London: The organisers of IP&TV World Forum have today announced that entertainment giant Sky, which reaches more than 10.4 million homes across the UK & Ireland, is set to host its Media Leadership Summit, focussing on the future of the converged and connected entertainment experience.

The Summit, which takes place at London’s Olympia on the second day of IP&TV World Forum (21 March 2012), is a unique, private, invitation-only gathering of senior-level executives from both the television and telecommunications world. This year’s Summit provides the perfect platform for decision-makers to discuss the key opportunities presented by the convergence of broadband and broadcast and the delivery of multi-screen TV services.

The meeting will see Emma Lloyd, Director of Emerging Products at Sky, take the Chair.

Emma Lloyd comments: “The Summit marks a great opportunity for some of the world’s leading media and technology leaders to debate key industry issues and help clarify the next wave of innovation that is poised to drive the IP & Connected TV industry. As Chair of the 2012 Summit, I’m delighted to be part of one of the world’s leading connected entertainment event and look forward to leading the debate and the subsequent outcomes.”

Participants also have the opportunity to hear from a rosta of expert speakers drawn from Sky’s network and partners.

Held to Chatham House Rule*, the event presents the ideal opportunity for participants to talk openly and frankly, and debate the most critical issues in today’s TV industry.

Gavin Whitechurch, Director of IP&TV World Forum, adds: “Our Summit has established a unique reputation for being insightful and for bringing together exceptionally strong groups of influential leaders. Previous events, which have been hosted by major service providers including Deutsche Telecom, BT and Telefónica, have been huge successes and with such a distinguished and recognised expert like Emma on board, we’re confident that next year will be no exception.”

Now in its eighth year, IP&TV World Forum boasts a unique, innovative and content driven programme, which is divided into four one-day streams and focuses on content business: IP opportunities, multiscreen entertainment, new user experience management and networks and architecture for TV.

New York : KyLinTV, the world-leading Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) service provider has announced the official launch of KyLin2.0. For the first time ever, Chinese television channels will be delivered to overseas Chinese subscribers in high definition and available for mobile consumption on the iPad or through a PC.

After the successful debut of first generation platform in North America in 2005, KyLinTV launched its service in Europe and Asia last year. KyLin2.0 is the exciting next step in the evolution of KyLinTV and features the first ever HD Chinese channels delivered by IPTV. As the world is going mobile, so is KyLinTV as subscribers can access their programming — VOD and streaming — on an app for iPad.

With the launch of KyLin2.0, KyLinTV will provide 88 most popular Chinese channels including 20 newly-added ones, offering the largest collection of Chinese TV programming from mainland China, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore and local TV stations in North America, including the Great Wall TV package, the flagship product of China International Television Corporation's (CITVC) in its effort to reach out to Chinese overseas in Chinese language.

Wei Ping, vice president of China International Television Corporation's (CITVC) spoke enthusiastically of the newly-enhanced Great Wall TV package on KyLin 2.0, especially the newly-added six HD channels including Hunan HD channel, Beijing HD channel, Shanghai Dragon TV HD channel, Jiangsu HD channel and Zhejiang HD channel, as well as CCTV Documentary channel, Sichuan International Channel and Taishan International Channel.

"As the most important Chinese TV channel platform outside of China, the Great Wall TV package is a window connecting the latest members of the Chinese diaspora with their home countries. With KyLin 2.0, we can provide them with best watching experiences of Chinese television programming," said Wei.

"The launch of KyLin2.0 is truly a milestone for the industry," said KyLinTV president Duan Jianbing. "KyLinTV is the only Chinese TV programming aggregator and provider with the advanced features of HD and mobile, and we continue to look for ways to better serve our subscribers using cutting-edge technology and a content rich channel lineup."

World famous pianist Lang Lang, a spokesperson for KyLinTV, is a constant world traveler, and finds KyLin to be the best way to keep in touch with news and culture from home.

"KyLinTV connects me to the homeland with its wide selection of TV channels and popular VOD programs," Lang Lang said. "KyLinTV has been a trendsetter in IPTV. The best part and my favorite feature of KyLin 2.0 is the 3 ways-to-watch feature. With that, I can watch KyLinTV anytime, anywhere, on any device: my PC, TV, or iPad."
 

South San Francisco :- Envivio, a leading provider of live and on-demand multi-screen IP video processing and delivery solutions, has announced that it will offer extensive opportunities for attendees of IP&TV World Forum, March 22-24 in London to experience TV without Boundaries. Envivio's Stand 158 at the Olympia Exhibition Centre will feature information on the new 4Caster C4 Gen III multi-screen encoder, which delivers nearly twice the processing power and HD density of previous generation encoders, as well as the latest version of firmware for the 4Caster family. This new firmware features Envivio Genesis—the new standards-based output format that transforms TV headends into efficient multi-screen delivery engines.

Eric Rosier, Envivio's vice president of business development, will join a panel of global experts from some of the world's leading media companies for an in-depth discussion entitled "Making Multi-Screen Work." This discussion will explore the requirements for delivering content to multiple screens, how to ensure seamless handover of content between screens, managing content rights and protection in a multi-screen world, and the impact of multiple devices on subscriber content consumption habits. The panel is scheduled for Wednesday March 23rd at 15:10 (local time).

"Tablets, smartphones, PCs, and connected TVs are radically changing viewing habits, but subscribers expect more than just content—they want high quality services that take full advantage of those devices," said Envivio president and CEO Julien Signes. "Envivio is helping its customers deliver high quality multi-screen solutions that respond to today's viewers' demands."

The 4Caster C4 Gen III live multi-screen encoder nearly doubles the processing power and is capable of supporting twice the HD channel density of its predecessor. 4Caster C4 Gen III is deployed in live trials at major operators in the U.S., Europe and Asia to meet the demand for live HD video services for Internet-connected tablets and TVs.

Version 2.4 firmware for the 4Caster C4 family brings numerous enhancements including support for the new Envivio Genesis output format—a single intermediate mezzanine format that supports multiple bit rates and resolutions for live and on demand services for every consumer device across multiple networks.

Envivio will bring similar demonstrations to venues around the world.  Envivio will be at Stand 3401 in Hall 3 during CCBN 2011 at the China International Exhibition Center March 23-25. At Convergence India, Envivio will be on Stand A11 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi March 24-26. From April 11-14, Envivio will be at NAB 2011 on Booth SU4306 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. To schedule a meeting with Envivio at any of these meetings, please submit your request at this link or contact your local representative.

Cambridge , Mass ay-TV revenue in the U.K. will climb from $6.2 billion in 2009 to $8.2 billion by 2014 as IPTV grows at an impressive CAGR of 26 percent within the forecast period, according to the latest report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network .

Communications Markets in the United Kingdom offers a precise, incisive profile of the country’s converged telecommunications, media, and technology sectors based on proprietary data from our research in the U.K. market. The 30-page report provides detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services, and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies such as WiMax, IPTV, and VoIP. This executive study provides a comprehensive view of the U.K. communications market by analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities, and assessing upcoming risks factors.

The U.K. communications market is one of Europe’s largest and most dynamic markets, expected to generate US$47.1 million in revenue for 2009. Like most mature European markets, the major sources of growth, in absolute revenue terms, are mobile data and fixed broadband, notes Andrei Tchadliev, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. “However, it is expected that IPTV revenue will grow at a CAGR of 26 percent from $75 million in 2009 to $237 million in 2014, while triple-play packages surpass double play, both contributing to the overall growth in the pay-TV market.”

“The pay-TV market remains dominated by satellite provider Sky with close to 9.9 million subscriptions estimated for 2009, while IPTV remains concentrated to a small share of the market with only 4 percent of total pay-TV households choosing the service,” Tchadliev says. The breakup of Sky’s market control over exclusive sporting events, notably football and premier entertainment content, will likely result in an increase in the share of cable and IPTV as a percentage of pay-TV households.

Tchadliev adds that growth in pay-TV services will also be boosted by the growing popularity of multiplay packages on account of cost. “We believe that by 2013, triple-play services, namely fixed voice, broadband, and pay-TV, will overtake double play,” he says. “It is estimated that in 2009, close to 19.4 million households will have signed up for triple-play services, largely on account of the value the offer over stand-alone Internet, voice, mobile, and pay-TV packages.”

Amsterdam: Motorola, Inc has announced that Magnet has deployed Motorola Home & Networks Mobility’s VIP1900 series IPTV set-tops, enabling the delivery of high quality IP Video services to customers of its Magnet Entertainment service across Ireland. The roll-out marks the introduction of Motorola set-tops to the Irish market and further strengthens the relationship between the two companies.

The Motorola VIP1910-9DB and VIP1960-9DB are flexible high definition IPTV set-tops and feature DVR functionality so customers can enjoy advanced TV services, including time shifting, recording and viewing separate on-demand or scheduled programs. The VIP1900 set-tops operate on Motorola’s open IP set-top software platform, KreaTV. As a flexible, open platform, KreaTV is pre-integrated with leading middleware applications, conditional access systems, and video servers to enable Magnet and other service providers to easily add new functionality and services at anytime, allowing the system to grow according to business needs and customer demands warrant.

“We’re pleased to be extending our relationship with Motorola. We opted to work with Motorola, not only because it has the products and services that best fit our needs, but also because we know that Motorola continues to develop innovative technology solutions that enhance customer experiences in the future. We believe that by working together we can provide enhanced and rich services to all of our customers,” stated Mark Kellet, CEO of Magnet.

“Through selecting our VIP1900 series set-tops, Magnet will benefit from our extensive years of IPTV development and deployment expertise,” commented Steve McCaffery, vice president European Sales, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility. “We are delighted to further our relationship with Magnet to enable them to deliver personalized media experiences to customers across Ireland.”

Magnet previously deployed the Motorola DM 6400 CherryPicker application platform, which enables the distribution and processing of both standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) video services.

The Broadband Forum has announced the latest IPTV and broadband statistics, showing that the North American IPTV market has more than doubled in size in 2008 — with growth of 113 percent despite the global economic downturn.

The report, prepared for the Forum by industry analysts Point Topic , also showed a very healthy 19 percent growth of IPTV inside the last quarter, well ahead of other IPTV-focused regions South and East Asia and Latin America, whose last quarter growth both showed 12 percent.

The IPTV figures – announced by the Broadband Forum at today’s opening day of IPTV World Forum in London — come at the same time as world broadband statistics for 2008 show a 62.6 million line growth to 410.9 million lines. While growth slowed late in the year generally, compared to the same quarter in 2007, several countries showed improved performance in the third quarter of 2008, including France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Singapore and The Philippines.

IPTV global subscriber totals have now reached 21.7 million, which is an increase of 63 percent on the end of 2007 figures.

“During 2008, IPTV operators showed that TV over IP could be deployed on a large scale,” said John Bonsell, a Senior Analyst with Point Topic. “That has been the case particularly in the USA.”

As expected, due to the global economic situation, broadband growth slowed, however all countries experienced overall growth during the last year.

Regionally, over the last quarter, Latin America (7.55 percent), Eastern Europe (6.22 percent) and Middle East and Africa (4.76 percent) were the best percentage growth performers, although all regions continued to report growth of some extent.

In terms of technology, DSL continues to be the most popular broadband access technology, although fiber has grown twice as fast as either cable or DSL in the 12 months to Q4 2008. This should continue, given the number of new implementations and consumer and business demand for higher speeds. Value-added services such as IPTV are also proving to be strong drivers for FTTx uptake and have driven this technology through the 50 million mark worldwide.

“This report shows that despite the economic situation the world is facing, the demand for both broadband and IPTV continues to expand,” said George Dobrowski, Chairman and President of the Broadband Forum.

“The Forum continues to drive broadband innovation, and with the recent release of BroadbandSuite 3.0, which provides new IPTV management and fibre integration tools, we continue to ensure that the industry has all the tools and specifications it needs to optimise networks and to capture the full potential of broadband worldwide.”

AT&T has announced that AT&T U-verse TV now offers 100 HD channels — exceeding the HD channel lineups offered by the local cable providers in every U-verse TV market.

With recent expansions to the U-verse TV HD lineup, customers can now enjoy ABC Family HD, Disney Channel HD, Disney XD HD, ESPNews HD and ESPNU HD as part of their existing HD service subscription, depending on their programming package. With the additions, U-verse TV offers 100 or more HD channels in every U-verse TV market.

“In this economy, consumers are turning to home entertainment to save money and get better value, and they should pick a provider that offers them more HD bang for their buck. That’s U-verse TV,” said Dan York, executive vice president of content and programming, AT&T Converged Services. “These great HD additions from the Walt Disney Company help us with important strategic content initiatives and allow us to deliver an even bigger HD lineup to customers. With spectacular picture quality, HD-ready equipment included in every U-verse TV package, and the ability to watch your favorite HD recordings when and where you want with Total Home DVR – you can’t beat the U-verse TV HD experience.”

AT&T U-verse TV has two HD subscription options. HD service is included with the U450 programming package and available for $10 a month with any other U-verse TV programming package. U-verse HD customers can get even more HD-exclusive channels with the HD Premium package for an additional $5 a month. All U-verse TV packages include HD-ready equipment, and most packages include an HD-ready Total Home DVR, which gives you the ability to record your HD programs from a single DVR and watch them on any connected TV.

AT&T U-verse TV is the only 100 percent Internet Protocol-based television (IPTV) service offered by a national service provider, making AT&T U-verse one of the most dynamic and feature-rich services available today. AT&T U-verse TV ranked “Highest in Residential Television Service Satisfaction in the North Central, South, and West Regions,” according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study.