Thread: Satellite News march 2010.

A digital TV Standard decision is about to be taken in Paraguay

On March 5th, the Paraguayan Consultive Council will gather to evaluate the digital TV standard choice and will submit a report before the Executive Power. The Council will be in charge of National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and will be made up by a representatives from the Senate Chamber, from the Deputies Chamber, from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, from the Ministry of Public Works and Communications and from the Secretary of Information and Communication for Development, among others.

Paraguay would have turned to ISDB given the fact that a big part of the region has already done it and all technical and financial offerings made by Japan. A NTC high official told NexTV Latam that the country led by Fernando Lugo would be about to choose the Japanese-Brazilian standard and that "it would be a political rather than technical reason". So far, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru have chosen ISDB; whereas, Colombia, Panama, Uruguay, French Guyana and Dutch Antilles have turned to DVB. Only Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador chose ATSC.

Over the course of this week, the Deputies Chamber will assign a representative. "We have called for a meeting, like other institutions, such as the Senate, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the National Commission of Science and Technology, among others", the President of the Low Chamber, Salyn Buzarquis, stated.

Music industry slams 6 Music axe plans

Monday, March 1 2010, 12:38 GMT

By Andrew Laughlin,

The UK music industry has criticised the BBC's reported plans to shut digital station 6 Music by claiming that the move will fail new British musicians.

In a letter to BBC director general Mark Thompson, the industry representatives said that they were "surprised and alarmed" to read a report last Friday claiming that the corporation's strategy review will signal an end to 6 Music and fellow digital station Asian Network.

The approach would also see the closure of BBC Switch and Blast!, along with a 25% reduction in staff working on the BBC website as part of efforts to scale back the corporation's reach.

In response, the industry representatives claimed that 6 Music is a crucial platform for showcasing the less-well-known bands unable to gain airplay on Radio 1 or major commercial stations, reports The Times.

"6 Music has established itself as a vital platform providing exposure to a wide range of emerging British music talent," British Phonographic Industry chief executive Geoff Taylor told Thompson in the letter.

"There is no other radio station that is remotely comparable in scale or depth for showcasing new music."

Alison Wenham, chief executive of independent record label trade body AIM, added that 6 Music has helped various new artists to achieve greater success.

"As a recent example, exposure for Florence and The Machine on 6 Music was the beginning of their UK success, culminating in them winning the Best Album award at the Brit Awards," she said.

"There are many examples of successful British artists whose early work was championed by 6 Music, who would not otherwise have attracted wider attention. It is therefore vital to the artistic and cultural diversity of this country that the role of 6 Music as a taste-maker for the airwaves is preserved."

Following last week's report, there has been a growing clamour of voices calling for 6 Music to be saved, including David Bowie and the Manic Street Preachers.

Thompson apparently believes that the station, which has a budget of around ?6 million and a weekly reach of 695,000 listeners, does not deliver value for money and should be shut to allow space for commercial rivals to prosper.

However, Taylor has claimed that it is part of the BBC's remit to introduce the public to new music, while the commercial market may not want to take up that role.

"We understand that the BBC has to cut costs and wants to leave space for the commercial market, but withdrawing valued public service programming which the market won't provide is no way to achieve that," he said.

"The BBC has an essential role to play in introducing the public to new music. It has let down music fans and the music sector by failing to replace Top Of The Pops. Closing 6 Music would undermine the diversity and wealth of British musical culture."

Last Friday, Absolute Radio emerged as a possible candidate to step in and save 6 Music from closure should the BBC forge ahead with its plans.

Virgin Media signs up Cartoonito
01 Mar 10 -

Virgin Media has signed a deal with Turner Broadcasting to add kids channel Cartoonito to its line up.

Cartoonito, which airs classic pre-school shows including Fireman Sam and Care Bears, will be available to the UK cable operator’s L and XL TV packages from April. Virgin Media has also secured rights for a raft of Cartoonito shows to be added to its Turner Broadcasting on-demand platform including Go And… and Cartoonito Karaoke. The deal also covers online and mobile rights.

Virgin Media to carry Cartoonito channel

Monday, March 1 2010, 12:20 GMT

By Andrew Laughlin,

Virgin Media has agreed a deal with Turner Broadcasting to make its pre-school children's channel Catoonito available in the UK on the cable television.

Catoonito, which carries shows such as Fireman Sam, Care Bears and Hi-5, will be made available to customers on Virgin Media's L and XL TV packages from April. A channel number has not yet been announced.

Under the deal, Catoonito content such as Go And... and Cartoonito Karaoke will also be included on Virgin Media's on-demand platform.

"With the addition of Cartoonito and a huge range of TV on-demand content, families are going to be spoilt for choice on Virgin Media," said Virgin Media executive director of digital entertainment Cindy Rose.

"Kids already have access to some of the best shows on-demand and our expanded lineup from Turner Broadcasting will let kids enjoy their favourite shows at any time of the day, morning or evening."

Turner Broadcasting vice president of distribution and business development Tal Hewitt added: "We're looking forward to working closely with Virgin Media in the near future to expand our content offering across all of its three screens.

"Particularly exciting is adding Cartoonito to the mix. Cartoonito had a phenomenal year in 2009 as the fastest growing kids channel year on year, and this deal opens the channel up to an even wider audience, making Cartoonito the most widely distributed pay-TV pre-school channel in the UK."

Virgin Media has also secured mobile and online broadcasting rights in the UK to a range of Turner Broadcasting content.

The arrangement means that Virgin Mobile customers will be able to access mobile versions of popular shows from the Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Cartoonito, along with simulcast news from CNN.

"Our new deal with Turner Broadcasting will provide a huge boost to our three-screen strategy as we develop an innovative new way for our customers to enjoy content," said Rose.

"With the most compelling TV service in the UK, families will be able enjoy premium entertainment at home, online, or on the move."

Eutelsat chooses DEV system
01 Mar 10 -

Germany-based TV technology company DEV Systemtechnik has announced that satellite operator Eutelsat will use its L-band signal distribution system as it replaces its existing monitoring system. DEV has developed a new range of L-band multiplexers/demultiplexers, specifically for Eutelsat.
__________________

Com Hem wins Norrk?ping contract
01 Mar 10 -

Swedish cable operator Com Hem has struck an agreement with housing association Hyresbost?der to distribute cable TV services to 10,000 households in Norrk?ping in eastern Sweden.

The agreement means that Norrk?ping households will be able to receive 15 analogue channels direct to their TV or a package of up to 140 digital channels from Com Hem. Before winning the latest contract, Com Hem was cable supplier to about 1,000 rental households in the city.

KDG worth €6.6bn, says bank
01 Mar 10 -

German cable operator Kabel Deutschland is worth up to €6.6bn ahead of its planned float, according to investment bankers Deutsche Bank.

The analysts have compiled a pre-IPO study after the cabler, which has 8.9 million subscribers, announced plans to float its shares on the open market. Deutsche Bank estimated that up to €4bn of this value is from equity capital, while the remainder amounts to debt of around €3bn. KDG announced its IPO plans last week, which will also make shares of private equity investor Providence Equity, which owns 88% of the company, available.

KDG's latest financial report shows that it posted a €23.1m net profit in the first nine months of fiscal 2010 compared to a €49m loss last year. Revenue was also up 9.3% to €1.11bn.

Canal Plus contributes to Vivendi EBITA, net result hit by provisions
01 Mar 10 -

Canal Plus Group had 12.5 million subscribers globally by the end of 2009, up from 12 million in 2008. Individual and collective subscribers in France, its overseas territories and Africa numbered 10.8 million, up by 238,000 year-on-year.

In Poland, Canal Plus’s subscriber base added 160,000 subscribers over the period.

The group turned in revenues of €4.553bn, up 1.6% at constant currency rates and flat in real currency terms. EBITA did better, growing by 14.78% to reach €652m, with the full effect of synergies from the TPS merger and cost reduction initiatives contributing to particularly strong EBITA growth in France.

The pay-TV operator had some success pushing digital services in France, with 490,000 transferring to digital in the course of the year, taking the digital total from 80% to 93% of its total base. Digital churn fell from 13% to 12.3%, and ARPU rose by about €1 to €44.70 due to higher fees and penetration of added-value services including Foot Plus on XBox, Canal Plus on the iPhone and The Cube set-top.

Parent group Vivendi posted revenues of €27.132bn, up 6.9%, with EBITA growing 8.8% to €5.39bn. Adjusted net earnings fell by 5.5% to €2.585bn. However, Vivendi’s actual net earnings attributable to shareholders fell by 68.1% to €830m, in part due to a provision in the fourth quarter related to the class action currently being pursued against the group in the US.

Chairman Jean-Bernard L?vy said he expected further EBITA growth in 2010 thanks to the sale of Vivendi’s stake in NBC Universal and its decision to buy fast-growing Brazilian telecom operator GVT. He said that acquisitions – notably games company Acitivision Blizzard and telco SFR – had been the principal growth engines for the company last year. SFR, now including the former Neuf Cegetel, had 4.444 million active broadband customers at the end of the year, up 14.6%.