FBC grants DTV licence to Fiji TV

Fiji Broadcasting Commission (FBC) has granted digital television licence to Fiji Television for a period of 12 years which will be effective from 1 July.

“We have now extended licence to a period of 12 years. As you know Government has been carrying out a number of substantive works in regards to spectrum allocation in Fiji which has led to a number of changes,” said Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Minister for Communications.

FBC has directed Fiji TV to transition from analogue to digital as soon as possible – with at least the Suva-Nausori corridor to be finalised at the end of this year. However, the government has planned to extend time for transition. Fiji TV is also asked to focus more on local content. FBC has mandated that there should be at least 25 hours of local content, of which 13 hours should not be local sports but content produced locally.

Fiji TV’s broadcasting licence expires on 30 June. The TV network had six-month licence since 2012. It faced criticism from government over two incidences – the coverage of a former Prime Minister who had been critical of the Frank Bainimarama led regime and over the refusal to share the exclusive feed of World Rugby’s coverage of the rugby sevens tournament.

DTH, Cable TV to cost more in Delhi as AAP increases entertainment tax

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party has increased tax on direct-to-home service providers as well as cable companies in New Delhi.

The entertainment tax has been increased from 20 to 40%, meaning that consumers will have to pay more for cable and DTH services.

“The recent announcement of doubling of entertainment tax on cable TV and DTH services made by the Aam Admi Party (AAP) government seems unfair and illogical. DTH as a platform is considered critical to the citizen’s right to information, news, education and entertainment. The sector is already saddled with a high tax, where 33 per cent of revenues are taxed between the Centre and state,” said Anil Khera, president of DTH Association of India, according to Business Standard.

The entertainment tax hike is more complicated for the cable TV industry as the multi-system operators will have to negotiate with the local cable companies to collect the increased subscription fee from the end-consumers.

Bharti Enterprises to likely enter STB market

Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Bharti Enterprises is reportedly planning to manufacture set-top boxes. The STB plant is likely to be located near Pune.

Airtel Digital TV, which is the DTH wing of Bharti, added 1.06 million new subscribers and has a total of 10.7 million subscribers. Bharti is now trying to tap into the phase III and IV digital addressable system (DAS) to expand its DTH business, reports Television Post.

“Bharti is planning to make set-top boxes (STBs) in Pune in partnership with an electronics manufacturing company under its commitment to support Prime Minister’s vision on Make in India,” a source aware of the project said, according to the Press Trust of India.

“The move makes sense as Bharti has a direct-to-home (DTH) company. Airtel Digital TV adds around a million subscribers every year. Therefore, the STB manufacturing plant will get a captive order to start with. Besides, Phases III and IV of digital addressable system (DAS) will create a huge market opportunity,” a source told Television Post.

Recently, Brijmohan Lall Munjal of the Hero Group invested in Mybox Technologies, which is an STB manufacturing company.

India DTH subscriptions rise 20.4% in year to 1Q15

Digital satellite television subscriptions in India were over to 50 million at the end of March, 2015, an increase of 20.4% y-o-y, according to latest data from Dataxis Intelligence service.

Direct-to-Home subscription base rose from 41.9 million in first quarter of 2014 to 50.5 million in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 20.4%. Quarter-on-quarter growth was at 4.90%. Dish TV India Ltd, owned by the Essel Group, was the top performer in the DTH space with 12.9 million subscribers end March, an increase of 3.20% q-o-q and 13.2% y-o-y.

Dish TV is expanding its business in the Indian subcontinent by rolling out DTH services in Sri Lanka.  The company has reported a net profit of INR31 million for the financial year that ended 31 March, 2015 compared to a net loss of INR 1.58 billion a year ago.

According to Dataxis, total HD subscriptions in India for 1Q15 stood at 4 million end March, with Dish TV claiming around 1.3 million HD subscribers, Tata Sky with 840,000 and Videocon with 800,000.

Pay TV STB market contracts for the first time in 12 years

Pay TV Set-Top Box Market Contracts for the First Time in 12 Years, IHS Says

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Pay TV operators purchased $15.3 billion worth of set-top boxes (STBs) in 2014, down from $15.9 billion in 2013. This decline represents the first contraction in the market since 2002, according to IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of critical information and insight. Shipments of pay TV STBs grew slightly in 2014 to 204.7 million units, an increase of just under 1 percent from 203.1 million units in the previous year; however, such modest shipment growth failed to compensate for the effects of price erosion in this highly competitive market.

“Pay TV STB vendors have had a great run since 2002, with strong global pay TV growth, cable digitization mandates, the introduction of digital video recorders, high definition TV, and Internet protocol TV all providing sustained stimuli for the market,” said Daniel Simmons, head of connected home research at IHS Technology. “The industry is now at an inflection point. Mature pay TV markets are saturated with high-value advanced boxes, so shipments are set to decline there; and operators in emerging markets aren’t transitioning to advanced boxes fast enough to increase overall industry value.”

According to the latest IHS Set-Top Box Market Monitor report, there have already been several signs of increased STB consolidation in the first half of 2015, foreshadowing a declining market. For example, South Korea’s Woojeon & Handan exited the market; Swiss vendor Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) delisted from the SIX Swiss Exchange to reposition itself; U.K.-based Amino and U.S.-based TiVo have acquired pay TV software companies; and ARRIS Group, the global STB market leader in 2014, announced its intention to acquire Pace plc, the second largest vendor by revenue.

The market will contract further in 2015, falling to $15.1 billion and will continue falling to 13.2 billion in 2018, before stabilizing in 2019. Industry value will decline across nearly all segments, but the market for satellite pay TV STBs will sustain the most value and provide the most opportunity for vendors. Unlike cable and IPTV, the majority of satellite operators are not Internet service providers, so they cannot virtualize traditional STB functionality, such as DVR, into the cloud as readily. Satellite operators will instead need to invest in STB hardware, to enable advanced services that can compete with those offered by cable and Internet-protocol TV (IPTV) operators. Continued pay TV growth in Africa and the Middle East, as well as in South and Central America, will also provide STB opportunities over the forecast period.

“In light of future STB opportunities being mainly in satellite TV, and in Africa, the Middle East, South America and Central America, ARRIS’s plan to acquire Pace makes strong strategic sense,” Simmons said. “As well as making ARRIS almost three times the size of its nearest competitor, Pace is well positioned in key growth markets. It is the third largest provider of satellite STBs globally and the second largest provider of STBs in South and Central America. It’s highly likely that there will be further consolidation, as other vendors look to secure growth through acquisition and compete with ARRIS’s new scale. Vendors that are strong in satellite STBs and emerging markets, such as Altech Multimedia, Humax, Sagemcom and Technicolor, could be key acquisition targets.”

The introduction of ultra-high definition (UHD) or 4K pay TV services could provide some longer-term opportunity for STB growth. STBs in the current installed base cannot decode UHD video, so any operator looking to launch a UHD service will need to deploy new STBs. Many operators in South Korea and Japan have already launched UHD boxes and services, along with Tata Sky and D2H+ in India. U.S. pay TV operators Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network are also expected to launch UHD STBs this year. These launches will result in a total of $240 million worth of UHD STBs shipped to pay TV service providers in 2015. By 2019, UHD STB shipments to pay TV operators will be worth $5.4 billion and comprise 40 percent of the market’s value. “More aggressive UHD deployments by pay TV operators could help the set-top box market return to growth,” Simmons said.

The IHS Set-Top Box Market Monitor report provides a high-level overview of the global STB market with volume and value data, regional and platform level discussion, and vendor market share information.

Dish TV introduces services in Sri Lanka

Dish TV, the Indian direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV operator, has launched services in Sri Lanka. It has kept the DTH pack prices low to compete with local companies such as Dialog TV and Peo TV.

The operator is charging around LKR 317 (US$2.4) for a bouquet of Indian and local free-to-air channels. Dish TV will be expanding its content offering by adding more Hindi and Tamil channels, according to Rapid TV.

According to Dataxis Intelligence’s latest quarterly report, Axiata’s Dialog has 112,000 digital satellite TV subscribers and 392,000 postpaid TV subscribers.

Back home, Dish TV has managed to post a net profit of INR350 million for the quarter that ended March 31, 2015. Its subscriber base stood at 404,000 for the last quarter and the average revenue per user was at INR172. The strong financial report shows that the company, as well as others in the Indian DTH space, might have reached am inflection point.

Leading TV brands now more reliant on Chinese manufacturers

Leading TV Brands More Reliant on Chinese Manufacturers in 2015, IHS Says

• TV manufacturing outsourcing is forecast to reach a record high of 43 percent this year

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — TVs made by outsourcing specialists are expected to reach an industry record of 43 percent of LCD TVs shipped globally in 2015, according to IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of critical information and insight. Outsourcing manufacturing has become one of the most important business strategies for TV brands, because it can improve supply-chain cost management and increase time-to-market business opportunities.

“A major driving force behind TV outsourcing is the constraint on TV panel supply, which can cause TV brands to increase their outsourcing from vendors who are able to secure a stable and competitive panel supply,” said Deborah Yang, director of display supply-chain analysis at IHS.

LCD TV panel supply was tight in 2014, particularly for the mainstream 32-inch size, so top TV brands used TV subcontract manufacturers in China. BOE and TCL were chosen for their semi-set outsourcing and original equipment manufacturing (OEM) TV production in the first quarter (Q1) of 2015. “Both BOE and TCL have direct access to 32-inch panel supplies from their captive panel makers, which is welcome news to Chinese TV makers looking to not only grow their branded TV businesses, but also to expand their businesses with TV brands globally,” Yang said.

According to the IHS Quarterly LCD TV Value Chain & Insight Report, leadingSouthKorean TV brands plan to maintain or lower their in-house backlight-module-system (BMS) capacity and production in overseas factories, as they use their captive capacity for more mainstream products and for the production of 4K resolution, curved screens, wide-color gamut (WCG), and other high-end product features.

“Most TV brands selling low-cost entry-level products plan to increase their outsourcing from vendors in Taiwan and China,”’Yang said. “Japanese TV brand business models are more complex, as they also license their brands to subcontract manufacturers. It is likely that other struggling TV brands may copy Japanese business models, in order to survive in the market.”

Since late in the third quarter (Q3) of 2014, leading global TV brands have been lowering TV retail prices to aggressively pursue market share. They are therefore wielding greater influence over the panel supply, causing panel makers to list them as first-priority customers.

Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Sony, and other leading TV brands with a captive panel supply and a competitively strong panel-supply base continuously gained market share last year. While concerns have been raised about another panel shortage in 2015, top TV brands have been able to secure the TV panel allocations they need, in order to meet their ambitious annual targets. “This situation has put pressure on profit margins throughout the TV supply chain, which will also stimulate the LCD TV subcontract manufacturing business,” Yang said.

The IHS Quarterly LCD TV Value Chain & Insight Report maps the relationships between LCD TV brands, OEMs and panel suppliers with actual shipment and business plans as well as LCD TV supply chain intelligence information.

D-Smart opts for Broadpeak

The Turkish DTH platform D-Smart has deployed Broadpeak’s umbrellaVDN solution for its OTT service.

Using the solution, it can offload traffic to third-party CDNs in order to address peaks in live video consumption.

Commenting on the development, Erdogan Simsek, CTO at D-Smart, said: “Recently, we began offering viewers an exclusive look at our OTT service with promotional-free viewing of specific popular live events, with the end goal of attracting new customers to our OTT service subscription. To accommodate the anticipated peaks in OTT video consumption, we needed an advanced CDN solution capable of managing a large number of simultaneous sessions without compromising quality.

“As a longtime customer, we have come to trust Broadpeak’s experience in video streaming technologies. umbrellaCDN is one of the industry’s only software-based solutions for CDN selection, bringing us unparalleled flexibility and cost savings while guaranteeing a superior QoE for end users.”

Jacques Le Mancq, president and CEO of Broadpeak, added: “OTT content is extremely popular with consumers, especially for live sporting events.

“By deploying our umbrellaCDN solution, D-Smart can balance traffic between multiple CDNs, as needed, guaranteeing QoE for all end-users even during events generating a large audience.”

Hero Group promoters buy stake in STB maker ‘Mybox’

Hero Group promoters Munjal family has bought a majority stake in set-top box maker Mybox Technologies Pvt. Ltd. The acquisition is part of a broader, INR5-billion investment strategy of Hero in electronics business.

The Brijmohan Lall Munjal-led Hero Group, earlier known for its iconic motorbikes, is strengthening its electronics arm called Hero Electronix. Mybox Technologies Pvt Ltd is a Delhi-based company that makes STBs for direct-to-home operators in India. The company is recognized by Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Hero hasn’t revealed the financial details of the deal yet.

“Hero Electronix sees immense potential in Mybox and its management team. Using its core competence in hardware and embedded systems design, Mybox is strategically focusing on fulfilling the demand of digitisation in India, while simultaneously developing products for the world,” Hero Group said in its statement, according to NDTV Profit.

Worldwide pay-TV penetration to exceed 50% in next 2 years

The worldwide pay-TV market surpassed more than 900 million subscribers in 1Q 2015, representing 48% penetration—the market is likely to grow steadily over the next five years, mainly boosted by emerging markets.

“According to ABI Research’s recent pay-TV market data, half of the world’s households will have access to pay-TV service by 2017, representing 1 billion subscribers,” comments Jake Saunders, VP and Practice Director of Core Forecasting.

As pay-TV service providers experience increasing competition from alternative platforms such as OTT, ARPU continues to decline across the various platforms in many markets. Many of the operators have added OTT, multiscreen services, and on demand services in order to compete with OTT service providers. These services have contributed additional revenue to pay-TV operators as well as maintaining customer loyalty.

Competition is higher in more mature markets such as North America and Western Europe where pay-TV penetration is as high as 60% to 80% of households. A slower growth rate is expected to occur in such markets in the years to come. As broadband infrastructure development speeds up in Asia-Pacific, OTT players are starting to target the APAC market.

Netflix announced its launch in Australia and New Zealand in March 2015, and possibly in Japan by the end of 2015. Singapore telco, Singtel is developing an OTT platform, HOOQ, to provide services in the Philippines and other markets in Asia-Pacific. The entrant of OTT services is likely to create higher competition in Asian-Pacific pay-TV market, although it could take a while to gain penetration in the region.

“Worldwide pay-TV market is expected to reach 1.1 billion subscribers, generating US$307.5 billion in service revenue by 2020. The Asia-Pacific pay-TV market is likely to grow faster than most other regions in the years to come. ABI Research forecasts that pay-TV market in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5%, generating US$79.4 billion in 2020,” said Khin Sandi Lynn, industry analyst.

Slow start from Russian DTH platform

Russia’s MTS plans to start a full rollout of its DTH service in the near future.

Quoted by Comnews, its president Andrei Dubovskov said that it is already available as a commercial product to customers in Moscow, though it has not yet been promoted.

He added that it would aim to eventually have millions of subscribers but did not specify how many would be attained within a year.

The general view in the industry is that MTS will find it difficult to make an impact in a DTH market in which the three leading players are all firmly established.

MTS officially launched its DTH platform last November. It subsequently tried to secure subscribers from the MTG-backed service Raduga TV, which ceased operations at the end of last year.

Tricolor TV is the undisputed market leader in Russia’s DTH sector, claiming 75.7% of the total subscriber base.

It is followed by Orion Express and NTV-Plus, with shares of 16% and 5.3% respectively.

Mybox plans to make 1.5 million STBs in FY2016

Mybox Technologies plans to manufacture as many as 1.5 million set-top boxes in financial year 2016.

The Munjal family, promoters of Hero MotoCorp, have bought a majority stake in the New Delhi-based STB maker Mybox. Dish TV, In Digital, Hathway and Siti Cable are currently the three major customers of Mybox and the company wants to expand its manufacturing capacity to meet the rise in demand for the DAS Phase III rollout. The company does complete hardware and software designs of the set-top boxes and has a partnership with STMicroelectronics for chips, according to Television Post.

“In this financial year, we are planning to sell 1.5 million STBs and maybe double that in the next fiscal,” Amit Kharbanda of Mybox told Television Post. “With a partner like Hero, which is a reputed brand and has financial strength, we want to give confidence to Indian operators. Currently, they are working with international manufacturers who are very big.”

The Munjals acquired Dixon Technologies’ stake in Mybox for an undisclosed amount. Dixon has now exited the STB company as an equity partner, but will remain as its manufacturing partner.

“Earlier, Dixon was our manufacturing partner. Going forward, we will make STBs with Dixon. We have also tied up with Jabil Electronics. These two are big players and with them we can produce good volumes of STBs,” Kharbanda told Television Post.

MIB clears 25 multi-system operator licences

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has granted 25 multi-system operators licences. The latest approvals take total number of MSOs in the country to over 190.

The Ministry has quicken the pace of MSO registrations to meet the the deadline for Phase III of digital addressable system (DAS). The biggest name among the MSOs that received provisional licence was Reliance Jio Media.

The third leg of DAS will cover 38.79 million television households across 630 districts and 7,709 urban areas, MIB has announced. The date for completion of phase III project has been extended to 31 December, 2015. India is likely to miss the deadline again, given that MSOs have failed to sign interconnect agreements with broadcasters. Cable operators are still in the process of seeding STBs in areas covered under Phase III of Tv digitisation.

The latest list of approved MSO licence-holders include; Den Saurashtra Entertainment, which has received the permission to operate in all regions in Gujarat covered under DAS. Sharma Electronics has obtained licence for Chamba district, Bakloh Chawari, Siunta in Chamba district and Nurpur, Kotla, Damtal. In the North-eastern part of India, Axom Communication & Cable has won approval for Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

DAS Phase III: 61 MSOs approach broadcasters for interconnection deals

India is set to reach the deadline for the third phase of digital addressable system, however, issues between MSOs and broadcasters have delayed the digital rollout .The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is trying to resolve some of the issues plaguing the DAS Phase III.

According to Trai advisor Sunil Kumar Singhal, Around 61 multi-system operators have approached broadcasters for interconnection deals. The process is taking time as the parties haven’t negotiated content rates. Singhal was speaking at the eighth task force meeting.

During the meeting, Singhal also said that the telecom regulator has asked MSOs to devise “means to have rational rates for Phase-lll as the rates for Phase-l & II cannot be workable in these remaining Phases.”

The Trai advisor said that the large MSOs might enter into interconnect agreements with broadcasters by mid-June. Most leading broadcasters have placed forms on their websites. MSOs can access these forms and submit their requests with the broadcaster.

An MSO representative at the meeting said that Trai should include a non-discriminative clause, which will help the operators choose channels on a a-la-carte basis. “We have been insisting on a-la-carte and not bundling of channels and any delay in the implementation of DAS will result in losses to both MSOs and broadcasters,” informed the TRAI advisor, reports Indian Television.

The DAS Phase III is expected to cover 38.8 million television households in 630 districts. The deadline for the project is 31, December, 2015. Indian might miss the DAS deadline again as MSOs haven’t been able to seed enough STBs for the digital TV rollout. Issues around content pricing has also delayed the project.

Germany approves HbbTV removal by platform operators

German platform operators don’t have to distribute TV channels’ HbbTV services on their networks as they are not considered to be part of the programme content. This decision was made by the German media authorities’ licencing and supervision commission ZAK at its latest assembly in Saarbrücken.

In a formal process lodged at the media authorities, public broadcaster ARD complained that cable operator Kabel Deutschland filters out the HbbTV signal ahead of cable carriage of several ARD channels. This would infringe the signal integrity stipulated in the German broadcast law.

The HbbTV signal activates the red button on the corresponding TV channel. This enables viewers, for example, to access add-on services through the remote control such as the channel’s catch-up service.

According to ZAK, the HbbTV signal is, however, neither technically nor with regards to content part of the transport stream of the broadcast signal. The term “programme” in the broadcast law only covers the actual broadcast content – video and sound -, but not further services just accompanying the programmes, argue the media regulators.

ZAK also didn’t agree with ARD’s position that the stipulation of signal integrity would resemble a complete disapproval of technical modifications of the signals. In the view of the media authorities, modifications of the broadcast signals performed to achieve compliance with the corresponding platform standard must be possible.

The media authorities also didn’t agree with ARD’s accusation that there has been an unjustified breach of equal treatment regarding the data rate provided to TV channels on cable. The data rates correspond with the platform standard, argues ZAK. If commercial channels are distributed in higher picture quality, then this would be based on contractual agreements, thus, ARD would not be able to refer to this.

The background of the conflict is the long-standing dispute between the public broadcasters and the large cable operators regarding cable carriage conditions.

Kabel Deutschland in trouble for HD cable carriage conditions

The current HD carriage distribution model of Germany’s largest cable operator Kabel Deutschland doesn’t comply with the principle of equal chances and poses unreasonable obstructions to smaller and new TV channels.

This is the result of the evaluation of the large platform operators’ carriage contracts by the German media authorities’ licencing and supervision commission ZAK. The examination includes the contracts for encrypted HD distribution of commercial TV channels offered to viewers for an additional reception fee.

The usage of the so called CPS model (coins per subscriber) to gain access to the HD platform obstructs variety in the broadcast market as it makes economically sense only for strong market players in its current constitution, argues ZAK.

The media regulators have, thus, requested Kabel Deutschland to change the CPS model for encrypted HD distribution to achieve compliance with the prohibition of discrimination prescribed in the broadcast law and to end the unequal treatment. Federal network agency Bundesnetzagentur will be included in this procedure.

ZAK will evaluate the carriage conditions of further platform operators including Astra platform HD+.

Niche TV channels help Gazprom

Russia’s Gazprom Media saw its revenues fall by 11% year-on-year in the first quarter to R14.84 billion (€244.07 million).

At the same time, according to Vedomosti, quoting statements by Gazprombank, its net loss amounted to R1.7 billion, or four times the R430 million posted a year earlier.

These falls were down to an overall decline in the ad market and increased costs in servicing the company’s debts.

However, they were also better than expected, helped by the niches TV channels of Prof-Media.

Gazprom Media acquired Prof-Media last year for $602 million, funding the deal with a credit of $510 million from Gazprombank for one year at an interest of 9% per annum.

The company’s TV interests now span five channels (NTV, TNT, TV-3, Pyatnitsa and 2×2), along with the DTH platform NTV-Plus and its proprietary channels.

DTH players showcase strong performance in FY15

Direct-to-Home service providers are finally seeing an uptick in their revenues. The latest financial reports from Airtel Digital TV, Dish TV and Videocon d2h show that expanding subscriber base as well as a rise in average revenue per user could help these players grow during fiscal 2015.digitoisa

According to Dish TV, digitisation in India has given the company sufficient headroom to expand business in both urban are rural areas. The operator has added as many as 1.5 million net subscribers during the year. Dish TV’s net profit for the quarter was at INR350 million for the quarter that ended March, 31, 2015. Its ARPU was at INR172.

“All pack prices, for new as well as existing subscribers of Dish TV, have been moved by Rs 10 each in the 42 cities under phase I and II. We are confident that pack price hikes, higher HD uptake, as well as industry level developments such as initiation of packaging in cable will be key contributors to ARPU expansion going forward,” said Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel, according to Indian Television.

Airtel Digital TV has announced that its revenue has increased by 19% year-on-year from INR20.7 billion in FY 2014 to INR24.7 billion in FY 2015. The company’s subscriber base stands at 10.07 million as on March 2015. Airtel’s ARPU was at INR214 in FY 2015 as compared to INR201 in FY 2014.

Another player in the DTH space, Videocon d2h, also narrowed net loss to INR2.73 billion during the financial year that ended 31 March, 2015. Last year, the net loss stood at INR3.2 billion. “We maintained our market leadership in subscriber growth and reported key financial metrics ahead of the guidance provided during the listing process. We believe, with our strong balance sheet and continued momentum, we are well-positioned for the future,” said Saurabh Dhoot, Executive Chairman of the company. Its average revenue per user was at INR196 for the fiscal.

Cable TV digitisation opening new business opportunities; Ericsson

increase in demand for billing systems as well as internet-based delivery networks among Indian cable TV operators has led to newer avenues for growth for Ericsson.

Ericsson already provides video compression solutions to four out of seven DTH providers in the country. According to the telecom equipment vendor, video streaming services are gaining popularity in India, which it says, is opening up new revenue channels, reports the Economic Times. The company is aiming at taking at least 15 % of the USD400-million content delivery market in India.

“The solutions for telecom operators already exist, which are far more complicated and accurate. So if a cable operator needs a daily billing system, it is easier for us to deliver,” said Gordon Castle, vice president and head of industry area Mediacom at Ericsson, according to the Economic Times.

Vineet Somakumar, Head of TV & Media Practice at Ericsson India, had earlier said that Ericsson also sees opportunities in the multi system operator or MSO market in India as cable TV providers switch from analogue to digital services, according to Firstpost.

Moldova starts digitisation process

Moldova has officially begun its transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting, having approved a strategy and amendments to existing legislation on April 22.

Quoting Pavel Filip, the head of the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications,Mediasat reports that the transition will take place in several stages, with simulcasting taking place for the three years up until analogue switch off.

While the state owned company Radiocomunicatii will issue digital broadcasting licences and allocate frequencies, there is as yet no prospective investor in national multiplexes.

Moldova eventually plans to have three national, along with 21 regional, multiplexes.

Romania starts DVB-T2 tests

The Romanian national transmission company Radiocom has begun DVB-T2 tests in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi and Timisoara.

In doing so, it is employing some of the equipment that was used to transmit the public broadcaster’s second channel TVR2 in the UHF band. Currently, there is an ongoing tender for new equipment.

Radiocom is also continuing to broadcast the first public channel TVR1 in analogue in VHF until the end of next year to maintain continuity for the Romanian population despite ASO having taken place on June 17.

The first of Romania’s three national multiplexes (MUX-1) will employ DVB-T2 and reach 90% of the population, with all transmitters being in place by the end of 2016. It will be FTA and contain public and commercial TV channels.

The second and third (MUX2 and MUX4) will offering commercial TV services and up and running by May 17, 2017.

Dutch NPO looking at DVB-T2

Dutch public broadcaster NPO is looking to broadcast its free-to-air channels NPO1, 2 and 3 in HD using the DVB-T2 standard from 2017 onwards.

NPO chairman Henk Hagoort told the audience at the Mediapark Jaarcongres in Hilversum. NPO is currently broadcasting its three main national channels in DVB-T via the Dutch digital terretrial network.

Hagoort said he wants to offer more choice to the viewer and offering the NPO channels in HD quality via the DTT network will help the viewer choose between the various platforms.

At the moment, KPN is offering a limited bouquet of channels via its Digitenne subsidiary. This pay TV option is using the DVB-T standard. The current terrestrial licences, both for Digitenne and for the NPO, run out early 2017, bit the government is planning a three-year extension.

Should the Dutch public broadcasters indeed choose DVB-T2, it will make all current Digitenne and free-to-air receivers obsolete.

Apollo to sell its stake in Dish TV

Apollo Global Management, the US private equity major, is selling around 3 to 4% of its stake in Dish TV to raise as much as USD75 million.

Dish TV reported a net profit of INR31 million for the financial year 2015 compared to a net loss of INR 1.5 billion last year. Apollo recently offloaded 3% of its stake in the company for a little over INR2 billion. During the earlier sale, Dish TV shares were trading at 82.04 per unit, reports Television Post. Dish TV sales are now valued at INR109.60.

Apollo had bought 11% stake in Dish TV back in 2009 for USD 100 million. Even after the latest transaction, which will likely be a block trade deal, the equity major will be left with a small portion of the direct-to-home service provider.

New Ziggo reaches over half of all Dutch TV homes

The combined networks of Ziggo and UPC now reach almost 54% of all Dutch TV homes, according to Telecompaper’s latest quarterly report on the Dutch Television Market.

The Dutch TV market reported 10,000 net additions during the first quarter of 2015, to end the quarter with 7.87 million subscribers. The growth was driven by 0.6% increase in digital TV subscribers, which was enough to off-set a 4.0% decrease in analogue-only subscribers. The growth in digital TV was driven by IPTV via DSL or fibre, which was enough to off-set a decrease in digital TV via cable customers.

Almost 88% of the market now uses digital TV. Cable still accounted for over half (53.5%) of digital TV subscribers in Q1, despite losing market share to the increasingly available IPTV services over DSL and fibre networks. DSL is responsible for 17.5 percent of the digital TV connections and fibre for almost 11 percent.

The new Ziggo is the largest TV provider with almost 54% of the market in Q1 2015, followed by KPN with 27%. On the digital TV market, Ziggo has a lower market share of almost 49 percent compared to more than 30 percent of KPN.

Telecompaper expects an average annual decrease of 0.2% in the TV subscription market in the period to 2019. Almost all households already have a TV connection and fewer are taking subscriptions for second TVs, in favour of watching video on tablets, computers and other devices.

The retail TV services market (consumer and SOHO) generated an estimated EUR 437 million in revenues in the first quarter of 2015, slightly lower than in the previous quarter. This includes revenues from basic TV subscriptions, pay-TV services and video-on-demand services, and excludes revenues from installation fees and set-top box sales.

Spanish pay-TV market growth continues

The number of 5-play subscribers in Spain increased by 300,000 to 2.2 million in Q4 2014, according to the regulator CNMC.

At the same, the triple play total rose by 40,000 to 700,000 and double paly fell by 30,000 to 200,000.

Q4 was a strong quarter for the pay-TV sector, with revenues amounting to €485 million, compared to €431.4 million three months earlier.

FTA TV revenues also significantly increased over the three months, from €340.8 million to €504.2 million.

DTT revenue sin Q4 amounted to €518.7 million, compared to €495.4 million in Q4 2013, while those for DTH were €304.1 million (€291.2 million), IPTV €11.2 million (€54.6 million) and cable €51 million (€53.2 million).

Romania shakes up TV industry

Romania’s Ministry for Information Society has published a new draft Emergency Ordinance that will have important implications for the TV industry.

Hotnews reports that will firstly reduce the VAT imposed on the delivery of TV services from 24% to 9%.

Secondly, it will lead to the establishment of an audiovisual fund and thirdly ensure the country’s transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting.

Although Romania will be one of the last countries in Europe to complete the latter – the ASO date has been set at June 17, 2015 – the proposals call for public and private TV stations to be allowed to also continue broadcasting in analogue on a transitional basis in the 174-230 MHz band until the end of 2016.

Foxtel buying 15% stake in Ten Network for AUD77 million

Pay-tv provider Foxtel is buying a 15% stake in the free-to-air broadcaster Ten Network for AUD77 million or USD 59 million. The agreement will also see Ten venturing in Foxtel’s video streaming business.

The stake offload is part of Ten Network’s plans of raising as much as AUD154 million to reduce debt and fund its programming costs.  According to the Australian, the FTA broadcaster is selling its shares to raise AUD77 million via renounceable entitlement offer.

“Today’s announcement represents an important milestone for Ten and the conclusion of the strategic review process initiated by the Board last year,” said Hamish McLennan, Ten chairman and chief executive, according to The Australian.

“It positions Ten to drive long-term value for shareholders. The board believes the agreements with Foxtel and MCN will materially enhance Ten’s business and better equip it to respond to the challenges of the ever-changing media and advertising landscape,” McLennan added.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval. As per the agreement, Ten will own a quarter share in Multi Channel Network (MCN), which is Foxtel’s advertising arm. The FTA broadcaster will also be given an option of buying a 10% stake in Foxtel’s video streaming service, Presto.

OTT TV and video revenues to rocket to $51 billion

Global OTT TV and video revenues [covering 64 countries] will reach $51.1 billion in 2020; a massive increase from the $4.2 billion recorded in 2010 and the $26.0 billion expected in 2015.

According to the Global OTT TV & Video Forecasts report from Digital TV Research, the US will remain the dominant territory – with OTT TV and video revenues rising by $16.6 billion between 2010 and 2020 to $19.1 billion. China’s OTT TV and video revenues will rocket from just $40 million in 2010 to $2,815 million in 2020 – to push China up to fourth place in the world rankings. OTT revenues will exceed $1 billion in 11 countries by 2020.

SVOD will become the largest revenue source in 2020, overtaking OTT advertising. SVOD will add $14 billion between 2014 and 2020, with advertising on OTT sites up by nearly $12 billion.

The report forecasts 249 million SVOD [subscription video on demand] homes by 2020, up from 20 million in 2010 and an expected 117 million by end-2015. The US will contribute 70 million SVOD homes to the 2020 total.

SVOD revenues will soar from $1.0 billion in 2010 to $7.6 billion in 2014 and onto $21.6 billion in 2020. The US generated SVOD revenues of $753 million in 2010. Its revenues will climb by 765% to $6,516 million in 2020.

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “SVOD has developed even faster than we expected in our last edition a year ago. Some of this growth was spurred by Netflix’s aim to establish operations in 200 countries by end-2016. Not only has the launch of Netflix boosted each market, but the anticipation of its launch has galvanized local players into action – creating a whirlwind of promotional activity.”

Netflix’s international operations are growing fast. Digital TV Research expects its international paying subscribers to grow to 26.36 million by end-2015. We also expect that its US paying SVOD subs will reach 43.54 million by end-2015, giving a global total of 69.90 million.

For more information on the Global OTT TV & Video Forecasts report, please see the Broadband TV News webshop.

Alibaba to launch streaming service in China

Chinse mail order giant Alibaba will launch its own streaming video service to be called Tmall Box Office, or TBO, for viewers in China.

Content will come from China and other countries, as well as in-house productions, Alibaba’s Patrick Liu told reporters in at the 20th Shanghai TV Festival.

“Our mission, the mission of all of Alibaba, is to redefine home entertainment,” said Alibaba’s Patrick Liu. “Our goal is to become like HBO in the United States, to become like Netflix in the United States.”

No time schedule was given, but the launch is expected “within the next two months.” TBO will launch into a competitive online video market in China, where most content is offered free of charge. Alibaba, however, will probably use a freemium mode, where 10% of the content is offered free, but the remainder is by subscription only.

About a year ago, Alibaba joined forces with Lionsgate to launch a subscription streaming service available through Alibaba’s set-top boxes.

Just last week, Alibaba Group announced it has signed a strategic agreement with Shanghai Media Group (SMG) to leverage both companies’ Internet technology and media resources in order to penetrate China’s financial information services industry. As part of the strategic agreement, Alibaba intends to invest RMB1.2 billion into China Business News (CBN), a Chinese financial media company under SMG, to create a financial data and information services company that will help Chinese small and medium enterprises tap a rich mine of financial data.

Alibaba Group has also unveiled a deal with Dragon TV, a subsidiary of Shanghai Media Group, to jointly create an entertainment platform that combines traditional media, the internet and mobile communications. Alibaba plans to add an online store, where fans can buys goods related to or seen in Dragon TV programming. (Picture courtesy Alibaba)

Moldova pay TV subscribers down 6,462 in 1Q 2015

CHIȘINĂU — Moldova’s National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) has published pay TV statistics for the first quarter of 2015. The total number of subscribers at the end of the period was 267,577, 6,462 down from the end of 2014, and down 15,734 year-on-year.

Three quarters of subscriptions are via cable, with IPTV making up almost all of the rest. A majority of cable subscribers have an analogue connection, so for digital television, the split between cable and IPTV is nearly even.

SUN COMMUNICATIONS continues to lead the market, in terms of subscribers, with a share of 38% – slightly up in the quarter. Moldtelecom is second with a 20.9% share.

Number of subscribers

                                                  2014     2015
                    ----------------------------------  -------
                         Q1       Q2       Q3       Q4       Q1
                    -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
Total               283,311  285,997  282,131  274,039  267,577

Market share by operator

                                                  2014     2015
                    ----------------------------------  -------
                         Q1       Q2       Q3       Q4       Q1
                    -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
SUN COMMUNICATIONS    36.8%    35.9%    36.4%    37.5%    38.0%
Moldtelecom           18.3%    18.3%    18.9%    19.9%    20.9%
A.M.T.                 6.7%     6.3%     5.7%     5.8%     5.0%
Focus Sat              2.6%     2.6%     2.5%        -        -
Others                35.7%    36.9%    36.4%    36.9%    36.2%

Share by technology

                Q1 2015
                -------
Cable TV          75.4%
IPTV              24.4%
MMDS               0.2%

analogue            59%
digital             41%
- Cable TV       51.87%
- IPTV           47.73%
- MMDS            0.40%

MIB to issue provisional registration to multi-system operators

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has announced that it is giving Multi-system operators provisional licences.

According to MIB, the provisional licences will only be given to applicants who have no history of convictions and to those who have passed earlier security clearances. MSOs, whose subsidiaries or parent companies have been denied security nod, will also not be given the provisional registration. Delay in security clearance from MHA as well as the fast approaching date for digital addressable system phase III rollout has prompted the Ministry to issue temporary licences.

“A large number of applications for grant of MSO registrations have been received in the Ministry. All complete applications have been sent to Ministry of Home Affairs for security clearance, as security clearance is mandatory as per rule11C of the Cable TV Networks Rules, 1994 for grant of MSO registration, MIB said.

Around 700 MSO applications have been pending before the MIB and the Ministry of Home Affairs. MIB has asked MSOs to sign an affidavit, declaring that they don’t have any criminal cases against them and that they will close operation if they are denied security clearance by the MHA, reports Indian Television.

Sky Deutschland takes OTT service to Android devices

German pay-TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland has rolled out its OTT service Sky Online to Android smartphones and tablets.

The subscription offering which can be cancelled monthly is now available as an app on the following devices: Google Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, S4 mini, S5, S5 mini, Note 2, Note 3, Note 10.1 as well as Tab 3 (7.0, 10.1), Tab 4 (7.0, 10.1) and Tab S (8.4, 10.5).

At Sky Online, two packages can be booked: the Sky Starter package for €9.99 per month including VOD service Sky Snap and the Sky Film package for €19.99 per month. On top of each of the two bouquets, customers can additionally sign up for the Sky Supersport day ticket which grants access to Sky’s whole Sky Live Sport and Bundesliga offering for €19.99.

Sky Deutschland wants to make its OTT service available on further Android devices and additional platforms in future. The offering can also be accessed through the web, iPhone, iPad, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV sets and the Sky Online TV Box.

ANGA COM sets 2016 dates

Yesterday, ANGA COM 2015 ended with a total of 450 exhibitors and 17,000 participants.

Again, 50% of the participants came from abroad – from a total of 74 countries. Thus the Exhibition and Congress for Broadband, Cable & Satellite has continued seamlessly the record numbers of the previous year.

ANGA COM 2016 will take place from 7 to 9 June 2016, again in Cologne (Germany).

Romanian telco market: the stats

Orange had higher revenues than all other telcos in Romania in 2014, with Telekom Romania and RCS&RDS, all important players in the TV industry, in third and fourth place respectively.

Data collated by the country’s Finance Ministry and published by ZFshows that Orange’s revenues amounted to RON4,319.5 million (€966.5 million), down 0.4% on the previous year. Meanwhile, its net profit was RON403.6 million (-19.4%) and debt RON2,299.8 million (+45.6%).

The fixed line services of what is now Telekom Romania had revenues of RON2,707.2 million (-0.1%), with no other figures available.

Although RCS&RDS saw its revenues grow by 10% to RON2,312.6 million, it had a net loss of RON71 million , with no figure being available for 2013 for comparison purposes. Its debts stood at RON4,327.2 million (+8.7%).

UPC Romania had revenues of RON491.9 million (+8%), while its net profit was RON206.7 million (no figure available for 2013).Its debts grew by 19.7% to RON1,477.2 million.

The cable operator DCS (AKTA) had revenues of RON176.9 million (+5.6%) and a net loss of RON9 million. Its debts fell by 6.6% to RON122.7 million.

Significantly, Vodafone was the second largest telco in Romania in revenue terms, though both that (-0.4%) and net profit (-19.4%) fell in the year.

It could become a key player in Romania’s TV industry should a much talked about deal with Liberty Global go ahead.