Exset DMS integrated with DTV Research STBs

Exset’s DMS Integrated With DTV Research Set-Tops For Emerging Market Value-Add Services

THE NETHERLANDS — Exset, pioneers of TV ecosystems for enhanced digital TV services, has today announced that its DMS 2.0 value-add service solution is now fully integrated with DTV Research’s set-top technology, making DMS 2.0 available to already-deployed boxes. DTV Research has millions of set-tops already rolled out in emerging markets with DMS 2.0 able to be downloaded over-the-air or installed from the outset.

Exset’s DMS is a unique business and technology model that makes pay-TV self-financing in emerging markets without depending exclusively on subscriber fees for revenue. With its dynamic EPG to allow ad insertion and QR services pages to allow interactive advertising to disconnect homes, DMS bridges the gap between technology and value-added service creation, producing digital television platforms that can be monetised where previously it was virtually impossible. This allows populations to benefit from new information and entertainment services, while operators and governments, when partnering with Exset, monetise digital switchover and assist in bringing about social transformation.

Andrew Pons, Global Director of Sales and Marketing with Exset, says, “We have worked closely with DTV Research to create a seamless integration and to allow over-the-air downloading of our technology. We are now providing operators with multiple ways of deploying DMS 2.0 and we are working with DTV Research to identify opportunities both with deployed boxes and new customers. It’s vital for emerging markets that we keep the cost to an absolute minimum while providing a route to far greater ARPU and reduced churn.”

Exset will be available to discuss this important development during CABSAT, March 10-12, Dubai. DTV Research is a subsidiary of General Satellite.

Pay DTT up 52% year-on-year in Croatia

The Croatian Post and Electronic Communications Agency (Hrvatska agencija za poštu i elektroničke komunikacije – HAKOM) has reported communications market data for the country to the end of the fourth quarter of 2014.

Pay DTT (EvoTV) was the fastest growing segment of the TV market with subscriptions increasing by over 52% over the year. IPTV remains the leading pay TV platform with nearly 394,000 subscribers.

Television households:

                       4Q 2013  1Q 2014  2Q 2014  3Q 2014  4Q 2014  4Q14 v 3Q14  4Q14 v 4Q13
                       -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -----------  -----------
Cable                  149,991  148,705  148,122  153,261  154,153        0.58%        2.77%
IPTV                   390,918  390,997  393,983  393,104  393,717        0.16%        0.72%
Satellite              131,537  137,268  143,066  144,034  147,382        2.32%       12.05%
Pay DTT                 31,411   36,241   38,823   37,968   47,899       26.16%       52.49%
FTA DTT*               791,851  782,497  771,724  767,341  752,557       -1.93%       -4.96%

* The number of free-to-air digital terrestrial households = 1,535,635 (the number of households in the Republic of Croatia according to the 2011 census) – 2.6% (households without TV) – (number of Cable + IPTV + Satellite + Pay DTT subscribers)

Rostelecom goes multiscreen with SmartLabs

SmartLabs enables Rostelecom to deliver content on multiple devices

Rostelecom subscribers can now enjoy their content on PCs, laptops, tablets and Smart TVs.

The new multiscreen feature is an extension of Rostelecom´s successful IPTV service, which is powered by the SmartLabs IPTV Solution, and delivers digital TV services to over 2.5 million homes across Russia.

At the heart of the SmartLabs solution are the SmartTUBE Service Delivery Platform (SDP) and SmartTUBE UI, with client applications, which combine to deliver a state of the art TV service on STBs and now also PCs, laptops, tablets and Smart TVs.

Users are not only able to view content on multiple devices but they are also able to pause a show, or a movie, on one device and resume playback on a different device. This enhanced service offers Rostelecom customers a new level of flexibility designed specifically to address their demands to consume content on different devices and not just on a TV with a STB. The multiscreen offering will be extended further in the near future and support for a variety of smartphones are planned to be added to the service.

The multiscreen service was launched after three months of trials and Rostelecom hopes the increased flexibility will offer customers an improved viewing experience, boost the use of on-demand services and attract new customers to the service.

“For Rostelecom´s subscribers, we have taken TV viewing to a totally new level,” said Mikhail Grachev, SmartLabs CEO. “Now the user can choose the best device to watch any content on. Today´s subscribers seek more viewing freedom, and we are happy to cater to their ever-changing demands. Our focus is to expand the operator´s portfolio with innovative services which are appealing to their subscribers.”

New Zealand Sky TV subscribers down 8,707 in 2H 2014

New Zealand Sky Television (NZX: SKT) has reported results for the six months to 31 December 2014.

John Fellet Chief Executive Officer said:

“MY SKY subscribers now represent 64.2% of SKY’s satellite subscriber base compared to 58.6% in the comparative period. At 31 December 2014, SKY had 529,001 MY SKY subscribers compared to 486,252 in December 2013, an increase of 8.8%. Subscribers continue to find great value in the MY SKY product which is demonstrated by continued migration from the standard digital decoder to the MY SKY decoder.

A disappointing aspect of the six month result was the net loss of 8,707 subscribers.

We have already launched several new business models that exploit both the internet and Video On Demand. We have launched IGLOO a hybrid model delivering content via the internet and Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT). We have also just launched NEON an internet delivered Subscription Video On Demand model and FAN PASS which is a single sport, single season subscription model delivered via the internet.

We are now working on our greatest innovation and challenge of all. Our next goal is to download to all MY SKY decoders a software upgrade which will allow every MY SKY decoder to connect to the internet allowing access to content in either the traditional linear format or an On Demand basis. We will also be rolling out MY SKY boxes to all our digital subscribers to enable them to take advantage of these new products and services.”

On 30 October 2014 SKY carried out a major technology upgrade to its broadcast head end, thereby laying the foundation for exciting future service upgrades. This will enable MY SKY boxes to have the ability to connect to the internet through the existing ethernet port with an ethernet cable or a WiFi device.

At its AGM in October 2014, SKY announced it was launching a brand new Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) service called NEON. NEON will offer exclusive TV series, hundreds of movies, great factual entertainment, documentaries and brilliant family viewing. Customers will get the first 30 days for free and then it’s just $20 every month thereafter, with no long-term contracts and no ads.

Subscriber Base

                        31 Dec 2014  30 Jun 2014  31 Dec 2013
                        -----------  -----------  -----------
Total subscribers           856,348      865,055      857,115
 Residential                696,211      715,058      684,841
 Wholesale (1)              119,196      111,390      135,399
 Commercial                   9,153        9,060        8,401
 Other (2)                   31,788       29,547       28,474

MY SKY Subscribers (3)      529,001      504,713      486,252

1. Includes subscribers receiving SKY packages via affiliate services, such as arrangements with Spark (formerly Telecom) and Vodafone.
2. Includes subscribers to programmed music and online DVD rentals via SKY’s subsidiary companies, SKY DMX Music Limited and Screen Enterprises Limited. Also includes residential subscribers to IGLOO’s package launched in December 2012.
3. Included in total subscribers.

Deutsche Telekom records stronger IPTV growth

Germany’s national telco Deutsche Telekom won 65,000 new customers for its domestic IPTV platform Entertain in Q4 2014.

Entertain is contining to grow quicker than in previous quarters: In Q3 2014, Telekom recorded 59,000 new customers while Q4 2013 saw 56.000 additions. In total, Entertain had 2.44 million customers on December 31, 2014.

The number of broadband customers rose by 0.2% to 12.36 million.

Telekom recorded growing demand for its fibre-optic broadband products FTTH and VDSL: In Q4 2014, 323.000 customers signed up for a fibre-optic line – 143% more than in 2013. The total number of fibre-optic customers rose by 66% to more than 2.5 million within a year.

Crisis hits Russian TV ad market

Russia’s TV advertising market is starting to be hit by the economic crisis affecting the country, with revenues in Q1 projected to be down by a quarter.

Quoting sources at three national channels, providing the assessments of the sales houses Vi and Gazprom-Media, AKTR and Vedomostireport that the fall is likely to be even steeper in the second quarter.

Although the entire ad market grew by 5% in the first three quarters of 2014, with TV budgets increasing by a minimum of 4%, the decline began in Q4, when it was predicted that TV ad revenues would slump by 10% in 2015.

Yuro Kostin, from Gazprom-Media, said that estimating the value of the ad market for Q1 is not yet possible. However, he added that advertisers on average spent 40% less this January than in the same period last year.

Comparisons with last year are nevertheless unreliable as the market was buoyed by the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

In 2009, during the last economic crisis, the Russian TV ad market contracted by 20% in the first quarter.

The signs already point to the current crisis being more severe.

RCS&RDS secures CME assets

RCS&RDS has officially taken over the radio stations owned by CME in Romania.

HotNews reports that this follows the granting of approval for the deal, first announced late last year, by the country’s National Audiovisual Council (CNA).

The stations in question are Pro FM, Info Pro, Pro Classic FM Music and Dance FM. Pro FM will now remain a music-based service, while Info Pro will be turned into the information service Digi FM.

RCS&RDS is the leading cable and DTH operator in Romania, while CME’s assets include the national commercial broadcaster Pro TV and several thematic channels.

Movistar boost Telefónica pay-TV figures

Telefónica ended 2014 with 1.9 million pay-TV customers in its home market, or three times the number only a year earlier.

In its latest set of results, the company says that this was largely due to the success of Movistar.

In the fourth quarter alone, net additions amounted to 305,000, while churn was only 1%, or 1.9 percentage points lower than a year earlier.

The Spanish telco, which also has extensive TV interests in Latin America, had 5.1 million pay-TV customers in total at the end of 2014, gaining 437,000 in Q4 alone.

The group’s total revenues in 2014 amounted to €50,377 million, 11.7% down on the reported figure for the previous year.

OIBDA was €15,515 million (-18.7%), while the net income of €6,967 million contrasted with a loss of €34.7 million in 2013.

HD tops SD in German DTH market

17.6 million TV households in Germany received HD television at the end of 2014 – an increase by 24% within 12 months (2013: 14.2 million).

The share of HD households among German TV households now amounts to 45%. From the HD households, the largest part are DTH satellite households (10 million), followed by cable (6.6 million) and IPTV (1 million).

The total number of HD households rose from 18.1 to 18.2 million, resembling a market share of 47%. Thus, for the first time, the majority of DTH households are HD households.

The number of cable households increased from 16.85 to 16.9 million (market share 44%). DVB-T reaches 2.2 million households (market share 6%) while 1.5 million households (market share 4%) have opted for IPTV.

The figures are taken from the TV Monitor 2014 for which market research institute TNS Infratest interviewed 6,000 households on behalf of satellite operator Astra. The figures refer to the main TV reception device, usually the large TV set in the living room.

A strong increase is predicted for the new Ultra HD format. Around 220,000 Ultra HD TV sets were sold in Germany by the end of 2014, according to GfK Retail and Technology. The market researchers expect another around 750,000 Ultra HD TV sets to be sold in Germany by the end of this year.

Global IPTV market grows 14%

The worldwide pay-TV market is expected to grow 5% in 2014, surpassing 924.4 million subscribers.

“IPTV is expected to grow a market leading 14% in 2014, followed by satellite TV platform at 7%. The growth rates of cable and terrestrial TV platforms are expected to slow to around 3%,” commented Jake Saunders, VP and practice director of core forecasting at ABI Research.

Global cable TV market growth is driven by the Asian-Pacific and Latin American markets. A combination of the two regions is likely to add over 13 million subscribers in 2014 while the cable TV market in North America is expected to decline approximately 1% in 2014. In 3Q 2014, major cable TV operators in North America lost over 400,000 TV customers, although cable companies are doing well in broadband.

Video streaming services such as Netflix and TiVo, which cost less than US$10 in monthly fees are attractive alternatives for pay-TV customers. Traditional pay-TV operators are now trying to compete with these services by developing their own video-streaming products or by integrating these services in their existing services. Online video service Netflix has agreed to deals with some of the pay-TV operators in Europe to offer its streaming service to European broadband customers. Canadian companies such as Cogeco, Rogers Communications, and Shaw Communications also recently announced deals to offer Netflix’s video streaming service to their own broadband customers.

Bundled packages help pay-TV operators try to reduce churn. In addition, HD channels, advanced PVR services and premium content such as sport content contribute to increased ARPU. “The worldwide HD subscriber base is growing on all pay-TV platforms. Approximately 57% of total pay-TV subscribers will be HD subscribers by 2019. ABI Research forecasts the global pay-TV market will generate US$324 billion in service revenues by 2019,” added Khin Sandi Lynn, industry analyst.

Den Networks incurs a loss of INR626mn in Q3 FY15

Den Networks has incurred a loss of INR626 million in Q3 FY 2015. The MSO has generated a consolidated revenue of INR2.6 billion in the third quarter FY 2014-15 as against INR2.74 billion in the third quarter FY 2013-14.

The company has recorded a revenue of INR2.56 billion and INR22 million from cable business and broadband segments respectively. Delhi Dynamos Football club, distribution and TV Commerce (Den-Snapdeal joint venture) segments have generated a revenue of INR81 million, INR13 million and INR6 million respectively during the third quarter FY 2015.

In the cable business, Den has incurred a net loss of INR118 million in the third quarter FY 2015 as compared to INR63 million in the second quarter of FY 2015. However, the company said that for the quarter under review, the revenue is net of LCO share. Its cable business subscription revenue net off LCO share grew 18%, up by 11% year-on-year. It has increased to INR1.16 billion in Q3 FY 2015 from INR970 million in Q3 FY 2014. Its placement revenue stood at INR1.15 billion, digital set-top-box activation revenue was INR150 million and revenue from other operating income stood at INR104 million.

The channel operated by Den-Snapdeal has reached 19 million homes and clocked gross merchandise value of over INR1 billion in Q3 FY 2015, said the company in its financial statement. Den Networks has seeded over 197,000 set-top-boxes during the quarter taking the total STB deployment to 6.8 million in India.

More than 3 million households for Germany's HD+

SES platform HD+ in Germany Reaches More Than 3 Million Households

LUXEMBOURG — SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced today that its German HD platform HD+ continued to grow successfully in 2014, reaching more than three million households at the end of 2014. At 31 December 2014, 1.65 million households were paying for the service, an increase of 17 percent compared to the previous year (at 31 December 2013). Another 1.4 million households were in the free-trial period.

HD+ offers a package of High Definition TV channels, providing an HD broadcast platform for 20 of the leading private broadcasters in Germany. In addition, HD+ users can receive over 30 other free-to-air channels in brilliant HD-quality.

At the same time, the German market reach study “TV Monitor”, conducted annually by SES, showed that the number of HD satellite households in Germany exceeded, for the first time, the ten million mark. A further 6.6 million households watch HD via cable and one million via IPTV. The number of HD households therefore totaled 17.6 million, about 24 percent more than a year before (14.2 million). The total number of TV households in Germany reached 38 million. Reaching 18.2 million households, satellite remains the most important broadcast distribution infrastructure.

Global pay TV subscriber base to pass 924.4 million in 2014

Global pay-TV Subscriber Base to Surpass 924.4 Million in 2014 with 14% Growth of IPTV Market

SINGAPORE — The worldwide pay-TV market is expected to grow 5% in 2014, surpassing 924.4 million subscribers. “IPTV is expected to grow a market leading 14% in 2014, followed by satellite TV platform at 7%. The growth rates of cable and terrestrial TV platforms are expected to slow to around 3%,” comments Jake Saunders, VP and Practice Director of Core Forecasting at ABI Research.

Global cable TV market growth is driven by the Asian-Pacific and Latin American markets. A combination of the two regions is likely to add over 13 million subscribers in 2014 while the cable TV market in North America is expected to decline approximately 1% in 2014. In 3Q 2014, major cable TV operators in North America lost over 400,000 TV customers, although cable companies are doing well in broadband.

Video streaming services such as Netflix and TiVo, which cost less than US$10 in monthly fees are attractive alternatives for pay-TV customers. Traditional pay-TV operators are now trying to compete with these services by developing their own video-streaming products or by integrating these services in their existing services. Online video service Netflix has agreed to deals with some of the pay-TV operators in Europe to offer its streaming service to European broadband customers. Canadian companies such as Cogeco, Rogers Communications, and Shaw Communications also recently announced deals to offer Netflix’s video streaming service to their own broadband customers.

Bundled packages help pay-TV operators try to reduce churn. In addition, HD channels, advanced PVR services and premium content such as sport content contribute to increased ARPU. “The worldwide HD subscriber base is growing on all pay-TV platforms. Approximately 57% of total pay-TV subscribers will be HD subscribers by 2019. ABI Research forecasts the global pay-TV market will generate US$324 billion in service revenues by 2019,” adds Khin Sandi Lynn, Industry Analyst.

ABI Research’s Pay TV ARPU and Revenues and Pay TV Subscribers market data are updated quarterly and profile global pay-TV subscription information. Detailed market trends and market forecast information for key regions and countries around the world are provided where available. The study is a part of the company’s Pay TV Market Research.

ABS-CBN to invest PHP600mn in 2015, launches STB for PHP2,500

ABS-CBN Corporation has planned to allocate over PHP600 million this year to expand the coverage of its digital terrestrial television service in Philippines. The company has intended to tap other provinces such as Cagayan, Cebu, Bacolod, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Naga.

ABS-CBN has launched a set-top-box, TVPlus, for PHP2,500. It aims to sell over one million set-top-boxes this year. The company said that it had invested over PHP3 billion since 2008 to roll out digital television service.

“I think this year we have to go to other provinces like Cagayan, Cebu, Bacolod, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Naga. Based on our estimate it would be around P600 million this year. We are still looking at the investment to cover nationwide. We will see how the market responds first,” said Ron Valdueza, Chief Financial Officer of ABS-CBN Corporation.

“DTT is an investment in the Filipino people. We believe that the inspiration and the information that digital TV will beam into their homes will help open new windows of opportunity for every Filipino family,” said Carlo Katigbak, Head of Access with ABS-CBN. “Through Philippines DTT, we hope to create and offer more information and entertainment content for viewers in order to give them more choices, serve them better, and enrich their lives,” he added.

Challenging year for Hravtski Telekom

Hrvatski Telekom (T-HT) saw little growth in its TV subscriber total in 2014.

However, it ended the year as still the leading provider of pay-TV services in Croatia.

The incumbent had 393,000 TV customers, a modest increase of 0.7% on the total posted a year earlier, as of the end of 2014.

Its IPTV subscriber total was down by 2% to 333,000, cable unchanged at 6,000 and DTH up by 21.6% to 54,000. TV ARPU was up by 1.5% year-on-year to HRK80 (€10.4).

T-HT’s revenues in 2014 amounted to HRK6,908 million, down 1.9% on a year earlier.

Its net profit was 20.7% lower at HRK1,142 million.

Orange Polska gains TV subs

The Polish incumbent Orange Polska gained 41,000 subscribers to its TV services in 2014, ending the year with 748,000.

On the other hand, its fixed broadband subscriber total fell by 2.6% year-on-year to 2,241,000, though this was offset by a 30.6% rise in mobile broadband customers to 1,521,000.

The take-up of triple play services continued to grow, with the number of customers at year’s end (423,000) being 20.5% up on the same period in 2013.

Orange Polska’s revenues in 2014 were, at PLN12,212 million (€2,910.2 million), down by 4.5% on the previous year.

EBITDA was PLN3,921 million, down PLN125 million on 2013. Net income was PLN535 million, compared to PLN294 million in 2013, with EBITDA boosted by the PLN191 million gain on the sale of Wirtualna Polska.

Verimatrix secures Telefonica’s Movistar TV

Telefónica has deployed the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) for IPTV to provide security for its Movistar TV.

VCAS for IPTV currently ensures revenue security for the premium channels offered through the Movistar TV service; however, in the future, VCAS will also easily scale to protect the entire offering. Movistar TV currently has two million subscribers in Spain alone.
As the top-ranked IPTV content protection solution, VCAS for IPTV enables the secure delivery of linear TV

VCAS for IPTV has been integrated into Telefónica’s STB and SmartTV offering, featuring models by ADB, Arris, Zyxel, and Samsung. The solution provides protection for both legacy STBs, smartTVs and future STBs, and has also been also integrated with Telefónica’s existing back office systems. The integration effort has been lead by Alcatel Lucent.

“Verimatrix is widely regarded as the leader in revenue security,” said Roberto Campo, director of the Service Development Residential segment at Telefónica.

“The company’s reputation for excellence and innovation were top of mind when it came time to choose a reliable revenue protection solution for our Movistar service offering. We anticipate many advantages and cost efficiencies as a result of deploying VCAS for IPTV as it affords us the flexibility to use one solution for both legacy and future STBs, as well as the ability to deploy multiple DRMs under a unified security head-end.”

“Innovative operators such as Telefónica require a robust revenue security solution to protect their valuable content assets,” said Steve Oetegenn, president, Verimatrix.

“Having been successfully deployed by more than 500 operators, VCAS for IPTV is well suited to protect even the largest, most popular service offerings, such as Telefónica’s Movistar TV. In addition, the VCAS solution is both flexible and scalable, enabling Telefónica to easily enhance their security coverage should they expand their network.”

HbbTV 2.0 specification released

The HbbTV Association has announced the release of version 2.0 of the HbbTV specification. The HbbTV 2.0 specification is the result of more than 2 years work in HbbTV as well as partner organisations including DVB and the Open IPTV Forum. The specification is a major update to the previous HbbTV specification which;

• adds new features to make existing services more attractive to the end-user or the service provider
• enables new services such as push VoD
• updates technologies from earlier specifications
• improves interoperability between services and terminals

Two major themes of the specification are the addition of support for companion screens (tablets or phones) and synchronisation to broadcast delivered content.

As well as these two major themes, other significant additions concern privacy, broadband subtitles, DVB CI Plus 1.4 and push VoD.

The most significant technologies that have been updated are HTML, video codecs and MPEG DASH.

First HbbTV 2.0 receivers are expected to appear in the market in 2016. HbbTV will award a contract for a test suite for receivers in April / May 2015 with deliveries during the remainder of 2015. This should permit the release of a validated and approved test suite some time during 2016.

Star India acquires Maa TV

Star India adheres to inorganic growth in Telugu television industry. It has announced the acquisition of Maa Television Network. Star India has planned to enhance quality of content and to bring in more innovation.

Maa TV group is owned by industrialist, Nimmagadda Prasad; Rajya Sabha member, Chiranjeevi and actor, Nagarjuna. It operates four Telugu channels namely Maa TV, Maa Music, Maa Gold and Maa Movies. It claims to have over 27% of market share in Telugu television industry.

“The Telugu market is an important market; however, the pace of innovation has been slow. We are keen to change this by acquiring a local presence and fundamentally changing the content quality paradigm. We were very impressed by the solid creative core and depth of the management team at Maa Television Network. In a short span of time, they have built a leading business that is poised to take the next leap. The acquisition fills a vital gap in our portfolio, allowing our advertisers targeted access to a critical market,” said Uday Shankar, CEO of Star India.

“Star’s leading position in the industry and its parent company’s proven expertise in media business on a global scale will enable Maa to offer more innovative, rich and differentiated entertainment content to the Telugu diaspora worldwide. We see a lot of synergies and complementary strengths emanating from the strategic deal, and it will be a win-win proposition for Maa and Star,” said Nimmagadda Prasad, Chairman of Maa Television Network.

VTC, VOV commence merger in February

Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communication has received Prime Minister’s approval for its plan to merge Vietnam Television Corporation (VTC) and Voice of Vietnam (VOV). The merger process will commence this month and completion of merger is likely to take a few years. The merged company will operate as a multimedia group that will include print media, television, radio and digital media.

According to Truong Minh Tuan, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication, the merger process would take a long time because VOV had not made specific merger plans including issues of assets and debts. This merger strategy is in line with the country’s development and management of national journalism by 2025. Under the plan, each ministry or each sector will have only one media unit, said Nguyen Bac Son, Minister of Information and Communication.

VTC revenue stood at USD149.5 million in 2014. It owns 15 channels and it provides digital terrestrial television, cable television, satellite television, internet protocol television and internet television. VTC has been managed by MIC since January 2014 while it was launched by Vietnam Multimedia Corporation in 2003. VOV is the national radio broadcaster and it was launched on 2 September, 1945.

Teleste embeds Samsung LYNK DRM solution into headend

Korean television manufacturer, Samsung Electronics, has bagged a deal from Finland based broadband and video technology provider, Teleste Corporation. Samsung LYNK digital rights management system has been embedded into Teleste Luminato headend platform.

This deal enables hospitality service providers and integrators to deliver secured, HDTV content to Samsung hospitality TVs. According to the firms, this solution introduces a fully embedded encryption and decryption of HDTV content in a headend single module for the first time in the world. It eliminates the need of an external server and exposure of any decrypted content for unauthorized use. This solution aids cost-efficient delivery of premium HDTV channels in hotel televisions without any additional chipset or hardware. It also it delivers both IPTV and digital cable audio and video content.

“Introducing Samsung LYNK DRM as an integral part of our headend platform is an exciting step towards creating flexible and more cost-efficient solutions for delivering TV services in the hospitality industry,” said Hanno Narjus, Senior Vice President of Video and Broadband Solutions for Teleste Corporation, “We are delighted that our co-operation with Samsung has resulted in a solution that can benefit not only service providers but also consumers around the world with better quality TV services and premium content.”

TrueVisions bets big on sports content

TrueVisions has intended to enhance its sports and entertainment programming. It has planned to partner with RS Inc and beIN Sports to secure broadcast rights to two major football leagues. RS and beIN Sports hold broadcast rights of La Liga League and UEFA Champions League respectively.

TrueVisions has planned to renew its licence of Calcio Serie A football league which expires this year. It has secured three years broadcast rights to Thailand Premier League for THB1.8 billion. La Liga and Calcio Serie A have planned to float the tender for 2016-18 seasons in the second half of this year.

“Thailand’s pay-TV industry has been very dynamic with a number of newcomers over the past three years, but only two operators, TrueVisions and CTH, could shake up the market,” claimed Attaphon Na Bangxang, Chief Programme and Content Officer at TrueVisions.

“The variety and quality of content is the heart of the pay TV business to meet the demand of various viewer groups in each segment,” he added.

Ecuador adds 53,128 pay TV subscribers in 4Q 2014

QUITO — Ecuador’s Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (SUPERTEL) has released pay TV statistics for the country to the end of 2014. Ecuador finished the year with 1,210,575 pay TV subscribers, up 53,128 (4.59%) in the quarter, driven by growth in satellite subscriptions.

Subscribers by method of payment (4Q 2014)

             Post-pay  Pre-pay      Total        %
             --------  -------  ---------  -------
Satellite     466,789  260,202    726,991   60.05%
Terrestrial    42,373        0     42,373    3.50%
Cable         437,835    3,376    441,211   36.45%
             --------  -------  ---------  -------
TOTAL         946,997  263,578  1,210,575  100.00%

Subscribers by reception method

             2013 1Q  2013 2Q  2013 3Q  2013 4Q    2014 1Q    2014 2Q    2014 3Q    2014 4Q
             -------  -------  -------  -------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Satellite    296,848  398,065  436,623  473,284    562,988    623,414    672,052    726,991
Terrestrial   51,991   70,240   67,958   59,186     57,686     45,902     43,759     42,373
Cable        337,024  381,556  393,294  411,095    419,526    434,723    441,636    441,211
             -------  -------  -------  -------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
TOTAL        685,863  849,861  897,875  943,565  1,040,200  1,104,039  1,157,447  1,210,575

Sun TV profit raises by 15% y-o-y in Q3 FY15

Sun TV Network’s net profit has increased by 15.25% year-on-year in the third quarter fiscal 2015 to INR2.14 billion from INR1.85 billion in the third quarter FY 2014.

The company has recorded a revenue of INR5.52 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 as compared to INR5.08 billion during the same quarter last year, up by 9% year-on-year.

Sun Digital TV, the DTH arm, has generated a revenue of INR1.32 billion, up by 18% year-on-year. The company’s advertisement revenue for the quarter stood at INR2.91 billion with an increase of 7% year-on-year. Its EBITDA stood at INR4.28 billion.

ABS-CBN launches digital TV service on 11 February

ABS-CBN Corporation will launch digital terrestrial television service on 11 February in Philippines. Broadcasting regulator, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), released guidelines to transition to digital terrestrial television broadcast service to ensure smooth transition from analogue to digital television on 7 December, 2014.

The country has selected Japan’s Integrated Service Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial standard over Europe’s Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial 2 (DVB-T2).

Under the guidelines, operators are expected to simulcast DTTB service with analogue TV service for one year after the launch of DTTB service. Analogue very high frequency television service should neither be disrupted nor terminated until further orders from the NTC. VHF TV operators that fail to simulcast within one year would lose their frequency to other qualified ultra-high frequency TV operators.

“In order to facilitate the entry of digital broadcast services in the country, there is a need to provide the corresponding guidelines for the delivery of digital television services and ensure smooth transition from analog to digital services,” said Gamaliel Cordoba, Commissioner of NTC.

Divan.TV breaks even

The Ukrainian OTT service Divan.TV reached breakeven in Q4 2014, registering revenue growth of 15-20% monthly.

Aimed at a Ukrainian and Russian speaking audience of 300 million in 200 countries worldwide, it currently has a subscriber base of over 700,000 registered users. This is 180% more than at the end of 2013, while revenues last year were 130% up on 2013.

The majority of Divan.TV users (70%) access the service on smart TVs. As a result, the company entered into a strategic partnership last year with LG.

The Divan.TV app is also available on Philips TV. Meanwhile, the number of Android and iOS installations now exceeds 100,000.

Divan.TV has also launched new interface (2.0) on Samsung Smart TV, LG, Philip and STV (Duna, iNext and Aura).

Commenting on its plans for 2015, Arkadiy Kanyuka, Divan TV’s newly appointed executive director, said: “We plan to scale our business going internationally with the focus on Ukrainian- and Russian speaking audience outside of Ukraine and Russia. We see untapped mark?t there, that`s why we are looking forward for partnership with local ISP`s and Cable companies in USA and Europe to upsale their current and future clients with our offering in bundle with their core service”.

Foxconn to Shut Chennai Factory on February 10; Floats Severance Package for Workers

Foxconn- the largest contractor of electronics- is closing its Chennai facility on February 10.

Hon Hai Precision- better known as Foxconn- had announced late last year that it is shutting down its handset manufacturing plant in India due to reduction in orders. Foxconn has now said that February, 10 will be the last working day of its Chennai factory.

Work has been suspended at the facility since December, 2014; with workers currently being in paid leave.

Foxconn says that workers will get an average of 326,000 INR; two months’ salary for every year of service with a cap of 12 months, INR 50,000 in lump sum, INR 8,300 as the bonus of 2014 and a service awarded component of INR 2,000 for every 5 years of service. Workers have time till February 9, 2014 to decide whether they accept the severance package. Employees will be given state-prescribed severance amount if they fail to comply with company policy, reports the Times of India.

“This severance was floated of February 3. We have not paid them the January salary yet, which will be clubbed with the severance,” said a top executive in the company who wished to remain unnamed, according to TOI.

Foxconn currently employs about 1,300 technical workers at its Chennai plant, with each worker being paid INR 14,500 a month. Apart from the 190 million INR in salaries, the company also spends on electricity, water and on other mandatory licenses to run the factory in the Nokia SEZ. Foxconn had recently said that it is finding it difficult to run the plant.

The closure is seen as a direct fallout of Nokia’s factory shutdown in November.

Tax Issues at Nokia Factory

Nokia had announced last year that it is selling its handset business, including the Chennai plant, to Microsoft for $7.2 billion. However, the company wasn’t able to offload the plant to Microsoft due to tax dispute.

The Income Tax Department froze the sale of the company over a 210 billion INR charge over royalty payment to parent Nokia’s Finland company. Nokia is now fighting the case at the Supreme Court. The company has closed the factory, but has kept it under working condition.

Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam has reportedly urged centre to lift the asset freeze on the plant. “Retrospective amendments to the Income Tax Act in 2012 with effect from 1976 and levy of a huge penalty on the world’s largest mobile handset manufacturing plant located in Tamil Nadu resulted in the closure of the unit,” he said, without mentioning Nokia, according to Indo Asian News Service.

Pannerselvam was speaking at the governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog in New Delhi,

New Ziggo to abandon retail model for STBs

Dutch cable operator Ziggo will stop activating smart cards that are used with purchased receivers, but will continue to support customers who own a retail STB.

Following the acquisition of Ziggo by Liberty Global, the operator is now adjusting its business model to that of UPC Nederland. At the same time, Ziggo is also adjusting its line-up of TV and radio channels to that of UPC Nederland on a region-by-region basis.

Until now, Ziggo used to have two business models for its TV customers: people could choose between a rental model or buy a STB or a CI+ TV set in retail and having the smart card activated by the cabler.

UPC Nederland only offers a rental model: people have to rent a STB (either the Open TV powered Mediabox or the Horizon box) or rent a CI+ module for €4.00 a month.

In a letter to retailers, Ziggo has now outlined that the operator will not activate smart cards obtained in retail from April 1. However, all existing customers will continue to be able to use their reception equipment.

New Ziggo will also start to offer the Horizon product to its customers.

Moldovan DTH platform banned

The DTH platform Focus-Sat has been banned from providing pay-TV services in Moldova for six months.

It has also been fined MDL8,000 (€380.6).

In a statement, the regulator ANRCETI says that this follows a decision by the Court of Appeal in Chisinau, following on from an original decision on September 30 that was upheld by the court on December 2 last year.

According to Newsmaker, the action against the Focus-Sat stemmed from a number of complaints from customers about substandard service and the impossibility of contacting the platform.

It adds that Focus-Sat is the third largest provider of pay-TV services in Moldova, claiming 7,300 subscribers and a 3.7% share of the market.

Another Moldovan regulator – the Coordination Council on Television and Radio (CCA) has also received complaints about Focus-Sat and imposed a maximum fine of MDL5,400 on the platform last December.

Focus-Sat is majority owned by Kronos Business Group (53.68%), with Media Horizons (26.94%) and the cable operator Sun Communications (9.38%) being the next largest shareholders.

Smaller shareholders include Eastern Space Systems (Romania) and Eastern Space Systems Bulgaria (Bulgaria), with the company’s authorised capital being MDL50.7 million.

Industry sources now believe Focus-Sat faces the real prospect of being closed.

TDC grows TV base

TDC’s new emphasis on TV and home entertainment has paid dividends with the addition of 76,000 new residential TV and broadband customers during 2014, including 45,000 in Denmark.

The acquisition of Norwegian cablenet Get has also helped with the ambition to become Scandinavia’s leading provider of communications solutions and home entertainment. TDC Group’s combined share of the TV market in Denmark and Norway now totals almost 40%.

“We are satisfied with meeting our financial targets for 2014. This included high cash flow generation, continued opex savings, and a substantial increase in TV and broadband customers in the Danish consumer market,” says CEO Carsten Dilling, TDC Group.

TDC Group attracted 26k new customers in Denmark, while Get added an additional 3,000 TV customers and 6,000 broadband customers.

The TDC TV IPTV platform brought in 40,000 customers, even if spindown resulted in a fall in ARPU of DKK8 as customers moved to new, cheaper packages.

TDC/Fullrate brand TDC and Fullrate achieved revenue growth of 14.2% or DKK112m to DKK903m in 2014.

14,000 customers were lost from TDC’s Danish cable operations YouSee, evenly split between individual customers and housing associations. As of January 1, TDC lost 14,000 antenna association customers, though TDC refers to these as ‘low ARPU’.

Airtel Digital TV revenue increases by 15.8% in Q3 FY 2014

Airtel Digital TV has recorded a revenue of INR6.2 billion in the third quarter FY 2015, as compared to INR5.3 billion in the third quarter FY 2014, up by 15.8% year-on-year. Its EBITDA stood at INR1.7 billion in this quarter with a growth rate of 76% year-on-year.

Airtel Digital TV has added 270,000 subscribers during the third quarter. It has over 9.8 million subscribers as on December 31, 2014. Its average revenue per user stood at INR214. Digital TV services revenue accounts for 4% of Bharti Airtel’s total revenues.

During the quarter, Airtel Digital TV launched a self-care app and a Wi-Fi dongle for its HD customers, said the company in its financial statement. During the current quarter, the company incurred a capital expenditure of INR1.6 billion. “Operating free cash flow during the quarter at INR77 million has significantly improved, compared to cash burn of INR137 million in the corresponding quarter last year, an increase of 156%,” added the statement.

Airtel Digital TV offers 456 channels including 25 HD channels and three interactive services across 639 districts in India.

Haier and Foxxum to cooperate on smart TV s

Haier and German smart TV company Foxxum have signed an agreement to bring smart TV technology, and a wide range of international content offers on Haier TV sets.

Within only three months time to market Foxxum has set up a smart TV solution, which through Haier will now be available in additional territories, such as Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Russia and Mid-East. With this extended reach the Foxxum platform becomes even more attractive to content providers that are seeking powerful distribution channels.

“We know Foxxum as a partner who reacts quickly and flexibly to meet our demands. Foxxum is also very competent in finding the best possible solution. The Haier Smart TV solution is therefore a reflection of dynamic and successful cooperation – a great foundation for us to further develop our Smart TV strategy”, said Christophe Chancenest, European Marketing and Sales Director for TV/IT/Mobile at Haier.

“Thanks to the highly successful brand Haier and Foxxum Smart TV technology, this cooperation leaves us with more markets, more end-user devices and more potential customers for our content partners. This is the path we need to take to defend our position as global leader in Smart TV solutions“, explained Ronny Lutzi, CEO at Foxxum.

Three series of Haier smart TVs will be available this year from Q1 2015: the B7000U 4k series includes 42”, 50”, 55” and 65’’ models; the K5000 series includes 32”, 40”, 50”, 55’’ and 65’’ models, the H6660 series includes 48”, 50”, 55” and 65’’ models. Pricing and availability vary by market.

DTT subscribers stand at 14.3mn in Thailand, says NBTC

Digital terrestrial television subscriber base has increased to 14.5 million in Thailand since the launch of DTT in April 2014, said a report from National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

This viewership data excludes Channel 3, Channel 7 and Modernine TV which simulcast analogue TV programmes on the digital platform, added the report.

According to Takorn Tantasit, Secretary General of NBTC, the viewer base on the digital terrestrial TV platform was growing, particularly after distributing coupons to help cover the cost of digital receivers by the broadcasting regulator. Takorn says that this was mainly the result of new quality programmes aired by major players Workpoint Creative TV, GMM Grammy’s One channel and RS Channel 8.

Takorn anticipates that an average rate of advertising is likely to increase to THB50,000 per minute because of the growing audience base and new quality content.

Siti Cable posts INR2.22bn revenue in Q3 FY 2015

Siti Cable Network has recorded a consolidated revenue of INR2.22 billion in third quarter FY2015 as compared to INR1.64 billion in Q3 FY 2014. It incurred a net loss of INR204 million in the quarter ended December 2014 as against INR 179 million in the quarter ended December 2013.

The MSO said that its direct point subscriber base stands at nearly 40,000 as of 31 December, 2014 - it commenced acquisition of direct customers from last mile operators during the second quarter of 2015.

The company’s EBITDA stood at INR500 million in the third quarter FY 2015 as compared to INR300 million in the third quarter FY 2014. EBITDA rose 9.4% quarter-on-quarter.

During the third quarter, it seeded over 250,000 set-top-boxes. It has a digital subscriber base of 4.85 million and 5.5 million analogue subscribers, at the end of this quarter. Recently, the multi-system operator upgraded its existing digital head-end at Bengaluru to Ericsson and Harmonic.

“Last-mile operators have realised that digitisation is a reality now. We see less resistance against digitisation from the LCOs in Phase III and IV towns. In fact, they see digital cable STB as an opportunity to offer more channels and better services to their consumers and realise better revenues from their existing customer base. It also helps them in retaining their customer, who would otherwise move to competing technology like DTH for better quality services,” said VD Wadhwa, ED and CEO of Siti Cable.

Moldovan DTH platform banned

The DTH platform Focus-Sat has been banned from providing pay-TV services in Moldova for six months.

It has also been fined MDL8,000 (€380.6).

In a statement, the regulator ANRCETI says that this follows a decision by the Court of Appeal in Chisinau, following on from an original decision on September 30 that was upheld by the court on December 2 last year.

According to Newsmaker, the action against the Focus-Sat stemmed from a number of complaints from customers about substandard service and the impossibility of contacting the platform.

It adds that Focus-Sat is the third largest provider of pay-TV services in Moldova, claiming 7,300 subscribers and a 3.7% share of the market.

Another Moldovan regulator – the Coordination Council on Television and Radio (CCA) has also received complaints about Focus-Sat and imposed a maximum fine of MDL5,400 on the platform last December.

Focus-Sat is majority owned by Kronos Business Group (53.68%), with Media Horizons (26.94%) and the cable operator Sun Communications (9.38%) being the next largest shareholders.

Smaller shareholders include Eastern Space Systems (Romania) and Eastern Space Systems Bulgaria (Bulgaria), with the company’s authorised capital being MDL50.7 million.

Industry sources now believe Focus-Sat faces the real prospect of being closed.