Digital TV News: EBU

Comcast video subscribers down 144,000 in 2Q 2014
Jul 22, 2014 – Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK) has reported results for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. Video customer net losses improved year-over-year and were also the best result for a second quarter in six years.
News categories: Comcast, Cable TV, Results, Subscribers, USA

Number of pay TV operators in Europe falls 5.8% in 2013
Jul 16, 2014 – The European Audiovisual Observatory has published the second volume of the 2013 edition of its Yearbook. In 2013, the pay-TV sector had 7,898 operators in 37 countries - a significant reduction in their number compared with 2009 (8,381, or -5.8%).
News categories: European Audiovisual Observatory, André Lange, Digital TV, Europe, Market Research

EBU policy statement on Ultra HD TV
Jul 3, 2014 – The EBU has issued a document intended to guide strategic decisions in regard to UHDTV and future TV services. It is addressed at Senior Management of EBU Members and other broadcasters and at anyone who is a stakeholder in the audiovisual content industries.
News categories: European Broadcasting Union, Digital TV, Europe, Set Top Box, Smart TV, TV Services

HbbTV already supported by 93% of European connected TVs
May 20, 2014 – According to the EBU, 93% of the connected televisions for sale in Europe support HbbTV and HbbTV services are being deployed by broadcasters throughout Europe.
News categories: European Broadcasting Union, Europe, HbbTV, Market Research, Smart TV

Comcast adds 24,000 billable video customers in 1Q 2014
Apr 22, 2014 – Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK) has reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2014. The company's video customers increased by 24,000 in the quarter to 22.601 million, the second consecutive quarter of customer growth.
News categories: Comcast, Cable TV, Results, Subscribers, USA

EBU publishes specification for subtitle distribution
Jan 30, 2014 – The EBU has published a new specification for the distribution of subtitles. The XML based EBU-TT-D format is a low-complexity way to combine subtitle text, styling, timing information, and positioning details.
News categories: European Broadcasting Union, Digital TV, Europe, Middleware, Set Top Box, Smart TV

Subjective testing confirms importance of frame rate for UHDTV
Aug 7, 2013 – The EBU's Broadcast Technology Futures (BTF) group is conducting a series of subjective tests at IRT's facilities. Early results give a clear indication that higher frame rates are appreciated by the observers, to a significantly greater extent than increased resolution.
News categories: European Broadcasting Union, Digital TV, Market Research, Set Top Box, Smart TV

Digital TV Group launches the UK UHD Forum
Aug 1, 2013 – The Digital TV Group has announced the launch of the UK UHD Forum. The group will co-ordinate UK requirements to build a knowledge base for the future interoperability of Ultra HD, and will work hand-in-hand with FAME and other European standards organisations.
News categories: Digital TV Group, Digital TV, Set Top Box, Smart TV, UK

DASH Industry Forum Releases Implementation Guidelines for MPEG-DASH Deployments
Jun 19, 2013 – The DASH Industry Forum (DASH-IF) has released DASH-AVC/264, its recommended guidelines for deployment of the MPEG-DASH standard. The MPEG-DASH specification provides a standard method for streaming multimedia content over the internet by simplifying and converging delivery of IP video.
News categories: DASH-IF, Middleware, Streaming