4 Jan, 2016 – Turner is looking to turn its TV networks into one big platform for native advertising.

The cable programmer, whose channels include TBS, TNT, CNN and Cartoon Network, among others, is introducing a new native advertising unit at the Consumer Electronics Show this week with the goal of reimagining commercial breaks.

Turner will work with marketers to replace traditional commercials with pods that tell a brand story, said Dan Riess, head of content partnerships at Turner.

Read more at Ad Age

5 Jan, 2016 – GroupM, the media buying arm of WPP, has reached a deal with Fullscreen to help the advertising firm’s clients work with key social media influencers, particularly YouTube creators.

As part of the initiative, called “Playa,” GroupM and WPP clients will have first-look access to content produced by Fullscreen talent, and Fullscreen will provide the agencies with exclusive access to the company’s proprietary data and analytics tools, the companies announced Tuesday.

Read more at Wall Street Journal

6 Jan. 2015 – At CES 2016 Sony Electronics has unveiled its newest line-up of Ultra HD televisions, the XBR-X930D/XBR-X940D and the XBR-X850D series, built to support the highest standard in picture quality with HDR (High Dynamic Range) compatibility and unique backlighting technologies in an ultra-thin design.

HDR reproduces a greater dynamic range of luminosity or brightness levels, bringing greater contrast to the screen. This increased contrast reveals the subtle nuances of the image, from detailed blacks and shadows to the brightest whites and colours. With HDR compatible televisions, and Sony’s unique X-tended Dynamic Range PRO and TRILUMINOS Display technologies, viewers will enjoy higher brightness, higher contrast and more vibrant colours, resulting in more depth and detail than ever before.

Read more at Advanced Television

6 Jan, 2015 – Ooyala’s State of the Broadcast Industry Whitepaper reports that 2015 was the year that premium OTT video content moved decisively to centre stage. The shift from traditional TV continues and shift-deniers have been pushed to the curb. Broadcasters and operators have accepted OTT as a fait accompli, and the repercussions are affecting all areas of the business.

Meanwhile, consumers continue to demand change across the whole of their viewing experience ― from the content they watch, to the devices they use to watch it and the methods they choose to pay for it.

Ooyala’s 2nd annual report looks at the end-of-year broadcast landscape and what lies ahead for 2016.

Read more at Advanced Television

(January 6, 2016 – Hong Kong) Letv, a global leader in smart device technology, today announced that its next generation smartphone devices will be powered by the Snapdragon 820 processor from Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI), starting with the Le Max Pro smartphone. As the world’s first tech company to announce the use of the new Snapdragon 820 processor, Letv continues to demonstrate innovative product development with the ultimate in connectivity, graphics, entertainment, mobile photography and power efficiency.

“Letv has already established itself as one of the world’s top innovators and our decision to include the Snapdragon 820 processor in these new devices demonstrates our commitment to creating and delivering the best technology available to our customers,” said Jun Liang, chief operating officer at Letv. “Once the marketplace sees the dramatic performance enhancements in our smartphones, we are confident they will not accept anything less.”

The Le Max Pro boasts a robust set of features, including Snapdragon Sense ID fingerprint technology, the mobile industry’s first comprehensive ultrasonic-based fingerprint biometric solution, providing a more secure, reliable alternative to capacitive-based fingerprint sensors. Snapdragon Sense ID fingerprint technology now includes a new liveness detection feature, helping to ensure that an actual finger is being used for biometric authentication, and making the solution even more difficult to spoof. The Le Max Pro is the first commercial device with Snapdragon Sense ID fingerprint technology and will be the first with the new liveness detection capability as well. The Le Max Pro also features Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 2.0 for up to 75% faster charging than conventional methods.

Additionally, Letv will be the first to roll out commercial devices integrating 802.11ad multi-band wireless connectivity for multi-gigabit speeds and nearly uncompressed content transfer. By offering up to 4.6 Gbps PHY and bringing bandwidth-rich 60GHz spectrum to Wi-Fi’s fold, 802.11ad will be one of the tools to address the burgeoning data demand in homes, enterprises and carrier networks. Some of the 11ad use cases include lag-free docking and screen mirroring, 4k streaming to multiple devices, near instant access to multimedia and blistering fast upload and downloads.

“We are very pleased that Letv is first to bring compelling and advanced smartphones to consumers that are powered by the Snapdragon 820 processor and feature Snapdragon Sense ID fingerprint technology. Letv is leading the charge for next-gen mobile technology and giving consumers everywhere the performance and capabilities they’ve craved,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies. “The collaboration between Qualcomm Technologies and Letv underscores the importance of 802.11ad solutions in allowing users to interact with Wi-Fi like never before, including moving content onto and off of devices in seconds, and unwiring virtual reality (VR) glasses.”

Letv’s wide array of products feature what the company calls an “ecosystem user interface,” or EUI. The Letv EUI provides a consistent user experience across all products from the brand, and is made possible in part because of the Snapdragon processors and 802.11ad solutions used across its mobile device offerings.

With an ability to move content between devices in near real-time, and with an uncompressed signal, QTI’s technologies in Letv’s ecosystem of products maximize the user-experience, as well as the display quality on beautifully designed mobile and television devices. Content can be transferred from the Snapdragon 820-supported Le Max Pro to any brand TV through Letv’s specialized 802.11ad-powered dongle for an uncompressed, instant and in real-time HDMI display.

The Le Max Pro is the latest addition to Letv’s Le Superphone family, which sold more than one million units last November.

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About Letv
Founded in November 2004 by Jia Yueting, Le Holdings is committed to creating the “Letv Ecosystem,” a next-generation Internet engine that is vertically-integrated to offer an online platform complete with content, terminals and applications. Le Holdings is engaged in a rich array of businesses, spanning from Internet TV, video production and distribution, smart gadgets and large-screen applications to e-commerce and Internet-based electric vehicles. Le Holdings comprises a number of subsidiaries, including Letv.com, Leshi Zhi Xin, Le Vision Pictures, Wangjiu.com, Letv Holding, Letv Investment Management and Le Mobile. In 2014, the aggregate sales of Le Holdings amounted to approximately RMB 10 billion.

Letv.com made history on August 12, 2010 when it was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, making it the world’s first IPO company in the sector. Letv.com was also the first video company listed on China’s A-share market. Prolific as well as successful, Letv.com currently offers more than 100,000 episodes of TV dramas and over 5,000 movie titles. In addition, the site draws an estimated 250 million page views per day, 350 million users per month, 100 million daily content viewers on mobile devices, and 10 million daily content viewers on large-screen TVs.

Letv Hong Kong, as the headquarters of Asia Pacific region, was officially set up in August 2014, marking an important milestone of the company’s expansion in the overseas market. The company provides Hong Kong with an established vertically integrated ecosystem of “Platform + Content + Terminal + Application”. Letv has held 13 online flash sales in Hong Kong, with thousands of smart devices sold on every occasion. Currently, Letv Hong Kong offers various sales channels for users, including online pre-ordering services and 1,800+ offline outlets in Hong Kong and Macau. As the only entertainment platform with over 1,500 hours of 4K programs in Hong Kong, Letv has always been committed to providing rich and diverse online content including movies, dramas, variety shows and concerts to its fans.

Luxembourg, 5 January 2016 — SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced today that the Kativik Regional Government in Canada has awarded SES a contract for the delivery of new satellite services across the northern Quebec region.

Beginning in the second half of 2016, the 12 transponder deal on SES-2 positioned at 87 degrees West – and one of SES’s youngest satellites providing service to the Americas – will deliver critical C-band communications capability to more than 14 communities, and could triple the amount of bandwidth currently available across the Nunavik region by the end of this year. This was the largest government award in Canada in 2015 in terms of number of transponders.

Along with providing faster internet and other services to the Nunavik region, the agreement enables important connectivity for schools, hospitals, government buildings and other important facilities.

5 Jan, 2016 – 21st Century Fox has acquired a minority stake in virtual reality smart glasses designer and manufacturer Osterhout Design Group (ODG).

ODG is showing the latest iteration of its R-7 augmented reality glasses at CES in Las Vegas this week. With a price of almost $3,000, they are currently designed for industrial rather than consumer applications, but ODG is looking to break into the consumer market at a lower price point.

Now 21st Century Fox will be looking to boost that effort to take its 3D, high-definition glasses — billed as a 65-inch screen that goes anywhere — to the entertainment market.

Read more at Multichannel News

HONG KONG (January 5, 2016) – Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE), operator of the largest bouquet of pan-Asian channels dedicated to Asian entertainment, announced today the debut of KIX 360, CTE’s linear Over-The-Top (OTT) action entertainment channel, in Singapore on Singtel TV. KIX 360 will further roll out to more platforms across Asia this year.

KIX 360 is a dedicated regional OTT linear service with the same high-octane blend of combat sports, action series and action movies as KIX and KIX HD. Viewers can watch first and exclusive combat sport events such as Bellator MMA, Glory World Series and Road FC, action reality shows such as Top Gear Korea and Top Gear USA, and action movies such as Outcast and Pound of Flesh. KIX 360 also features exclusive programs such as fighter interviews and behind-the-scenes programming, not seen on KIX and KIX HD.

KIX 360 is currently one of the Live Channels offered on Singtel TV GO, and available to all authenticated subscribers of KIX HD. A free preview of the channel is offered until 11 January 2016.

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Media Contact:
Pauline Poon
Celestial Tiger Entertainment
T: 852 2239 6131
E: pauline.poon@celestialtiger.com

About Celestial Tiger Entertainment
CELESTIAL TIGER ENTERTAINMENT (CTE) is a leading independent media company dedicated to entertaining audiences in Asia and beyond. The company creates and distributes branded pay television channels and services targeted at Asian consumers.
CTE operates a powerful bouquet of distinct pay television services including: CELESTIAL MOVIES, the premier 24-hour first-run Chinese movie channel in Asia and beyond; CELESTIAL CLASSIC MOVIES, the world’s most-widely distributed Chinese movie channel with an unparalleled array of Chinese movie masterpieces; cHK, a general entertainment channel offering cool, chic, and contemporary celebrity-powered Hong Kong entertainment; KIX, the ultimate destination for action entertainment; MIAO MI, the first Mandarin “edu-tainment” channel created specifically for kids across Asia; and THRILL, Asia’s only regional horror, thriller and suspense movie channel. All of CTE’s channel brands are available as linear, on-demand and over-the-top services. CTE also produces original production for its bouquet of channels.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, CTE’s majority shareholders are Saban Capital Group, a leading private investment firm specializing in the media, entertainment and communications industries; Celestial Pictures, a diversified Asian entertainment company owned by Astro Overseas Limited; and Lionsgate, the world’s largest independent filmed entertainment studio.

For more information, please visit www.celestialtiger.com.

4 Jan, 2016 – BBC Three has introduced new branding ahead of its move to an online only channel.

The new logo represents a break from the current style of BBC channel logos in that the channel names isn’t actually spelt out.

It’s planned that all the channel’s long-form comedy, drama and documentaries will be made available through new online destinations to be launched soon, as well as via BBC Three on BBC iPlayer, and on linear TV on BBC One or BBC Two.

Read more Broadband TV News

(January 5, 2016 – Hong Kong) At the 2016 international Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Letv announced its strategic cooperation with the American start-up electric vehicle company Faraday Future (hereinafter referred to as FF). The two companies will engage in in-depth sharing and cooperation of vehicle, technology, Internet and cloud to create the next generation of smart and Internet-based means of transportation. FF made its first global brand appearance and also launched its first product, a super electric concept car named FFZERO1.

“By working with FF, we will integrate resources from both sides and transform vehicles into the most attractive new platform for digital content and Internet technology application. Meanwhile, we will also explore areas such as unmanned driving, car rental and car sharing,” announced Ding Lei, Vice Chairman and Executive Director of Letv Super Car Global, Vice Chairman of Letv Super Car (China) and APAC region and CEO and President of Letv Super Car (China).
“FF and Letv will work together in multiple fields of vehicle model development,” said Nick Sampson, head of R&D and engineering at FF. “Letv will provide FF with supreme content, innovative technologies and a brand new eco-business model. Meanwhile, with the expansion of the global business, FF will also benefit from Letv’s power and position in the world and especially the Chinese market.”

According to Nick Sampson, in addition to its partnership with Letv, FF is also willing to work with investors from the world’s major markets to reform the auto industry and improve people’s living environment.

FF is a start-up company with support from Silicon Valley and a globalized senior management team consisting of top auto and technology experts. The 550 employees of the company are all of rich experience in the energy, aviation, design, automotive and technology industries.

On December 10, 2015, FF made an official announcement to establish its most advanced manufacturing plant in North Las Vegas, Nevada, with a total investment of 1 billion USD. The project also received a tax preference and capital reward of up to 335mn USD from the Nevada State Government.

“Through the strategic cooperation with FF, Le Super Car has not only embraced its most important partner but also started to implement its open ecosystem in the US. We will continue to work with partners and talents from around the world to create our vertically integrated smart and Internet-based transportation ecosystem, and help protect the earth and improve people’s living environment. We want to make sure that everyone can breathe in clean air and enjoy the life enabled by the smart, Internet-based and electric means of transportation,” said Ding Lei regarding the cooperation.

Globalization has been among Letv’s key strategies in recent years. In addition to the new but already international auto business, its mobile, sports and LeMall (e-commerce) businesses have also embarked on the international path by entering into the overseas market. During the 2016 CES, Letv will demonstrate its businesses streams across the entire ecosystem. LeAutolink will present 3 products at the same time, and the LeAutolink version of the Aston Martin Rapide S will also be launched. It will be interesting to see a time-honored super car brand implanted with Internet genes.
During the CES, the Le Super TV, Le Superphone, smart devices, Letv Cloud and content will all make appearances. It is known that Letv is planning to launch several new products including the new generation of ultra-thin Le Super TV and the new generation of Le Superphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 during the CES.

Meanwhile, visitors will also be able to see Umax120, the largest 3D 4K TV, LEVR COOL1, a newly released mobile VR goggle with LEVR OS, Le Super Bike from Le Sports, Letv Cloud, Letv applications and other innovative products. It marks the first time that Letv’s innovative products across the whole ecosystem simultaneously appear in an overseas market.

As the only Internet-based eco-company in the world, Letv has demonstrated the success of the open-loop ecosystem featuring “platform + content + devices + application” in China. After participating in the CES, Letv will also implement its ecosystem in the US and accelerate its global ecosystem strategy.

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