Russian channels escape ad ban

More channels than previously have escaped the advertising ban on cable and satellite-delivered services that came into effect in Russia at the beginning of this year.

AKTR and top.rbc report that this is thanks to Roskomnadzor issuing 40 licences at the end of 2014 to services operated by the First Channel, RTR and Gazprom-Media.

Several channels were already exempt to the amendments to the law On Advertising.

They included all 10 carried on the first DTT multiplex, as defined by presidential decree, along with cable and satellite services that also use limited frequencies for DTT distribution.

However, their number has now been significantly increased. Some sources say that the ban is now being viewed as a mistake and could in due course be lifted.

Tata Sky launches 4k STBs

India’s DTH operator Tata Sky has announced the launch of India’s first UltraHD/4K set-top box.

Customer orders for the 4K STBs are open and they are available at Rs 6,400 (EUR87) for new customers and Rs 5,900 for existing subscribers.

Tata Sky 4K is a new generation set-top box with the capability of delivering ultra high-definition picture quality and Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound. 4K at 8.3 Megapixels (3840×2160) has approximately four times the pixels as that of 2K (1920×1080) the current HD standard, thus provides greater clarity and more vivid colours on screen for viewers.

The launch of the Tata Sky 4K set-top box in the market has been timed just before the cricket matches. The launch plans were unveiled in July last year when Tata Sky showcased the first ever live FIFA World Cup Quarter final match in 4K.

Chile adds 22,000 pay TV subscribers in 3Q 2014

Chile’s Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones (Subtel) has releases pay TV statistics to the end of September 2014. From the end of September 2013, satellite subscribers increased from 1,220,367 to 1,416,966 (up 16.1%) whereas wired (cable TV and IPTV) subscribers grew from 1,269,541 to 1,353,349 (up 6.6%), giving a total for the country of 2.77 million, up 11.3% year-on-year.

Pay TV subscribers:

                               Sep-13     Dec-13     Mar-14     Jun-14     Sep-14     Year-on-Year
                            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------------
Operator                
 VTR Telefónica S.A.          978,713    984,643    993,934  1,002,984  1,004,074   25,361    2.6%
 Telefónica Multimedia        473,693    496,349    519,479    551,741    572,356   98,663   20.8%
 Claro Comunicaciones S.A.    452,681    456,003    465,460    479,659    470,534   17,853    3.9%
 DIRECTV Chile Ltda.          362,994    380,453    403,960    447,272    449,367   86,373   23.8%
 Entelphone                    54,869     66,232     70,570     80,582     81,195   26,326   48.0%
 Telefónica del Sur            64,980     67,904     71,400     75,411     80,044   15,064   23.2%
 PACIFICO CABLE S.A.           69,659     71,824     74,167     77,039     77,642    7,983   11.5%
 GTD IMAGEN S.A.               19,591     20,583     21,495     22,850     23,454    3,863   19.7%
 Cable Central                  8,978      8,122      7,785      7,528      7,172   -1,806  -20.1%
 TU VES S.A.                    3,750      3,507      3,210      3,392      4,477      727   19.4%
                            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  ------
Connection type                
 Wired (IPTV/Cable)         1,269,541  1,285,639  1,303,822  1,344,790  1,353,349   83,808    6.6%
 Satellite                  1,220,367  1,269,981  1,327,638  1,403,668  1,416,966  196,599   16.1%
                            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  ------
Total                       2,489,908  2,555,620  2,631,460  2,748,458  2,770,315  280,407   11.3%
 Quarterly increase           111,164     65,712     75,840    116,998     21,857

Samsung offers Go by OSN on smart TVs in Middle East

Korean television manufacturer, Samsung Electronics, has added a video-on-demand service, Go by OSN, to its smart television line-up in Middle East. Samsung smart TV viewers can also access the service on four other smart devices.

“We are delighted that our customers have access to ‘Go by OSN.’ Entertaining content is just as important as sleek design or intuitive features. ‘Go by OSN’ is a convenient and enjoyable way for users to watch high quality programming whenever and wherever they want,” said Vinod Nair, General Manager of TV Business at Samsung Gulf Electronics.

Telefónica dominates pay TV growth in Spain

Spain’s Markets and Competition Commission (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia – CNMC) has published telecommunications and audiovisual statistics for the country for the third quarter of 2014.

In the quarter, total pay TV subscribers rose by 400,000 to reach 4.71 million, driven almost entirely by growth in IPTV subscribers. Year-on-year, the market grew by 969,000 subscribers, with Telefónica accounting for more than 100% of the total, adding 992,000 over the preceding 12 months.

Pay TV subscribers by technology:

               III/2013    IV/2013     I/2014    II/2014   III/2014  Δ Q-o-Q  Δ Y-o-Y  Δ Y-o-Y
              ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  -------  -------
Satellite     1,633,527  1,620,632  1,631,607  1,597,311  1,580,313  -16,998  -53,214    -3.3%
Cable         1,176,382  1,142,015  1,128,605  1,141,636  1,131,062  -10,574  -45,320    -3.9%
IPTV            673,482    817,154    947,748  1,296,592  1,665,765  369,173  992,283   147.3%
DTT             234,795    237,178    232,084    247,153    237,900   -9,253    3,105     1.3%
Others           21,952     28,399     29,779     26,664     94,532   67,868   72,580   330.6%
Mobile TV       119,501    117,957    118,474     49,028     48,465     -563  -71,036   -59.4%
              ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  -------  -------
TOTAL         3,740,138  3,845,378  3,969,823  4,309,356  4,709,572  400,216  969,434    25.9%

Pay TV subscribers by provider:

               III/2013    IV/2013     I/2014    II/2014   III/2014  Δ Q-o-Q  Δ Y-o-Y  Δ Y-o-Y
              ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  -------  -------
DTS (Canal+)  1,655,479  1,649,031  1,661,386  1,623,975  1,674,845   50,870   19,366     1.2%
Ono             807,429    789,895    781,850    777,667    775,144   -2,523  -32,285    -4.0%
Telefónica      611,251    741,126    861,252  1,205,797  1,576,779  370,982  965,528   158.0%
GolTV           234,795    237,178    232,084    247,153    237,900   -9,253    3,105     1.3%
TeleCable       128,175    125,953    127,424    128,109    128,910      801      735     0.6%
Euskaltel       118,718    106,768    102,154    120,970    113,222   -7,748   -5,496    -4.6%
R               101,240     98,009     95,483     93,086     91,944   -1,142   -9,296    -9.2%
Orange           62,231     76,028     86,496     90,795     88,986   -1,809   26,755    43.0%
Others           20,820     21,390     21,694     21,804     21,842       38    1,022     4.9%
              ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  -------  -------
Total         3,740,138  3,845,378  3,969,823  4,309,356  4,709,572  400,216  969,434    25.9%

TrueVisions integrates HD STB chipsets from MStar

Truevisions has entered into an agreement with MStar Semiconductor to integrate MStar’s MPEG-4 HD set-top-box chipset solution for high definition zappers.

The chipsets offers high-definition STB applications and support advanced security mechanism by conditional access while maintaining effective overall system cost.

“We are pleased to select MStar NDS advanced security solution. With MStar STB solution, our subscribers will experience high-efficient HD program broadcasting service in the region. We are committed to delivering a world class STB viewing experience with consolidated STB platform,” said Vichai Sernvongsat, CTO of TrueVisions.

Huawei, China Telecom Sichuan unveil 4K ultra-HD iTV service

Huawei Technologies and China Telecom Sichuan have jointly launched a 4K ultra-HD iTV network service and 4K ultra-HD intelligent smart set-top-box in China.

Huawei and China Telecom Sichuan had entered into partnership three years before to develop IP video services. The companies adopted H.265 video coding standard to ensure better user experience and deployed leading technologies to optimise the code stream, coding quality, delay and algorithm complexity.

China Telecom Sichuan has deployed an engineer-to-engineer network quality detection system to support visualized management of video services to ensure the experience of 4K signals and enhance user experience.