Business News Holding

Category: hdtv

  • Carolyn Fairbairn appointed Freesat chairman


    ITV director of group development and strategy Carolyn Fairbairn will succeed Tim Davie as chairman of the UK’s free-to-air digital satellite television service Freesat in September.

    Davie, currently the BBC’s director of marketing, communications and audiences, will relinquish the Freesat chair – which alternates between the BBC and ITV annually – when he becomes the corporation’s new director of audio and music.

    Freesat was developed by the BBC and ITV plc. The service began broadcasting on 6 May 2008 and offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television.

    The service expects to have 200 channels available by the end of 2008 – including subscription-free high definition channels from the BBC and ITV- and 230 by early 2009, with around 30 channels added each month.

    Emma Scott, Freesat managing director, said: “Carolyn is a highly regarded industry figure and I’m certain that the strong strategic skills and expertise she continues to demonstrate at ITV will be of huge benefit to Freesat.

    “I’m delighted that she has agreed to become Chairman of Freesat. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Tim for the great support and wise counsel he has provided during Freesat’s development and launch.”

    Before joining ITV in 2007, Fairbairn worked at the BBC where she developed the corporation’s plans for Freeview as its director of strategy and distribution.

    Fairbairn said: “Freesat plays a crucial role in ensuring that UK viewers have access to free-to-air digital and high definition television.

    “After a successful launch earlier this year, the service has already proved itself to be popular with consumers and I’m delighted to be taking on the chairmanship.”

  • Sky now boasts 500,000 HD subscribers

    Satellite operator posts final results with revenue up and subscribers approaching 9 million

    Sky+ HD was taken by 33,000 new customers in the UK over the last three months, pushing the premium high-definition PVR to a total customer base of nearly 500,000.

    Nearly 9m people now subscribe to Sky after the company added more customers than expected over the last three months.
    Publishing results for its full financial year, Sky said it had 8.98m subscribers in total with net customer additions over the last three months coming in ahead of analyst expectations at 92,000.

    Revenue for the full year stood at £4.95m, up 9 per cent on the year before, receiving a boost from an 11 per cent uptick in retail subscription revenue to £3.77m.

    Its adjusted operating profit was £752m, down 2 per cent from the year before and attributed to continuing investment in its broadband operations.

    Jeremy Darroch, Sky CEO, said growth was still strong despite a more difficult consumer environment.
    “More customers are choosing Sky for a broader range of products and are staying with us for longer,” he said.

    The HD figure reflects take-up prior to Sky’s reduction in the Sky+ HD price from £249 to £150 effective from July 1.
    Sky noted that quarterly annualised churn has been brought down to 9.8 per cent, its lowest level since 2005.

    Average revenue per customer reached a new high of £427 on the back of continued strong take-up of its premium upsell products such as Sky+ and Sky+ HD.

    Revenue had also been improved with its push into bundle selling, with 11 per cent of its customer base now taking its “triple play” package of TV, broadband and fixed-line telephony.

  • Kodak offers HDTV answer to photos "lost" in the PC

    Kodak has long been known for producing imaging and photographic material.
    hdtv.biz-news.com asked Matthew Yarrow, Kodak country business manager for the UK and Ireland, to explain the rationale behind his company’s decision to move into new territory with the launch of a set-top box.


    The Kodak Theatre HD Player, due for release in September, is a Wi-Fi equipped TV set-top box that can stream music, videos, and photos from any computer that is connected to the same network to your HDTV. It offers 720p playback, HDMI and component output ports, and a USB port.

    With digital photos increasingly being stored on computers, the days of flicking through family photo albums are a thing of the past for many people.

    But that doesn’t mean the desire to look through holiday snaps with family and friends has been lost.
    Matthew Yarrow said that was a primary factor in Kodak’s move into the set-top box market.

    “Consumers describe to us, with strong emotion, that with all the advantages of digital photography, they’ve lost their pictures in their computers,” he said.

    “In film days, families would gather together on the couch to pass around albums and envelopes of prints. They would stay up late sharing memories, telling their stories, with laughter and tears. But with digital photography, sharing pictures has become ‘computer work’.

    “They want their pictures and memories back in their life. And what better way to gather together the family, and release the emotions of their pictures and stories than on the most beautiful screen in the house.”

    Kodak also believes HDTVs offer the potential for interactive “features” far beyond innovative technical aspects now being offered.

    “Our consumer, the proactive photo sharer, is not only ready for the HDTV to do more, they want it to be the hub of the family,” said Yarrow. “A sort of the campfire around which the family gathers to relive key moments and memories, to enjoy their favorite photos, videos, and slideshows.

    “To even be able to make the HDTV the gather round point for new pictures and to be able to share these images with family and friends right from the couch.”

    But Yarrow said people wanted more than just the ability to view pictures on the big screen: “They want to interact with their pictures too – send the favourites to family when the moment is special, create special slideshows, add their own music.
    The Kodak Theatre is designed with these primary needs in mind.”

    What consumers are demanding, according to Yarrow, are solutions that free their trapped images from PCs, memory cards and digital cameras.

    But the proliferation of HDTV technology has also created a demand for HD content beyond standard television programming.

    “Our consumer research shows that consumers want to relive the most cherished moments of their lives on their HDTV,” said Yarrow.

    “The Player meets consumer desires to do more with their pictures, music and videos and engage more easily and more interactively with their personal content, as well as content from family and friends from around the globe.”

    Yarrow said the US$300 Theatre HD Player – a competitor of the likes of PlayStation 3 and AppleTV – was most likely to appeal to what he described as “active photo sharers and technology optimists”.
    He said this group would have some of the following characteristics –
    * Highest median picture saving of all segments, 266 per year
    * Primary person in the household for organising, printing, and sharing pictures
    * Wish to keep family and friends connected
    * Wish the sharing, organising and storing of pictures to be easy and pictures accessible
    * Enjoy having pictures displayed at home or work
    * Never get tired of looking at photographs
    * More likely than general population to visit online sites
    * 98 per cent email photos to others

  • HDTV to grow to 255m by 2013


    The number of households worldwide viewing HDTV is set to rise from 45 million today to 255 million in 2013, according to a study by IMS Research.

    It estimates that 45 million households worldwide received HDTV service via Direct to Home (DTH), cable, IPTV and Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) at the end of 2007, with approximately the same number of HDTV sets shipping during the year.

    But the report forecasts that those watching HDTV worldwide will soar to 255 million TV households by the end of 2013, including video households viewing only pre-recorded non-broadcast programs.

    IMS also expects the Blu-ray Disc market to experience strong growth during the next five years, particularly as Blu-ray Disc drives in new PCs become more common, reaching a forecast US$46 billion in revenues in 2013.

    Shane Walker, research analyst and author of the study, said DTH continues to be the leading platform for HDTV service uptake due to its rapid transition from analog to digital households and increased HD content availability.

    He said HD DTH households are forecast to grow on average at 27.5 per cent annually, reaching 97 million households at the end of 2013.

    The most significant service uptake is expected prior to 2010, after which time the HDTV household growth rate is expected to fall below 30 per cent annually.

    “Approximately 62 per cent of the worldwide cable households are located in the Asia Pacific region,” he said.
    “Because of this, the slow conversion from analog to digital cable TV service in the Asia Pacific region is significantly skewing the worldwide forecast for HD cable households.”

    More details on the IMS Research study, The Worldwide Market for High-Definition TV Equipment & Services, are available at www.imsresearch.com

  • DISH first to broadcast live Blu-ray quality video

    Satellite broadcaster becomes first the TV broadcaster to offer video in a full 1080p resolution

    Subscribers to America’s DISH Network who have its MPEG-4 HD DVR boxes are to be offered full 1080p (1920×1080 progressive) resolution wherever content is available.

    Starting on August 1 with a Video On Demand option for the movie I Am Legend, the new high resolution programming will supercede the 1080i (interlaced) or 720p which until now was usual HD fare for DISH and other services.

    The satellite company claims it is giving subscribers Blu-ray quality images for a lower price than renting a disc.
    It is also launching a new set of channel bundles known as TurboHD that are claimed to be the first in the market to offer customers a package that only contains HD stations.

    Charlie Ergen, CEO of DISH Network, said the upgraded resolution was possible as a result of its new satellite, Echo XI.
    This will also allow the broadcaster to extend its current 114 HD channels to 150 by the autumn.

    He said that by early August, all DISH Network customers with MPEG-4 HD DVR receivers will be able to view 1080p content.

    “This marks the first time in history a pay-TV provider offers movies in 1080p, the highest resolution format available for HD video enthusiasts,” he said.

    “Our latest system upgrade, coupled with the introduction of TurboHD, further strengthens our position as the leader in digital television and high definition television, platforms we look forward to enhancing even more with mobile and portable options.”

  • First Blu-ray Disc player with streaming movies

    Korean firm LG has announced the first Blu-ray Disc player able to instantly stream movies from Netflix to the TV

    LG Electronics and Netflix are to launch the first Blu-ray Disc player that will have the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly to the TV.

    The LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player, which is to be launched in the autumn, will play high definition Blu-ray discs and up-convert standard DVDs to 1080p.

    But it will also allow Netflix subscribers to stream more than 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the TV for no additional charge.

    Teddy Hwang, president of LG Electronics USA, said with Blu-ray player sales expected to triple in three years, consumers are craving content and seeking a premium home entertainment experience.

    “The BD300 is another LG industry first and provides consumers with an advanced high-def disc player with unparalleled flexibility and networked access for services such as Netflix,” he said.

    Using a Queue-based user interface, subscribers will use the Netflix Web site to add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues.

    Those choices will automatically be displayed on members’ TVs and available to watch instantly through the LG player.
    It is claimed that once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds.

    With the BD300’s accompanying remote control, Netflix members will be able to browse and make selections on the TV screen and have the ability to read synopses and rate movies.

    In addition, they will have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream. The player also has a BD Live feature, BonusView and LG’s SimpLink technology, which allows users to control similarly equipped LG TV and AV products via on-screen menus or directly from the product itself.

    In January, prior to the 2008 International CES, LG Electronics and Netflix announced their technology partnership to provide a set-top box for consumers to stream movies and TV episodes from the Internet to the TV beginning in the second half of the year.

    Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, said: “LG Electronics was the first of our technology partners to publicly embrace our strategy for getting the Internet to the TV, and is the first to introduce a Blu-ray player that will instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the TV.”

  • Set Top Box unit shipments spike as digital TV services proliferate


    Strong demand for digital STBs led to record shipments totalling 143 million units in 2007, according to market analysts In-Stat.

    The results ensure that the digital STB market remains one of the fastest growing segments of the consumer electronics industry.

    UK set-top box specialist Pace just announced a rise in STB shipments of 55 per cent in the first half of this year, helping push revenues forward 22 per cent to £231m.

    Heavy consumer interest in Free-to-Air satellite services, coupled with the expanding availability of digital cable TV and IPTV services, have helped fuel the industry’s best ever results.

    Among the other results included in The Global Digital Set Top Box Market are:

    *  Worldwide digital set top box unit shipments reached 143 million in 2007, up sharply from 121 million in 2006.

    *  Satellite set top box unit shipments accounted for just over 50 per cent of all global digital set top box unit shipments last year, while digital cable set top boxes made up 29 per cent of total unit shipments.

    *  Worldwide digital set top box product revenues hit US$14 billion in 2007, an increase of US$3 billion over 2006 revenues.

    * The market for semiconductor components inside digital set top boxes also grew significantly last year. The total value of semiconductors embedded in digital set top boxes increased to US$7.7 billion in 2007.

  • HDTV-enabled receivers boost Pace's STB shipments

    “HD is the flavour for just about everyone…there is a big trend upwards towards HDTV”

    Pace CEO Neil Gaydon


    UK set-top box specialist Pace saw box shipments rise 55 per cent in the first half of this year with HDTV-enabled receivers with built-in hard drives fuelling the growth.

    Volumes rose from 1.8 million in the half-year to December 1 2007 to 2.8 million units to June 30. The additional shipments helped push revenues forward 22 per cent to £231m (£190m to Dec 1 2007).

    They also signalled a reversal of fortune at its French operation, which in the half-year moved from an anticipated loss, to profit of £2.1m.

    Despite the inevitable squeezes on factory-gate prices Pace’s operating margins were up marginally from 20.7 to 21 per cent.

    The performance helped profits (before tax and exceptionals) rise from £10.6m (half-year to Dec 1 2007) to £11.2m this year.

    The company says it is now working with 17 of the world’s top 25 pay-TV operators, and reported a CAGR of its HD-PVR shipments up 49%.

    Pace CEO Neil Gaydon said the company had made strong progress in the first half, building on the performance momentum it has created over the last three years.

    “We launched ten new high definition products with customers around the world and improved the overall performance across the group,” he said.

    “The business is in good shape to capitalise on growth in our core set-top box business, new markets and new technologies as the world embraces the wide range of digital TV solutions.”

  • Sales of Full HD TVs rising in UK

    Price cuts for LCD TVs ensure drop in value of UK consumer electronics market – but continued growth of full HD TVs help bolster figures

    Demand for Full HD TVs is helping to offset the declining market value for UK consumer electronics products, according to a report from market research specialists GfK.

    The total market for electrical goods fell in value for the first time for years in May, with A/V turnover down 7 per cent compared to the same period last year.

    The study by GfK shows that with “vision” products contributing most of the market value, a key factor in the downturn was the performance of the LCD market.

    For the first time ever in the UK, this declined in May – dropping 4 per cent despite a 12 per cent increase in LCD unit sales over that period.

    Central to the decrease was a fall in the 32” segment and, coupled with an overall average price fall of 20 per cent, a sizeable decline in value was registered.

    However growth remains strong in the 37", 40" and 42" LCD sectors which now represent one fifth of LCD units (Q/E May 08).

    “There are signs that the overall price erosion for these larger screen sizes are slowing too: 40-42" average prices fell by 31 per cent in the latest year ending, 27 per cent in the year to date, but a less pronounced 21 per cent in the latest month,” says the report.

    It goes on to point out that one of the factors contributing to this is the continued emergence of Full HD sets, which in May saw a significant increase in share of the overall LCD market, increasing from 10 per cent to 14 per cent of sales from April to May.

    The report adds: “Plasma sales remain strong at 50" with Full HD also continuing to penetrate the market. A fifth of Plasma sets sold in May were Full HD.”

    The second most important section of the vision market is the DVD market.

    Although total DVD value has fallen on a year on year basis, the GFK report say it is “encouraging” that there are still two key growth sectors.

    One is the standalone player, which it notes is boosted by High Definition.
    “And with the High Definition format war now resolved we should expect to see increased activity within this area,” says the report.

    “The other growth sector is DVD Recorder with Hard Disc Drive (HDD) and the HDD sector is now worth more than the no HDD sector (51 per cent of total Recorder value in May).

    Although camcorders are a much less high profile market, GfK says High Definition models also offer a source of value to the market.

    The report concludes that despite the downward trend seen for vision products as a whole in May there remains plenty of opportunity with High Definition/Full HD and the new service of Freesat.

  • Paul Semenza appointed senior vice president at DisplaySearch

    Display industry veteran Paul Semenza has been named as Display Search’s senior vice president managing its North American and European analyst teams.

    With more than 20 years of global market research experience, Semenza most recently served as vice president and manager of iSuppli’s Display Business.

    In this role he managed the firm’s market intelligence and consulting practice in the electronic display and consumer electronics sectors.

    A frequent speaker at major industry events such as CES and SID’s DisplayWeek, Semenza is has been quoted in leading business and trade publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, EE Times, Bloomberg, Information Display and CNBC.

    Tim Bush, DisplaySearch’s group president and general manager, said the company was “thrilled” to have Semenza join its team of global analysts.

    “Paul’s leadership, industry knowledge, and market insights will be a great complement to the DisplaySearch business,” he said.

    Prior to iSuppli, Semenza was a program officer at the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council, where he directed studies on IT policy.

    Before that, he served as a consultant for Mogee Research on international patent activity and was an analyst for the US Congress Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), covering emerging technologies such as flat panel displays.

    He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and master’s degree in electro-optics from Tufts University.
    In 1994, he received a master’s degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.