Inside Digital TV articles from August 2002

Inside Digital TV archives from August 2002

Canal+ Returns To Pre-Nethold Days.(includes organization chart)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... Like the Grand Old Duke of York, the Canal+ empire has marched its troops up to the top of the hill, and marched them down again, writes Barry Flynn. After an involved process of diversification and internationalisation that has lasted...

BSkyB Sees 7 Million Subscriber Figure Within Reach.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... Mark Holmes senior editor BSkyB has broken through the 6 million subscriber number in the UK and Ireland. In its full year results announced on July 31, the pay-TV operator added 214,000 subscribers in the quarter ending June 30. BSkyB has...

Liberty Ups Dutch Presence.(Liberty Media finalizes acquisition of Casema)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... Mark Holmes, senior editor Liberty Media has finally wrapped up the acquisition of Casema. It has signed a definitive agreement with France Telecom to acquire a 100 per cent stake in the Dutch cable operator. Liberty will pay 750 million...

US Consumers Open To T-Commerce.(television home-shopping)(Brief Article)
August 7, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor Boston-based Innovista Research has carried out research, which suggests that 39 per cent of US TV shopping network customers would prefer ordering products with their remote control to shopping online or by telephone....

Nionex Makes Key MHP Breakthrough.(Multimedia Home Platform)(Brief Article)
August 7, 2002... Mark Holmes senior editor German company Nionex could play a key role in establishing the MHP standard in Europe. It has pioneered an DVB-HTML browser based on the MHP standard. The "Pontegra" browser will enable cost savings in terms of...

Poland Hopes To Avoid The Mistakes Of Others.(multiple topics)(Brief Article)
August 7, 2002... Chris Dziadul contributing editor Poland has decided to adopt an arguably more cautious approach to the introduction of digital terrestrial broadcasting than most other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. By doing so, it hopes to avoid...

Versatel: The 'Miracle' Russian Pay-TV Player.(hopes to succeed in new market by building profitable business)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... Mark Holmes senior editor Versatel, the Russian pay-TV operator, hopes to succeed where others have failed by building a long-term profitable business. While memories of the demise of ITV Digital in the UK and Quiero in Spain remain fresh,...

Liberate Loses PopTV Chieftan Larsen.(Liberate Technologies)(Peter Larsen)(Brief Article)
August 7, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to lose one key executive may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. Peter Larsen, who headed up Liberate Technologies' PopTV interactive TV developer community,...

TVcompass Sets Bearing On Adapter Market.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 7, 2002... Barry Flynn examines the business and technology approach behind TVcompass's GBP29 (46.2 euros) DTT adapter. A few weeks ago, a UK company called TVcompass caused quite a stir when it announced that it was planning to release a digital...

Briefly.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... * Interactive TV middleware provider Liberate Technologies has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Sigma Systems Group, which provides the US cable industry with service management solutions. Under the terms of the...

Highfield: BBC's Interactive Innovator Ready For Next Stage.(Ashley Highfield, BBC director of new media and technology)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 21, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor After the success of its interactive coverage of Wimbledon and the Open Golf Championship, the BBC is looking to extend its interactive service offerings across its brands in the next year. The man charged with...

OpenTV Slashes Forecasts For Second Half.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 21, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor It seems MIH's off-loading of OpenTV onto Liberty was well-timed. On August 8, the interactive TV company revealed that its revenues had fallen 38 per cent year on year, and that it now plans to institute a series of...

SPDE Lays Down Gauntlet To PlayJam.(Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment takes on Static2358's PlayJam interactive gaming TV channel)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 21, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment's (SPDE) launch of GoPlayTV on BSkyB will bring added competition to the gaming market, so far dominated by Static2358's PlayJam channel. It launched late in July with...

NTL Turns To Broadband.(British pay-tv provider turns to high-speed internet)(Company Business and Marketing)(Company Financial Information)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 21, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor NTL could be set to move its focus away from the pay-TV market, and more into the broadband arena. In its recent second quarter results announced on August 14th, the cable operator announced a fall in overall UK...

UK Cable Modem Growth Falters.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 21, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor Despite upbeat pronouncements to the contrary, both of the UK's two major cable MSOs are experiencing falling cable modem subscriber growth, according to Inside Digital TV's analysis. While Telewest's latest set of...

Greece Banks On DTH To Have Big Impact.(Brief Article)
August 21, 2002... Chris Dziadul Contributing Editor With no cable industry to speak of and DTT never really on the agenda, Greece is banking on its DTH sector to spearhead the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting. One of the key players in...

FCC Mandates ATSC Tuners.(Federal Communications Commission, Advanced Television Systems Committee)(Brief Article)
August 21, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor A furious row has erupted in the USA between broadcasters and consumer electronics manufacturers following a decision by the FCC to mandate the inclusion of digital terrestrial television (DTT) tuners in TV reception...

SMS Squeezes Sky On BB3.(increase in use of BSky cell phone usage in voting participants off Big Brother 3 television show)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 21, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor The trend detected by Inside Digital TV a month ago has been confirmed: BSkyB viewers actually polled fewer votes for the Big Brother 3 series via their remote controls this year than they did last year, because of the...

BSkyB's Ambitions Don't Correspond To Realities.(British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 21, 2002... Barry Flynn reviews BSkyB's subscriber and ARPU targets in the light of its recent financial results. Over the past year, this column has been consistently sceptical about UK digital DTH operator BSkyB's declared ambition to reach 7...

Briefly.(includes multiple records)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 21, 2002... * Almost 10 per cent of the world's population now has access to the Internet, according to newly released figures from Nua.com. The global Internet audience had grown to 580.78 million people by the end of May 2002, a rise of 173.68 million...