UK (United Kingdom, Great Britain & Northern Ireland) Digital TV News

Freeview trade mark licence to be granted only for HD products
Sep 24, 2015 – UK Freeview has announced that the Freeview Trade Mark Licence will only be granted for HD products from the end of 2016. Freeview, alongside Digital UK and the DTG, has been working with television manufacturers and retailers to encourage the take-up of HD.
News categories: Freeview, DTG, Guy North, Richard Lindsay-Davies, Digital TV, Licensing, Set Top Box, Smart TV, Terrestrial, UK

UK's Freesat announces technology partnership with LG
Sep 21, 2015 – Freesat, the subscription free satellite TV service in the UK, and LG have announced a strategic partnership to provide the Freesat service on LG’s new and existing satellite enabled smart TVs.
News categories: Freesat, LG Electronics, Matthew Huntington, Andy Mackay, Digital TV, Satellite, Smart TV, UK

Sky and Cisco extend alliance in client and cloud software
Sep 11, 2015 – Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) has announced that Sky will extend its collaboration with Cisco for set top box middleware. As part of the extended relationship, Sky will continue to utilize Cisco's security portfolio.
News categories: Cisco Systems, Sky, Yvette Kanouff, Alun Webber, Conditional Access, Digital TV, Germany, IBCShow, Ireland, Italy, Middleware, Satellite, UK

Freeview Play to launch in UK on Panasonic TVs next month
Sep 3, 2015 – Freeview and Digital UK have announced that the new Freeview Play connected TV service, the next generation of the UK’s biggest TV platform, will launch in October. Panasonic televisions will be the first to introduce the service.
News categories: Freeview, Digital UK, Panasonic, Guy North, Caroline Thomson, Andrew Denham, Digital TV, Middleware, Smart TV, Streaming, Terrestrial, UK

56% of UK TV homes had a connected TV at the end of 2014
Aug 6, 2015 – The UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has published its annual Communications Market report for 2015. According to the survey, over half (56%) of UK TV homes had a TV connected to the internet, either via a set-top box or a smart TV, at the end of 2014.
News categories: Ofcom, Digital TV, Market Research, Set Top Box, Smart TV, Streaming, UK

UK's Freesat adds over 19,000 new homes in 1H 2015
Aug 6, 2015 – Freesat has continued its positive start to the year with strong take-up of Freetime, its connected TV service, which has seen a 200% year-on-year increase in new connected customers. Freetime sales grew by 48% year-on-year for the first six months of 2015.
News categories: Freesat, Alistair Thom, Digital TV, Market Research, Satellite, Set Top Box, UK

BT TV adds 60,000 subscribers in 2Q 2015
Jul 30, 2015 – BT Group (BT.L) has announced its results for the first quarter to 30 June 2015. In the quarter, BT added 60,000 BT TV customers, taking its TV customer base to 1.2 million.
News categories: BT Group, IPTV, Results, Subscribers, UK

BSkyB adds 113,000 TV subscribers in 2Q 2015
Jul 29, 2015 – SKY plc has announced results for the twelve months ended 30 June 2015. In the UK and Ireland quarterly TV growth increased by 49% to 113,000. Sky confirmed that it is planning to deploy a European-wide set-top box.
News categories: Sky plc, Austria, Digital TV, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Middleware, Results, Satellite, Set Top Box, Subscribers, UK

BARB to release UK OTT viewing report
Jul 24, 2015 – BARB has announced that a beta version of its TV Player Report is to be released in September, providing figures on the level of viewing to on-demand and live-streamed content in the UK through online TV Player apps.
News categories: BARB, Justin Sampson, Apps, Digital TV, Market Research, Mobile, Streaming, UK