June 18, 2012 – Marking what could be an insight into an issue that could plague online TV and online video providers, over-the-top (OTT) leader Netflix has revealed the extent to which it has had to invest in infrastructure in order to ensure end user quality as the service has rapidly developed.

Indeed Netflix concedes that its move to cloud-based distribution, seen as absolutely necessary to ensure long-term ambitions as it scales out across the world, forced it to develop new design patterns for running a reliable and resilient distributed system.

Yet in addition to the technical hurdles it overcame to run successfully in the cloud, Netflix says that it also had to undergo operational and organisational transformations.

Read more at http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/2012061822526/cloud-cover-lets-netflix-resolve-resiliency-and-reliability.html#ixzz1yD5phFEt

Faced with increasing competition, Pay TV operators are under pressure to ‘open up’ their platforms and make more online services available through the set-top box. They need development environments that encourage innovation but protect the core platform from harm. The prize is higher customer satisfaction and possibly new revenues. But there is no consensus about how they can achieve apps scale cost-effectively so Android could have an important role to play in addition to HTML5.

This 7,000 word report looks at how service providers can harness apps on their own platforms and also looks at efforts to make it easier for them to become ‘apps’ themselves on connected TV devices. It includes insights from Virgin Media, Orange, Samsung, LG, Roku, NDS, NAGRA, Accedo, easeltv, Electronic Arts, IMS Research, Farncombe, CTOi Consulting, Futuresource Consulting, Parks Associates, EchoStar Europe, Humax and Broadcom.

Read the Apps report here: http://bit.ly/Lu4rbh

This report is published by Videonet and there is no charge to read, download or print this report.

WHILE FILIPINO-dubbed Mexican telenovelas and Korean drama series have captivated local audiences, a number of Pinoy TV programs are making a big splash abroad, with shows produced by major broadcast networks from the Philippines earning loyal fans in Asia, Africa, and the rest of the world.

http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=53472

15/6/2012 – NEW YORK (Reuters) – YouTube’s boss said that cable television channels with small audiences will in the future migrate to the Web and become available on a stand-alone basis, potentially making a home for themselves on the No.1 video website.

The cable channels could provide more professionally produced content for YouTube as it weighs selling subscriptions for consumers to access some of its video offerings.

As YouTube, owned by Google Inc, ponders selling subscriptions, it has “seen demand from the kind of networks that have smaller audiences on cable,” and which get very little or no affiliate fees from cable distributors, Kamangar said at the Reuters Media and Technology Summit on Thursday.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/low-rated-cable-channels-may-live-youtube-004406455–sector.html

13-06-2012

Only 20% of homes in India’s metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have been issued with digital set top boxes ahead of the mandatory switch off of their analogue cable TV networks at the end of this month.

The cities require a combined total of 12.5 million digital set top boxes (STBs), yet only 2.9 million have so far been installed, according to data provided by stakeholders to the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting, the Financial Express reports today.

Mumbai has the highest STB penetration rate (47%) of the four metros that feature in the first phase of India’s ambitious target to digitise its entire cable TV network nationwide by the end of 2014. However, with the 30 June deadline just a few weeks away, Kolkata has only reached 19% of cable homes, and almost three quarters of Delhi’s cable residents are still without digital STBs.

12-06-2012, Multiscreen TV users tend to overall consume more content than living-room only watchers, according to a new white paper on viewing habits from the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and comScore.

The research finds that TV viewers look to online content to enhance rather than replace traditional viewing. A full 90% of consumers watch TV on a traditional set, 12% use online video, and a remarkable 60% of the media companies’ viewers watched TV while engaging with online content (video and otherwise) at the same time.

The trend offers new opportunities for marketers, but also ratchets up the complexity. “While TV remains the leading media channel, once TV-centric media brands now engage with their consumers across a variety of digital touchpoints,” said Joan FitzGerald, comScore’s vice president of TV and cross-media solutions, in a statement. “While this enhances the quality of brand engagement, it also increases the complexity of media planning and analysis by orders of magnitude.”

http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/2012061222388/tv-online-multitasking-reaches-60-penetration.html?utm_source=newsletter_698&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rapid-tv-news-current-edition-1206

June 13, 2012 – Committee chairman Settapong Malisuwan said yesterday that the panel had concluded that this licence falls under the NBTC’s existing regulations on the granting of Type 3 licences, so any firm could apply.

However, the committee has yet to finalise the licence fee. Applicants will have to pay either a fixed fee to be determined later or the normal licence fee of 2 per cent of annual revenue. The committee has also yet to finalise the licence’s validity period.

To be eligible for a satellite network provider licence, an applicant must be a Thai entity as defined by the 2001 Telecom Business Act, which caps the maximum foreign shareholding in a local telecom operator at 49.99 per cent. The other qualifications are compliance with the NBTC’s regulations on the granting of Type 3 licences, which are for large network owners.

Settapong said applicants needed to request a separate licence for each of their satellites.

He added that those wanting to enter the satellite business had to get the Information and Communications Technology Ministry to seek orbital slots for them, as it is the ministry, not the NBTC, that represents Thailand in coordinating with the International Telecommuni-cation Union on reserving slots.

Settapong has said the telecom committee does not need to hold a public hearing on the regulations on this satellite business licence.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Satellite-licences-open-to-all-30184045.html

Jun 13, 2012 Beijing – Apple announced that the next versions of desktop and mobile operating system will integrate Youku and Tudou services for users to easily share videos to the web.

The move comes as part of Apple’s plan to solidify and expand its share of the China market, which is Apple’s second-largest market after the United States.

Apple’s OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6 will support video-sharing to Youku and Tudou. iOS 6 will also support Chinese voice recognition through Siri and improved Chinese text input and handwriting recognition.

According to mobile analytics firm Flurry, China accounted for 24% of iOS and Android device activation worldwide in February 2012, more than any other country in the world.

Jian Yao, chief technology officer of Youku, said the partnership with Apple takes Youku one step closer to reaching video bloggers everywhere.

Youku and Tudou entered into an agreement in March 2012 and are working towards completing the merger.

http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/33479

14 Jun 2012 – Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) and eBay Inc. (EBAY) are at an early stage of discussion to enable Comcast’s subscribers to buy products featured in television advertisements and pay via eBay’s PayPal payment service. We believe that this is an effort by the company to compensate for the loss sustained from over-the-top video segment.

As part of the collaboration agreement, viewers with a PayPal account will be able to buy a product being advertised on television, donate money to political campaign and non-profit organization. Additionally, they can also ask advertisers to text information to their phones regarding a product and can collect coupons through PayPal to shop in retail stores like Home Depot Inc. (HD).

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/comcast-join-paypal-192647426.html

Pay-TV firm admits fight to air footie games is lost

14/06/2012 – The Union of European Football Associations has vetoed a request by its broadcast rights holder GMM Grammy to rebroadcast tournament matches to pay-TV operator True Visions.

Uefa yesterday sent a letter to Grammy to reject its sub-licensing request.

In a letter to Grammy Sport managing director Kobkiat Sangwanich, Uefa’s media rights manager Ian Wilson said the request had come too late since the tournament was already well under way.

True Visions cannot transmit any Euro 2012 programmes because it is not owned by Grammy, or affiliated to the company, the letter said.

“True Visions had an earlier opportunity to acquire Uefa Euro 2012 rights from Uefa directly. Furthermore, GMM Grammy delivers greater free-TV exposure in Thailand through the sub-licensing of rights to free-TV (channels 3, 5 and 9) and we are very happy with this free-to-air broadcast platform,” he said.

Read the full story at http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/297931/uefa-kills-true-rebroadcast-bid