ITV Border Scotland to launch on Sky and Freesat

itvViewers in the Scottish part of the ITV Border region will be able access their regional version of the channel on Sky and Freesat from mid-March.
ITV Border Scotland was relaunched in January 2014, but until now has only been available on Freeview. It contains additional opt-outs from the main ITV schedule, in order to meet ITV’s new licence requirements for the region.

On the 16th March 2015, satellite viewers in the area will be switched from the existing Border England service to Border Scotland on Sky and Freesat channel 103.
Test transmissions are already underway on satellite in preparation for the launch on Freesat and Sky.

ITV Viewer Services have warned affected viewers about scheduled recordings on ITV, saying:

“Sky and Freesat viewers should check that any future recordings they have scheduled after 16 March are present in their planner.”

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DTG UHD Forum addresses 4K TV ad concerns

dtgThe DTG has highlighted the risks of over-promising on the 4k experience after the Advertising Standards Authority told DSG Retail not to re-run a Christmas ad implying that 4k TVs would show greater detail without supporting evidence, and to ensure they ‘clearly communicated the standard of quality that would be achieved’.

DTG CEO Richard Lindsay-Davies said: “Ultra HD represents an enormous opportunity for the TV industry to take the viewing experience to a level even greater than the leap from standard-def to HD, but exaggerating the offering at an early stage could damage consumer confidence before the true benefits come to fruition.

“The DTG’s UHD Forum is working with broadcasters and TV manufacturers to establish next-generation TV standards for 4k and beyond, collaborating with international bodies, and we are providing advice to retailers to ensure that they can provide consumers with accurate information, satisfying the early adopters who will be the bedrock of future market growth.”

As the UK’s digital entertainment technology collaboration centre, the DTG is currently conducting briefings for the retail industry on the current state of the broadcast entertainment market and future developments. These include not only Ultra HD but also over-the-top and streaming content, smart TV, Freeview Play and VR.

The UK UHD Forum has brought together broadcasters, TV platforms, TV manufacturers and other stakeholders since 2013 as part of the DTG. It is currently involved in a series of 4K Plugfests to determine the performance and interoperability of 4K TVs and home cinema equipment with 4K set-top boxes under development for UK services.

The DTG welcomes the opportunity to share its knowledge with other companies and organisations. Please contact Alex Lane, head of communications, at alane@dtgorg.uk for details.

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NOW TV launches colourful new look

NOW TV, 2015Online TV streaming service NOW TV has today launched its new TV ads as part of a major new integrated campaign that reflects its colourful new logo and brand identity, as it rebrands for the first time since its launch in July 2012.

The theme of the campaign, created by WCRS, is ‘digital magic’ and will initially feature four vine-style 20 second magic TV ads and seven digital pieces of content to showcase the benefits of NOW TV. The insight for the campaign is that NOW TV is a bit like magic as it creates instantaneous transformations and combinations that seem scarcely possible and makes amazing things easy. It’s modern magic for a cutting edge product.

The campaign will be conjured up across TV, Outdoor, Social Media, Digital Platforms, direct marketing and retail.
The media planning for the campaign was developed by Mediacom.

NOW TV’s new brand identity, developed by brand agency venturethree, features a rounded new logo and bright colour palette that reflects the fun, simple and easy nature of NOW TV’s products.

Jo Fox, Director of Brand Communications, NOW TV commented: “2015 is going to be another action-packed year for NOW TV following our best ever quarter in terms of growth. We’ve established ourselves as one of the UK’s leading streaming services, with an absolutely unrivalled choice of the latest and best entertainment, and our new brand and ad campaign mirrors the fun, fresh, vibrant and smart service we offer our customers.”

Ross Neil, Executive Creative Director, WCRS said: “We’re really excited about the campaign. It feels totally fresh and different from anything else out there at the moment. It’s also been built to be flexible, fun and reactive to what’s going on in the world of entertainment.”

Liam Hamill, Strategy Director, venturethree, commented: “We’re really proud to have partnered with NOW TV in this exciting next stage of their journey. Together we’ve created a strategy, experience and expression that communicates the fresh, easy and innovative nature of the service that will support the business, as it continues to grow and evolve.”

NOW TV offers content at the touch of a button. It’s the flexible way to watch the latest blockbuster movies, live action from all seven Sky Sports channels and must-see shows on 13 of the best pay TV channels including Sky 1, Sky Atlantic and Sky Living and over 250 of the best box sets. It also It is now available on more than 60 devices including the NOW TV Box, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android smartphones and tablets, Xbox 360, PS3™, PS4™, YouView, LG Smart TVs, selected LG media devices, Roku boxes and Apple TV.

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BBC director general defends universal funding for a strong BBC

bbcTony Hall, director-general of the BBC, has stressed that Britain would be diminished if the capacity and impact of the BBC is not sustained, amid renewed calls for a change to the licence fee.
Hall asserted that without protection BBC risks falling prey to global investors and ‘American tastemakers’. However, with a robust strategy Hall said the BBC can continue as a vital point of unity at home and ‘creative beacon’ abroad.

Last week, a report from the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee said that the TV licence is becoming harder to justify, suggesting that every household could pay a new compulsory tax instead.

In his speech, Tony Hall accepted proposed changes to the licence fee, citing the need to catch up with modern technology.

“We’ve always said that the licence fee should be updated to reflect changing times. I welcome the Committee’s endorsement of our proposal to require people to pay the licence fee even if they only watch catch-up television. The committee has suggested another route to modernizing the licence fee—a universal household levy.

“Both proposals have the same goal in mind: adapting the licence fee for the internet age. This is vital. Because I believe we need and we will need what the licence fee—in whatever form—makes happen—more than ever.”

Hall also discussed innovation in the corporation that would transform audience into schedulers.

Using viewers’ personal data, he suggested, would enable the corporation to guide them to the best of the BBC’s content and to reinvent public service broadcasting through data.

“But we will always be doing it the BBC way. Not telling you what customers like you bought, but what citizens like you would love to watch and need to know.”

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Humax to launch first Freeview Play set-top box

freeview_playSet-top box supplier Humax has said it will be the first manufacturer to deliver the new Freeview Play connected TV service later this year.
The Humax Freeview Play boxes will support HD content and feature built-in Wi-Fi for wireless broadband connectivity to access Freeview Play’s range of catch-up services, which includes BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5.

Three built-in tuners will provide advanced recording functionality alongside the catch-up and on-demand services, according to Humax, with the option of 500GB and 1TB built-in hard drives for up to 300 hours and 600 hours of storage space, respectively.

Further details on the price, features and specifications of the Humax Freeview Play boxes will be made available in the coming months.

Freeview unveiled Freeview Play, its new connected TV platform, last month. It said that the service would be available in a range of new TVs and set-top boxes, while individual manufacturers will be responsible for any deals to bring additional catch-up and online services such as Netflix to the platform.

Panasonic has already announced that it will incorporate Freeview Play in its new 2015 line of smart TVs. Freeview has also said that Vestel will launch a range of Freeview Play products.

Graham North, commercial director at Humax, said: “The launch of Freeview Play marks a significant milestone moment in the UK’s broadcasting industry and our role as the lead set-top box manufacturer further reinforces the long-term relationship between Humax and Freeview. Our new range of set-top boxes will bring advanced recording features that compliment catch-up TV, on-demand services and live television, to offer an exceptional Freeview Play experience.”

Ilse Howling, Managing Director, Connected TV at Digital UK, said: “Humax is an exciting addition to the line-up of leading manufacturers supporting the launch of Freeview Play. Its new range of set-top boxes will offer the perfect way for viewers to bring all of the benefits of connected TV to their existing set, free from subscription.”

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BBC licence fee to remain for a decade

TV LicensingA committee of MPs has decided to support the retention of BBC licence fee for the next decade, however, has stated the licence has “no long-term future”.
The fee has come under pressure with the shift in national viewing habits as audiences increasingly catch up on programmes online.

Figures released by the BBC show that the BBC iPlayer received over 2.6 billion requests for television programmes in 2014—requests from tablets increased by over 50% to 801 million, while those from mobiles were up by over 30% to 662 million.

The culture, media and sport select committee said the licence fee should remain for the next decade and be replaced in the 2020s by a “broadcasting levy” on all households, including for those who do not own TVs or watch shows online.
Such a system was introduced in Germany in 2013 and would end the need to detect and prosecute those who avoid buying a TV license.

Claire Enders, a media industry analyst, said it was “an amazing conclusion” for Conservative MPs on the committee to support the retention of the licence fee for the next decade.
The fee is “no longer an ideological football”, she added.

The committee also said that voluntary subscriptions could be introduced for some BBC channels as an alternative way of financing part of the service.
Though the fee has come under criticism, chiefly because it talks a higher proportion of poor households’ income, only one MP on the committee voted for it to be scrapped immediately.

The license fee currently costs £145.50 per year for every household where people watch or record live TV. A TV license is not required to watch catch-up TV, using services such as the BBC iPlayer.

The committee’s report will feed into the negotiations over the BBC’s next royal charter, which will begin after the general election in May.

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Listeners complain about changes to BBC Radio

bbcChanges to the way the BBC streams its internet radio stations have left many listeners unable to tune in on their devices.
This has especially been the case for those who listen through Internet (Wifi) radios.

The BBC has responded to criticism of the way it handled changes to its internet radio streams in a series of blogs on the Corporation’s website. One result of the outcry is that Radio 3 HD at 320kbps has been re-enabled on SHOUTcast.

Jim Simmons, senior product manager at the BBC, says: “It is clear from your feedback that the fallback choice for SHOUTcast (MP3) has fallen short in a number of areas. We have been working over the past week on some of the technical solutions required to improve the situation and I am happy to say that we have now re-enabled Radio 3 HD Sound on SHOUTcast.

“We are still talking to manufacturers and many are confident that they will be able to provide their users with access to all 57 of our HLS AAC streams at 320kbps within a few weeks or months. We will review the status of this 320kbps SHOUTcast stream again in a few months time and we will update you on progress via the internet blog.”

In a separate blog, the BBC’s Head of Media Services, Henry Webster, addresses the problem of Radio 5 listeners being unable to hear some sports broadcasts. “Users whose devices can only receive the SHOUTcast stream (MP3) and not one of the new HLS streaming formats will hear a version of the stream which will blank sport where the BBC does not hold international rights.
The new HLS streams are available in both UK and international variants, which allows those in the UK to continue to enjoy the Sport that we broadcast as usual. We are investigating to see whether there is anything we can do to return access to the UK streams for those who are affected by this.”

Sonos owners, among others, have been affected by this as Sonos uses TuneIn for its internet radio streaming service and this does not currently support the new BBC streams. Sonos says it is “working to add support for the new HLS streams. We don’t have a timeline or ETA to share right now, as we are still in the process of investigating the details of the implementation, but as soon as we have more news we’ll share it on our website.”

Webster also admits that many Logitech Squeezebox owners have expressed their frustration at the impact of the changes, but says the BBC is working with Logitech to resolve the problem.

Naim equipment has also been affected by the “shock changes” and the company has issued a detailed statement on the issue which you can read at the end of this story.

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Open source digital radio could deliver cheap community DAB

digitalradioAn open source DAB technology to be trialled by Ofcom could spark a community broadcasting boom that enhances the DAB radio offering and advances the digital radio switchover.
Currently, the cost of broadcasting on DAB is far beyond the reach of local radio stations. However, a system pioneered by Ofcom engineer Rashi Mustapha, which runs on freely available software, would allow small, provincial radio stations to broadcast DAB radio for a fraction of current costs.

If the trials are successful, UK radio listeners could benefit from more local and community radio stations on DAB. The UK’s first small scale DAB experimented was conducted in 2012.

Rashid, a senior broadcast specialist at Ofcom, said: “The first test of the small scale DAB concept was from the roof of the tallest building in East Sussex. Despite an unexpected delay to the start of the experiment while waiting for young Peregrine falcons to fly from their nest, the technology provided very encouraging results.”

“The trials being announced today are the next step in potentially helping hundreds of small stations to start broadcasting on digital radio.”

The approach known as ‘small scale DAB’ substitutes expensive hardware equipment for software from opendigitalradio.org, and is best suited for broadcasting to small geographic areas, ideal for community and local radio stations.

Ofcom engineer Rashid Mustapha was granted a test licence and installed a low power digital radio transmitter on a Brighton roof-top. The test successfully delivered a reliable, high quality digital radio broadcast.

Ofcom has invited applications to take part in up to ten trials, which are expected to run for nine months. The deadline for applications is 3pm on 7 April 2015.

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Freeview Play Manufacturers Announced

freeview_playDigital UK and Freeview have today announced that Panasonic will be the first manufacturer to launch TVs featuring the Freeview Play connected TV service.
Panasonic will make Freeview Play available in its new 2015 line-up of VIERA TVs (Freeview Play available on CX680, CX700, CR730, CX802 and CR852 series of TVs.).

Channel 5’s Demand 5 service will also join the platform – completing the launch line-up of catch-up players alongside BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and 4oD (Channel 4’s new digital brand All 4 will replace the 4oD brand on all platforms from the end of Q1 2015).

Freeview Play combines catch-up TV, on-demand services and live television to make watching what you want, when you want as easy as possible. The service will be free from subscription and compatible with existing broadband services. Viewers will be able to search for programmes via a scroll back function in the TV guide or a dedicated apps page. This month Freeview announced a major rebrand in preparation for the launch of the new TV offer.

Ilse Howling, Managing Director, Connected TV at Digital UK, said: ‘It’s great news that Panasonic will be the first of many to bring TVs with Freeview Play to viewers. I’m also pleased that Demand 5 will be joining our line-up of great, free, on-demand players. Digital UK is working closely with manufacturers and broadcasters to develop our exciting new service and bring the benefits of connected TV to everyone, free from subscription.’

Guy North, Managing Director of Freeview, said: ‘We believe that Freeview Play will put viewers back in control and we’re delighted that Panasonic is our first TV launch partner. Freeview Play will be integrated into a number of TVs in the new VIERA range, giving people the freedom to choose across a range of price points. We look forward to welcoming more products from other partners later this year.’

Panasonic plan to offer Freeview Play recorders at a later date. Multi-brand manufacturer Vestel will follow with a range of Freeview Play products.

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SES – 5.1% increase in HD channels in 2014

sesLuxembourg, 20 February 2015 – SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) reports financial results for the year ended 31 December 2014.
“SES delivered another year of strong revenue and EBITDA growth in 2014. This reflects a series of successes in key market verticals and geographies in securing new business, as well as further serving our long-standing customers.

We have continued to execute on SES’s strategic principles for delivering long-term profitable growth, and enhancing our world-leading satellite operations. We have expanded our core video business by developing new neighbourhoods, securing new contracts and increasing channel count. Our investments in innovative solutions that bring together linear and non-linear broadcasting are also paving the way for the introduction of Ultra HD TV.

Data and Mobility applications are an increasing source of demand, and SES has continued to build its capabilities across multiple verticals – securing major new contracts for fixed networks as well as maritime and aeronautical connectivity. Our government business has continued to develop, with important new business wins despite the prevailing U.S. budget constraints. Within the business, our focus on operational optimisation has improved margins and enhanced overall profitability. “Looking forward, 2015 will be a year in which SES continues to build for future growth.
The recent announcements of the SES-14, SES-15 and SES-16/GovSat programmes demonstrate SES’s commitment to generating long-term revenue growth as part of our existing investment plan. These satellite programmes will use the latest technological innovations and leverage SES’s differentiated capabilities to deliver new capacity that will optimally serve attractive market verticals across the globe.”

SES saw a 5.1% increase in HD channels broadcast over its satellites in 2014 as it posted solid full-year results, with revenue up 4% to €1.919 billion and EBITDA up 5% to €1.428 billion.

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