Smart TV eats up too much bandwidth say KT Corp

South Korea has a 96% hook up to high-speed broadband and two of the world’s biggest Smart TV makers in Samsung and LG Electronics.

The TV manufacturers are pinning high hopes on internet connected TVs which let viewers to access streaming video, social networking, online games and music. Unfortunately Smart TV viewing eats up a lot of bandwidth useage.

Kim Hyo-sil  the vice president of KT’s smart network policy task force was quoted as saying “KT Corps decision was to protect a majority of Internet users and also prevent smart TVs from distorting the market system.”

Smart TV watchers who are using KT’s high-end Internet cannot use the Internet via their TV’s Web browser as well as services like video on demand and games starting Friday.

Another official said “Compared to conventional PCs, smart TVs, equipped with high-definition 3D viewing quality, cause heavy data traffic. If the fast adoption of smart TVs continues, there is also possibility of network blackout.”

KT Corp said ” if smart TVs dominate the network, the data speed of other Internet users could get 265 times slower to the extent that Web surfing is almost impossible.”

In a report published last year, KT predicted that the number of smart TVs could more than triple by 2013 while the nation’s data traffic could increase about four times overall. Currently, the sales of smart TVs are estimated at about 1 million units in Korea. Of them, some 100,000 TV sets are believed to have offered smart TV features.

Koreas telecom companies KT, SK Broadband and LG Uplus have continued related discussions with TV makers, including Samsung, LG, Sony and Apple, over the past year. The electronics companies showed little interest.

Another KT official said “In order to solve the fundamental issues, TV makers should pay proper costs for their network use like other Internet-based telephony operators and IPTV providers.”

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Samsung To Launch Google Powered Smart TV Devices
2. Smart TV From Samsung Delivers IPTV Without Need For Set Top Boxes
3. Smart TVs Fly Off The Shelves As 2 Million Are Sold

3D comes to Sky Arts

Sky Arts and Sky 3D will cover the biggest performers and acts,  together with live acts and backstage gossip from Sky’s onsite studio.

Last year was the first summer festival in the world to be broadcast live in 3D on Sky 3D.  The Isle of Wight festival is an exciting festival in the UK. Sky Arts coverage had to be bigger, better and bolder than before .

Speaking about the festival, James Hunt, channel director of Sky Arts said, “The Isle of Wight festival is the most dynamic and exciting festival in the UK: we knew that with this year’s line-up, Sky Arts coverage had to be bigger, better and bolder than ever before”.

Over 75,000 fans are expected to be in attendance for this years event.

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. X Factor Brings Wildcard Twist
2. Sky Plan Week-Long GP Coverage In F1 Overdrive
3. Simon Cowell Returns As BGT Goes Live

Sky IPTV service due before July

The new streaming station will contain a collection of Sky’s existing popular channels that can be streamed to a selection of devices.

Chennels that will make the move should include popular movies and sports channels. Sky’s move will have been motivated by the arrival of US movie streamer Netflix to the UK and the price and content fight with local rival the Amazon-owned Lovefilm.

Both those streaming services are limited in the range of material they offer to viewers. Sky is fortunate that it has plenty of content and since it already has the rights to stream much of that material to its customers, it’s in a good position to extend those rights deals to pay-as-you-view customers that are not subscribers.

Costs and other financial drtails are still unclear. Sky already streams much of its content available to satellite subscribers using the Sky Go service.

Incoming TV searches:

No related posts.

Sky Go app coming to some Android sets

The new Sky Go app for Android will let customers of the Sky satellite service stream a selection of sports, movies and news on Android mobile devices.

The news is not all good though, as not all Android mobiles will get the app. The app will work on popular models from Samsung and HTC. The app will work on:-

• Samsung Galaxy S
• Samsung Galaxy S2
• HTC Desire
• HTC Desire S
• HTC Desire HD
• HTC Incredible S
• HTC Sensation

The reason for the mishmash of working models is due to hardware differences which also befell the Netflix Android app. That problem was eventually sorted out and Netflix runs on most models now.

Sky have said that they will, “tailor the Sky Go app for each model of smartphone which takes considerable time.”

Incoming TV searches:

No related posts.

Sky Internet TV service coming

The service will be an enhanced version of the Sky Go online service and is for customers who do not want to subscribe to to satellite and who do not want a Sky dish plonked on the side of their house. The streaming content can be viewed on laptop, PC, Mac, tablet, console, connected TV and smartphone.

Incoming TV searches:

No related posts.

Later this year BBC’s iPlayer will become accessible to Sky customers on their home TV sets. Using BBC’s iPlayer, viewers can catch-up on BBC programmes in the familiar iPlayer experience that they may have missed.

To access the BBC catch-up TV service, users will need a broadband connection and access to the AnyTime Plus internet TV service. Viewers will also be able to use the ITV vod service, ITV Player from today.

The BBC’s goal is to reach all viewers it can, so with Sky’s plan to bring its Anytime+ to customers regardless of who their internet provider is, is a major development in helping to bring BBC iPlayer to around 5 million new homes in 2012 and at no extra charge.

This deal builds on seeing the BBC’s iPlayer on platforms like Virgin Media, BT Vision, FreeSat, Freeview, PlayStation, Wii, along with mobile phones, tablets, and Internet connected TV’s. Launching on Sky Anytime+ rounds off the picture in which BBC’s iPlayer is available on pretty much all major UK TV platforms.

The BBC Director General Mark Thompson said “Having the BBC and Sky work together to further build on the BBC iPlayer success story can only be fantastic news for audiences. Making BBC iPlayer available on all platforms is key to our commitment to universal access and this agreement takes us one step further towards that goal. I’m delighted to take this first step on a story of innovation for both organisations.”

Sky’s Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch, added “Sky Anytime+ will go from strength to strength in 2012 and we are delighted that the addition of BBC iPlayer will allow Sky customers to enjoy the best of the BBC whenever they want.”

Incoming TV searches:

No related posts.

Dish Network getting into streaming

Reaffirming that the programming is where the money is spent, he said, “The expense is the programming.”

It seems that Dish have been in discussions with several television networks and are attracted by the fact that an online service negates the need for a dish. The news comes just days after Verizon were reported at looking to offer a streaming service.

And according to the Bloomberg interview, anything Verizon can do, so can Dish. Clayton reportedly said, “If Verizon can do it, why can’t we? Both of our companies buy a lot of content. That gives us some leverage.”

Dish who brought the defunct Blockbuster assets back in April for $320 million, and then made plans to launch a streaming and DVD rental service to rival Netflix which was launched in September and called Movie Pass.

The service is available to Dish subscribers only at present but they have plans to offer the Blockbuster streaming service nationwide. If a Dish Internet TV service is launched they may be glad of the aquisition as it gave them access to over 100,000 movies and TV shows.

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Dish Network Set To Launch Streaming Movie Service
2. A Blockbuster Deal For Dish Network
3. Dish Network Wants Hulu To Introduce 30 Day Delay For New Episodes

Freesat viewers will be able to watch some of the best comedy, sport, classic American action movies and popular dramas on 5 USA including CSI New York, Numbers and Law and Order. The addition of 5*to the service will ensure that Freesat viewers have access to great soaps, films, entertainment, drama and documentaries with shows such as Alphas, Malcolm In The Middle and Sex and the City aired on the channel.

Adding Channels 5+1, 5 USA+1 and 5*+1means that Freesat viewers can watch shows an hour after they’ve transmitted – adding to the flexibility Freesat viewers already have in watching their favourite programmes.

Emma Scott, Freesat Managing Director said: “We know that Channel 5’s wide range of digital channels are hugely popular and adding them to the Freesat platform is a fantastic development for us and our customers. These additions further strengthen our entertainment genre as we continue to bring greater subscription-free choice to audiences right across the UK.”

Jeff Ford, Channel 5′s Director of Programmes commented: “We are extremely proud of where Channel 5 currently sits in terms of viewers, commercial opportunities and the spread of its content across a variety of platforms. Our exciting portfolio of channels has huge appeal with audiences and the addition of Channel 5 + 1, 5* + 1 and 5USA + 1 on DTT and satellite will no doubt be welcomed by viewers wanting another means to keep up with their favourite shows.”

Channel 5+1 will be available on Channel 128, Five USA on Channel 129, 5 USA+1 on Channel 130, 5* on Channel 131 and 5*+1 on Channel 132.

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Freesat Snaps Up Argos TV Shopping Channel In Time For Christmas Shopping
2. Foxtel To Launch New 3D TV Channel With 4 New HD Channels
3. Sky Online TV Player Adds More Channels To Lineup

The Sky Go app from BSkyB has had an upgrade that gives viewers a choice from hundreds of movies on-demand. The app can be downloaded and used free for Sky subscribers or for a fee if your not.

Sky add anytime content to Go app

The new movies on demand service has a big choice of  movies that include the latest releases as well as classic movies from the past. Users can view Sky movies live (as per original app) or on-demand ‘anytime’ with the new update.

Currently available to run only on PC, Xbox 360 and iOS mobile devices from Apple that include the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. An Android version of Sky Go is set to launch within the next few months. Movies can be streamed via WiFi with 3G support coming soon.

Sky who are the largesty satellite pay-TV broadcaster in the UK are gearing up for an onslaught of online competition from other streaming on-demand services like Netflix, Lovefilm and Google TV which are all available or due soon in the UK. UK retailer HMV also just announced there own streaming on-demand service last week,

The Sky Go app was created after Sky merged the Sky Player and Sky Mobile TV services into one, and was launched back in the summer of 2011. Sky Go customers are able to watch streaming on two connected devices at one time.

Speaking about the app, Holly Knill, Head of Sky Player and Mobile TV said, “The launch of Sky Movies on demand with Sky Go will give customers complete control over how, when and where they access hundreds of movies, including new releases and classic films – all at no extra charge.”

The app has an on now tab showing live content and a new anytime tab which offers on demand content. The movies available from categories that include classics, most popular, showcase, family and sci-fi/horror include Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Mary Poppins, Devil, Little Fockers, Gulliver’s Travels, Limitless and Inception.

Having tested the app, i can safely say it’s an awesome product with so many good movies, you could watch it for weeks. The only thing missing from the app is the facility to download content to watch later. But maybe they are saving that for the next update.

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Sky Go To Replace Sky Player and Sky Mobile TV
2. Watch Movies On Android Mobile With Crackle App
3. Comcast Adds Fox And ABC To On-Demand Service

Satellite broadcaster Sky have announced their intentions to release a downloadable content (DLC) programme for mobile devices, which would be released in 2012.

According to Ian Lewis, director of Sky Movies and Sky Box Office, users of smartphones and tablet computers will have the ability to download programmes and save them to their devices, giving them an option to view content offline at a later date, as opposed to the need to stream it.

Sky’s current options for non-TV viewing include streaming, on-demand, and download options on computer web browsers, along with the portable device live content streaming (and select on-demand) app Sky Go. The download option is thought to be made ready as an update to the Sky Go system.

Lewis did not reveal a set time for release of the DLC option, but did give a rough idea. He stated: “I’m not going to put a date on it, but I don’t think you’ll be asking me that question [the release date] in a year’s time. But that’s not me putting a timeframe on it.”

He went on to give his thoughts on how Sky are developing with broadcasting technology, with more updates to their satellite, online, and portable services suggested to be in the works. Lewis added: “When we hit the 10 million subscribers mark, it was the same week we launched Anytime and the week before we launched 3D. It’s just a part of Sky to be looking for the next thing and we already know what we are planning to do in December and March. In 12 months’ time we’ll definitely have even more innovations to show off.”

Will Sky’s ‘DLC’ option be considered as one such innovation, or is it too similar to parts of rival services to make a breakthrough in the company’s field of popular packages?

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Scripps Make History By Going Live On Mobile
2. Hulu Make Plans For Another Internet Series
3. Networks Make Hulu Block Streams to Mobile Phones

Live satellite TV streaming on iPad from DirecTV

The home only streaming access was expected and has been enforced by other TV streaming apps such as Time Warner. other apps also enforce this on mobile devices.

But being confined to the house will not upset too many DirecTV customers, who have been hoping for the addition since it was launched.

The latest DirecTV v1.3.1 update gives users Live TV choice from 38 channels that include Discovery, Fox News, CNN, NFL Network, Food Network, TNT, TBS and SyFy. ESPN are not included, but they do have their own iPad app anyway. You can only watch channels that you currently subscribe to, of course.

A full list of the live TV channels available can be found here and the DirecTV app can be downloaded now from the iPad app store for free.

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. DirecTV Joins List Of Potential Buyers For Hulu
2. Time Warner Get Into Hot Water Over iPad App Streaming Rights
3. DirecTV Check In And Go Germless With Hotel Package

Argos TV is the latest shopping channel to join Freesat’s strong shopping offering. With live product demonstrations, Freesat viewers will be able see the latest Argos products before they buy, all from the comfort of their sofa.

Freesat’s Head of Channels, Mark Briggs said: “With the Christmas shopping rush approaching, we’re delighted to offer Freesat customers another great way to pick up deals or find the perfect gift. Freesat is the fastest growing TV platform in the UK, and having recently hit the 2 million sales mark, we’re constantly working to make sure we have a diverse set of channels to suit our growing audience. Argos is a key retail partner for us and we’re delighted to have them on board”

Darren Frost, Head of Argos TV said: “We are very excited about the launch of Argos TV shopping channel on Freesat as it gives us the opportunity to reach substantially more customers with another way to explore and shop the Argos range. Viewers will be able to watch the same shows at the same time that they are available elsewhere, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As the UK’s biggest retailer of Freesat devices we know that many of our customers are already using the service so it was a logical place for us to be. We are looking forward to our great programming being seen by a whole new audience.”

Freesat also confirmed that Chinese news service CCTV-NEWS will be joining the platform this month and will be available on channel 211.

About Freesat

Freesat is a subscription-free satellite TV service offering digital television to everyone in the UK. It offers more than 150 TV, radio and interactive channels, including five free HD channels from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and NHK, as well as BBC iPlayer and ITV Player; and Freesat+ to record, pause and rewind.

Freesat is a joint venture between ITV and the BBC. For more information, please visit www.freesat.co.uk.

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Argos Launch TV Channel To Challenge Online Shopping
2. Watching TV While Shopping Increasingly Popular With Viewers
3. Freesat Gets iPlayer And ITV Catchup TV Services

Official research from the broadcaster claims that they pay almost £10m each year to the subscription TV giant, due mainly to ‘retransmission’ of their collective 49 TV and radio channels, especially when distributing to regional outlets. However, it is also believed that the high fee is also paid to reserve and maintain key channels in good (low) positions on Sky’s Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) (such as BBC One and BBC Two in slots 101 & 102 respectively).

John Tate, head of policy and strategy, who had recently praised Sky for their efforts in developing the UK TV industry, has noted that the government are looking at potential solutions on the ‘communications bill’, and that their fellow main terrestrial broadcasters (ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5) are looking to join forces with the BBC in getting Sky’s retransmission fee either reduced or waived in their scenario.

Some experts have gone as far to claim that Sky should be paying these main channels for the right to host them considering their popularity with Sky’s 10m-strong customer base. Regardless of whether that claim is pushed on by the broadcasters, a fee withdrawal would not be the first time that Sky’s actions have saved the BBC some of their funds, after the pay-TV service bought a majority of the rights to air Formula 1 motor racing in July in an undisclosed (but likely to be very big-money) deal.

While Tate claimed that the BBC are ‘not looking’ to get paid themselves, he issued his belief that: ”In the context of a very tight licence fee settlement, payment from us to them of retransmission of what are to them highly valuable services is not appropriate.”

He added that the money saved from a potential 5-year fee waive from Sky would result in: “Not having to make reductions in output on local radio plus the reduction of BBC Four… it’s roughly £50m over the period.”

A Sky spokesman quickly hit back at the BBC’s formal request, suggesting that they should not be exempt from paying fees just because of the status they hold. The statement read: “The BBC chooses to buy platform services from Sky that enable it to provide a wide variety of services on the satellite platform. As with any broadcaster who uses our open platform, we ask for a fair and proportionate contribution towards its running costs. Of course if the BBC no longer wants to buy these services from us, it is free to stop doing so at any point. But these are legitimate operational costs, which are regulated by Ofcom, and all broadcasters who choose to use our platform pay them. We don’t see the BBC as being the exception to this principle. No-one expects the National Grid to provide the BBC with cheap electricity subsidised by its other customers, so why is Sky any different?”

While the two sides are probably due to be at odds over this issue for a little longer yet, what do you make of this situation? Are the BBC’s requests a fair one? Or will Sky’s ‘one size fits all’ fee regulations win through?

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Argos Launch TV Channel To Challenge Online Shopping
2. Hulu Kills PS3 Streaming TV at Request of Content Provider
3. Roku Rocked By Youtube Removal

The term ‘timeshifted’ refers to shows viewed not at their original scheduled time, with the viewer instead opting for personal video recorders, DVR options, or catch-up services made available through the TV provider (up to seven days following the original broadcast). This would also include some of the newer on-demand ‘selected programming’ services such as Sky Anytime.

Looking at the 10 highest-rated TV channels in the UK, BARB discovered that drama (with 20%) is the genre of programming that viewers ‘timeshift’ the most. while soaps (16%), documentaries (15%) and entertainment shows (13%) also recorded above-average timeshift scores, thought in part to be due to the number of adverts in such programmes, and the lessened ‘need’ to watch it live, compared to genres such as sport and news.

Viewers with an enhanced recording service (such as Sky+ or Freeview+) made even greater use of their services, with drama shows on these platforms at a 32% timeshifted rate, while soaps, documentaries and entertainment all experienced similar levels of increases from non-’PVR’ figures.

Other statistics from BARB revealed the not-too surprising fact that young adults timeshift the most , as the 25-34 demographic registered a 16% of shows being watched on TV away from its schedule.

However, the urge to record a show might just be down to being busy at the time, or watching something else, as BARB claim that 48% of timeshifted viewing occurs on the same day as the show’s original airing, a method known by the researchers as VOSDAL (Viewing On The Same Day As Live). These figures, and the reasoning for it, shows that most on-demand viewing is used for catching up where a viewer couldn’t see a show earlier, suggesting that previous rumours of linear schedules dying out might not be as correct as it was thought before.

Meanwhile, TV viewers in Northern Ireland will need to start preparing for a digital switchover, as they become the final part of the UK’s process of updating analogue TV signals. The Northern Irish switchover will occur on 24 October 2012, and the announcement was marked by a ceremony in Belfast which saw the Albert Clock landmark reveal a digital display of the switchover date.

With the long-standing analogue era almost over, how will viewers react to the completion of the digital switchover, and will the service fare better now that there will be no focus on analogue?

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Ofcom Report Huge Majority Using Digital
2. DVD Sales Dive While Digital Downloads On The Rise
3. Online Video and TV Viewers Rise 25% For September

Dish paid an estimated $320 million to buy most of Blockbuster’s assets in April after the company declared bankruptcy, and have since been looking at relaunching Blockbuster as a streaming service to rival Netflix, Hulu and even Amazon (who are favorites to buy Hulu).

Apparently the company could use an existing platform that delivers on-demand movies to subscribers, for launching this brand new offering.

The news comes from  Bloomberg who say the service will begin in October. The launch is expected to hoover up disgruntled Netflix users still smarting from the just initiated price increase.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Ryan Vineyard analyst at RBC Capital Markets in New York said, “This ought to begin changing the way investors think about Dish. It goes from being an old-school pay-TV company to launching what could be a really high-growth business.”

Dish who are still in the running to buy Hulu, are not making any comments on the news. Stay tuned.

Related posts:

1. A Blockbuster Deal For Dish Network
2. Dish Network Wants Hulu To Introduce 30 Day Delay For New Episodes
3. Dish Use Blockbuster And HBO Deal To Go After Netflix

The three big guns that remain in the race to buy Hulu (who are co-owned by NBCUniversal, Fox, Disney-ABC, and Providence Equity Partners) are reportedly now search engine bigwig Yahoo, online shopping leader Amazon, and DirecTV’s main rival Dish Network.

All three of these businesses possess the financial backing to meet the minimum asking price of  $1B, though a bidding battle seems to have raised the current value of the popular service to almost double that, with potential to rise further still.

Currently, the favourite to be the winner of this negotiation contest (which began in June) is thought to be Amazon, with the former professional relationship of the two party’s respective CEO’s (Jason Kilar (Hulu) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon)) said to be a potentially important factor.

Amazon will be hoping to use a possible acquisition of Hulu as a platform for vastly increasing their online streaming options, with a likely merger into Amazon Prime on the cards as a key venture, due to the added content that it would bring. Alternatively, it could be seen as a way to add value to the Amazon Prime subscription by offering the service as it is , but part of the monthly postage and streaming deal (as well as being a featured product on a proposed Amazon tablet). Leaving Hulu as it is (but under their ownership) could also be an option for Amazon, as they may see that the popularity of Hulu is making a sufficient profit on its own.

However, it is likely that the new owners of Hulu (whoever they are) are likely to make some changes to the company’s operation, with Yahoo thought to be seeing it as a way to provide premium video content alongside current advertising operations, while internationally-known Yahoo would also seem to be the most likely of the three bidders to take advantage of Hulu’s recent expansion into Japan.

Dish Network, meanwhile, are planning on making a mark in the online streaming market, fresh from their April buy-out of movie rental store Blockbuster, running an upcoming (regardless of any Hulu deal) Blockbuster online streaming service alongside a Dish Network-operated Hulu, a more established service with a large userbase and array of movie and TV streaming rights deals in place. Although there are several potential directions that could be taken by several potential buyers of Hulu, which path will the company take, and how much money will they get for it?

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Hulu Board Pondering Sale To Yahoo?
2. Hulu Bids Expected Today From Google, Yahoo, Amazon And Dish
3. Microsoft Pulls Out Of Bidding For Hulu

Talking to investors about Disney’s 3rd quarter results, CEO Bob Iger said “the studio is in discussions with Netflix and other SVOD players about licensing largely library catalog compared to new-release movies or current season TV programming”.

“Our overall approach of late has been to make deals that increase revenue while at the same time protect and respect the multi-channel or channel distribution value that we see today,” Iger added.

“There is clearly a thirst for filmed entertainment, particularly branded high-quality entertainment, and what we’re seeing, I think stimulated in part by not only higher connectivity speeds but significant development in tablet computers, we’re looking at platforms that are creating all types of new business opportunities,” Iger continued.

The CEO said that moving forward the studio would move away from long term licensing agreements due to the rapidly evolving distribution channels and technology.

“We will make access to newer programming more difficult or later, except if a customer is authenticated as a cable or satellite TV subscriber,” he said. “I think you’ll see over the next few years a lot of deals done that enable this. We now have to hope that not only is the technology improved that enables authentication but that the whole user experience gets better.”

“It is our intention to take a very careful look at what films cost and if we can’t get them to a level that we are comfortable with, we think that we are better off actually reducing the size of our slate than making films that are bigger and increasingly more risky,” he said.

Iger also said the aim of the studio was on production costs of movies versus internal structuring within the studio operations.

Related posts:

1. Are You Willing To Pay For Quality? Disney Thinks So
2. Answer To Netflix Content – Save Axed TV Shows
3. Netflix Add Disney And ABC Streaming Content To Online Lineup

DirecTV in for Hulu?

The boss of the biggest US satellite TV company continued, “What we’re looking for is something that would enable us to accelerate our TV Everywhere. Obviously, it’s critically dependent on the distribution relationships that it has and the contracts that underpin that. So there’s still more for us to learn and we really haven’t made a final judgment on it.”

There are already a host of big name companies looking to buy Hulu including Yahoo, Apple,AT&T and Google after the site’s owners recently signalled they were looking for a buyer.

Hulu are hot property after reporting a second quarter net income up 29%, which was better than expected, and adding ab additional 472,000 new subscribers in Latin America.

Related posts:

1. DirecTV Check In And Go Germless With Hotel Package
2. See whats on your TV tonight with the best tv guides list
3. DirecTV Cause Cinematic Anger With New Movie VOD

The data comes from the market research company IHS who have suggested that in 2015 the main forms of non linear TV programming, like VOD and DVR, would only account for 15.8% of TV viewing in the USA. This would reflect an increase from 9.9% in 2010, the usual linear programming would account for the rest of it.

The report also shows that the usage of on demand services is trailing behind DVRs. At the close of 2015, DVRs will reach almost half of all American households. The use of on demand services, currently, is going to be hampered by content fragmentation and restrictions across different portals and services.

“Linear TV has not stood still as non-linear distribution mechanisms have developed,” Richard Broughton, senior analyst of TV at IHS said. “Alongside the evolution of Internet video and DVR technology, broadcasters have introduced HD channels, now received by more than 40% of US households.”

“In contrast, the Internet in many markets still struggles to cope with HD content and the high bandwidths required for its delivery. Streaming HD remains relatively rare, and downloading takes time, diminishing the appeal for consumers,” Richard Broughton concluded.

Related posts:

1. Research Shows 10% Of Pay TV Customers Plan Moving To Internet TV This Year
2. Why The Time For Internet TV To Explode Is Now
3. How long until ABC and CBS air shows on Hulu?

The Competition Commission had reported in February that Sky had made ’excessive profits’ from their Sky Movies and Sky Movies Box Office series of channels, having recorded official complaints from a number of competing services as far back as August.

This suggests that an official reform (with guidelines on how much a company can own in the way of movie broadcast rights) might be in the works, with a research paper from the watchdog stating that Sky: “appears consistently to have earned profits in aggregate in excess of its cost of capital ['excess profits'] in the recent past and over a long period.”

General broadcasting regulator Ofcom also expressed their worry over the state of the market, claiming that Sky’s dominance of first-run film contracts (from all six major movie studios in Hollywood) gave them an “incentive and ability to distort competition”.

Whilst the reported annual running costs of Sky Movies is said to be in excess of £280m, the service claims to reach over 30% of pay-TV subscribers in the British Isles through their own-brand Sky service and channels on Virgin Media. Money is also made from leasing rights for selected films to rival broadcasters at an ‘excessive’ rate.

Rivals such as LoveFilm are complaining about Sky’s presence in the digital market as well, with Sky’s high-quality subscription VOD service for movies forcing other online providers to change their strategy and compete amongst themselves in order to survive.

The commission summarised the mood in their study, stating: “It is likely that Sky’s rivals would have paid lower prices for Sky’s… movie channels, [and] would have been able to innovate more in terms of having greater flexibility to package and promote products, and would have been able to launch products earlier.”

A spokesman for the Competition Commission spokesman announced that these findings_: “These are preliminary working papers and thus represent our latest thinking, rather than conclusions on any issue. The provisional finding will be published in August.”

With Sky having previously been forcibly cut back on broadcast rights before by regulators (such as with live sport), is it proof that there is such a thing as too much success?

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Adobe Pass Single Sign In For Premium TV On Multiple Devices
2. DirecTV Cause Cinematic Anger With New Movie VOD
3. Youtube Expand Movie Section With Over 400 Full Length Movies

Intended as a replacement for existing browser-based service Sky Player, Sky Go is a more interactive live TV and catch-up service provided by the entertainment giant. The enhanced interactivity of Sky Go comes in the form of its creation as an ‘app’ for Apple iOS devices (such as the iPad and iPhone).

After downloading the ‘app’ through the Apple App Store, users will be able to record and watch their favourite shows on selected channels as though they were watching normal TV with the option to view content live, as well as regular abilities seen on the Sky+ service such as pausing and rewinding live TV, and full application of an electronic programme guide (EPG).

The service is to be made availiable free to all Sky customers (by logging into Go with a username and password), but those who do not have a satellite package can still use Sky Go at a subscribtion cost of £15 a month. The app itself is naturally free to download, but the activation a connection to Sky to  be involved.

Sky Go is reported to be a combination of the methods used to create Sky Player and phone-based service Sky Mobile TV, but it is unknown on the future status of the latter now that Sky Go is being rolled out across multiple platforms. The service will allow a number of key channels to be watched while the user is out and about, although mobile devices will carry less networks than their computer-based counterparts, which will feature 30 channels of Sky’s own-brand and their afilliate networks.

In other developments for Sky, their exclusive service on the Xbox 360 games console is to be rebranded to Sky from former name Sky Player, while a number of other ‘apps’ remain, including Sky+ Remote Record, Football Score Centre, and Sky News updates. A dominant force in satellite TV for so long, will Sky soon make their presence felt on the move as well?

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Are Apple Getting Ready To Manufacture Connected TV?
2. Hulu Plus Update 2.3 Comes To Apple Devices
3. Apple Takes Worlds Top Brand Crown From Google

With services such as Freeview, Sky, and Virgin Media all included in the defenition of ‘Digital TV’ the latest instalment of the media regulator’s Digital Progress Report, 83.3% of all UK TV sets are now on the digital bandwagon as the ‘digital switchover’ continues across the British Isles.

This means that for the 6.9% of homes (and 16.7% of sets) that are yet to convert from the traditional analogue, a move will have to be made soon to avoid being frozen out by regular TV channels, as analogue becomes phased out as part of the official switchover.

While the difference between full houses and single sets not recieving analogue is probably due to many older models being kept as spares or in storage and not being prioritised for upgrading, there is gradual improvement in the world of ‘non-main’ sets, as Ofcom also report that 75.7% of all the UK’s listed ’secondary TV’s’ have been upgraded to digital signals (as of the study end-date in March), a rise of 5.2% from the preceding year’s figures on the same period in 2010.

Amongst a selection of more detailed statistics, Ofcom discovered that digital terrestrial television users (mainly from Freeview in the form of set-top boxes and ‘integrated digital TV sets’) now number 10.1m homes listed as a primary service (accounting for nearly 40% of all households), with many more purchased as secondary sets.

Other figures put Freesat on over 2m, while, pay-TV satellite broadcasting rival Sky added over 377,000 new subscribers their service, bringing their total to 10.1m similar to Freeview. Virgin Media’s cable TV service rounded out the big-name providers on 3.8m total customers.

Ofcom have been producing the Digital Progress Report for over 8 years now, and in that time considerable progress has been seen on the digital conversion front. But with the digital switchover soon to be forcing analogue users to change their traditional  will later figures show an even steeper increase?

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. Digital TV Market Will Double By 2016 Says Report
2. YouView Gets The Green Light From Ofcom
3. Sky Submits Complaint To Ofcom Hoping To Block YouView

The facility was previously known by the name of Harlequin 1 but with Sky’s purchase of the land in 2006, and 5 years of development costing a total of over £233m, the building has now taken the title of ‘Sky Studios’.

The complex was put to work on Monday morning with its debut broadcast, a 6am live showing of Good Morning Sports Fans on the Sky Sports News channel, aired in a studio designed specifically for the needs of that channel as part of a greater level of internal investment into the service. The Sky News channel is preparing to make a similar complete move in the near future.

Sky, who are currently in the midst of being taken over by News Corporation, announced that Sky Studios will have bigger and better facilities than ever before in a sustainable environment, holding more live broadcast trucks and HD equipment, as well as a total of eight studios (five of them HD.

The five-floor building also contains 45 ‘edit suites’, 14 ‘voiceover rooms’, 4 ‘audio suites’, and a tailor-made post-production facility on-site. The structured complex will allow producers to ‘produce’, ‘control’, and ‘transmit’ all in one place, with filming and editing all catered for.

Sky’s chief executive Jeremy Darroch was quick to point out the benefits of the centre, stating: “Opening Sky Studios is a significant step in Sky’s development, and this building stands testament to our commitment to home-grown, high quality British content. Not only is Sky Studios the most environmentally sustainable broadcasting facility in Europe, its cutting edge technology will also help us continue to create ground-breaking and innovative programming long into the future.”

Sky Studios is also said to represent Sky’s proclaimed “growing commitment to home-grown British content”, having recently announced that they would invest up to £1.8b into local programming across the next three years. Sky’s move follows on from the BBC’s relocation to Salford (England) from London, but will the networks maintain stability in their new homes?

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. YouView Gets The Green Light From Ofcom
2. Hollywoods Answer To Netflix – Home Premiere $30 Per Rental
3. Sky Sports Free Online And Mobile TV For Subscribers

Cord cutting not to be feared just yet.

The study by J.D. Power and Associates did come out with some interesting trends in the TV market. Titled – 2011 U.S. Residential Pay-to-View Study, the study was based on questions answered by 6,815 US homes in April 2011.

Consumers rated Pay TV satisfaction across six factors, including variety of content, ease of use, customer service, billing, price and promotions. Overall pay-TV satisfaction averaged 743 on a 1,000-point scale. Netflix and Redbox also scored very high among pay-TV subscribers.

that evaluated usage of video providers including Amazon, Apple TV, Blockbuster/Blockbuster Express, Google TV, Hulu and Hulu Plus, local video stores, Netflix and Redbox. The study was fielded in April 2011.

Cord cutting is more prevalent in younger people and diminishes as the age range grows. 6% of consumers aged 17-24 have dropped pay TV, 4% of  age 35-46, 2% of age 47-65 and just 1% of age 66 to 86 the study showed.

Said J.D. Powers director of telecommunications research, Frank Perazzini:- “The predictions of the demise of television subscription service as we know it are clearly premature,”

He said that although alternative viewing methods are growing in popularity, traditional TV is here for a few years at least. He said, “The popularity of services such as Netflix and Redbox is a clear indication that consumers are enjoying the availability of alternative viewing options. However, with 52% of television customers reporting that they still watch regularly scheduled programming as it is broadcast, the current model will remain viable for the next two to three years, at a minimum.”

The study also showed that mobile TV is an increasingly popular way of watching TV and video. 27% of respondents said they watch videos on a mobile handheld mobile device, such as a tablet or smartphone.

The mobile phone was most popular device for this task with 15% followed by tablets with 12% and music players 12%.

Related posts:

1. Cord Cutting Is Insignificant Says New Report
2. ESPN Study Shows Cord Cutting Is Not An Issue
3. Mass Cord Cutting Is A Myth Say Nielsen

News Corp could be new Sky owners

Hunt added that as part of this arrangement, News Corp are advised to carry on with their plans use news channel Sky News as an ‘independently-listed’ affiliate company as a way to ease concerns that News Corp are becoming too much of a presence in national media, due to their ownership of a number of leading newspapers, websites, TV channels and providers (amongst other ventures).

Part of the move to loosen ties with Sky News will come with a few conditions from News Corp, as measures designed to keep the familiar network branding as well as reducing concerns over the thinning ‘media plurality’ (number of independent news sources) being caused by News Corp’s dominance.

After becoming an affiliate network, Sky News are to include in their board and editorial meetings an ‘independent director’ with experience in senior journalism, as well as an independent ’monitoring trustee’ to help News Corp keep in line with the laws of the spinoff, amongst a series of external workers.

Sky are also required to cross-promote their news service through its websites and TV channels (and possibly vice-versa), while the official holding company will be known as Newco, and are responsible for collecting and supplying independent funding for the running of Sky News, with the spin-off guaranteed for a minimum of 10 years, and News Corp licencing out the Sky News brand for seven at least. News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch will claim a 39.1% stake in the Newco operation, while the remainder is to be owned by existing Sky shareholders.

Meanwhile, Hunt said of the planned official deal between News Corp and Sky: “I am aware of the huge interest in the proposed merger and am grateful to those who responded to the consultation. I have considered carefully the points raised and, as at all steps in this process, taken advice from the independent regulators. The regulators have confirmed that the proposed undertakings are still sufficient to ensure media plurality. I could have decided to accept the original undertakings but a number of suggestions were made in response to the consultation which could further strengthen the undertakings, particularly around editorial independence, business viability and the articles of association. I am therefore proposing some changes to the undertakings and I will now hold a further public consultation.”

Hunt’s approval of the takeover should be complete soon, and may , barring any final hurdles, will trigger a round of frantic price negotiations between News Corp and Sky’s independent directors.

Crispin Odey, a leading investor in Sky, could be one of the big winners from the planned takeover, after revealing the satellite TV company’s estimated value at £19B, which means that Crispin Odey, and the remaining investors, could be in for a collective £11.6B price for the 61% share that News Corp doesn’t already own. With so much being spent on the deal, will the legal benefits be enough for News Corp to see value in owning Sky?

Incoming TV searches:

Related posts:

1. News Corp ‘Bully Tactics’ In Sky 100% Buy
2. ABC News 24 To Launch In Australia On Live Stream
3. Internet Now First Choice For News Above Newspapers