More 4K UHD TVs shipped in Q2 2014 than in all 2013

NPD DisplaySearch: More 4K UHD TV Sets Shipped In Q2 2014 Than In All Of 2013

• 4K is now clearly focused as the “must-have” feature for high-end TV viewing

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — More 4K ultra-HD (UHD) TV sets were shipped in the second quarter (Q2) of 2014 than shipped all year in 2013. According to the NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, shipments in Q2 were 2.1 million sets, compared to 1.6 million shipped in 2013. Brands introduced their 2014 model ranges in the second quarter, with a clear focus on 4K as the “must-have” consumer feature for high-end television viewing.

With the introduction of 2014 models, the shipment balance by region has shifted. In 2013 China accounted for approximately 80 percent of shipments in each quarter, as Chinese brands introduced low-priced 4K TVs; however, in China there were few sources of 4K UHD content, and TV brands were largely marketing the higher pixel count to consumers. New 4K TV models from global brands have been introduced in all regions this year, and there has lately been increased 4K UHD content available from streaming providers.

As a result of this recent regional shipment shift, China’s share of 4K TV shipments has dipped to 60 percent of shipments, although as supply chains are filled there is likely to be some over-shipment relative to demand outside of the Chinese market. “New 4K TV model introductions have broadened the 4K TV business, which has become a lot like the high-end TV market, in general,” said Paul Gray, director of European research for NPD DisplaySearch. “Even so, there needs to be greater implementation of broadcast offerings that deepen the value of 4K sets, beyond pixel counts.”
DisplaySearch will examine the 4K TV ecosystem in more detail at its upcoming IFA DisplaySearch Business Conference in Berlin on September 8, 2014; Paul Gray will also be speaking at the SMPTE UHD event at the IBC2014 Exhibition in Amsterdam on September 14, 2014.

The NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report covers the entire range of TV products shipped worldwide and regionally, and it offers the industry’s most comprehensive coverage of the TV market. For more information, please contact Charles Camaroto at 888-436-7673 or 516-625-2452, e-mail contact@displaysearch.com, or contact your regional NPD DisplaySearch office in China, Japan, Korea or Taiwan.

MStar Semi to integrate Cryptography Research CryptoFirewall Security Core

MStar to Include Cryptography Research’s CryptoFirewall™ Security Core in Connected TV Chips

• Enables first IP core-based, advanced security for smart TV market; fully compatible with existing CAS and DRM, providing most stringent security for premium content

SAN FRANCISCO & HSINCHU, Taiwan — Cryptography Research, the security division of Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS), today announced that MStar Semiconductor, Inc., a leading semiconductor company for display and digital home solutions, has licensed the Cryptography Research CryptoFirewall™ security core for integration into its connected TV solution chips. The CryptoFirewall core will provide operators and over-the-top (OTT) distributors utilizing MStar-based connected TVs with strong hardware security to protect content and services against piracy.

The proliferation of OTT content, along with the market opportunity for “smart” connected televisions, has created a need for security solutions that not only offer robust protection on par with set-top-boxes, but also work across broad ecosystems. Through adding in the CryptoFirewall core, MStar is taking a differentiated approach by integrating a provider-agnostic security block that resides within the SoC, available for all service providers. Operators and OTT distributors can benefit from hardware-based security that satisfies the most stringent requirements for premium content, all while continuing to use their existing CAS and DRM systems.

“Increasingly, consumers want the convenience of viewing all their preferred content from their connected TV. To enable this flexibility, connected TVs must work with multiple operators and OTT distributors using different CAS and DRM systems. The CryptoFirewall security core supports this complex requirement in a unique and innovative way,” said Wayne Tsai, Marketing Director, MStar. “The CryptoFirewall security core delivers both strong hardware security and multi-operator flexibility in our next-generation chips and seamlessly integrates with MStar’s TEE environment.”

“With its proven history of delivering end-to-end semiconductor solutions for TV and impressive market share, MStar will be able to revolutionize security in the connected TV market,” said Paul Kocher, president and chief scientist of the Rambus Cryptography Research division. “The CryptoFirewall IP core solution helps connected TVs achieve a similar level of content protection as set-top boxes, while limiting the service providers’ internal engineering and integration costs. These advancements in connected TV security are critical to realizing the full potential of OTT content; securely and seamlessly enabling consumers to receive content from a wide range of sources directly on their TVs.”

The CryptoFirewall core is a self-contained ASIC security core that provides a secure hardware foundation for signal security applications. The CryptoFirewall cores enable a uniformly high level of security across set-top-boxes and connected TVs, enabling the next wave of secure digital distribution. The core is designed to protect cryptographic keys and computations within a chip, even if surrounding components are compromised. The CryptoFirewall core is easily integrated directly into video decoding SoCs from the leading manufacturers supplying the set-top box chip market and now, with MStar, the leading TV silicon provider. The CryptoFirewall core provides a robust and cost-effective solution that is complementary with hardware and software-based conditional access solutions, protecting against piracy of content and services.

Energy efficient set-top boxes saving hundreds of millions of dollars

Energy Efficient Set-Top Boxes Saving Consumers Hundreds of Millions of Dollars

• New Report Shows Pay-TV Industry Efficiency Milestones For 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – A new report released today shows that the voluntary set-top box energy conservation agreement between the pay-TV industry, consumer electronics manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates has saved American consumers approximately $168 million in energy bills. According to the Voluntary Agreement for Ongoing Improvement to the Energy Efficiency of Set-Top Boxes 2013 Annual Report, the improved energy efficiency of set-top boxes also represents a savings of nearly 842,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year. This is equivalent to the output of one-half of a large (500MW) power plant.

Eighty-five percent of set-top boxes purchased by pay-TV providers in 2013 met the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR 3.0 efficiency levels. New set-top boxes use approximately 14 percent less energy than those previously issued by the service providers. Other 2013 milestones include:

• The Voluntary Agreement led to a 4.4 percent reduction in national energy consumption by set-top boxes even as deployed stock increased in 2013.
• These energy savings are even larger when compared to national energy use projections without the Voluntary Agreement. Against those projections, the improved energy efficiency of the set-top boxes procured in 2013 saved American consumers almost $350 million in energy bills and saved nearly 1,750,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), equivalent to the output of one large (500MW) power plant.
• Set-top box purchases indicate early adoption of 2017 goals – 90 percent of purchased set-top boxes must meet a more stringent set of energy efficiency levels called Tier 2. Approximately 47 percent of set-top boxes purchased in 2013 meet the more efficient Tier 2 levels.
• The industry now offers new whole home DVRs, which are able to deliver live and recorded content to multiple TVs in a home, providing additional energy savings as consumers no longer need a DVR on each TV.
• Cable operators have deployed software updates enabling “light sleep” for set-top boxes already in homes and new set-top boxes. Telco providers deployed “light sleep” capabilities, and satellite providers have included an “automatic power down” feature in more than 90 percent of set-top boxes purchased and deployed.

“The Voluntary agreement to reduce national energy use of set-top boxes is off to a great start. With these improvements the national energy used to power these devices is now going down,” said Noah Horowitz, Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The great news is that the more efficient boxes save consumers money on their electric bill, reduce pollution, and work even better than the old ones used to.”

“These collective efforts of the cable, satellite, and telephone industries demonstrate a commitment to delivering innovative video services while at the same time saving energy in our customers’ homes,” said Michael Powell, President & CEO, NCTA. “A big part of innovation is making sure we are good stewards of the environment, so these providers and device manufacturers will continue to look for new ways to conserve energy in delivering services.”

“The Annual Report is an important obligation of the Voluntary Agreement,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. “It provides transparency, public accountability and a progress check on this non-regulatory initiative designed to deliver comprehensive energy and related cost savings for consumers and the country, while also protecting innovation and competition within our industry. The consumer technology industry is proud of the progress we have made to date in partnership with pay-TV providers to increase the energy efficiency of set-top boxes, as our industry continues to reduce our environmental footprint and increase sustainability.”

In 2012, the pay-TV industry initiated a Voluntary Agreement that would eventually result in annual electricity savings of $1 billion or more, as the energy efficiency of set-top boxes is increased by up to 45 percent. Agreement signatories include 11 cable, satellite, and telco video companies and all major equipment vendors serving 91.9 million U.S. video subscribers, accounting for 91.3 percent of the total market in 2013. In 2013, leading energy-efficiency advocates joined with the pay-TV industry in an expanded version of the Voluntary Agreement.

One of the requirements of the Voluntary Agreement is the publication of an annual report, which was conducted by D&R International. The Independent Administrator, hired and funded by the Voluntary Agreement Steering Committee following a competitive bidding process, collected data directly from service providers before aggregating and incorporating the data in the report.

ER Telecom continues to improve

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom maintained its recent improved financial performance in the first of the year, posting a net profit of R1,578 million (€32.8 million).

Its revenues amounted to R11,131 million, up 23% year-on-year, with TV contributing R3,261 million, or 29%, of the total.

EBITDA margin in H1 was 40%, or eight percentage points more than a year earlier, making it, according to the company, the best performing Russian and European telco.

ER Telecom also notes that Dom.ru TV’s digital HDTV subscriber total exceeded 500,000 in H1, only two years after its launch.

MultiChoice launches single view DStv HD Decoder

MultiChoice has released its first HD single view decoder, the DStv HD Decoder, which will make great HD quality viewing and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound accessible to more DStv customers. This decoder will replace the existing standard definition single view decoder.

The DStv HD Decoder’s user interface is similar to the DStv Explora as it’s also locally developed by MultiChoice. Most functions can be performed from DStv Central, accessed through the blue DStv button on the remote control. This user interface makes for easier navigation through the HD menus and helps customers discover great DStv content available via multiple search options directly from the remote control.

Mark Rayner, COO for MultiChoice South Africa said: “We recently made HD channels available to all DStv customers with the necessary HD equipment. This decoder now makes those HD channels more accessible. High definition creates a far superior television viewing experience in terms of picture quality and the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound adds a new dimension to the audio experience. The DStv HD Decoder will open up a new world for many DStv customers.”

The decoder is XtraView capable and can be paired with selected XtraView compatible decoders (excluding the SD PVR).

The DStv HD Decoder is available at R499 or at R799 with installation. Customers can purchase the decoder directly from MultiChoice branches or from leading retailers.

The DStv Explora, launched a year ago, is MultiChoice’s full-feature PVR. Both decoders are manufactured in South Africa, with the user interface software designed and developed by MultiChoice.

Paraguay ends 2013 with 347,000 pay TV subscribers

Paraguay’s telecoms services regulator (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones – CONATEL) has released telecommunications statistics for the country for the 2013 period.

Paraguay ended 2013 with 347 thousand pay TV subscribers, up from 293 thousand at the end of June. Cable and UHF was the largest sector with 231 thousand subscribers at the end of the year. Satellite was second with 114 thousand.

Pay TV subscribers – 2013

                        Jan.     Feb.     Mar.     Apr.      May     June
                     -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
Satellite             61,423   63,586   66,859   71,326   78,045   82,803
IPTV                      26      313      497      353      477      601
Cable and UHF        187,094  191,196  194,372  197,790  204,824  209,461
                     -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
 Total               248,543  255,095  261,728  269,469  283,346  292,865


                        Jul.     Aug.     Sep.     Oct.     Nov.     Dec.
                     -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
Satellite             87,952   91,860   95,722  100,168  104,253  113,939
IPTV                     978    1,137    1,176    1,250    1,332    1,362
Cable and UHF        213,166  217,631  222,424  225,318  228,714  231,485
                     -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
 Total               302,096  310,628  319,322  326,736  334,299  346,786

NEOTION and Sat-Trakt launch Cardless CAM in Serbia

AUBAGNE — NEOTION introduces its new Cardless solution for the Serbian Cable Pay-TV operator Sat-Trakt.

The NEOTION CAM is powered by Irdeto Media Content Protection on Cardless features and registered as a CI Plus 1.3 CAM ready.

Sat-Trakt subscribers will now benefit from the easiest way to watch digital Pay TV.

“Sat-Trakt is our key partner in Serbia for Irdeto CAM distribution since almost three years now. At the origin of our cooperation we accompanied them with a smartcard based product. Today we are very pleased to make our partnership evolve on CAM accordingly to Irdeto product roadmap. With this new operation we strengthen our position in Serbia with an important actor in the region, willing to catch other deals based 

Media Broadcast to launch DVB-T2/HEVC trial in Berlin

German transmitter network operator Media Broadcast wants to shortly launch a trial for the technical testing of the new digital terrestrial television standard DVB-T2 in combination with compression system HEVC in Berlin to review the whole system chain and determine suitable parameters.

The field test which will take place between autumn 2014 and summer 2016 with participation of the public and commercial TV broadcasters can be used by hardware manufacturers for test purposes, reports German industry association Deutsche TV-Plattform in the current edition of its newsletter TV Zukunft. Encryption systems will also be employed.

In Bavaria, in addition to the planned DVB-T2 trial in Munich, a project group has been formed to examine the convergence of mobile and broadcast technology (IMB5). Headed by broadcast technology institute Institut für Rundfunktechnik (IRT), the consortium wants to explore and test in the next two years how a corresponding standard (LTE 5G) can be realised. The project will not impact the planned DVB-T2 deployment in Germany, according to IRT.

Media Broadcast wants to commence the first regular DVB-T2 transmissions in Germany in metropolitan areas in mid-2016. The nationwide transition from the currently used DVB-T standard to the successor system DVB-T2 is to be completed by mid-2019. The public broadcasters want to continue distributing their channels free-to-air via DVB-T2 while the commercial channels plan a mainlyencrypted, fee-based offering.

RCS&RDS buys cable company

Romania’s RCS&RDS has taken over a cable operator in the city of Baia Mare.

Quoting a document in the Official Gazette (Monitorul Oficial), ZFreports that TVS&RDS already held a 51% stake in Canal 7 but has now acquired the remaining shares from Majoros Andrei Csaba for an undisclosed fee.

It adds that Canal 7’s customer base and entire infrastructure will be transferred to a new company that will be established by the end of the year.

RCS&RDS is the leading cable and DTH operator in Romania and also has broadcast interests in other CEE markets, chiefly Hungary.

Austria to commence DVB-T2 transition in 2016

Austria wants to commence the planned full transition of its digital terrestrial television (DTT) distribution system from DVB-T to successor standard DVB-T2 in autumn 2016.

Media authority KommAustria has started a tender for the oldest DTT operation permission from the year 2006 which expires on August 1, 2016.

The transition which is to be completed in autumn 2019 by the latest will enable more channels, higher picture quality, HDTV services and improved mobile reception. However, viewers need new reception devices as the currently used DVB-T receivers are not suitable for DVB-T2 reception.

The tender covers the operation of the nationwide DTT multiplexes A and B which carry the following TV channels: ORF eins, ORF 2, ORF III, ORF Sport+, ATV, Puls 4 and Servus TV as well as SchauTV in Vienna.

The commercial DTT platform simpliTV which launched in April 2013 already uses the DVB-T2 standard for the transmission of its 30 TV channels.

The tender runs until November 26, 2014.

Skylink tops platform chart

Skylink remains by far the most popular DTH platform in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

According to the latest figures compiled byParabola, there were three DTH platforms in the Czech Republic at the end of Q2, namely Skylink (which now also includes its sister service CS link), Digi TV and freeSat.

Skyink had an 84% market share, with 1.41 million active cards, followed by Digi TV with 160,000 subscribers (10%) and freeSAT with 104,400 (6%).

Meanwhile, in Slovakia, which had four platforms, two of which were owned by the same company (Slovak Telekom), Skylink had 710,000 active smart cards (67%), Digi TV 200,000 subscribers (19%), Magio Sat 90,000 subscribers (8%) and freeSAT 65,300 subscribers (6%).

Overall, Skylink had 2,120,000 active cards and a market share of 77% in the two countries.

Digi was in second place with 360,000 customers (13%), followed by freeSAT with 167,700 subscribers (6%).

Samsung TV prices fell 13% in 1H 2014

Wednesday, August 20th, 2014 

Samsung CE division profits hit 3-year high in Q2 2014 in face of flat revenue

BOSTON — Although Samsung is a leader in the growing Ultra HD (UHD) TV segment, average selling prices (ASPs) for Samsung TVs fell 13 percent in the first half of 2014 compared to the previous year according to Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices (CHD) service report, “CE Vendor Quarterly Analysis Samsung (SSNLF): Q2 2014.”

Other key findings from the report include:

• Samsung’s TV shipments grew by 16 percent in the first half of 2014 from the same period last year on demand generated by the World Cup in Brazil, Strategy Analytics estimates.
• Strategy Analytics estimates that Samsung Flat Panel TV (FPTV) average selling price hit approximately 678,000 Korean Won ($646) in the first half of 2014.
• Strategy Analytics predicts that Samsung’s global FPTV market share will further expand in 2014 as it remains the market leader in the U.S. and in most European and Latin American markets.

David Watkins, Service Director, Connected Home Devices commented: “By seizing on demand for TVs in Central and Latin America in the run-up to the World Cup, Samsung’s TV shipments grew faster than the industry average but that reliance on emerging market sales negatively impacted average selling prices. The first half of 2014 likely provided Samsung the added ability to clear out old inventory as it gears up for a busy holiday season, particularly as it begins heavy marketing of its UHD TV line-up.”

Eric Smith, Analyst, Connected Home Devices said: “Despite much lower average selling prices, Samsung was still able to turn a profit in its consumer electronics business due to economies of scale on massive shipment volumes. In fact, Samsung’s Consumer Electronics division recorded an operating margin of 5.9 percent, a three-year high.”

Cable TV subscribers in Switzerland continue to decline

According to figures from Swisscable, the sectoral association for cable TV companies in Switzerland, the number of cable TV subscribers in the country at the end of June 2014 was 2.677 million, down 29.8 thousand, or 1.1%, versus the 2.707 million recorded at the end of June 2013.

Cable TV subscribers:

30.06.2013  30.06.2014           Change
----------  ----------  ---------------
 2,706,800   2,677,000  -29,800 (-1.1%)

Conax makes first Nagra contribution

The Kudelski Group’s acquisition of Conax has boosted the security to technology company in the first half of the year.

A number of key initiatives have been launched that are expected to bring cost savings across the group. These include improved sourcing arrangements for smartcards and better leveraging SmarDTV’s solutions in the CAM business.

There are also plans to accelerate the cross selling of products such as TV5 connectware, MediaLive multiscreen solutions and SmarDTV devices.

The 9.5% increase in revenues, when compared to the first six months of 2014 has also been boosted by a patent cross-licence agreement with Cisco.

Kudelski Group reported operating income of CHF 27.7 million, representing growth of 79.9% over the first half 2013. Net income from continuing operations improved from CHF 10.7 million to CHF 18.3 million.

OpenTV5 deployments are progressing with the commercial launch at Starhub, Singapore in April.

A new content security solution has also gone in Israel’s HOT cable network, while the French Numericable selected NAGRA Media PRM and NAGRA Media Player SDK to enable its new Multiscreen application on Android and iOS (see separate story).

MTS loses triple play customers

Russia’s MTS ended the second quarter with 7,294,000 residential triple play (pay-TV, broadband and fixed-line telephony) subscribers, down from 7,844,000 a year earlier.

In its latest set of results, the company says that this decline reflects the migration of pay-TV subscribers from analogue to digital, “which results in (the) defection of certain types of subscribers.”

However, it also points out that the migration of pay-TV subscribers to MTS’s digital TV platform, along with the upselling of broadband subscribers and rising share of double and triple play subscribers in the customer base, has contributed to growth in ARPU, up from R306 in Q2 2013 to R330 in this year’s second quarter.

The MTS group, whose main business is offering mobile services in Russia, had revenues of R98.9 billion (€2.05 billion) in Q2, up from R97.5 billion a year earlier.

Its OIBDA was meanwhile R43.2 billion (R44.4 billion) and net income R21.1 billion (R29 billion).

MTS expects revenue growth of over 1% this year.

Although growth in Russia itself will be around 4-5%, its performance in Ukraine will be impacted by the “ongoing macroeconomic weakness and the uncertain political environment”.

China Digital TV ships 3.55 mn smartcards in Q2 2014

China Digital TV has reported that the smart cards shipment declined by 30,000 in the second quarter of 2014 year-on-year. The company has shipped over 3.55 million smart cards in the second quarter of 2014, as compared to 3.58 million in the same period in 2013 and 3.56 million in the first quarter of 2014. The company has posted a consolidated net revenue of USD 17.2 million in the second quarter of 2014, representing a 5.8% decrease from the same period in 2013 and a 5.6% decrease from the first quarter of 2014.

Revenue from smart cards and other products was USD 15.9 million in the second quarter of 2014, a decrease of 9.1% from the same period in 2013 and a decrease of 7.1% from the first quarter of 2014. “The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to a decrease in revenues from the sales of smart cards as a result of a decrease in the ASP,” said the company in a statement.

The company expects smart card shipment volumes in the third quarter of 2014 to be in the range of 3.6 million to 3.9 million. Net revenue from it in the third quarter of 2014 are expected to be in the range of USD 15.4 million to USD 16.6 million.

“Alongside the traditional CA market, we maintained our focus on value-added services this quarter, with our subsidiary Cybercloud continuing to explore market opportunities beyond partnerships with cable operators. There were exciting developments in our cloud computing business, including a new agreement with Jiangsu Mobile to develop cloud games for OTT set-top boxes and 4G cloud games on mobile, as well as the establishment of a streaming platform for Shandong Network TV covering China Telecom and Unicom broadband users in Shandong,” said Dr Lu Zengxiang, acting chief executive officer and acting chief financial officer of China Digital TV.

Cord-cutting has arrived in 12 Euro markets

Pay TV cord-cutting is now an undeniable phenomenon in a large number of European markets as 12 countries witnessed a decline in overall pay TV uptake in the first quarter of 2014, according to IHS Technology’s latest European pay TV Update.

Six of these markets are seeing their second quarter of decline suggesting a sustained softening of pay TV across much of the region.

Hardest hit are the Benelux and Scandinavian markets along with some of the smaller Central and Eastern European markets were recent strong growth is now reversing.

The 12 markets showing a decline in Q1 2014 are: Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Poland.

To date, only Italy among the five big European markets has suffered a sustained downturn in pay TV. France, Germany, Spain and the UK are all continuing to grow at above the European average.

Until recently, the cord-cutting phenomenon had largely been confined to the US market where very high pay TV penetration, high monthly cost and the economic downturn created a perfect storm that is now seeing a sustained downturn and the emergence of a new sub-group of ‘cord-nevers’—young households that do not bother taking a pay TV subscription.

Europe has remained largely immune from this trend, in part because the generally lower pay TV uptake leaves far more headroom for growth and because growth from IPTV in the West and low-cost digital satellite in the East has more than made up from losses on cable.

While individual markets like Italy and the Netherlands have had several quarters of decline, a sustained two-consecutive-quarter decline in such a wide-range of markets is a worrying trend for the industry as a whole. In the East, the two-quarter decline is affecting two of the region’s main markets: Poland and the Czech Republic.

Growth has also softened on a pan-regional basis, down 30% on the same quarter a year earlier at just 0.66% in the quarter. The rapid growth of IPTV and low-cost satellite is beginning to level-out, meaning losses on other traditional platforms are not being fully compensated.

While it is easy to point the finger at OTT services as the cause of cord-cutting, there is no obvious relationship between the markets now seeing a sustained decline and the entry of larger OTT players like Netflix. Further quarters will tell, but the current trend is likely a combination of factors including an over-hang from the recent economic downturn and the wider impact of new technology in the home broadening the consumption choices of the average consumer.

Irdeto assists in Forthnet migration

Irdeto and Forthnet have announced the completion of the pay-TV operator’s transition to a new DTH platform.

Forthnet, which operates under the Nova brand in the markets of Greece and Cyprus, has upgraded both headend and set-top box inventory to run MPEG-4 and DVB-S2. Irdeto Media Protection was brought in to ensure the high definition signals remained secure.

The move is believed to have put a stop to all control word distribution piracy.

“In recent years we have seen a surge in popularity of pay TV in Greece and it is our imperative to offer the best entertainment solutions to our current and future customers,” said Constantinos Moraitis, technical director at Forthnet Media Holdings. “Our collaborative team work with Irdeto demonstrates that the right anti-piracy strategy can create a successful new revenue-generating business model.”

Irdeto’s Secure Chipset Solution is now in place across Forthnet`s new Hybrid Platform, which supports a variety of satellite- and internet-based services to STBs in the region.

“By taking this decisive action to protect revenues and customers both now and in future, Forthnet is now at the forefront of the region’s pay TV market and is poised to continue to increase its market share as it develops its offering,” said Richard Scott, SVP of sales and marketing Irdeto.

Forthnet’s subscriber base has grown by 29.4% year-on-year. As of June 2014 it stood at 482,500 households.

Irdeto assists in Forthnet migration

Irdeto and Forthnet have announced the completion of the pay-TV operator’s transition to a new DTH platform.

Forthnet, which operates under the Nova brand in the markets of Greece and Cyprus, has upgraded both headend and set-top box inventory to run MPEG-4 and DVB-S2. Irdeto Media Protection was brought in to ensure the high definition signals remained secure.

The move is believed to have put a stop to all control word distribution piracy.

“In recent years we have seen a surge in popularity of pay TV in Greece and it is our imperative to offer the best entertainment solutions to our current and future customers,” said Constantinos Moraitis, technical director at Forthnet Media Holdings. “Our collaborative team work with Irdeto demonstrates that the right anti-piracy strategy can create a successful new revenue-generating business model.”

Irdeto’s Secure Chipset Solution is now in place across Forthnet`s new Hybrid Platform, which supports a variety of satellite- and internet-based services to STBs in the region.

“By taking this decisive action to protect revenues and customers both now and in future, Forthnet is now at the forefront of the region’s pay TV market and is poised to continue to increase its market share as it develops its offering,” said Richard Scott, SVP of sales and marketing Irdeto.

Forthnet’s subscriber base has grown by 29.4% year-on-year. As of June 2014 it stood at 482,500 households.

Conditional Access market set to decline

The global market for conditional access (CA) technology used in STBs is set to contract as pay-TV services reach saturation, according to IHS Technology

Worldwide market revenue for pay-TV STB CA technology will decline to $1.9 billion in 2018, down from a peak of $2.2 billion in 2015.

Conditional access is defined as any method or technology that prevents digital TV content from being viewed by those that have not been granted rights. In STBs, CA clients come in a variety of implementations, including software that is either embedded into an STB or comes separate in the form of smartcards or conditional access modules.

“The CA market is largely dependent on pay-TV growth,” said Wajahat Abbassi, senior analyst for Connected Home at IHS.

“Shipments of STB CA clients have grown strongly during the past 10 years, from 44 million units in 2003 to 246 million in 2013, driven by a decade of rampant pay-TV growth. However, this dependence will make further growth for CA challenging as the pay-TV market begins to slow.”

This information was derived from the CA Market Monitor report from the TV Technology Intelligence service at IHS.

The global STB content-protection market contracted to $2.1 billion in 2013, down 4.5% from $2.2 billion in 2012. The decline came despite a rise in shipments of STB CA clients, such as smart cards, whose shipments grew 6.0% to reach 246 million units in 2013.

The CA market will expand in 2014 and 2015, with Chinese and Indian cable TV digitization programs and further pay-TV growth in emerging markets. This will propel STB CA client shipments to 279 million units in 2015.

Even so, price competition and a trend toward software-based solutions will limit revenue expansion during the period, with the industry growing to just $2.2 billion by 2015.

A total of 53% of TV-owning households worldwide will subscribe to pay-TV services by the end of 2015. This high level of penetration will limit further growth opportunities for conditional access as the pay-TV market saturates. As a result, industry value will decline after 2015.

Cisco Systems Inc. currently leads the CA market with a 32% share of total revenue in 2013. The networking equipment giant gained market leadership with its acquisition of NDS Group Ltd. from News Corp. and private equity firm Permira in 2012.

Kudelski Group’s Nagravision has the second largest share at 27%. Its 2014 acquisition of Nordic pay TV and telecoms operator Telenor’s conditional access subsidiary, Conax, will see the top two players control nearly 65% of the market, at 2013 values.

“Consolidation in the CA market is not just a result of commoditization,” Abbassi said.

“The relationships between pay-TV operators and CA providers tend to be among the most long-lasting and persistent in the entire TV technology value chain. Being able to offer content protection as part of an overall solution, alongside other products such as STBs, STB software or multi-screen video components, is a strategic advantage for video technology providers. Doing so enables them to deliver high-value solutions that also benefit from the typically sticky nature of content-security relationships.”

Russian pay-TV: an update

Russia’s pay-TV subscriber total increased by 10% to 36.4 million in the first half of the year, according to data produced by iKS Consulting.

Published by AKTR andTelecomDaily, the total includes in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia earlier this year.

Tricolor TV remained the leading provider of services, with 10.56 million subscribers and a 29% market share.

It was followed by Rostelecom (7.7 million) and ER Telecom (2.65 million), with the three claiming a combined market share of 51%.

The top seven providers meanwhile had a combined market share of 77%.

The DTH platform Orion Express was the star performer in H1, growing its subscriber base by 71%, compared to an average of 10-11% recorded by other pay-TV companies.

Only one provider – MTS – saw its subscriber total decrease, in Q1 rather than H1, though at the same time its ARPU increased by 5% year-on-year.

Moscow remains a unique market in the pay-TV sector, with the number of subscribers exceeding the number of households. At the same time, the five leading providers of pay-TV service claimed a combined market share of 97%.

Although cable remains the main method of reception of pay-TV in Russia, accounting for 50% of subscribers, take-up of DTH and satellite is growing faster.

Indeed, by 2018 they will account for 40% and 12% of subscribers respectively, with cable falling to 48%.

By then, pay-TV penetration will stand at over 72%.

TelecomDaily notes that growth in pay-TV has generally slowed in Russia. It also puts the subscriber total as 35.5 million as of the end of June.

DTT grows in Belarus

DTT coverage has been increased in Belarus, with the number of transmitters distributing commercial DVB-T2 services now standing at 39.

According to Mediasat, DTT services in the country are being provided by the incumbent Beltelecom and planned investment in digitisation in the period 2013-2015 will amount to BYR289 billion (€20.73 million).

DTT coverage of Belarus should reach 80% of its territory by the end of next year.

According to the Ministry of Communications, the number of subscribers to commercial DTT services in Belarus at the end of the second quarter stood at over 28,000, up from 3,000 a year earlier.

Beltelecom is an active player in the TV industry in Belarus, operating a long-established IPTV service that uses the brand name Zala.

Tricolor TV tackles piracy

Russia’s leading DTH platform Tricolor TV has announced court decisions on a number of criminal cases and civil lawsuits it has initiated against pirates.

In one, a court in the Republic of Karelia awarded the company R330,000 (€6,838) against two brothers for an illegal card sharing scheme.

Besides being fined, both received a one-year prison sentence.

In another, in neighbouring Belarus rather than Russia itself, a court in Minsk convicted a person of distributing counterfeit smart cards.

Tricolor TV then filed and won a civil suit – just as in the Republic of Karelia – and was awarded the local equivalent of R384,104.

Vectra gains digital TV customers

Poland’s second largest cable operator Vectra had over 900,000 subscribers at the end of the second quarter, with almost two-thirds receiving digital TV services.

Data supplied by the operator to Wirtualne Media shows that Vectra’s subscriber total as of June 30 stood at 909,424, compared to 871,687 a year earlier.

Of these, 589,265 (514,604) opted for digital TV and 247,894 (301,294) analogue TV services.

Although Vectra’s fixed broadband subscriber total rose significantly over the year (478,376 v 426,323), those choosing mobile broadband fell slightly (26,903 v 27,468).

The telephony subscriber total meanwhile rose from 156,657 to 175,606 in the year to June 30.

Azerbaijan installs 10 new DVB-T transmitters

Azerbaijan state-owned broadcast company, Teleradio, has installed over ten new digital terrestrial TV transmitters in the country. It has planned to complete the installation of four new transmitters by the end of August.

The digital terrestrial television has reached to over 98% of the country, as per a report. The public DVB-T package includes 12 TV channels re-transmitted over the Mpeg-4 format.

Russia to adjust broadcasting strategy

Russia will have a new strategy for the development of broadcasting to 2025 in place by the end of this year.

Several local media sources the strategy will come alongside the development of a national plan for broadband access (also by the end of the year), the promotion of communication and the IT sector in preparation for the World Cup (2018) and Confederations Cup (2017) by March 31, 2015.

Also included will be the development of standards and use of information and communication technology by government and municipalities, along with regional information, both by the end of this year.

This will effectively amount to a revision of Russia’s ‘Information Society’ plan for the years 2011-2020.

Launched in 2010, it saw its finding cut this May by 10.49%.

Deutsche Telekom considers cable acquisitions

Germany’s national telco Deutsche Telecom considers taking over cable operators to strengthen its position in the domestic broadband market.

It would be imaginable for Telekom to acquire smaller cable companies such as Tele Columbus or PrimaCom in the near future, Niek Jan van Damme, head of Telekom Deutschland, confirmed in an interview with German news magazine Focus.

“We are taking a close look at the cable TV market and keep purchase options open. But it has to fit,” said van Damme.

Deutsche Telekom was believed to be one of the parties interested in taking over PrimaCom in spring 2012, but the cable company decided to end discussions about a possible sale after evaluating its options.

Germans embrace TV sets despite mobile boom

The TV set stays indispensable for the majority of Germans.

Five out of six TV users (86%) say that they “absolutely can’t” go without their TV set. TV sets are considered to be much more important than other home electronics devices such as CD, MP3 and DVD players (see chart).

These are the results of a survey conducted by research institute Aris among 1,004 people of at least 14 years of age on behalf of industry association BITKOM.

“The trend towards streaming on mobile devices like smartphones and tablet computers complements the TV set, but doesn’t replace it,” BITKOM’s managing director Bernhard Rohleder said in Berlin.

There is not much difference between age groups: Even 87% of TV users between 14 and 29 years of age say that they consider their TV set to be indispensable.

There are plenty of different ways to use TV sets nowadays besides the consumption of linear television, DVDs or Blu-ray discs. For example, photo and video files from the computer can be viewed on the TV screen.

According to research by IHS Technology, around 29 million TV sets are connected to the internet in Germany enabling direct streaming of TV programmes and videos from the web. “The TV set increasingly turns into a general output device for all kinds of sounds and images,” said Rohleder.

SES to deliver DTH services across French-speaking West Africa

SES To Deliver DTH Broadcast Services across French Speaking Countries in West Africa

LUXEMBOURG — SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced today that it will be delivering direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast television across French-speaking countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for the Lomé-based consortium of West African broadcasters led by Africable and Media Plus.

The multi-year contract for two transponders will allow the new platform to deliver direct-to-home (DTH) television from its Bamako Teleport to member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (also known by its French acronym UEMOA). The roll-out begins on 1 October 2014 across Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Niger.

SES will provide the satellite capacity on its SES-4 satellite located at 22 degrees West, the company’s prime orbital slot for Francophone sub-Saharan Africa, providing 100% audience reach from urban to non-urban areas.

The service will offer a bouquet of 80 channels, free-to-air (FTA) and encrypted, and will allow member countries to meet the global digital migration deadline of June 2015. Audiences will be able to connect to the existing national Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) networks and to receive content via satellite using a Dual Tuner receiver (MPEG4 and DVBS2/T2) included in the offer.

“As a global satellite operator, SES is well positioned to facilitate digital migration, particularly in Africa where geographic challenges loom large for broadcasters,” said Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, Senior Vice President, Africa for SES. “With over 50 satellites globally, SES has nine satellites which cover Africa. As such, we are well positioned to increase the choice of broadcast channels for local communities.”

Ismaila Sidibe, CEO of Africable, said, “Right to TV is our slogan. With over 20 years of experience as a leading wireless cable (MMDS) operator and content provider across Africa, we understand the importance of supporting digital migration on the continent to achieve 100% audience reach. It is our goal to deliver quality television to the wider population at an affordable cost, and we believe DTH technology can help us achieve this.”

Venezuela adds 170,000 pay TV subscribers in 2Q 2014

CARACAS — According to preliminary statistics published by its Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL), pay TV subscriptions in Venezuela at the end of June 2014 were 4.53 million, up from 3.80 million at the end of the second quarter of 2013 – an increase of 19.2% or 728 thousand. 170,456 susbscribers were added in the quarter.

Household penetration reached 61.68% with satellite taking 66% of the market versus 34% for cable TV.

                            Quarterly      Y-o-Y    Household
Year  Quarter  Subscribers  Additions  Additions  Penetration
----  -------  -----------  ---------  ---------  -----------
2011        I    2,611,476     60,646    185,992       37.38%
           II    2,615,122      3,646    158,996       37.51%
          III    2,684,731     69,609    197,864       38.08%
           IV    2,798,577    113,846    247,747       39.53%

2012        I    2,885,693     87,115    274,217       40.62%
           II    2,992,590    106,897    377,468       41.94%
          III    3,120,864    128,274    436,133       43.55%
           IV    3,404,298    283,434    605,721       47.38%

2013 (*)    I    3,614,224    209,926    728,531       50.11%
           II    3,800,658    186,434    808,069       52.51%
          III    3,921,288    120,630    800,424       53.98%
           IV    4,223,089    301,801    818,791       57.92%

2014 (*)    I    4,358,505    135,416    744,281       59.56%
           II    4,528,961    170,456    728,303       61.68%