Malaysia’s ASTRO reported residential customers increased by 65,400 to 2.081 million in the first quarter of 2007, while churn fell to 7.8% from 8.8% a year ago, and ARPU remained at RM77 (US$22.14). Shareholders approved the US$166 million investment for a 20% stake in the joint venture Sun Direct TV, which will launch a digital DTH service in India in the latter part of 2007. In Indonesia, ASTRO is awaiting approval for a new broadcast license for its PT Direct Vision pay TV joint … [Read more...] about ASTRO boosts subs, lowers churn
format licensing
Move to ban junk food ads in Taiwan
Taipei- Health authorities in Taiwan are seeking to ban junk food ads aired between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on four children TV channels, Disney Channel, ETTV YOYO, Cartoon Network and Fubon MoMo Children within a year, according to the United Daily News. An official at the Department of Health's Bureau of Food Sanitation was quoted as saying the bureau plans to extend the ban to all channels around dinner time. He said some food companies have verbally agreed not to air junk food ads during dinner … [Read more...] about Move to ban junk food ads in Taiwan
Synovate PAX reveals in-flight habits of affluent Asian travellers
Hong Kong – Synovate has released results from its first PAX in-flight survey in Asia, revealing healthy readership rates for seven leading in-flight magazines across five major Asian markets and providing data on in-flight consumer behaviour. Movies and news topped the in-flight entertainment results, after travellers in 10 Asian markets including Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, India and Australia were asked which in-flight … [Read more...] about Synovate PAX reveals in-flight habits of affluent Asian travellers
12,000 visitors converge on BroadcastAsia2007
Singapore - BroadcastAsia2007 attracted more than 12,000 visitors over four days from June 19-22, 2007. Some 47% of the attendees were from neighbouring ASEAN countries and from Europe, China, India and the Middle-East. Themed ‘Digital: The Journey Forward,’ the event saw 763 exhibiting companies from more than 40 countries gather to present digital technologies for IPTV, HDTV and mobile broadcasting. “Digital Convergence has taken a firmer foothold in the industry as there are … [Read more...] about 12,000 visitors converge on BroadcastAsia2007
Buzz and confusion in U.S. over HDTV
Sales of HDTV sets in the U.S. are predicted to total 16 million in 2007, boosting the HDTV universe to 52.5 million, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. The CEA’s new study, “HDTV: You Have the Set, But Do You Have the Content?” found that 30% of U.S. households currently have an HD set and of these, almost a third own more than one. However it revealed only 44% of HDTV owners receive HD programming, as cost and lack of interest were cited as the main reasons … [Read more...] about Buzz and confusion in U.S. over HDTV
MEASAT demonstrates HD collaboration
Singapore – A number of key industry players have taken a co-operative approach to help stimulate the growth of HDTV in the region. Rivalries have been put aside to bring together a High Definition (HD) video distribution solution tailor-made for the Asian market. The solution has been developed with Scientific-Atlanta and Tandberg Television providing the MPEG-4 compression systems, and Ascent Media and Pacific Century Matrix providing the play-out and uplink services from Singapore and … [Read more...] about MEASAT demonstrates HD collaboration
