Growth of the US online population slowed in 2001 to 6%, reaching around 105 million ‘active’ users by year-end, according to the Year In Review report released at the end of March by Nielsen//NetRatings. Growth of the overall at-home users also slowed – to 10% – with the population reaching 174 million. A mature market… Continue reading US Internet Market Reaches Maturity In 2001

Half of US homes will be regular video on-demand (VOD) users by 2008, spending $26 billion on VOD services over the next seven years, according to a report from Strategy Analytics. The group says that ‘after years of unfulfilled promised, the age of content on demand is finally approaching.’ The report estimates that more than… Continue reading Age Of Content On Demand Approaches Says Strategy Analytics

In a meeting with FA officials yesterday, football league chairmen decided that there should be no compromise on the £89.25 million payment expected by the league from ITV Digital in August. Following ITV Digital’s announcement that they would honour a £20 million payment owed to the Premiership in lieu of broadcast rights, the FA chairmen… Continue reading Football League Battle With ITV Digital Continues

A US Court Of Appeals has ruled that the Federal Communications Commission’s ‘8-voices’ ownership rule is ‘arbitray and capricious’, according to a report on Mediaweek.com. The 8-voices rule was established in August 1999 and prevents television operators from running duopolies and local marketing agreements in markets where there are less than eight voices. The Court… Continue reading US Court Brands 8-Voices Ownership Rule ‘Arbitrary And Capricious’

The refinancing and debt reduction plans of telecommunications company NTL are thought to be progressing well, with details of a structure set to be announced within weeks, according to a report on today’s Financial Times website. NTL has appointed Credit Suisse First Boston, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley to advise on a recapitalisation structure and reduction… Continue reading NTL May Take Temporary Bankruptcy As Refinancing Is Finalised

United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC) has today announced that the release of full-year results for 2001 will be delayed by a further two weeks in order to finalise “the appropriate accounting treatment of certain interest rate cross currency hedging agreements in the wake of UPCÂ’s default on its public debt on March 3rd 2002” The Dutch… Continue reading UPC Results Delayed

As we head into Q2 2002, the extent of the economic and advertising downturn is really making itself known. UK media companies are struggling with the twin curses of heavy debt and falling ad revenues. ITV Digital is to be sent to the administrators (see End For ITV Digital Confirmed), whilst NTL is struggling to… Continue reading Insight Analysis: Media Healthcheck – March 2002

In the face of stiff competition from direct broadcast satellite (DBS) pay-TV services, says Cahners In-Stat, the US cable television industry is focusing on the delivery of a “package” of digital services to consumers. These services include digital video service, cable modem service and cable telephony service. In order to provide these services, US cable… Continue reading ‘Plenty Of Room’ For US Digital Cable Growth, Says In-Stat

According to a report released today by Informa Media, on-demand TV is ‘about to take off’ with revenues set to rise by over 500% by 2007. Global ‘On Demand’ TV Forecasts By Region  Households (000)             2000  2001  2002  2007  Asia Pacific 4,015 7,670 15,170 93,010 Europe 16,793 23,279 28,969 73,467… Continue reading On-Demand TV Set To Take Off, says Informa Media

Silicon.com reports that BT is evaluating super-high-speed broadband, Very high-speed Digital Subscriber Line, in an effort to move towards the next generation of broadband access. The service can deliver a thousand times faster than via traditional telephone wires with a downstream time of 52 Mbps. Silicon.com predicts that BT will role out the new service… Continue reading BT To Launch ‘Next Generation Broadband’ In 2006