Foxtel launches its Xbox360’s TV service

Foxtel announced a partnership with Microsoft to launch its TV service through Xbox360, the service will be available from November. Live pay TV channels, catch up TV and Foxtel On Demand will be included in the service. A minimum speed of 1.5Mbps is recommended for the service, in addition to a Xbox Gold membership.

The basic package will cost less than $20 for 11 channels (Fox8, MTV, Nickelodeon, Channel[V], LifeStyle, YOU, Discovery, National Geographic, TV1, Sky News, Fox Sports News and CNN). Additionnal packages will be available at $10 per package.

Vietnam: VNPT To Launch Mobile TV

VNPT, Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group, is planning to extend its MyTV IPTV service to mobile phone by 2011. VNPT’s IPTV service was launched in September 2009 initially in Hanoi. MyTV provides multi services such as TV Broadcasting, Audio Channel, Time-Shift TV as well as on demand services like Video on Demand, Music on Demand, TV on Demand, Game, Karaoke… etc. The service offers over 60 domestic and international channels and has attracted more than 150,000 subscribers which is the double of its original expectations according to VNPT.

Telekom Austria TV subscriber base increased by 55% in June 2010

Telekom Austria published its reults for the first half of 2010. Despite group revenues drop by 1.9% compared to last year and fixed line losses, Telekom Austria tried to offer attractive and innovative products like its IPTV service, Aon TV.

Aon Tv was launched in 2007 and offers 90 channels through a DSL connection. Recently, HD services were available, offering ten additional HD channels. In June 2010, Telekom Austria reached 123.900 subscribers for its service. It represents a 55% growth YoY (79.900 subs. in Q209). Thanks to IPTV and broadband, subscriber base also grew by 13.7% to 1.1 million, fixed business revenues increased slightly by 0.4% to €458.5 million.

AonTV Quarters Evolution in Q2 2010:

Source : Dataxis Intelligence

EPIX and Netflix Announce Exclusive Deal to Stream Movies

EPIX and Netflix have announced an exclusive internet only deal through which Netflix members can instantly watch an array of new releases and library titles from EPIX. EPIX will make these movies available to Netflix 90 days after their premium pay TV and subscription on demand debuts.

The new agreement will help Netflix build its streaming offer through adding many popular movie titles from some of the world’s leading studios. Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer for Netflix said: “Adding EPIX to our growing library of streaming content, as the exclusive Internet-only distributor of this great content, marks the continued emergence of Netflix as a leader in entertainment delivered over the Web… The EPIX deal is an example of the innovative ways in which we’re partnering with major content providers to broaden the scope and freshness of choices available to our members to watch instantly over the Internet”.

Mark Greenberg, President of EPIX, added: “Netflix is an incredibly popular service and we welcome them as our newest distribution partner. We are pleased to be able to continue our mission of bringing consumers the movies where they want to watch them, while satisfying the differing needs of cable, telco and satellite operators. This deal also underscores the tremendous value of our offerings in the marketplace”.

The multi-year deal starts on September 1^st and includes movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM.

Europe added 1 million DSL IPTV subscribers in Q1 2010

According to Dataxis Intelligence, the European DSL IPTV market reached 15.54 subscribers in March 2010. In 2009, 14.5 million Europeans had access to IPTV service through DSL, which means that the market grew by 1 million subscribers in 3 months. It represents a 7.2% growth compared to the previous quarter.

The European DSL IPTV market is still led by France with more than half of the market (8.68 million subscribers), followed by Germany, Spain and Italy. According to Dataxis, DSL IPTV represented about 18% of digital tv subscribers in Europe. This rate was 17% in Q409 and continues to grow quarter by quarter, driven by the French market. DSL IPTV has a great success in Central and Eastern Europe where growth rates can exceed 20%.

European DSL IPTV Quarterly Evolution

Source : Dataxis Intelligence

Australia’s TransACT launches IPTV

TransACT, the Australian telco based in Canberra, has launched its new IPTV service, TransTV, bundled with a PVR and offering both live and VOD content. TransACT’s CEO, Ivan Slavich, reported that the company has been testing new set top boxes with PVR functionality for the last six months: “TransACT’s new IPTV solution offers a whole new range of services to our customers, including video-on-demand (VOD), IPTV multicast, enhanced electronic program guide, HD capability, trick play (pausing live TV) and personal video recorder functionality. We look forward to providing our customers with additional IPTV services and content, including Web-enabled content, which is planned for release in the near future” he said.

The packages cost between AU$ 75 (US$ 63.50) and AU$ 139 per month and include the IPTV service with around 50 linear channels, a broadband connection and a Motorola PVR-capable set-top box.

Multichoice teams up with MWeb to offer VOD services

South African pay-TV operator Multichoice has announced the launch of DStv On Demand, the country’s first Video On Demand (VOD) service thanks to a partnership with MWeb a local ISP. The new service that is available through any of the DStv PVR decoders will enable subscribers to catch up on their favourite TV series and sports highlights at a time that is convenient to them.

At  launch, DStv will be accessible to Premium subscribers only that can benefit from the first phase freely, allowing them to watch up to 20 hours of the most popular TV series and sports magazines shows for up to 7 days after broadcast on DStv Channels.

The online service, DStv On Demand Online accessible by using a PC or any device will only be available through the MWEB ADSL service. Discussions with other ISPs are underway to ensure that the service is widely accessible, reports the company in its release.

IPTV continues to gain subscribers in Singapore

Singtel, the Singaporean incumbent operator, launched its IPTV service Mio TV on July 2007. With a slow growth at the beginning, it seems that IPTV is now successful. The company reached 155.000 subscribers in 2009, it represents a 23% growth QoQ (126.000 in Q3 2009).

In April, the company announced it has reached 200.000 subscribers. This success can be explained by the switch of English Premier League from StarHub, to start in August. Tim Carmichael, Vice President of Mio TV, said : “We are thrilled that 200.000 Singaporeans have chosen Mio TV for their home entertainment, Since its launch in 2007, mio TV has created waves in the pay TV market in Singapore, which was dominated by a single player for over a decade.  We have brought many innovations to the market and today’s announcement is a reinforcement of our commitment to leading and shaping the industry”.

IPTV in Singapore in 2009

Source : Dataxis Intelligence

France: Canal+ teams with LG to offer VoD on Blu-ray players and Home Cinemas

The group Canal Plus announced it had signed an agreement with LG Electronics to integrate its catalog CanalPlay to LG’s Blu Ray DVD players and Home Cinema systems. According to the press release, the owners of the new models of LG DVD players and Home Cinema sets equipped with a broadband connection will be able to access over 8000 VOD content including 4000 feature films as well as exclusive series on their TV as of May 5^th.

It is very likely that these films will be stored in LG drives or encrypted on memory cards in order to prevent illegal copying of programs.

Video-on-demand offer Canalplay is already available through PC, TV and handheld video game consoles.

Sky Player to launch on Internet connected TVs and further Freeview IPTV Set-Top Boxes

Sky Player, Sky’s online TV service, has confirmed plans to launch a range of new internet connected TVs and set top boxes in partnership with Cello, a manufacturer of LCD TVs, and 3View, a provider of hybrid DTT and IPTV set top boxes.

Sky Player offers access to a wide range of live TV channels as well as the UK’s most comprehensive video on demand service. With these latest additions, customers will have a wide range of different access points for the service. As with access to Sky Player via PC, Mac, Windows Media Center, XBox 360 and Fetch TV, existing Sky TV customers will be able to access Sky Player content on a bonus basis based on their core Sky DTH and product subscriptions, whilst non-Sky customers will be able to sign up to a choice of TV packages via monthly subscription.

Sky’s Diredtor of On Demand, Griff Parry, commented on the partnership: “The coming together of ground-breaking video services like Sky Player with innovative platforms like Cello and 3View demonstrates the vibrancy of the evolving internet video-on-demand sector.  We will continue to look at opportunities to distribute Sky Player across new platforms, to give consumers even more choice and control over how they access high-quality pay TV content.”

Managing Director of 3View, John Donovan, added: “3view combines the latest free TV with fantastic internet content, so the deal with Sky Player is a perfect fit for us.  Sky is using the power of the Internet to deliver quality content in an intelligent and consumer friendly way.  By offering Sky Player on 3view’s simple to use, broadband connected set-top box, we are giving Sky access to a whole new market.  Not only this, but it provides 3view users with access to a great range of movies, sport and other Sky programmes.”