פורום הלווינים והטכנולוגיות הישראלי

MENA region to have 50mn multichannel TV homes by end-2014

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will have 50mn multichannel TV homes by the end of 2014, meaning that over 70% of households in the region will have cable, satellite or IPTV services, according to a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media.

The new report, entitled 'Middle East & Africa TV (6th edition)', estimates that there were 76mn TV households in the MENA region by the end of 2008, with satellite dominating with a 59% share of this market. Sub-Sahara Africa is estimated to have a further 33.4mn TV households.

Cable and IPTV are described as "minor" platforms in the MENA region, although IPTV in particular is believed to be "growing quickly", albeit from a very low base. Despite some signs of progress, broadband penetration in the region remains low, according to the report, and IPTV is therefore restricted from even greater progress both by this lack of broadband penetration and also by the fact that where broadband is in place, it is "not always suitably robust to facilitate IPTV provision".

Two of the major issues facing this region's multichannel TV market are named as regulation and legislation, with the close relationship between the state and many broadcasters being described as having an inhibiting effect. Some media legislation is perceived as being out-of-date and "often unable to deal with recent developments such as digital TV, the Internet, mobile TV and IPTV". However, a youthful demographic skew in many countries in the region minimises barriers to these new technologies being accepted, according to the report, with this mindset helping to promote demand for concepts such as convergence and technological upgrading.

Furthermore, the rise of devoted media zones, such as the Dubai Media City and others in Jordan, Syria and Egypt, are improving content production values in the region, which will also improve the future prospects for the sector, as better quality TV, both in terms of technology and content, can "only have a positive impact".

Pay-TV growth does however continue to be restricted by the ongoing popularity of free-to-air (FTA) satellite channels, with the vast number of FTA channels making it difficult for legitimate pay-TV platforms to establish themselves, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. The rise of FTA channels is believed to have also promoted a cultural mindset that "expects to receive a wide range of TV services without payment". Furthermore, signal theft is described as being a major problem in several countries in the region, including issues such as illegal redistribution, decoder piracy, smart card piracy and the grey market.

sky italia מפעילה או תפעיל תדר חדש על הוטבירד
ידיעה זרה שזהו התרגום שלה לעברית,מי שמבין מזה משהו שיסביר בשפה ברורה יותר

איטלקית טלוויזיה דיגיטלית לשלם פלטפורמת הלוויין סקיי איטליה, אשר שידורי הלוויין באמצעות Hot Bird ב 13 ° מזרח, יש הפעלת חדשה transponder לצורך הרחבת את התוכנית הצעות. סקיי מופעל transponder מספר 98, שנמצא לפני השידור Pack מרוקו SNRT. זהו transponder על תדירות 12.673GHz V, סמל דרג 27500, FEC 3 / 4. Transponder ההפעלה החדשה של ההכנות את הודיע לפני הכנסת החדש ערוצי High Definition (HD).

להלן הפרמטרים עבור שידור ערוץ טלוויזיה תחת השם סקיי ספורט HD. כצפוי, את ערוץ מוצפן ב-NDS Videoguard המערכת, היא שידור רגיל (כנראה באופן זמני) כדי HDTV DVB-S/Mpeg2 לא יעיל.

ImagePodsjetimo, סקיי איטליה הודיעה כי היא בחודשים הקרובים וכבר בחודשים יולי אוגוסט השנה, חל שיפור משמעותי להציע תוכניות High Definition. הגדול ביותר יהיה להתמקד על ערוצי ספורט או סרטים. הם באים הרבה חידושים כגון תוכנות בשמיים סינמה צפיות HD, שמיים מקס Cinemax HD, HD פוקס, פוקס HD פשע, SuperCalcio בשמיים HD, שמיים Calcio 1 HD, Sky Calcio 2 HD, סקיי ספורט HD 2, סקיי ספורט 3 ו Discovery HD ערוץ HD. מאת הישן HD בחר Preživjet רק בשמיים סינמה HD, סקיי ספורט HD, National Geographic HD ו Eurosport HD.

ביולי - אוגוסט יעלו עוד כמה ערוצי HD חדשים,
סרטים וספורט.
אני חושב שאם תביא את הידיעה המקורית באנגלית
זה יהיה הרבה יותר קל,במידה והידיעה באיטלקית
אז תתרגם אותה לאנגלית ולא לעברית.

נראה כאילו הידיעה בכלל בפולנית... מצחיק איך SKY מתורגם ל"שמיים". מעניין אם אי פעם מחשבים ידעו לתרגם תרגום מושלם.
בכל מקרה צריך לסרוק את 12673, יש מצב שזה פתוח עכשיו ומשדר HD, אם אפשר להבין משהו מה"תרגום" הזה.

dpklain @ 29/6/2009, 16:15 כתב: ביולי - אוגוסט יעלו עוד כמה ערוצי HD חדשים,
סרטים וספורט.
אני חושב שאם תביא את הידיעה המקורית באנגלית
זה יהיה הרבה יותר קל,במידה והידיעה באיטלקית
אז תתרגם אותה לאנגלית ולא לעברית.

הידיעה בקרואטית
Sky Italia sa novim transponderom na Hotbirdu



Talijanska digitalna satelitska pay tv platforma Sky Italia koja emitira posredstvom satelita Hot Bird na 13° istočno, aktivirala je novi transponder za potrebe proširenje svoje programske ponude. Sky je aktivirao transponder broj 98, na kojem je prije emitirao marokanski paket SNRT. Riječ je o transponderu na frekvenciji 12.673GHz V, Symbol Rate 27500, FEC 3/4. Aktivacija novog transpondera priprema je za prije najavljeno uvođenje novih kanala u visokoj razlučivosti (HD).

Na navedenim parametrima već emitira jedan televizijski kanal pod imenom Sky Sport HD. Očekivano, kanal je kodiran u sistemu NDS Videoguard, a standard emitiranja je (vjerovatno privremeno) za HDTV neučinkoviti DVB-S/Mpeg2.

ImagePodsjetimo, Sky Italia je najavila da će u narednim mjesecima odnosno već u srpnju i kolovozu ove godine značajno poboljšati ponudu programa u visokoj razlučivosti. Najveći će fokus biti na sportskim i filmskim kanalima. Dolaze brojni programski noviteti kao što su primjerice Sky Cinema Hits HD, Sky Cinemax MAX HD, FOX HD, FOX Crime HD, Sky SuperCalcio HD, Sky Calcio 1 HD, Sky Calcio 2 HD, Sky Sport 2 HD, Sky Sport 3 HD i Discovery Channel HD. Od stare HD postave preživjet će samo Sky Cinema HD, Sky Sport HD, National Geographic HD i Eurosport HD.

אה, בכל זאת זה מוצפן. מה שזמני כנראה זו הדחיסה MPEG2. בכל מקרה, נראה שמנוי לסקי איטליה יהיה אפילו עוד יותר אטרקטיבי בקרוב.

Showtime Arabia Launches First HD Channel through IPTV provider eVision

Satellite subscribers will got this offe later this year.

SHOWTIME in association with e-vision is to break new ground in television in UAE with the launch of a brand new premium channel dedicated to bringing its viewers their favorite series, movies and sports with the stunning picture quality of high definition (HD) television.

SHOWTIME will launch Showtime HD, a new channel on the e-vision network on July 7th. This channel will offer Showtime customers on the e-vision a first-class line up with greater detail, more vibrant color and superb quality sound.

“Our commitment to HD reinforces our reputation for innovation within the region and delivering our customers a compelling new experience. The move to embrace HD responds to increasing viewing demand for high-quality programming with the intensity and quality of HD”, said Marc-Antoine d'Halluin, President & CEO, Showtime Arabia.

High Definition is set to arrive with some impressive special effects, thanks to titles such as Iron Man, Casino Royale, Wall-E, Into the Wild, Mamma Mia and Cloverfield. SHOWTIME’S hottest series will also receive a facelift, with the likes of Lost, Heroes, Prison Break and 24 getting the high definition makeover. In addition the Showtime HD channel will broadcast three live matches each week from the English Premier League in HD offering an unrivalled live match experience.

“Embracing HD, the biggest revolution in TV picture quality in decades marks another landmark for Showtime, following the launches of SHOWBOX and SHOW ON DEMAND. Whether you are a fan of blockbuster movies, English Premier League football or the latest US series you can enjoy more of the things you love in stunning high definition on SHOWTIME,” added d'Halluin.

The channel will be available to e-vision subscribers on cable from 7th of July as part of the new Showtime Premier +HD package. SHOWTIME is delighted to be launching HD services on cable with e-vision in UAE, where SHOWTIME is based. SHOWTIME HD services will be available to a broader subscriber base later this year.

National Geographic Channel to launch free-to-air in Arabic

National Geographic Channel and Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) has announced the formation of a strategic partnership, to launch the free-to-air National Geographic Channel Abu Dhabi - the first international factual entertainment channel to be launched in the Arabic language.

National Geographic Channel Abu Dhabi, which will be dubbed completely into Arabic, will bridge the gap in quality factual entertainment that exists in the region.
Ward Platt, President - Asia Pacific & Middle East, National Geographic Channels International said: “The launch of the channel in Arabic marks the first time in the Middle East that high quality National Geographic content will be delivered to the region’s viewers dubbed into their native language, and also the first time that a National Geographic Channel will be available free-to-air.


“The launch of National Geographic Channel Abu Dhabi raises the standard of programming and content in the region - through the fact that the content will be in Arabic and free-to-air,’ commented His Exellency Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman of ADMC. “We are very excited to have partnered with National Geographic Channels to not only bring viewers in the region leading global factual entertainment, but to help us expand, enhance and diversify our existing media bouquet - by allowing us to offer something totally new to the Arabic-speaking population in the Middle East.”


Viewers can also interact with the channel via a dedicated National Geographic Channel Abu Dhabi website - www.natgeotv.ae. The website will feature comprehensive information on programming including forthcoming feature highlights; an easy-view TV schedule; a variety of online games designed to encourage people to think about the planet; a community section where viewers can ‘ask the experts’, contribute to online polls or enter competitions; and a video player where viewers can watch programme highlights and reviews.


Globally the National Geographic Channel reaches out to 305m homes in 165 countries, in 34 languages.

Sky Deutschland not expecting subs downturn

Jörn Krieger

German pay-TV operator Sky, which replaced Premiere on July 4, is not expecting a high number of subscription cancellations provoked by its new package and pricing structure, CEO Mark Williams told news agency Dow Jones Newswires.

The new model means that soccer fans will have to dig significantly deeper into their pockets than previously. While the soccer Bundesliga package was available through Premiere as a stand-alone product for €19.99 per month, it will now cost €32.90 per month as basic package Sky Welt must be additionally subscribed to. Former Premiere customers can decide if they want to change to the Sky structure, which applies to new customers from the outset, or continue to receive their Premiere packages at the former prices.

Williams affirmed that Sky should record a net profit from 2011. The second quarter of the current business year has been running according to internal plans, he stated. According to Williams’ estimations, the number of direct subscribers should be almost unchanged in the second quarter in comparison with those of the first.

Sky Deutschland currently has 2.37 million subscribers, with 3 - 3.5 million targeted by the end of 2010.

Meanwhile, the pay-TV broadcaster’s shareholders have approved with a strong majority of 99.8% the name change of operating company Premiere AG into Sky Deutschland AG. Since July 4 the programme packages have already been offered using the Sky brand, but the parent company continued to use the old name as shareholder approval was required for the name change.

At the company’s annual general meeting on July 10 in Munich the shareholders also elected the candidates proposed by the supervisory board onto the board until 2013. The board will now comprise the following members: Markus Tellenbach (Convers Media Services), former ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Guillaume de Posch, now consultant for Greek Antenna Group, Stefan Jentzsch (Perella Weinberg Partners), Thomas Mockridge (Sky Italia), Mark Kaner (20th Century Fox Television) and Steven Silvester Tomsic (News Corp).


Reding calls for new internet piracy policies

Rose Major

Viviane Reding, the EU’s Commissioner for Telecoms and Media, has joined the debate over internet piracy, in the week that France’s legislature have again examined new laws which threaten to cut the internet subscriptions of those watching copyrighted material online.

Reding said that while both sides of the debate were right, the inability to understand the other point-of-view was not helping development of solutions to the problem.

“While many right holders insist that every unauthorised download from the internet is a violation of intellectual property rights and therefore illegal or even criminal, others stress that access to the internet is a crucial fundamental right. Let me be clear on this: Both sides are right,” said Reding. She continued: “The drama is that after long and often fruitless battles, both camps have now dug themselves in their positions, without any signs of opening from either side.

"In the meantime, internet piracy appears to become more and more ‘sexy’, in particular for the digital natives already, the young generation of intense internet users between 16 and 24. This generation should become the foundation of our digital economy, of new innovation and new growth opportunities. However, Eurostat figures show that 60% of them have downloaded audiovisual content from the internet in the past months without paying. And 28% state that they would not be willing to pay.

“These figures reveal the serious deficiencies of the present system. It is necessary to penalise those who are breaking the law. But are there really enough attractive and consumer-friendly legal offers on the market? Does our present legal system for Intellectual Property Rights really live up to the expectations of the internet generation? Have we considered all alternative options to repression? Have we really looked at the issue through the eyes of a 16 year old? Or only from the perspective of law professors who grew up in the Gutenberg Age? In my view, growing internet piracy is a vote of no-confidence in existing business models and legal solutions. It should be a wake-up call for policy-makers.”

Delivering the Ludwig Erhard Lecture in Brussels, Reding said that it should be easier and more consumer friendly to access digital content. A key part of that is to facilitate the licensing of intellectual property rights for online services covering the territory of all 27 EU Member States.

“Today, right holders and online service providers need to spend far too much time and money on the administration of rights, instead of investing this money in attractive services,” said Reding. “And consumers often cannot access online content if uploaded in another Member State. For online content in a single market of 27 Member States, economies of scale and consumer-friendly solutions will require a much simpler and less fragmented regulatory framework than the one of today. We had a similar problem when commercial satellite TV started more than 30 years ago. As right clearance for this per se cross-border service became increasingly complex, Europe developed the Cable and Satellite Directive and introduced a simplified system of rights clearance for the whole of Europe. I believe it is now time to develop similar solutions for the evolving world of online content.”

Reding also called on member countries to quicken the pace of digital TV switchover in order to “bring these benefits to citizens now.” The switch is one of Reding’s four key steps to promote infrastructures for Digital Europe. Reding said that switchover was particularly important in the current economic climate.

“The switchover will free very valuable radio spectrum, currently used by terrestrial analogue TV, for use by new communications and content services,” said Reding. “This process has already been completed in Germany, Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden, the Netherlands, in Flanders here in Belgium as well as in major areas in Austria. The Commission estimates that t he incremental value of this spectrum for wireless broadband across the EU is between €150 and €200 billion. Appropriate European coordination of Member States' work on the digital dividend would increase the potential economic impact of the digital dividend by an additional € 50 billion between now and 2015. Every corner of Europe could reap this "digital dividend", without it costing the taxpayer a single cent – if all EU governments act now.”

A package of draft measures to accelerate switchover will be presented today.

Reding’s other four measures are to reform Europe’s telecoms rules with new directives and regulations; encourage investment in next generation networks; and to make 3G mobile phone services more attractive, incluing paving the way for LTE, the next generation of mobile services.

On the first point, Reding said the agreement on a new set of regulations for telecoms was being held up by disagreement over only one subparagraph. “Just think about what more consistent telecoms regulation could do for the providers of business services in the EU,” she said. “If access rules for businesses were more consistently and effectively enforced across the EU, GDP could be boosted by 1.6% to 2%. Experts also estimate that the present regulatory fragmentation in telecoms costs Europe’s businesses €20 billion per year – a cost factor that, in view of the present crisis, we should eliminate as soon as possible by bringing the reforms into force, and by applying the new rules effectively.”

Orange sport already gives info on 13E

2009-07-09 15:20:33 * / Anita Dąbek
* Last updated: 2009-07-09 17:24:15
* Source: dvbnews.pl

There debut satellite channel information and sports Orange sports info. According to the announcement, the station is broadcast niekodowanym signal from the satellite Hot Bird 8 (13E). For now, these are only tests, but the channel will soon be added to the satellite platform offers CYFRA +, where you can go and read the entry number 67 in the EPG. So far, Orange sports info is available under the offer of Telekomunikacja Polska television.


Technical parameters:

Hot Bird 8 (13E)
tp. 83 (12.360 GHz, pol. H, SR: 27500, FEC: 3 / 4)
V PID: 4291
A PID: 4292
PCR PID: 4291
SID: 14029
PMT PID: 429
encoding: none
Resolution: 720x576
audio: 192kb / s
image quality: 3.94 Mb / s

Free UFC 100 on satellite TV in UK

Thursday, July 9 2009,

By Andrew Laughlin, Technology Reporter



Sky and Setanta Ireland have agreed to broadcast the forthcoming UFC 100 tournament to viewers in the UK and Ireland.

Last month, the UFC terminated its UK and Ireland broadcasting deal with Setanta Sports, leading to fears about coverage of the fighting tournament in the UK.

It was recently confirmed that Setanta Ireland would broadcast the tournament to homes in the Republic of Ireland, but it was not until today that a UK broadcast partner was announced.

The event will be shown live on Sky channel 433 and on Setanta Ireland, as well as on the official UFC UK website, free of charge.
Coverage from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Nevada will start at 3am BST on July 11.

BabyTV launches on Sky Italia

By Robert Briel
July 10, 2009 15.13 UK

Fox International’s BabyTV has announced that it will be launching on Sky Italia, Italy’s largest pay-TV service, on July 3, 2009. It will mark the channel’s entry into the country.

BabyTV is set to launch on Sky Italia’s Kids Pack with a localized Italian channel, adding 4.7 million new subscribers.

Diego Londono, MD of Fox International Channels in Italy and GAS countries, said in a statement: “BabyTV will be joining our 11 channels in Italy and we will be introducing it to audiences via a cross channel campaign, as well as on ground marketing activities.”

MediaTransit: change parameters on 4.8E

2009-07-10 17:17:49 * / RafiX
* Last updated: 2009-07-10 20:49:31
* Source: self-Inf

20 July 2009, will change the performance of Ukrainian technical multiplex MediaTransit available with Sirius satellite 4 (4.8E). Some channels in the package (eg, English Club TV) report the change of communication parameters on their antennas. Ukrainian MediaTransit already the second time this year will change the frequency, the move took place last April 1.


Last change "April" resulted in greater fluctuations in signal across the package - there are some moments that Ukrainian transponder with great difficulty manage to answer even for a 80 cm dish! Before 1 April operator parameters used 12.717GHz, pol. V, SR: 23500, FEC: 3 / 4, and such problems were less dokuczliwe.

According to notices issued on the channel occasionally English Club TV, the new parameters are dictated by the technical work on the satellite in order to ensure a better signal for the station. It is suspected that the change is due to economic reasons - the operator to pay unnecessarily unused capacity, reduces the value of Symbol Rate. The more it is possible that the package will probably leave the Ukrainian CITI, who recently zameldował on satellite Amos 2 (4.0W).

The current package MediaTransit parameters:

Satellite: Sirius 4 (4.8E)
frequency: tp. EG6 (12.728GHz, pol. V, SR: 19720, FEC: 3 / 4)

The new parameters from 20 July:

Satellite: Sirius 4 (4.8E)
frequency: tp. EG6 (12,731 GHz, pol. V, SR: 15300, FEC: 3 / 4)

In MediaTransit available are 11 television channels for Ukraine. Some of them (English Club TV, Turburo, CITI, Menu, TV, Shopping TV, People, GoldBerry) will apply the standard MPEG-2 compression and the second part (2T, Kiko, Planeta, Svit) higher compression MPEG-4. The transmission package takes place in the standard DVB-S and QPSK modulation. Air stations in the MPEG-4 are transmitted to the needs of the Ukrainian platform Viasat Ukraine.

UKTV to broadcast Channel 4 shows

UKTV has signed a new two-year deal with Channel 4 for the multichannel broadcast rights to nearly 200 hours of its content.

Under the agreement, UKTV will be able to show Channel 4 programming on Watch, Dave, G.O.L.D. and Yesterday both on the linear channels and any video on demand services operated under the brands.

The 187 hours of content breaks down into 38 hours of entertainment, 60 hours of drama and 89 hours of comedy, with some of the programming coming to pay TV for the first time ever.

Comedy shows such as Spaced, Black Books, Green Wing and Star Stories will be carried on G.O.L.D. and Dave.

All entertainment content will come to Watch, while Yesterday will carry the drama programming, including Shackleton, Anna Karenina and Longitude.

"We are thrilled to have completed this landmark deal with Channel 4 for so many high-profile and high-quality comedy, drama and entertainment titles," said UKTV's commercial executive director Keith Porritt.

"These arrangements open up a new content stream that complements the many popular titles we acquire from the BBC and our own growing stable of high profile commissions, plus it augments the non-linear opportunities opening up to our new-look multiplatform channel brands."

Channel 4 rights managing director Mike Morris added: "We are delighted to have concluded this deal with UKTV which is a perfect example of Channel 4 maximising rights exploitation to the equal benefit of the channel and the independent production community."

LiverpoolFC TV FTA on 28.5E

2009-07-13 19:02:08 * / RafiX
* Last updated: 2009-07-13 21:16:21
* Source: self-Inf

LiverpoolFC TV (LFC TV) is the official channel of British football club Liverpool FC, transmitted to the satellite Eurobird 1 (28.5E) within the Sky Digital platform. Previously coded as a station-NDS Videoguard for the British operator. Currently encryption halted, therefore, LFC TV can be received without hindrance throughout Europe via satellite 28.5.


On the LFC TV Schedule consists of archival programs from the former LFC stars, success in the league and cups. The station also carries out all the live broadcasts of the matches of his current team, the reserves and juniors matches. In addition, relations with the press conferences, interviews and bring in the comments. LFC TV started 20 September 2007 and was coded from the beginning.

Technical parameters:

Satellite: Eurobird 1 (28.5E)
frequency: tp. D7S (11,585 GHz, pol. H, SR: 27500, FEC: 2 / 3)

ID: LiverpoolFCTV
V PID: 2324
A PID: 2325
PCR PID: 2324
PMT PID: 265
SID: 50625
Encoding: none (usually Videoguard

Disney offloads Italian chnls

Rose Major

Disney is selling two TV channels to the management of Jetix Italy, pay service GXT and free-to-air K2. The company is also making available to the new venture part of the former Jetix Europe kids’ free-TV library.

GXT targets young males and is distributed exclusively on Sky Italia, while K2 targets children 4 to 14 and is available both on satellite and digital-terrestrial. GXT is in 4.7 million homes and K2 in 8.5 million homes via DTT and 6.5 million through satellite distribution.

Of the two channels, GXT is the longer-running, launching in May 2005. K2 is brand new, launching only this month. However, the channel has a two-hour window on analogue-terrestrial TV which gives it valuable distribution and exposure.

A team led by Francesco Nespega, managing director of Jetix Italy since 2003, is undertaking the buy-out and wil continue to manage Jetix until it rebrands as Disney XD after the summer. The team has bought 100% of the Disney subsidiary owning the channels, which will now be known as Switchover Media.

The new company will also seek to launch new channels for the Italian market as well as operating as an independent channel provider.

Switchover Media management includes Francesco Nespega, Managing Partner; Giorgio Rossi, Partner, Commercial Development and Marketing; Giuliano Tranquilli, Partner, Programming and Content Development; and Annalisa Muratori, Partner, Finance and Administration.

KabelKiosk switch to 9° East completed
Jörn Krieger
15-07-2009

KabelKiosk, the German direct-to-cable platform operated by Eutelsat, has completed the change of its signal feed to cable networks to the new satellite position 9° East.

Several thousand cable head ends of the more than 250 partners have been realigned to the new orbital position during the 3-month changeover period. The transmission of programmes via the old position 8° West has been terminated with only Eurobird 9A (9° West) now in use.

The switch enables KabelKiosk to realise its expansion plans, with 38 transponders on the new satellite as opposed to the 20 formerly available. In addition to the expansion of the digital free-to-air TV and pay-TV portfolios, HDTV and video-on-demand services are also planned.

__________________

Orange TV proving fruitful

By Julian Clover



France Telecom says it now has a total of 2.7 million subscribers to its Orange TV service, with much of the 74% annual growth coming from its domestic market.

As of June 30, 2009, Orange TV had signed up 2.339 million subscribers in France, a 68% increase on the same point in 2009, 416,000 of these were to the satellite service launched one year ago.

The controversial Orange Sport channels had 393,000 subscribers while the Orange Cinema Series had 130,000 subscribers. Demand for video on demand services has nearly quadrupled, requests growing from 4.6 million in the first half of 2008 to 17.4 million in the first half of 2009.

The company said that the decline in revenues from traditional telephone services had begun to slow. Total revenues slipping 10.3% in the first half of 2009 after a fall of 13.1% in the second half of 2008.

In Spain, IPTV remained stable on 92,000, while in Poland where the figures for Telekomunikacja Polska were released earlier this week there were 239,000 TV customers.

Sky going 3D in 2010

Sky has announced that the number of customers choosing Sky+HD, the UK’s only high definition service currently capable of broadcasting 3D services, has increased to 1.313 million following record growth.

In the next step in the Sky+HD journey, Sky has confirmed that it will launch the UK’s first 3D channel next year. The channel will offer a broad selection of the best available 3D programming, which is expected to include movies, entertainment and sport. The service will be broadcast across Sky’s existing HD infrastructure and be available via the current generation of Sky+HD set-top boxes. To watch 3D, customers will also require a new '3D Ready' TV, which are expected to be on sale in the UK next year.

Brian Sullivan, Managing Director of Sky’s Customer Group, commented: "Well over a million homes have future-proofed themselves with Sky+HD, a platform for choice, quality and future innovation. With Sky+ as standard, our customers are already enjoying amazing picture and sound quality on a range of high-quality HD channels which cater to the interests and passions of the whole family."

מה זה טלויזיה 3D READY?

כנראה טלויזיה תלת מימדית קיצור של 3 DAMANTION