Skylink preparing for VOD

The leading Czech and Slovak DTH platform Skylink is understood to have chosen Banaxi as its VOD partner.

Digizone reports that information it has received points to an agreement between the two parties, though negotiations are still apparently ongoing.

Skylink has delayed introducing VOD to its offer until services are first provided by other M7 Group platforms, operated in the Benelux region.

Banaxi was established in 2012 and provides VOD services in a number of countries including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.

It entered into a partnership with the German company NetRange in 2013.

Globecast Australia powers Australia Channel’s VoD platform

Australia Channel which was launched in November 2014, installs an online video platform from Globecast Australia. This deal enables the channel to have an integrated paywall for subscription video-on-demand and live streaming.

Globecast provides a reliable payment handling and flexible billing periods while retaining complete control over the channel’s content and packages.

“By diversifying our clients content delivery options and creating further opportunities to monetise their assets, Globecast Australia continues to provide innovative solutions, tailored to our clients and their consumer’s needs,” said Simon Farnsworth, CEO of Globecast Australia.

Australia Channel offers international audiences live and catch-up Australian news, sport and business content.

German pay-TV market on the rise

The turnover of pay-TV and video-on-demand operators in Germany has grown by 8% to €2.22 billion in 2014 compared with last year (2013: €2.05 billion).

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the turnover reached a total of €2.4 billion. The figures were released by VPRT, the German commercial broadcasters’ industry association, in its new study Pay-TV in Deutschland 2015.

In 2015, VPRT expects turnover to grow by 7% to €2.4 billion in Germany and to €2.6 billion in the German-speaking markets.

The increase is mainly based on considerably risen subscriber figures. The number of pay-TV customers climbed by 10% to 7 million in Germany and 7.7 million in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2014. VPRT expects further subscriber growth in 2015: For the first time, more than 20% of German households will then have a pay-TV subscription.

The average viewer market share of pay-TV channels in German households rose to 2.7% in the first half of 2015 (1st half of 2014: 2.2%).

90 pay-TV channels can currently be subscribed to in Germany: 40 in the entertainment genre followed by sports (15), documentaries (15), music (10) and children (10).

The pay-TV channels invested a total of more than €1 billion into their programming in 2014 with an increasing amount spent on original productions.

Four-fifths aware of on demand services

The percentage of UK viewers aware that it is possible to watch or download programmes online now stands at 79%, according to a new Ofcom survey.

UK Audience Attitudes to Broadcast Media reported an increase of six percentage points compared to 2012, though awareness declines with age. 60% of over 65s are aware of the possibilities, compared to 85% of 16 to 34s.

Among those aware that it is possible to watch and download programmes online from broadcasters’ websites, over half (52%) thought this content was regulated in terms of what can and can’t be shown.

Almost four in ten (39%) internet users said they used the internet to watch TV programmes online or download from TV broadcasters’ websites, compared to 35% in 2012.

Since 2011 the proportion of internet users who said they used the internet to watch TV online has increased from 33% to 39% in 2013. The increase has been particularly marked among 35 to 44 year olds, where claimed viewing of TV/films/video clips has increased by eight percentage points over the last 12 months to 40%.

The top three reasons for watching online content were that the programme had been missed; wanting to catch up at a time suitable to the viewer; and increasing choice when there was nothing else to watch.

LG Uplus rolls out VoD, IPTV services on LTE platform

South Korean telecommunications operator, LG Uplus, has launched a Video-on-Demand (VoD) movie streaming service, UflixMovie; a mobile IPTV service, Uplus HDTVNew; and a personal broadcasting platform, Uplus tvG, on its advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE) network platform – to aggressively tap and lead the video LTE era.

LG’s UflixMovie will provide access to over 12,000 video contents of films, dramas and overseas TV series at the flat cost of KRW 7,000 (USD 6.86) per month. And the company plans to expand content to 13,000 within this year and subscribers of other carriers are also provided access to this service.

In its mobile IPTV service, Uplus HDTV, LG has embedded the ‘Time Machine’ functionality that enables users to save programs that they are watching in real time for two hours and the ‘Slow Motion’ function which allows users to watch important scenes at 0.5 time speed. With Uplus tvG, users can broadcast in real time through the broadband LTE network.

LG Uplus is offering a broadband LTE-A plan at the cost of KRW 89,900 (USD 88.1) per month for subscribers to avail the various video services.

Russian VOD: a market update

The video streaming service ivu.ru is now the leading player in Russia’s VOD market in revenue terms, with a market share of 28%, according to a report published by iKS Consulting.

The report says that Russia as a whole is now the largest online video market in Europe, with around 60 million unique viewers.

The online advertising market grew by 27% y-o-y to approximately $2.2 billion, while the online video advertising market grew by 67% y-o-y to approximately $88.73 million.

The Russian VOD market more than doubled y-o-y to $50.5 million (a 105% y-o-y growth in revenues), and the top nine players control 97% of the Russian VOD market.

The ad-supported model accounts for 78% ($39.5 million) of the market (74% growth y-o-y); while the payment model has grown more than four-fold and accounts for 22% ($11 million).

Between 100-200 million video viewings are generated via each key player’s service monthly and a third (24 million users) of the Russian population use the internet to watch VOD services monthly.

Significantly, the Russian VOD market is expected to grow by 75% this year to $88.7million and to reach $290.5 million by 2018.

Looking specifically at ivi.ru, the report says that it doubled its revenues to $14.1 million (95% growth), while its unique user-base doubled to 30 million per month (114% increase y-o-y).

It also doubled video viewings to 200 million per month (135% increase y-o-y).

Ivi.ru users watch 33 million hours of video content per month and the service is the number one player by the total number of downloads of its mobile app on devices (smartphones and tablets) with 9 million downloads.

It is also the number one player by audience who watch video on smart TVs with 2 million users monthly.

Commenting on the reports findings, Oleg Tumanov, ivi.ru’s founder and CEO, said: “We are delighted to be acknowledged as the leader of the Russian licensed VOD market in a comprehensive independent industry study carried out for the first time. 2013 was the year of two-fold growth for ivi.ru. We doubled the number of unique visitors on all devices to 30 mln users while the number of video viewings has increased by 135% to 200 mln per month. These strong results are a testament to the success in the uptake of our streaming service as we strive to bring best-in-class user experience to our customers.

“We see strong potential in the Russian licensed VOD market boosted by the growing number of smart devices and new anti-piracy legislation which was introduced in 2013. Ivi.ru welcomes this law as we see it as a positive step towards curbing online video piracy. Russia boasts the largest and fastest growing online audience in Europe since 2012. We will continue to offer high quality licensed video content to our users, which can be easily accessed anywhere in Russia from any connected device”.

France focuses on VOD

France’s on demand market is starting to take off ahead of Netflix’s possible launch in the country.

According to Le Figaro, two new VOD services have launched in only a week, with Netgem giving a debut to La Box Videofutur, and Virgin Media to la Studio Box, by Videofutur.

For only €10 a month, they offer viewers unlimited access to the Videofuture library, consisting of some 20,000 titles, along with Paramount Channel and Game One.

Furthermore, they provide the lastest movies, four months after their theatrical release, for €2.99, along with TNT (France’s DTT service) and such features as catch-up TV.

Le Figaro notes that the two new services are aimed primarily at viewers who do not receive TV via ADSL or fibre, with their launched being helped by the availability of higher internet access speeds.

Although VOD is still very much in its infancy in France, with the market expected to be worth only around €217 million (up from €191 million in 2012), it is attracting the interest of Netflix, which Le Figaro says is negotiating with local ISPs.

Netgem is keen to establish a presence in the market before the US company’s possible arrival.

Vectra launches VOD

The Polish cable operator Vectra has launched an on demand service.

The offer consists of both a free and paid element, with the former including most TV channels already available to digital subscribers and latter hundreds of film titles, including those 4-6 months after their premieres.

In the case of the free element, the more comprehensive package subscribers already receive the bigger will be their VOD choice.

For instance, those who already opt for the premium packages Film GO and Super Film GO, as well as the VIP package, will have access to HBO OD.

In the paid element, new titles will cost from PLN6 (€1.43) to PLN11, while older ones will be available for PLN6 and adult content for PLN8.

According to Vectra, the range of movies it provides for its viewers as a whole is being widened following agreements with a number of distributors including Warner Bros and Walt Disney Studio.

Vectra is the third largest cable operator in Poland after UPC Polska and Multimedia Polska. Its new VOD service will initially be made available to viewers in the town of Elblag.

Asia Pacific drives on-demand TV growth

Based on forecasts for 97 countries, the On-Demand TV Revenue Forecasts report from Digital TV Research expects that on-demand TV revenues from movies and TV programs (and excluding revenues from other sources such as sports and adult and also excluding SVOD packages and online TV & video (OTT)) will reach $6.0 billion in 2018, up by 44% from $4.2 billion in 2012.

On-demand TV generated just 2.3% of the $184 billion total pay TV revenues in 2012. However, the on-demand proportion will grow to 2.9% of the $203 billion total in 2018. Growth in on-demand TV revenues in some mature markets will not be enough to compensate for falling subscription revenues.

Top 10 countries by on-demand TV revenues ($ million)

              2012                2018
------------------  ------------------
USA          1,535  USA          1,785
Italy          466  China          549
China          259  Italy          481
UK             254  Japan          322
France         166  UK             290
Japan          156  Germany        273
Germany        138  India          231
Canada         137  France         186
South Korea     82  Canada         182
India           79  Russia         160

Source: Digital TV Research Ltd

The US accounted for 37% of global on-demand TV revenues in 2012, but this proportion will fall to 30% by 2018 – despite its revenues climbing by 16%.

Simon Murray, report author, said: “The US is undoubtedly the most sophisticated on-demand TV market, with a long-standing consumer acceptance of the concept. Furthermore, the US has the highest rates of cinema attendance per capita in the world by some distance, which reveals a love of movie-watching.”

He continued: “However, on-demand TV is growing fast outside the US. For instance, China will more than double its revenues between 2012 and 2018. Indian revenues will almost triple over the same period.”

North America and Western Europe together accounted for 73% of global on-demand TV revenues in 2012. Despite revenues growing by 20%, these two regions combined will take only 61% of the global total by 2018.

Revenues in Asia Pacific (up by 113%), Eastern Europe (up by 89%) and Latin America (up by 129%) will rocket between 2012 and 2018. On-demand TV revenues in the Asia Pacific region will more than double between 2012 and 2018 to $1,457 million. Asia Pacific’s proportion of on-demand TV revenues will grow from 16% in 2012 to 24% in 2018.

Digital cable on-demand TV revenues are forecast to increase by $1 billion between 2012 and 2018 to reach $2.77 billion. IPTV on-demand TV revenues will nearly double over the same period to $1.00 billion by 2018. Satellite on-demand TV revenues will also rise, but only by 22% over the same period to reach $1.79 billion – or nearly $1 billion lower than digital cable. Most of the digital terrestrial TV on-demand revenues will be confined to Western Europe, principally Italy.

Bright future for Russian VOD services

The Russian movie service lvi.ru believes that revenues from online video in the country will surpass those from cable and DTH services in the next three years.

According to Comnews and AKTR, lvi.ru had 19 million unique users a month in the first half of this year, up from 9 million a year earlier, while the number of hits on its platforms tripled from 44.3 million to 150 million.

Its share of ad revenue in the sector rose from 2% to 18%.

Although strong growth is also been seen by other online services, including Rostelecom’s Zabava.ru, lvi.ru’s claim that they will enjoy higher revenues than cable and DTH services is dismissed by Tricolor TV, the country’s leading DTH platform.

In its view, it is incorrect to compare viewing figures of linear and non-linear services.

22%, Strong Dutch VOD growth

The video-on-demand market in the Netherlands will grow 22% annually during the next five years, according to PwC.

In its yet-to-be-published Entertainment & Media Outlook for the Netherlands 2013 – 2017 the company predicts total turnover in the VOD market will rise from the current EUR97 m to EUR206m in 2017.

“The Dutch have now started to embrace this phenomenon,” said PwC partner Sander Kranenburg, “Consumers are increasingly watching more TV at a time when it suits them. Both the content and the facilities have been greatly improved. Moreover, the Netherlands has one of the highest broadband penetrations, so most households can stream high-quality videos.”

PwC published the figures after RTL Nederland announced it had acquired a majority stake in the Dutch online VOD service provider Viedeoland.

YES chooses Sigma Designs HomePlugAV for VoD and multi-room

Sigma Designs’ patented powerline technology proves to be robust in “noisy” wired networks

MILPITAS, California — Sigma Designs® (Nasdaq: SIGM), a leading provider of System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions for home entertainment, control, connectivity and converging multimedia delivery announced that ‘yes’, an Israeli satellite provider has chosen Sigma Designs, to help strengthen their video-on-demand and multi-room customer solutions.

yes, which delivers HPNA solutions in nearly half a million homes, and HPAV solutions in homes where HPNA could not be installed, is dedicated to delivering superior content, with high picture and sound quality to its end users. Until recently, yes has been using a standard HPAV powerline solution to deliver content throughout customers’ homes. Now, however, the need for reliable performance in a video-on-demand and multi-room environment has become more critical than ever. yes sought to provide reliable coverage to all outlets, which could support HD streaming video and data communications, in noisy home environments where a high number of appliances were being used simultaneously. These conditions require technical robustness and consistent performance under changing channel conditions with no degradation in quality of service or user experience over time. Following extensive in-home evaluations, yes concluded that Sigma Designs’ HPAV with ClearPath technology was the winning solution.

Sigma Designs’ ClearPath technology was selected to provide multi-room services in a more reliable way in homes and rooms where HPNA cannot be installed. ClearPath utilizes the ground wire in a home’s electric infrastructure. Israeli homes have three electrical phases, and conventional HPAV does not work when connected to different phases. ClearPath technology is able to work on multiple phases, thanks to its ability to utilize common neutral and ground wires on all power outlets.

“We here at yes are dedicated to delivering high definition over the top (OTT) content to our customers,” shared Itzhak Elyakim, VP Engineering & CTO at yes. “Our choice to use Sigma Designs’ was simple, we choose Sigma Designs because their HPAV solution with ClearPath will ensure that our customers enjoy uninterrupted HD content anywhere in their homes.”

Sigma Designs’s HPAV with ClearPath is a patented technology designed to address interference issues with these technical advantages:

• Ultra range coverage
• Robust in noisy electrical environments
• Better user experience
• Works over power strips
• Works over multiple phases
• Adapts to changing channel conditions
• Works with surge protectors
• Backwards compatible with devices that do not support ClearPath

“We understand that yes was looking for a more robust solution to deliver content throughout the homes of their customers. That is quite challenging in noisy home environments, especially in homes with multiple phases,” said Gabi Hilevitz, Sigma Designs’ vice president and general manager Home Connectivity business unit. “That is exactly why we have created our ClearPath solution. It was designed with operators in mind who are looking for robust solutions for these challenging home environments.”

NEOTION produces VOD-capable CAM for Ziggo

 NEOTION and Quantis Electronics BV cooperate to launch a new advanced CAM for Dutch Cable operator Ziggo.

This CI Plus 1.3 product is a key milestone for CAM technology. Indeed NEOTION CAM is ready for Ziggo interactive offer launched late spring on their set-top boxes.

In combination with an advanced TV-set approved by Ziggo and adjustments in the Ziggo network they can also enjoy the VOD service without set-top-box.

All CAM ITV will be distributed by Quantis Electronics BV in The Netherlands.

NEOTION is a pioneer in this product deployment and keeps moving on its Innovation approach regarding advanced CAM – a commitment to allow pay TV operators such as Ziggo to extend their coverage while remaining user-friendly.

Ziggo takes delivery of VOD-enabled CI+ modules

Ziggo has begun taking delivery of video-on-demand-enabled CI+ 1.3 conditional access modules from CAM manufacturer SMiT.

The CI+ 1.3 VOD CAM will enable Ziggo subscribers with advanced TV sets to view VOD without the need for a set-top box.

The SMiT CI+ 1.3 VOD CAM also has a built-in MHEG-5 application to provide smoother overlay display with less resource occupancy, according to SMiT.