News - Page №5

European pay-TV revenues will reach $40.35 billion in 2014, up from $36.87 billion in 2010, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. The European Digital TV Databook (covering 39 countries) reveals that the 2014 total will only increase by 0.6% on 2013 as ARPUs are hit by competition and the transition of subscribers to double-play and triple-play bundles (which result in higher overall ARPUs for operators but lower TV ARPUs).

Amazon Instant Video today announced that video streams on Prime Instant Video nearly tripled year over year. According to a report from Qwilt, which tracks growth in online video usage, Amazon has now passed both Apple and Hulu in streaming video usage.

Viaccess-Orca (VO) is set to acquire the SecurePlayer business from Discretix Technologies. The deal is expected to close in early Q2, 2014. SecurePlayer is a multiplatform media player, available for Android and iOS tablets and smartphones, that incorporates digital rights management (DRM) for premium VOD and live content.

Interesting statistics from The NPD Group’s latest Connected Intelligence Apllications and Convergence Report, which reports that OTT is the leading manner of accessing video content on connected TVs for 18-34 year-olds.

More than seven in 10 consumers now watch TV on mobile devices and on the move, a new study from Ericsson ConsumerLab says.

The global smart set-top box and dongle market will pass 18 million units in 2013, higher than originally forecasted, thanks to the arrival of Google’s Chromecast dongle to the market, new research predicts.

Young US adults still living in the parental home are more likely to subscribe to an online video service like Netflix or Hulu Plus when they move out than take a «legacy pay-TV» service such as cable or satellite new research claims.

The HbbTV Consortium, founded to drive development of the pan-European connected TV specification HbbTV, is planning to launch a strategic marketing campaign to promote the standard on a worldwide basis.

Operator group Vodafone has had a €7.7bn bid for Kabel Deutschland approved by the German cable group’s board. The board will now recommend the firm’s shareholders accept the offer.

US cableco Time Warner Cable has launched a new application for Samsung Smart TVs that makes its video-on-demand library available to customers without the need for a set-top box.

There will be just shy of 1bn pay-TV households worldwide by 2018, with IPTV accounting for around 167mn of them, according to UK firm Digital TV Research.

US sports broadcaster ESPN has decided to close down its dedicated 3D channel by the end of this year due to a lack of uptake, ending a three-year run for the channel.

Providing super-fast broadband to the whole of the European Union could be much less expensive than previously thought, according to UK research firm Point Topic, which estimates that the whole economic area could be served for €80bn — less than a third of the €270bn estimated by the European Commission in its Digital Agenda.

The worldwide market for content delivery network services will reach nearly US$ 6.9bn in 2017, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% over the next five years, according to US firm BCC Research.

The number of digital TV homes in Eastern Europe will double between now and 2018 to reach 121mn, thanks to rapid progress for the region’s analogue switchover initiatives, according to UK firm Digital TV Research.