News

I&B cautions MSOs over digitisation data

New Delhi, July 7 (PTI): The ministry of Information & Broadcasting has come out with a new rule under which Multi System Operators (MSOs) and Local Cable Operators (LCOs) can lose their license if they fail to provide data on Digitisation sought by the government.

The I&B ministry on Saturday said that this new rule had been framed as the MSOs and LCOs were not providing consistent information about installation of Set Top Boxes (STBs), an aspect crucial for its drive to Digitalise the cable sector. “While assessing the preparedness of the Digital Addressable System (DAS) in four metros, the Ministry has come across numerous inconsistencies of data provided by the service providers, particularly MSOs, in regard to inventory position of STB and its deployment,” the I&B ministry said.

“In view of this, the Ministry has decided to amend the Cable Television Network Rules, 1995 making it obligatory for every cable operator and multi-system operator (MSO) to provide correct and timely information to the ministry as and when it is sought for,” the ministry added.

Eutelsat sets a new benchmark for satellite broadband via KA-SAT

Launch of higher user speeds, increased volume allowance, equipment rental programme and new entry level package for the Tooway™ broadband service

Paris , 05 July 2012

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) today announced major improvements to its Tooway™ satellite service which will enhance the speed and affordability of consumer satellite broadband across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. Offering higher bitrates, increased consumption profiles and lower entry costs, the latest generation of Tooway™ broadband services is now available and is being progressively commercialised by distributors integrating the new offers into their service portfolio.

Up to 18Mbps immediately for consumers, irrespective of location

The Tooway™ portfolio of services delivered via Eutelsat’s KA-SAT High Throughput Satellite now offers download speeds of up to 18 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 6Mbps, with consumption profiles of up to 50 Gigabytes per month. This means that the top of the range consumer package has been boosted to 18Mbps from 10Mbps, with high volume allowances across the range, while pricing levels remain the same. A new entry level package is also being launched, offering download speeds of up to 2Mbps and upload speeds of up to 1Mbps for an expected retail price from €19.90(1) .

This move towards a faster, higher volume service has been facilitated by an upgrade of the digital modulation scheme of the KA-SAT infrastructure, from 8PSK(2) to 16PSK, generating a significant increase in the system’s total throughput.

Thai Olympic scramble

Authorities will launch frantic efforts to help almost 7 million satellite TV households watch the Olympic Games, who might otherwise miss out on the quadrennial event beginning in London this month.

July 6, 2012 – Fears of a repeat of the Euro 2012 controversy surfaced yesterday as the Television Pool of Thailand (TV Pool) and the National Broadcasting Television (former Channel 11) have the rights to broadcast this world sports event via terrestrial broadcasting only.

This will spark another heated controversy over copyrighted sports events after satellite TV households and TrueVisions subscribers were left with a blank screen during the recent Euro soccer tournaments due to copyright restriction by the rights holder. However, TrueVisions subscribers will be able to watch the Olympics.

Yesterday, TV Pool members held talks with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) along with representatives from major broadcasters at the NBTC’s roundtable discussion to find a solution to the non-availability of upcoming copyrighted sports tournaments, including the Olympics and the Fifa World Cup.

China new campaign against online piracy

July 5, 2012 – The Chinese government has launched a new campaign targeting rampant online piracy through enhanced supervision and inter-agency coordination, according to a statement from the four ministry-level departments.

The four-month campaign will highlight supervision over both content providers and online storage and search engine services, as well as e-commerce platforms.

SARFT clarifies IPTV regs

July 4, 2012 – SARFT recently released an official Notification of IPTV Broadcast Platform Construction to regulate IPTV operators. It clarified that all IPTV content broadcast platforms, including state and provincial level broadcast platforms, and companies running IPTV business, shall gain from SARFT the license for online audio and video program broadcast before they can start business.

Read more: http://www.cmmintelligence.com/?q=node/10988

Indian digitisation picks up

July 3, 2012 – According to data released by India’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), cable TV digitisation is expected to pick up.

The deadline for the digitisation of cable TV services in four cities – Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata – was revised recently by the MIB. The implementation of the new Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules was supposed to be done by 30 June 2012.

Read more: http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/2012070322828/indian-cable-tv-digitisation-to-pick-up.html?utm_source=newsletter_720&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rapid-tv-news-current-edition-0307

Celestial Movies Debuts the Celestial Superstar Club

Two Months of Premieres Featuring the Latest Chinese Blockbusters and the Biggest Superstars

Hong Kong (July 4, 2012) Celestial Movies, the premiere Chinese movie channel with the widest distribution across Asia and beyond, makes July and August star-studded months as it rolls out the Celestial Superstar Club. Every Sunday night starting at 9pm, the Celestial Superstar Club features Chinese movie superstars in their most recent hits including several first and exclusive premieres of blockbusters released in late 2011 and early 2012.*

Showcasing “the biggest stars and the biggest Chinese blockbusters,” the Celestial Superstar Club kicks off with the highest-grossing Chinese movie of all time in China, Let the Bullets Fly, starring Chow Yun Fat, Jiang Wen and Ge You in their award-winning roles. Let the Bullets Fly is followed by the exclusive TV premiere of Tsui Hark’s Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, the first 3D martial arts movie in the world starring Jet Li and Zhou Xun. In August, Celestial Movies will debut the recent blockbuster The Great Magician, which marks the return of superstar Tony Leung to the comedy genre; the historical epic Beginning of The Great Revival which features over 170 A-list Chinese actors including Chow Yun Fat, Andy Lau, Wang Lee Hom, Fan Bing Bing and Zhou Xun; and the action hit The Viral Factor, starring Nicholas Tse and Jay Chou. Other blockbusters featured in Celestial Superstar Club include Jackie Chan’s 1911, Jet Li’s The Sorcerer and the White Snake, and Lau Ching Wan, Louis Koo and Daniel Wu’s Overheard 2.**

Celestial Movies ability to deliver the latest Chinese blockbusters for its subscribers in Southeast Asia is due to its exclusive multi-year output deals with the leading Chinese movie distributors Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP), Media Asia Distribution Co., Ltd. (Media Asia), and Distribution Workshop (HK) Limited (DW). EMP is one of the major producers and distributors in Hong Kong, which releases over 10 films per year, some of the biggest Chinese blockbusters including Shaolin, The Stool Pigeon and Shinjuku Incident. Media Asia represents the movies of Media Asia Group Holdings Limited, which releases 5 to 10 movies per year including such recent hits as Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, Romancing in Thin Air and Life Without Principle. DW is backed by Bona International Film Group Limited (NASDAQ: BONA), one of the largest independent distributor in China, and is responsible for releasing such hits as A Simple Life, What Women Want and Overheard 1 & 2.***

“The launch of the Celestial Superstar Club signifies our uncompromising commitment to provide Celestial Movies’ subscribers with the latest and greatest Chinese blockbusters featuring their favorite stars. With our well-established relationships with the most prolific Chinese movie studios and producers, we aim to live up to our promise of delivering the premiere Chinese and Asian movie service to our subscribers and platform partners,” said Ofanny Choi, EVP, TV Networks at Celestial Tiger Entertainment.

The two-month long Celestial Superstar Club will be supported by a regional marketing campaign in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia which includes TVC, print, radio, OOH, and digital and social media. The campaign will also feature “watch and win” contests in select countries with prizes including a trip for two to Hong Kong.

* The airing time in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore is 9pm, while 8pm in Jakarta time

** Movies featured in the Celestial Superstar Club may differ depending on the country.

*** Celestial Movies’ deals with Media Asia and Distribution Workshop apply to Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore, while the deal with Emperor Motion Pictures applies to Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia only.

###

Media enquiries

Pauline Poon
Celestial Tiger Entertainment
T: 852 2239 6131
E: pauline.poon@celestialtiger.com

About Celestial Tiger Entertainment

CELESTIAL TIGER ENTERTAINMENT (CTE) is a diversified media company dedicated to entertaining audiences in Asia and beyond. The company focuses on the operation of branded pay television channels, content creation and content distribution targeted at Asian consumers.

CTE operates a powerful bouquet of distinct pay television channels including: CELESTIAL MOVIES, the most broadly distributed 24-hour Chinese and Asian movies channel in the world; CELESTIAL CLASSIC MOVIES, the gateway to an unparalleled array of Chinese movie masterpieces; CELESTIAL MOVIES ON DEMAND, Celestial’s subscription Video On Demand service; KIX, the ultimate in action entertainment; Thrill, Asia’s only horror and suspense movie channel; and KIX HD, featuring the best of action with a late-night dose of thrillers in high definition.

As one of Asia’s largest vertically integrated entertainment companies, CTE produces original content which complements its channels business. CTE is also the exclusive sales agent of content in all media in Greater China and Southeast Asia from independent Hollywood studio Lionsgate.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, CTE is a joint venture among Saban Capital Group, a leading private investment firm specializing in the media, entertainment and communications industries; Celestial Pictures, a major Asian entertainment company wholly-owned by Astro, the owner and operator of the leading DTH platform in Malaysia; and Lionsgate, the world’s largest independent filmed entertainment studio.

Europe rejects Hollywood anti-piracy treaty

The European Parliament votes overwhelmingly to dump Hollywood-backed anti-piracy treaty.

BERLIN (July 4, 2012) – The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to reject the ACTA treaty designed to crack down on online piracy and other intellectual property theft worldwide.

In a vote of 478 against to just 39 in favor, with 149 abstentions, EU politicians killed ACTA, responding to critics who complained the treaty had been negotiated in secret and could be used to violate freedom of expression rights across Europe.

Supporters of the treaty had suggested postponing the crucial voting at the Parliament plenary on Wednesday, but members of the parliament decided not to delay the decision any further.

More SEA Top Hires At Disney

July 3, 2012 – Following the recent appointments for its Southeast Asia ops, The Walt Disney Company has made another senior hire, bringing on board Mark Coleman as general manager, retail & licensing.

Coleman will report to Robert Gilby managing director, The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia.

In his new role, he will lead the integrated retail and licensing organisation and oversee all retail and licensing relationships including those in the publishing business.

228m boom in global STBs

July 3, 2012 – Following several years of healthy growth, demand for set top boxes continues to climb this year, on track to reach 228 million units shipped globally, according to research from Futuresource Consulting. However, as demand from maturing pay-TV markets like North America and Western Europe begins to slow, the market will start to see moderate decline over the next few years.

Despite this, STBs will remain a core component of the pay-TV industry’s service proposition as operators utilise the box to exploit existing services and look beyond the delivery of video to improve subscriber retention and grow revenues.

Leading manufacturers are launching a new generation of STBs labelled as media gateways or smart boxes. This new generation of STBs offers features such as transcoding, wireless routing, multi-platform content management, media distribution and multi-room delivery.

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