Inside Digital TV articles from January 2002

Inside Digital TV archives from January 2002

Echostar: First US Deployment of MHP?
January 14, 2002... Canal+ Technologies has revealed that the MediaHighway technology it is selling to Echostar as part of the recent agreement between Vivendi Universal and the US digital DTH operator will be "MHP compliant", writes Barry Flynn. Deployment...

TF1 increases its bargaining chips at the French Pay-TV table.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor TF1 has strengthened its position in the French pay-TV market by acquiring a further 25 percent stake in French satellite platform, TPS from France Telecom and France Television. The deal is worth 195 million...

NetGem's UK DTT universe: `60m pieces'.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor NetGem, the French technology company which supplies a Web-via-TV module to UK DTT operator ITV Digital for its ITV Active service, says it is on course to launch its free-to-air (FTA) DTT converter into the UK market...

European Parliament Mandates MHP for New Operators.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to mandate MHP for new interactive digital TV platforms. The measure, contained in a compromise amendment to the so-called Framework Directive, is part of a package of...

Seger: Hoping to Take Premiere to Top Spot in Germany.(Hans Seger, Chief Product Officer of Premiere World's plans)(Interview)
January 14, 2002... Mark Holmes Sr. Editor German Pay-TV operator Premiere World had a difficult 2001. It was beset by management problems, and there is speculation that BSkyB is looking for a way out of its commitment to Premiere. Despite this, there are...

Fate of Quiero TV Ready to be Sealed.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2002... Telecom Italia's departure clears way for Auna Group to make a deal Mark Holmes Sr. Editor The Auna Group is finding the job of selling its troubled DTT pay-TV operation Quiero TV easier said than done. Yet, the path to a deal could now be...

iTV Usage Shows Upward Trend -- For Now.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2002... Barry Flynn looks at the latest interactive usage figures from BSkyB In the last issue of 2001, we took a comprehensive look at which genres of interactive TV application worked best, collating evidence from digital TV operators across...

Briefly.(digital operators)(Brief Article)
January 14, 2002... * French digital DTH operator Canal Satellite has launched its first SMS service, which allows subscribers to send text messages to mobile telephones. Subscribers can use their remote controls and a virtual keyboard on their TV screen to access...

Nokia Squares Up to Pace on STBs.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor Nokia has temporarily shelved its high-end PVR-based strategy in the UK DTT market, deciding instead to concentrate on the low-end free-to-air (FTA) segment, writes Barry Flynn. In so doing, it has become the...

UK IDTV Sales Reported to be 'Disappointing' During 2001.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor The sales of digital TV sets in the UK were below expectations in 2001. The fact that only around 120,000 sets were sold in 2001, will be of little comfort to ITV Digital who was hoping mass sales of IDTVs would...

Pace Announces Plan to Sell GBP99.99 FTA Box in UK.(Product Announcement)
January 23, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor Set-top box manufacturer Pace Micro Technology has announced that its first free-to-air DTT receiver for the UK market will retail for GBP99.99 [162.50 Euros]. The product, created by its Xcom division in Grenoble,...

Thomson Poised to Garner Slice of $1 Billion EchoStar Pie.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor The deal struck with EchoStar to make satellite decoders could be worth around $400 million in revenues to Thomson Multimedia (TMM). While Thomson would not give any figures relating to the deal, there is little...

OpenTV shrugs off Vivendi/EchoStar deal.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor OpenTV has strongly denied that its position on the EchoStar platform has been weakened by the Vivendi/Universal deal, which includes an agreement by Canal+ Technologies to supply its MediaHighway/MHP middleware to the...

Canal+ Stiffens Position in Wake of Recent Injunction Loss.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor The Oslo Court of Execution and Enforcement has rejected Canal+'s demands for a temporary injunction in the Canal Digital transaction dispute with Telenor. The ruling, announced Jan. 11, has done little to ease...

Liberty's Kirch Withdrawal: Taking a Step Back to Go Forward.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Liberty Media's purported interest in acquiring a 22 per cent stake in Kirch PayTV could turn out to be a masterstroke that allows the US giant a positive conclusion in buying the majority of Deutsche Telekom's...

A Second Attempt to Explain EU Legislation on MHP.(Editorial)
January 23, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor Barry Flynn reflects (again) on the recent European decision about the MHP open middleware standard In the previous issue of this newsletter, I came to grief in my attempt to explain the implications of recent...

Briefly.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... * A row has broken out over South Korea's recent adoption of the HDTV- based US ATSC standard. Five stations have recently begun transmitting DTT signals using ATSC in the metropolitan Seoul area, bringing coverage to around 30 per cent of...

Editor's Note.(Brief Article)
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