PrimaCom looking for acquisition targets

Germany’s fourth-largest cable operator PrimaCom wants to accelerate its growth through further acquisitions following last year’s takeover of DTK Deutsche Telekabel.

“We continue to examine further acquisition opportunities in line with our intention of continuing to play a leading role in the ongoing consolidation of the regional cable media sector in Germany,” PrimaCom CEO Joachim Grendel said at the presentation of the 2014 financial results in Leipzig.

Last year, PrimaCom has grown its revenues by 37.2% to €131.6 million (2013: €95.9 million). The EBITDA climbed by 55.3% to €55.2 million, driven by increased penetration of higher margin digital services (HDTV, internet and telephony). The EBITDA margin rose to 41.9% up from 37.1% in 2013.

Excluding the impact of subscribers gained through the takeover of DTK, Germany’s sixth-largest cable company, PrimaCom grew its revenues by 4.7% to €100.4 million and its EBITDA by 16.7% to €41.5 million.

Xiaomi introduces Android-powered Smart TV at USD 320

Xiaomi has launched Mi TV 2, a 40-inch display model, at CNY 1,999 or USD320. The China-based company, which has emerged as a threat to industry giants such as Samsung, is now strengthening its position in the Chinese TV market.

The four-year old startup- Xiaomi- had launched Mi TV 2 with 4K display last year. Now, the company has unveiled a new variant with a price tag of CNY 1,999 or about USD322. Specifications of the new Mi TV 2 include; 1.5GB DDR3 RAM / 8GB eMMC flash, MIUI TV Android-based OS and Cortex-A9 quad-core 1.45GHz CPU, Mali-450 MP4 4+2-core GPU. The TV comes with 40″ Full HD LED Sharp SDP X-GEN panel, according to MIUI.

Xiaomi is selling the new variant of the TV via its online store- mi.com. The company has recently  announced that it will open its online stores in other countries such as India and the U.S. this year to sell mobile phone peripherals.

Back in November, Xiaomi had announced that it will be investing as much as USD1 billion to expand its internet TV platform. The company already sells TVs and set-top boxes in China and is trying to expand its presence in the video content market.

Crisis hits Ukrainian DTT

The Ukrainian DTT broadcaster Zeonbud has been forced to take its services off the air, only to have the suspension lifted a day later.

On Monday, March 23 the Broadcasting, Radiocommunications & Television Concern (BRT) acted against Zeonbud for what it termed the constant violation of the terms of its contract in the last four months.

Specifically, the DTT operator had not paid the BRT for the services it had provided in the period 2014-2015.

As a result, Zeonbud was forced off the air throughout Ukraine, with the exception of Donetsk and Lugansk in the east of the country.

Zeonbud was allowed to resume transmissions when it partially repaid its debt.

The BRT has said it hopes this was no “emergency measure” used to “temporarily resolve the situation” and urged all interested parties to find an early and comprehensive solution to the problem on Zeonbud’s debt.

iPanel middleware integrated with STMicroelectronics' chipsets

STMicroelectronics and iPanel Cooperate on Solutions for Next-Generation Digital Migration in China

• Solutions ranging from Broadcast STB to Media Gateway to be shown at CCBN

GENEVA — STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications and a top supplier of System-on-Chip (SoC) ICs for set-top boxes and home gateways, today announced that its Palma (STiH273) HD cable chipsets and its Cannes/Monaco family of UltraHD Devices (STiH314/318 and STiH414/418) have been integrated and optimized with iPanel’s complete set of middleware solutions.

The solutions, which will be shown during CCBN, will allow Chinese cable operators to broadcast the best-in-class high-quality HD and UltraHD content and deliver a wide range of innovative value-added services, including interactive TV shopping, education services, and banner advertisements.

“The ST chips present excellent performance with comprehensive functions, which provide a powerful safeguard to the ultimate users of home software,” said Mr. Xu Jia Hong, Chief Executive Officer, iPanel.

“Working closely with iPanel has helped ST produce a wide and exciting range of solutions for the China cable market suitable to giving service providers the ability to deliver an enhanced viewing experience to millions of households,” said Kelvin Wong, Greater China and South Asia Marketing Director, STMicroelectronics. “iPanel’s contribution to ST’s set-top-box and media gateway technologies underlines our strengths and commitment to support the growth of the China digital TV market through cooperative efforts with local key players.”

China’s broadcasting market reaches close to 400 million households and is entering in its next generation of broadcasting evolution with the deployment of advanced and multi-service solutions.

ST’s comprehensive and complete portfolio, designed for fast time-to-market, enables service providers to bring out the best and most affordable digital set-top-box solutions to their subscribers.

ST will be highlighting its Cannes/Monaco family in a private suite during China Content Broadcasting Network (CCBN) 2015, and will have other technologies and products on public display at the show (Hall 3, booth #3306).

Guangdong Cable selects NAGRA content protection

Guangdong Cable in China selects NAGRA anyCAST content protection solutions

• NAGRA’s anyCAST Security Services Platform is chosen by Guangdong Cable, one of China’s largest provincial cable operators, to launch new DTV services
• NAGRA anyCAST CAS and DRM integrated solutions will allow Guangdong cable to protect DVB-based, live TV channels and Internet-based OTT services delivered to multiple devices
• NAGRA’s cooperation with Guangdong Cable marks the company’s growing footprint in China

CHESEAUX, Switzerland, and BEIJING, China — NAGRA, a Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S) digital TV business and the world’s leading provider of content protection and multiscreen television solutions, announced today that Guangdong Cable has selected NAGRA anyCAST content protection solutions to secure a new offer combining DVB-based live TV and Internet-based over-the-top services (OTT). The OTT services will include live TV and VOD delivered to PCs, iOS and Android devices. Guangdong Cable serves more than 20 million customers in the Guangdong province and this latest selection marks NAGRA’s growing footprint in China.

Guangdong Cable entrusted its new platform to NAGRA because of their excellent track record in deploying end-to-end solutions and their longstanding expertise in content protection. NAGRA anyCAST solutions presented a unique opportunity for Guangdong Cable to meet its goals of delivering a robust offer to its subscribers with the new services they are asking for.

“We are excited and proud to have been selected by Guangdong Cable to secure their newest hybrid offer and help them bring OTT services to the reach of their subscribers,” said Jean-Luc Jezouin, SVP Sales & Services APAC from NAGRA. “Our broad range of security solutions allows us to protect any content for any network type and to device, and provide a flexible and tightly integrated platform that enables many business models. We look forward to supporting Guangdong Cable as they launch their new services.”

The NAGRA anyCAST Security Services platform combines both software and hardware security to address a wide variety of service provider needs, from basic access to premium 4K content. Its DRM solution, anyCAST PRM, is endorsed by the Hollywood studios and is DECE and DTLA approved. NAGRA anyCAST security clients can be integrated into almost any set-top box or other open device to create a unified security ecosystem for premium content and are integrated with a wide variety of chipsets and devices.

NAGRA will exhibit at the Radisson Hotel during the CCBN Show in Beijing, March 25-28, 2015, and demonstrate solutions that are enabling the next generation of pay-TV services. From multiscreen 2.0 and Cloud TV, to 4K user experiences and content protection, NAGRA helps service providers create innovative business models that open new opportunities to increase subscriber loyalty and maximize revenue.

Global pay TV subscriber base to pass 1.1 Billion in 2020

Global Pay TV Subscriber Base to Surpass 1.1 Billion in 2020

SINGAPORE — ​According to ABI Research, the worldwide pay TV market grew at a steady rate of 4% in 2014 to reach 923.5 million subscribers. “Despite the growth in subscriber base, weak currency exchange rates resulted in a slower increase of pay TV market service revenue. Worldwide the pay TV market generated US$257 billion in 2014 and is expected to surpass 1.1 billion subscribers in 2020 with a CAGR 2.7%,” comments Jake Saunders, VP and Practice Director of Core Forecasting.

Cable and terrestrial TV markets had weaker growth rates in 2014 compared to satellite and IPTV platforms. However, high definition (HD) penetration is increasing across all pay TV platforms because of the increasing number of HD channels added by operators. In 2014, 44% of the worldwide pay TV subscriber base were HD subscribers, with the highest HD penetration in Western Europe and North America. HD penetration is expected to reach 60% of the total pay TV market in 2020.

Pay TV operators are now moving towards 4K or Ultra HD service. In November, U.S. satellite operator DirecTV launched its first 4K programming without any additional monthly charges to subscribers with its HD DVR, Genie and DirecTV 4K Ready television set, which is any of Samsung’s Smart 4K TV models. Online video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon also started to offer 4K content in late 2014. When content availability and 4K TV set adoption increase, 4K services are likely to become a differentiator for pay TV service providers.

In 4Q 2014, U.S. cable operators lost roughly 100,000 subscribers while Comcast gained 7,000 subscribers. The country’s largest satellite TV provider, DirecTV gained 149,000 subscribers in 4Q 2014 which is the highest net addition since 2012. “As competition in the pay TV market increases, quality of content, innovations, and service pricing are among the important factors for pay TV operators to maintain customer base. ABI Research forecasts that the global pay TV market will generate US$313 billion service revenues by 2020,” adds Khin Sandi Lynn, industry analyst.

ABI Research’s Pay TV ARPU and Revenues market data is updated quarterly and profiles 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.

Astro selects Thomson for DTH, IPTV and OTT expansion

Astro Selects Thomson Video Networks Video Processing Solutions to Drive New Multi-Screen Unified Compression Platform

• State-of-the-Art Platform for DTH, IPTV, and OTT Delivery Powered by Thomson Video Networks

RENNES, France — Southeast Asia’s largest pay-TV operator, Astro, has chosen a suite of Thomson Video Networks encoding and video processing solutions to drive its new Multi-screen Unified Compression System (MUCS), a compression platform that will enable Astro to deliver additional channels for its future business expansion. Thomson Video Networks’ solutions deployed for MUCS include the award-winning ViBE™ EM4000 premium HD/SD broadcast encoder, NetProcessor multiplexer/video processor, Amethyst III high-density redundancy switch, and XMS network management system. The Thomson Video Networks solutions enable a native multi-screen platform that provides an easy-to-manage capability for Astro to deliver content via DTH (VBR MPEG-2 and H.264), IPTV (CBR H.264), and OTT.

“We chose the Thomson Video Networks solutions after a very comprehensive and intensive tender process in which we evaluated a number of compression technology vendors. The Thomson solutions were an ideal match to our requirements, especially with regard to the ability to deliver content on multiple platforms,” said Poh Kee Seng, vice president of platform technology, Astro.

With a base of more than 4.3 million residential customers representing approximately 62 percent of Malaysian TV households, Astro offers more than 184 TV channels — including 48 HD channels — delivered via DTH satellite TV, IPTV, and OTT platforms. Over the past six years, Astro has deployed 18 DTH transponders with Thomson Video Networks solutions and now uses the NetProcessor multiplexer/video processor for all IPTV streaming services. Also, with the new solutions installed in Astro’s main DTH broadcast center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the MUCS platform extends an existing Thomson Video Networks deployment for the OTT service — Astro on the Go — that includes the industry-leading ViBE VS7000 multi-screen and HEVC video system.

“Through its partnership with Thomson Video Networks, Astro Malaysia is truly at the forefront of leveraging the industry’s most advanced compression technologies to deliver advanced pay-TV services through DTH, IPTV and OTT resources,” said Tony Berthaud, vice president, Asia-Pacific sales and services, Thomson Video Networks. “We look forward to working with Astro as it continues to provide leading-edge services to its customers.”

Al Jazeera set to buy Digiturk

Al Jazeera’s BeIN Media Group is close to buying Digiturk, according to Reuters, citing three sources familiar with the talks currently taking place between the two parties.

The negotiations are at an advanced stage and could be finalised in the next couple of weeks, with the deal being the acquisition of the whole of the Turkish company.

Digiturk is currently 53% owned by Turkey’s Çukurova Holding, with the remaining 47% held by the US private equity group Providence Equity Partners.

However, Çukurova’s stake in Digiturk was seized in 2013 by Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) due to its debts to the state agency.

Digiturk holds the lucrative rights to premier football league (Spor Toto Super League) until the end of the 2016-17 season.

BeIN Media Group operates beIN sports channels in Europe, Asia and the US.

New Russian online service launches

Russia’s MTS has launched a paid online video service known as MTS TV.

According toKommersant, it offers viewers around 130 TV channels, along with movies and TV shows from Miramax and the BBC.

Although MTS TV is currently available only to MTS subscribers, it will from May also be offered to all internet users.

In due course, it will in addition be integrated with Sistema’s Stream.ru service.

MTS TV costs R15 (€0.24) a day and can be watched on smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs.

It will also become available on smart TVs in the second quarter.

Conax establishes Beijing test centre

Conax is in the final stages of establishing a Conax test centre in Beijing.

The facility will provide authorised pre-testing and conformity testing services certifying client device conformance for Conax content protection functionality requirements. Conax works closely with a wide range of STB partners and other device manufacturers to ensure Conax enabled client devices are developed according to its strict requirements for functionality and security. The new test hub extends the security provider’s current offering for 3rd party test facilities in Europe and India and aims to offer cost efficient access for set-top box manufacturers and partners in Asia Pacific.

The Conax testing facility in Beijing will be available from early May 2015.

“During the last 2 years, Conax has security integrated close to 200 STB models,” confirmed Erik Abrahamsen, acting EVP Services, Conax.

“While a very high percentage of the manufacturers are based in Asia, we are pleased to introduce a regional offering for our partners. Establishing a test center closer to our STB partners will provide flexibility and reduced costs for STB projects, benefiting both our partners and our customers – leading pay-TV operators across the globe.”

“It’s a great opportunity to further develop Kudelski Group synergies. It will contribute to extend our service offering that set-top box manufacturers will benefit from,” said Hervé Goupil, VP device integration and trusted platform, Nagra.

“Having more than 10 years of experience in testing STB models, we have the capability to ramp up quickly and efficiently a dedicated team for Conax activities.”

ALi provides STB chipsets to Conax, StarTimes

ALi Corporation, Taiwan based set-top-box chipset provider, partnered with Conax, Norway based STB manufacturer and StarTimes, digital television operator in Africa. ALi chipset solutions are integrated on Conax set-top-boxes which helps StarTimes to provide quality and affordable STB solutions in African markets.

“ALi offers a full spectrum of chipset solutions including standard definition and high definition DVB-T2 and S2 SoC solutions as well as S2+T2 combo platforms to meet Africa’s DTV needs. With StarTimes’ vast operations throughout Africa and Conax’s security technologies, our partnerships will bring high-quality, affordable STB solutions within reach for more people in the region,” said Tony Chang, General Manager of Broadcast and Broadband Media Business Unit at ALi.

“Conax certified content security delivered on ALi STB chipsets enables robust protection of StarTimes extensive services. We look forward to further strengthening these strategic partnerships and continuing to deliver future-oriented solutions to capture the booming opportunities in African markets,” said Morten Solbakken, President & CEO of Conax.

SFR to abandon Android STBs

French telecom operator SFR is giving up on its Google Android STBs following the acquisition by Numericable-Altice.

SFR launched the Android powered devices in late 2013 in order to quickly expand its hybrid content offering by giving its customers access to the Google Play store. Around a 100,000 customers are believed to have acquired an Android box.

SFR’s new owners do not want to give away too much power to Google and have developed their own proprietary middleware. Instead, SFR now wants to concentrate on its Labox Fibre, which is a copy of the Numericable STB on its FTTH network.

Meanwhile, French incumbent Orange is also betting on its own proprietary software and even launching its own HDMI stick to compete with Google Chromecast.

By contrast both Bouygues Telecom with its Bbox Miami and Free with its new Freebox STB are both relying on Android.

Czech Digi TV to be sold

RCS&RDS is set to sell its Digi TV operation in the Czech Republic to the utility company Lama Energy.

Quoting the CTK news agency, Digizone reports that the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (UOHS) is already examining the transaction, with a decision expected within a month.

Lama Energy, which is owned by the entrepreneur Petr Lamich, was first linked with a move for Digi TV in the Czech Republic last summer.

Romania’s RCS&RDS has already disposed of its Digi TV operations in several CEE markets including Slovakia, where they were acquired the Deutsche Telekom-backed incumbent Slovak Telekom.

North America's traditional pay TV revenues to fall by 11.7%

Traditional pay TV revenues to fall by $12 billion in North America

Pay TV revenues [subscriptions and on-demand] in North America peaked in 2013 at $102.86 billion, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. The latest edition of the Digital TV North America report forecasts that revenues will fall by 11.7% or $12.04 billion between 2014 and 2020 to $90.71 billion in 2020.

Cable revenues in Canada and the US will decline by $12.98 billion – $3.66 billion less from analog cable and $9.32 billion lower for digital cable. Satellite TV will lose a further $1.23 billion, but IPTV will climb by $2.17 billion.

There were 67.8 million cable TV subs in 2010, of which 17.5 million were analog, but this total will fall to 56.6 million by 2020.

Satellite TV will overtake cable to become the largest pay TV platform earner in 2019. However, satellite TV revenues will fall by $1.2 billion between 2014 and 2020 – to $40.69 billion.

Although there has been a recent slowdown in subscriber growth, the number of homes paying for IPTV will climb by 23% between 2014 and 2020 to reach 18.05 million – or to 13.5% of TV households.

The number of traditional pay TV subs will remain flat at 110 million. However, pay TV penetration will drop from 86.7% in 2010 to 82.6% by 2020 as the number of TV households climbs. The number of homes not paying for TV services will increase from 18.9 million in 2010 to 26.3 million in 2020.

OTT will paint a much brighter picture. Digital TV Research forecasts that OTT revenues will reach $10.39 billion in 2020, up from $6.85 billion in 2014 and $2.02 billion in 2010. These figure do not include advertising revenues for the OTT players.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “We do not see the OTT revenues coming solely at the expense of traditional pay TV. Most of the revenues will come from existing pay TV subscribers.”

The number of SVOD subscribers will reach 66.85 million in 2020, up from 50.62 million in 2014 and 16.68 million in 2010. SVOD revenues will reach $6.91 billion in 2020, up by $2 billion on 2014.

Download-to-own revenues will almost double between 2014 and 2020 to $2.47 billion in 2020, with a similar story for rental revenues ($1.01 billion in 2020).

Orange presents strategic plan to 2020

Essentials2020, Orange’s new strategic plan

PARIS — Orange presented its new strategic plan to 2020 today, called “Essentials2020” building on the “Conquests 2015” plan launched in 2010.

TV-related extracts:

In Spain, the Group will continue to expand its fiber network and its TV offering with the aim of doubling convergent revenues by 2018. The proposal to acquire Jazztel, which is currently being examined by the European Commission, will enable the Group to reinforce and accelerate this strategy that aims to reach 10 million connectable homes by the end of 2016.

In Belgium, a market characterized by strong cable coverage, Orange will test the use of this technology through the launch of a TV offering in 2015 that will be significantly different from existing market offerings.

The Group will build on the quality of its networks, particularly in very high-speed broadband, to develop uses and deliver what the customer wants by offering a multi-screen experience with richer content. This is already the case with the Group’s new TV interface, Polaris.

Thanks to the TV stick, which was recently launched in Romania and will soon be introduced to the French market – Orange customers can access Orange TV and related content at home simply by connecting the HDMI stick to their television sets.

More: Essentials2020, Orange’s new strategic plan

Digital TV homes to double in Latin America

Despite slowing economic growth, the number of digital TV households in Latin America will double by 2020. The Digital TV Latin America Forecasts report estimates 152 million digital TV households by 2020. Digital TV will climb from only 17.9% penetration of TV households at end-2010 to just over the halfway mark by end-2014 and onto 93.6% by 2020.

Central America & Caribbean = Costa Rica, Dominican Rep, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico. Andean = Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela. Southern Cone = Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay

Source: Digital TV Research Ltd.

From the 19 countries covered in the forecasts, Brazil will add 28 million digital TV households during this time frame, with Mexico contributing an extra 11 million and Argentina nearly 5 million more. Puerto Rico was the first country to reach complete conversion to digital – in 2014. Panama and Uruguay will be the only other countries to reach complete digital conversion by 2020.

Primary FTA DTT will overtake pay satellite TV is the leading digital platform in 2016. The number of primary DTT homes will rocket from 4.2 million at end-2010 to 68.0 million by 2020 (giving 41.9% penetration).

Nearly 10 million pay satellite TV households will be added between 2014 and 2020, taking penetration to a quarter of TV households by 2020. However, much of its fast growth has already taken place.

About 18.2 million digital cable subscribers to be added between 2014 and 2020; taking penetration to a fifth of TV households. Conversely, the number of analog cable subscribers will plummet from 18.0 million to 4.3 million. IPTV will climb from 1.3 million subscribers in 2014 to 6.8 million by 2020.

Brazil ($8.6 billion in 2020) will remain the top country by pay TV revenues by some distance, followed by Mexico ($5.6 billion) and Argentina ($2.3 billion) – collectively taking 71% of the total.

Pay TV revenues in Latin America will grow by $2.6 billion between 2014 and 2020. Satellite TV will continue to be the largest pay TV platform, with revenues reaching $16.7 billion in 2020. Cable TV will bring in a further $5.9 billion. Digital cable TV revenues will overtake analog cable in 2014 and IPTV will pass analog cable in 2020.

Siti Cable raises INR2.21 billion through QIP

Siti Cable has raised INR2.21 billion through Qualified institutional placement (QIP). It has issued over 63.17 million shares at INR35 per share. It had earlier planned to raise over INR2.50 billion. The firm will utilise the funds for expansion of digital cable television and broadband footprint.

HDFC Trustee Company along with its sister concerns has purchased 50% of shares i.e 31,587,270 – HDFC Equity Fund (picked 26,533,000 shares for INR928.6 million), HDFC Core and Satellite Fund (1,516,000 shares for INR53 million)) and HDFC India Tax Saver Fund (3,538,270 shares for INR123.8 million).

The other investors include Polus Global Fund (has invested over INR504.9 million), Orange Mauritus Investments (INR119.9 million), Macquarie Emerging Markets Asian Trading (INR52.5 million), Reliance Capital Trustee (INR149.9 million), Copthall Mauritius Investment (INR185.3 million) and Morgan Stanley Asia (INR92.6 million).

Siti Cable has target to add over 10 million digital subscribers. As on 31 December, 2014, its digital subscriber base stood at 4.85 million.

Den Networks gets board approval to raise foreign investment limit to 74%

Den Networks has received an approval from board of directors to increase the limit of foreign investment from 49% to 74%. However, this hike is subject to the approval from its shareholders and regulatory bodies.

“The board of directors of the company has approved through circulation, increase in foreign investment limit in the company by Foreign Institutional Investors, Foreign Portfolio Investors etc, under the portfolio investment scheme from existing 49% to 74% of the issued and fully paid-up share capital of the company, subject to the approval of the Shareholders, Foreign Investment Promotion Board of India, Ministry of Finance and all other applicable acts, laws, rules, regulations, circulars, directions, notifications, press notes guidelines and statutory approvals, if any,” said Den Networks in a notice.

Den Networks has presence in over 200 cities. It claims to have over 5.7 million digital cable subscribers. 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.

Dialog Television brings CNBC to Sri Lanka

Dialog Television, Sri Lankan digital pay television, will now offer business news channel CNBC. The channel is available on Dialog Television’s channel 41.

The Rundown, Squawk Box Asia, Street Signs, Capital Connection, Squawk Box Europe, Worldwide Exchange, Squawk Box US and Squawk on the Street are some of the key programs that will be telecast in the country. “Sri Lanka fast emerging as a commercial hub in the South Asian region, there is growing demand for live and accurate global business content,” said Azwan Khan, Chief Operations Officer at Dialog Axiata Group.

Dialog Television is operated by  Dialog Axiata PLC. Dialog group posted a net profit of LKR243 million for the financial year 2014. The company’s revenue for FY2014 stood at LKR4.7 billion, with a y-o-y growth rate of 30 %. Dialog TV offers both post and pre-paid DTH services. As of December, 2014, its subscriber base was at 452,000; with a year on year growth rate of 36%. Of the total user base, 86,000 were prepaid while the rest were post-paid subscribers.

Satellite, cable or IPTV in 75% of French homes

Mediametrie has released results from its Médiamat’Thématik survey of the French television market. According to the survey, out of a total of 59.093 million TV households in the country, 44.099 million (74.6%) receive their TV service via satellite, cable or over DSL.

IPTV has the largest share with 29.578 million customers, followed by satellite with 16.159 million. Cable TV makes up the remainder at 4.959 million.

Out of the total, 12.622 million take a pay TV service, with 9.332 million subscribing to Canalsat either via satellite or over ADSL, and 3.372 million subscribing to cable (either analogue or digital).

The survey took place between September 1, 2014 and February 15, 2015 and covered 8,866 people aged 4 and above living in 3,635 households.

Russian cableco sets ambitious goals

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom plans to grow by 15-18% a year and double the size of its business within the next five years.

Furthermore, reports Kommersant, it aims to raise at least $500 million in an IPO in the next two to three years, depending on improved political and economic circumstances, while still retain control of the company.

Details of the new strategy were revealed by Andrei Kuzyayev, the company’s co-owner and president, just days after ER Telecom announced changes in its management structure.

The previous strategy, implemented in the period 2010-15, has seen ER Telecom’s share of the pay-TV and broadband markets in Russia grow to 13-14% and 12-13% respectively.

Under the new one, it aims to grow not only organically but also through acquisitions.

It also aims to secure a 45-50% penetration of services in each local market it is present in – something it currently achieves in five or six of the 56 cities it is present in.

Combined Ziggo has 54% of Dutch TV market

The combined market share of Ziggo and UPC amounted to almost 54% of the Dutch TV-market at the end of 2014.

Of the share, almost 34% came from the former Ziggo areas and around 20% from the former UPC areas. KPN is number two with a market share of almost 27%. The picture is the same on the digital TV market, only the shares are slightly different with KPN (29.5%) is trailing the Ziggo/UPC combination (49%) with former Ziggo subs responsible for 33 percent% former UPC subs for 16%.

The Dutch TV market grew by 20,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter of 2014, to end the year with 7.76 million subscribers, according to Telecompaper’s quarterly reporton the Dutch TV market.

During the quarter, digital TV subscribers grew by 0.6% which was enough to off-set the continued decrease of analogue-only subscribers. The main reason for the digital TV subscriber’s growth was consumers choosing IPTV via DSL or fibre with the traditional TV technology cable only growing a little. The consumer TV services generated almost EUR410 million in revenues in the fourth quarter of 2014, slightly higher than in the previous quarter.

Almost 90 percent of the market now uses digital TV and cable is still the largest digital TV technology with over half (54%) of the subscribers in Q4, despite losing market share to the increasingly available IPTV services over DSL and fibre networks. DSL is responsible for 17% of the digital TV connections and fibre for almost 11%.

Portugal adds 179,300 pay TV subscribers in 2014

According to Portugal’s Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), there were 3.35 million subscribers to subscription TV in the country at the end of 2014, 55,800 (+1.7 percent) more than in the previous quarter, and an extra 179,300 (+5.7 percent) compared with the end of 2013.

At the end of December, cable TV represented 40.8 percent of total subscribers, while DTH comprised 17.9 percent, and xDSL comprised 22.6 percent. Optical fibre (FTTH/B) accounted for 18.7 percent of all subscribers.

The total number of cable television service subscribers – around 1.367 million – was 9.3 thousand down on the previous quarter (-0.7 percent). The number of DTH subscribers stood at 601 thousand, 7 thousand more (+1.2 percent) than in the previous quarter, and 11.5 thousand fewer than at the end of 2013 (-1.9%). The number of subscribers to subscription TV via optical fibre (FTTH/B) increased by 2.5 percent in the quarter, 10.3 percent annually, reaching a total of 627 thousand.

Subscription television service subscribers by technology (Units: 1000 subscribers; %)

                                                                                          Quarterly        Annual
                                 13Q1   13Q2   13Q3   13Q4   14Q1   14Q2   14Q3   14Q4    variation     variation
                                -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----------  ------------
Cable                           1,446  1,433  1,417  1,401  1,396  1,386  1,376  1,367  -9.3  -0.7%  -33.9  -2.4%
DTH                               646    633    630    612    598    592    594    601   7.0   1.2%  -11.5  -1.9%
FTTH                              414    434    452    473    511    550    587    627  39.6   2.5%  154.1  10.3%
Other technologies (xDSL, FWA)    623    644    657    686    705    720    738    756  18.5   6.7%   70.5  32.6%
                                -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----------  ------------
Total                           3,129  3,143  3,156  3,171  3,210  3,248  3,294  3,350  55.8   1.7%  179.3   5.7%

The ZON Optimus Group continues to have the largest, though consistently declining, share of subscription TV subscribers (44.0 percent). PT Comunicações (PTC) and Cabovisão follow with shares of 42.2 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. Vodafone continues to gain share though from a low base.

Shares of subscription TV subscribers (Units: %)

                               13Q1    13Q2    13Q3    13Q4    14Q1    14Q2    14Q3    14Q4
                             ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Grupo ZON/TV Cabo            49.74%   49.0%       -       -       -       -       -       -
Optimus (ex-Sonaecom)         1.18%    1.2%       -       -       -       -       -       -
Grupo ZON Optimus[1]/NOS[2]       -       -   49.2%   47.8%   46.4%   45.3%   44.5%   44.0%
  Optimus/NOS Comunicações        -    1.2%    0.8%       -       -   42.3%   41.5%   41.0%
  ZON Madeira/NOS Madeira     2.00%    2.0%    2.0%    2.0%       -    2.0%    2.0%    1.9%
  ZON Açores/NOS Açores       1.44%    1.4%    1.4%    1.1%       -    1.1%    1.1%    1.0%
  ZON TV Cabo Portugal       46.30%   45.6%   44.7%   43.8%       -       -       -       -
PT Comunicações              39.88%   40.4%   40.9%   41.5%   41.6%   41.9%   42.1%   42.2%
Cabovisão                     7.59%    7.4%    7.2%    7.1%    6.9%    6.7%    6.5%    6.2%
Vodafone                      1.45%    1.8%    2.5%    3.5%    5.0%    5.9%    6.7%    7.5%
Other providers               0.19%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%

1. ZON acquired Optimus on August 27, 2013
2. On May 16, 2014, Optimus changed its name to NOS Comunicações.
Source: ICP-ANACOM

Star India acquires Screen

Star India has signed a definitive agreement with Indian Express Group to acquire Screen, a weekly publication on films. This deal enables Star India to enhance content offering on its digital and television platforms.

Star will also integrate the Screen Awards property. Besides, it will get exclusive ownership of the ‘Screen’ brand franchise including all archival material and transfer of key employees.

“Screen is a strong and reputable franchise and gives us access to the entertainment editorial suite and the tinsel world, where news that shapes trends is made by film stars, directors and producers. The acquisition of Screen will allow us to strengthen and expand the content brand online while taking the awards platform to the next level,” said Uday Shankar, CEO of Star India.

“There are strong synergies and the combination of the quality content and awards franchise with Star’s presence across television and digital platforms is strategic and scalable,” he added.

Russian DTH migration encouraged

The Russian DTH platform Raduga TV, which ceased operations at the end of last year, has made the migration of its former subscribers to the new MTS TV platform more favourable.

Satkurier reports that they will be offered more channels at a lower price, with the only requirement being to change their receiver and sign a new agreement. The deadline for this new offer is May 31, 2015.

Raduga TV, which was 50%-owned by Modern Times Group (MTG), closed after failing to secure a licence.

It employed the 75 degrees East orbital position, which is also used by MTS TV.

Raduga TV’s former subscribers have the option of paying R4,500 (€68.7) for a HD receiver and an annual subscription to MTS TV or R3,500 for a CAM module and annual subscription to MTS TV.

Swiss cable TV subscribers down 1.8% in 2014

(Réseaux câblés: l'Internet haut débit comme moteur de la croissance)

(Kabelnetze: Breitbandinternet als Wachstumstreiber)

Thursday, March 5th, 2015 

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 December 2014 was 2.6428 million, down 49.6 thousand, or 1.8%, versus the 2.6924 million recorded at the end of December 2013. Cable TV remains the leading distribution technology for TV with a market share of 62%.

Swisscom TV and Sunrise TV are IPTV services

Cable TV subscribers:

31.12.2013  31.12.2014           Change
----------  ----------  ---------------
 2,692,400   2,642,800  -49,600 (-1.8%)

Western Europe CE market down 2.1% in 4Q 2014

Western Europe: Growing Technical Consumer Goods Market

• Results GfK TEMAX® Western Europe – fourth quarter of 2014

NUREMBERG — In the fourth quarter of 2014, the Western European Technical Consumer Goods (TCG) market generated sales growth of 3.5 percent to reach approximately €60.5 billion. The whole of 2014 was also successful with a sales increase of 2.1 percent, and a total volume of nearly €201.2 billion. These are findings of the GfK TEMAX® Western Europe.

In terms of growth, the front runner was the Telecommunications sector. Smartphones remained the driving force of the market and accounted for double-digit growth rates in Q4 2014. However, this growth partly and negatively influenced sales in the Photography sector. In terms of individual countries, namely Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, the UK, and especially Greece developed positively.

Consumer Electronics: market recovery in 2014

In the fourth quarter of 2014, the Western European market for Consumer Electronics declined slightly – by 2.1 percent, compared to the same period of the previous year. Between October and December, the turnover amounted to €10 billion. Full year results were, however, positive with marginal growth of 0.6 percent and a total sales volume of €31.5 billion. Innovations helped to drive the TV market in 2014. UHD/4k with four times the resolution of full HD larger screens, and smart TVs, combined with an increasing availability of streaming content, drove sales. The audio market continued to grow – driven in particular by any wireless technology that could be used to transfer music to either speakers or headphones.

                               Q1      Q2      Q3      Q4   Q4 14    Q1-4   Q1-4 14
                             2014    2014    2014    2014  /Q4 13    2014  /Q1-4 13
                           ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  --------
                               €M      €M      €M      €M    +/-%      €M      +/-%
                           ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  --------
Consumer Electronics (CE)   7,653   6,881   6,920  10,069   -2.1%  31,523      0.6%

Source: GfK TEMAX® Western Europe, GfK

TrueVisions posts THB10.83bn revenue in 2014

TrueVisions’ revenue has declined at a growth rate of 0.3% year-on-year from THB10.85 billion in 2013 to THB10.83 billion in 2014. Its revenue has increased at 8.2% quarter-on-quarter sequentially from THB2.84 billion in Q3 2014 to THB3.07 billion in Q4 2014. TrueVisions has a subscriber base of 2.5 million in 2014 and its average revenue per user for the year is THB715.

EBITDA has dipped by 2% y-o-y to THB1.4 billion in 2014. The company’s operating expenses has increased 2.8% y-o-y to THB9.0 billion and capital expenditure has dropped 27.1% y-o-y to THB1.7 billion following the group’s cost control initiatives implemented throughout the year. Revenue from services has increased by 0.7% y-o-y to THB10.80 billion 2014 from THB10.72 billion in 2013 and product sales has decreased by 79.2% y-o-y to THB27 million in 2014 from THB131 million in 2013.

“The service revenue has increased slightly as incremental revenue from advertising and music entertainment business offset softening subscription revenue. Nevertheless, TrueVisions’ stronger position in the mass segment, underpinned by the continued popularity of the Group’s mass convergence packages, resulted in a pick-up of subscription revenue since 2Q14. This upward trend has continued throughout the year, despite the impact from competition and economy,” said the company in its financial statement.

Advertising revenue grew 40.0% y-o-y to THB1.3 billion, partly due to ongoing positive response to the redesigned advertising packages with better-valued offerings to advertisers and media buyers as well as rising contribution from digital TV channels. Music Entertainment and other revenue increased 19.6% to 

PEMRA ropes in Digital Strategy Consulting Services for DTH licensing

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has issued a Letter of Intent to rope in Digital Strategy Consulting Services which is based in Switzerland for an initiation of direct-to-home licensing in Pakistan.

The firm will facilitate PEMRA to prepare an eligibility criteria, licence template, bidding methodology, determination of base price, recommendation on the number of licences to be issued and the duration of licences.

PEMRA had issued a tender on 30 October, 2014. Nearly five international consulting firms had submitted proposals. Digital Strategy Consulting Services was shortlisted based on its technical and financial bids in lieu with PPRA Rules.

Hathway posts INR2.39bn revenue in Q3 FY15, up by 2% y-o-y

Hathway Cable and Datacom has reported a consolidated revenue of INR2.39 billion in the third quarter FY 2015 as compared to INR2.34 billion in the third quarter FY 2014 with a growth rate of 1.9% year-on-year. EBITDA stood at INR246 million in Q3 FY 2015.  

During the quarter, income from cable business stood at INR990 million and INR513 million respectively. Carriage and placement income was INR758 million and activation income from set-top-boxes was INR72 million. Placement revenue was affected due to content related issues in Q3 FY15 and it has been resolved with broadcasters, said the company.

Hathway has added 70,000 subscribers in the third quarter FY 2015. The MSO has captivated 11.70 million, 8.50 million and 6.40 million subscribers in cable universe, cable digital and cable paying segments respectively at the end of December 2014. Hathway has seeded over 70,000 set-top-boxes in Q3 FY2015.

Conax boosts Kudelski performance

The Kudelski Group has posted revenues of CHF895.1 million (€836.8 million) for 2014, a 7.1% increase on the previous year.

Its operating income and net incomes amounted to CHF68.1 million (+24.9%) and CHF50.4 million (+27.9%) respectively.

In its latest set of results, the group notes that the acquisition of Conax, the integration of which is fully on track, has provided both technology synergies as well as cross-selling opportunities for products like OpenTV5 connectware, Media Live multiscreen solutions and SmartDTV devices.

The group’s Integrated Digital TV (iDTV) revenues increased by 9.8% to CHF648.4 million in 2014, representing a 10.2% constant currency growth.

The European iDTV sector posted constant currency growth of 3.1%, while Southern European markets, including Italy, Spain and Portugal, started to recover following the decline of the previous years, increasing their revenue contribution from 2013.

With the addition of Conax, the group significantly strengthened its position in Scandinavia and in some key Eastern European markets.

However, the group’s Northern European markets experienced lower growth compared to the previous year, with the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands posting lower 2014 revenues.
The Americas region generated constant currency growth of 12.5%, with revenues reaching CHF274.7 million in 2014, while the Asia/Pacific and Africa region posted constant currency growth of 19.1%, reflecting strong momentum in the second half of the year.

Overall, operating income from the iDTV segment improved by 25.8%, reaching CHF71.8 million in 2014.

Eircom building TV offer

Eircom has grown its modest TV subscriber base by additional 4,000 homes as it was announced new Sky Sports channels would join its line-up.

As of December 31, 2014 there were 32,000 TV subscribers, representing 25% of its consumer fibre base.

“We continue to evolve our TV offering and have recently added Sky Sports 3, 4 and 5 to our proposition. We remain the only player that can offer quad-play bundles in the market and we now have 20% of our consumer base on TV/mobile bundles,” said Richard Moat, CEO Eircom Group. “The rollout of our NGA network, which underpins our bundling capability, continues at pace. We now have passed 1.1 million premises and have already connected one in five of these with high-speed broadband. Work on our commercial fibre to the home (FTTH) rollout is also underway in 16 towns and we have trialled speeds of up to 1 Gbps using our FTTH solution.”

The Sky Sports channels will debut on eVision on March 3, ahead of April’s Masters golf.

A successful TV offer is needed to arrest falling revenues, which this quarter declined by 4% to €316 million. This compares to a 7% decline in the previous quarter.

eVision now hosts over 120 channels, with services including eVision on Demand, Multiroom and movies available on the go.

TV drives Slovak Telekom growth

Slovak Telekom ended 2014 with 468,000 subscribers to its TV services, a significant increase on the 198,000 posted a year earlier.

This growth was down to the inclusion of Digi customers, which the telco acquired, along with new Magio TV offers and strong Smart Offer sales.

Slovak Telekom’s revenues in 2014 amounted to €768 million in 2014, down 5.1% on the previous year.

Adjusted BITDA was meanwhile €310 million (-8%). Digi Slovakia revenues for fiscal year 2014 were €29.6 million.

Commenting on the results, Miroslav Majoros, chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Slovak Telekom, said: “The year 2014 was challenging and successful in various business areas. In the fixed segment we increased the number of TV subscribers, as well as the number of broadband accesses, and we found momentum for fixed voice services sales too – great results achieved thanks to our Smart Offer launch and new bundles”.

ZEEL aims to tap global content market

Mumbai based media and entertainment firm, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL), has considered to leverage international content market aggressively. Zee claims to have presence across 169 countries currently.   

“Moving forward, we are working on global content properties, which will specifically cater to global audiences. By the year 2020, we aim to be ranked among the top global media conglomerates, entertaining over a billion hearts worldwide,” said Punit Goenka, MD and CEO of ZEEL at the 19th Wharton India Economic Forum.

ZEEL has also planned to test the waters of radio broadcasting segment in United States as it aims to create a 360-degree consumer connect ecosystem.

“Going forward, there are also plans for a venture in radio space in the US market to further enhance our touch points with consumers,”