18 June 2015
Globecast, the global solutions provider for media, today announced that it has been chosen as the content delivery service provider for Premier Sports HD, the new HD channel from Setanta Sports’ UK operation Premier Sports. The channel will launch on the Sky platform on 20 July.
Globecast has a longstanding relationship with the broadcaster and already provides uplink and satellite capacity for existing SD channels Premier Sports and Setanta Sports Ireland, also available via the Sky platform. The channel will be added to Globecast’s extensive HD portfolio, with the company providing the uplink and satellite capacity on Astra 2G for the new Premier Sports HD offering. The contract win follows from the renewal of the capacity contracts for the broadcaster’s Sky SD channels
Mickey O’Rourke, CEO Premier Sports said, “We’ve had a longstanding relationship stretching over 20 years with Globecast, and they already handle our two SD channels. Globecast was already familiar with our business and asking them to help us launch our HD channel was just a logical step in our relationship. HD is something that there’s a real demand for from sports fans; the expectation is that watching a game on TV is as close to being there as possible. That’s what we’re trying to deliver with the addition of Premier Sports HD.”
Juliet Bayliss, Sales Director, Content Distribution at Globecast, added, “We’ve been working with Premier Sports/Setanta for many years now, so we’re delighted that they have chosen us to help launch the new HD channel. There’s a real demand for HD channels and we’re seeing a growing uptake amongst our client base and we’ve provided uplinking and capacity for several HD channels in the recent months.” (Source: Globecast press release)
16 June 2015
New demo channel enables cable operators and content distributors
to prepare their networks for Ultra HD trials
SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), the world’s leading satellite operator, today announced it has launched its first Ultra HD (UHD) demonstration channel serving the North American television market.
The demonstration channel, broadcast via SES-3 at 103 degrees West, will enable cable operators to prepare and test their networks for Ultra HD trials. The SES-3 satellite provides broad coverage over the North America market, ideally positioned to deliver live and linear Ultra HD to cable networks. With three UHD demo channels already available across Europe – broadcast at 19.2 degrees East, 28.2 East and 5 degrees East, SES extends its global leadership in HD and UHD delivery with this new channel in North America.
SES initiated the new UHD demo channel in response to strong cable operator demand following its highly successful demonstration of the first-ever live and linear Ultra HD broadcasts to cable systems at the NAB and INTX conferences earlier this spring. The milestone Ultra HD broadcasts were enabled by SES’s Ultra-HD-ready linear content delivery network, which is used to transmit the UHD demo channel. The camera-to-screen ecosystem is built on satellite’s inherent broadcast advantages coupled with the multicasting capability of DOCSIS 3.0, the most advanced transmission standard that is used by most cable systems today.
“This new SES Ultra HD demo channel is playing an important role in accelerating the successful delivery of Ultra HD to cable homes across North America,” explained Steve Corda, Vice President of Business Development for SES in North America. “Cable operators and content distributors can now begin to prepare their systems and test their networks for Ultra HD delivery, leading into major trials this summer,” Corda said, noting the Ultra HD demo channel is expected to reach cable subscribers’ homes later this year.
11 June 2015
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE HAS ANNOUNCED THE LAUNCH OF “AFPTV LIVE”, A NEW SERVICE FOR TELEVISION NETWORKS OFFERING MORE THAN 500 LIVE VIDEOS A YEAR.
With this new offer, AFP significantly increases its live video production, which is tripled from June 2015. The service, available by subscription, uses technology meeting the highest market standards for live feed transmission.
Thanks to the Agency’s network in 150 countries, subscribers will have real-time access to international news, major sporting and cultural events, as well as a selection of institutional feeds, for example during international summits and special events.
AFP’s live video coverage has greatly increased since the initial trials in 2012. Dozens of hours of live video have been broadcast in 2015, including during the January events in Paris and after the March plane crash in the Alps. Live broadcasts have now been extended to all countries, from the New Year fireworks in Hong Kong to the inauguration of President Muhammad Bihari in Nigeria, the demonstrations in Tunisia after the attack on the Bardo museum and the elections in Israel.
“The launch of AFPTV Live marks a decisive moment in the development of video, which is a strategic priority and the leading driver of growth for AFP,” said AFP Chairman Emmanuel Hoog. “By continuing to meet the ever increasing demand for live content, AFP has yet again strengthened the quality of its service to clients and demonstrated that it has become a leading agency for video.”
11 June 2015
Ipsos Affluent Survey Europe 2015 results reaffirm cross-platform strength
Bloomberg Media, has reinforced its position as the number one business media brand* in Europe with the results of this year’s annual Ipsos Affluent Survey Europe (formerly European Media & Marketing Survey or EMS), the industry benchmark and globally recognised advertising tool.
The results, out today, survey the top 13% of adult European consumers based on personal income. They demonstrate the high influence** and value of the Bloomberg Media audience, showing them to be 43% more influential than the average survey respondents, as well as collectively in command of €3.9 trillion of corporate spend.
The survey confirms Bloomberg Television as the business and financial television channel of choice for advertisers wishing to reach upmarket business professionals during the business day.***
The release of the European data also shows the strength of Bloomberg Media’s digital products. Bloomberg Media has the highest reach of high-net-worth individuals (€950k+ private investments excluding home/mortgage), C-suite officers, business decision makers and financial professionals in the competitive set.
Adam Freeman, Managing Director, Bloomberg Media, EMEA, said: “The strength of our multi-platform portfolio of brands continues to grow and these Ipsos results reaffirm the power of our audience across Europe. As the number one business media brand in Europe, we can offer unique integrated campaigns for commercial partners wanting to engage elite business individuals and influencers during the most important times of the working day, something we are immensely proud of.”
Source: The Ipsos Affluent Survey Europe 2015 / Affluent 17
* Competitive set = CNBC, FT, Economist, Time, WSJ, INYT and Forbes.
Bloomberg total monthly audience= NET (Bloomberg Television viewed last month; visited website/mobile site/app last 30 days (Businessweek.com, Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg Markets), AIR of Bloomberg Markets; AIR of Businessweek x 4).
For dailies, monthly reach =NET (AIR x 24; digital monthly reach). For weeklies, monthly reach =(AIR x4; digital monthly reach). For television, monthly reach =NET (viewed channel last month; digital monthly reach). For Forbes monthly reach =(NET 1x AIR; digital monthly reach) as Forbes AIR is for three weekly and software is unable to reach a monthly code.
** Partaken in any of the following five opinion leading activities: had a book published, set up a new company, been interviewed on television/radio/in the press.
***Viewing figures based on R&F weekday day part probabilities using one spot per hour 06:00 – 17:00 CET. Competitive set defined as CNBC and Bloomberg Television.
11 June 2015
Vietnamese youth are increasingly turning to online news sources over state TV, according to data issued today by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and Gallup. When asked to name the three media outlets that are their most important sources of information, almost three-fourths (74.1%) of those age 35 and older include state-run VTV among their responses, while less than half of those age 15-34 (48.6%) do so. Young people, in turn, are more likely to name online sources – most commonly the popular Vietnamese news and information portals 24 Gio and Dantri.com, and the global social media giant Facebook.
“While television ownership remains almost ubiquitous, and frequency of TV and radio use has changed only slightly, the proportion of Vietnamese adults who use the Internet weekly or more continued to rise, from 26.3% in 2012 to 38.8% today,” explained Betsy Henderson, Director of Research, Training and Evaluation at Radio Free Asia. “Mobile ownership has grown by 10 per cent since 2012, and it is the growing availability in web-enabled phones that is a key factor in rising Internet use in Vietnam.”
Mobile phones have become the primary means of accessing the Internet in Vietnam, with eight in 10 weekly web users saying they used their mobiles to go online in the past seven days. By contrast, less than half (45.5%) say they have used a desktop computer to do so, and just over one-fourth (26.5%) have used a laptop.
Despite the country’s restrictive media environment, Vietnamese are extremely avid news consumers; almost nine in 10 adults (88.0%) say they access some type of news at least daily while almost all (96.8%) do so at least once a week. There is little difference among education or age categories in these results.
Unlike in China, which has a similarly restrictive media environment, Google and top-tier social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube are available to the public, and are accessed by more than one-fourth of all adults and a majority of those age 15-24 on a weekly basis.
Almost all Vietnamese are comfortable with the idea that media organizations should advocate national interests; 92.1% strongly or somewhat agree that Vietnamese media should present the country and its people in a positive way. However, most Vietnamese (58.2%) believe personal blogs are more believable than official news, pointing to an underlying distrust of state media, particularly among younger and better-educated adults.
