14 September 2014
Selevision and Arabsat have announced today that they have entered into an exclusive long-term partnership to deliver the first Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) service to the MENA (Middle East & North Africa) The Service will be provided to Arabsat customer base from three different locations; Jordan Media City in Jordan, Du in UAE and Overon in Spain. The Arabsat Satellite based HbbTV service will be complimented by the Selevision OTT platform and content library of Selevision to provide different viewer experience for the 26deg Arabsat hotspot. Broadcasters will enjoy different standardized applications in addition to the wide possibilities of customized applications. The service will be available to viewers on all HbbTV compatible set-top-boxes in the market. Furthermore, Arabsat and Selevision will launch the first HbbTV Channel in the region as a pilot to present the concept to the customer base of Arabsat.
Dr. Raed Khusheim, Chief Executive Officer at Selevision said: “We are delighted to enter into this strategic partnership with Arabsat, one of the world’s leading satellite operators. We are constantly looking forward and committed to delivering engaging new services for customers, The HBBTV service will be compatible with all available HBBTV-ready boxes in the market, furthermore, we have also announced REDO, Selevision new invention; the first hybrid android unit with approved C.A.S system platform: REDO unit will allow us to provide a variety of interactive new hybrid services to the market before any other provider in the region”.
Khalid Balkhyour, President & CEO of Arabsat said: “ Arabsat is always keen to deliver new experience to its viewers and facilitate access to new technology for its broadcastors base customers; this partnership with Selevision will add value to Arabsat hotspot at 26deg E with its growing neighborhood that will benefit both the broadcaster and the viewer. This platform will leverage on Arabsat reach and on Selevision extremely competitive offerings and services. Both Parties have invested in this platform to provide an excellent cooperation model in the industry’
About HBBTV
HbbTV is a global initiative that brings together broadcast and broadband TV services into one ideal user experience through connected TVs, set-top boxes and multiscreen devices. The HbbTV standard utilises existing standards and web technologies including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum), CEA, DVB, MPEG-DASH and W3C. (Source : Arabsat press release)
10 September 2014
- 63% expect 4K UHDTV consumption to be mainstream within five to seven years;
- 42% have made the decision to launch a 4K UHDTV service and have a specific timeframe for its rollout, with 23% planning to launch in less than four years;
- 35% of non-technical executives expect Direct-to-Home (DTH) will be the first segment to gain momentum as compared to 60% of technical executives who believe Video on Demand is where 4K UHDTV will first take hold.
Since it was first announced, 4K Ultra High Definition Television (4K UHDTV) has been met with both excitement and skepticism within and outside of the media industry. According to new research from Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), the world’s leading provider of satellite services, 4K UHDTV will be main stream within 10 years. In fact, 42% of Intelsat’s survey respondents stated that they have made a firm decision to launch a 4K UHDTV service and have a specific timeframe for its roll out (23% within the next four years). The main driver cited by media companies was the ability to provide the competitive differentiation necessary to attract new subscribers to their linear broadcast and cable television channels.
Intelsat surveyed technical and non-technical (primarily marketing) media executives from its global customer base, which is comprised of many of the world’s largest media companies that conduct business on a regional and global basis. The nearly 80 respondents represent a statistically significant sample of the pool of potential respondents.
While the majority of respondents believe that 4K UHDTV adoption is inevitable—in stark contrast to initial views of the 3DTV trend from several years ago—there is disparity in terms of what segments and business models are regarded as likely to adopt 4K UHDTV first, with non-technical executives having significantly different views from technical executives. Digital cinema (38%), over the top (OTT) and direct-to home (DTH) are the most widely mentioned segments for 4K UHDTV to gain momentum and those views differ sharply between technical and non-technical participants. In addition, 60% point to video on demand as the business model expected to first gain momentum, almost double the 34% stating that linear channels will be the first to do so.
“While it is becoming more evident that the transition to 4K UHDTV is highly likely, the road to adoption will take many paths, given the business model evolution resulting from the multi-screen viewing environment,” stated Peter Ostapiuk, Vice President, Media Product Management, Intelsat. “As with high definition television, socio-economics, demographics and technology infrastructure will determine the adoption timeline. This time, however, media companies are more focused on building the right business model that will enable them to deliver high quality and reliable content delivery across multiple platforms and, at the same time, achieve a strong return on their investment.”
Media professionals surveyed believe that the pace of 4K UHDTV adoption will vary by region. For example, 47% believe 4K UHDTV will first take hold in Asia Pacific; 34% expect North America to be the early adopter and only 16% believed Western Europe would be the first to roll out the new technology.
While Media Professionals are Optimistic about 4K UHDTV, Critical Factors Necessary for Accelerated Timeline to Take Hold
Respondents cited higher transmission and content production costs (67%), availability of more efficient transmission technologies (62%), affordable television sets (51%) and ability to achieve a return on their investment (71%) as issues of greatest concern to them going forward.
Roughly a third of those surveyed stated that a critical mass of content (38%), sufficient household penetration (35%) and available 4K UHDTV-enabled set top boxes (31%) are important factors in accelerating the roll-out of 4K UHDTV. Movies (53%) and sports (42%) are the most widely identified types of 4K UHDTV content expected to gain momentum first.
“Satellite will positively impact the adoption of this new and exciting technology and serve as a strategic partner to media customers,” continued Ostapiuk. “It’s clear that our customers will introduce 4K UHDTV as a way to distinguish their brands, and the ubiquitous and extremely high quality of satellite will deliver an immersive experience with cost efficiency. With the ability to easily handle transmission of multiple viewing formats across a hybrid distribution infrastructure, Intelsat is prepared to support this emerging growth opportunity for our global media customers.”
Supporting Resources:
Note to Editors:
Intelsat commissioned independent market research firm Market Connections, Inc. to survey Intelsat’s media customers in July 2014 on awareness of and plans for 4K UHDTV content demand, development and distribution. The statistically valid response from 77 media professionals features the opinions of content and platform providers from 24 different countries. (Source: Intelsat press release)
9 September 2014
Middle East markets are attracting more and more attention from the world economies, and increasingly influence global business.
Euronews’ new programme “Business Middle East” focuses on the constantly changing environment that is driving global market evolution. Get a clearer view of the region’s key economic issues with insight and analysis from top market strategists in Abu Dhabi.
The new 4-minute weekly programme is produced and hosted by Daleen Hassan. Each Tuesday she examines a major economic issue in the region and assesses the world economy’s overall influence on it. The programme opens with a story analysing the main subject of the episode, then Daleen discusses the issues raised in an interviews with an expert who provides insight, background information and opinion.
First episode: ECB’s decision eagerly awaited
For her first programme this week, Daleen Hassan looks at how the upcoming European Central Bank´s decisions could affect the Middle East markets.
Click here to watch the first episode 1n 13 languages.
To shed light on these issues Euronews’ Daleen Hassan spoke to ADS Securities’ Chief market strategist Nour Eldeen Al Hammoury in Abu Dhabi. He has more than eight years of experience in foreign exchange and global economic developments, as well as central bank policies and intermarket analysis (global markets relationships).
About Daleen Hassan
Daleen Hassan, a seasoned Syrian broadcast journalist, joined Euronews Arabic service in 2010.
Daleen worked as producer, reporter and news anchor for several Media and TV in Syria and Abu Dhabi.
She covered several events in various parts of the world such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Lebanon, France and Syria.
Before Euronews, she was PR coordinator for the World Arab Institute in Paris, France.
At Euronews she is part of the team that covers international news, both as a news duty editor and a presenter, interviewing experts and leading politicians such as Najib Mikati, former Lebanese prime minister, Ali Zidan former Libyan prime minister, the former Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
Daleen has a Masters degree from Lyon 2 Lumière University in Cinematography and Audiovisual Studies and a BA in journalism and media from the University of Damascus. She is fluent in English and French in the professional media and production environment.
@daleenhassan Daleen Hassan
Business Middle East
First broadcast: every Tuesday
A 4 minute programme by Daleen Hassan, available in the channel’s 13 languages services*, on air, on www.euronews.com/business-middle-east, and on Euronews’ mobile apps.
* Arabic, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian
Broadcasts (CET): Tuesday at 09:45, 11:15, 12:45, 14:45, 15:45, 17:45, 00:45, 02:45, 04:45; Wednesday at 08:45, 10:15, 12:15, 16:15, 18:15, 19:45.
8 September 2014
In a first for international broadcasters, BBC World Service has announced the launch of TV programming in Hausa. BBC Hausa’s 10-minute TV news bulletins will now bring the BBC’s coverage of regional and international news to viewers of Nigeria’s Capital TV (Kaduna) as well as the West African satellite TV channel, Adom TV (on the Multi TV platform). The Monday to Friday prime-time programme will also be streamed live on the website bbchausa.com.
Controller of Languages, BBC World Service, Liliane Landor says: “We are proud to be the first among international broadcasters to launch TV content in Hausa. It’s another landmark as we continue our move towards new, digital platforms. BBC Hausa’s trusted, engaging radio and online content and its quick, innovative response to the explosion of mobile media and social networks has maintained its huge popularity in Nigeria and across West Africa. The new TV bulletins will further broaden BBC Hausa’s appeal to audiences – on TV and online – and reinforce the BBC’s presence on the African media arena.”
The newBBC Hausa TV programming adds to the BBC Hausa content available on radio, online and via mobile devices, currently reaching around 19.9 million people every week. BBC Hausa Editor, Mansur Liman, says: “We hope this ground-breaking launch will further expand and diversify our audience base in the region via rebroadcasting TV channels and among the audiences that come to us via bbchausa.com.”
Commenting on her new role, the lead presenter of the BBC Hausa TV news bulletins, Aichatou Moussa, says: “It is a new and exciting challenge which I am looking forward to. With the launch of the BBC Hausa fast-paced, vibrant TV news bulletins, we are getting even closer to our audiences who will join us to live the news story with the BBC.”
The programme’s second presenter, Elhadji Diori Coulibaly, adds: “Having worked on the radio and online platforms, I am really excited to have such an excellent opportunity now to connect with our audiences on TV.”
As part of BBC Hausa’s pioneering move towards digital platforms, its website bbchausa.com was among the very first non-English African sites made available to users on mobile devices using Responsive Design technology. With over 96% of the traffic to bbchausa.com coming to its mobile version, BBC Hausa operates on a ‘mobile-first’ basis, with its website content optimised to be viewed on mobile devices.
BBC Hausa is part of BBC World Service. (Source: BBC press release)
5 September 2014
| France 24 has launched a new app compatible with TiVo set-top boxes and is now available to 400,000 ONO TiVo subscribers in Spain and over 2,3 million Virgin Media TiVo customers in the UK.
Developed by DotScreen, this new application gives free access to all France 24 programmes on demand in French and English (news bulletins, weather forecast, reports, debates, sports, etc.) for the three weeks following their initial broadcast.
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Accessible from the ONO homepage of the TiVo platform, this application also offers France 24 live streams in French and English as well as a quick overview of the headlines of the day through the ‘News in Pictures’ section. On Virgin Media TiVo, the France 24 app offers the same service and is available via the apps and games menu as well as the Red Button on the linear channel.
Thanks to this new app, France 24 strengthens its presence throughout Spain and the United Kingdom, deploying this new interactive service, in addition to its linear distribution. (Source: France 24 press release)
France 24 is available onVirgin Media in English and French (channels 624 and 832) and in English on ONO (channel 138).
5 September 2014
Eurosport and BDO Events, the commercial partner and exclusive sales agent of the British Darts Organisation, are delighted to announce that Eurosport will broadcast five tournaments from four countries this Autumn.
Eurosport has acquired the worldwide rights, including sub-licensing rights, and will broadcast the tournaments in its European and Asia-Pacific markets.
Eurosport’s relationship with BDO Events was first forged with the showing of all three days of the inaugural BDO Events’ BDO World Trophy in February 2014, which was held at the iconic Tower Ballroom in Blackpool.
The featured tournaments in the new agreement include this year’s Winmau World Masters and also The British Open, traditional season curtain-raiser, Top of Ghent, Northern Ireland Open and Romanian Open. They will be covered live and delayed on Eurosport and Eurosport 2.
Dates and venues of these events are as follows:
British Open: 19 – 21 September 2014, The Spa Bridlington
Romanian Open: 28 September 2014, Bulevardul Nicolae Balcescu 4, Bucharest, Romania
Winmau World Masters: 9 – 12 October 2014, Hull City Hall
Tops of Ghent: 17-19 October 2014 (venue tbc), Belgium
Northern Ireland Open: 7-9 November 2014, Bellini’s 25, Merchants Quay Newry, Co Down
