July 2011 Archives

The UK regulator, OFCOM, publishes a quarterly report outlining the state of UK TV market and progress in digitalisation ahead of analogue TV close-down in the Digital Switch Over (DSO) which is due to be completed in 2012.

Some Important Data Points: Primary Household TV Sets

Satellite is the primary method of delivering TV onto the primary screen in the home (42% Satellite, 38% Digital Terrestrial TV, 11% Cable and 6% Analogue). We previously assumed that as DSO happened the decline in analogue homes would have moved to Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT). It appears that this hasn't happened and instead many have switched to Satellite. It is worth noting that in the UK, Satellite has two main platforms: FreeSat - 2m homes; and the BskyB payTV service (9.3m). A majority of UK homes (52.25%) take a payTV service.

In this issue:

• Music: Spotify Hooks Up with Virgin Media
• Video: Hulu Up For Sale
• Cable Networks: AMC Spin Off from Cablevision
• Gaming: 2011 Gartner Ecosystem Forecast
• Publishing: Amazon punts on The Book Depository
• And Finally: Twitter Twits trying to get more money
• Music: Spotify Hooks Up with Virgin Media

Music: Spotify Hooks Up with Virgin Media

Virgin Media has signed an exclusive deal with Spotify for its music streaming service. Virgin Media is the second largest ISP in the UK, with over 4m households using their network to watch TV, browse the internet, and use their fixed and mobile services. The Virgin Media and Spotify hook-up covers PCs , TVs (via theTiVO set top box) and Mobiles at various price points.

Billboard has a good summary of the deal from the music business perspective.