News Round-Up

Here is a round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

• Digital video networking specialist, BigBand Networks, has announced its exhibit plans for next week's SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. The company says that it will "highlight advanced media processing technologies that leverage the existing network to monetize and deliver high-quality video services with an evolutionary roadmap to converged video delivery."
• Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (Etisalat), which recently acquired a 16.6% stake in SoftAtHome, has signed a multi-year white-label platform licensing deal with broadband video platform provider, Endavo Media. "Under the agreement," the companies say, "Etisalat will install Endavo's platform to support the roll-out of an IP-based over-the-top (OTT) video delivery infrastructure over its own Internet and wireless networks...[and] will market its video services to broadcasters and content producers across 17 countries, including all of the Middle East and part of North Africa."
• Rogers Communications-owned cable channel, OLN (features a range of outdoors-themed content, including reality, adventure, and travel programs, as well as sports coverage), has announced that it is making full episodes of many of its most popular shows available online at OLN.ca.
• OpenTV says that it has been informed by the NASDAQ stock market that it is not in compliance with the audit committee requirements set forth in NASDAQ Listing Rule 5605. "As previously disclosed," OpenTV explains, "Eric J. Tveter resigned as a member of the company's board of directors effective October 7, 2009, and as a result, the company no longer complies with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5605(c)(2)(A), which requires listed companies to maintain an audit committee comprised of at least three members, all of whom must be independent." The company has until at least April 5th to remedy the situation.
• Vevo, a YouTube-powered broadband TV service for music videos that is backed by Universal Music and Sony, has received a significant investment from Abu Dhabi Media Co. "Launching in the United States and Canada later this year with a further international roadmap to be announced, Vevo will be a premium destination and syndication network for the very best in top-notch music video content that will leverage the massive existing traffic of YouTube," the new service's press materials promise.
• YouTube has announced that it is providing live streaming coverage of rock band U2's upcoming concert from the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles (October 25th, starting at 8:30PM Pacific). The event will also feature a social TV element: viewers will be able to "join YouTube's global listening party via a Twitter gadget embedded on U2's YouTube channel," the company says. YouTube has also just announced the launch of a real-time comments search feature for its platform.
• More than 700 VOD services are now available in Europe, according to a new study, entitled "Video on Demand and Catch-Up Television in Europe," from the European Audiovisual Observatory and France's Direction du Developpement des Medias. The study is intended to provide a survey of the types of services that are required to be regulated under the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive (see the article published on itvt.com, September 14th). According to the study, "the United Kingdom had the most services (145), followed by France (106) and Italy (93)" and "more than half these services were delivered via the Internet, 30% on a DSL network (in the IPTV mode), 7% on cable and less than 3% by satellite."