Polsat claims top spot

Polsat was the most efficient television broadcaster in Poland in 2010 amongst the country’s leading station, according to a study undertaken by the national newspaper Rzeczpospolita.

It generated net profits of PLN234,600 (€59,072) per employee, while TVN managed PLN186,700 and TVP only PLN5,200.

Blinkbox checked out by Tesco

Published: 17.21 Europe/London, April 20, 2011

Blinkbox, the video-on-demand outfit established by former Channel 4 New Media executive Michael Cormish and Vodafone’s former head of content Adrian Letts, has been acquired by the UK retailer Tesco. It’s the latest in a series of recent deals that have seen established names enter the connected TV market through the acquisition of start-up companies.

In January, Lovefilm was acquired for £200 million by Amazon, while in the United States Wallmart purchased video site Vudu for a reported $100 million.

Tesco will purchase 80% of Blinkbox from private investors Eden Ventures and Nordic Venture Partners. Terms have not been disclosed.

Blinkbox boasts 2 million visitors per month that have access to a mix of advertising supported and paid-for content that includes 9,000 .... titles and a number of TV series.

Digital TV growth driver for KPN

Published: 08.35 Europe/London, April 21, 2011

Dutch incumbent telecoms operator KPN has said it signed up an average of 5,000 new IPTV customers during the first quarter of the year. The number of subscribers to the company’s DTT platform Digitenne base remained relatively stable. KPN ended the quarter with 1,242,000 TV subscribers.

This brought KPN’s TV market share to 16%. Approximately 50% of new TV subscribers are new broadband customers and about 75% of all IPTV customers choose a triple play package. TV ARPU increased by 22% year-on-year to €11 in Q1 2011.

Panasonic, Samsung announce UPC CI Plus certification

Both Panasonic and Samsung have announced a list of their models that have received CI Plus certification from the Dutch cabler UPC. The operator launches its stand-alone CI Plus module for The Netherlands on April 26.

Panasonic has said all its current and future CI Plus receivers are compatabile for usage with UPC. It concerns the VT30-series, GT30-series, ST30-series, G30-series, S30-series, U30-series, C3-series, DT35-series, DT30-series, E30-series, E3-series and the U3-series.

Mixed fortunes for Polish TP

The Polish incumbent telco Telekomunikacja Polska (TP) ended the first quarter with 577,000 subscribers to its TV services.

This was 33,000 more than three months earlier and 160,000 more than in the same period last year.

Although the total number of DTH subscribers stood at 464,000 (up from 428,000 three months earlier), its IPTV subscriber total fell by 2,000 in the first quarter to 113,000.

ANGA showcase for Sony DVB-C2 prototype

DVB and ANGA are joining forces for a demonstration of the DVB-C2 technology at the ANGA Cable show in Cologne next month (May 3-5).

Booth L9 will showcase the first ever prototype for the technology, a Sony TV with integrated DVB-C2 tuner. The demo and information at the booth will be supported by DVB, ANGA, Sony and Kabel Deutschland.