ITV

Tag: Europe

  • Samsung launches Slim QWerty Smartphone

    Samsung launches Slim QWerty Smartphone

    MUMBAI: TSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leading provider and innovator of mobile phones, announced its launch of the SGH-i320, new Slim QWerty Smartphone, signaling the company’s drive to the smartphone market.

    The Samsung i320 is a super-slim bar type handset, measuring just 11.5mm in depth and 95g in weight with an easy-to-use Qwerty keyboard. The keyboard has the same keyboard layout used in personal computers, enabling users to send emails and text messages far more conveniently; such a fun and simple methodology proved to be a huge success amongst consumers in the US and Europe.

    The i320 operates with ‘Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Operating System’ to provide users with a familiar interface that is easy to navigate and use. It allows users to write and store texts, exchange emails in real-time, type memos and more.

    Functions supported by this ultra-thin mobile are especially useful for users who want to chat, read, and send emails from their mobiles. The i320 features an imbedded instant messaging program and ‘mobile mail’ functions to enable users to send and receive photos, music and a variety of multi-media messages.

    The phone has a 2.2 inches LCD screen with 1.3 mega-pixel resolution camera, along with multi-media entertainment functions such as Bluetooth and high-quality dual speakers.

    Samsung says that the product is perfect for users who want to have all of the advanced features of a smartphone in a light and slim package for convenience and style.

    Samsung’s Telecommunications Network Business president Kitae Lee said, “The trend and popularity of slim phones will be carried over to the smartphone market. Samsung will lead the trend of smartphones by combining its cutting-edge technology and sleek ultra-slim designs.”

    The SGH-i320 will be launched in Europe this month. The following launches will take place throughout the rest of Europe and South East Asia shortly.

  • Global soccer fans are united and divided in their passion for the sport: Octagon study

    Global soccer fans are united and divided in their passion for the sport: Octagon study

    MUMBAI: Throughout the Fifa World Cup, a global audience has witnessed the exuberance that football fans have for the sport. Aside from national pride, what drives the passion fans from different countries have for football?

    Studies conducted in the past year by sports marketing agency Octagon quantify for the first time the key factors that ignite the passion fans have for football. Analysis from Octagon’s Passion Drivers study of football fans from World Cup participants Germany, France, the U.K., Australia and the US, the 2010 World Cup host nation South Africa, and China reveal similarities and differences.

    Octagon’s VP of research and creator of the study Simon Wardle says, “Fans from countries like the U.K., France and Germany, where a longstanding football tradition exists and the sport holds a dominant position, share similar motivating passions for the sport but with some differences.

    “Why fans from Europe follow the sport differs significantly from the factors that motivate fans in countries where football is less dominant.”

    The fan profiles developed by Octagon are based on 12 Passion Drivers factors. In varying degrees of intensity and in different combinations, these factors contribute to the passion fans have for football.

    Wardle adds, “Understanding ‘why fans are fans’ is critical for companies who sponsor sports to engage consumers with their brands. The relationship that Europeans have to football is first and foremost driven by Team Devotion.”

    “This factor truly differentiates ‘the beautiful game’ and its supporters from other sports. German and English football fans are very similar in the relationship they have with the sport. UK fans seem to be more team focussed and avid than their German counterparts. The chance to gloat over fans of rival clubs is much stronger among German fans.”

    TCompared to German and UK fans, the study revealed the French are more overall fans of the sport itself. For the French fan, the pure enjoyment that comes from watching football is oftentimes more important than which teams are playing and the outcome of the match.

    Wardle goes on to explain that in European markets, Team Devotion starts almost at birth. This contrasts to Chinese fans who do not have deep rooted team affinities. They are primarily motivated by an overall love of the game. The skill exhibited by world-class players and strategy employed by the top clubs, regardless of where these teams come from or a players’ nationality, are far more important than the outcome of the match.

    In South Africa, the opportunity football provides to socialise is the dominant motivator. Football also conjures a sense of nostalgia for many South Africans who grew up with the sport and appreciate the role football played in their personal and country’s history. However, the Team Devotion factor is growing more important in this developing football market as it prepares to compete as host nation in the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

    As a market influence, football remains in its formative stages in Australia and the US. The US and Australia are unique in their passion being primarily fuelled by a current or past involvement playing or coaching the sport, a Passion Drivers factor called Active Appreciation.

    Wardle notes that Australia’s success in the 2006 Fifa World Cup (they narrowly lost in a last minute penalty to finalists Italy) could accelerate its transition to a developing football market. The US holds the distinction as the world’s least homogeneous football market in terms of the factors that drive its fans’ passion for the sport. Along with active appreciation, US football fans are strongly driven by the opportunities the sport presents to talk and socialise. Nostalgia is also important for the many fans who emigrated from Europe and Latin America.

    Octagon conducted Passion Drivers studies in eight countries among more than 20,000 fans of their nation’s most popular sports. “With a deeper understanding of what drives their consumers’ passion for sport, sponsors can truly harness the power of sports to differentiate their brands and engage consumers in meaningful, lasting ways,” said Wardle.

  • Europe leads the world in the interactive TV trial

    Europe leads the world in the interactive TV trial

    SINGAPORE: While some parts of the world are still trying to understand what interactive TV means, and some other markets are still in its infancy as in the Asia Pacific region; it looks like Europe will set the rules of the new game. With more than 380 interactive services on air in 2006, Europe clearly leads the way.

    As of now there are more than 50 million digital households across Europe and experts predict the number will go up to 125 million by 2010. Also, with growing consumer spend the gross margins (not turnover) is expected to cross 700 million Euros by 2010 with growing consumer spend.

    Quoting from a study conducted by AFDESI (The French professional organization for interactive television), delegate Jean Dacie said, “Europe is definitely leading the way on the ITV market with most of the technologies developed there since the first trials which started in the UK in 1994/95 and first commercial ITV services which began in France in 97.

    Just a look the figures reveals that UK is the largest market with 17.8 million subscribers followed by Germany, 11.2 million and France with about 8.7 million. In recent times, France has recorded the fastest ever technology adoption by users, with about 2 million DTT households one year after its launch. While BSkyB is the most profitable platform in the world for interactive services (660 million Euros in 2005) and UK is the country that has generated the highest revenues from interactivity yet.

    The study reveals that with the analog switch-off planned by national governments by around 2010, UK will perhaps emerge as the only country with the near objective with 69 per cent of digital homes, which means 125 million households in western Europe will have digital TV.

    With the standalone and enhanced TV services offered by ITV, consumers are already benefiting with the use of interactive services via TV like messaging, video conferencing, on demand extension of linear advertising breaks, betting live on broadcast sports and participating in quiz shows live apart from using utilities like bank services and shopping. The study says that there are more than 150 interactive services available in the UK. While advertisers are benefiting through well-executed interactive advertisements that can deliver benefits for brands.

    So, what are the business models that are driving the European digital market.

    “Premium calls (calls via the return path line of the set top box are charged a premium rate)
    ” Subscription (users contract a monthly subscription to services)
    ” advertisement and sponsorship
    ” Indirect profitability (the service cost is entirely supported by the operator)

    In the UK, with more than 8 million set top boxes at the beginning of 2006, BSkyB records an average annual revenue per user of 33 Euros for its interactive services with a long term objective of 70 euros. With the growing number of digital TV homes, this is bound to go up by leaps and bounds

  • Digital broadcasting set to transform communication landscape by 2015: RRC-06

    Digital broadcasting set to transform communication landscape by 2015: RRC-06

    MUMBAI: The conclusion of ITU’s Regional Radiocommunication Conference (RRC-06) in Geneva saw the signing of a treaty agreement that is a major step in implementing World Summit on the Information Society objectives. The digitalization of broadcasting in Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Islamic Republic of Iran by 2015 represents a major landmark towards establishing a more equitable, just and people-centred Information Society.

    The agreement will herald the development of ‘all-digital’ terrestrial broadcast services for sound and television. The digital switchover will leapfrog existing technologies to connect the unconnected in underserved and remote communities and close the digital divide.

    “The most important achievement of the Conference,” remarked ITU Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi, “is that the new digital Plan provides not only new possibilities for structured development of digital terrestrial broadcasting but also sufficient flexibilities for adaptation to the changing telecommunication environment.”

    The Regional Radiocommunication Conference was chaired and brought to a conclusion by Kavouss Arasteh of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

    The agreement reached at RRC-06 paves the way for utilizing the full potential of information and communication technologies to achieve the internationally recognized development goals. The date of transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting in the year 2015 is intended to coincide with the targets set by the Millennium Development Goals.

    The regional agreement for digital services has been reached in the frequency bands 174 – 230 MHz and 470 – 862 MHz. It marks the beginning of the end of analogue broadcasting.

    The Conference agreed that the transition period from analogue to digital broadcasting, which begins at 0001 UTC 17 June 2006, should end on 17 June 2015, but some countries preferred an additional five-year extension for the VHF band (174-230 MHz).

    The digital dividend
    The switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting will create new distribution networks and expand the potential for wireless innovation and services. The digital dividend accruing from efficiencies in spectrum usage will allow more channels to be carried across fewer airwaves and lead to greater convergence of services.

    The inherent flexibility offered by digital terrestrial broadcasting will support mobile reception of video, internet and multimedia data, making applications, services and information accessible and usable anywhere and at any time. It opens the door to new innovations such as Handheld TV Broadcast (DVB-H) along with High-Definition Television (HDTV) while providing greater bandwidth to existing mobile, fixed and radionavigation services. Services ancillary to broadcasting (wireless microphones, talk back links) are also planned on a national basis and need to be extended.

    The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07), which will meet in the autumn of 2007, will deal with the regulatory aspects of the usage of the spectrum for these services.

    Terrestrial digital broadcasting carries many advantages over the analogue system:

    Expanded services

    Higher quality video and audio

    Greater variety and faster rates of data transmission

    Consistency of data flows over long distances

    More spectrum efficiency means more channels

    This agreement, which paves the way for a new paradigm of wireless digital communication technologies, is expected to be extrapolated by other regions and countries and influence a global shift away from the analogue system that has been in place for the past 45 years.

    During the five weeks of deliberations which began on 15 May, RRC-06 took decisions to allow iteration of the complex software tools used by the ITU secretariat as a basis to generate the draft plan that will facilitate the coordinated and timely introduction of digital broadcasting. The Plan assures that an outstanding 70’500 digital broadcasting requirements, including stations, will become a reality within the planned area. It succeeded in creating a level playing field as a new basis for competition.

    The first session of this Conference (RRC-04) took place in May 2004 and established a solid, comprehensive and technical basis for the agreement, including the framework for the intersessional studies. It has already resulted in the accelerated introduction of digital terrestrial broadcasting in many countries. “Digital technologies are now transmitting high-resolution images of the Soccer World Cup from Germany to fans around the world who are watching the matches with excitement,” said Utsumi. “Digital terrestrial broadcasting is now a reality with a bright future.”

    A complex process

    Conference chairman Arasteh said that RRC-06 was a technically complex process comprising voluminous computational calculations and data processing tasks, electronic document handling and the use of five working languages. He added that ITU, although facing these challenges for the first time, could provide the Conference with adequate technical and regulatory expertise and support for the full satisfaction of the participating delegations.

    More than 1000 delegates representing 104 countries met in Geneva to adopt the treaty agreement that will replace the analogue broadcasting plans existing since 1961 for Europe and since 1989 for Africa. The new digital Plan, based on broadcasting standards known as T-DAB (for sound) and DVB-T (for TV), covers a wide area of the world including Europe, countries of the CIS, Africa, Middle East and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

    A major challenge faced by the conference was to find ways for digital and analogue broadcasting to co-exist on the radio-frequency spectrum during the transition period without causing interference.

    Cooperation with EBU and CERN

    A key ingredient for the success of the Conference was the unprecedented level of cooperation between ITU, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

    The complex planning activities conducted at this conference and during the intersessional period were based on the software developed by EBU, which includes hundreds of thousands of programme lines. In preparing the Plan for digital terrestrial broadcasting, ITU experts performed meticulous calculations within a limited timeframe using two independent infrastructures: the ITU distributed system with 100 PCs and the CERN Grid infrastructure that is based on a few hundred dedicated CPUs from several European institutions.

  • NDTV Profit launches new show ‘World Business’ with John Defterious as host

    NDTV Profit launches new show ‘World Business’ with John Defterious as host

    MUMBAI: NDTV Profit is launching a new business news programme called World Business, to be hosted by CNN Business News former anchor and editor John Defterious.

    Presented by NDTV Profit and UK based Fact Based Communications (FBC), the programme will profile world business leaders and feature in depth analyses of business trends world wide.
    The first episode of World Business will be telecast on 3 June at 10 pm with a repeat telecast on 4 June at 8 am.

    World Business will be targeted at C-class executives, senior managers, government officials and leading opinion formers in India and globally.

    This weekly half-hour business programme will include segments such as Tech Watch, a feature which looks at how companies are utilising technology to maintain competitiveness in today’s day and age. The other unique regular feature will be the segment Business of Sport, profiling the money and business strategies behind sports.

    The World Business team comprises business correspondents, reporters and contributors from across Europe, Asia, the US, Middle East and Africa.

    NDTV Profit managing editor Vikram Chandra said, “NDTV has always sought to provide quality content programming for its viewers. Bringing one of the most widely watched global business shows on our platform is in keeping with our channel’s commitment to offer more value, in depth analysis and the latest in international business news.”

  • OpenTV & MC3 Global team up for Play Platinum TV channel

    OpenTV & MC3 Global team up for Play Platinum TV channel

    MUMBAI: OpenTV Corp. and MC3 Global have signed a multi-year license agreement for the OpenTV Participate solution to manage Play Platinum TV, MC3 Global’s soon-to-be-launched TV gaming broadcast business.

    OpenTV Participate will be the core business management tool for Play Platinum, a UK-based fixed odds gaming and entertainment broadcaster and managed services provider. Play Platinum expects to broadcast programming such as virtual horse racing and numbers games, including Keno, to viewers on free-to-air satellite, broadband internet, and other distribution platforms.

    OpenTV Participate will process all transactions and provide modules for customer registration, customer care and bonus, and loyalty schemes. OpenTV Participate will also offer MC3 Global multiple finance functions, including billing (via credit cards and premium rate telephony), accounting, business and financial reporting, and risk management, all with real-time accessibility.

    “MC3 understands how OpenTV’s technology can help achieve their vision, and we are delighted to be working with them. OpenTV Participate has been designed to enable broadcasters to offer compelling interactive services with a customer-centric approach. We believe that OpenTV Participate will help Play Platinum achieve a large, loyal customer base, and will enable Play Platinum to manage those customers more efficiently than any other platform in the market today,” said OpenTV EMEA managing director Ben Bennett.

    Play Platinum, which expects to launch its service in multiple territories, including Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, will be broadcasting in several languages with customers able to engage with programming through the telephone, the internet and SMS. With its real-time processing of all participation, OpenTV Participate enables Play Platinum to broadcast live statistics to Play Platinum viewers synchronized with the programming.

    “As with most businesses, ours is designed to grow in stages with new formats being added as the business builds. OpenTV Participate is the perfect platform for such a strategy — the system is extremely powerful and modular in design. In the main package, we get all the systems we need to run a participation-based interactive TV business and can then add new modules quickly and with little additional effort — for example, new games engines or the very slick participation TV modules,” said MC3 Global managing director Jennifer Allsop.

  • Discovery Intl’s quarterly revenue up 21 %

    Discovery Intl’s quarterly revenue up 21 %

    MUMBAI: For the three months ended 31 March 2006 Discovery Communications Inc experienced a six per cent revenue growth to $443 million and three per cent operating cash flow growth to $152 million.

    Internationally, it achieved a 21 per cent revenue growth to $193 million and 35 per cent operating cash flow growth to $31 million at its International Networks division for the first quarter of 2006.

    During the first quarter, Discovery commercially launched Cosmeo, its online homework help tool.

    Net distribution revenue increased by 25 per cent due to increases in paying subscription units in Europe, Latin America and Asia, as well as the international joint venture channels combined with contractual rate increases in certain markets. Net ad revenue increased by 16 per cent primarily due to higher viewership in Europe and Latin America combined with an increased subscriber base in most markets worldwide.

    Operating expenses increased by 19 per cent due to expected increases in headcount as the business expands, particularly in the UK and Europe, combined with an increase in marketing expense associated with branding and awareness efforts, particularly in Europe, related to the Lifestyles category initiative. Operating cash flow increased as the growth in revenue outpaced the growth in operating expenses.

    The growth in revenue in the US was due to a 22 per cent increase in distribution revenue. This was partially offset by a six per cent decrease in ad revenue. Net distribution revenue increased 22 per cent as the US Networks had an 11 per cent increase in paying subscribers in the first quarter combined with contractual rate increases.

    US networks distribution revenue increases were also aided by reduced launch fee amortisation, a contra-revenue item, as certain affiliation agreements were extended. Net ad revenue decreased by six per cent, primarily due to lower advertising sell-out rates combined with lower rates at certain networks.

    Operating expenses increased by eight per cent due to an increase in programming expense as the company continued its investment across all US networks in original productions and high profile series and specials. Operating cash flow increased due to the increased revenue.

  • Lockheed Martin launches DTH satellite system Astra for Europe

    Lockheed Martin launches DTH satellite system Astra for Europe

    MUMBAI: A European direct-to-home television satellite Astra -1KR launched into space yesterday atop an Atlas 5 rocket.

    The satellite which has been built by Lockheed Martin is a high-power Ku-band satellite that features 32 transponders. It will provide distribution of DTH services across Europe. It will be located at 19.2° East, European satellite operator SES Astra’s prime orbital position for delivering broadcast services to Europe, and will also transmit HDTV channels. With its satellite fleet Astra claims to reach 107 million homes in Europe.

    SES Astra is relying on the satellite to become a critical replacement in its space network, which provides more than 1,600 television and radio channels to 107 million households using a fleet of spacecraft.

    The cost of the mission is estimated to be about $200 million. Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems president Ted Gavrilis says, “Our long-standing relationship with SES Astra spans a period of nearly 20 years beginning with the launch of SES Astra’s first satellite, Aatra 1A, in 1988.

    “We are pleased once again to deliver to SES Astra, a state-of-the-art satellite using our flight-proven spacecraft architecture. I also commend our launch team and our SES Astra and ILS partners for their joint efforts and total dedication to Mission Success, which culminated in a textbook launch.”

    SES Astra president and CEO Ferdinand Kayser says, “We are very proud and satisfied that the Astra 1KR mission has been a success. Astra 1KR will benefit our customers, further strengthen our unique inter-satellite back-up scheme and provide replacement capacity for our Astra 1B and Astra 1C satellites. The success of the Astra 1KR mission is a milestone in our company history and shows that we have strengthened the fruitful cooperation with our launch partners, Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems and International Launch Services.”

    The satellite will use an onboard engine over the next week to circularise its transfer orbit. Once in geostationary orbit, the solar array and antenna appendages will be deployed and then a week spent testing onboard systems.

    The handover of the satellite to SES Astra is expected early next month. This will allow controllers in Betzdorf, Luxembourg to perform an extensive checkout of the communications payload and positioning of the craft at its final orbital slot over the equator at 19.2 degrees East longitude.

    The Lockheed Martin A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed to meet a wide variety of commercial and government telecommunications needs ranging from Ka-band/broadband services and fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku-band payload configurations, to high-power direct broadcast services using the Ku-band frequency spectrum and S-band mobile satellite services. The A2100’s modular design features a reduction in parts, simplified construction, increased on-orbit reliability and reduced weight and cost.

    SES Astra’s satellite is expected to enter commercial service in June, expecting to last at least 15 years. It will replace the aging Astra 1B and Astra 1C spacecraft which had been launched in 1991 and 1993 respectively.

    The Astra Satellite System is a DTH satellite system in Europe, delivering services to some 107 million Direct-to-Home and cable households. The Astra satellite fleet currently comprises 13 satellites, transmitting in excess of 1600 analogue and digital television and radio channels as well as multimedia and Internet services.

    Astra’s two prime orbital positions for DTH services are 19.2° East and 28.2° East. Professional services such as Direct-to cable (DTC), Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) and Occasional Use are offered from the orbital position of 23.5° East.

  • America Channel extends reach in Europe and Middle East via BT

    America Channel extends reach in Europe and Middle East via BT

    MUMBAI: The America Channel has entered into a long-term distribution and services agreement with BT Americas, a division of British Telecommunications (BT), for delivery of The America Channel via the HOT BIRD and EUROBIRD satellites. This will be received by an estimated 50 million homes in Europe and the Middle East

    Under the agreement, BT will provide digital conversion, backhaul, multiplexing, technical support, customer service, encryption, program origination, ad insertion, and uplink services, as well as capacity on the HOT BIRD and EUROBIRD satellites located at the 13 degrees East longitude and 28.2 degrees East longitude orbital slots, respectively.

    The America Channel CEO Doron Gorshein said, “There is a global fascination with all things American. We believe The America Channel – a network dedicated to exploring and celebrating our diverse communities, local heroes and ordinary people who accomplish the extraordinary — will find a substantial international audience. At the same time, we believe that by providing this window into America, the channel can build bridges and help the world to better understand our communities, cultures, and way of life. ”

    With immediate access to tens of millions of DTH homes, a freely competitive environment, and a product that is unique on the dial, The America Channel believes it is poised to become the next great American global network.

    “The magnitude of this transaction creates a new economic paradigm for the channel,” added Gorshein. ” The international markets are fertile grounds for American entrepreneurs, and we look forward to working with our partners abroad to deliver great programming to their audiences.”

    BT Americas president Chuck Pol said:, “BT is able to provide The America Channel with a customized worldwide global network solution, effectively and efficiently. Our experience, extensive global reach, highly skilled engineers, and affordable value proposition give The America Channel and other independent American networks the ability to compete in the international marketplace.”

    Initially, The America Channel’s highest European penetration levels will be in Germany, France, Poland, Spain, U.K., as well as portions of Russia. In the Middle East and North Africa, highest penetration levels will be in Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Algeria. Most of the initial 50 million homes will receive The America Channel via Direct-To-Home (DTH) unencrypted satellite delivery. Subsequent European cable rollout of the channel is expected to generate subscriber growth in the UK and across the continent.

    In addition to 50 million DTH homes, the region also has approximately 70 million cable homes accessible via HOT BIRD, which The America Channel will seek to penetrate. Following this launch, The America Channel anticipates expansion into Asia.

  • Nick Intl acquires show from an Irish animation firm

    Nick Intl acquires show from an Irish animation firm

    MUMBAI: Irish animation house Jam Media has licensed its interactive kids’ series Picme to Nickelodeon across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

    The five-year deal will see all 104, five-minute long episodes of the series rolled out to Nickelodeon channels around the world .

    The series launched on RTE in September 2004 and also airs on Nick UK. The animated preschool series allows kids to be star of the cartoon alongside a group of animal friends. JAM Media has developed a broadcast-ready software package that allows broadcasters to superimpose a child’s face onto an animated body and place them into the PICME environment.