News

A report from Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, has revealed that watching traditional ‘linear’ TV, such as the DTH satellite broadcasts from Sky and Freesat via ASTRA 28.2°E, is still the mainstay of UK TV viewing. In 2012 British viewers each day watched an average of 4 hours 1 minute of linear TV on a television screen (the third consecutive year the figure has remained above four hours a day), despite the growth in viewing on other devices and from other sources.

The BBC will launch an HD version of its BBC Two channel on March 26. Broadcasting free-to-air from ASTRA 28.2°E to the UK as part of the Freesat and Sky UK platforms, BBC Two HD will follow the same programme schedule as the existing SD version of BBC Two, upscaling those programmes not made in high definition.

The number of requests for programming from the BBC’s catch-up TV service, iPlayer has rocketed from 11 million in January 2012 to 40 million in January this year.  The age profile of iPlayer users has also changed, with the number of people over 55 using the service up 24% in 2012.

Amsterdam-based club music channel Dance Trippin now broadcasts free-to-air from ASTRA 4A at 5°E to bring its 24 hours/day diet of DJ sets from top clubs around the world to all of sub-Saharan Africa. Dance Trippin first launched on satellite, on ASTRA 23.5°E, at the beginning of the year.

Visit www.dancetrippin.tv for more information

In France, some 3 million homes, or nearly 11% of all households with a TV, now have a ‘smart’ connected TV set – according to research by Médiamétrie – and a further 1 million households intend to buy a connected TV in the next two years.

Médiamétrie has also found that connected TVs, with access to the Internet for running ‘apps’, accessing catch-up TV, etc, are most popular in households with children, and homes with a connected TV are more likely to own additional TV devices. There are now on average 6.2 TV screens per household in France.

The BBC has called London 2012 the first truly digital Olympics, with its coverage throughout the games available to view online and via live broadcast streams, as well as normal transmissions.

Nearly 52 million viewers in the UK watched BBC broadcasts of the games and the BBC’s interactive video player received 106 million requests for live or catch-up content. 23.7 million people watched the BBC’s 24 live Olympic streams broadcast in standard and high definition on ASTRA 28.2°E, available through the ‘red button’ on Freesat and Sky UK receivers.

Visit www.bbc.co.uk for more information

News channels, EuroNews and BBC World News have both increased their reach according to a study by EMS Research. Multi-lingual EuroNews has 15% more viewers across Europe than a year ago and is now accessed by 15.2 million people each month. The EMS survey also shows that BBC World News has increased its daily reach by 14% and its weekly reach by 5%.

Both EuroNews and BBC World News are broadcast from ASTRA satellites at 19.2°E, 5°E, and 31.5°E.

Visit www.ems.eu.com for more information

After successful 3D coverage from the Wimbledon tennis championships and the London 2012 Olympic Games ahead, the BBC has announced further original 3D programming for the summer, part of its two-year trial of 3D production and broadcasting.

As host nation broadcaster for the 2012 London Olympic Games, the BBC will be broadcasting some events live in 3D. These include the Opening Ceremony (July 27), the Men’s 100m final and the Closing Ceremony, and for these events, the standard definition broadcast will be on BBC One, high definition simulcast on BBC One HD and the 3D transmission on the BBC HD Channel. The BBC HD Channel will also carry a one-hour highlights programme in 3D at the end of each day.

Sky UK and the BBC are teaming up to provide blanket live coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games with 48 new channels broadcast via satellite. Up to 24 SD channels and 24 HD channels will broadcast simultaneously to show 2500 hours of live BBC coverage of the games, with every sport from archery to wrestling. The 48 new Sky channels will broadcast free-to-air from the ASTRA 28.2°E satellite position and will be included in the Sports section of Sky’s Electronic Programme Guide from July 24.

Visit www.sky.com for further information