UTStarcom named
the leading IPTV provider in Asia in Multimedia Research Group’s latest Global IPTV
Market Leaders Report. The in-depth analysis tracks the top 100 IPTV vendors in 24
regional sub-segments. UTStarcom’s strategic IPTV deployments and strong subscriber
gains drove the company’s rise to the top in the Access, VOD, Set-top-Boxes, Middleware
and Content Protection categories.

UTStarcom pioneered IPTV in China when it introduced its RollingStream end-to-end
IPTV system in 2005. As of March 2009, UTStarcom’s RollingStream supported more than
1.32 million live IPTV subscribers globally. In 2008, UTStarcom partnered with Guangxi
Telecom Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Telecom, to deploy the first IPTV-based
digital signage solution in 14 Guangxi cities. UTStarcom was also among the first
to deliver the Olympic Games via IPTV to China viewers during summer 2008. This April,
the company was selected as the only technology supplier for the first mobile television
system across Hainan province, driven by China Telecom’s Hainan branch.

UTStarcom is also a recognized IPTV leader throughout the Indian subcontinent. The
company partnered with Aksh Optifibre Ltd. in 2007 to deliver the first commercial
IPTV service in Delhi through Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. With UTStarcom’s continued
partnership, Aksh set an agreement with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to offer its
iControl IPTV service in 20 cities across India and additionally in Mumbai with MTNL.
UTStarcom also has a long-standing relationship with Bharti Airtel in Delhi NCR. Additionally,
UTStarcom’s RollingStream platform is being used by Sri Lanka Telecom to deliver IPTV
services in the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Read more here:
UTStarcom Named Leader in China, India IPTV Markets

Dell’Oro Group reports that the number
of DVR-equipped, pay-TV set-top box unit shipments contracted 20 percent year-over-year
in the first quarter this year and accounted for one-third of the total set-top box
shipped during the quarter.

This contraction in the first quarter may be attributed to several factors. “First,
the economy is reducing the demand for premium services such as DVR functionality,”
said Greg Collins, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “Second, growth in the set-top
box market is coming from Europe and developing regions where DVR functionality is
still new and not yet embraced by consumers. Third, multi-room DVR’s are at the very
early stages of impacting demand for integrated DVR’s. Multi-room DVR’s offer end-users
greater functionality and ease of use by eliminating the need to manage content on
multiple set-top boxes. Furthermore, since the hard drive is often the most expensive
and most failure-prone component of a set-top box, multi-room DVR’s also offer service
providers lower capital and support costs,” he finished.

The IP STB
market was the only segment to grow year-over-year in the first quarter with Motorola
and Cisco holding top spots. ZTE captured the third position with strong sales of
inexpensive, standard definition products to China where IPTV is starting to gain
momentum.

Originally posted here:
Report: DVR-Equipped STB Shipments Contract 20 Percent Year-Over-Year in Q1 2009

MRG shows that 2008 actual IPTV
subscribers ended up at about 1 million over its last forecast in late 2008, or 21.3
million, resulting in projected subscriber growth of 26.9 million in 2009 to over
81 million in 2013. Combined (last-mile) CapEx revenue plus service revenue will grow
from US$9.7 billion in 2009 to US$25.6 billion in 2013.

The new IPTV forecast
for 2009-2013 is both conservative and optimistic, based on very detailed semi-annual
analysis that MRG does on individual Service Providers and on a country-by-country
basis.

Yet, one positive indicator was strong IPTV subscriber growth of 583,000 combined
for Verizon and AT&T in Q1/2009. Another is the large number of new IPTV Operators
in Eastern Europe and the Rest-of-World region, moving from 64 companies to 84. Countries
like Colombia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Montenegro and the Russian federation
have seen new growth in their operations

As the IPTV market matures, many innovations are emerging, including upgrades like
DVRs and MPEG-4/H.264 compression, High-definition programming, and first class System
Integration. “Professional services growth is brought on by stronger regional partnerships
of vendors and resellers that continue to move into smaller markets,” states Alvear.
“Growth in System Integration and Professional Services will also be spurred by the
growth of turnkey system sales where all the components and services are heavily pre-integrated.”

The report includes the market growth of six (last-mile) CapEx products plus System
Integration in 4 worldwide regions, with details about these 24 sectors and the related
subscriber and system revenues for 2009 to 2013.

See the rest here:
MRG’s Global IPTV Forecast Advises Watchful Optimism for 2009

Research and Markets announces the addition of the “Europe
Telecom Insider / Vol. 1, No 4, Edition 6 – Europe’s Five-Year IPTV Forecast: Mostly
Cloudy, but Temperatures Slowly Rising” report to their offering.

The EU economy, along with that of much of the rest of the world, is in a deep recession,
and 2009 is expected to see the first full-year contraction in GDP since the early
1980s. Central & Eastern European countries will generally face greater downside risk
than most Western European countries, owing to weak currencies, capital flight, large
external liabilities and much higher refinancing costs. WE countries will likely experience
a GDP decline (in local currencies) of around 3-5% in 2009, while in CEE countries,
GDP contraction will range from -1% in Poland to -15% in Latvia. Under the pressure
of the economic crisis, some telecom and media services, such as mobile TV or VoD
in some markets, are seeing lower adoption rates, and service revenues are shrinking.
Still, not all markets and all services are seeing significant declines. For example,
pay-TV subscribers are expected to grow by 8% in 2009 to reach 163.4m across the European
region, despite the challenging economic environment.

IPTV, the youngest pay-TV technology, is under a lot of pressure to withstand severe
competition from well-established cable and satellite TV. At year-end 2008, IPTV subscriptions
accounted for only 8.2% of total pay-TV accounts in Europe, generating more than US$3bn
(euro2.1bn) or 8% of total regional pay-TV revenue. Although we project that by 2014
IPTV will double its share of the total pay-TV market both subscriptions-wise and
revenue-wise, the question is, what will happen to IPTV service in the worsening economic
situation in Europe? We believe that in the next 12 months, the economic crisis will
have a negative impact on IPTV service adoption only in certain European countries,
while its impact on IPTV service revenue growth will be uniformly adverse across the
entire region in the same year.

Key findings

• The ongoing economic downturn will affect IPTV adoption and service revenue growth
  differently across various European markets in the next 12 months. IPTV service adoption
  rates will decline in some markets, while becoming stagnant or even growing in other.
  Meanwhile, affected by the worsening economy, IPTV service revenue growth is likely
  to slow down across all European markets.

• In times of economic recession, when families and businesses are forced to cut costs
  considerably, service price plays a crucial role in the adoption of any service, including
  IPTV. In some European markets, IPTV adoption may plummet as customers, pressured
  by the worsening economy, opt for more affordable offerings from other pay-TV providers.
  This is the case with some Central & Eastern European markets, such as Poland or Russia.

• Creative and affordable bundled packages will be a way for telcos to mitigate the
  adverse effects of the economic recession on IPTV service adoption. Often the incumbent
  operators in their countries, major IPTV players are better positioned to offer bundled
  services that include telephony, broadband Internet access and IPTV than are local
  cable and DTH satellite service providers. Although offering cheap and convenient
  bundled packages may result in surging IPTV service adoption, this strategy will adversely
  affect IPTV revenue growth in the short term. We see such strategies in Italy and
  several other European markets.

This Insider will analyze the short- to medium-term future of European IPTV in the
current economic climate. It will focus on the three factors affecting IPTV growth:
The combination of the level of broadband penetration and operators’ Capex, availability
of affordable alternatives and telcos’ strategies. It will then look in detail at
two CEE ( Russia and the Czech Republic) and two WE (France and Germany) markets that
best describe the scenarios we propose.

Published monthly for each of the world’s most dynamic regions, Telecom Insiders are
packed with trend analysis, industry best practices, market sizing and forecasting,
competitor analysis, and case studies, providing you information you can leverage
to make better business decisions.

Go here to see the original:
Europe’s Five-Year IPTV Forecast: Mostly Cloudy, but Temperatures Slowly Rising

New Web shows are connecting with the online youth and young adult audience, via original and interactive formats that are supported and funded by global brands.

The UK is at the cutting edge of developing original cross-media productions that
encompass the Internet, mobile, television and even real-life events.

From the reality backpacking adventure of The Gap Year to the drama of launching a
record label in The Secret World Of Sam King, UK shows encompass major themes including
careers, relationships, travel, music, fashion and lifestyle trends.

UK Web Shows Now for the first time brings together emerging new business models,
key commercial and creative partnerships, and how young Web audiences are engaging
with characters, stories and sponsors in this dynamic medium.

• The first comprehensive research of British Internet comedy, drama and entertainment
  shows that are supported by broadcasters, social networks and sponsors

• Covers major commercial, creative and regulatory factors affecting the market

• Compare in-depth Web show profiles, with sponsorship, commissioner, producer, budget,
  interactive features, online broadcast schedule, background about the production process

• Analyse key data about commissioning, budgets, advertisers, investment, and production
  companies to incorporate Web show opportunities into your strategy

• See market growth and commissions for 2007 – 08 and production predictions for 2009

• Discover the trend for major brands to bypass broadcasters and distribute their own
  programmes directly via online media owners

Major advertisers include Canon, Ford, MSN, Nokia, O2, Orange, P&G, Pernod Ricard,
Sony Ericsson, Sony PSP, Toyota, Unilever, Universal Music, and many more.

Production companies and commissioners include All3Media, BBC3, BBC Switch, Bebo,
Channel 4, Endemol, Hammer Films, Hat Trick, ITV, MSN, MySpace, RDF Digital and Talkback
Thames.

The report is 150 pages (48,000 words) with color screenshots for all major programs.
As a PDF, it contains live links to Web show and production company sites. Click
here to view more details.

View original here:
Report: UK Web Shows Now