Satnews

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German Hulu remains prohibited
Jörn Krieger | 09-08-2012

Germany's two leading commercial TV groups, RTL and ProSiebenSat.1, are still not allowed to set up a joint online video portal modelled on successful US platform Hulu. The appeal court Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf confirmed the decision by the cartel office Bundeskartellamt which prohibited the creation of the joint venture.

"The court's decision is an important signal for the protection of competition in the new media area," the cartel office's president Andreas Mundt said in Bonn. "The dynamics of these markets doesn't rule out that powerful companies try to safeguard their market position in established markets and to transfer it to new emerging markets."

The anti-trust authority blocked the plan in March 2012, arguing that it would further strengthen the market-dominating duopoly of the two broadcast groups in the TV advertising market. The expected coordination of commercial interests through the joint venture company would also have violated the interdiction of agreements limiting competition.

RTL and ProSiebenSat.1 lodged a complaint against the prohibition of their planned venture in April 2011. No complaint is possible against the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf's verdict, but the companies can submit a complaint against the non-permission of a complaint at the Federal Supreme Court Bundesgerichtshof.

[Lujdzo]

News Corp takes near $3BN hit on publishing as revs flatten and profits fall
Joseph O'Halloran | 09-08-2012

What a difference a year makes: 12 months ago an imperious News Corp was advancing on all forts but at the end of fiscal 2012 it has taken a $2.9BN hit from its scandal-hit publishing division on the back of revenues of annual revenue of $33.7 billion.

This figure however, was only 1% up on the previous year and drove total segment operating income of $5.4 billion compared to $4.9 billion reported a year ago. Net income was $1.2 billion, compared with $2.7 billion at the end of fiscal 2011.

This increase was driven by operating income improvements at nearly all of the company’s segments, led by a $535 million, or 19%, increase at the Cable Network Programming segment and a $205 million, or 22%, increase at the Filmed Entertainment segment.

For the quarter ended 30 June 2012, News Corp reported revenue of $8.4 billion, £600 million down on 2011. The Cable Network Programming division was star performer with 15% revenue growth. Even though the company reported quarterly total segment operating income of $1.2 billion, down $167 million on 2011, it reported a quarterly net loss of $1.6 billion as compared with net income of $683 million in the quarter for the previous year.The quarterly results included a $2.9 billion pre-tax impairment and restructuring charge primarily related to the Company’s publishing businesses. Drilling down into divisions, the television business reported yearly profits of $706 million as compared with $681 million the year earlier. 2012 fourth quarter profit was $213 million, a whole $20 down on 2011.

Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) TV Q4 profits in sank from $145 million in 2011 to $89 million. This decline was said to reflect a doubling of retransmission consent revenues being more than offset by lower national advertising revenues primarily driven by lower American Idol ratings. Yearly profits actually grew from $232 million to $254 million.

Cable Network Programming reported annual segment operating income of $3.3 billion, a $535 million, or 19%, increase over the prior year, driven by a 14% increase in revenue. Operating income contributions from the domestic channels increased 21%, underpinned by growth at the Regional Sports Networks, Fox News Channel and the FX Network. The Company’s international cable channels grew earnings 16%, reflecting strong growth in Latin America and Asia.

Commenting on what has been a bruising year both personally and professionally, and where his own future as figurehead has been questioned for the first time, News Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch said: “We are proud of the full year financial growth achieved over the last twelve months, led by our Cable Network Programming and Filmed Entertainment segments…significant progress has been made in

opportunistically (sic) addressing the Company’s non-consolidated assets, as demonstrated by the purchase of Fox Pan American Sports, the sale of $$$ and the announced intention to purchase the remaining ownership stake of ESPN STAR Sports and Consolidated Media Holdings. Our Company has continued to innovate, grow and consistently adapt to the rapidly changing media industry la$$$cape. We find ourselves in the middle of great change, driven by shifts in technology, consumer behaviour, advertiser dema$$$ and economic uncertainty and change brings about great opportunity.”

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Sky Italia has about 42 000 fewer subscribers

Source: ADTV
Italian satellite platform Sky Italia ended the second quarter of 2012 from 4.9 million subscribers . This represents a fall of 42 thousand. subscribers in the quarter and 71 thousand. per year. News Corp. reported that the quarterly operating profit was 89 million dollars. compared with 145 million dollars. a year earlier.

Annual operating profit rose 9 percent. to 254 million dollars., because of lower costs of programming, after the World Championships last year.

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Soko Serbian TV will be on satellite

Source: media-sat.net / parabola.cz
Viewers will be able to find the next Serbian satellite channel. Unencrypted broadcasts via satellite EUTELSAT 16A (16 ° E) is planning to Soko TV from Serbia. The operator will use the capacity of STN from Slovenia.

Station TV Soko was founded in 1997. In 2000, along with the station Radio Sokobanja established a Radio-Televizija Sokobanja. Today, broadcasts 24 hours a day programs that inform, educate and entertain. Own production is more than 25 percent. air time. planned technical parameters Soko TV: EUTELSAT 16A (16 ° E) 11.366 GHz, pol. V, SR 30000, FEC 3/4, DVB-S/QPSK encoding: none

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7 premieres documentary in September at CANAL +

Source: CANAL +
The passion, determination, love and extraordinary facets of human nature documentaries tell the September launch of Canal + , among them the 2012 Academy Award ® nominee for "Pina" by Wim Wenders.

On Sunday, September 30 CANAL + broadcast premiere of Academy Award ® nominee Wim Wenders' 2012 document "Pina" , a tribute to the German dancer, choreographer and visionary contemporary dance Pina Bausch. The film shows produced by her arrangements performed by the Tanztheater Wuppertal, where Bausch spent 35 years working life. The director takes the audience on an emotional and visual experience unusual journey through the theater and the streets of Wuppertal, in addition to performances by dancers, their memories of the artist. Implemented in the 3D movie will be on view in three dimensions also aired on Canal + 3D . On Friday, September 21 premiere of CANAL + will "Calvet - the art and groom," tells the amazing story of a famous painter Jean Calvet Mark. Viewers learn about the artist as a young boy brought up on French streets, then the security guard at Cannes, and the man who left his family, he robbed an American mafiosi, and then went to Nicaragua, where he broke in dramatic circumstances from drugs and began to paint. The filmmakers are looking at the current life Calvet, whose paintings sell for tens of thousa$$$ of dollars. In Monday's regular band of the documents in September, CANAL + will "Prophet" (17 September), a collection of stories inspired by the Lebanese philosopher and writer Kahil Gibran. The document, which the narrator is a BAFTA winner Thandie Newton, is a written record of the title character, in which he shows the world through the prism of tolerance, frie$$$hip and love. The film was shot, among others in Libya, Serbia, New York, Milan and London. A week later, September 24, CANAL + offers the premiere of "My Death" - the documentary story of three people who have survived clinical death. This experience has significantly influenced the attitudes of their life - wyzbywszy the fear of death, gained inner peace, strength and new energy for life. The film was presented, among others IDFA festival 2011. On Monday, September 10, the document "Journey into the realm of myth," will examine the tales and lege$$$ that underlie contemporary culture. The document can learn how to change their major themes, how to relate the story to the present archaic reality, and that as society continues to create myths. interesting proposal September 3 is the "source of anger" , which invited the film psychologists, sociologists and economists answer questions about the sources and the role of anger in the contemporary world and on methods of coping with anger. In September, on CANAL + no documents will also be natural. Every Saturday will be the premiere episode , "Canary Isla$$$" . The show remarkable beauty of the local fauna and flora, allowing a close look at the fascinating la$$$capes of the isla$$$. Premiere: SOURCE OF ANGER : Monday, September 3, 2012 Trip to the land of myths : Monday, September 10, 2012 PROPHET : Monday, September 17, 2012 Calvet - ART AND CLEANING Friday, September 21, 2012 MY DEATH : Monday, September 24, 2012 PINA : Sunday, September 30, 2012 CANARY ISLA$$$ : every Saturday, from September 1, 2012

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Vizrt signs broadcast graphics deal with new TV station in the Middle East
Louise Duffy | 25-08-2012

Vizrt has signed a $620,000 deal for the implementation of broadcast graphics products with a new television station in the Middle East.

The deal is for a full suite of broadcast graphics products that will form the foundation of the station's on-air look as well as streamline the day-to-day workflow.

Viz Content Pilot will allow the newsroom editorial staff to manage their graphic content in the newsroom control system by changing templates, creating maps in Viz World, and adding each element to a Media Object Server (MOS) playlist.

In the control room, Viz Trio, Vizrt's character generator (CG), triggers each graphic from the MOS playlist to air. Graphics and templates are designed in Vizrt's real-time 3D design application, Viz Artist.

In the studio the presenters can have control of graphic pacing with Viz Anchor. Viz Video Wall ER provides the backdrop for the studio as a large video wall with infinite possibilities in content.

In Master control, Viz Ticker3D displays text and images in multiple carousels, receiving content from live feeds and directly from the newsroom editorial staff. All graphics are rendered in real-time by Vizrt's real-time 3D compositing engine, Viz Engine.

With these new tools in place, the television station has an end to end graphics solution that provides them with the same technical and graphical capabilities as used by the world's top broadcasters.

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Spain’s national private broadcasters reach agreement to push DTT
Iñaki Ferreras | 25-08-2012

Spain’s national private broadcasters in the UTECA association have reached an agreement with the government to promote digital terrestrial television (DTT).

The agreement includes a firm commitment for high definition and the introduction of innovative services on DTT that will take advantage of fourth generation (4G) mobile telephony, which is due to be introduced in January 2014. It also aims to promote the development of HDTV and new services, and the equipment manufacturing industry and associated technologies.

"This agreement is based on the principles of effectiveness and economic efficiency, in a context of budgetary austerity and in driving technological development as a source of wealth and growth through maximum utilisation of the radio spectrum. This is lowered from six to five the number assigned to multiple private TV operators," explained UTECA.

[Lujdzo]

Brazil to begin analogue switch-off in 2015
Iñaki Ferreras | 25-08-2012

The Brazilian government is to complete the switchover from analogue to digital television by 2016, starting in phases in March 2015.

The decision was made based on the disparity in the deployment of digital terrestrial television (DTT), under the ISDB-T standard. Currently only large cities are in a position to switch over, because small municipalities have not yet installed digital TV stations.

This delay in the implementation of DTT also explains why the government is developing a national network clock tip of fourth generation mobile telecommunications, which should be ready before the start of the World Cup 2014 to be held in Rio.

Faced with the impossibility of complying with the digital switchover by 2016, Brazil’s Ministry of Communications designed the phased plan to start in March 2015 in Greater São Paulo, and will continue progressively in large cities such as Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Vitoria, Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Florianopolis.

[Lujdzo]

PSB prime time ad ban challenged by French government
Pascale Paoli-Lebailly | 25-08-2012

The French government hasn't ruled out suppressing the PSB prime-time ad ban, the key TV reform set in 2009 by former President Sarkozy. This reform aims to ban TV advertising totally from PSB screens by 2016.

The French Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac announced on Thursday that he didn’t exclude a return of prime-time advertsising to France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ã", as a response to Brussels injunctions.

To compensate for the ad ban, Sarkozy’s government had placed two taxes on both private channels and telcos. But the EC thinks they’re representing a competition distortion and has asked France to withdraw them.

The new government must consider whether to add a new tax or cancel the prime-time ad ban. In times of economical crisis, it will maybe not take the risk to levy a new tax. It says it is considering several solutions.

[Lujdzo]

Discovery Channel stays at Sky Germany
Jörn Krieger | 25-08-2012

Discovery Channel and Discovery HD will continue to be available on German pay-TV platform Sky Deutschland. The subscription broadcasters renewed its partnership with parent company Discovery Networks Deutschland.

The multi-year contract contains distribution of both channels through cable, IPTV and internet and - exclusively via Sky - on satellite.

The agreement also enables Sky to offer Discovery programmes as video-on-demand (VOD) and on mobile devices through its additional services Sky Anytime and Sky Go, for example on the iPad, iPhone and Xbox 360.

[Lujdzo]

eTF1 handles local sales of ProsiebenSat.1 online games
Pascale Paoli-Lebailly | 25-08-2012

TF1 Group’s digital subsidiary eTF1 has announced it now handles the exclusive French distribution of ProsiebenSat.1 Games’s online products. This agreement in France launches ProsiebenSat1 Games’ distribution strategy across Europe.

A large offer of online games will be available in free-to-play on portal MyTF1.fr. Titles include DC Universe Online (Sony Online Entertainment), Maestia, Rise of Keledus, and S4 league. Over the coming months, the whole library will be accessible to players.

This offer will be completed by a large amount of core and casual games distributed by ProsiebenSat.1 and published by companies like Bigpoint.

"Online games are very important in France with more than 25 million active players. This is the second most important population of players in Europe behind Germany. TF1 thus positions itself in a strongly expanding market with a quality offer of products," said Olivier Abecassis, eTF1 MD in a statement.

[Lujdzo]

Novavision to change name to Novovision
Pascale Paoli-Lebailly | 25-08-2012

French production and distribution company Novavision, which specialises in comedy content and hidden cameras, will become Novovision as of January 2013.

The company has also announced the appointment of Allison Glasgow-Lafontaine as head of international sales, in charge of Europe, North America and Middel-East. She succeeds Nathalie Nennig.

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Broadband takes off in Ukraine
August 27, 2012 09.04 Europe/London By Chris Dziadul

The provision of high-speed internet access is proving to be a lucrative business in Ukraine.

Data produced by IKS-Consulting and published by ProIT shows that the number of customers receiving such services amounted to 6.5 million, of which 5.75 million were home users, as of the end of June.

Total broadband penetration stood at 33% of households, and operators’ revenues in Q2 were UAH1.357 billion (â,¬131.9 million) excluding VAT, or 2.8% more than in the previous quarter (+18% year-on-year).

The incumbent telco Ukrtelecom was the leading provider of broadband services, with 1,453,000 subscribers as of the end of Q2, compared to 1,407,000 three months earlier.

It was followed by Kyivstar (514,700) and leading cable operators Volia and Triolan (500,000 and 250,000 respectively).

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Netia gains TV subs
August 27, 2012 09.54 Europe/London By Chris Dziadul

The Polish alternative telco Netia ended the second quarter with 71,274 subscribers to its TV services.

This compared to 61,804 at the end of Q1 and 48,775 a year earlier, with TV ARPU amounting to PLN42 (â,¬10.3), compared to PLN36 (Q2 2011) and PLN44 (Q1 2012).

Netia’s broadband subscriber total was meanwhile 903,947, up 3% on a year earlier but 1% down on the first quarter.

Netia’s RGU total was 2,785,339, driven by broadband, TV and mobile services, and is projected to reach 2,900,000 by the end of the year.

Netia has integrated its activities, which include the alternative telco Dialog, into a signal group that it calls ‘New Netia’.

[Lujdzo]

Amazon expa$$$ Prime Instant Video agreement with NBCUniversal
Amazon expa$$$ Prime Instant Video agreement with NBCUniversal

Editor | 27-08-2012

In just the latest of a series of movies to improve the basic proposition of its Prime Instant Video offer, Amazon has expanded its content deal with NBCUniversal Cable & New Media Distribution.

The deal will see the addition to the Amazon stable of popular shows such as Parks and Recreation, Parenthood, The Starter Wife, Friday Night Lights, Heroes and Battlestar Galactica.

Prime Instant Video now features more than 22,000 movies and TV episodes to stream on a range of connected devices such as the Amazon Kindle Fire plus compatible Amazon Instant Video devices including iPad, Roku, Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

“We are excited to be working with NBCUniversal to add their award-winning lineup of TV shows such as Parks and Recreation and Friday Night Lights to Prime Instant Video,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “We continue to invest heavily in our content selection for Prime members, and have now reached over 22,000 movies and TV episodes available instantly with unlimited streaming.”

“We are thrilled to have several of our iconic programs available to subscribers of Amazon Prime, a service focused on the best possible consumer experience,” added Frances Manfredi, President, Cable & New Media Distribution for NBCUniversal. “We look forward to further expanding NBCU’s content offering available to Prime subscribers in the near future.”