Inside Digital TV articles from April 2002

Inside Digital TV archives from April 2002

ITV Digital Peers Into The Abyss.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2002... UK DTT operator ITV Digital was granted an administration order by a High Court judge on March 28, paving the way for possible closure of the service and eventual liquidation, writes Barry Flynn. Court-appointed administrators Deloitte &...

PrimaCom 'Scaling Back' Digital TV Expectations.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2002... Mark Holmes German cable operator PrimaCom could add only 11,000 new digital homes this year, and is targeting a digital penetration rate of just 15 per cent by 2004. The revised expectations were revealed in its latest annual...

Encouraging Signs For Liberate.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2002... Mark Holmes Contributing Editor Liberate Technologies has beaten analysts' expectations with its third quarter results announced on March 25. Liberate saw pro-forma revenues for the quarter ending Feb. 28, 2002, increase 65 per cent to...

Polsat Investor Search Heats Up.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2002... Chris Dziadul Contributing Editor Poland's leading commercial broadcaster, Telewizja Polsat, has moved closer to acquiring a strategic investor, leading to further speculation about the future of its digital DTH platform, Polsat Cyfrowy....

Microsoft Promotes 'DVB-HTML' Down Under.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor Although Microsoft continues to insist that it supports the European interactive TV standard, MHP, it has been openly pushing a non-compliant version of the standard in Australia. Australian free-to-air terrestrial...

Pace DTT Adapter Launches ... Just.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 3, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor Pace's launch of the Digital TV Adapter, its GBP99.99 [163 euros] free- to-air DTT module for the UK market, was nearly derailed by delays in the integration of the MHEG interactive middleware, the Yorkshire-based...

Sweden Sets Impressive Digital Pace.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2002... Chris Dziadul Contributing Editor Sweden currently has one of the most deregulated digital markets in Europe, with services provided by its leading cable operators (headed by Telia- owned com hem), the DTH platforms Viasat and Canal Digital...

What To Do With All Those DTT Boxes?(Brief Article)
April 3, 2002... If the administration order on ITV Digital is followed by the eventual liquidation of the company, there will be upwards of 1.2 million apparently useless DTT set-top boxes in the UK market. What's going to happen to them? asks Barry Flynn....

Briefly.(Brief Article)
April 3, 2002... * Instrumental Media Group (Instrument), which provides media and business development services for interactive business television, is planning to create a service for car manufacturer BMW using virtual reality and broadcast technology from...

Liberate 1.2 Is Running - With Help.(Two Way TV)(Brief Article)
April 17, 2002... The solution adopted, part of which comes from interactive technology provider Two Way TV, suggests Liberate Technologies's middleware has been unable to address the complex technical issues raised by the running of sophisticated enhanced TV...

Kingston Communications In Interactive Drama TV Trial.(MVmax L.L.C. develops technology)(Brief Article)
April 17, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor A ground-breaking form of interactive TV drama is due to be tested on Kingston Communications's Hull-based ADSL network next month (May). Developed by Philadelphia-based MVmax, LLC, it claims to be unique in that it...

HomeChoice Expansion Plans Given Huge Boost.(Video Networks)(Brief Article)
April 17, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Video Networks could be one of the main beneficiaries of BT's renewed broadband drive. BT CEO Ben Verwaayen, who has made such a positive impression in recent months with his desire to refocus BT's broadband aims,...

Time Running Out For Quiero.(Quiero TV)(Brief Article)
April 17, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Quiero TV, the Spanish pay-TV operator is set become the next highprofile victim in the European pay-TV industry. The operator has started the liquidation process and unless there is a dramatic last-ditch offer...

Mobile DTT: The COFDM Chipset Is Critical.(digital terrestrial television, Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)(Brief Article)
April 17, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor NTL Broadcast's successful completion of secret tests of mobile digital terrestrial television (DTT) in Oxford have re-confirmed that consistent highquality video, audio and data can be received in moving vehicles using...

Italian Digital Market Reaches Pivotal Stage.(Stream, Tele+ Digitale to merge)
April 17, 2002... Chris Dziadul Contributing Editor Last week the Italian antitrust commission gave its conditional approval to the merger of Stream and Tele+ Digitale the country's two leading pay-TV operations, after a 45-day investigation. Although its...

Tandberg Banking On World Cup Success.(Terje Tandberg of Canal Digital)(Brief Article)(Interview)
April 17, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Canal Digital is one of the leading pay-TV providers in the Nordic region. It is set for a busy year. Telenor is likely to gain 100 percent control of the venture with Canal+ exiting. The agreement is awaiting...

UPC's Financial Plight Shows Little Sign Of Easing.(United Pan-Europe Communications)(Brief Article)
April 17, 2002... UPC's future has been cast into further doubt following the release of full-year audited results. Delayed from earlier this month, they show that the company's net loss in 2001 amounted to 4.4 billion euros - as opposed to the previous year's 2...

UK Cable TV Subscription Seen Slowing.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 17, 2002... The bald statistics show that 43.4 per cent of UK TV homes were paying for their TV service at the end of 2001. The majority of these pay-TV homes were digital - representing 36.7 per cent of total TV households (or 8.96 million). Perhaps...

Briefs.(includes multiple articles)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 17, 2002... * UK DTT operator ITV Digital has been granted a one-week reprieve following an appearance at the High Court on April 15 by the company's administrators, Deloitte & Touche. The administrators told the court that "some progress has been made...