Broadband TV News
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Comcast no longer pursuing Fox assets
Comcast has confirmed it is no longer bidding for the assets of the soon to be broken up 21st Century Fox. It leaves the way clear for a bid from Walt Disney, which could be announced as early as this week. “When a set of assets like 21st Century Fox’s be
Broadband TV NewsMegogo ends Gazprom cooperation
The Russian OTT service Megogo will no longer work with the ad sales house Gazprom-Media Digital (GPMD) from 2018. According to Kommersant, this follows GPMD’s decision to work with ivi, the largest OTT platform in the country and Megogo’s main competitor
Travelxp 4k to launch on Astra via HD+
Travelxp 4k, the world’s first 4K HDR channel, will launch on Astra (19.2° East) on December 13, 2017, targeting the customers of German DTH platform HD+. The pay-TV channel offers a 24-hour schedule with Ultra HD programmes in HDR comprising, for example
Swisscom selects SoftAtHome for new Wi-Fi box
Swiss telco Swisscom has chosen SoftAtHome, a French software provider for convergent services in the digital home, to support the new Wi-Fi box of its IPTV platform Swisscom TV. The box is a 3-in-1 access point device (repeater, extender, video bridge) c
Blue Planet II becomes most-watched BBC iPlayer show of 2017
Natural history programme Blue Planet II has become the most popular programme on the BBC iPlayer in the year to date. So far 4.2 million requests have been made for the landmark series, overtaking Tom Hardy’s Georgian-era drama Taboo by 133,000. Drama Do
BBC launches voice control for smart speakers
The BBC has launched its first voice service for smart speakers. It has begun with the market-leading Amazon Alexa and has plans to introduce services for other smart speakers in the future. The Alexa Skill gives access to live and on demand content from
SES brings 4KUniverse to Swisscom
US general entertainment channel 4KUniverse makes its international debut this week, as Astra satellite operator SES begins distribution of the Ultra HD service to Swisscom TV, the IPTV platform of Swiss telco Swisscom with 1.45 million customers. Swissco
Product placement jumps in Hungary
Hungary’s two leading broadcasters RTL Klub and TV2 have significant increased their levels of product placement. In a statement, the regulator NMHH says that it analysed nearly 3,500 pieces of content broadcast by RTL and TV2 in the first half of this ye
Romanian TV ad market growth continues
TV ad spend in Romania is expected to grow by 12% this year, according to the media agency Initiative. Quoting the agency, Business Review reports that this is up from the 10% its Media Fact Book 2017 forecast when published at the beginning of the summer
Apple TV app expands European footprint
Apple’s dedicated TV app has finally made its appearance in Europe. It’s being downloaded to fourth and fifth generation Apple TV boxes in the UK, France and Germany and is also available for the iPhone and iPad. Untill now, the app was only available in
Turner moves to new London premises in Old Street
Global media company Turner has taken a lease on 160 Old Street EC1 to take effect from January 2019. The site will become its new London headquarters when the lease on its current Great Marlborough Street site expires. Staff will begin to move out of Tur
New VOD service for RTL Croatia
RTL Croatia will launch a completely revamped demand service on January 12. Known as RTL Play, it will have state-of-the-art features both for viewers (more exclusive content and more personalisation) and advertisers (targeting, brand safety and high atte
SMPTE publishes standards for Managed IP Networks
SMPTE has published the ST 2110 Standards for Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks. SMPTE ST 2110 is a new standards suite that specifies the carriage, synchronisation, and description of separate elementary essence streams over professional intern
Apple TV app makes UK debut
Apple’s dedicated TV app has finally made its appearance in Europe. It’s being downloaded to fourth and fifth generation Apple TV boxes in the UK and is also available for the iPhone and iPad. The app combines content to Watch Now, the individual’s Apple
Revelation TV selects Globecast for playout
Globecast has built upon its existing relationship with the UK-based Christian broadcaster Revelation TV to provide full playout capabilities. The new agreement includes daily live feeds and schedule-driven recordings of the feeds, exception-based QC of c
Alexander Semiyadchenko joins Media Group Ukraine
Alexander Semiyadchenko has been appointed the general producer for news media at Media Group Ukraine (MGU), effective December 14. In his new role, he will be responsible for the development of a single news platform known as ‘Today’ and the coordination
Türk Telekom outlines five-year strategy
Türk Telekom plans to become the leading provider in the Turkish TV mass market by home access within the next five years. Quoted by Hurriyet Daily News, its CEO Paul Doany added that the company sees the internet as the future and is well placed to explo
New Saturday 19.45 kick-off for Premier League
Eight Premier League matches will be played in a new Saturday 19.45 kick-off time from the 2019-20 season. The Premier League has given details of the 200 live matches that will be auctioned to broadcasters in the next few months. The packages represent o
Vodafone scraps Melita merger
The proposed merger between Vodafone and the Maltese cable company Melita will now not go ahead, having failed to obtain the approval of the Maltese Competition Authority (MCCAA). In a statement, Vodafone says that since the agreement was first announced
Showmax teams up with Poland’s T-Mobile
The Naspers-owned SVOD service has entered into a partnership with T-Mobile in Poland. Under the terms of the deal between the two parties, all T-Mobile customers, be they prepaid or contract, will get 90 days access to Showmax for no charge, starting Dec
Russia’s Orion goes international
The Russian DTH platform operator Orion has made its Play Out service available to foreign broadcasters. In a statement, the company says that the product is intended to become one of the vectors for the development of its B2B portfolio. It adds that it a
Sat.1 to show DTM live from 2018
The live coverage of German motorsports series DTM will move from ARD to Sat.1: The commercial channel will show all races live and exclusive from 2018. The qualifying races will be transmitted as a live stream on www.ran.de and via the app of Sat.1’s spo
AMC inks Hungarian deal
AMC Networks International Central and Northern Europe has signed an agreement with Antenna Hungária. As a result, its channels Sport1 and TV Paprika will once again be made available on the pay-DTT service MinDig TV Extra after several months of operatio
TV Vlaanderen launches DVB-T2 pay service
TV Vlaanderen today launches its new TV subscription via antenna in Flanders and Brussels, as first announced a month ago. For €9.95 per month, the new Antenne TV offers 15 channels via DVB-T2. Antenne TV is distributed via Norkring’s network, which makes
Vodafone to start analogue switch-off on German cable
Vodafone Deutschland will commence converting its cable network to fully digital TV and radio distribution from summer 2018 on a region-by-region basis. The capacities vacated by the removal of all analogue channels will be used for fast internet access i
Liberty Global selects SeaChange’s Adrenalin
Liberty Global has selected SeaChange’s Adrenalin multiscreen video solution for the video platform supporting its Horizon 4 services. Liberty Global is deploying a common, fully virtualised video platform architecture for its Horizon services allows for
Eutelsat denies Ukrainian DTH plans
Eutelsat has dismissed reports that it plans to launch a satellite platform in Ukraine. Speaking in a panel discussion at the Dataxis NexTV Series CEE & DACH conference in Berlin, Apostolos Triantafyllou, the company’s SVP sales DACH, CE Europe, Israe
Blow for Moldovan pay-TV
Pay-TV revenues in Moldova slumped by 13.2% year-on-year to MDL60.5 million (€2.93 million) in the third quarter. According to data published by the regulator ANRCETI, the electronic communications market as a whole saw a 2.7% fall in revenues, to MDL1.67
Amazon to win battle with Facebook for sports rights
Juniper Research has identified 2018 as the year in which OTT (Over the Top) players including Amazon and Facebook turn sporting events into the next content battleground by bidding for (and winning) key packages in major rights auctions, including those
Amazon Prime Video App now available on Apple TV
The Amazon Prime Video app is now available on Apple TV 4K and previous generations of Apple TV in over 100 countries. Prime Video offers Amazon Original Movies, Prime Originals, Hollywood blockbusters, TV series and over 95 Channel subscriptions in the U