Latest SATELLITE NEWS/TV LISTING SECTION

[mike566]

Tele 2 sets Open Cable pricing

Dutch telecoms operator Tele 2 will this Tuesday start marketing its Open Cable product with prices starting at €5 a month representing a savings of up to 70%.

Tele 2 will start to sell 4-in-1 bundles including analogue cable, digital IPTV, broadband access and telephony priced at €29.95 with analogue cable costing just € 5.00.

For people who buy broadband access and telephony at €24.95 the price for analogue cable is €10.00. These prices mark a new chapter in multi-play marketing in Holland. UPC, for instance, now offers a 4-play product with analogue and digital basic cable, telephony and 25 Mbps broadband for €45 a month.

Ziggo sells a similar package, with a lower speed broadband (2 Mbps) for €41.50 a month.

In addition, it will also be possible to just buy analogue cable from Tele 2 at €15.00 a month, which is about 10% cheaper than the regular price charged by UPC and Ziggo, which charge between €16 and €17 a month for their basic analogue tier.

Customers who buy analogue cable from Tele 2 will of course not be able to upgrade to the cabler’s digital tiers and premium channels, but are able to buy the IPTV service from Tele 2.

Tele 2 is able to sell analogue cable products in the UPC and Ziggo networks following a ruling by the Dutch telecoms regulator OPTA. Other parties, including Deutsche Telekom’s Online and Your TV are believed to start selling their analogue products anytime soon.

[mike566]

Tivuitalia new DTT network for Italy


Tivuitalia, a company controlled by Italian broadcast equipment manufacturer Screen Service Broadcasting Technologies (SSBT), has become the country’s latest DTT network operator.

The group has filed with the national regulator AgCom a "declaration of commencement of activities" as a national TV multiplex operator. Tivuitalia will be a network provider for channels seeking distribution throughout Italy.

In recent months, SSBT, through its subsidiary Tivuitalia, has followed a strategy of acquiring transmission facilities, achieving coverage of about 57 per cent of the population, equal to 32 million inhabitants.

According to Antonio Mazzara, president of Tivuitalia and CEO of SSBT, future objectives include the extension of coverage to over 90 per cent of the Italian population and possible participation on the tender that will assign additional national frequencies in SFN, on the basis of the plan prepared by the AgCom for the digital switchover.

[mike566]

CNNi launches iPhone application

CNN announced the launch of international version of their application for iPhone. Available free on the App Store, this new application specifically designed to offer its users a privileged access to international information and customized over the 24 hours a day and seven days a week, offering news in real time through a constant stream of videos, articles and photos. More info: cnn.com/mobile.

[mike566]

Antena 3 begins to unveil details of its future canal Nitro

Announced a few weeks ago, is one of the future of DTT channels has raised more expectations among all who have submitted so far. Antena.Nitro will be a channel exclusively dedicated to male, thus completing the group's offer on DTT Antena 3 has already Antena.Nova (public female) and Antena.Neox (young audiences). To get you started, the group has decided to move forward little by little some elements of its new channel before its official launch, through its corporate website: antena3.com/nitro. Here you can get an idea of some of the contents of the channel, now mainly series, which will expand gradually.

[mike566]

New media a focus for new CNBC distribution VP


Licensing on demand video clips and long form programming will be on the agenda of CNBC’s new vice president of distribution, Justine Powell.

In a statement, the business and financial news channel said that increasing the channel’s overall distribution remained a key priority. As of June this stood at 130 million households.

“Justine’s appointment will help us to build on our recent distribution growth. Justine has a great track record of working internationally with a variety of partners to develop and syndicate content, which will help us to further cement our place as the premier source of business and financial news and analysis,” said Powell will report to Mick Buckley, President and CEO, EMEA, CNBC.

Powell joins CNBC from MTV International where she was vice president digital media with responsibility for Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India. Prior to that she spent four years at the BBC, most recently as senior manager, BBC Future Media & Technology where she was involved in the launch of BBC iPlayer on major portals and social networking sites including MSN, Yahoo and MySpace.
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[mike566]

Digital TV Labs puts CI Plus to the Test

IBC 2010 – Hall 2, Stand C27. Digital TV Labs, the official testing centre for CI Plus is launching a CI Plus test tool for use by manufacturers. The CI Plus Test Tool has been designed to assist in the development, testing and debugging of CI Plus implementations on host receivers. The objective is to allow manufacturers to streamline the build process and reduce time by bringing pre-validated product to Digital TV Labs for certification.

CI Plus was developed as the successor to the DVB Common Interface, improving security, and allowing conditional access modules to be plugged in directly to a TV display. Over 20 operators have already adopted it.

Digital TV Labs is now offering bespoke CI Plus conformance regimes to ensure that all aspects of a receiver product – typically IDTVs – adhere to that specific operator’s network requirements. The company is also running testing services for Freeview Australia and Freeview HD.

Also on show will be the Evora iSuite DVB Test Framework covering DVB-T/C/S across 28 countries, Digital TV Wiki, Pan EU Reference Book and RF Capture Test Suite.

[mike566]

DMC to run 3D


IBC 2010 – Hall 1, Stand D.39. Following its inaugural 3DTV broadcast earlier this year the Digital Media Centre (DMC) will be showcasing the delivery of 3D content.

Amsterdam-based DMC made its 3D broadcast debut in April with the relay of the US Masters Golf Tournament. DMC tackled challenges such as transatlantic contribution, live transmission and satellite uplink and distribution to multiple countries.

“Following 10 years as European leaders in TV distribution and content delivery here in Amsterdam, we’re excited to be demonstrating the very latest advances in playout operations,” said Robin Kroes, VP Commercial, Operations and Corporate Development at DMC

On demand services – a key part of the DMC offering – will also be demonstrated as part of the latest advances in channel playout.

[mike566]

Latens takes middleware everywhere

IBC 2010 – Hall 4, Stand B60. Middleware and conditional access specialist Latens is turning its attention to the concept of TV Everywhere. Its new ECO UI 5 Middleware comes pre-integrated with conditional access for multiple devices including the Apple iPad, where Latens’ software-based CA comes into its own.

Key features include broadcast broadband video, DVR, remote DVR, DLNA enabled services, internet applications for TV and home networking.

Latens is also turning its attention to the management of over-the-top television services, managing content and rights across multiple devices from a central headend.

[mike566]

Multimedia launches kids VOD

The Polish cable operator Multimedia Polska has introduced a new VOD offer aimed specifically at school and pre-school children.

Known as Bajki bez przemocy (Stories with violence), it consists of content from KidsCo and Nickleodeon and is categorised according to viewing age. The offer will gradually increased and be provided free of charge until November 1 this year.

Multimedia Polska’s VOD service currently consists of over 1,100 film titles and is available to all the operator’s digital subscribers.

[mike566]

UPC reassures Czech viewers

UPC Czech has announced that the channels TV Prima HD and TV Noe will continue to be offered without interruption, both in Prague and all other localities in which the company operates.

This should reassure its subscribers, given that DTT transmission of the two channels has just ceased in Prague and environs. They have until now been carried on the third multiplex, which is operated by the Czech Digital Group (CDG).

Late last week the Czech Telecom Office (CTU) withdrew permission for the CDG to use a frequency (46) on the multiplex. The CDG has indicated it will take legal action against the regulator.