Star issues disconnection notice to Sun Direct

Star India has issued a disconnection notice to Sun Direct for non-payment of subscription fees. The payment issue between the broadcaster and the DTH provider is expected to cause service disruption to the latter’s customers.

Channels such as Star Movies, Star World, National Geographic Channel, NGC Wild, Suvarna, Star Vijay, Asianet, Asianet Plus and Star Sports 1 will be not be accessible to Sun Direct subscribers, reports Television Post.

Back in December 2014, Star India had served disconnection notice to Reliance Digital TV over non-payment of dues. Multi-system operator, Siti Cable, was also issued a similar notice. The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal or TDSAT had to intervene and direct Star to accept a cheque of INR100 million to settle the delayed payments issue.

Broadcom offering customised STB solutions for Indian Pay TV market

Long list of operators and a diverse supply chain make India a challenging market for STB chip companies.  Broadcom believes that it has developed the right kind of portfolio to sustain its growth in the Indian Pay TV market.

The U.S-based chip company says that it has invested in chip solutions for not only terrestrial and satellite cable TV, but also IPTV and OTT products to suit the price-sensitive and demanding nature of the Indian Pay TV segment.

“India is very important to us so we have not only put features in this [hardware and software reference designs for select cases] that are hugely applicable to India,” Rajiv Kapur, Broadcom India MD, told NexTVIndia.

According to a recent list released by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 38.78 million urban TV households will be covered under the Phase III of digital addressable system. The digitisation programme makes India one of the largest markets in the world for set-top boxes. The country is even witnessing emergence of video OTT players such as Hotstar and Hooq, raising demands for high efficiency video delivery solutions.

India is a challenging environment for a semiconductor company. The country has a long list of operators and a diverse supply chain. Direct- to- Home segment alone has seven major companies competing for subscribers. Despite the challenges, the company has found stronghold in the DTH space.

“One of the primary challenges specific to the Indian Pay TV market is that it is highly fragmented geographically.  On the technology side, we see operators, OEMs and chip makers needing to find the right balance of features and the price points required for the market in India,” he told NexTVIndia.

Tata Sky and Videocon recently partnered with Broadcom to launch 4K STBs in India. Broadcom says that it is in active discussion with other DTH operators for 4K STB solutions. Cable multi-system operators are still working basic digitisation and so, are “a little behind on the 4k discussions relative to the satellite operators,” Kapur told NexTVIndia.

4K TV is still in infancy stage, however, Broadcom believes that the market will gain traction in the future.

“As for other regions in the world, 4k TV will first be adopted by advanced users who can purchase the latest TVs; this naturally leads to opportunities for operators to offer services to those customers. In India, the 4k trend may initially begin as a smaller portion of the market, building on deployments globally, with early adopters naturally leading the way,” Kapur told NexTVIndia.

India and China are front-runners in STB space in Asia, however, Vietnam is now emerging as a strong player in the region.

Dish TV introduces DTH services in Sri Lanka

Dish TV, the direct-to-home service provider has begun operations in Sri Lanka. Subscribers can access 47 channels for LKR249 per month.

With the launch, Dish TV has become the first Indian DTH company to expand its business in Sri Lanka. The channel list includes 13 Sinhalese, six Tamil, four devotional and two English news channels. Dish TV Lanka is a joint venture between the DTH operator and Satnet Pvt Ltd; with Dish holding 70% of the stake, reports Television Post.

“The ARPU is high, and there is zero subsidy. It is a highly profitable model. It does not require much incremental investment, nor do we require an additional satellite,” said Dish TV CEO RC Venkateish told TelevisionPost. Dialog Axiata is Sri Lanka’s major DTH provider.

Dish TV has reported a net profit of INR350 million for the quarter that ended March 31, 2015. The company added 404,000 subscribers during the quarter and its ARPU stood at INR179.

ABS-CBN plans satellite TV in the Philippines

MANILA — According to InterAksyon.com, ABS-CBN is planning to offer a satellite television service for the Philippines through its subsidiary SkyCable.

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In a submission to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Sky Cable Corporation said it plans to spend P252 million for the rollout of direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service across 251 cities and municipalities.

Also known as "direct-to-home," DBS transmits signals to subscribers using satellite.

A unit of ABS-CBN Corporation, Sky Cable’s venture into satellite TV will pit it against three existing players, namely Cignal, Dream Satellite TV and GSat.

InterAksyon.com is the online news portal of TV5, which is a sister-company of Cignal.

Pay TV providers embrace OTT video and 'skinny' bundles

Pay TV Providers Embrace Over-the-Top Video and ‘Skinny’ Bundles to Stave Off Cord-Cutting: IHS Infonetics Report

CAMPBELL, CA — The global pay TV services market, including cable TV, satellite TV, telco TV and over-the-top (OTT) video, totaled $237 billion in 2014, up 7 percent from the previous year, according to the 2015 IHS Infonetics Pay TV Services and Subscribers report from IHS (NYSE: IHS).

“In a growing number of pay TV markets, service providers are expanding market presence by offering their own OTT video services, primarily as apps on tablets and third-party OTT media servers. Dish Networks, the second-largest satellite provider in the US, is offering an OTT video service called Sling TV that’s aimed squarely at cord-cutters and cord-nevers,” said Jeff Heynen, research director for broadband access and pay TV at IHS. “The net result of these offerings will be slower revenue growth globally as OTT services carry a lower ARPU.”

“Pay TV providers are also actively marketing ‘skinny’ bundles of 10 to 30 channels in more affordable packages. Verizon has gone so far as to introduce multiple bundles of channels that subscribers can add on top of their base channels to create a custom channel lineup,” Heynen said.

PAY TV MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

Global pay TV subscribers ballooned to nearly 800 million in 2014 (up 5 percent); for the first time, the OTT pay TV segment provided the strongest growth.

Over the 5 years from 2014 to 2019, OTT pay TV services are forecast by IHS to have the highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of any pay TV service.

Cable pay TV revenue growth slowed to 1.8 percent in 2014, largely due to sluggish subscriber growth in North America, where net video subscribers are declining around 1 to 3 percent annually.

VIDEO SERVICES REPORT SYNOPSIS

The 2015 IHS Infonetics pay TV services and subscribers report provides worldwide and regional market share, market size, forecasts through 2019, analysis and trends for telco, cable (analog, digital), satellite and OTT pay TV service revenue, ARPU and subscribers. Pay TV providers tracked include AT&T, Beijing Gehua, BCE (Bell Canada), British Sky Broadcasting, Cablevision, CanalSat, Charter, China Telecom, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, DISH Network, J:COM, Jiangsu Cable, Kabel Deutschland, Netflix, Orange, Shaw, Sky Italia, Tata Sky, Time Warner Cable, UPC Broadband, Verizon, Virgin Media and many others.

Positive outlook for Russian pay-TV

Pay-TV penetration in Russia is set to reach 81% in 2019, by when there will be 45.2 million homes receiving services.

According to data produced by J’son & Partners Consulting and published by Mediasat, the there will be 18.9 million cable TV homes, up from an actual figure of 18.3 million in 2014.

Satellite TV will meanwhile account for 18.5 million homes (14.5 million) and IPTV 7.8 million (4.7 million).

Pay-TV revenues are also set to grow steadily over the next few years, up from R66.5 billion (€1.2 billion) in 2014 to R93.8 billion in 2019. Cable TV will again be in top place (R35.9 billion in 2019, up from R32.5 billion in 2014), followed by satellite TV (R33 billion v R22.5 billion) and IPTV (R24.9 billion v R11.4 billion).

ARPU will also significantly increase over the five-year period, up from R66.5 to R93.8.

Looking at pay-TV market share among the leading players, Tricolor TV was in top spot in 2014 with 29.1% (28.8% in 2013), followed by Rostelecom with 21.1% (21.4%), MTS 7.5% (7.4%), ER Telecom 7% (7.1%) and Orion Express 6.9% (5.6%).

Cable had a 48.8% share of the pay-TV market in 2104 (51.4% in 2013), followed by satellite TV 38.7% (37.3%) and IPTV 12.5% (11.3%).

Vietnam driving demand for digital TV solutions

Broadcom Corporation, the US-based chip company, sees Vietnam as a major market for its television technology products. The Southeast Asian country is not only adopting policies to boost digital TV uptake, but is also driving fibre to the home program, which makes it one of the key players for both telecom and Pay TV in the region.

India and China have seen an increase in the demand for innovative solutions for set-top box solutions in the past decade and are expected to boost connected TV market. However, countries such as Vietnam are emerging as top markets for chip companies. One of the major advantages for Vietnam now is that it can afford to leapfrog by adopting higher compression standards such as high efficiency video coding (HEVC) and benefiting from fall in STB prices.

Rajiv Kapur, Broadcom India MD, told NexTV Asia that the company expects Vietnam to be bullish about TV digitisation in the next few years.

“Emerging markets like Vietnam and China hold much potential for the Pay TV market. We see a strong desire to digitize TV in Vietnam, where there is already government support for the process,” Kapur told NexTV Asia. Vietnam is also seeing a rise in demand for hybrid OTT services and connected TV platforms.

Vietnam’s Information and Communication Strategic Institute had announced last year that it would be helping around 14.3 million households upgrade with set top box costs. According to Dataxis Intelligence, HTVC (Ho Chi Minh City Television) has about 135,000 digital cable TV subscribers and about 423,100 basic cable TV customers.

The country is expected to spend as much as VND1.7 trillion (USD 80 million) by 2020 as part of the STB program. VTV Broadcom as well as Digilink have already asked the Vietnamese government to give STB orders to domestic manufacturers to reduce influx of cheap decoders from China.

Asia remains an important market for Broadcom. In March 2015, the semiconductor company announced a series of products for China’s TV market such as the small form-factor DOCSIS 3.0 set-top box (STB) and the BCM7228, which is an HD satellite STB System-on-Chip. Shandong Cable Network’s primary systems integrator, Inspur Group, has also chosen Broadcom’s Ultra HD SoC and Wi Fi SoC for 4Kp60 cable set-top boxes.

“In China, dynamics will drive more innovative services as those markets continue to evolve and see more over-the-top and hybrid platforms,” Kapur told NexTV Asia.

Raduga TV operator set for bankruptcy

The Moscow Arbitration Court has received an application from DalGeoKom, the former operator of the DTH platform Raduga TV, to declare it insolvent.

According to Comnews, the process would be done under a simplified procedure on June 30, with the court considering the introduction of debtor bankruptcy proceedings on the same day.

Although DalGeoKom previously filed for bankruptcy on March 12, its application was not accompanied by necessary documentation.

The debtor will now be required to provide the court with numerous details.

Raduga TV, which was 50% owned by Modern Times Group (MTG), ceased operations at the end of last year after having failed to obtain the necessary licence.

Samsung stops TV production in Thailand

Samsung, the South Korean electronics giant, has announced that it has halted TV production in Thailand. The move is expected to help the company streamline its manufacturing costs.

LG, one of Samsung’s major rivals in TV space, has already shifted its TV production from Thailand to Vietnam.  Last year, Samsung said that it will be investing USD500 million in Vietnam to set-up a plant for electronic products. The Korean company hasn’t declared that it is moving TV production to Vietnam.

Labour costs are low in Vietnam and the country is also closer to China, which houses major TV equipment suppliers. Government policies and all in prices of digital TV products have made Vietnam one of the key markets in Asia for not only TV producing companies, but also for chip makers such as Broadcom.

LG Uplus introduces Android TV services running on Google’s Lollipop OS

LG Uplus has launched Android TV services running on Google’s latest lollipop operating system. The new services will help the South Korean mobile carrier expand their internet- protocol television business.

The new Android Tv services cost about 9,000 KRW or USD9 a month as base fee. The three-year contract with mobile carrier will provide users with access to 100,000 videos-on-demand and 130 domestic and global channels. The new services are available via LG Uplus’ U+tv G 4K UHD and U+tv G Woofer, according to the Korea Herald.

Customers can not only access digital content, but also run their mobile applications on TVs. Also, users don’t have to invest in set-top boxes for the services and can play high resolution smartphone games on their TVs.

“LG Uplus will make constant efforts to provide differentiated services for customers and to lead the IPTV market,” said Ahn Sung-jun, head of the firm’s converged home business sector, reports Korea Herald.

Yes reaches new subscriber record

New subscriber growth has taken Israeli satellite platform Yes to a new subscriber high.

But CEO Ron Eilon is still critical of the current regulatory environment.

“This quarter, we again posted growth in the number of subscribers, reaching a record 634,000 subscribers. These gains were made despite the entry of new players into the TV market and severe regulatory restrictions which are still being imposed selectively on some players, but not on others,” he said.

The additional 2,000 subscribers came alongside a first quarter 3.9% revenue increase to NIS 440 million. However, operating profit fell by 19% to NIS 59 million.

New apps on Philips TVs

TP Vision has announced a few new apps for its Phiips smart TVs.

A new news app called Newsmax TV ois now available to an international audience and can be accessed on all devices from 6xx8-9xx9.

For Denmark Danish broadcaster TV2 has made its catch-up TV service TV2 Play available on all devices from 6xx8-7xx9 (not including Android yet).

Storytel is a new app for audio books, they are available o na monthly subscription with a free trial period of 14 days.

Storytel is available in Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and works on all 6xx8-9xx8 and Android TV’s.

New Ziggo has 60.6% penetration of homes paased

During the first quarter of 2015, Dutch cable operator Ziggo has lost 49,500 TV customers. The total number of TV homes of the combined cable operator was 4,239,900, with 6,993,600 homes paased, the penetration stood at 60.6%.

According to the Dutch language website Digitale Kabeltelevisie, the losses of subscribers because of the merger between UPC and Ziggo into the new Ziggo, are not extreme, but in line with the ongoing erosion of cable subscriptions.

In The Netherlands, the major competitor on the triple play market is incumbent KPN with its IPTV service.

The chart below tracks the quarterly losses of the combined Dutch cable nets of Ziggo and the former UPC.

Pay-TV growth helps Rostelecom

Russia’s Rostelecom ended the first quarter with 8.1 million pay-TV subscribers, or 7% more than a year earlier.

Of these, 2.9 million opted for IPTV services, up 24% on the same period in 2014.

Rostelecom’s revenues in Q1 amounted to R71,710 million (€1,293 million), down 11% (consolidated) on the same period last year. OIBDA was R24,525 million (-7%) and net income R2,143 million (-69%).

Commenting on the results, Sergey Kalugin, president of Rostelecom, said: “Our first quarter results clearly demonstrate that we are delivering on our strategic objectives. Our broadband and pay-TV subscriber bases continue to expand, ARPU is growing and we remain committed to developing innovative services. As a result, these rapidly growing market segments are gradually increasing their overall contribution to Rostelecom’s revenue, which already accounts for 37%.

“Despite the promising growth of the digital segments, the high comparison base caused by one-off income gained during the Sochi Winter Olympics in the first quarter of 2014 meant that we were unable to increase revenues in nominal terms this quarter. We are pleased to have achieved a solid OIBDA margin and that our efforts to curb the rise in financial expenses have paid off, despite the significant increase in the market cost of borrowing and volatility in the capital markets.

“As reflected by our first quarter results, we are consistently achieving the goals set out in our five-year strategic plan. We remain on track to fulfilling our strategic objectives and we look forward to seeing the Company’s continued growth.”

MTS subscriber profile changes

The decline in MTS’s triple-play customer base continued in the first quarter, with the Russian company ending March with 6,766,000 subscribers.

This compared to 7,062,000 three months earlier and 7,426,000 in the same period last year.

On the other hand, the number of homes passed increased – 12,526,000 as of the end of Q1, compared to 12,541,000 and 12,347,000 three and 12 months earlier respectively.

So, too, did residential ARPU, which as of Q1 stood at R362 (€6.52), up from R319 a year earlier.

The company notes that the growth in ARPU is attributable to the rising share of double and triple play customers; the continued migration of pay-TV subscribers to MTS’s digital TV platform; upselling broadband subscribers through modernisation of fixed-line networks in the regions; and the migration of ADSL customers in Moscow to GPON.

It adds that the reduction in the residential subscriber base reflects the migration of pay-TV subscribers from analogue to digital, resulting in the defection of lower value, including social package subscribers.

Meanwhile, MTS’s MGTS is seeing the results of a R50 billion investment project to replace ADSL networks with GPON.

It now offers broadband access at up to 500 Mbps and 190 TV channels, including 24 in HD, as well as VOD over IPTV.

It ended the first quarter with 700,000 broadband/pay-TV subscribers.

Unitymedia to close down analogue cable TV

Germany’s second-largest cable operator Unitymedia will initiate analogue switch-off across its entire network on July 1, 2015.

With the move, the subsidiary of US media company Liberty Global reacts to the growing demand for digital TV services and creates room for further digital TV and HDTV channels.

For the expansion, Unitymedia will gradually decrease the analogue TV offering from July 1, 2015 in collaboration with the broadcasters and media authorities. In return, several unencrypted HD channels will be added in early July with further digital TV channels to follow in the forthcoming months.

The analogue TV channels to be removed include Sat.1 Gold, Astro TV and Bibel TV. Some analogue TV channels will in future share a slot to vacate capacity.

“The analogue world will come to an end, the future is digital. Digitalisation offers plenty of added value to consumers, cable operators, broadcasters and content providers such as, for example, a larger number of channels in crystal clear picture and sound quality and additional services like video-on-demand and an electronic programme guide,” Christian Hindennach, Unitymedia’s senior vice president for private customers, said in Cologne. “In the not too distant future, Unitymedia will distribute all TV channels solely in digital.”

All analogue TV channels currently offered by Unitymedia are already available in digital and unencrypted, thus analogue cable households just need a digital receiver or flat-screen TV set with inbuilt DVB-C tuner to make the transition.

According to the media authorities’ digitalisation report 2014, the share of digital TV households in Germany has risen to more than 84%. With a share of 62.9%, around two thirds of cable households receive digital TV. At Unitymedia, the share amounts to more than 70%, according to the company’s own figures.

Unitymedia wants to make the affected customers aware of the digital TV transition through an extensive information campaign. A dedicated website has also been set up carrying further information.

Liberty Global’s Swiss subsidiary UPC Cablecom will close down its analogue cable TV offering in mid-2015. The exact date for Unitymedia to make the move has not been fixed yet.

Russian pay TV subscribers reached 37.6 million at end-2014

MOSCOW — J’son & Partners Consulting has released results for the Russian pay-TV market at the end of 2014 with forecasts out to 2019.

The Russian pay-TV market was the largest in Europe at the end of 2014 with 37.6 million households receiving cable, satellite or IPTV. J’son & Partners expects the pay TV subscriber base in Russia to continue to grow, reaching 45.2 million households by 2019. Penetration of pay-TV services will then be 81%.

Pay TV subscribers (millions)

               2012A  2013A  2014A  2015E  2016F  2017F  2018F  2019F
               -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----
IPTV             2.5    3.7    4.7    5.6    6.3    7.0    7.4    7.8
Cable TV        18.3   18.3   18.3   18.5   18.7   18.8   18.9   18.9
Satellite TV    11.1   13.1   14.5   15.9   16.8   17.5   18.0   18.5

TOTAL           31.9   35.1   37.6   40.0   41.9   43.3   44.3   45.2

A – actual, E – estimates, F – forecast
Source: J’son & Partners Consulting

The largest players in 2014 were Tricolor TV (with a market share of 29%), Rostelecom (21%), MTS (7%), ER-Telecom (7%) and Orion-Express (7%).

Pay TV market share by operator

                2013   2014
               -----  -----
Tricolor TV    28.8%  29.1%
Rostelecom     21.4%  21.1%
MTS             7.4%   7.5%
ER-Telecom      7.1%   7.0%
Orion-Express   5.6%   6.9%
Others         29.7%  28.5%

Source: J’son & Partners Consulting

At the end of 2014 the share of subscriptions taken by cable TV for the first time in recent history fell below 50%, down 2.6 percentage points over the year. The total for the alternative technologies of satellite and IPTV grew during the year to finish at 51.2%.

Pay TV market share by technology

                2013   2014
               -----  -----
Cable TV       51.4%  48.8%
Satellite TV   37.3%  38.7%
IPTV           11.3%  12.5%

Source: J’son & Partners Consulting

Connected TVs to drive OTT subscription surge

Connected TVs to drive ‘over the top’ subscription surge, with over 330 million accounts by 2019

Demand for Choice Initiates Almost Fourfold Increase Over 5 Years

HAMPSHIRE, UK — New data from Juniper Research has shown that subscriber numbers to ‘over-the-top’ (OTT) TV services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime will increase from 92.1 million in 2014, to 332.2 million globally by 2019.

Continued growth in the North American market will see it remain as the leading region in terms of subscriber numbers, but closely followed by the Far East, as this region emerges with new services and increased consumer interest.

Dumb TVs, Not So Dumb After All

In its latest research, ‘Mobile and Online TV & Video: OTT, IPTV and Connected Markets 2015-2019′, Juniper found that consumers will favour connected TVs as their primary screen, especially when one considers the trend for watching long-form video on OTT subscription services.

The research observed that with the long lifecycle of TV’s, previously ‘dumb’ TVs will see an upsurge in becoming ‘connected’ due to the cost-effectiveness of devices such as Chromecast, and Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, as well as the high uptake of games consoles and STBs which provide preloaded services. This is in contrast to smart TVs which currently offer poor operating systems and user interfaces.

TV Incumbents Driven to Act

Traditional service providers cannot afford to cower behind the sofa. For example, the threat from OTT services has notably forced Verizon’s hand into bundling cheaper packages, minus sports channels. This has led to incumbents arguing amongst themselves, as well as enraging the sports TV providers ESPN and Fox Sports. Meanwhile, OTT players continue to strengthen their market position.

Other key findings include:

Ad spend on ‘Video on Demand’ is to grow almost fourfold by 2019, with the Far East and China dominating the market by the end of the forecast period.
IPTV subscriber numbers are forecast to grow by over 70% between 2014 and 2019.
The whitepaper, ‘OTT ~ A Threat Networks Can’t Shake Off’, is available to download from the Juniper website together with further details of the research and Interactive Dataset.

Indian Cricket Board has problems with TEN Sports, says PCB Chief

Board of Control for Cricket in India has reservations about TEN Sports winning broadcasting rights for India-Pakistan series, says Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shaharyar Khan. The cricket series will be played in United Arab Emirates.

Ten Sports, which has won the telecast rights of the match, is backed is backed by Essel Group owner Subhas Chandra. Essel and BCCI have had run-ins in the past over the launch of Indian Cricket League, which was a competitor of the now-famous Indian Premier League

“BCCI (top officials) says that it’s a problem since Ten Sports has broadcasting rights. They said that Ten Sports wants to start a rebel league against IPL. Now I am made to understand that if you are against IPL, then you are against ICC also. So Ten Sports is the problem,” akistan Cricket Board chief Shaharyar Khan told local media, reports Press Trust of India.

Pakistan TV Networks spending on Indian content

Indian TV shows such as Saath Nibhaana Saathiya, Joddha Akbar and Bigg Boss have gained popularity in Pakistan. Television networks such as ARY Digital are spending big bucks to ensure that their channels carry Indian content.

“The thumb rule is— almost everything that works in India, works in Pakistan,” said Jerjees Seja, CEO, ARY Digital Network, reports Economic Times.

TV Networks based in Pakistan are spending as much as INR 350 million to 400 million for content rights, reports Economic Times. Indian shows require little to no translation, making them ideal content to be bought or licensed by Pakistani TV networks. In addition to Indian soaps, Pakistan relies on content from Turkey and Egypt. “We are also exploring Japanese and Korean content lately,” said Asif Raza Mir, chief operating officer at Geo TV.

CID, Bhoot Aaya are some of the other shows that are picked by Geo TV. Pakistani TV shows are based on social issues and are shot on-location, whereas Indian soaps explore family life and are almost always shot in studios.

DD to co-produce shows with CCTV

National broadcaster, Doordarshan, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding or MoU with state-run channel, China Central Television.

Under the agreement, the broadcasters will be co-operating on exchange of TV content and staff training. DD and CCTV will be jointly producing documentaries on the lives of Fa Xian and Hieun Tsang to India.

The broadcasters will also be exchanging free content in the fields of science, agriculture, entertainment and tourism. Last week, Chinese Film Corporation and Eros International signed a deal to co-produce films.

Belarus decides on must-carry services

The Belarusian government has approved the composition of a new must-carry package.

According to Satkurierand Telesat-news, it consists of Belarus 1, ONT, STV, Mir, Rossija-Belarus, NTV-Belarus, Belarus 2, Belarus 3 and Belarus 4 and is obligatory for all operators and providers of telecom services.

It will be included in the country’s DVB-T service, which employs MPEG-4, and comes into effect on July 1.

The package is little changed on that previously in place, with the only addition being the sports-based Belarus 5.

However, will shortly also be joined by Belarus 4, a new channel offering viewers regional programming.

Russian cableco changes president

Viktor Koresh, the president of the Moscow-based cable operator Akado, has handed in his notice.

According to Kommersant, his contract was due to end in May 21 and will by mutual consent not be extended.

Koresh will be replaced by Dmitry Droniv, who previously held a number of positions at Comstar, which has since 2010 been part of MTS.

It is believed that Koresh may have been forced to leave due to Akado’s recent failure to attract more subscribers.

For instance, in the pay-TV sector the total number in Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg currently stands at just under 1.5 million, a figure little changed for some time.

Koresh had been president since 2011.

His brief, at least in the first two years of his tenure, had been to expand Akado’s presence into the regions and possibly also new markets.

OTT video services cannibalising DTH revenues: Videocon d2h says

Videocon d2h says that over-the-top apps such as Hotstar and SonyLiv are eating into DTH service providers’ revenue.

Hotstar was launched earlier this year and recorded as many as 25 million views in India during the  India-Pakistan match that was held on 15 February, 2015. Direct-to-Home service providers as well as cable operators say that availability of content on OTT platforms can negatively affect their business. Broadcaster, such as Star India, meanwhile, have extended support for OTT players.

“Last year, Star India reached 30 million IPL viewers through Starsports.com, thus cannibalising revenue for DTH/cable operators,” Videocon d2h said, according to Television Post.

Videocon d2h has written to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India about its concerns over OTT players providing live sporting content with five minute delay. “They do not charge anything to customers, whereas they charge premium amount to all DTH/cable platform for the same content,” the DTH operator’s submission to the telecom regulator read, according to Television Post.

“This is nothing short of revenue cannibalisation and we would urge the authority to take into consideration the commercial in-equilibrium meted out to one player like a DTH service provider and huge and unjustified benefits showered on their own OTT player,” Videocon added.

Australian subscribers to face “Netflix Tax”

Australian consumers will soon have to brace for “Netflix Tax” as the government is adding 10% extra tax on goods brought on online services such as Amazon, Google and of course, Netflix.

Free to Air channels in Australia are happy that companies such as Netflix will now be paying the 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST). Free TV chairman Harold Mitchell told The Australian that the new measures would create a level playing field for companies competing in the TV content market and would bring relief to Seven, Nine and Ten networks.

“What we’re doing is going to digital providers overseas and saying ‘can you apply the GST to the products you provide into Australia?’,” Treasurer Joe Hockey said, according to IT News. “They are agreeable to it. It’s not their profits [being taxed]. It’s a tax collected and they remit it back to the country where that occurs.”

Netflix, the U.S.-based internet giant, arrived in Australia in March. The content streaming site has 10 % cost advantage over local players such Foxtel and Nine’s Stan. Bringing a “Netflix Tax,” thus, would close the gap between Netflix and other companies.

The proposed tax will be introduced after July 1, 2015. Complete details of the proposed tax for online companies will be known during the Federal Budget that will hit 7:30 p.m. AEST Tuesday, May 12, reports IGN.

India has 40.54 mn active DTH subscribers

India had about 40.54 million active direct-to-home subscribers as of December 31, 2014, says latest data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

According to the telecom regulator, around 73.06 million people have registered as DTH users in India. Six operators currently provide DTH services; making India one of the most competitive markets in the world.

India has already seen completion of phase 1 and 2 of Digital Addressable System, where television viewers are provided content only via set-top boxes. About 15% of Indian households have been covered under the DAS programme. According to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 38.78 million new urban TV households in 30 districts and 7,709 urban areas will be covered under the phase 3 of digitisation programme.

The latest data from Trai says that about 826 private TV channels operate in India. In related news, DTH operators have moved Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) against the new CPE tariff order issued by Trai. In April this year, Trai had released an order, saying CPE should be capped at INR450. According to DTH companies, Trai is not authorised to cap CPE prices.

ABS-CBN, TV5 to invest USD 26.9mln on DTT upgrade

Philippines-based networks, ABS-CBN and TV5, announced to spend a combined figure of PHP 1.2 billion (USD 26.88 million) to upgrade to digital terrestrial television (DTT) from analogue broadcasting.

According to reports, TV5 will spend around PHP 700 million (USD 15.68 million) in the next five years with P300 million (USD 6.72) to be spent this year to cover the National Capital Region to roll out its DTT service.

On the other hand, ABS-CBN will spend PHP 500 million (USD 1.2 million) for its rollout to Cebu, Davao, Cagayan, Bacolod, and Iloilo.

Star India supports OTT service providers

Star India, which recently launched its over-the-top app- Hotstar, has extended its support for other OTT players. The broadcaster says that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India should not try to create an artificial distortion by creating a regulatory framework for OTT service providers.

According to Star India, there is no evidence that OTT services are creating monopolies or dominating over other players. The company has also recommended that the government order Multi-System operators or MSOs to provide two-way connectivity and get them to provide broadband services, reports Television Post. Also, local cable operators or LCOs should be considered as internet service providers and that their wirelines should be considered as public utilities, reports Television Post.

“No regulatory impact assessment has been done, there is no ‘consumer problem’ as such that has been defined, no cost benefit analysis has been conducted, no qualitative or quantitative aspects have been highlighted of the problem at hand, and so the Paper is actually deficient,” said Star India, according to Indian Television.

DISH TV takes differential pricing system to Phase II, III cities

Dish TV, the Direct-to-Home TV services provider, has expanded differential pricing to all cities coming under the second and third leg of Digital Adressable System or DAS.

The DTH operator had rolled out the differential pricing system subscribers living in metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai back in February, 2015. The move to introduce packages at higher cost to urban subscribers is aimed at increasing Average Revenue per User (ARPU), reports Television Post.

According to the Post, DISH TV is now increasing service pack price by INR10 to new and existing customers in Phase II and III of the DAS programme. The hike in service cost could lead to a 3 to 4% increase in ARPU. The DTH operator will be providing additional services such as express call centre and activation facilities in lieu of the price hike.

Viet Nam Satellite Digital Television K+ ventures into films

Viet Nam Satellite Digital Television K+ is tying up with two film production companies; BHD of Viet Nam and CJ of South Korea. The agreement makes K+ the first pay TV operator in the country to invest in the production of Vietnamese films.

For K+, the investment will bring fresh movies to its content slate in May and June, reports the Viet Nam News. The Pay TV operator has already picked Bo Ba Rac Roi (Triple Trouble) and Quyen for its line-up. Both films are expected to be a hit at the Box Office. De Mai Tinh 2 (Fool for Love) and Ngay Nay Ngay Nay (The Lost Dragon) are two other films that have done well in the country and will soon be available on TV for K+ subscribers.

Vietnam Digital Satellite Television (VSTV) had recently announced that it has won broadcast rights for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship qualifier. The Pay TV operator added that it will be airing other football season programmes as well, reports Vietnam Net.

In related news, Vietnam’s pay-TV association (VNPayTV) has asked the Ministry of Information and Communications to increase the minimum subscription fee for the channels.

Telefónica pay-TV take-up soars

The success of Movistar TV helped Telefónica triple its pay-TV subscriber total in Spain to 2.1 million in the year to March 31.

Its net additions in the first quarter amounted to 255,000, compared to 58,000 a year earlier and churn was at a record low of 0.9%, a reduction of 1.5 percentage points year-on-year.

Meanwhile, Movistar Fusión had 3.9 million customers (+21% year-on-year) and 1.4 million additional mobile lines (+15% year-on-year) at the end of Q1.

As of the end of Q1, 23% of Fusión customers had 100 Mbps fibre (+8 percentage points year-on-year) and 50% IPTV (+33 percentage points year-on-year).

Telefónica, which also has extensive interests in Latin America, had a net profit of €1,802 million in Q1, or 2.6 times the figure a year earlier.

TCL introduces premium TVs with Roku integrated

TCL Launches Premium Roku TV Models

• Seven Additional Netflix Recommended Smart TVs to Arrive at Retailers in May

CORONA, Calif. — TCL, one of the fastest growing TV brands in the U.S., today announced that seven new TCL Roku TVs™ will be available later this month in-store and online at major retailers nationwide. Following the launch of three 3700 series models in March, TCL is expanding its 2015 TCL Roku TV lineup with three 3800 Design Series models and four top-of-the-line 3850 Decorator Series models. The availability of the TCL Roku TV 3800 and 3850 series provides consumers with more choice in finding a smart TV to meet their needs and further positions TCL Roku TV as one of the leading smart TV experiences available today.

“When we launched the TCL Roku TV last year we described it as ‘the TV designed for the way consumers use TV today’ because it puts streaming content in the forefront instead of as an afterthought. That shift in consumer behavior has only accelerated since the launch – streaming continues to grow in popularity, cord cutting is a growing trend, and consumers with cable are demanding smaller channel packages and supplementing them with streaming,” said Chris Larson, Vice President, TCL North America. “With over 2,000 streaming channels, the TCL Roku TV offers the ultimate in choice, making it an ideal TV for the cord cutter or cable subscriber that wants to have access to the most entertainment content. The availability of the TCL Roku TV 3800 and 3850 series helps us keep up with consumer demand and provides a range of sizes and styles for people to choose from.”

All TCL Roku TV models, including those in the 3800 and 3850 series, received the Netflix Recommended TV designation indicating they offer easy access to Internet TV services, faster performance, and new features that enable a next-generation smart TV experience.

TCL Roku TVs feature a personalized home screen with access to all entertainment sources, making it easy to navigate between gaming consoles, cable or satellite box, and the more than 2,000 streaming channels including Sling TV and WatchESPN. Sling TV is an Internet TV service that provides domestic and international live and on demand programming from top sports, lifestyle, family and news networks such as ESPN, AMC, TNT, Food Network and many more. Sling TV meets the entertainment needs of today’s contemporary viewers and requires no long-term commitment, annual cable contract, credit check or hardware installation. WatchESPN provides a one-stop destination for sports fans with live streaming access to ESPN networks such as ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS and much more for customers who receive ESPN’s networks as part of their subscription from an affiliated video provider.

3800 Series

The TCL Roku TV 3800 Series consists of the 32″ model (32S3800, $229), 40″ model (40FS3800, $339), and 50″ model (50FS3800, $479). The TCL Roku TV 3800 series features Full High-Definition (1080p) resolution for exceptional clarity and an advanced 120Hz refresh rate on all models 40″ and larger. The 3800 series offers a modern design with a quad pedestal stand.

3850 Series

The top-of-the-line TCL Roku TV 3850 Series offers four sizes: 32″ model (32S3850, $249), 40″ model (40FS3850, $359), 50″ model (50FS3850, $529) and 55″ model (55FS3850, $699). The 3850 builds on the design of the 3800 with a metallic gunmetal finish and an all-aluminum quad pedestal stand.

CNS plans OTT investment

Taiwanese multi-system operator, China Network Systems (CNS), plans to invest in over-the-top (OTT) video content as it expects to complete its digitisation programme by the end- 2015.

According to reports, the company has made a cumulative investment of NTD 20 billion (USD 653 million) to NTD 30 billion (USD 979 million) and has digitised 80% of its cable TV networks.

CNS currently has oevr 1.28 million cable TV subscribers. The company plans to shift its business focus this year to OTT video service, for which it has been acquiring content based on licensing, shared revenue or other similar models.

Videocon d2h to expand HD STB production

Videocon d2h will be reducing production of standard definition set-top-boxes to increase its HD STB market. The Pay TV provider is expected to phase out the SD STBs by the year 2016.

According to data from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, number of HD channels has grown from three in 2010 to 34 in 2014.  “The cost of difference between SD and HD set top boxes for us is only one and half dollar,” said Anil Khera, who is the CEO of Videocon d2h. Khera was speaking at the Asia Pacific Video Operators Summit (APOS) held in Bali, reports Indian Television.

Videocon d2h is also exploring the ultra high definition segment in India; it recently launched the country’s first UHD channel. Currently, the company is planning to strengthen its position in HD STB market.

“In terms of gross adds, the market has been consistently growing and we have seen a growth of eight to nine million new additions in a year. Net additions has been a challenge, and the industry has been able to get net addition of five to six million. As far as the rotation churn is concerned how one retains customers and provides additional services, is a big challenge,” Khera said, when asked about trends in the DTH sector in India, according to Indian Television.

Vietnam pay-TV association proposes subscription fee hike

Vietnam’s pay-TV Association (VNPayTV) has proposed to the Ministry of Information and Communications to increase the minimum subscription fee to at least VND60,000  (USD 2.8) a month.

The move will affect nearly seven million pay-TV subscribers nationwide. Currently the fees for packages of some television stations are half or two-thirds of the proposed new monthly minimum rate.

“Pay-TV should not be sold at a price that is lower than its cost price,” said Le Dinh Cuong, vice chairman of VNPayTV.  “The application of a ‘floor price’ is to prevent possible dumping by some service suppliers.”

Tough quarter for Russian broadcaster

Modern Times Group-backed CTC Media has posted revenues of R4,917.9 million (€83.8 million) for the first quarter, down 25% on the same period last year.

In dollar terms, the fall was an even more substantial 58%. OIDBA was R517 million (-74%) and net income R511.6 million (-54%), with the dollar equivalent reductions being -85% and -73% respectively.

CTC Media also saw falls in the audience shares year-on –year for two of its three main channels (Peretz and the flagship CTC Channel), with the third (Domashny) growing.

Commenting on the results, CEO Yuliana Slashcheva said: “Despite facing headwinds from a dramatically worsening macroeconomic environment, the sharp decline of the Russian advertising market and the loss of Ukrainian sublicensing revenues, CTC Media demonstrated good results in the first quarter of 2015. Thanks to our entrepreneurial management team, we managed to maintain a double-digit OIBDA margin of 10.6% in the first quarter, which we believe is a very positive statistic given market conditions and industry peer results”.

Major change for Telenor in Sweden

Telenor has reorganised its business in Sweden, bringing the Broadband & TV and Mobile units into a single division known as Consumer Marketing.

It has also upgraded the Channels unit, which is responsible for customer channels, directly to the company’s management in order to bring even greater focus on sales and customer satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Business will remain as separate unit, aimed at corporate customers.

The new organisation will come into effect on June 2.

The following new directors have been appointed to the new organisation:
MD – Patrik Hofbauer
Channels – TBA
Consumer Marketing – Acting Patrik Hofbauer, new manager in place on August 1
Business – Mats Almgren
IT – Ulrica Holmgren
Networks – Stefan Jäverbring
Finance & Legal – Kaaren Hilsen
Strategy & PMO – Martin Petersen
People & Culture – Siri Sandholt
Communications & Brand – tf Peter Erikson