Australia funds AUD476,475 to upgrade digital TV reception in Paterson

Australian government has confirmed to release a fund of over AUD476,475 to Regional Broadcasting Australia Holdings for improving digital television infrastructure in Paterson region, as part of an AUD827,690 TV deal, said media reports.

Under the AUD827,690 TV deal, government provides 60% of the deal and the remaining 40% of around AUD351,145 would be invested by broadcasters. Regional Broadcasting Australia Holdings comprises all five free-to-air television stations.

The fund will be utilised to upgrade communications towers at Gan Gan Hill and Wallaroo State Forest (12 kilometres north of Raymond Terrace) and the installation of a new tower at Bulahdelah.

“I am delighted to be able to announce this funding today, which will assist the regional broadcasters in building the infrastructure that will help ­alleviate digital television reception issues for many of my constituents,” said Malcolm Turnbull, Communications Minister during his visit to Medowie on Tuesday.

“The upgrade should improve the reception to around 27,000 homes across the entire Port Stephens area and into the Great Lakes,” stated Turnbull.

“(Paterson MP) Bob Baldwin has been relentless in fighting for residents experiencing TV reception issues in Paterson over a long period, and it is due, in no small part, to his advocacy that funding to improve TV reception has been secured,” added Turnbull.

“I have received more letters, and had more representations, on this issue than any other so I am thrilled that the regional broadcasters have signed up,” stated Baldwin. He further added that more than a third of his constituents had experienced intermittent digital TV reception for the past five years.

Australian subscribers to face “Netflix Tax”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 in 8 Australian households now have a Smart TV

The tube meets the net: more Australians connect their televisions online

1 in 8 Australian households now have a Smart TV—almost a sixfold increase over the last four years, data from Roy Morgan Research shows.

1.125 million homes now contain at least one television with an inbuilt internet connection, from brands including Panasonic, LG, Sony and Samsung.

But as well as Smart TVs, there are now numerous other ways to give regular TVs access to some internet content—and these are becoming more widespread. A year after its launch in 2010, the T-Box from Telstra had reached 2.6% of households, and continued to grow—albeit more slowly—to 4.3% by October 2014. Apple TV’s set-top digital media player has grown from just 1.2% of households in 2012 to 4% now—and with 281,000 Australian consumers intending to buy one within the next year, it’s perhaps set to overtake the T-Box during 2015.

The newest entrant, Google’s Chromecast, launched in Australia in May last year, but within six months had only been integrated into 0.8% of homes.

% of Australian Households with TV technology items

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, November 2013 –October 2014, sample = 16,146 Australians 14+, weighted to Households

2015 looks set to be a big year for TV-related devices and content: 576,000 people intend to purchase a Smart TV, 281,000 intend to buy an Apple TV set-top device and 237,000 plan to get Chromecast within the next 12 months.

Number of Australian consumers intending to buy TV technology items

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, November 2013 –October 2014, sample = 16,146 Australians 14+, weighted to Population

Tim Martin, General Manager – Media, Roy Morgan Research, says: “There’s no doubt Australian television is in for an epic 2015 as television viewing becomes redefined. With the roll-out of the NBN and new streaming services due to be launched, plus continued expected growth for Apple TV and Google Chromecast, Australian TV viewers will be inundated with ways to access the content they want, when they want it.

“Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey tracks Australians’ technology adoption and usage habits to better understand not only which items people own or intend to buy, but how they then use them.”

Australian government urges broadcasters to switch to MPEG-4

Malcolm Turnbill, Australian Communication Minister, has urged commercial television broadcasters to migrate to MPEG-4 video compression standard as it would free-up 21 MHz of spectrum.

“We are keen to encourage commercial and national broadcasters to commence their transition to MPEG-4-only broadcasting, with the aim that every service would move to an MPEG-4 standard. The government expects that a transition such as this would be industry managed,” said Turnbull.

Turnbull has indicated that the broadcasters would retain this spare spectrum for their own use. The spectrum would be shared between the channels.

Turnbull has also stated that the sixth channel of spectrum which is used in some locations for community TV broadcasts – would be freed up for a potential second digital dividend auction after the end of 2015.

Australia sets HbbTV launch date

WATCH VIDEO.Australian broadcasters Seven, Nine, Ten and ABC have announced a September 2 launch date for their HbbTV service to be called FreeviewPlus.

Lastr June, Multicultural broadcaster SBS launched its offering early releasing their product in June ahead of the rest of the industry.

The teaser campaign was launched on all Australian networks as part of an extensive marketing campaign that will support retailers and manufacturers and drive consumer awareness of FreeviewPlus.

“FreeviewPlus is one of the most important advances in free-to-air television in Australia since the introduction of digital TV so it’s important we start to generate a buzz about the new service among Australian viewers,” said Liz Ross, general manager of Freeview, in a statement.

FreeviewPlus will offer a range of new features including a 7-day EPG; Access to available FTA Catch Up TV in one place on the TV; Recommendations of the best programmes on today, on Catch Up and in the future and the ability to browse and search programs across the next seven days. There is also a favourites function that keeps track of programmes on live and Catch Up TV.

Manufacturers will release a range of FreeviewPlus receivers to coincide with the launch of FreeviewPlus and these will be available from all major appliance and electronics retailers.
FreeviewPlus will continue to be made available through an increasing number of new connected receivers carrying the FreeviewPlus logo including panel TVs, set top boxes and recording devices.

104,000 Sydney households yet to switch to digital TV

With the final regions in Sydney, Australia adapting the digital switch-over on December 3rd of this year, nearly 104,000 households in Sydney still have not made the total switch to digital TV. However 94% of the households have already adapted to the change, according to the government.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged citizens to make the switch within the next three weeks in order to avoid cable TV blackout. He said, “To watch free-to-air television after this date, you need to be digital ready. Already, over 94 per cent of households have converted to digital TV since it became available across Sydney in 2001. If you haven’t yet switched from analog to digital TV, please don’t put it off any longer.”

There are a total of 1,738,200 television households in Sydney. In order to make the digital switch, the citizens would have to install an STB in place. Apart from Sydney, the neighbouring areas like Gosford, Katoomba and Picton will also be switching to digital signals starting 9am on December 3rd.

EzyFlix.tv OTT video service launches in Australia

Entertainment lovers across the nation can now instantly stream and download the hottest international releases and watch them on any device, anytime, anywhere, following the launch of a cutting edge new online service, EzyFlix.tv.

Launched by Australian online retailer, Access Digital Entertainment (ADE), the transactional video-on-demand and download-to-own service is the first of its kind in the country, allowing users to view their purchased content on any connected device, including smartphones, tablets, PCs and Smart TVs, either on or offline.

CEO of ADE, Craig White, said EzyFlix.tv will help remove many of the barriers that exist for people wanting the best offerings in showbiz.

“Australians are hungry for new release movies and US TV shows and tired of feeling like they’re behind the rest of the world. EzyFlix.tv provides affordable, convenient and timely access to top international video content, express from the US, without any subscription fees, contracts or the need for a set top box.

“It also allows people to build their own digital movie and TV library in the cloud and has been designed specifically to meet the needs of the ‘connected consumer’ who wants to be able to access their chosen content via multiple devices at any time,” said Mr White.

A former sales director for 20th Century Fox Australia, Mr White said EzyFlix.tv has struck content deals with all major Hollywood studios and distributors including 20th Century Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Roadshow Films, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.

“We are also the first provider to retail UltraViolet (UV), a cloud-based digital rights system which offers people a digital ‘locker’ and gives them the ability to share purchased UV content with up to five friends for free,” he said.

From today, Australians will be able to view a library of 2000 titles including popular movies like The Avengers, Django Unchained, This is 40 and A Good Day to Die Hard, with plans to grow the offering five-fold.

Addressing consumer research that shows one in three local digital entertainment purchases are for TV programs, the service will also offer ‘season passes’ to shows including alerts to each episode’s availability immediately after its broadcast.

Bite-size options will also allow users to ‘snack’ on TV episodes. For example, customers can own an episode of a hit show like Breaking Bad, Revenge, Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl and Supernatural for just $2.99.

Mr White said EzyFlix.tv will revolutionise digital entertainment in Australia, improving access and offering better value to both small and big screen fans from all walks of life.

“Capitalising on the opportunities presented by technologies such as high speed internet, WiFi, mobile broadband and play back devices, we offer top titles to both purchase and stream and we give people the freedom to choose how and where they play their videos, according to their lifestyle, needs and wants,” he said.