Information Policy

Polish VOD market takes shape

The Polish online VOD market remains dominated by ipla and Onet, though both services are losing users.

At the same time, TVN Player is growing in popularity.

Data produced by Megapanel PBI/Gemius for Wirtualne Media shows that ipla, which is operated by Redefine, a company linked to Polsat, had 1,555,569 real users in November 2011.

Although this was nearly 50,000 more than the 1,506,438 in October, it was significantly lower than the 2,607,835 posted a year earlier.

Onet saw a significant reduction in users in November 2011, down from the previous month’s 2,276,864 to 1,525,398.

In November 2010, the figure stood at 2,375,424. The recently launched TVN Player meanwhile already had 1,053,532 real users as of November.

Although no figures for the number of views for ipla were available, those for Onet and TVN Player in November stood at 12,129,701 and 49,484,477 respectively.

TVN Player viewing time in the month amounted to 9,903,172 hours, compared to the 371,516 claimed by Onet.

It also had more mobile views (99,444) than any other service (ipla figures were not available).

Other services surveyed in the study were Iplex, TVP and Kinoplex Gazeta.

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2012/02/13/polish-vod-market-takes-shape/

Twitter Launches Twitter for News

By Gordon MacMillian

This should be useful Twitter has launched a new account that is dedicated to spotlighting some of the best practices and innovative uses of Twitter by journalists and newsrooms.

Twitter says the account will focus on "innovative Twitter use across all types of news & journalism - not just breaking". Interesting that it comes in a week when Twitter said that it wasn't a media company.

CEO Dick Costolo said that rather than being a media company Twitter was "in the  media business, but we're not necessarily a media company. We don't create our own content; we're a distributor of content and traffic. We're one of the largest drivers of traffic to other media properties, [namely] to other online web properties, even to films".

One of the first things @TwitterForNews has highlighted is the new Reuters 'Social Pulse' section, which I wrote about earlier today. That should be useful.

There are so many innovative users of Twitter out there. Last year's effort by the Boston Globe to create a Twitter "information radiator" springs to mind as does the Guardian's Twitter-based search assistant.

Twitter for News also highlights some of the resources that it offers for journalists.

http://wallblog.co.uk/2012/02/03/twitter-launches-twitter-for-news/

Reuters' New Social Dashboard Charts CEO Influence, Chatter About Companies

Reuters' latest attempt to bring social media into its newsroom is a dashboard for journalists and readers called "Social Pulse."

The new tools, which launch today, connect readers directly with journalists, rank CEOs in social media based on their "influence," track online discussion of top public companies and pull together the outside content being shared with Reuters' staff.

Dutch digital TV penetration reaches 72.9%

Digital television now reaches 72.9% of all Dutch homes, according to the latest Media Standard Survey from TNS NIPO. A total of 35% own a hard disc recorder. Digital TV penetration rose from 69% in the first half of 2011 to 72.9% at the end of 2011. Interestingly, the percentage of digital TV for the main set (living room) is just 68.4%. This lower percentage might be explained by the fact that people buy a DVB-T tuner for second or third TV sets.  The average number of TV sets in Dutch homes is 1.7. In terms of reception, digital cable leads (on all TV sets in the home combined) with 51.1%, followed by analogue cable (48.9%), DVB-T (Digitenne) with 10.5% and satellite DTH with 5.4%. IPTV connection stand at 4.8% and 2.3% have FTTH (fibre). The numbers cannot be added together, as homes might have different ways of receiving television on different TV sets across the home.

Chris Dziadul Reports: On line and on demand

Online VOD services are becoming an increasingly familiar feature of the TV landscape in Central and Eastern Europe.

However, it is probably too early to talk about them being a big success in all but a handful of markets.

Take Voyo, which was launched by Central European Media Enterprises (CME) in the Czech Republic at the beginning of last year and subsequently rolled out in the five other countries in the region the company operates in. Having introduced a monthly fee of €7.38 in December for which viewers are given access to everything in its library, the Czech service has set the ambitious target – by its own admission – of 100,000 paying subscribers by the end of this year.

While this may be achievable in the Czech Republic, Voyo’s sister services are likely to have more modest goals in terms of subscriber numbers. In any case, the Czech Republic is probably a lucrative market for online VOD, with Topfun Media, which is backed by the financial group J&T, expected to launch what has been described as a “Czech Netflix” later this year.

Poland, too, is a hive of activity thanks in no small part to the success of such on demand services as ipla, which is operated by Redefine, backed by Polsat founder and owner Zygmunt Solorz; and OnetVOD (vod.onet.pl) and the recently-launched tvnplayer.pl, both of which are linked to the national commercial broadcaster TVN. Others include a service, known as Telewizja Osobista (‘Personal Television’), launched late last year and operated by the alternative telco Netia.

Meanwhile in Russia an online VOD service named Yota Play, operated by Yota and the WiMax provider Scartel, made its debut last summer. Offering content on a pay-per-view basis, it joined a growing market already served by such companies as the leading mobile (and pay-TV) operator MTS.

Alongside these developments in the region have come the appearances of such services as HBO Go, with the streaming operation having made its regional debut in Poland in partnership with the cable operator Inea in late 2010 and then subsequently introduced in several other countries last year.

It is also interesting to note that research published by Gemius last September found online VOD services to be nine times more popular in Hungary than in Denmark.

These are certainly exciting times for the delivery of on demand content over the internet in CEE, with more interesting developments likely in the near future.

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2012/01/19/chris-dziadul-reports-on-line-and-on-demand/

Czech Netflix in the making

The Czech company Topfun Media plans to effectively become what some have already described as the country’s equivalent of Netflix. In a press conference jointly organised with Samsung and other partners, it announced the launch of a new service named Live Pay-TV, which is available on all Topfun’s platforms – www.topfun.tv, Smart TV and mobile devices running Android and iOS, giving access to TV channels offering film, music, sports, kids programming, documentary and adult content. Topfun Media has also introduced a new service giving access to hundreds of movies from Hollywood Classic Entertainment, SPI International, Bonton and others. At the same time, SPI International took the opportunity to introduce two new channels – FightBox and Erox. Topfun Media, which is backed by the financial group J&T, is the leading operator of online video stores in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Washington Times launches news aggregator

The Washington Times has launched a new digital news site, Times247.com, which will provide a continuously updated blend of news, opinion and analysis from The Times combined with selected content from top news sources to an audience who shares conservative values. The news service will be distributed digitally to millions of opted-in readers and available over the Internet on a 24/7 basis. Users can choose the site’s home page or “The Skinny” section featuring breaking news headlines “without the filler.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/washington_times_launches_news_aggregator/

Telco Pay-TV Subscribers Approaching 100 Million

New data from TeleGeography show that at the end of Q3 2011 telcos worldwide had a total of 94 million pay-TV subscribers, giving them a 12% share of the global pay-TV market. Given current growth rates the subscriber total will be passing the 100-million milestone as this article is being written. Leading the telco charge is America Movil with ten million pay-TV subscribers, thanks to a dominant market position in Brazil and Colombia and substantial pay-TV operations in several other Latin American countries. It is followed by China Telecom and Rostelecom, both of which focus solely on their home markets, and France Telecom-Orange which has pay-TV operations in Poland, Spain and Slovakia in addition to being one of the leaders in the French market.

While telcos’ pay-TV activities are commonly equated with IPTV, that is only a part of the story. Many telcos have clearly identified IPTV as being important both strategically and tactically, but it accounts for less than 60% of their pay-TV subscribers. Several telcos are investing heavily in cable TV and satellite DTH operations, while pay-DTT and some residual MMDS services are also part of the mix. As examples, America Movil has achieved its leadership position by developing or acquiring cable and DTH businesses, and it has hardly any IPTV interests; and number three ranked telco Rostelecom can thank cable TV for providing 85% of its pay-TV subscriber base.

However, IPTV remains a crucial factor in the telco sector’s pay-TV growth prospects, as TeleGeography’s John Dinsdale points out: ‘Looking to the future there is no doubt that telcos will further increase their share of the pay-TV market. While telcos will continue to invest in cable and DTH operations, over the next five years it will primarily be strong IPTV growth that enables them to gain market share. We forecast that the IPTV subscriber base will have doubled in size by the end of 2016, which will help telcos gain control of some 16% of the pay-TV market.’

TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Pay-TV Research Service provides data, analysis and forecasts of the rapidly changing pay-TV and IPTV markets. (http://www.telegeography.com/research-services/globalcomms-pay-tv/index.html)

http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2012/01/23/telco-pay-tv-subscribers-approaching-100-million/

Data Journalism Awards now accepting submissions

The Global Editors Network (GEN) on Thursday announced the launch of the first annual Data Journalism Awards (DJA), an international competition recognising outstanding work in the growing field of data journalism. The GEN initiative is supported by Google and is organised in collaboration with the European Journalism Centre. An international jury of data journalism and media experts will select six winning submissions. Jury members have been selected from international media companies including the New York Times, Reuters, and Les Echos and the president of the Jury is Paul Steiger, founder of ProPublica. A total prize amount of EUR 45,000 (around USD 57,000) will be awarded to the six winning projects. The competition is open to media companies, non-profit organisations, freelancers and individuals until 10 April 2012. The six winning projects will be announced by jury members at the annual News World Summit (NEWS!) being held in Paris, France, from 30 May to 01 June 2012 and hosted by the Global Editors Network.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/data_journalism_awards_now_accepting_submissions/

HBO Czech looks to the net

HBO Go is likely to be launched in the Czech Republic this year, according to Pavla Brozkova, the company’s spokesperson in the country.

Quoted by E15, she added that the streaming service would also make its debut in several more territories in 2012.

HBO Go is already available in a number of CEE markets including Poland, Hungary and Romania.

Separately, HBO Czech received a licence from the Czech Radio and TV Council (RRTV) last month allowing it to distribute content in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and the Balkan countries, not only via cable and DTH but also over the internet.

Its sister company HBO Netherlands Holdings, which broadcasts from the Czech Republic to the Netherlands, also received the licence.

HBO Czech is now reported to be working on at least two content projects that it will transmit over the internet.

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2012/01/05/hbo-czech-looks-to-the-net/