptick in shipment volumes was supported by growing demand from India. These large and rapidly-digitizing markets, which also include Southeast Asia and the Middle East, represent a substantial growth opportunity for us to promote not only smart card solutions but also digital rights management (“DRM”) solutions. Lastly, we are excited about our plan to separately list our conditional access and related businesses domestically on the New Third Board, and we hope to complete this process by the end of this year.”

    First Quarter 2016 Results

    In the first quarter of 2016, China Digital TV’s smart card shipments increased by 2.3% to 3.02 million from 2.95 million in the prior year period, primarily driven by increased shipments to international markets, but partially offset by a decline in domestic shipments due to the overall maturity of the CA business.

    China Digital TV’s net revenues decreased by 7.3% to US$13.0 million from US$14.0 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in smart card revenues caused by the decline in the ASP of smart cards. The decrease in smart card revenues was partially offset by an increase in revenues from other services.

    Revenues from the Company’s top five customers accounted for 36.0% of total revenues, compared to 28.4% in the prior year period, primarily attributable to the consolidation of certain cable operators in the market.

    Unless otherwise stated, all financial statement measures stated in this press release are based on generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”).

    Revenue Breakdown

    Revenues from smart cards decreased by 21.6% to US$10.1 million in the first quarter of 2016 from US$12.8 million in the prior year period, primarily due to a decline in ASPs. Sales of smart cards accounted for 76.4% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 89.4% in the prior year period.

    Revenues from other products increased by 146.8% to US$0.9 million in the first quarter of 2016 from US$0.4 million in the prior year period. The increase was mainly attributable to an increase in sales of surface mounted chips. Sales of other products accounted for 7.0% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 2.6% in the prior year period.

    Revenues from services increased by 91.5% to US$2.2 million in the first quarter of 2016 from US$1.1 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to head-end system development and integration, as well as the expansion and monetization of the Company’s emerging cloud platform. Revenues from services accounted for 16.6% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 8.0% in the prior year period.

    Cost of revenues from smart cards and other products increased by 2.6% to US$2.3 million in the first quarter of 2016 from US$2.2 million in the prior year period. The increase was mainly due to an increase in cost of revenues from other products, and was partially offset by a decline in cost of revenues from smart cards. Cost of revenues from smart cards and other products accounted for 52.3% and 16.1%, respectively, of total cost of revenues in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 65.0% and 3.4% in the prior year period.

    Cost of revenues from services in the first quarter of 2016 remained relatively stable at US$1.0 million compared to the prior year period. Cost of revenues from services as a percentage of total cost of revenues also remained relatively stable at 31.6% in the first quarter of 2016, compared to the prior year period.

    Gross profit in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 10.3% to US$9.7 million from US$10.8 million in the prior year period. Gross margin, was 74.7% in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 77.1% in the prior year period. The decline in gross margin was primarily due to the decreased portion of total revenues accounted for by net revenues from smart cards, which have a higher gross margin than other products and services.

    In the first quarter of 2016, the ASP of smart cards decreased by 23.0% year over year, while the unit cost of smart cards decreased by 19.5% year over year.

    Operating expenses in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 18.4% to US$7.8 million from US$9.6 million in the prior year period.

    ● Research and development expenses in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 11.5% to US$3.4 million from US$3.9 million in the prior year period. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in personnel-related expenses.

    ● Selling and marketing expenses in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 31.3% to US$2.4 million from US$3.5 million in the prior year period. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in personnel-related expenses.

    ● General and administrative expenses in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 10.4% to US$2.0 million from US$2.2 million in the prior year period. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in personnel-related expenses.

    Income from operations in the first quarter of 2016 increased by 53.8% to US$1.9 million from US$1.2 million in the prior year period.

    Income tax expenses in the first quarter of 2016 decreased by 11.1% to US$1.3 million from US$1.4 million in the prior year period, primarily attributable to a decrease in taxable income.

    Net income attributable to holders of ordinary shares in the first quarter of 2016 increased by 219.3% to US$1.2 million from US$0.4 million in the prior year period.

    Non-GAAP net income2 attributable to holders of ordinary shares in the first quarter of 2016 increased by 163.1% to US$1.2 million from US$0.4 million in the prior year period3.

    Balance Sheet
    As of March 31, 2016, China Digital TV had cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash totaling US$70.9 million.

    Business Outlook
    Based on information available as of May 17, 2016, China Digital TV expects smart card shipment volumes in the second quarter of 2016 to be in the range of 2.0 million to 2.3 million. Net revenues in the second quarter of 2016 are expected to be in the range of US$7.2 million to US$8.2 million.

    About China Digital TV
    Founded in 2004, China Digital TV enables television network operators to manage, extend and diversify content services across households and public areas in China. China Digital TV is the leading provider of cloud-based application platforms and network broadcasting platform (“NBP”) services to Chinese cable operators, helping them to effectively bring mobile gaming apps and other entertainment options to household television sets, and extend cable programming outside the home to any mobile device. China Digital TV is also the leading provider of Conditional Access (“CA”) systems in China’s digital television market. CA systems enable television network operators to secure the delivery of content to their subscribers. The Company has existing cooperation with nearly all of China’s cable television operators.

    For more information please visit the Investor Relations section of China Digital TV’s website at http://ir.chinadtv.cn.

    Safe Harbor Statement
    This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

    These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “may,” “should” and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the outlook and comments by management in this announcement about trends in the CA systems, digital television, cable television and related industries in the PRC and China Digital TV’s strategic and operational plans and future market positions. China Digital TV may also make forward-looking statements in its periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about China Digital TV’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from projections contained or implied in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: competition in the CA systems, digital television, cable television and related industries in the PRC and the impact of such competition on prices, our ability to implement our business strategies, changes in technology, the progress of the television digitalization in the PRC, the structure of the cable television industry or television viewer preferences, changes in PRC laws, regulations or policies with respect to the CA systems, digital television, cable television and related industries, including the extent of non-PRC companies’ participation in such industries, and changes in political, economic, legal and social conditions in the PRC, including the government’s policies with respect to economic growth, foreign exchange and foreign investment.

    Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in our annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. China Digital TV does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this press release.

    Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures
    Non-GAAP net income attributable to holders of ordinary shares excludes certain non-cash expenses, such as share-based compensation expenses, amortization of intangible assets acquired from business acquisitions and equity method investments. The Company believes that the Non-GAAP net income provides meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s performance by excluding certain non-cash expenses that may not be indicative of its operating performance from a cash flow perspective. The Company believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to this additional information in assessing the Company’s performance and when planning and forecasting future periods.

    However, the use of non-GAAP financial measures has material limitations as an analytical tool. One of the limitations of using non-GAAP financial measures is that they do not include all items that impact the Company’s net income for the period. In addition, because non-GAAP financial measures are not measured in the same manner by all companies, they may not be comparable to other similar titled measures used by other companies. In light of the foregoing limitations, you should not consider non-GAAP financial measure in isolation from or as an alternative to the financial measure prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

  • IPTV subscriptions in Western Europe to climb by 7 mn between 2015- 21, overtaking satellite TV

    IPTV subscriptions in Western Europe to climb by 7 mn between 2015- 21, overtaking satellite TV

    MUMBAI: The numbers of homes paying IPTV in Western Europe are expected to climb by nearly 7 million up by 27 per cent between 2015 and 2021, thus overtaking the pay satellite TV which is slated to fall by 300,000 between 2015 and 2021 for 18 countries in the region.  

    According to the Digital TV Western Europe Forecasts report, IPTV revenues will reach $5.77 billion in 2021 – up by $1.2 billion.

    The report indicates that this is due mainly to some operators, especially in Spain and Italy, converting their DTH subs to more lucrative bundles on their broadband networks.

    Satellite TV revenues will fall for every year from 2011 – and will decline by $1 billion between 2015 and 2021.

    Western European Pay TV is fast maturing, with penetration forecast to grow from 56.8% at end-2015 to 59.5 per cent in 2021. The number of pay TV subscribers will climb from 97.4 million in 2015 to 104.3 million in 2021.

    So, Pay TV subscriptions will only increase by 6.9 million which is 7 per cent between 2015 and 2021. However, the number of digital pay TV subs will increase by 19 per cent nearly 17 million over the same period. Digital cable subs will increase by almost 10 million.

    The 9.9 million analogue cable homes remaining at 2015-end will be the hardest to convert to digital as many of these subscribers pay for very basic packages as part of their rent.

    Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said, “The remaining analogue cable TV subs are the most obstinate. These homes have had several years to transfer to digital platforms – including those from their existing operators, but are still holding out. When conversion finally happens, these homes are more likely to convert to free-to-air platforms such as DTT or satellite than their predecessors.”

    In fact, only seven (Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom) of the 18 countries covered in the report had fully converted to digital by 2015-end.

    By 2021, pay TV penetration will range from nearly 100 per cent in the Netherlands to 36 per cent in Italy. Eight countries will exceed 90 per cent pay TV penetration in 2021. However, pay TV penetration will fall in Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland – countries with a large number of legacy analogue cable subscribers.

    Despite the number of pay TV homes increasing, pay TV revenues will remain flat at around $31 billion. The UK ($7,217 million) will remain the most lucrative pay TV market. Regardless of having the most pay TV subs by some distance, Germany’s pay TV revenues will remain a lot lower than the UK – at $4,183 million by 2021. In fact, France and Italy will not be too far behind Germany, despite having far fewer pay TV subscribers.

  • IPTV subscriptions in Western Europe to climb by 7 mn between 2015- 21, overtaking satellite TV

    IPTV subscriptions in Western Europe to climb by 7 mn between 2015- 21, overtaking satellite TV

    MUMBAI: The numbers of homes paying IPTV in Western Europe are expected to climb by nearly 7 million up by 27 per cent between 2015 and 2021, thus overtaking the pay satellite TV which is slated to fall by 300,000 between 2015 and 2021 for 18 countries in the region.  

    According to the Digital TV Western Europe Forecasts report, IPTV revenues will reach $5.77 billion in 2021 – up by $1.2 billion.

    The report indicates that this is due mainly to some operators, especially in Spain and Italy, converting their DTH subs to more lucrative bundles on their broadband networks.

    Satellite TV revenues will fall for every year from 2011 – and will decline by $1 billion between 2015 and 2021.

    Western European Pay TV is fast maturing, with penetration forecast to grow from 56.8% at end-2015 to 59.5 per cent in 2021. The number of pay TV subscribers will climb from 97.4 million in 2015 to 104.3 million in 2021.

    So, Pay TV subscriptions will only increase by 6.9 million which is 7 per cent between 2015 and 2021. However, the number of digital pay TV subs will increase by 19 per cent nearly 17 million over the same period. Digital cable subs will increase by almost 10 million.

    The 9.9 million analogue cable homes remaining at 2015-end will be the hardest to convert to digital as many of these subscribers pay for very basic packages as part of their rent.

    Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said, “The remaining analogue cable TV subs are the most obstinate. These homes have had several years to transfer to digital platforms – including those from their existing operators, but are still holding out. When conversion finally happens, these homes are more likely to convert to free-to-air platforms such as DTT or satellite than their predecessors.”

    In fact, only seven (Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom) of the 18 countries covered in the report had fully converted to digital by 2015-end.

    By 2021, pay TV penetration will range from nearly 100 per cent in the Netherlands to 36 per cent in Italy. Eight countries will exceed 90 per cent pay TV penetration in 2021. However, pay TV penetration will fall in Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland – countries with a large number of legacy analogue cable subscribers.

    Despite the number of pay TV homes increasing, pay TV revenues will remain flat at around $31 billion. The UK ($7,217 million) will remain the most lucrative pay TV market. Regardless of having the most pay TV subs by some distance, Germany’s pay TV revenues will remain a lot lower than the UK – at $4,183 million by 2021. In fact, France and Italy will not be too far behind Germany, despite having far fewer pay TV subscribers.

  • Airtel DTH revenue up 19% on higher subscriber additions & ARPU

    Airtel DTH revenue up 19% on higher subscriber additions & ARPU

    BENGALURU: The 31 December, 2015 deadline for Digital Addressable System (DAS) Phase III has been a boost for the carriage industry in subscriber additions, revenues, and operating profits. Buoyed by the government’s decision to stick to deadlines for digitisation, the direct-to-home (DTH) industry in India is continuing its bloom run, if one were to go by the results reported by Bharti Airtel for its Digital TV services (Airtel DTH) for the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q3-2016, current quarter).

     

    Revenue in Q3-2016 increased 19 per cent to Rs 742.2 crore, up 19 per cent YoY as compared to Rs 623.4 crore. EBIDTA for Q3-2016 grew 45 per cent to Rs 247.4 crore (33.3 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 170.7 crore (27.4 per cent margin).

     

    Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

     

    The segment’s subscriber base grew 13.2 per cent YoY to 111.06 lakh in the current quarter as compared to 98.10 lakh and grew five per cent as compared to 105.76 lakh in the immediate preceding quarter. Though in US dollar terms, average revenue per user (ARPU) was constant YoY and QoQ at $3.5, in Indian rupees it has increased seven per cent YoY to Rs 229 from Rs 214 and increased two per cent QoQ from Rs 224. Given that the deadline for DAS phase III was 31 December, 2015, Airtel DTH segment reported 5.30 lakh net subscriber additions in the current quarter, which was almost double (1.96 times) the 2.70 lakh subscriber additions in Q3-2015 and more than triple (3.2 times) the 1.64 lakh subscribers added in Q2-2016.

     

    Subscriber churn in Q3-2016 was lower at 0.7 per cent as compared to one per cent in Q3-2015 and 1.3 per cent in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    Airtel’s CAPEX for its DTH segment more than doubled (by 2.1 times) to Rs 342.2 crore as compared to Rs 163 crore in Q3-2015. Airtel’s cumulative investments in its DTH segment increased 17 per cent YoY to Rs 6177 crore as compared to Rs 5494.8 crore.

  • Airtel DTH revenue up 19% on higher subscriber additions & ARPU

    Airtel DTH revenue up 19% on higher subscriber additions & ARPU

    BENGALURU: The 31 December, 2015 deadline for Digital Addressable System (DAS) Phase III has been a boost for the carriage industry in subscriber additions, revenues, and operating profits. Buoyed by the government’s decision to stick to deadlines for digitisation, the direct-to-home (DTH) industry in India is continuing its bloom run, if one were to go by the results reported by Bharti Airtel for its Digital TV services (Airtel DTH) for the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q3-2016, current quarter).

     

    Revenue in Q3-2016 increased 19 per cent to Rs 742.2 crore, up 19 per cent YoY as compared to Rs 623.4 crore. EBIDTA for Q3-2016 grew 45 per cent to Rs 247.4 crore (33.3 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 170.7 crore (27.4 per cent margin).

     

    Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

     

    The segment’s subscriber base grew 13.2 per cent YoY to 111.06 lakh in the current quarter as compared to 98.10 lakh and grew five per cent as compared to 105.76 lakh in the immediate preceding quarter. Though in US dollar terms, average revenue per user (ARPU) was constant YoY and QoQ at $3.5, in Indian rupees it has increased seven per cent YoY to Rs 229 from Rs 214 and increased two per cent QoQ from Rs 224. Given that the deadline for DAS phase III was 31 December, 2015, Airtel DTH segment reported 5.30 lakh net subscriber additions in the current quarter, which was almost double (1.96 times) the 2.70 lakh subscriber additions in Q3-2015 and more than triple (3.2 times) the 1.64 lakh subscribers added in Q2-2016.

     

    Subscriber churn in Q3-2016 was lower at 0.7 per cent as compared to one per cent in Q3-2015 and 1.3 per cent in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    Airtel’s CAPEX for its DTH segment more than doubled (by 2.1 times) to Rs 342.2 crore as compared to Rs 163 crore in Q3-2015. Airtel’s cumulative investments in its DTH segment increased 17 per cent YoY to Rs 6177 crore as compared to Rs 5494.8 crore.

  • Sony & Technicolor form patent licensing program for Digital TV & CDM

    Sony & Technicolor form patent licensing program for Digital TV & CDM

    MUMBAI: Sony Corporation and Technicolor have formed a joint patent licensing program for digital television (DTV) and computer display monitor (CDM).

     

    Technicolor will be the exclusive licensing agent of the combined portfolio that covers DTV and CDM. The license is offered for the convenience of both existing and new licensees, enabling them to obtain a single license as an alternative to negotiating separate licenses.

     

    “By combining these two complementary patent portfolios under a single licensing program, we are providing a leaner and more efficient licensing program for the industry in the field of DTV and CDM. This agreement builds on Technicolor’s successful track-record of monetizing its portfolio of intellectual property and the strength of its licensing teams,” said Technology Group president and Technicolor deputy CEO Stephane Rougeot.

     

    Technicolor is constantly investing in research and development in technology areas that are pervasively adopted in DTV and CDM, including video and audio compression, high dynamic range, wide colour gamut, user interface and other display technologies.

     

    “Sony has a long history of successfully managing its large patent portfolio. We have done this alone, jointly with other companies, or through third parties. This joint licensing program is another example of managing our patent portfolio and making it more broadly available in an efficient manner,” said Sony Corporation SVP corporate executive in charge of intellectual property Toshimoto Mitomo. 

  • India’s pay-TV revenue to grow at 12% CAGR over five years: MPA

    India’s pay-TV revenue to grow at 12% CAGR over five years: MPA

    MUMBAI: India’s pay-TV market remains growth oriented. A new report released by Media Partners Asia (MPA) projects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12 per cent in total pay-TV channel revenue between 2014 and 2019 and a nine per cent CAGR between 2014-23.

     

    The report further says that the total channel revenue will reach $8 billion by 2023 with 67 per cent derived from advertising and 23 per cent from subscription.

     

    Moreover, during 2014 the pay-TV channels sector generated $3.5 billion in aggregate revenue, a growth of nine per cent year-on-year. The revenue mix stood at 68:32, skewed in favour of advertising sales. Affiliate fees for pay-TV broadcasters reached $1.1 billion in 2014, with $525 million from cable and $592 million from DTH.

     

    For the first time, revenue from digital cable outgrew analog cable revenues. International revenues for pay-TV channels, which MPA does include in its analysis, totaled $280 million in 2014.

     

    Additionally, India’s pay-TV industry will grow sales at a 9.8 per cent CAGR between 2014 and 2019 to reach $12.4 billion in revenue by 2019, according to the report.

     

    The report further projects the sales to reach close to $16 billion by 2023. The pay-TV industry, as per MPA report, generated $7.7 billion in sales in 2014.

     

    The report further highlights that the total pay-TV subscribers are expected to grow from 140 million in 2014 to 184 million by 2023. Pay-TV penetration, including multiple subs in a home, will climb incrementally from 80 per cent to 83 per cent over the 2014-23 period.

     

    That apart, total digital pay-TV subscribers will grow from 68 million to 126 million over the 2014-23 period. Adjusted for multiple subscriptions, digital penetration of total pay-TV subscribers will be trending towards 67 per cent by 2023 versus 46 per cent in 2014.

     

    According to MPA, analog to digital conversion will facilitate a gradual increase in pay-TV monthly ARPUs from $3.2 in 2014 to $4.7 in 2023, offset by a 30 per cent-plus share of pay-TV subscribers still accruing to analog, by 2023. Cable will remain the dominant platform; however, its share of pay-TV subscribers is expected to decline from 71 per cent in 2014 to 60 per cent in 2023, as DTH will command a majority share of net-new additions in the industry.

     

    MPA vice president Mihir Shah said, “The pace of digitalization has slowed to a crawl as the cable industry pauses to address issues in order to improve monetization. This will help the industry deliver more ROI on already digitalized markets before addressing the remainder 70 million plus analog cable homes that require conversion. This is a big opportunity for cable, DTH and other emerging alternative pay-TV platforms.”

  • Digital TV Research forecasts North America to add five million Pay-TV subs by 2020

    Digital TV Research forecasts North America to add five million Pay-TV subs by 2020

    MUMBAI: Digital TV penetration reached 94.2 per cent at the end of 2013, and will increase to 100 per cent by 2017 is the forecast that has been made by Digital TV Research. Of the 17 million digital homes to be added between 2013 and 2020, 5.5 million will come from cable, 5.9 million from IPTV, 4.6 million from DTT and 0.9 million from satellite TV added the research.

     

    Despite a small decline in 2013, the number of pay-TV subscribers in North America is expected to witness a spike, with Digital TV in North America forecasted to make five million additions by 2020.

     

    However, pay-TV penetration is expected to drop from 87 per cent in 2010 to 83.8 per cent by 2020, as pay-TV penetration has peaked in Canada and US subscribers fell slightly in 2013; most of the pay-TV subscriber losses over the last few years have been analogue cable subs. With 18.39 million analogue cable subscribers still prevalent at the end of 2010, the number is expected to fall to 3.75 million by the end of this year.

     

    According to the study, satellite TV is expected to overtake cable to become the largest pay-TV platform revenue generator in 2015. However, satellite TV revenues will increase by only $1.2 billion between 2013 and 2020, to $42.8 billion. Cable revenues will fall by nearly $13 billion in the same period (dropping by $2.5 billion this year alone) the study added.

  • Pay TV households may increase to one billion by 2018

    Pay TV households may increase to one billion by 2018

    NEW DELHI:  The growing pay TV subscriber market is set to drive further investment into the technology underpinning multi-screen and OTT TV services as the global multi-screen landscape continues to evolve.

     

    Digital TV Research predicts that the number of households that subscribe to pay TV will reach almost one billion by 2018. 

    Combined with the trend of consumers watching more long-form content on tablets and smartphones, this growth in pay TV customers will signal a further surge in multi-screen offerings as operators look to capitalise on demand, offering added value to keep and attract new subscribers.

    With competition increasing in the online video market, operators are often trapped by the complexity and pressure of implementing a successful multi-screen strategy.

     

    International entertainment broadcasting company Modern Times Group (MTG) recently reported a 25 per cent reduction in direct-to-home subscriptions; but increased subscriptions to their OTT services such as Viaplay more than compensated for this. With increasingly high consumer expectations of a quality user experience, new devices continually coming to market, evolving piracy threats and stringent content owner security requirements, many are still struggling to deliver a compelling, revenue-generating multi-screen experience.

    However, operators can no longer afford to view multi-screen as a defensive play or an experiment. Multi-screen fundamentally changes the way consumers experience media, and an offensive strategy actually propels business forward and provides a compelling alternative to new market entrants and pirated content.

     

    With all of these pressures and challenges, a report by the Europe-based Irdeto quoted by Convergence Plus sees four key building blocks to making multi-screen work successfully.

     

    The first is the need to increase customer loyalty with a personalised user experience: While many solutions focus on just “getting on a device,” the real challenge is making a personalised experience across devices that keep consumers wanting more. An intuitive design, coupled with recommendation technology and consistency of user interface and experience across devices is key.

     

    The second is to reduce risk, cost and time to market: With the fierce race to offer multi-screen services, operators must remove the risk and delay inherent in complex integration projects. Using a reference architecture that is pre-configured, templated and ready for branding will achieve these goals. In addition, cloud-based services can instantly scale and provide the high level of availability and redundancy that in-house implementations cannot match without massive investment in infrastructure.

     

    Thirdly, there is need for uncompromising content protection on any device: To ensure the success of the service, an operator must enable consumers to securely access premium content from any device of choice, including devices of tomorrow. In addition, operators must provide uncompromising security on any device to satisfy content owners and to enable them to maximise the return on their investment in premium content

     

    There is also need for monetising using different business models: Having the freedom to test market preferences and pricing is a powerful tool for operators to fine-tune their commercial models. Advertising in particular provides major opportunities for networks. Monetisation of long-form video distribution has been the purview of OTT players such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. Now, with the aggressive strategies of companies like Google, the monetisation curve is sure to keep climbing.

     

    Today, a successful multi-screen strategy is more than just content distribution on multiple devices if you want to compete for consumers, and indeed revenue. A more proactive approach to delivering multi-screen services is required, and elevating this service to must-have status for consumers will require development of a personalised experience that engages the viewers, provides tailored recommendations, interacts with their social networks and enhances the existing pay TV experience. 

    A truly great multi-screen solution will propel business in the right direction and give the freedom to focus on the core strength – delivering a compelling user and content experience. An offensive multi-screen strategy can help you take advantage of the opportunities in the market and drive up content consumption. Pay TV operators must look for a solution provider which will enable them to incorporate the most appropriate and effective personalisation, social connectivity and monetisation functionalities they deem appropriate to service goals. This can be achieved by leveraging managed services, cloud-based infrastructure, innovative technologies, pre-configured workflows and intuitive interfaces. Having the right technology and partners in place is what will separate those who embark on multi-screen, and those who transform this into a successful offering.