Satellite News

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ProSiebenSat.1 suffers from SBS write-off

By Robert Briel | March 4, 2009 | 08:45 UK

A write-off to the tune of €80 million has pushed the results of German based broadcasting giant ProSiebenSat.1 into the red. The broadcaster acquired SBS Broadcasting in 2007 for €3.3 billion.

Interest payments on loans associated with the SBS purchase also influenced the results of the company, whose regular TV business is under pressure.

The company said in a press statement: “The reduction in revenue is the result of problems with acceptance levels after the launch of a new sales model for the German TV advertising market. In addition, the economic uncertainty significantly reduced advertisers’ willingness to invest during the second half of the year, both in Germany – the Group’s core market – and in the rest of Europe.”

On the basis of preliminary figures for 2008, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s consolidated revenues came to €3.054 billion. Recurring EBITDA (EBITDA adjusted for one-time effects) reached €674.5 million. Reflecting the first full-year consolidation of SBS, revenue growth was equivalent to 12.7% (2007: €2.710 billion). This calculation includes the SBS business for the full year, with a contribution of €1.076 billion in revenues (July-December 2007: €547.0 million).

“I am taking office as CEO of a company that has shown great strength in difficult situations during 2008. Far-sighted business decisions have been made, and important operating and strategic goals have been achieved. The German family of stations increased its audience share significantly, in spite of the Olympics and the European Soccer Championships. The reorganization of German Free TV and the German Sales House will be completed successfully by mid-2009,” said Thomas Ebeling, CEO of ProSiebenSat.1, in a statement.

The major strategic goals included the reorganization of German Free TV and German Sales House; European playout center built; technical outsourcing and the sell-off of the Scandinavian C More premium TV operations.

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Portugal rejects bids for 5th channel

Portugal's broadcasting authority ERC has rejected the only two bids submitted in answer to the tender for the fifth free-to-air terrestrial TV broadcaster.
ZON Multimedia has had its bid rejected due to a lack of technical and human resources, the authority said. Mediaset's Spanish national private TV channel Telecinco has also had its bid rejected, in this case due to a lack of economic and financial viability, the ERC said.

The two bidding groups have now some eight days to answer the decision, with a final decision due to be taken at the end of this month.

Meanwhile, Portugal's DTH market registered growth of 4.5% in Q4 last year in relation to the previous quarter according to latest data from regulator ANACOM. The country's DTH market now stands at 21% of pay-TV.

In particular the Northen region leads the figures with 192,000 dishes followed by the Centre region with 169,000 and the Lisbon area with 66,000.

The study also highlights the decrease in cable subscribers, down 0.7% in relation to the previous quarter. And finally the report underlines a progression of 36% in the clients of other telecommunication technologies, especially fiber optic networks.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Euronews adds Turkish from 2010

Euronews is to launch a Turkish-language version in January next year. Euronews is linking with Turkish Radio Television (TRT) and TRT will be a shareholder in the channel.


Euronews’ Turkish-language version is the ninth version on air over greater Europe. From the launch date, the news channel will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on Euronews' satellite network all over the world to more than 253m households in 142 countries. Euronews will commercialize the new version to Turkish-speaking people around the world, particularly in neighbouring countries of Turkey: North of Cyprus, Caucasus and Central Asia, and also to Turkish communities in Europe especially in Germany.

In addition, Euronews in Turkish will be distributed all over Turkey by TRT to be available on all distribution networks: analogue and digital terrestrial network, cable, satellite, IPTV, mobile etc. TRT will make Euronews available to 100% of TV households which represents more than 17m Turkish homes.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Digital TV Labs to test for CI Plus

By Julian Clover | March 5, 2009 | 10:48 UK

Bristol-based Digital TV Labs has been awarded the contract to be the world’s first approved test centre for the CI Plus (Common Interface) Specification.

CI Plus is the extension to the DVB Common Interface designed to facilitate secure pay-TV services over third party networks. The award was made by CI Plus LLP, the former CI Plus Forum, backed by Sony, SmarDTV, Samsung, Philips and Neotion.

“The benefits of CI Plus are many, both from receiver manufacturer – including Integrated Digital TVs [IDTVs] of course – and operator perspectives,” explained Keith Potter, CEO, Digital TV Labs. “The industry is beginning to see increased legislative pressure, particularly in the cable sector, for operators to open up their networks. For pay-TV service providers it will also allow reception on a greater number of devices and will enable better security support for HD content.”

Although there has been enthusiasm for CI Plus from operators including the Netherlands and Germany, the latter faces difficulties in fully implementing the concept should *** continue to disapprove of anything other than embedded conditional access.

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Conax in buoyant mood

By Chris Dziadul | March 5, 2009 | 11:19 UK

Conax secured 58 new customers in 2008, while its card deliveries were 40% up on the previous year.

All told, the content security company now delivers solutions to over 300 digital TV operators in 78 countries around the world.

Commenting on the results, Geir Bjørndal, the company’s EVP Sales & Marketing, said the company was well positioned to tap into a market that is likely to see the number of digital TV households double from today’s 350 million by 2013.

He added that Conax experienced 68% growth in India in just one year and is now the market leader in Latin America.

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Fashion TV extends coverage

By Chris Dziadul | March 5, 2009 | 11:06 UK

Fashion TV has finally made its debut in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, two months after its expected launch.

According to HN, the channel is on air for 24 hours daily and employing a single stream, reaching 680,000 homes in the Czech Republic and 350,000 in Slovakia.

As previously reported in Broadband TV News, the licence for Fashion TV in the two countries is held by a company named Carolinas Corporation.

The majority (70%) of the channel’s output is international, with the remainder produced in-house.

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Canal Digital cements new TV2 deal

By Julian Clover | March 5, 2009 | 10:43 UK

TV 2 DenmarkCanal Digital has made a new agreement with Denmark’s quasi-commercial channel TV 2. From April 1 TV 2 will be broadcast as a digital channel on Canal Digital’s satellite platform for the first time.

“Our new agreement with TV 2 makes it first and foremost easier for our customers, especially when switched off the analogue signal on 31 October. Next, the agreement strengthens our satellite platform, said Jens Arnesen, managing director, Canal Digital Danmark.

“The agreement with Canal Digital TV 2 is a natural extension of similar agreements in the satellite field,” added TV 2’s Financial Director Peter Norm “The expected EU approval of TV 2’s plan will enable us to collect subscription payments from 2012 and although the agreement with Canal Digital will run until 2016, it will in this situation be renegotiated.”

Although the majority of Danish Canal Digital subscribers could already access TV2 through the platform’s hybrid DTT receivers the platform wants to ensure easy access to the channel.

The agreement also means that all viewers will be able to tune into the eight regional TV channels, regardless of where they lived.

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TV5 gives up analogue in The Netherlands

By Robert Briel | March 5, 2009 | 08:27 UK

International French language broadcaster TV5 Monde has given up analogue distribution in The Netherlands. Ziggo, the country’s largest operator with 3.2 million homes connected announced it will stop analogue carriage of the channel and relocate it to basic digital.

The move is part of a scheme to bring down the number of basic analogue channels to 30 across the Ziggo network in order to make more room for digital television and other services. At the moment Ziggo has 1.1 million digital homes and the number is growing.

Last year, the number two operator in the country, UPC, removed TV5 Monde from both its analogue and digital tiers citing disagreement about the conditions of carriage of the channel. The channel remains freely available on satellite as an FTA channel on Astra and Eutelsat Hotbird.

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New Russian DTH platform launches

By Chris Dziadul | March 5, 2009 | 08:18 UK

Russia has yet another DTH platform following the official launch of Raduga TV.

According to Parabola, the service is distributed by ABS 1 at 75 degrees East and offers subscribers a wide variety of both Russian and international channels, including all the Viasat services.

As part of a promotional offer until the end of April, it is being offered for R250 a month for a payment of six months in advance.

Raduga TV is operated by GTSS in association with DalGeokom. It employs Irdeto conditional access.

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A year ago CTC Media, which specialises in broadcasting within Russia, was riding high with its share price at an impressive $31.75, benefiting from a booming Russian economy and strong advertising demand. That has now all changed.


CTC Media’s share price is now about $3.40 (but it has been even lower) although an investor note from Morgan Stanley gives some reasons for optimism. Nevertheless, the bank’s view is that the appetite for foreign investors to invest in Russian equities and companies has diminished.

CTC operates in a very competitive Russian market with 18 other TV channels. The two largest are effectively government-controlled which means that they may operate in a less cost conscious manner through a downturn. This could lead to a loss of market share for CTC, argues Morgan Stanley. CTC Media also reports its results (it is listed on the NASDAQ) in US Dollars.

That CTC Media has to make some cuts was inevitable. The Russian Rouble is down significantly against the Dollar (25%), and while only 20% of CTC’s operating expenses are in Dollars, there’s obviously a problem when 100% of income is generated in Roubles. The company has trimmed staff by 20%, and this, plus other belt-tightening, has helped bring the company back on an even keel.

But there are challenges ahead, says the bank’s note, with Russian advertising now suffering from the downturn, and likely to overall fall some 15% this year. However, the bank says: “Given its pricing advantages and national reach, we expect TV’s share of advertising will actually increase during this downturn from 55% to 60%, which we see as a long-term ceiling. In US dollar terms, we therefore look for a 61% and 3% contraction in the TV ad market in 2009 and 2010, respectively.”

Morgan Stanley is concerned by the acquisition of the DTV channel in Russia, and the C31 network in Kazakhstan, and in particular the amounts paid for the two stations, which with the benefit of hindsight were “extreme”.

“The $395m paid for DTV now represents 61% of CTC’s market capitalization. Through cost cutting we expect C31 to breakeven in EBITDA terms in 2009 and 2010 with modest profits by 2011. Assuming a 20% drop in content costs, we factor in a drop in EBITDA at DTV from $26m in 2008 to $20m in 2009 and $22m in 2010. This represents a margin of 39%,” says the bank’s note. Morgan Stanley also suggests that a write down of some $400m may be needed because of the high price paid for the recent acquisitions.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Next week’s DVB World show in Berlin will see a demo from Microsoft of its new HDTV Windows Media functionality which is part of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system.


Microsoft is partnering with Philips-founded semi-conductor company NXP to develop a new TV tuner that will operate within Windows, based on the DVB-T2 transmission standard.

“The prototype,” says a statement, “which comprises all major functionality of NXP’s upcoming DVB-T2 one chip solution and is designed for the Windows 7 release of the Microsoft operating system, paves the way for consumers to enjoy HD digital-terrestrial TV services on a Windows PC. With a TV tuner based on NXP’s technology, Windows Media Center users will be able to watch, pause, and record live HD TV wherever there is a HD DVB-T2 service.”

Commercial chipsets and software drivers based on the prototype are expected to be made available to PC OEMs and other tuner manufactures towards the end of this year.

DVB-T2 enables more channels, including HD services, to be broadcast. The UK is likely to be the first country to deploy DVB-T2 services with analogue switch-off already underway and the launch of Freeview HD in the autumn of this year.

“The PC is increasingly becoming a screen for watching television,” said Renaud Bordelet, Group Manager, Windows TV Europe, Microsoft. “Through this collaboration with NXP we ensure consumers will be able to use Windows Media Center to enjoy DVB-T2 services, such as Freeview HD, on the PC. DVB World is the first time we have demonstrated accessing a DVB-T2 broadcast in HD with Windows Media Center and we look forward to our OEM partners bringing the experience to consumers.”

Rolf-Dieter Gutsmann, Product Marketing Manager PC Video Systems, NXP Semiconductors, said: “Leaps in technology innovation are made possible when companies can combine their expertise, and we are particularly happy to have joined forces with Microsoft to support DVB-T2. NXP, building on its leadership in DVB silicon tuners and demodulators, is proud to show the first demonstrator of its DVB-T2 solution for the PC. DVB-T2 is an upcoming terrestrial transmission format which will start a new era of multimedia enjoyment, enabling superior quality of broadcast video on the Windows PC. OEMs will facilitate network operators to expand their range of coverage with cost effective hardware for PC tuner solutions.”

© Rapid TV News 2009

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Murr TV (confusingly known as MTV in the Lebanon) says it will go back on air at the end of March. It closed in Sept 2002 following a government ban. The channel’s web-site talks of it representing the silent majority of Lebanese and of transmissions recommencing on March 31.


“It will be a voice to serve freedom, and air the voice of the silent majority of all sects, regions and parties," said Michel Gabriel Murr, the station’s chairman and GM. "We will not be [backing any political group], and we will be neutral and realistic about all topics, from traffic lights to defence strategy."

A general election is scheduled for the Lebanon in June. It is not yet known whether transmissions will be limited to the station’s terrestrial output or whether it will go on to return to satellite broadcasting.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ has reportedly bought into Hybrid Television Services, the Seven Media Group venture to sell TiVo in Australia, for A$15 million (US$9.5 million).
Seven is looking to sell up to two-thirds of its 100% stake in Hybrid, with the deal apparently offloading a third to TVNZ, which is a state broadcaster but funded partially by commercials. TVNZ is one of the key players in New Zealand’s satellite and terrestrially-delivered Freeview digital TV platform.

A report on Australian online news and commentary service Crikey claims a deal has already been done and TVNZ wants to launch TiVo in New Zealand. The box would be marketed as picking up the Freeview platform. In Australia, there is no monthly subscription fee for the TiVo service.

PVR products are already on the market in New Zealand, marketed as MyFreeview boxes.
Seven Media Group, which is itself a joint venture between Seven Network and private equity house Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), is under financial pressure. Seven recently wrote down its investment in the company to zero as the group labours under a pile of debt brought in when KKR purchased the stake back in 2006. Asset sales are clearly on the agenda to reduce some of that debt.

© Rapid TV News 2009

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One month ago the sale of broadband supplier Tiscali’s UK assets seemed a certainty, and expected to take place by about now. But the further erosion of Sterling’s value against the Euro has placed the deal in jeopardy. Tiscali boss Mario Rosso now seems to be saying the deal is almost impossible to pull off.
A year ago Tiscali’s UK assets were worth around £600m. Carphone Warehouse made a bid of £450m for Tiscali’s British assets, a price which now seems extremely generous. The BSkyB ‘bid’ is reportedly to have been less than £450m. Tiscali, as well as being a poorly regarded broadband supplier, is perhaps better known as the owner of the Video Networks/Home Choice service, which has struggled since inception.

However, Tiscali’s share price has tumbled 83% over the past year and trading in its shares was suspended Friday Mar 6. A Board statement from Tiscali said: "Given the time frame of the negotiations with BSkyB for the disposal of certain UK assets of the Tiscali Group, which have not resulted in an agreement to date, due to the worsening of the market environment in which the potential buyer also operates, the Board of Directors has acknowledged that it is de facto impossible to proceed with the above mentioned negotiations."

Tiscali has also asked its bankers to suspend its interest payments due this week, and will be placing what it describes as a “new plan” to its Board on March 27. Long term debt stands at €500m, and it has payments to meet this week (on March 11 and 13 for a total of €11m).

© Rapid TV News 2009

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BSkyB is to further invest in 3D production and could even be offering a 3D service within the next twelve months according to a senior Sky staffer.
“We have the luxury to be able to test and trial 3D,” said Chris Johns, Sky’s chief engineer/broadcast strategy. He told a London conference on March 6 that with 61 Hollywood movies likely to be released in 3D over the next 18 months, plus Sky’s end-to-end control over its own programming making, there was now the “capability for homes to see 3D by year-end”.

However, first priority in Sky’s ‘vision of the future’ is to build its own archive of material, and Johns said services like its Arts Channel, as well as sports and general entertainment would receive 3D investment. He told delegates at the UK’s Digital Television Group (DTG) annual conference that Sky would be experimenting with different 3D systems, but favoured a simple and cost-effective technology route as being the most likely. While not ruling out so-called ‘active’ glasses, Johns suggested that at the moment these systems were too expensive. “And screens must be widely available,” he stressed. “Our aim is to refine 3D techniques and TV production and build a content library over the coming year.”

Johns said the aim was not to concentrate on delivering 3D to the big screen, or similar closed environments, but to the home for everyday usage. “We cannot move to a different platform and ask consumers to buy new set-top boxes,” he said. “We want to use the current set-top box without significant modifications to be ‘3D Ready’ as well as ‘HD Ready’.”

“Sky is in a unique position,” he said, “and we want to deliver the First Generation of 3D and I envision it will be glasses-based in some form, and to get the impetus going for that first generation and to be ready for other generations which will happen in 5, 6 or 7 years time.”

The DTG announced it was creating a special 3D working group and consultancy division for the technology.

© Rapid TV News 2009