ITV

Tag: Digital TV

  • China to launch high-definition terrestrial digital TV broadcast in 2008

    China to launch high-definition terrestrial digital TV broadcast in 2008

    MUMBAI: China will launch high-definition terrestrial digital TV broadcasts in 2008. A five-year (2006-2010) guideline on cultural development has been published.

    Media reports inform that China also aims to replace the existing analog cable television with digital cable television in all the cities in its eastern and central regions and most of those in the western area by 2010.”

    A report in Xinhua states that China will adopt a terrestrial digital TV broadcast standard – the mandatory broadcast signal for Chinese broadcasters – on 1 August next year. A study by Research and Markets further notes that China plans to stop the transmission of analogue television by 2015. With the rise of DTV, China has established relevant policies to gradually eliminate analogue TV and enter the era of DTV.

    Though compared with developed countries, China is lagged far behind in the field of digital TV, yet it made rapid progress in 2005; altogether 4.13 million Chinese subscribed digital TV, increasing by over twofold compared to the previous year. Among them, 3.97million were digital cable digital TV subscribers.

    Also, problems can be found in Chinas DTV industry. They are backward standard, difficulties in network consolidation, deficient terminal, immature market, serious shortage of content, deep-rooted receiving habit, want of price system, immature core technology, incomplete DTV industrial chain, need of further probe in business modes and systems. All these factors severely restrict the development of the DTV industry in China.

    It can be seen from the development trend that DTV is bound to substitute for analog TV,. However, as to digital pay TV, China is still exploring a suitable operation mode and there is still a long period of time before its maturity. SARFT (The State Administration of Radio Film and Television) of P.R.C. is always vigorously popularizing DTV in China. The Chinese government, along with channel suppliers, channel integrators and cable network operators is zealous about the popularisation of DTV, offering a fairly good and unique circumstance for the development of digital pay TV.

  • SES enables Chinese startimes to expand tv reach in Africa

    SES enables Chinese startimes to expand tv reach in Africa

    MUMBAI: SES (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced today that StarTimes Communication Network Technology, China’s most influential system integrator, technology provider and network operator, has signed a 10-year contract on SES-5 at 5 degrees East to expand its media footprint in Africa and deliver direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast services across the continent.

    StarTimes, which is the fastest-growing digital TV operator Africa and has over 2.6 million digital terrestrial television (DTT) subscribers, also acquired SES’ 20% shareholding in South African pay-TV operator Top TV.

    The contract will see StarTimes utilise four transponders as of October 2013 and a fifth transponder from February 2014 to grow their DTH subscribers in Africa. The Chinese broadcaster will continue to broadcast TopTV on SES-5 by using three of the newly-contracted SES transponders that were formerly leased by ODM. The other two out of the five SES transponders contracted by StarTimes will be used to complement their DTT offering in remote and non-urban areas and grow their pay-TV business.  

    “The recent success of StarTimes’s strategic investment in ODM will allow us to reach new audiences in South Africa. The partnership with SES enables StarTimes to have a DTH platform in addition to the existing DTT and mobile TV (CMMB) platforms in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the high-powered SES-5 at the prime orbital location of 5 degrees East is ideal in overcoming the challenges of terrestrial coverage to reach large audiences. This will allow us to extend our broadcast reach across the continent and ensure excellent service and picture quality for our viewers,” said StarTimes Group Chairman and President Pang Xinxing.

    “We are honoured that StarTimes has chosen to work with us to complement their DTT business across Africa and to deliver more exciting content to Africa’s dynamic markets,” said Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer of SES. “The new partnership with StarTimes will illustrate how the combination of DTH and DTT is a key enabler in Africa’s migration to digital TV and also help set pace in the continent’s digital migration race.”

  • Smartube Entertainment launches trendspotters.tv

    Smartube Entertainment launches trendspotters.tv

    MUMBAI: Now track trends across all genres online with www.trendspotters.tv. This online channel launched by Smartube Entertainment comprehends trends from fashion and lifestyle to business, politics, sports, music, gadgets and much more.

    The inauguration took place at APREE 2013 at Riviera De Goa, a three day event which kick-started today and will be on till 25 August. APREE is an annual interactive knowledge exchange platform that brings advertising, PR, entertainment and event management companies together on one platform for social and business networking.

    www.trendspotters.tv founder Kunal Kishore Sinha elaborated, “APREE has achieved immense credibility over the past few years and is a buzzing congregation of industry experts, marketing geniuses and thought leaders. We could not have asked for a better platform than this to unveil the first look of trendspotters.tv. APREE has always given special emphasis to emerging social media and we are confident of trendspotters.tv becoming a significant part of this social media gamut. ”

    The website is a medium for bringing the next generation trends and talents to light, especially for the upwardly mobile audience. It brings out a cluster of micro trends every day for the new age audience who take inspiration from out-of-the-ordinary discoveries.

    Expressing excitement on the launch he said, “We are glad to launch India’s first digital TV which promises to be an exciting platform for next generation consumers. In the initial phase, we have launched trends for music, fashion and entertainment, and going ahead, we will be extending content pertaining to sports, advertising and consumer technology.”

  • Global pay TV revenues hit $184 billion in 2012, Pay TV shows growth in last five years

    Global pay TV revenues hit $184 billion in 2012, Pay TV shows growth in last five years

    NEW DELHI: The number of pay TV households (analog and digital) reached 772 million by 2012, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. The figure had been 585 million in 2008, according to Digital TV Research.

    Asia Pacific increased by 126 million – or two-thirds of the global additions – during this period to bring its total to 433 million. North America (112 million) was the second largest region, although it only added four million.

    India stood at the second place with 116.7 million households, after China with 232.8 million households, and followed by the United States with 100.2 million households.

    The other countries in top 10 pay TV countries at end-2012 were Japan (25.1 million), Russia (23.6 million), Germany (21.8 million), Brazil (16.2 million), South Korea (16.1 million), the United Kingdom (14.4 million) and Mexico (13 million).

    Pay TV revenues reached $184 billion in 2012, up by 28.5 per cent from $143 billion in 2008. Cable (analogue and digital combined) generated the highest revenues by platform, with $87 billion in 2012. However, cable revenues are flattening and DTH will overtake cable soon. IPTV revenues reached $12.0 billion in 2012, up from $2.8 billion in 2008.

    North America generates about half the world‘s total pay TV revenues.

    About 404 million digital homes were added around the world between 2008 and 2012. This took the digital TV household total for the 97 countries covered in the Digital TV World Databook to 786 million. Digital TV penetration of TV households climbed from 28.6 per cent at end-2008 to 54.7 per cent by end-2012.

    However, there were still 652 million analogue TV households by end-2012, although this was down from 956 million at end-2008. There were still 411 million analogue terrestrial homes (down by 56 million year-on-year) and 242 million analogue cable ones (down by 33 million) at end-2012.Digital cable was in 273 million homes (up by 43 million on end-2011), followed by 178 million pay digital DTH (up by 20 million) and 118 million free-to-air digital DTH by end-2012. Pay IPTV brought in another 69 million households (up by 18 million).

    Meanwhile, primary free-to-air DTT homes reached 138 million (up by 26 million), with pay DTT accounting for a further 9 million. From the digital homes added between 2008 and 2012, 83 million came from primary DTT [homes taking DTT but not subscribing to cable, DTH or IPTV]. Digital cable contributed a further 151 million additions; pay DTH 75 million, with pay IPTV providing an additional 56 million.

    The universe is not static as 100 million TV households were added between 2008 and 2012 to bring the total to 1,439 million. Of these additions, 69 million came from the Asia Pacific region.

    From the 404 million digital TV households added between 2008 and 2012, 229 million were in the Asia Pacific region, bringing its total to 342 million. China became the largest digital TV household nation in 2010; rising to 187 million digital TV homes (24 per cent of the world‘s total) by end-2012.

  • Pay-TV revenue growth slowing down

    Pay-TV revenue growth slowing down

    MUMBAI: The days of rapid growth in pay-TV revenues are over, according to a Digital TV Research report, which predicts that global revenues from subscriptions and on-demand TV and movie services will rise just 3.2 per cent this year, with growth rates slowing to below 2 per cent from 2015 onwards.

    In 2018, Digital TV Research expects pay-TV revenues to be $203 billion, just $19 billion higher than the 2012 levels. In 2018, DTH will be the dominant platform by revenues, generating $96.7 billion, followed by $79 billion for digital cable and $21.3 billion for pay IPTV. This year marks satellite moving ahead of cable for the first time, accounting for 45.9 per cent of revenues.

    The US will remain the DTH market leader, accounting for 43.5 per cent of satellite TV revenues last year. This is expected to slip to 38.7 per cent in 2018. The biggest gains in DTH revenues are expected in Brazil and India. Cable, meanwhile, peaked in 2012 with revenues of $86.9 billion this is expected to drop to $82.6 billion in 2018.

    While pay-TV revenues will more than double in 18 markets between 2012 and 2018 largely in – Africa, plus Indonesia and Vietnam – they will fall in 15 countries, including the US.

  • India to have second highest number of pay TV households by 2018

    India to have second highest number of pay TV households by 2018

    MUMBAI: Global pay TV households will reach nearly one billion by 2018, up from 772 million in 2012 and 814 million in 2013. According to the Digital TV World Household Forecasts report, the Asia Pacific region will contribute 59 per cent (587 million) of the global total by 2018.

    Based on forecasts for 97 countries by Digital TV Research, China will have the most pay TV subs, at 313 million by end-2018, followed by 158 million in India and 107 million in the US. These three countries will account for 58 per cent of global pay TV households by 2018.

    Pay TV penetration (analog and digital combined) reached 53.6 per cent of TV households by end-2012, and will rise to 55.7 per cent by end-2013 and 63.1 per cent by 2018. Penetration at end-2018 will range from 86 per cent in the US to 29 per cent in the Middle East and Africa. Pay TV penetration will remain highest in the Netherlands, at 99.5 per cent by end-2018.

    The number of digital TV homes will increase by 667 million between 2012 and 2018 to 1,453 million. The digital TV total will climb by 127 million in 2013 alone. Global digital penetration of TV households will climb from 54.7 per cent at end-2012 to 62.5 per cent by end-2013 and on to 92 per cent by 2018.

  • Cablemas strengthens VOD expansion and strategic partnership with ConaxXtend Multiscreen

    Cablemas strengthens VOD expansion and strategic partnership with ConaxXtend Multiscreen

    NEW DELHI: Conax, a leading global provider of solutions for securing multi-device and digital video content distribution, has tied up with Mexican cable operator Cablemas to further expand their video on demand (VOD) platform with ConaxXtend Multiscreen

    In a contract with security partner Conax, Cablemas which is Mexico‘s second largest operator, is continuing its aggressive market approach by rolling out additional VOD content to the residential and hospitality segment to a multiscreen savvy consumer looking for advanced broadband services. The platform‘s Hybrid STBs are being provided by Evolution Digital.

    Rohit Mehra, VP Americas, Conax, said: “Over the last few years, working hand-in- hand with the team at Cablemas and our strategic partners Evolution Digital and Cubiware for middleware, we continue to evolve and foster innovative and future-driven solutions for guiding Cablemas through digitisation and beyond for realising new revenue channels and churn protection. Conax and partners are privileged to work with the forward-thinking and skilled team at Cablemas.”

    ConaxXtend Multiscreen solution offers not only VOD solutions, but also advanced services such as Catch up, Live TV, nPVR and multiscreen. Conax will be demonstrating the benefits offered by the Xtend Multiscreen ecosystem this week at Canitec 2013, in Mexico City.

    Owned by power-house Televisa, Latin America‘s second largest media company, Cablemas currently serves over 1.6 million pay-TV subscribers, 315,000 VoIP customers, and 600,000 broadband customers, in more than 50 cities across Mexico.

    Integrating the VOD part of the ConaxXtend Multiscreen solution will provide Cablemas with flexibility to add more local content to their platform and add a rich library to their Hospitality and Residential markets.

    The partnership is enabling Cablem??s to revolutionise its growth and penetration of the digital TV market by providing advanced services to consumers throughout Mexico. Cablemas continues to develop for a quality product offering and customisation, both in packaging and user interface. The operator is providing a consumer experience and a vision for the future. higher security and a simple, yet elegant VOD offering and market differentiator, enabled reduce churn and illegal distribution, and increase revenue through premium VOD content – while continuing to add new features and solutions, such as a bouquet of value-added triple play services.

  • Digital TV homes to double in Eastern Europe

    Digital TV homes to double in Eastern Europe

    MUMBAI: Rapid conversion means that the number of digital homes in Eastern Europe will nearly double between 2012 and 2018, bringing the total to 121 million, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. In fact, the Digital TV Eastern Europe report estimates that 13 million digital TV homes will be added in 2013 alone.

    Digital TV penetration crossed the halfway mark of TV households in 2012, up from only 20 per cent at end of 2008. Fast take-up (and analog terrestrial switch-off) will push digital TV penetration to 61.4 per cent by end of 2013 and onto 97.3 per cent by 2018. Ten of the 21 countries covered in this report will be completely digitised by 2018, with Estonia the first to full conversion – in 2012.

    The number of analogue terrestrial TV households fell by 30 million between 2008 and 2012, leaving 37.2 million. However, only 13 million DTT homes were added, therefore the digital pay TV platforms benefitted from the analogue terrestrial homes converting to digital. With nearly all of the analogue terrestrial TV homes disappearing, there will be 43.3 million DTT homes (or about a third of the TV households) by 2018.

    Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said, “Much of the emphasis has fallen on the remaining 21.7 million analogue cable subscribers. Many of these homes will upgrade to digital cable, but some will shift to IPTV and DTH. However, many of the remaining analogue cable subscribers are refuseniks, who don‘t want to pay more for TV services. Free-to-air DTT (or even pay DTT) is an attractive option for these homes.”

    “Slow implementation of analogue terrestrial switchover favored the pay TV operators as it gave them more time to convert homes to their packages before FTA DTT became established. Poland and Romania are prime examples of this. However, we expect the impact of DTT in these two countries to result in (small) declines in their pay TV subscriber counts,” he added.

  • Airtel DTH: Q4 2013 revenues & subs up, losses down

    Airtel DTH: Q4 2013 revenues & subs up, losses down

    MUMBAI: That the DTH market in India is doing well, is something that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) latest quarter report turned up. This is reflected in Bharti Airtel’s digital TV services financials for Q4 and financial year ended 31 March 2013 which were announced earlier this week.

    The division’s revenues are up even as average revenue per user (ARPU) has moved northwards (albeit marginally) and losses southwards. But the business is obviously burning cash – though lower than earlier – as competition is forcing DTH players to expand their reach nationally and offer newer services. All this – without being able to pass on costs to subscribers.

    Q4 2013 revenues are up 24 per cent to Rs 441.90 crore as against Rs 356.5 crore in the previous corresponding quarter of 2012. The company continues to be EBITDA positive with the number rising to Rs 29.6 crore (Rs 20.9 crore in Q4 2012). Its operating losses are down to Rs 178.4 crore (Rs 194.4 crore). It incurred a capex of Rs 132.6 crore (Rs 98 crore) during the quarter. Its cumulative investments in the DTH business up to end March 2013 stand at Rs 4036.6 crore (Rs 3298 crore).

    The good news is that ARPU is also up to Rs 184 in Q4 2013 (Rs 166 in Q4 2012). The company says this was “achieved through product innovations, pricing corrections and up-selling.” Its subscriber base grew 12 per cent from 7.2 million in Q4 2012 to 8.1 million (Q4 2013). The company attributes this increase to the digitisation drive across the four metro cities of the country and it expects this to accelerate further with phase II digitization.

    The DTH business’ revenues for the whole year rose 26 per cent to Rs 1629.4 crore (Rs 1296 crore up to March 2012). Its EBITDA numbers were down three per cent to Rs 45.2 crore (Rs 46.5 crore). Its operating loss rose from Rs 719.8 crore to Rs 815 crore. And its operating free cash flow requirement improved seven per cent from a negative Rs 763.4 crore to Rs 709.6 crore.
    The company says it is doing pretty well on its HD set top box rollout (HD), digital TV recorders with 3D capabilities, and in providing a superior customer experience. It currently offers 373 channels and services including 15 HD channels and six interactive services. It says it is the first Indian DTH player to “provide real-time integration of all the three screens viz. television, mobile and computer enabling our customers to record their favourite TV programs through mobile and web.”

  • Digitisation to propel pay TV revenue growth in Asia Pacific: Study

    Digitisation to propel pay TV revenue growth in Asia Pacific: Study

    MUMBAI: The cable TV digitisation in India and other Asian countries will drive pay TV revenues in Asia Pacific which are expected to reach $43.9 billion in 2018 from $33.86 billion in 2013, according to Digital TV Asia Pacific report.

    Digital cable television will comprise the largest chunk of the overall pay TV revenue pie. It is expected to grow from $12.42 billion in 2013 to $23.16 billion. Direct-to-Home (DTH) will be the second pay TV revenue contributor by 2018 with an estimated $11.6 billion in revenues, up from $8.5 billion in 2013.

    Both digital cable TV and DTH will grow even as analogue cable TV revenue will shrink from $8.9 billion currently to to $1.83 billion as cable TV digitisation gains momentum. IPTV revenues during the same period are expected to reach $7.17 billion in 2018 from $4.01 billion.

    The report also said that pay TV penetration will rise from 56 per cent in 2012 to 67 per cent in 2018, adding 154 million subscribers to take the total to 587 million.

    China will provide 313 million pay TV households by 2018, with India supplying a further 158 million. However, pay TV penetration will be higher in South Korea (95 per cent) and Hong Kong (96 per cent).

    Digital TV research‘s Simon Murray said, “Pay TV revenues will more than double in five countries Indonesia (tripling), Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam] between 2012 and 2018, but will fall in Hong Kong and South Korea.”

    The Asia Pacific region is undergoing a rapid digital TV conversion that will see penetration increase from 16 per cent in 2008 to 44 per cent in 2012 and on to 90 per cent in 2018 – or up by 440 million homes between 2012 and 2018. By end-2013, digital penetration will reach 53 per cent, or 420 million homes (up by 78 million on the end-2012 figure), says the report.

    Murray continued: “Despite the rapid conversion, digital TV will still have plenty of room for growth for some time to come. Only six of the 15 countries forecast in this report will have fully converted to digital by 2018. By then, Indonesia and the Philippines will have digital penetration of only 42 per cent and 34 per cent respectively. Indonesia will still have 29 million analog homes and India will have 31 million analog homes.”

    Of the 440 million digital homes to be added between 2012 and 2018, 128 million will come from DTT. However, the number of analog terrestrial homes will fall by 204 million. Digital cable will contribute a further 187 million additional homes, with analog cable losing 141 million. Pay DTH will supply an extra 35 million and pay IPTV 71 million more.

    The report also forecasted that pay IPTV subscribers will overtake that of pay DTH in 2016.