Pay TV info.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Russian developer strengthens Chinese VOD deal

SPB TV and Shanghai Media Group (SMG) have extended their cooperation in broadcasting the latter’s VOD content worldwide.

Commenting on the development, which was announced at the World Content market and comes a year after an agreement to transfer the rights for SMG live content broadcasting (Dragon TV international) to SPB TV, SPB TV general director Kirill Filippov said: “We are glad to continue our cooperation with SMG in order to provide our viewers with interesting content from China. This new signed agreement will allow us to provide not only live content, but VOD as well, and to do so worldwide via our applications, which are available to more than 53 million people”.

Alexey Volin, Russia’s deputy minister of telecom and mass communication, added: “Chinese content broadcasting on the Russian developer’s platform proves the potential for Russian-Chinese relations in new media sphere development. It’s significant, that this agreement was signed in the year, officially called ‘the year of cooperation in the sphere of media’ by both countries”.

SPB TV started broadcasting content from China in 2013, when Xinhua information agency’s TV-channels CNC World Chinese and CNC English were launched. In 2015, Dragon TV (SMG media holding channel) was added to the application. In 2015, SPB TV signed an agreement with CNTV, Chinese Internet-television (CCTV tele-holding’s affiliate) for broadcasting its CCTV-4 (Chinese International), CCTV-9 Documentary, CCTV NEWS, CCTV Français, CCTV Español, CCTV Russian and CCTV Arabian channels.

SPB TV provides end-to-end OTT TV, IPTV and mobile TV solutions. Based in Switzerland, it has R&D headquarters in Russia and affiliates in Asia and South America.

Cubiware integrates with Ali Corp.

MAY 31, 2016 09.18 EUROPE/LONDON BY CHRIS DZIADUL

The Warsaw-based TiVo subsidiary Cubiware has entered into a partnership with Ali Corporation.

Under the terms of the agreement, CubiTV Hybrid Middleware will be integrated on Ali STB chipsets, with the intention of bringing highly competitive solutions to operators around the world.

Commenting on the development, Jakub Gorski, co-founder if Cubiware, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with ALi Corporation to bring a feature-rich, competitive solution to service providers.

“This collaboration will provide viewers with greater choice and content and an exceptional TV viewing experience.”
Tony Chang, COO of ALi Corporation, added: “Our partnership with Cubiware will move our business forward tremendously.
“The CubiTV Hybrid Middleware technology integrated on ALi’s high-performing chipset will enable operators to bring innovative digital TV experiences”.

JADOO UNVEILS LAUNCHING OF DIGITAL TV SERVICES IN BANGLADESH

Jadoo subscribers will be better treated. Mohammadi Group’s Digi Jadoo Broadband Ltd got down to launching digital cable connections to procure its subscribers with more channels and better services. Connections already started a month before and the number of customers counts now up to one thousand, according to Navidul Huq, the director of the company.

For clear picture and the delivery of digitally unimpaired signals, Jadoo is selling set-up boxes 31.33USD and 44.56USD each. The set-up boxes will be affixed with Jadoo’s fibre optic cables to each TV set. Compared to conventional analogue system where subscribers are limited to only a certain number of channels, they will now have access to broader range of at least 500 digital connections and will be charged Tk 300 per month.

Huq revealed that Jadoo’s target is to sell 100 000 STBs in Dhaka, where the business will be run at first. Afterwards, it will branch out across Chittagong and Sylhet. In addition, with this digital system, illegal agents will be easily tracked down since each agent will have a connection with the main server at the distributing company.

“I hope digital cable connections would gain popularity in Bangladesh as the companies will take care of the customers”, said Huq.

Reliance Big TV subscribers remain at 5.0 million

MUMBAI — Reliance Communications Limited (RCom) has announced its consolidated financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

Reliance Big TV (Direct-To-Home business)

Our Direct-To-Home (DTH) digital TV Business, branded as Reliance Big TV, offers a full combo of Standard Definition, High Definition & High Definition-DVR STBs, along with largest channel bouquet. We also introduced a new technology advancement which made us the 1st operator to offer all 278 channels in HD like quality. Reliance offers nationwide Direct-To-Home satellite TV services, employing state-of-the-art MPEG4 technology.

Reliance Digital TV is available at nearly 37,350 outlets across nearly 5,650 cities in the country. The retail and distribution reach, as well as other elements of infrastructure established for our wireless network, have been leveraged to expand our DTH presence. Reliance Digital TV currently has about 5.0 million subscribers, with 6% share of the DTH market in India. We launched India’s first High definition cum Advanced Digital Video recorder (HD DVR), offering 200 hrs of recording, trick play functions & universal remote for operating three devices.

Our Set Top Box (STB) Failure Rate is 0.97%, which is amongst the best internationally & by far the best in India.

                                          2014                    2015  2016
                        ----------------------  ----------------------  ----
                          Q1    Q2    Q3    Q4    Q1    Q2    Q3    Q4    Q1
                        ----  ----  ----  ----  ----  ----  ----  ----  ----
Subscribers (millions)   4.8  4.82  4.82  4.87  4.87  4.87   4.9   5.0   5.0
India market share        8%    8%    8%    7%    7%    6%    6%    6%    6%

SES expands its reach to two million TV homes in Ghana

SES increases its technical reach in Ghana, serves more TV homes in the country

SES reaches two million TV homes in Ghana, an overall growth of 18% since 2014
91% of Ghanian satellite TV homes receive their channels via SES satellites
Satellite grows and remains the central pillar of digital broadcasting infrastructure
SES continues to be the world’s leading video platform

LUXEMBOURG/ACCRA — SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), a world-leading satellite operator, today announced the results of its Satellite Monitor study in Ghana, which shows that SES has increased its technical reach in the country to two million TV homes. This signifies an increase of over 18% TV homes in Ghana compared to 2014, which brings SES’s overall household reach in Ghana to more than 35% of all TV homes in the country.

The Satellite Monitor, an annual market research study commissioned by SES and carried out by various independent institutes, has been conducted for over 20 years in Europe and has now been successfully replicated in Ghana. Three thousand interviews were conducted for this study, the first of its kind to be carried out by a satellite operator in markets where digitalisation is a key focus and a national priority.

The SES Satellite Monitor findings illustrate the important role that satellite plays in the Ghanaian TV market. Additionally, the study provides credible statistics for the market and can be used by other industry players to further understand the broadcasting industry landscape.

Eric Lecocq, General Manager of North, West and Central Africa at SES, said, “We view our presence in Ghana as an investment in the national broadcast landscape through supporting local businesses in their efforts to contribute to the digital switchover process. The research results show that the African market is full of opportunities, and we will continue to develop our services to support TV operators and help them grow and reach new audiences. Furthermore, the research has a huge impact on countries such as Ghana, where digitisation is a major focus.”

DEN Networks deploys 1 million STBs in 1Q 2016

Deployed ~1 million STBs in 4Q; DAS 3&4 ~4.4 million. Total digital base – 9.4m

NEW DELHI — DEN Networks, one of India’s largest cable MSOs with around 13 million subscribers, has announced results for the fourth quarter of its 2015-16 financial year which ended on March 31, 2016. The company ended the period with 9.4 million digital subscribers, up around 1 million in the final quarter.

Subscribers (Millions)

                             3Q'15  4Q'15  1Q'16  2Q'16  3Q'16  4Q'16
                             -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----
Digital                        6.8    7.0    7.2    7.6    8.5    9.4

STBs (Millions)

                             3Q'15  4Q'15  1Q'16  2Q'16  3Q'16  4Q'16
                             -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----
Total DAS 1 and 2 Markets      4.9    4.9    4.9    5.0    5.0    5.0
 DAS Phase 1 Markets          2.09   2.10   2.12   2.15   2.15   2.15
 DAS Phase 2 Markets          2.81   2.84   2.84   2.84   2.84   2.84

DAS 3 Markets                 1.94   2.09   2.25   2.58   3.52   4.40

Russian telco gains TV subs

JUNE 1, 2016 09.15 EUROPE/LONDON BY CHRIS DZIADUL

Russia’s NetByNet ended 2015 with 50,000 subscribers to its Wifire TV service.

As a result, reports ComNews, its pay-TV subscriber total increased by 45% during the year.

Meanwhile, its customer total as of end of last year stood at 944,000. In 2015, NetByNet’s network coverage increased by 12%, while internet traffic consumption rose by 23%.

NetByNet’s growth in 2015 was put largely down to the launch of services under the Wifire brand.

Aside form the wireless Wifire TV, these include the mobile internet service Wifire Mobile.

NetByNet was established in 2006 and has been wholly owned by MegaFon since June 2011.