Inside Digital TV articles from March 2002

Inside Digital TV archives from March 2002

MTV Looks to Integrated iTV.(interactive service integration data)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2002... Music channel MTV says it is planning to integrate enhanced TV functionality into every music video it shows, writes Barry Flynn. Michiel Bakker, managing director of MTV Networks UK and Ireland, told Inside Digital TV that he regarded this...

Future Grows Dim for brightBlue Platform.(Energis Interactive up for sale)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Energis Interactive has been put up for sale, just over three months since the launch of its brightBlue platform on Sky Digital. The decision comes as little surprise given the precarious nature of Energis's...

Sogecable Hits Important Profits Milestone.(company financial profit data)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 6, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Sogecable's net profit of 2.8 million Euros in 2001 marks the first time the operator has been profitable in three years. The Spanish pay-TV group has the leadership position in the Spanish market and posted...

BT Ponders Possibility of iTV Over ADSL.(Editorial)
March 6, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor UK telco BT may be undecided about whether to develop a broadcast-based service for its ADSL network, but it's already taking an interest in interactive TV - in particular, interactive games. Addressing Access...

Telewest Digital Subscriptions Hit 54 Per Cent.(Telewest Communications PLC financial data)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor UK MSO Telewest has passed a critical point in its latest financials, with over half of its cable subscribers (54 per cent) taking its Active Digital service. There are now 724,000 digital cable TV subscribers across...

Report: UK Pay-TV Has Room to Grow.(pay per view television industry report)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor An authoritative new report from Screen Digest and ABN-Amro, Mediaphile 2010, which provides a detailed analysis of UK consumer media, communication and entertainment spending over a 25-year period, suggests that the UK...

Chorus Aims to Hit the Right Note in Ireland.(Cable broadcasting license details)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Ireland's two main cable operators, Chorus and NTL are set to lose their exclusive right to broadcast in their franchise areas this month. While the entrance of new market players may not be imminent, it only adds...

Compere Emerges as Frontrunner in German Sell-off.(Compere Associates acquires networks from Deutsche Telekom)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Compere Associates, a little known London-based brokerage, has emerged as the favourite to acquire six regional cable television networks from Deutsche Telekom, after the Federal Cartel Office in Germany blocked...

Meet the Cable Guys Who Believe in GoD.(interactive service conference review)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2002... Barry Flynn reports from the 3rd annual interactive games summit in London When NTL's director of content, Jeremy Davies, shares a platform with Telewest's director of e-commerce and interactive services, Chris Townsend, you know they...

Briefly...(Digital Television industry news briefs)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2002... * UK DTT operator ITV Digital lurched into a new crisis on news that advisers from Deloitte & Touche, the accountancy firm, have been called in to restructure the operation in an attempt to stem its losses. The move followed the announcement...

Canal+ Launches $1 Billion Action Against NDS For Piracy.
March 20, 2002... Even if French pay-TV operator Canal+'s lawsuit against News Corp's technology division, NDS, over the hacking of its conditional access (CA) technology were to succeed, the UK's competition regulator, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), may not...

Lawsuit Levels Extraordinary Charges.(MediaGuard smartcard copyright cases)(Brief Article)
March 20, 2002... Filed before the US District Court in the Northern District of California on March 11, the lawsuit claims "unfair competition, copyright infringement, violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, tortious interference, conspiracy and...

MHEG Return-Path Looking For Cash Infusion.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2002... Barry Flynn Editor Despite persistent speculation that a return-path solution for MHEG, the interactive TV middleware used by UK DTT operator ITV Digital, is due to be implemented by the summer, Inside Digital TV understands that the...

UPC Looks To Resolve Its Middleware Problem.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2002... Chris Dziadul Contributing Editor The long-running debate over whether UPC will commit itself to Liberate or Microsoft TV middleware may finally come to an end when the Amsterdam-based company issues its latest results on March 27. ...

Pace Focuses On European IPTV Ambitions.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Pace Micro Technology could sign a contract with a leading European telco within the next six months to deliver IP-based interactive TV services. Andrew Clifforth, the managing director of IPTV at Pace told Inside...

Canal+ Faces Major Challenges.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2002... Mark Holmes Senior Editor Canal+ increased its revenues 13 per cent to 4.6 billion Euros in 2001, but despite this, many analysts' considered this figure below expectations. One leading equity analyst who requested anonymity told Inside...

Telecomweb: Make Better Use Of Your Time.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2002... Check Out the New Enhancements to YOUR TelecomWeb.com Site: * A New and Improved Navigational System with 5 Distinctive Channels: Broadband, E-business, Fiber Optics, Satellite and Wireless Data * Targeted Channel Structures,...

DTT Momentum Begins To Build In France.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2002... Chris Dziadul Contributing Editor The countdown to DTT begins in earnest in France this Friday (March 22) with the end of a licence competition. Assuming all goes according to plan, the winners will be announced in July, all relevant...

Unravelling The 'Secret' Code.
March 20, 2002... Barry Flynn wonders what lies behind the civil suit bought against NDS by Canal+ in a California court Faced with interpreting a lawsuit like this one, one strategy is to disregard anything either side says, and look at the fundamental...

Briefly.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 20, 2002... * DVB is hoping that the long-delayed MHP test-suites - the software programs without which no MHP supplier can claim MHP compliance for its products - will be available by the end of June. The news follows the announcement that the final...