Daily Satellite TV News

AT&T adds Android app for U-verse TV
Michelle Clancy | 23-10-2013
AT&T is looking to boost its TV everywhere proposition with new apps for streaming live U-verse IPTV to more than 30 Android mobile devices and through Uverse.com.
Earlier in October the company announced more than 100 live TV channels had been added to the U-verse App for those with a U-family or higher U-verse TV package. About 20 of them are available for streaming outside of the home, but AT&T said that it plans to add more live channels on an ongoing basis.
In addition to live TV, users can also access on-demand titles, manage their DVRs remotely and use advanced search functionality for discovering content.
The amount of content available is becoming a key differentiator for pay-TV operators. "The market is still developing with many of the early growing pains, like authentication, finally starting to take a back seat to the content," said ABI Research senior analyst, Michael Inouye. "In many respects the technology is in place to increasingly offer wider reaching TVE services. Securing the rights to broader content distribution is the primary remaining hurdle, but once standard metrics are developed the content floodgates are expected to open wider."

Vevo takes online video distribution to Mexico
Juan Fernandez Gonzalez | 01-05-2014
The online music video distributor Vevo is to start operating in Mexico, offering a catalogue of over 100,000 videos and shows. The platform will be available through Vevo.com and mobile apps.
The service is already broadcasting in the country through YouTube Music and, according to the news agency Notimex, this alliance won't be broken despite Vevo's independent launch.
Through the new channel, the Mexican audience will receive official music videos and original shows produced by Vevo TV, as well as concerts in HD. The mobile platform will be available on computers, iOS, Android and Windows Mobile.
Vevo decided to launch in Mexico, the country which completes the platform's presence in the larger North American markets, following the success of the YouTube service. In the last month, the Mexican viewers have played Vevo's content on YouTube over 500 million times.
Vevo Mexico will be integrated into the company's international hub. "Our Mexican viewers consume a great amount of music videos, and we want to take this experience to a new, higher level," said Nic Jones, international senior VP at Vevo.

BBC Latin America takes formats to LA Screenings

                          Juan Fernandez Gonzalez                  | 01-05-2014         
BBC Worldwide Latin America, the BBC's commercial subsidiary, will take ten new international productions to market at the LA Screenings event which takes place in Los Angeles from 16 May.
The British network will present The Fear, a Mafia drama; the natural history series Dolphins Spy in the Pod; and the medical drama Junior Doctors USA. In addition, it will premiere The Beckham Documentary which was filmed using Red Epic cameras, enabling 4K resolution.
The BBC will also present another documentary, the Monkeys Revealed, while the drama section will be completed with the series Prey. Two children's shows - Sarah & Duck and Dinopaws - the music programme Artifact and the comedy Mr Sloane will be the other formats showcased at the event.
"This year we will take a variety of content to illustrate the BBC's diversity," said Fred Medina, VP and director at BBC Worldwide for Latin America and the US' Hispanic audience. "We really trust titles like The Fear and Dolphins; we believe they will achieve success in the region."

Nickelodeon lands in Madrid theme park
Juan Fernandez Gonzalez | 01-05-2014
In times of mobile screens, multimedia applications and augmented reality, Viacom International has found yet another route to bring the country's most popular cartoon characters to life, by opening a Nickelodeon-branded attraction in Madrid.
Nickelodeon has taken its characters, interactive shows and attractions to Parque de Atracciones de Madrid. Nickelodeon Land will feature 15,000sq m of customised Nickelodeon-branded attractions starring in by its most popular cartoons, including Dora, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SpongeBob and Patrick Star.
"We are thrilled to bring this new Nickelodeon attraction to our fans in Spain through our partnership with Parque de Atracciones de Madrid," said Gerald Raines, VP for recreation business development at Nickelodeon. "Nickelodeon Land will give kids and families in Spain, and those who visit the park from surrounding regions, the opportunity to experience our Nickelodeon characters in a new way."
Nickelodeon Land at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid will join several other Nickelodeon-branded attractions and parks around the world such as Nickelodeon Universe in Minneapolis' Mall of America, SeaWorld on the Gold Coast in Australia and Nickelodeon Land at Pleasure Beach Blackpool in the UK.

Sky TV growth spikes with Paramount, PlayStation deals set to kick in
Joseph O'Halloran | 01-05-2014

UK pay-TV giant BSkyB has resuscitated its previously flat-lining TV service in what it has described as a strong quarter of growth despite falls in profit.

In addition, and indicating where it sees the key future areas of growth to be, it has reported record viewing figures for English Premier League football for which it holds premium rights. It has also struck a key content deal with Paramount Pictures and inked a deal with Sony Computer Entertainment UK to make the multiscreen Sky Go and the NOW TV over-the-top (OTT) services available on the PlayStation (PS4) game console.

Regarding financial performance, for the nine-month period ended 31 March 2014, Sky generated revenue of £5.666 billion, up 6.6% year-on-year. However the £1.2234 billion EBITDA and operating profit of £910 million were down by 2.4% and 8.5% respectively compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.

For the third quarter of the year, Sky added 764,000 new paid-for subscription products, meaning 2.4 million in the year to date. Among these were 74,000 net new TV customers, more than double growth in QI 2013. Sky added that connected TV services were ahead of plan and delivering clear benefits and that almost half of its TV customers were now connected and that on-demand usage tripled year-on-year. By the end of the quarter there were a total 3.7 million Sky Go unique users, up 13% year-on-year.

The pay-TV firm also revealed that its flagship SkySports service has already set new records for live Premier League football with two weekends remaining as what it calls the most exciting Premier League season in years reaches its climax. Sky Sports customers have set new records for viewing across TV and mobile and based on data for the season so far, average audiences for live matches on Sky Sports are up 7% on last and dispute huge competition from a buoyant BT, Sky noted that 49 of the season's 50 most-watched Premier League matches were live on Sky Sports.

Commenting on the year to date Jeremy Damrosch, chief executive, said: "We have had a strong third quarter and continued to grow at an accelerated rate as customers respond to the quality and breadth of our offering. Nine months into our plans for the year, we have added almost a third more new paid-for subscription products than in the same period last year. We are making good progress in developing new revenue streams. Our targeted advertising service, AdSmart, is attracting many new advertisers to Sky while our new Buy & Keep service in Sky Store opens up the DVD purchase marketplace for the first time."

The new multi-year licensing agreement with Paramount Pictures will bring Sky Movies customers exclusive access, during the first pay-TV window, to current hit titles such as Noah, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, as well as future releases such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers: Age of Extinction. Sky Movies will be the first subscription service in the UK and Ireland to show new Paramount Pictures movies. Sky Movies customers will be able to enjoy exclusive access to new titles from Paramount around eight months after they are released in cinemas. Once on Sky Movies, the films will be available exclusively on the service for more than a year.

As part of the Sony deal, Sky users will be able to watch NOW TV on the PS4 from this summer with Sky Go becoming available later in 2014. NOW TV customers will be able to connect their PS4 to their TV and home Wi-Fi to watch the OTT service's content on their main TV as part of their subscriptions. Meanwhile Sky TV customers will be able to watch TV from Sky Go on a PlayStation3 (PS3) or PS4 for the first time

OSN launches new Arabic reality health show
Rebecca Hawkes | 01-05-2014
Saudi Doctors has been unveiled as the latest in-house production for Middle East pay-TV network OSN. The reality show is set to be aired to Arab audiences beginning 1 May 2014 on OSN Ya Hala!HD.
The show takes on the regionally topical issue of coronavirus in the first episode, with other health issues such as depression and glaucoma, child abuse, and white poisons all being explored during the season.
"Saudi Doctors is a novel concept and OSN is proud to launch the first health reality show that will not only educate viewers on health and wellbeing but will also encourage positive lifestyle changes in an entertaining format," said Khulud Abu Homos, executive vice president, programming and creative services, OSN.
It will hosted by cardiac surgeon Dr Abdullah Al kchel, plastic surgeon Dr Wael Daghistani, ophthalmologist Dr Tariq Al Asbali, orthopedic surgeon Dr Ahmed Bin Nasser, and psychologist Samira Al Ghamdy.