Big challenge for Czech terrestrial TV

The Czech Republic will need transition multiplexes if it is meet its target of switching to DVB-T2 by 2020, according to Marcel Prochazka, director of regulation, Ceske Radiokomunikace (CRa).

In a wide-ranging presentation at the CAEK conference in Prague, he added that the migration to DVB-T2 presents a major threat to the entire TV segment in its current form and there has to be a transitory period for viewers to buy the necessary reception equipment.

Prochazka revealed that terrestrial broadcasting lost 18% of its spectrum when the Czech Republic switched from analogue to digital broadcasting. Mobile operators now use that part of the spectrum for 4G services.

It now faces the prospect of losing a further 30%, with the final decision resting with the EC.

Significantly up to 80% of Czech terrestrial TV viewers would be affected were this to happen, with channels disappearing from both the second and third multiplexes.

Prochazka also said that at present all the main multiplexes in the Czech Republic are full. They carry a total of 21 channels, none of which are in HD, despite 55% of the country’s TV homes having HD sets.

Meanwhile the regional multiplex (8) reaches 57.1% of the population and is being expanded.

Airtel adds 263,324 Digital TV subscribers in 1Q 2015

NEW DELHI, India — Bharti Airtel Limited (“Bharti Airtel” or “the Company”) today announced its audited consolidated IFRS results for the fourth quarter and the full year ended March 31, 2015.

Digital TV Services

As of March 31, 2015, the Company had its Digital TV operations in 639 districts. During the quarter, DTH crossed the milestone of 10 million customers. DTH had 10.1 million customers at the end of the quarter, which represents an increase of 11.8% as compared to corresponding quarter last year. Net customer additions for Digital TV during the quarter were 263,324.

As a result of higher HD penetration and upselling of packs, ARPU increased to Rs 214 as compared to Rs 203 in the corresponding quarter last year.

Revenues from Digital TV services increased by 17.2% to Rs 6,348 Mn as compared to Rs 5,415 Mn in the corresponding quarter last year.

Customer Base (000’s)

                                           Q-o-Q             Y-o-Y
                      Mar 2015  Dec 2014  Growth  Mar 2014  Growth
                      --------  --------  ------  --------  ------
Digital TV Services     10,073     9,810    2.7%     9,012   11.8%

Operational Performance – India – Digital TV

                                       Mar 31,  Dec 31,  Sep 30,  Jun 30,  Mar 31,
Parameter                        Unit     2015     2014     2014     2014     2014
-------------------------------  ----  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
Customers                        000s   10,073    9,810    9,540    9,388    9,012
Net additions                    000s      263      270      151      376      205
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)    Rs      214      214      220      214      203
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)    US      3.4      3.5      3.6      3.6      3.3
Monthly Churn                       %     1.0%     1.0%     1.1%     0.6%     0.9%

Major Russian deal in the offing

Rostelecom is exploring the possibility of buying CTC Media, the Russian national commercial broadcaster backed by Modern Times Group (MTG).

Quoting a person close to one of the shareholders at CTC Media and a senior official at the state owned telco, Vedomosti reports that negotiations between the two are ongoing but still at an early stage.

However, Rostelecom is not the only party to have recently expressed an interest in CTC Media. Others include Alisher Usmanov and Ivan Tavrin, who together own the media holding YUTV.

CTC Media is required to transform its ownership structure due to new rules limiting foreign stakes in media companies to 20%. These come into effect at the beginning of 2016 and CTC Media is exploring all options, including a possible sale.

Rostelecom meanwhile took the strategic decision in 2013 to transform itself into a media company. Its aim is to become the country’s leading provider of pay-TV services and as of the end of 2014 it already had a 21% share of the market.

Last year it also entered into a joint venture with the state broadcaster RTR to establish a content company.

RCS&RDS set for key appointment

Romania’s RCS&RDS could appoint a successor to its former CEO Alexandru Oprea, who recently left abruptly after 18 years with the company, as soon as the end of this week.

ZF reports that an appointment could take place at the General Assembly of Shareholders, scheduled for April 30.

The likeliest ‘internal’ candidates to succeed Oprea are Sergey Bulgac, who has a financial background and has been with the company since 2003; and Valentin Popoviciu, who has worked for RCS&RDS since 1998 and is currently its director of development.

RCS&RDS is the leading provider of cable and DTH services in Romania. It has gradually reduced its presence in other CEE markets, most recently through the sale of the Digi operation in the Czech Republic.

West European pay-TV set to grow

Cord cutting is not expected to make much of an impact in Western Europe despite signs of market maturity, with pay-TV penetration forecast to increase from 56.7% at end-2014 to 60.4% in 2020.

In fact, according to The Digital TV Western Europe Forecasts report, which covers 18 countries, the number of pay-TV subscribers will climb by 2.57 million in 2015 to 99.00 million, up from 92.86 million in 2010, as Western Europe begins to shrug off the recession.

Pay-TV subscriptions will only increase by 8.38 million (up by 8.7%) between 2014 and 2020 to 104.81 million. However, the number of digital pay-TV subscribers will climb by 23.1% (nearly 20 million), with analogue cable subs falling from 11.31 million in 2014 to zero by 2019.

Paying IPTV subscriber numbers will overtake pay satellite TV ones in 2015. IPTV subscriptions will climb by 8.6 million (up by 37%) between 2014 and 2020 compared with 1.2 million additions for pay satellite TV (up by 5%) and 0.3 million for pay DTT (up by 6%). Digital cable subs will increase by nearly 10 million (up by 30%) over the same period.

Simon Murray, principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Despite the number of pay-TV homes increasing, pay-TV revenues will remain flat at around $32 billion. ARPU is falling in most countries and on most platforms. The pay-TV arena is becoming more competitive as newer platforms (especially IPTV ones – but also including OTT/SVOD) launch. Greater competition means cheaper channel packages. Bundling increases overall ARPU for operators, but leads to lower TV ARPU.”

Satellite TV will remain the most lucrative pay-TV platform, but its revenues will fall every year from 2011 – despite subs numbers rising.

Cable TV revenues peaked in 2012. Cable will lose $1 billion (down by 8.6%) between 2013 and 2020 – although subscriber numbers will also fall (by 6.1%). However, IPTV revenues will climb by 26.7% between 2014 and 2020 to $5.51 billion (with subscriber numbers up by 37.1%).

The UK ($7,574 million) will still be the most lucrative pay-TV market by 2020. Despite having the most pay-TV subs by some distance, Germany’s pay-TV revenues will be a lot lower than the UK – at $4,460 million. In fact, France and Italy will not be too far behind Germany despite having fewer pay-TV subs.

Further details about the report can be found by clicking on this link.

Minimal impact for cord-cutting in Western Europe

Cord-cutting very limited in Western Europe

Despite signs of market maturity, cord-cutting is not expected to make much of an impact in Western Europe, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. The Digital TV Western Europe Forecasts report (which covers 18 countries) states that pay TV penetration is expected to grow from 56.7% at end-2014 to 60.4% in 2020.

In fact, the number of pay TV subscribers will climb by 2.57 million in 2015 to 99.00 million (up from 92.86 million in 2010) as Western Europe begins to shrug off the recession.

Pay TV subscriptions will only increase by 8.38 million (up by 8.7%) between 2014 and 2020 to 104.81 million. However, the number of digital pay TV subscribers will climb by 23.1% (nearly 20 million), with analog cable subs falling from 11.31 million in 2014 to zero by 2019.
Paying IPTV subscriber numbers will overtake pay satellite TV ones in 2015. IPTV subscriptions will climb by 8.6 million (up by 37%) between 2014 and 2020 compared with 1.2 million additions for pay satellite TV (up by 5%) and 0.3 million for pay DTT (up by 6%). Digital cable subs will increase by nearly 10 million (up by 30%) over the same period.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Despite the number of pay TV homes increasing, pay TV revenues will remain flat at around $32 billion. ARPU is falling in most countries and on most platforms. The pay TV arena is becoming more competitive as newer platforms (especially IPTV ones – but also including OTT/SVOD) launch. Greater competition means cheaper channel packages. Bundling increases overall ARPU for operators, but leads to lower TV ARPU.”

Source: Digital TV Research Ltd

Satellite TV will remain the most lucrative pay TV platform, but its revenues will fall every year from 2011 – despite subs numbers rising.

Cable TV revenues peaked in 2012. Cable will lose $1 billion (down by 8.6%) between 2013 and 2020 – although subscriber numbers will also fall (by 6.1%). However, IPTV revenues will climb by 26.7% between 2014 and 2020 to $5.51 billion (with subscriber numbers up by 37.1%).

The UK ($7,574 million) will still be the most lucrative pay TV market by 2020. Despite having the most pay TV subs by some distance, Germany’s pay TV revenues will be a lot lower than the UK – at $4,460 million. In fact, France and Italy will not be too far behind Germany despite having fewer pay TV subs.

Pay TV growing fastest in the MENA region

Middle East Pay TV Market Boom Fastest Globally, IHS Study Finds

• Anti-piracy measures, high quality content and investment in local content fueled year of substantial growth; Growth to be five times higher than the US, UK, Germany, France and Italy in next five years

LONDON, UK — IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of critical information and insight, today announced key findings from its annual Middle East & North Africa Pay TV Market Monitor report. The report found that 2014 was another year of substantial growth for the pay TV market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with pay TV revenues jumping from €702 million in 2013 to €873 million in 2014.

While most households continue to rely predominantly on free satellite TV, the total primary pay TV households rose to 4.8 million from 4.3 million in 2013, a year-on-year increase of 12.4 percent.

“This is the largest increase in revenue globally,” said report author Constantinos Papavassilopoulos, senior analyst at IHS Technology. “The MENA region represents huge opportunities for investors. If we look at the demographics alone, over 60 percent of the population is under 35, they are media-literate and have developed international tastes in TV content.”

IHS forecasts that between 2015 and 2019, the MENA region will grow five times higher than the rate of the US, UK, Germany, France and Italy.

High growth prospects based on a few main characteristics

Major factors in growth for 2014 were: the successful anti-piracy measures, the high quality pay TV offerings, the investment in local (Arabic) content and the 2014 FIFA World Cup Finals.

“As we look forward, we see that the region has a strong anti-piracy stance and excellent communication infrastructure that will facilitate the expansion of pay TV networks and the offering of premium pay TV,” Papavassilopoulos said.

The threat of piracy has been considerably curbed recently in the region after the successful cooperation of major broadcasters, pay TV operators, satellite operators and online content providers with the authorities in the Gulf States and in countries like Egypt and Jordan. Additionally, the pay TV business in the region is experiencing a consolidation process (mergers & acquisitions, carriage deals) which is creating entities with stronger finances, more robust business plans and more efficient exploitation of local talent and resources.

IHS expects positive growth in the pay TV market to continue, with primary pay TV households reaching 6.6 million and revenues €1.7 billion in 2019.

Report Methodology

All forecasts in IHS Technology – MENA Media & Telecoms Intelligence Service are done in-house based on historical and current data gathered first-hand directly from the companies concerned, and from trade bodies, regulatory authorities or government departments with which IHS Technology maintains a relationship. IHS does not rely on third-party sources for its reports. This approach provides a sound basis on which to develop IHS models, all of which are built company-by-company and technology-by-technology. Totals are then derived from the component parts and are thus wholly granular.

Countries included in the study are: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the UAE.

Montenegro pay TV subscribers up 2,346 in 1Q 2015

Thursday, April 16th, 2015 

PODGORICA — The Agency for Electronic Media (Agencije za elektronske medije) in Montenegro has released subscriber figures for the ten operators (four cable, two IPTV, and one each of MMDS, DTH, DVB-T2 and mobile TV) authorised to distribute radio and TV programmes to end users in the country.

As at March 31, 2015, the number of connections for the distribution of radio and TV programmes over the different Cable/MMDS/DTH/IPTV/mobile platforms was 156,739, up 2,346 or 1.5% since end-2014, and up 7,121 year-on-year (4.8%). The total represents 80.46% (79.26% at end-2014) of households, the remainder being covered by analogue terrestrial TV.

IPTV retained the leading position with 41.09% of the digital television market (slightly down from 41.63% at the end of 2014). It was followed by DTH distribution at 32.96% percent (33.27% at end-2014) and MMDS and Cable with 12.89% (12.97%) and 12.37% (11.80%) respectively. The market share of the mobile operator was 0.69% (0.33%).

Operator TV connections

                                   2013                                2014     2015
              -------------------------  ----------------------------------  -------
                 Jun.     Sep.     Dec.     Mar.     Jun.     Sep.     Dec.     Mar.
              -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
Total         144,950  146,433  148,701  149,618  153,601  155,635  154,393  156,739
Q-o-Q Change    6,530    1,483    2,268      917    3,983    2,034   -1,242    2,346
  %              4.7%     1.0%     1.5%     0.6%     2.7%     1.3%    -0.8%     1.5%

More: Market Reports

Fox signs four OTT deals in APAC

Fox International Channels (FIC) is all set to leverage over-the-top video market in Asia Pacific. FIC inks OTT deals with four players namely Avex in Japan, Tencent and its OTT partners in China, Astro in Malaysia and Cignal in the Philippines.

A slate of channels and content from FIC including Fox, Fox Sports and National Geographic will be available on SVOD, streaming and catch-up services from Avex, Tencent, Astro and Cignal.

“We are excited to be partnering with Avex, Tencent, Astro and Cignal. It is our mission to work with our platform partners to grow their subscriber base. The online, on-demand opportunity is the new frontier and we hope our innovative new products will help our partners tap into a new segment of consumers who do not have pay TV today,” said Zubin Gandevia, President of Fox International Channels Asia Pacific and Middle East.

“This deal enables us to reach out to new fans through over the top.  We are delighted to further strengthen our relationship with FIC,” said CK Lee, Vice President, Sports Business at Astro.

DTT funding crisis hits Russia

The distribution costs on Russia’s second DTT multiplex is proving to be an increasing financial burden for broadcasters.

As a result, reportsKommersant, they have asked the state to solve the problem by replacing a portion of their payments with budget subsidies from the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS).

Digital channels are required to pay R150 million (€2.7 million) a year, along with an advance of R840 million, for carriage on the second multiplex.

Distribution costs for channels on the first multiplex are paid for by the state.

Ideally, broadcasters using the second multiplex would like to see their costs reduced by around half.

The second multiplex is expected to reach 98.1% of the population by the end of 2018.

Boost for HD viewing in Russia

Russia’s Tricolor TV has seen a spectacular growth in the number of its subscribers watching HD services since the launch of the Express-AT1 satellite exactly a year ago.

The latter allowed the operator to launch full-scale broadcasting in Siberia, the Urals and Far East, the result of which has been a 70% increase, equivalent to 150,000 households, in the total in the region.

Express-AT1 has allowed Tricolor TV to broadcast almost four times as many channels as previously and now viewers in Siberia are offered 194, 30 of which are in HD.

In a separate development, the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) has announced that the Express-AM6 satellite, located at 53 degrees East, is now operational.

Turk Telekom loses TV customers

TivibuTurk Telekom ended the first quarter with 1.7 million Tivibu (IPTV and Tivibu Go) subscribers, or 7.6% fewer than at the start of the year.

The total number of Tivibu Home subscribers also fell during the same period, down by 2.8% q-o-q to 281,000.

The Tivibu Go figure encompasses web TV, mobile TV and smart TV subscribers.

The company as a whole had revenues of TL3,435 million (€1,185.7 million) in Q1, down 4.5% q-o-y but up 7.5% y-o-y. EBITDA, at TL1,329 million, was meanwhile up by 7.9% and 10.8% respectively.

Net profit, after minority interest, was meanwhile, at TL27 million, down by 94.7% and 93.1% respectively.

Despite the recent downturn, Turk Telekom’s TV business is expected to grow significantly in the near future, both in terms of subscriber additions and ARPU, as a result of TTNET having secured the media rights to the UEFA Champions League and Europa League for three years from 2015.

Separately, it has been reported that Turk Telekom has offered to buy the remaining stake in the mobile company Avea that it does not already own.

The stake is valued at $300 million.

Global 4K display market to reach $52 billion in 2020

Global 4K Display Market to Reach $52 Billion in 2020, IHS Says

• Once a feature mainly found in next-gen TVs, 4K resolution displays now being adopted in smartphones, PC monitors, OLED displays and notebook PCs

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Strong promotion of 4K display resolutions from TV makers, display manufacturers and distribution channels has successfully increased consumer awareness and boosted 4K LCD TV penetration in 2014, according to a new report from IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of critical information and insight. While 4K is best known as a feature in high-end LCD TVs, starting this year 4K displays will emerge in all major display applications, including desktop monitors, notebook PCs, OLED TVs, digital signage, smartphones and tablet PCs.

The latest Quarterly Worldwide FPD Shipment and Forecast Report from IHS reveals that the 4K display market reached $9.2 billion last year. 4K LCD TV contributed $8.8 billion to overall revenue; however, in 2015, 4K displays are coming to all major applications and will boost 4K revenue 94 percent year over year, reaching $18 billion in 2015. With the evolution of new display process technologies, to enhance the 4K display yield rate and lower costs, IHS forecasts that the 4K display market will be reach $52 billion in 2020.

“Since its market introduction in 2013, TV brands have recognized that 4K is a great way to enhance value, so they have strongly promoted 4K models,” said David Hsieh, senior director of display research for IHS. “4K content and broadcasting availability is also on the rise, which is helping more TV buyers recognize the value of this feature. Meanwhile, LCD TV panel makers have continuously improved 4K panel yield, which has reduced costs and facilitated even more consumer adoption.”

In 2015, LCD panel makers are targeting 40 million 4K LCD TV panel shipments, which represent 17 percent of all LCD TV panel shipments. In addition to TVs, consumers are starting to enjoy the benefits of ultra-high-resolution content in their smartphones and other mobile devices. Meanwhile, the “TV everywhere” concept is increasing consumer desire for higher resolution screens in their mobile devices. The professional-monitor and public-display market are also increasingly adopting 4K displays.

Source: Quarterly Worldwide FPD Shipment and Forecast Report from IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS)

4K LCD TVs continue to be the largest segment of the 4K display market, but smartphones and OLED TVs will experience the strongest growth this year. In order to compete with LCD TV in the high-end segment, OLED TV makers are including 4K resolutions. As display technology is improving fine-pitch pixel designs and brightness transmittance, 4K displays will become more affordable for mobile devices. In fact, panel makers like Sharp and JDI have recently announced and exhibited 4K smartphone panels. 4K tablet-PC displays, using oxide (IGZO) and low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) processes, are also in panel makers’ plans.

On the other hand, sub-pixel rendering (SPR) technology will become an important way for panel makers to enhance 4K pixel design in their displays. For many years now, various versions of SPR have been used in the commercial production of AMOLED and LCD displays. Essentially they use two sub-pixels per white pixel, to offer a similar perceived resolution as conventional three-color red-green-blue (RGB) displays.

“The main benefits of SPR include fewer sub-pixels, higher transmission and lower power consumption,” Hsieh said. “SPR is an important element in the growth of the 4K display market.”

The IHS Quarterly Worldwide FPD Shipment and Forecast Report covers worldwide shipments and forecasts for all major flat panel display applications, including detail from over 140 flat-panel display (FPD) producers, covering more than 10 countries. The report analyzes historical shipments and forecast projections, which provide some of the most detailed information and insights available. For information about purchasing this report, contact the sales department at IHS in the Americas at (844) 301-7334 orAmericasLeads@ihs.com; in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at +44 1344 328 300 or technology_emea@ihs.com; or Asia-Pacific (APAC) at +604 291 3600 or technology_APAC@ihs.com.

Vodafone eyes Portugal’s Cabovisão

Vodafone has emerged as one of several parties interested in buying the Portuguese cable operator Cabovisão.

Quoting two people familiar with talks between the parties,Bloomberg reports that the company, which Altice has promised to divest as part of its acquisition of telecom assets in Portugal, is worth around €300 million.

It adds that talks about the possible sale of Cabovisão could go on for several months.

Vodafone is already active in Portugal, expanding its network to offer bundles of fixed and mobile services, including broadband and TV.

Significantly, its CEO Vittorio Colao said last year that the company was interested in acquiring cable assets in Portugal.

Under the terms of its €7.4 billion deal to buy the Portuguese assets of Portugal Telecom last year, Altice was required by the regulators to sell both Cabovisão and ONI.

Just this week, the European Commission gave the go-ahead to Altice/Portugal Telecom deal.

Cabovisão was acquired by Altice from Canada’s Cogeco Cable for €45 million in March 2012.

MTG: Record sales, but mixed pay-TV picture

Modern Times Group (MTG) ended the first quarter with 973,000 premium pay-TV subscribers in the Nordic region, down from the 982,000 and 978,000 posted three months and a year earlier respectively.

While the premium satellite figure continued to fall (514,000, versus 526,000 and 553,000 three months and a year respectively), those via third party networks increased to a total of 459,000 (from 456,000 and 425,000 respectively). Meanwhile, the basic satellite subscriber total continued to fall, with the number as of the end of Q1 at 31,000.

Premium satellite ARPU in Q1 was SEK5,220 (€560.1), compared to SEK5,044 in the corresponding quarter in 2014.

In emerging markets, the satellite subscriber total as of the end of Q1 was 290,000, compared to 358,000 a year earlier. This was in large part due to the closure of the DTH platform Raduga TV in Russia at the end of 2014. On the other hand, the number of mini-pay subscriptions rose from 94,837 to 136,969 in the year to March 31.

MTG notes that in the Nordics, sales growth at constant FX was driven by the expansion of Viaplay. In emerging markets, figures were boosted in the mini-pay channel business by the consolidation of Trace, which added 42 million subscriptions year-on-year and 6 million quarter-on-quarter.

MTG as a whole had net sales of SEK3,701 million in Q1, compared to SEK3,597 million in the corresponding quarter in 2014. Total EBIT was SEK415 million (SEK301 million) and net income SEK318 million (SEK159 million).

Commenting on the results, Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, president and CEO, said: “Record Q1 sales & stable underlying profits Sales were up in the quarter to record levels as enhanced efficiency levels in our traditional businesses continued to fuel the growth of our digital businesses, and even though last year’s performance was boosted by the Olympics. Profits were stable compared to last year when excluding the net positive effect of the restructuring in Sweden and a copyright settlement in Scandinavia, and this is despite significant FX headwinds and continued investments in our digital products. The growth in online viewing is more than compensating for lower linear channel viewing levels in the Nordic region, and our combined Nordic TV businesses grew their sales, and profits were stable despite the FX impacts and when excluding the abovementioned net positive effect. Our Emerging Market free-TV operations generated higher sales and improved profitability in seven out of eight markets as we took shares in generally stable or growing markets. Our Emerging Market pay-TV operations continue to be impacted by the geopolitical crisis and Russia’s ban on advertising on most pay-TV channels. Nice, MTG Radio and MTGx reported stable sales and lower losses on a combined basis”.

Looking to the future, he added: We have now almost finalized the annual upfront agreements for our free-TV businesses, with price increases in most markets reflecting TV’s unique reach and superior return on investment. Viaplay continues to grow its subscriber base and usage levels, while our channel packages are more broadly available than ever before. We have also added new programming content or extended valuable existing rights to ensure that we have the best possible entertainment offerings in each market. We continue to face adverse FX headwinds that are inflating our US dollar content costs in the Nordics particularly, and also reducing the results from our Russian ruble denominated operations. We are taking actions across the Group to offset these effects as much as possible”.

HD boost for Bosnia & Herzegovina

Hayat has become the first broadcaster in Bosnia & Herzegovina to distribute an HD channel via satellite.

This follows the launch of a version of Hayat TV in the format on Eutelsat 16A at the beginning of this month.

Hayat HD is now the sixth Hayat channel to be distributed via satellite.

Although FTA, it will soon be encrypted in the Viaccess 5.0 system.

Hayat plans to soon also launch a HD version of the local pop music channel Hayat Music.

Gazprom-Media makes a loss

Russia’s Gazprom-Media has become an unprofitable business, posting a net loss of R2 billion (€34.8 million) in 2014.

Quoting a report by the company’s leading shareholder Gazprombank, Vedomosti reports that this contrasts with a profit of R8.6 billion in 2013.

However, its adds that Gazprom-Media also saw its revenues increase by 28.3% last year to R72 billion. This was nevertheless largely due to the inclusion of Prof-Media to the total. Without the latter, Gazprom-Media’s revenues would have in fact declined.

For instance, its national commercial broadcaster NTV saw a 12.4% reduction in revenues to R20.3 billion last year, while those at the DTH platform NTV-Plus fell by 6% to R8.8 billion.

On the other hand, the station TNT posted an 8.1% increase, with its revenues rising to R16.9 billion.

NTV-Plus has in fact also become unprofitable, registering a loss of R1.8 billion last year.

Gazprom-Media’s disappointing financial performance can in large part be explained by the fall in the ruble and its impact on the cost of foreign content.

Tricolor TV still on a roll

Russia’s leading pay-TV operator Tricolor TV gained 312,300 additional HDTV customers in the first quarter.

The 9% increase in the three months meant it ended March with 4.95 million subscribers, out of a total of over 11.01 million, receiving services in the format.

At the same time, its revenues of R2.7 billion (€50.5 million) in the quarter were 34% higher than in the same period last year.

In the first three months of 2014, over 2.3 million customers renewed their subscriptions to Tricolor TV’s basic services. This was 20% more than the projected figure.
Of this total, 1.86 million opted for the package ‘One’, or ‘Single’.

Almost one in three (30%) of those who renewed were HD subscribers, while 28% and 42% used MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 reception equipment respectively.

The ‘One’ package was introduced this January and as of last month offered viewers 172 TV channels, 32 of which were in HD.

The high level of premium content in Tricolor TV’s basic services has made the latter increasingly popular among its subscribers.

Belarus gains multiscreen service

The Belarusian incumbent Beltelecom has launched a multiscreen service named Smart Zala.

Enabled by SmartLabs, it allows customers to view, record and catch up with TV content, set parental controls and manage their subscriptions.

The new service is available on Windows and Mac OS computers, Android and iOS tablets and mobile devices. It will also be available on smart TVs in the very near future.

A key feature of Smart Zala is the ability to start watching content on one supported device and then switch to viewing it on another.

Commenting on the launch, Mikhail Grachev, SmartLabs CEO, said: “People expect more viewing freedom today.

“With Smart Zala, Beltelecom’s multiscreen solution, the user can select a viewing option to match his or her taste, mood and surroundings. We are confident that Beltelecom subscribers will make the best use of the new feature. We are looking forward to implementing more innovative projects for the leader of the Belarusian telecommunications market.”

BeIN buys Digiturk

Digiturk has reportedly been sold to the Qatari BeIN Media Group for a fee of between $1 billion and $1.2 billion.

Quoting the Turkish dailyStar, BGN News says that BeIN will control all the shares in the DTH platform, pending approval by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF).

The latter originally seized 53% of Digitürk from Çukurova Holding in 2013 for non-payment of debts to the state agency.

The remaining 47% of Digitürk belonged to the US equity group Providence Equity Partners, and with the latter having announced it has completed its sales discussions, complete ownership of the company is set to pass into BeIN’s hands.

BeIN Media Group’s current assets include Al Jazeera.

FTA channels find growth in pay-TV

Europe’s free-to-air channels are fine tuning their digital channels to sustain audience shares in the digital environment.

Enders Analysis says broadcasters are facing a weak advertising recovery, a decline in TV set viewing by younger age groups and increased competition from pay-TV and international operators. The solution has been to widen the distribution of HD and catch-up services. Enders’ advice is to focus on strengthening the quality gap between the TV set experience and online entertainment.

ITV has shown the greatest increase in profitability, benefitting from its global production strategy. Its launched ITV Encore as a mini-pay channel available only on the Sky platform.

RTL and ProSiebenSat.1 have a modest upside from carriage fees for HD channels from inititives such as HD+, but production and pay-TV initiatives have yet to pay off.

Mediaset in Italy should benefit from the ad market stabilising, but says Enders, risks large pay-TV losses.

Akado to launch OTT service

The Moscow-based cable operator Akado Telekom will in the near future enter Russia’s OTT market with a full interactive digital TV platform.

Quoted by Comnews, the company’s spokesperson Irina Romannikova added that creating such a professional OTT product would strengthen Akado’s position in the operator market, increasing the loyalty of existing customers and at the same time adding new ones.

While refusing to provide any details about the investment Akado would make in the new platform, Romannikova said that it would obtain content for it from multiple sources.

It has already established its owns extensive library through operating a pay-per-view service continuously broadcasting on 13 film channels.

Akado is also considering offers of CDN solutions from a number of companies including Cisco, Huawei and Broadpeak.

The operator currently accounts for 19% of the pay-TV market in Moscow, while nationally its share stands at only 3%.

The OTT market is highly competitive in Russia, with over 20 legal services operating as of 2014.

However, only six had a market share of over 5%, with Ivi.ru (28%), Okko (22%) and Tvigle and Megogo (9% each) the main players.

Sky sees best growth in 11 years

Sky Group has seen its highest third quarter growth in the UK and Ireland for 11 years and the best on Italy for three years.

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Announcing its results for the nine months to March 31, 2015, the company said Germany and Austria had also seen a record growth rate (see separate story).

A total of 242,000 new customer additions were made in the first three months of the calendar year, delivering a 5% increase in group revenue to £8,453 million and a 20% increase in operating profit to £1,025 million.

The UK & Ireland brings 11,877,000 retail customers; Germany & Austria 4,225,000 and Italy 4,746,000 to make a total subscriber base of 20,848,000.

Jeremy Darroch, Group Chief Executive, said that five months after the integration of Germany and Italy into the UK business, integration plans were progressing: “The UK and Ireland delivered a stand-out performance, reporting both the highest customer growth and lowest churn for eleven years. We took share in broadband and grew strongly in TV as our dual-brand strategy with NOW TV and Sky continues to deliver. At the same time, Germany enjoyed another record quarter of growth and Italy posted its best Q3 customer growth in three years. We’ve also delivered significantly increased customer loyalty in each of our businesses.”

Part of the success rests with building additional businesses around the core offering. Among these Sky Store has now seen more than half a million customers purchase one or more movies from Sky since the launch of the service.

NOW TV has witnessed subscriber growth up 30% on the same period last year; sports transactions have trebled with over 1 million year to date and include a record 36,000 on the day of the Liverpool vs Manchester United clash in March.

Sky Deutschland adds 103,000 subscribers

German pay-TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland has acquired 103,000 new subscribers in the first three months of 2015, increasing its total customer figure to 4.23 million.

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In the same period last year, 64,000 subscribers were added.

The turnover grew by €35 million to €455 million. The main growth driver was the income generated through subscriptions which rose by 9% to €419 million.

The EBITDA increased by €31 million to €22 million, thus returning to the black. The expenses without write-offs rose by 1% to €433 million, mainly due to higher costs for the Bundesliga and programming.

Sky, however, didn’t reveal its net result. In the first three months of 2014, the pay-TV company recorded a net loss of €53 million. “We don’t publish the net result separately anymore because of the simplified reporting duties that now apply to us,” a Sky spokesman told Broadband TV News.

OTT TV Market to increase fourfold

Subscriptions from OTT TV providers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime will generate $31.6 billion by 2019, up from just under $8 billion in 2014, according to Juniper Research.

Continued growth in the established markets of West Europe and North America, along with the emergence of key OTT players in the Far East and Asia Pacific, will bring a surge in the uptake of OTT subscriptions over the next four years.

The new research, Mobile & Online TV & Video: OTT, IPTV & Connected Markets 2015-2019, observed that OTT services are seeing a rapid uptake by consumers who want to view content, when and where it suits them. The report argued that traditional broadcasters are facing increased competition as more services go over-the-top of pay TV incumbents, allowing distributors such as Sling TV to provide customers with a cheaper, tailored alternative to cable TV, driving the trend for ‘cord-cutting’.

Whilst key players such as Netflix and YouTube have launched 4K (ultra-high definition) services, the adoption of 4K content has been slow thus far. Juniper is predicting this to change over the next 2 years. Netflix added its 4K offering to its highest priced subscription package last year, showing belief that consumers are willing to pay for higher quality content, while OTT providers are gaining recognition as being the first to supply viewers with content in this new format. Meanwhile, 4K TVs will continue to become more affordable, accelerating hardware take-up.

Other key findings include: over 84% of OTT subscriptions will be made via connected TVs by 2019. IPTV revenues are set to more than double between 2014 and 2019, rewarding Network Operator’s investment in Triple and Quad-Play Services.

IPTV grows in Russia

Rostelecom is to undertake a large-scale modernisation of its Interactive TV platform, launched only three years ago.

According to Comnews, the process is likely to cost R344 million (€6.4 million).

It adds that the telco has already announced two tenders, the first being for the supply of equipment by Huawei, Juniper, Intel and Cisco.

The modernisation is linked to the strong growth of Interactive TV’s subscriber base.

Although Rostelecom has not provided a figure for its size, it is believed to have increased by 24% in 2014 to 2.7 million.

Rostelecom is the leading player in Russia’s IPTV sector, which though smaller than cable and DTH is growing much faster, even despite the current economic crisis.

The total number of IPTV subscribers in the country is expected to reach 5 million this year.

Samsung 2015 SUHD TV range arrives in Australia with free six-month Netflix

Samsung has announced the pricing for its new range of SUHD TVs in Australia. Early customers of the 2015 range of SUHD TVs will also be getting six months of free Netflix.

According the South Korean electronics giant, the latest SUHD TVs use nano-crystal technology, offering crisp and clear images. The new range of ultra HD TVs run on Tizen operating system. Samsung says that its new OS will play a major role in Internet of Things.

“The Samsung SUHD experience will change the way Australians think about Samsung’s home entertainment and visual display technology – it’s on a completely new level to anything we have ever produced.” said Philip Newton – Corporate Vice President, Samsung Electronics Australia. “By pushing Samsung’s boundaries in colour and picture quality, the SUHD TV range showcases our continuous commitment to innovation in the TV category, offering Australians an outstanding viewing experience”

Samsung Series 9 JS9500 65-inch SUHD TV is priced at RRP AUD9,999 and will be available from April 2015 while the Series 9 JS9500 88-inch SUHD TV is at RRP AUD24,999, available June 2015.

STB-less pay TV expands to MEA with recent CAM launches

STB-less pay TV expands to MEA with recent CAM launches

Sub-Saharan pay DTT provider GOtv has deployed CI+ Conditional Access Modules (CAMs), enabling its channels to be viewed on compatible integrated digital TV sets without the need for a set-top box (STB). The deployment is currently limited to GOtv’s Kenyan and Ghanaian operators, but could be expanded to the remaining six countries of its pay DTT network.  Go TV’s announcement follows a similar launch in the MENA region by the satellite operator My-HD earlier this year. GOTV has branded its CAMs as ‘GOcard’, and they are being provided by French vendor Neotion. CAMs enable pay TV content to be viewed directly on a television set, without the help of a set-top box (STB) provided the TV set has a digital tuner (iDTV) and a DVB-common-interface (DVB-CI) slot, also known as PCMCIA slot.

Our take
The impact of CAMs on pay TV STB shipments has been geographically constrained to Europe, but these MEA launches could lead to further declines in EMEA STB demand. CAM modules have been eating into STB sales in Europe significantly since the introduction of the more secure CI+ standard in 2009; CAM shipments in Europe as a proportion of region’s total digital pay TV receivers grew from 2% in 2009 to 7.1% or 5.3 million in 2013. Europe is the only market currently suited to significant CAM usage because it the only market with a large installed base of CAM compatible TV sets.  This is the result of a 2002 EU mandate for the inclusion of DVB-CI slots in all TV sets with digital TV tuners and screen diagonal >30cm, which combined with the migration to DTT broadcasting drove the installed base of compatible TVs to grow from 9 million in 2002 to 412 million in 2013.

Despite strong growth between 2009 and 2012, CAM growth did start to slow down in 2013 primarily due to changing market dynamics and CAMs technical limitations. CAMs can neither route nor decrypt IP-delivered content, nor can they handle multi-stream reception. This means that features such as multi-channel DVR and almost all IP-reliant services remain unsupported. This may not have been a drawback for CAMs a decade ago, when TV was largely linear and less interactive, but markets such as Europe have since evolved. Established pay TV markets such as Western Europe have reached a stage of saturation where Pay TV providers have to rely on advanced services to stay competitive and boost ARPUs. These services include IP VoD, multiscreen, DVR and cloud-based offers. Since CAMs cannot fully support these services, operator CAM deployment remains confined to supporting the most basic experience; the delivery of linear digital channels alone.

Emerging markets such as the Middle East and Africa (MEA) are still largely focused on delivering the basic digital pay TV needs of the end user. This means that CAMs technical limitations are not yet an entry barrier for these markets. Instead, the main barrier to entry is the general lack of availability of compatible TVs. Government mandates for CAM compatibility in digital TV sets are currently absent, but would be a key driver. However, the presence of multi-national pay TV operators in MEA can also be an appeal for TV manufacturers looking to introduce CAM compatibility in their products. TV manufacturers like to produce sets that can be sold across – an entire region rather than a specific country, for production efficiency. Due to low margins on TVs, manufacturers avoid the inclusion of extra functionality like DVB-CI, as it adds to BOM costs. Therefore, it makes little or no economic sense for TV manufacturers to introduce DVB-CI to serve a single operator in a single country, but if that operator is present across an entire region sufficient scale could be achieved. The presence of multi-national operators like GOtv and MyTV in MEA potentially offers this scale. This means that if TV manufacturers launch a specific product for such an operator, it could be scaled out to multiple operations. Chinese vendor Hisense has already launched a CAM compatible TV product for GOtv in Ghana and Kenya, which also is likely to be rolled out to GOtv’s remaining 6 countries soon. MEA is also a price-competitive pay TV market – where demand for premium features such as smart TV and UHD is not generally high. Making TVs compatible with CAM can serve as a differentiator for TV manufacturers looking to stand-out in such a market.

MEA is an important market for the future growth of CAMs and also for STBs. From a STB perspective, MEA will be the third largest growth market for pay TV STB shipments after Eastern Europe and Latin America. STB makers may not currently see CAMs as a big threat in emerging markets because it is currently limited in these regions by the general lack of compatible host devices. Should a future government mandate be placed, or should pay TV CAM availability encourage TV manufacturers to introduce compatible products in the region, as many Chinese companies including TCL and Hisense are already looking to do, this threat can potentially impact STB growth as it has in Western Europe.

Megafon acquires Internet and cable TV provider in Western Siberia--Dec 13, 2011

MegaFon, a major Russian mobile operator, made a further step last Friday towards business diversification and regional expansion by acquiring Yugratel, a broadband Internet and cable TV provider operating in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District of Western Siberia.

Yugratel was sold through an auction sale by the local authorities for 2.4 billion rubles, or approximately $76 million.

Yugratel is a relatively small player in the region, with 28,000 customers, or 11% of the local market, far behind Rostelecom’s 49% market share. But Yugratel enjoys a healthy financial situation with a net profit amounting to 129 million rubles, or $4.1 million in 2010 along with a good future earnings potential, the Russian online publication ComNews.ru quoted experts as saying.

The Russian antimonopoly authorities did not allow Rostelecom, Russia’s national telecom operator, to take part in the auction.

MegaFon, which has ambitions to become a ‘universal telecom operator,’ has made some notable acquisitions over the past few years. Among the most recent ones, earlier this month, was Luchshe.net, a broadband operator that provides services in Kursk under the SVOЁ trademark.

In November, the company announced the acquisition of broadband Internet access providers Internet Center and Svyazinform, which serve more than 60,000 customers in Chuvashia under the Chebnet brand.

In June, Megafon acquired St. Petersburg Internet provider Web Plus, and NetByNet, a fixed broadband Internet, digital TV and IP telephony operator operating in Moscow and a number of regions.

In 2010, MegaFon acquired Synterra, a company with a large terrestrial and satellite telecommunications infrastructure.