Avail Media TVN
May 2009
Content aggregator Avail Media said it was merging with TVN, a VOD Provider. Avail said that this will allow them to offer a complete IPTV content package, with linear channels, as well as VOD. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the deal should close quickly, said executives from both companies.
TVN has been serving the Cable industry, while Avail has focused on IPTV.
One of the investors in the merger is the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), which already is working with Avail to secure programming rights. NRTC’s investment made it a major shareholder in the combined company and gave them a seat on their board of directors. The NRTC said it made the investment to help its Telco members benefit from these new services.
Source: MRG, Inc., May 2009 IPTV Bulletin
TalkTalk Buys Tiscali
May 2009
TalkTalk, the wholly owned subsidiary of Carphone Warehouse, acquired Tiscali UK for £236 million (US$376 million) in cash.
TalkTalk acquired 1.45 million Tiscali Broadband customers in the U.K, and will have a total of 4.25
million Broadband homes.
That would make Tiscali the second largest Broadband Provider in the U.K., BT which has 4.8 million customers.
Previously, BSkyB had reportedly offered Tiscali about £450 million (US$717 million), however, negotiations broke down. The acquisition from TalkTalk, is almost half of BSkyB’s asking price, which might make this a desperate deal for Tiscali.
Tiscali’s last published separate U.K. IPTV subscriber numbers in 3Q/2007, when it had 36,000. In the last few months, Tiscali has expanded into London including Newcastle, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool.
Source: MRG, Inc., May 2009 IPTV Bulletin
Internet Video News
May 2009
Time Warner Cable said it is readying its “TV Everywhere” offering that will allow subscribers to access all of their TV and premium content from the Internet. The Cable company said that the service may be ready in the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year. Time Warner execs said that the service needs authentication software to verify that an online viewer is a subscriber, which many Cable companies already have. Disney’s CEO said that they are having trouble accepting this new concept of TV anywhere. However, it’s clear that other Cable companies are using the same strategy. Of content partners, only the broadcast networks seem to have more of a problem with offering shows over the Internet (or “OTT”), while Cable networks seem to be more receptive. If the Cable offerings gain early acceptance, expect U.S. Telco SPs to do the same in 2009-2010. (1)
Hulu said it will be expanding internationally in the next few months. Currently, Hulu, the NBC-Fox- Disney online TV site, is only available in the U.S. and is already the number 2 video site in the world, second only to YouTube. Hulu executives have been meeting with content owners around the world to ensure content deals are reached before Hulu’s international launch.
NeuLion launched iTVRSN, an Internet TV network for Romanian audiences in North America. The service delivers video programming over the public Internet, delivered to a set-top box service. The Service, iTVRSN will include 25 Romanian television channels, with programs that have exclusive distribution rights outside Romania. The company said there are 1.2 million Romanian Americans presently living in North America.
SecureMedia announced that TVBLOB’s Internet video service is protected by SecureMedia’s Encryptonite ONE System CA/DRM system. TVBLOB’s set-top, manufactured by Telsey, includes a DVB receiver, double tuner and HD DVR, also includes OTT video and Internet applications. That includes services like YouTube, or even BitTorrent. (2)
Set-top box company Entone said that it was teaming with Internet TV Provider VUDU to bring its 14,000 title VOD library for an IPTV and over-the-top (OTT) video service.
(1) For more information about the emerging OTT markets and what it means to Operators, see MRG’s new OTT Report, published in June, 2009.
(2) For more information about hybrid STBs, see MRG’s new report Hybrid IPTV Set-top Boxes Global Market Analysis & Strategy Critique: 2009-2012 Report, at www.mrgco.com/iptv/hstb09.html, published June 2009.
Source: MRG, Inc., May 2009 IPTV Bulletin
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