SkyVision launches satellite TV platforms for Africa

Thursday, November 26th, 2015 

SkyVision Launches Two Broadcast Platforms Over ABS-3A Satellite to Deliver Comprehensive SD/HD Content to Customers in Africa

HERTFORDSHIRE, UK — SkyVision Global Networks Ltd., a leading global satellite communications service provider, today announced a partnership with Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS), one of the fastest growing global satellite operators in the world, to launch two new video platforms on ABS-3A. This will provide quality DVB-S and DVB-S2 content, including HD, via satellite across Sub-Saharan Africa, including French speaking Africa and South Africa.

The signing of this agreement will deliver vital communications services via ABS-3A, a premium satellite located at the 3°W orbital position, to effectively meet the growing demand for content and DTH services using 90cm dishes. The new platforms will support both SD and HD channels in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 encoding. Coverage will focus on the Free-To-Air channels and Pay TV markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.

SkyVision boasts more than ten satellite platforms and a network of high-capacity fiber optic cables via its gateways in Africa, Europe, North America and the Middle East as well as multiple points of presence (POPs) in Africa. SkyVision’s contribution to this important project is to provide the company’s global hybrid system of high-capacity network of fiber optic cables to the Internet backbone via ABS-3A. This will enable superior distribution services of special events, news and DTH channels from Asia and Europe to Africa.

“Launching these services on ABS-3A creates a new era of high performance satellite services to customers in Africa,” stated Ori Waterman, SkyVision’s CEO. “This deal establishes new key broadcast platforms over the ABS-3A and enhances our distribution capabilities with our African customers via Ku-Band Platforms to best serve broadcasters and a wider viewing audience.”

Tom Choi, CEO of ABS, commented, “We are quickly developing an excellent broadcast neighborhood on ABS-3A over Africa and this agreement with SkyVision enhances our capabilities and opportunities. Our cooperation with SkyVision will result in a cost-effective solution to expand coverage in remote regions throughout Africa, add viable bandwidth and introduce new services to more customers.”

Venezuela's Pay TV subscribers up 146,000 in 2Q 2015

CARACAS — According to preliminary statistics published by its Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL), pay TV subscriptions in Venezuela at the end of June 2015 were 4.80 million, up from 4.47 million at the end of the second quarter of 2014 – an increase of 7.5% or 333 thousand. 146,000 subscribers were added in the quarter.

DIRECTV is the leading operator in terms of subscribers with a share of 41%, CANTV is in second place with 16.9%.

The split between cable TV and satellite is now 69% satellite to 31% cable.

Household penetration reached 65%.

Subscriber Market Shares

Number of Subscribers

                            Quarterly      Y-o-Y    Household
Year  Quarter  Subscribers  Additions  Additions  Penetration
----  -------  -----------  ---------  ---------  -----------
2013        I    3,533,972    129,674    648,279       49.00%
           II    3,707,703    173,731    715,113       51.23%
          III    3,837,679    129,976    716,815       52.83%
           IV    4,149,338    311,659    745,040       56.91%
2014        I    4,297,132    147,794    763,160       59.48%
           II    4,470,821    173,689    763,118       61.67%
          III    4,474,168      3,346    636,489       61.49%
           IV    4,540,829     66,662    391,491       62.17%
2015(*)     I    4,658,486    117,657    361,354       63.56%
           II    4,804,263    145,777    333,442       65.33%

* Preliminary figures

Active DTH subscribers in India fell 1.41 million in 2Q 2015

NEW DELHI — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today released the “Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for the Quarter ending June, 2015. The Report provides a broad perspective of the Telecom Services and presents the key parameters and growth trends for the Telecom Services as well as Cable TV, DTH and Radio Broadcasting services in India for the period covering April to June, 2015 and is compiled on the basis of information furnished by the Service Providers.

Cable TV Services

The digitization, with addressability, of cable TV sector is in progress, in a phased manner. It is planned to be completed in four phases.

The cut-off date for migration to “Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems” for the first phase, covering four metropolitan cities, was 31.10.2012 and for second phase, covering 38 cities having population more than 1 million, was 30.03.2013. The cut-off date for third phase was 30.09.2014 and for the fourth and final phase was 31.12.2014. However, the cut-off date for third phase & fourth phase was further extended up to 31.12.2015 and 31.12.2016 respectively.

As on 30.06.2015, there are a total of 211 Multi System Operators (MSOs), who have been granted Permanent Registration (for 10 years) by Ministry of I&B, for providing Cable TV services through Digital Addressable Systems.

DTH Services

At present, apart from the free DTH service of Doordarshan, a public broadcaster, there are 6 private DTH Operators. All these private DTH Operators are offering pay DTH services.

As per the information submitted by the DTH operator through quarterly PMR for DTH services, total number of registered subscribers and active subscribers being served by these six private DTH operators, as reported to TRAI, are 78.74 million and 39.74, million respectively as on 30th June, 2015.

The equivalent figures for the end of March 2015 were 76.05 million and 41.15, so India registered 2.69 million additional subscribers during the quarter, but the number of those subscribers that are active fell by 1.41 million.

DTH subscribers (millions)

                                                  2014
            ------------------------------------------
            End-March   End-June  End-Sept.   End-Dec.
            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Registered      64.82      67.57      70.33      73.06
 Active         37.19      38.24      39.13      40.54
 Inactive       27.63      29.33      31.20      32.52

                            2015
            --------------------
            End-March   End-June
            ---------  ---------
Registered      76.05      78.74
 Active         41.15      39.74
 Inactive       34.90      39.00

MTS adds TV Everywhere

Russia’s MTS has introduced TV Everywhere and TV Everywhere Wi-Fi options for its digital TV customers.

Giving access to 130 TV channels on any device – smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs – they cost R100 (€1.45) and R200 a month respectively to receive.

TV Everywhere allows viewers to watch TV channels on their main receiver and five additional devices using fixed or mobile internet access, while TV Everywhere Wi-Fi can be received on a TV and two addition devices, using fixed internet access.

The Netherlands to introduce DVB-T2

The Dutch government is planning to introduce DVB-T2 when the current licences run out at the end of January, 2017.

The 700 MHz frequency spectrum will become available for mobile use from 2020. The government will auction both the 694-790 MHz spectrum as well as the DVB-T2 licence. There will be a period of simulcasting in order to facilitate the switch from DVB-T to DVB-T2.

During the past few months, the Ministry of Economic Affairs held a number of consultations with interested parties. Henk Kamp, the responsible minister, has now send a letter to Parliament outlining the intentions of the government.

Given the fact that still between 300 and 400,000 homes are still dependent on terrestrial reception, DTT will continue to be available in the country.

The Dutch public broadcaster NPO has said that it intend to broadcast its channels in HD over DTT as well as use HbbTV for catch-up and other on-demand programming.

KPN has also said it intend to continue to offer its DTT platform Digitenne.

At the moment, all digital terrestrial broadcasters in the country are using DVB-T. The Dutch public broadcaster transmits its main national channels NPO1, NPO2 and NPO3 free-to-air, as well as the regional public channels.

KPN owns and operates the Digitenne platform as pay-TV service, offering most Dutch private channels as well as a number of international channels including Belgian public broadcaster VRT.

Netflix to reach 115 million subscribers

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The number of SVOD [subscription video on demand] homes is forecast to reach 306 million across 200 countries by 2020, up massively from 28 million in 2010 and an expected 197 million by end-2015, according to a new report from Digital TV Research.

The total will grow by 42 million in 2015 alone.

The Global SVOD Forecasts report estimates that nearly 145 million SVOD subscribers will be added between 2015 and 2020 (up by 90%). China will increase by 20 million subs, with the US bringing in an extra 22 million, Japan 9 million and India more than 7 million.

Netflix is forecast to have almost 115 million paying subscribers by 2020, adding 44 million subs between 2015 and 2020. Netflix will have 50.4 million subs in the US by 2020 – up by 7 million on 2015.

Global SVOD revenues [for all operators in 200 countries] will reach $26,794 million in 2020; 10 times the $2,644 million recorded in 2010 and more than double the $12,375 million expected in 2015. Subscription revenues for Netflix will rocket from $1.8 billion in 2010 to $12.2 billion in 2020.

For more information on the Global SVOD Forecasts report, please see the Broadband TV Nerws webshop.

Sky unveils Sky Q home entertainment system

Introducing Sky Q, a whole new way of watching TV

Sky today unveils Sky Q, the next-generation home entertainment system, opening up a whole new way of watching TV.

Sky Q makes it easier than ever to access all your favourite TV and brings an even wider range of entertainment to the big screen. A family of advanced Sky Q products connects wirelessly to create a new ecosystem that makes TV viewing seamless:

• Watch shows from your box, whether live, recorded or on demand, anywhere around the home on another TV or tablet
• Pause viewing on one TV screen and pick up where you left off in another room
• For the first time, take your favourite shows with you by saving recordings onto your tablet to watch anywhere
• Watch different programmes on up to five screens simultaneously while also recording four other channels
• Supercharge your Sky Broadband by turning all your Sky Q boxes into Wi-Fi hotspots
• Scroll and swipe the new touchpad remote to choose what to watch on an all-new TV guide
• Use the powerful search capability of Sky Q to find everything related to a show
• Access an even wider range of entertainment on the big screen including YouTube, Vevo and the best of the web
• Browse your Facebook photos and stream music wirelessly using Bluetooth or Apple’s AirPlay

After launch in early 2016, Sky Q will keep getting better with a stream of new features and innovations, including more of the best apps and web video. In addition, Sky Q will be Ultra HD ready in advance of the launch of the UK’s most comprehensive Ultra High Definition service later in 2016. The new service will offer customers a range of sports, movies, and entertainment content in stunning picture quality with up to four times the detail of HD.

Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s Chief Executive, commented: “Sky Q is a brilliant new way for customers to experience TV on their terms. We wanted to re-imagine TV so that it’s flexible and seamless across different screens and to put a huge choice of entertainment at their fingertips. We think customers are going to love Sky Q and the great news is that it will get even better with much more to come in the future.”

A ‘Fluid Viewing’ experience

Sky Q creates a seamless, effortless TV viewing experience, which Sky calls ‘Fluid Viewing’. With Sky Q, it is easier than ever to watch your favourite TV, whether live channels, recordings or on demand, in any room, with the new wireless Sky Q mini box or with the Sky Q app on your tablet.

Key benefits of ‘Fluid Viewing’ include the flexibility to pause what you’re viewing on your TV screen and pick up in another room on a TV or tablet. And for the first time we’re bringing the number one requested feature from customers, so you can take your recordings with you wherever you are. You can watch different programmes simultaneously on up to five screens around the home while recording four other channels – a first in the UK and Ireland.

Supercharge your Wi-Fi

The new Sky Q hub supercharges your Sky Broadband by turning all your Sky Q boxes into Wi-Fi hotspots for a stronger signal and better coverage throughout the home. And, in addition to a state-of-the-art, in-home wireless network, your Sky Q boxes can connect over your home’s electric wiring to give you the best connection available.

Reinventing how you find and watch the TV you love

With a completely new TV guide and home page, Sky Q reinvents how you find and watch the TV you love. A new touchpad remote lets you effortlessly scroll and swipe to choose what to watch, with the help of cover art so you can instantly recognise your favourite shows.

The new guide provides a great combination of recommendations – a curated Top Picks selection on the home page, alongside personalised options found in the new My Q section which are based on what you have watched at different times of day. My Q lets you pause what you’re watching in one room and carry on in another on a TV or tablet. It also lets you easily find and watch the next episode of a series.

In addition, Sky Q’s powerful new search capability brings together live, recorded and on demand content in one place. It shows you everything related to a show you have searched for – whether from live channels, recordings or on demand – and will suggest similar shows that you may like to try.

Bringing more to the big screen

On top of Sky’s unrivalled range of the best TV and movies from around the world, Sky Q opens up access to an even wider range of content. Customers will be able to browse their Facebook photos and stream music wirelessly over their TV sound system with Bluetooth or Apple’s AirPlay. And they can catch up with the latest news and sport through interactive sidebar apps which are seamlessly integrated into the viewing experience.

Sky Q will also allow you to watch your favourite videos from YouTube, watch on demand music videos from the new Vevo app and stream the best of the web to any TV connected to Sky Q or Sky Q Mini. Initial streaming partners announced today include Condé Nast Entertainment including GQ, Vanity Fair, Vogue and WIRED, GoPro, Jukin Media, Kin Community, Red Bull Media House and Whistle Sports with even more content creators to be added.

Even more to come

After launch, Sky Q will keep getting better for customers with the launch of Ultra High Definition later in 2016 and a pipeline of other innovative new features. To make searching for programmes even easier, Sky Q will add a powerful voice search capability. In addition, the ‘Fluid Viewing’ experience will come to even more screens with a new app for smartphones, with other devices to follow.

A new family of products

Sky Q’s ‘Fluid Viewing’ experience is powered by a new range of Sky’s most advanced products yet, all designed to work together in one seamless ecosystem. The new range of products includes:

• Sky Q Silver and Sky Q – two new super-slim, powerful boxes for the main TV set, featuring up to 12 tuners and up to 2TB of storage
• Sky Q Mini – a new plug and play box giving wireless access to Sky Q in other rooms in the home without running cables from the dish
• Sky Q Hub – the all new Hub has built in Powerline networking technology, so it can use in-home electrical wiring as well as Wi-Fi to communicate with Sky Q boxes, automatically giving the best connection available. The Sky Q Hub also turns Sky Q boxes into Wi-Fi hotspots which means Sky Broadband customers get a stronger signal and better coverage throughout the home
• Sky Q app – a brand new app for your tablets that lets you enjoy all of the Sky Q experience at home, and take recordings with you and watch live and on demand content on the go

Availability and pricing

Sky Q will be available in the UK and Ireland in early 2016, with pricing to be announced closer to launch. It will join Sky’s existing line-up of TV products including the UK’s most popular PVR, Sky+, and the online streaming service, NOW TV.

Google Play Movies & TV coming to LG Smart TVs

LG Smart TVs And ‘Google Play Movies & TV’ Expand Content Options For U.S. Consumers

• ‘Google Play Movies & TV’ Brings Great Content to LG Smart TVs, PCs, Smartphones

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — Starting this month, U.S. owners of LG Smart TVs will be able to enjoy thousands of movies and TV shows through “Google Play Movies & TV.” Compatible with LG’s industry-leading webOS Smart TV platform (as well as its earlier NetCast 4.0 and 4.5), Google Play Movies & TV will offer timeless classics, new releases, independent films and cult favorites in both HD and SD formats.

With Google Play Movies & TV, viewers can rent or buy from among thousands of movies or TV shows from major Hollywood studios. And because all the content originates from the cloud, viewers can begin watching on their LG Smart TVs at home and resume watching from where they left off the next day on their smartphone, tablet or PC.

“U.S. consumers are increasingly demanding fresh, high-quality content and we’re seeing the smart TV market grow rapidly as a result,” said David VanderWaal, vice president of marketing, LG Electronics USA. “Offering our consumers the best possible home entertainment experience is our highest priority and our partnership with Google to offer Google Play Movies and TV helps LG deliver more quality content options along with leading TV picture quality and a simple and fast smart TV experience powered by our webOS Smart TV platform.”

LG’s webOS Smart TV platform is designed to make finding and switching between content options – including broadcast TV, streaming services and external devices – intuitive and fast. LG webOS features simple switching to let users quickly shift the content they like, as well as simple discovery to help find new sources of entertainment from 4K partners such as Amazon Instant Video, Netflix™, YouTube™, now DIRECTV and many more Full HD options.*

Google Play Movies will become available starting this month on LG Smart TVs in 104 countries with the TV service rolling out initially in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.

* 4K/UHD content delivery standards still being developed. Wireless Internet connection & certain subscriptions required and sold separately. Agreement to smart TV terms and conditions required to use certain smart features. Content and services vary by product and are subject to change without notice. webOS does not support Flash. In order to stream 4K content you need you will need a high speed Internet plan capable of receiving 20Mb per second of data.

Brazil pay TV subscribers continue downward trend

According to Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel), the country’s pay TV subscriber base ended September 2015 at 19.48 million, with 164 thousand subscribers being lost in the quarter to leave the total only 43 thousand up on one year before.

In the quarter, satellite lost 215 thousand subscribers, to finish with 432 thousand fewer than at the end of September 2014. This was compensated by growth in cable (up 402,000) and FTTH which has almost doubled over the year to 153 thousand subscribers.

Pay TV subscribers by technology

                                                  2014
        ----------------------------------------------
                1Q          2Q          3Q          4Q
        ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------
DTH     11,406,577  11,731,297  12,020,542  11,942,606
Cable    6,981,876   7,159,588   7,322,389   7,465,401
FTTH        47,927      61,491      78,137      95,011
MMDS        15,298      12,799      12,592      11,777
Others       3,679       3,389       3,342       3,297
        ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------
Total   18,455,357  18,968,564  19,437,002  19,518,092
 Adds      435,680     513,207     468,438      81,090


                                      2015             Change               Change
        ----------------------------------            3Q 2015              3Q 2015
                1Q          2Q          3Q         v, 2Q 2015           v, 3Q 2014
        ----------  ----------  ----------  -----------------  -------------------
DTH     12,009,855  11,802,679  11,588,145  -214,534  (-1.8%)  -432,397    (-3.6%)
Cable    7,626,807   7,697,718   7,724,324    26,606   (0.3%)   401,935     (5.5%)
FTTH       111,202     129,635     153,320    23,685  (18.3%)    75,183    (96.2%)
MMDS        11,291      11,034      10,854      -180  (-1.6%)    -1,738   (-13.8%)
Others       3,253       3,253       3,253         0   (0.0%)       -89    (-2.7%)
        ----------  ----------  ----------  -----------------  -------------------
Total   19,762,408  19,644,319  19,479,896  -164,423  (15.2%)    42,894    (81.6%)
 Adds      244,316    -118,089    -164,423

Pay TV subscribers by operator

Company                           1Q 2015     2Q 2015     3Q 2015
-----------------------------  ----------  ----------  ----------
Telecom Americas                        -           -  10,133,097
- Telmex (Claro/Embratel/NET)  10,266,150  10,158,522           -
SKY/AT&T                                -           -   5,537,956
- SKY/DIRECTV                   5,684,252   5,654,592           -
Telefônica                        790,238     809,280   1,836,994
- Vivendi (GVT)                   939,558     996,251           -
Oi                              1,232,185   1,183,966   1,170,538
Blue                                    -           -     149,151
- Big Brasil                      152,919     152,550           -
NossaTV                           129,522     128,755     130,443
Algar (CTBC Telecom)              117,760     113,218     108,721
Cabo                               48,378      48,972      50,321
Prefeitura de Londrina/Copel        2,785       2,631           -
Others                            398,661     395,582     362,675
-----------------------------  ----------  ----------  ----------
TOTAL                          19,762,408  19,644,319  19,479,896

MTS assesses DTH progress

Russia’s MTS has revealed that it has only tens of thousands of subscribers for its DTH service, which was launched at the end of last year.

Quoted by ComNews, Vasil Latsanych, the company’s VP of marketing, said that while MTS is satisfied with the product and has had good feedback from customers, it nevertheless recognises the need to increase sales.

He added that had MTS entered the DTH market many years ago, rather than invest heavily in the mobile sector, it would now have 10 million subscribers. At the same time, Latsanych also said that it says the DTH platform as one of its growth points, with competitive advantages including the ability of offer additional interactive services.

ComNews notes that the MTS platform would have been expected to end this year with 150,000 subscribers. Now, a figure of 100,000 looks much more likely.

MTS provides TV business update

Russia’s MTS ended the third quarter with 2,741,000 TV subscribers in its home market, down from 2,894,000 in the corresponding period last year.
Although its fixed telephony subscriber total also fell, down from 3,677,000 to 3,540,000, its fixed internet take-up rose from 2,359,000 to 2,537,000.
Meanwhile, ARPU in its fixed B2C segment increased from R261 (€3.75) in Q3 2014 to R280 in the three months to September 30 this year.
MTS says that the fall in pay-TV customers reflects a migration from analogue to digital, while the increase in APRU highlights a number of factors, including the rising share of double and triple play customers and continued migration to its digital TV platform.
MGTS, MTS’s Moscow GPON operation, had 850,000 broadband and pay-TV subscribers as of the end of Q3, or almost double the 450,000 posted a year earlier.
MGTS currently offers internet access at up to 500 Mbps, over 200 TV channels, 35 of which are in HD, as well as VOD services over IPTV.

Dialog Axiata’s DTV shows growth of 25%

Dialog Television (DTV), the digital pay-tv arm of Dialog Axiatia, posted a revenue growth of 25 percent to US$ 30.5 million (LKR 4.3 billion) for the nine months ended 30 September 2015 in Sri Lanka.

DTV’s pay-tv subscriber base grew by over 189,000 subscribers’ year-on-year to record a base of 600,000 at the end of September.

Dialog Axiata reported a consolidated revenue of 133 million (LKR 18.8 billion) for the third quarter of 2015, and US$ 383 (LKR 53.9 billion) for the nine months till 30 September 2015, which represents a growth of 6 % quarter-on-quarter and 8 % year to date. The company reported “strong growth momentum” across digital pay-tv, tele-infrastructure, mobile and its fixed-line businesses.

Dialog Broadband Networks (DBN) featuring the Group’s fixed telecommunications and broadband business, recorded revenue of LKR 5.3 billion for the first nine months of the year, representing an increase of 19 percent year-to-date.

Exset supplies DMS-equipped STBs to Pakistan’s Cable Media Group

Exset Supplies DMS 4.0-equipped Set-tops To Pakistan’s Cable Media Group For Value-add Services

THE NETHERLANDS –– Exset, pioneers of TV ecosystems for enhanced digital TV services, has today announced that it is supplying the latest version of its Value Added Service DMS 4.0 technology to major Pakistan cable operator Cable Media Group.

Exset has successfully integrated the recently upgraded middleware with set-top boxes from Gospell that are to be deployed by CMG shortly. Designed specifically to deliver new revenue streams for operators in an ever more challenging market, DMS offers monetised services over and above video. DMS 4.0 enables subscription fees – and set-top box costs – to be kept very low, vital in driving the successful migration to digital across the country. The technology has also been successfully integrated with set-tops from Newland and is also being deployed by Russian pay-TV operator Tricolor.

DMS 4.0 now includes fully integrated EPG ad-insertion, allowing operators and content providers to reach a new audience as soon as users turn on their TV. The second key development is an Interactive Blue Button Ad Service; when instructed, pressing the blue button on a banner ad results in complete advert detail being revealed.

CMG is based in Karachi with offices in Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Multan and is expanding across an additional 40 cities, with its networks serving all the major conurbations.

Andrew Pons, Global Director of Sales and Marketing with Exset, said, “Both CMG and Tricolor are building for the future and the provision of value-add services, we believe, is an essential tool in moving populations to a digital subscription model. By integrating with vendors we are able to satisfy both cost and technological requirements. Exset is helping to power the digital transition in emerging markets. Subscription fees can be minimised via the use of DMS with revenues driven up by providing value-add services. Those services attract people to make the switch to digital in markets where low ARPU’s are getting lower all the time.”

DD Free Dish subscribers get more channels after migration to GSAT15

DD Free Dish will shortly migrate to the recently launched satellite GSAT15 which was launched on November 10. This will hopefully increase the number of TV channels subscribers will receive in the near future.
The DDG of DD Free Dish, C.K Jain, revealed that the process will be activated in a short span of time but however, no precise date was given for the migration.
“Date for migrating DD Free Dish from Insat4b to GSAT15 has not yet been decided. A wide publicity will be done in advance before migrating. We hope after this migration, Free Dish subscribers get more TV channels in MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 mode due to lots of space at satellite,” said the DDG of India’s free Direct-To-Home (DTH) service.
The newly launched GSAT15 was launched by Arianespace for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) in a bid to expand Direct-To-Home (DTH), telecommunication and radio navigation services.
The 3164 kg GSAT-15 carries communication transponders in Ku-band as well as a GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload operating in L1 and L5 bands.
GSAT-15 is positioned at 93.5 degrees East longitude in the geostationary orbit along with the operational INSAT-3A and   INSAT-4B satellites. It will complete all the required tests before being fully operational. Satellites INSAT-4B and INSAT-3B will be gradually phased out with the latter having already completed it 12-years span since its launch in April 2003.
In reference to the setting-up of the Set-Top Boxes (STBs) in regards to the parameters of GSAT15, C.K Jain said: “Once DD Free Dish start migration, you will get all technical information here with complete frequency and installation details with video.”

Ultra HD TVs could add $1 billion to U.S. viewers' annual energy bills

New Report: Ultra High-Definition TVs Could Add $1 Billion to Viewers’ Annual Energy Bills

• GOOD NEWS: Technology Already Exists to Minimize This Energy Drain

SAN FRANCISCO — The latest ultra high-definition (UHD) televisions use an average of 30 percent more energy than their high-definition (HD) predecessors, which could add $1 billion to U.S. viewers’ annual utility bills if energy-saving improvements are not expanded to all models, according to a groundbreaking report today from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

“Not only do today’s large UHD televisions consume almost one-third more energy, on average, than the high-definition (HD) TVs they’ll replace, there is a huge range in the efficiency of the UHD models on the market,” said senior scientist Noah Horowitz, director of NRDC’s Center for Energy Efficiency.

“We found an almost three-fold difference in energy consumption between the best and worst UHD TVs, with some models using little or no more energy than their HD predecessors, proving the technology already exists to cut needless energy waste in these large televisions,” Horowitz said.

NRDC’s report, “The Big Picture: Ultra High-Definition Televisions Could Add $1 Billion to Viewers’ Annual Electric Bills,” is the first to analyze the energy use of televisions known as ultra-high definition due to their superior picture quality with 8 million or more pixels. These televisions are sometimes referred to as 4K TVS because the images are about 4,000 pixels wide, and have four times as many pixels as an HD television.

NRDC and its partner, Ecos Research, analyzed public databases of UHD television energy use and market share sales data, and also performed power use measurements on 21 televisions representing a cross-section of 2014 and 2015 models. The testing focused on 55-inch TVs because they are the most prevalent size and represent the best value among UHD televisions on the market today.

NRDC’s key findings:

• There are 300 million installed TVs in America. Without additional efficiency improvements, a national switch from HD televisions with 36-inch and larger screens to UHD TVs, alone, would cause America’s annual electricity use to jump by 8 billion kilowatt hours – three times the amount consumed by all the homes in San Francisco in a year and as much electricity as is generated by 2.5 large (500-megawatt) power plants.
• The switch to UHD also would create an additional 5 million metric tons of carbon pollution from generating the extra electricity required.
• One-third of all new televisions sold today have screens 50 inches or greater. TV power use often increases with screen size and NRDC’s analysis showed that some of the really large, least efficient models used as much annual energy as a new refrigerator.
• The new High Dynamic Range, or HDR, feature that provides brighter colors and deeper shadows could significantly increase national TV energy consumption. Our testing showed the HDR version of a movie used 47 percent more power than the same title in 4K format. More attention is needed to understand HDR energy use and reduce it.

The report is not all bad news for UHD TV buyers as it lists steps that can be taken to reduce the power drain of UHD televisions:

• Enabling Automatic Brightness Control, which adjusts screen brightness in response to changes in room light levels, caused televisions to use 50 percent less power, on average. However, energy savings varied by model and ranged from 17 percent to 93 percent.
• Consumers can cut several hundred dollars off the lifetime energy costs of a new UHD TV by a) buying models with the ENERGY STAR® label, b) ensuring Automatic Brightness Control is enabled, and c) avoiding the quick start feature on Internet-connected televisions that results in significant amounts of wasted standby power.

“The national energy and environmental consequences of the transition to UHD TV will be profound unless the TV manufacturing industry devotes sufficient time and resources to improve the efficiency of the TVs brought to market,” Horowitz said. “The good news is that there are steps consumers, manufacturers, and policymakers can take to make sure our newest-generation televisions are not needlessly wasting energy.”

NRDC’s analysis was not designed to rank individual TV brands, but to gauge whether there might be differences in the energy use of similar-sized UHD TVs and to gain insight into the major elements factoring into UHD energy consumption, such as the quick start and automatic brightness features on some models.

Russian cable ownership dispute intensifies

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom has said it will appeal against a decision by the arbitration court in the Yaroslavl region over its acquisition of the operator YaTS.

Comnews reports that the court dismissed a claim by ER Telecom against the regional office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) declaring the sale of YaTS illegal.

ER Telecom was one of two bidders in an auction for YaTS in February this year.

Although it won and the deal received the approval of FAS before being closed in March, FAS changed its mind following a protest from the deputy of the Yaroslavl regional duma, who claimed that YaTS was sold for much less than its market value.

YaTS is the leading pay-TV operator in Yaroslavl, providing services to around 70% of the city’s households.

Tata Sky to drive digitisation through campaign ads

Tata Sky has launched a campaign to underline choice and flexibility on offer, targeting value conscious consumers.

“This is our initiative to drive digitisation in DAS III markets,” said Malay Dikshit, chief communications officer, Tata Sky. The campaign features actors Kangana Ranaut (for Hindi speaking markets) and Dhanush (for the South).

The campaign put forward the various packages on offer at Tata Sky and emphasis has been laid on the possibility of buying tailor-made packages for everyone’s needs.

Tata Sky offers its customers the possibility to recharge their packages through their mobile phones without the need to queue up in front of a shop. A miss call to a designated number allows a customer to book a Tata Sky connection. They will have the options to recharge their accounts with as little as Rs 10.

Another option allows customers to avoid paying for entertainment during kids’ exams whereas a cable operator would require them to pay irrespective of whether the connection is used.

“When we asked new Tata Sky subscribers on what motivated them to come aboard our platform, they gave us some brilliant insights on why they saw great value in getting Tata Sky at home. This campaign presents these insights in a simple and direct narratives delivered through rooted and relatable characters played by Kangana and Dhanush, both fine actors.  This is our initiative to drive digitisation in DAS III markets,” stated Malay Dikshit.

The campaign has been launched in 11 languages (Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Assamese, Odiya, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali) and four dialects (Manipuri, Bhojpuri, Marwadi, Tulu). It will straddle TV, print, outdoors, cinema halls and radio.

Conax provides Android STB update

Conax expects to implement security architecture for Android STBs sometime in mid-2016.

Speaking to Broadband TV News, Tor Helge Kristiansen, EVP principal architect, said that it is currently being developed with chipset and STB vendors.

He added that the solution involves separating the broadcast and app environments within the same box, keeping the former secure while retaining openness and flexibility for the latter.

There are two options for putting Android on STBs, namely an open source model and Android TV, and Conax is working on both.

A major advantage Android has is speed of innovation.

There are some 230,000 registered Android developers and it is easy to find a team to build an app.

Dish TV mulling over multi-layer CAS amidst possible security threats

DTH operator Dish TV India has indicated it is giving serious consideration to adopting a multi-layer Conditional Access System (CAS). It will give Dish TV the muscles to fight off possible security threats and a better system efficiency going forward.

The DTH operator are also considering the recall of all the Set-Top-Boxes (STB) delivered to customers. They will be replaced by new STBs featuring a card-less technology.

“In view of expanding business and service requirements, Dish TV recently issued a CAS request for proposal (RFP) to leading CAS vendors across the globe. Companies that expressed interest include some of the world’s leading CAS providers including Irdeto, Viaccess, Pace, Verimatrix, Cisco, Nagra, Nstv, Conax, Civolution-Nexguard, CRI and SMI. Dish TV is currently evaluating all proposals received on a strict core security benchmark and shall select multiple partners keeping its business interests in mind,” the company said in a statement.

The company is hoping to complete the selection process by the end of December this year.

Dish TV is part of the Essel Group with more that 13 million subscribers across India. The company currently uses Conax card based CAS from Nagra and will simulcrypting technology going ahead.

Dish TV have revealed around 15-20 million STBs featuring a multi-layer CAS will be deployed over a period of 5 years

Rostelecom grows pay-TV base

Russia’s Rostelecom ended Q3 with 8.4 million subscribers to its pay-TV services, or 8% more than in the same period last year.

Within that, the number opting for IPTV grew even more impressively, up 25% to 3.1 million. The figures were revised upwards following a post-audit review.

Similarly, following such a review, its broadband subscriber base grew by 3% to 11.4 million in the year to September 30.

Rostelecom’s revenues in Q3 amounted to R72,496 million (€1,042 million), down 3% on a year earlier, while OIBDA was 4% lower at R25,182 million. Its net income fell by 59% to R2,046 million.

Commenting on the results, Sergei Kalugin, president of Rostelecom, said: “In the third quarter we continued to develop our digital segment by increasing our broadband and pay-TV subscriber bases, whilst promoting value-added services.

“Rostelecom?s board of directors approved a new business development strategy during the quarter, which identified the most promising and fast-growing segments, including IoT, data centres, OTT video, cloud services and geodata. Our launch of “Interactive TV 2.0”, a service that can be used by customers of other networks, is an example of how we can grow our subscriber base by going beyond our network. We expect each of these areas to provide additional impetus to our future revenue growth.

“We continue to enhance our management team and we are pleased to welcome Valery Ermakov as head of B2B and B2G services. As a specialist with extensive experience in the industry, he will be instrumental in bringing the B2B / B2G segment to a new level.”

15.9 million pay TV subscribers in Africa at end-June 2015

Monday, November 9th, 2015 

Africa Claims Almost 16 Million Pay-TV Subs As Of June, 2015

• Satellite is largest platform, but DTT leading growth

MAURITIUS — Total pay-TV subscriptions across Africa amounted to 15.9 million as of Q2 2015, according to the latest research from Dataxis, an increase of 18% over the 13.4 million recorded in the same period last year.

DTH is still the dominant platform across the region with 12.6 million subs end June, an increase of 17% over the 10.8 million end June, 2014. However, DTH market share fell slightly from 80% to 79% over the period, while its share of actual growth was down to 74%.

DTT is the fastest growing platform – up 31% from 1.7 million to 2.2 million and increasing its overall market share from 13% in Q2 2014 to 14% Q2 2015. Approximately 22% of all new subscriptions over the period were to DTT platforms.

Dataxis research also saw IPTV subs increase 24% from 250,000 to 310,000, with MMDS up 10% to 460,000 and Cable seeing just 4% growth to 270,000.

Looking ahead, Dataxis forecasts 27.14 million pay-TV subs at the end of 2018, with DTH accounting for 68% of the total, DTT 26%, IPTV 3%, MMDS 2% and Cable just 1%.

South Asia STB shipments see phenomenal rise

SAARC STB Shipments See Phenomenal Rise Of 73% In Q3 2015: Dataxis Report

BANGALORE — The Set-Top-Box market in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region has registered record growth in third quarter of 2015, as rapid digitization in the phase 3 cities of India is driving the demand for STBs.

With the pay-tv industry in all major SAARC countries moving toward digitization—mandatory or voluntary—STBs of all kind from SD to HDTV and hybrid boxes are witnessing steady and robust growth.

According to new research report from Dataxis, “The STB Market in SAARC countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)-Q32015”, STB shipments to SAARC countries have witnessed 73% quarter-on-quarter growth during the Q3 2015. In the quarter under consideration, 7.34 million STBs were shipped in the SAARC region with an estimated value of USD176 million.

India leads the STB shipments for the period, accounting for about 97% of the total shipments to the SAARC region in the September ended quarter of 2015, according to the Dataxis analysis.

Skyworth tops the STB shipments to SAARC in the Q3 2015. The company reportedly has plans to locally manufacture STBs for the Indian market.

Local manufacturing in India, which accounted for just 5% of total STBs sold during the first and second phase of seeding, is showing steady growth in the third phase. Dataxis estimates that the sale of made-in-India STBs will witness growth up to 15% in the fourth phase of digitization.

“Local STB manufacturing in India has increased almost fourfold in the third quarter of 2015, and this is in line with our expectations. As the deadline for the third phase digitization nears, there is high demand for STBs from the MSOs and most of the independent and small size operators are coming forward to partner with indigenous brands,” says Sreeja VN, Media Analyst at Dataxis.

The government was also proactive during the period by promoting the make in India campaign in the sector. The decisions of Airtel Digital TV, Dish DTH and Videocon D2H, the three major DTH players, to opt for indigenous brands have also boosted the Indian STB industry.

Another notable trend, according to the Dataxis Research, is the increase in demand for High-Definition and Ultra HD STBs in the region. Dataxis’s analysis of STB shipment for the Q2 2015 and Q3 2015, depicts steady growth in the volume of HD STBs shipped to India. The rise in the number of HD and UHD STBs has also contributed to a rise in the average selling price of STBs to the country.

Key STB vendors for the quarter are: Technicolor, Skyworth, Changhong, Huawei and Coship (international Vendors), and Mybox, One-eIGHT technologies, Trend Electronics, Ridsys, and Willet Communications (Domestic Vendors).

Opera TV launches on LG Smart TVs

OSLO, Norway — Brands, broadcasters and content owners can now extend their existing online video channels and video content catalogs to LG Smart TVs at no extra cost, with Opera TV Snap, the breakthrough toolkit that generates Smart TV channels in minutes. LG Smart TV will launch selected channels from Opera TV’s portfolio in eight markets: the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, USA, Mexico and Brazil.

The first phase of the Opera TV launch will include up to 18 channels in each country, with thousands of videos ranging from movies and TV series, music, sports, news, lifestyle, and nature and travel. More channels will be added periodically, representing a significant opportunity for video content owners to reach LG’s vast audiences.

Opera TV can be found in LG Smart World in the Entertainment category or both Netcast and WebOS device models shipped from year 2014 and counting.

“With the fast-changing landscape of online video consumption and distribution, content owners are keen to reach viewers on all screens, especially the largest screen in the home. At Opera TV, we’ve designed innovative products that enable them achieve this goal. Our partnership with LG represents a significant milestone in our journey to enable exciting living room experiences for end consumers,” says Aneesh Rajaram, SVP at Opera Software.

Opera TV Snap toolkit for content owners

All content inside Opera TV on LG Smart TVs is built using Opera’s revolutionary toolkit, Opera TV Snap. With this toolkit, Opera’s content partners and broadcasters can convert their video assets easily into Smart TV channels, all in the cloud and in a matter of minutes. For broadcasters, it also offers expanded OTT capabilities, such as enabling the catch-up TV services (OTT VOD), multi-tier navigation for episodic video content, and various monetization options by displaying pre- & post-roll advertisements within the TV apps, using their existing or Opera Mediaworks’ advertising solution.

Hundreds of Smart TV apps have been generated from Opera TV Snap by brands, content providers and broadcasters including ArrivalTV, Dancetrippin, Epic TV, Fashion TV, The North Face®, Young Hollywood, Major League Gaming (MLG.tv), Mahogany Sessions, Outside Television, among others.

“We are delighted to partner with LG to provide owners of LG Smart TVs with quality, tailored content from our partners,” adds Rajaram. “This marks another flagship win for Opera TV Snap, which has proven itself yet again as the quickest way for content owners to reach Smart TV audiences.”

Apps created with Opera TV Snap can be found on the following LG Smart TV Platforms: NetCast 4.0, NetCast 4.5, webOS 1.0 and webOS 2.0 in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, USA, Mexico and Brazil.

Colombian pay TV market to reach 5.3 million households by 2018

Dataxis’ latest research series reveals the size, market dynamics and projections for the Colombian pay TV market. The company will gather TV top executives in a new edition of NexTV Summit Colombia & Andean Region on November 18th & 19th in Bogota to discuss the future of TV market in Colombia

BUENOS AIRES — The Colombian pay TV market will reach 5.3 million households (HHs) by 2018, according to data published today by Dataxis. This figure will represent a 3.4% increase when compared to end-2015.

According to the new report “Pay TV Series 2015: Colombia”, households with CATV pay TV services will account for 64.8% of total Pay TV HHs in Colombia in 2015. Dataxis forecasts that CATV will remain the leading delivery network by 2018, although its market share will diminish over the years, due to a challenging economic environment, along with an increased competition.

In this sense, DTH networks will increase their market share from 30% in 2015 to 34.9% in 2018, while IPTV will grow from a 5.2% share in 2015 to 7.4% by 2018.

Although Colombia is the country with the fourth largest pay TV subscriber base in Latin America, legal pay TV household penetration will remain relatively low at 40.9% by end-2015. Dataxis believes that the proportion of households with legal Pay TV services will decrease to 39.3% by 2018.

At the end of Q2 2015, América Móvil group – owner of Claro TV – dominated the market with 43% share, followed by AT&T (DirecTV) with 21.5%. In a close third place, Colombian company UNE reached 20.3% of total pay TV market. Telefónica (Movistar TV) is fourth with only 8.9% of the market.

In turn, Dataxis forecasts that total pay TV revenues will reach USD884 million by 2018, with total ARPU (Average revenue per user) being USD13.89. DTH services will generate 50.9% of total revenues, CATV operations will represent 43.7% and IPTV the remaining 5.4%.

Most of the companies present in the market will participate in NexTV Summit Colombia 2015, organized by Dataxis in the Hotel Royal in Bogota, on November 18th&19th.