TV Catchup had provided access to the commercial channels, as well as those belonging to the BBC as part of a 50-channel package, made available through the web, iPhones and games consoles.

Like Zattoo, which withdrew from the UK after a similar dispute, a short delay is made at every channel change to allow the company to insert its own advertisements.

Appearing on behalf of the claimants, James Mellor QC argued the transmissions could not be recognized as broadcasts under Section 6 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, but still met with Section 20 as it involved the communication of his clients’ broadcasts.

Anthony Boswood QC, defending, argued that rather than a broadcast of “one to many”, the online transmissions of TV Catch Up were actually “one to one”. He said that in order to meet with Section 20 the transmission had to comply with Section 6 in the first place.

Presiding, Justice Kitchin said Mr Boswood’s arguments were confusing the protected work and the restricted act of communication to the public by electronic transmission of all of those images, sounds and other information. He said that while Section 17 of the Act prohibited making a copy of the broadcast and Section 18 issuing copies of the broadcast to the public, there was no requirement that the copy itself must be a broadcast. Justice Kitchin said he was satisfied the claimants had a real prospect of success.

TV Catch Up will find out in detail at a full hearing in the New Year.

As of Monday night (November 29), TV Catch Up remained available, and although Broadband TV News had difficulties viewing ITV1, the company says no channels have been withdrawn. Indeed, as of last Tuesday ITV1 continued to be streamed by the site.

Last week the New York Southern District Court issued a temporary restraining order preventing the online video service FilmOn streaming programming from the major US networks. However, the site remains operational, including its UK version.

In a statement, Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO, said: “The loss of the W3B is a disappointment for Eutelsat and our customers. We share it with our partners, particularly Thales Alenia Space and the insurance community. We will now focus our attention on the delivery of the W3C satellite for entry into service at 16 degrees East by mid-next year and the implementation of a new satellite programme to compensate for this loss.”

The company said it is insured against the financial implications of the loss of satellite. Just 24 hours before the launch, Eutelsat closed a new insurance agreement for the next five launches.

“We know the nature of the anomaly, but we don’t know what caused the anomaly,” said De Rosen during a morning press briefing in Kourou on October 29. “What we know is that we have a significant leak in one of the two tanks. The leak is such that we cannot bring the satellite to its position to fulfil its mission. We are still receiving data from satellite, so we will now try to analyse the data.”

Eutelsat said the current three satellites that W3B was set to replace have enough lifetime left to continue the current services at 16 degrees East. The Eutelsat W3C satellite will launch in July 2011 and be placed at this location. De Rosen said it is working with the manufacturer to see if the building process can be speeded up, without giving up strict quality control.

Lifting off on time at 18.51 local time from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone in French Guiana, the Ariane 5 deployed the two craft during a flight lasting just under 38 minutes.

“With this evening’s success, we already have launched eight large telecommunications satellites since the beginning of 2010, which is more than all of our competitors combined,” said Jean-Yves Le Gall, Arianespace chairman & CEO.

The 5,370-kg W3B satellite for Eutelsat was deployed on the Ariane 5 flight 28 minutes into the mission.

Speaking in Kourou shortly after the launch, Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO, commented: “Tonight’s W3B launch opens a new chapter at our 16 degrees East location, which is already the chosen neighbourhood for over 400 television channels, making it one of our four fastest-growing video positions. The increased capacity and expanded coverage of our new satellite will enable Eutelsat to further raise quality of service and expand the offer provided from a position reaching into our core markets of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.”

Scheduled to enter service in December this year, W3B was to replace Eutelsat’s Eurobird 16, W2M and SESAT 1 satellites. Following the transfer to W3B of all existing traffic, each of the three satellites was to be redeployed to an alternative position.

The W3B had boasted up to 56 transponders, including three in the Ka-band. The satellite had a high-power footprint optimised for direct-to-home broadcasting in Central Europe. According to recent audience research conducted for Eutelsat there is already an installed base of 11.2 million satellite and cable homes in Central Europe receiving channels from 16 degrees East, making it one of the satellite market’s fastest-growing positions.

High-power coverage over Indian Ocean islands would also support expansion of pay-TV, which reaches into almost 400,000 homes, and accelerate digital switchover in Mauritius and Reunion Island.

To address the market for telecoms and data services, W3B would have initiated a new mission for sub-Saharan Africa, through coverage stretching from Senegal to South Africa and enabling connectivity with Europe. This new capacity would respond to high-growth applications including GSM backhaul and internet access for enterprises, public agencies and consumers.

The next Ariane 5 mission is set for November 25 with another heavy-lift launch, carrying the Intelsat 17 and HYLAS 1 satellites. It will be followed by one additional mission of this workhorse vehicle before the end of 2010.

However, in both research reports the outlook for connected TV sets is bright. The figures from DisplaySearch refer to the number of sets shipped, the figure from Park Associates is devices in the home.

The new research from Parks Associates indicates the number of European households with a connected TV will grow from less than 4 million in 2009 to 47 million in 2014. The number of households with a connected Blu-ray player will jump from 5 million in 2010 to approximately 66 million in 2014.

“Connectivity is becoming standard in CE products,” said Kurt Scherf, VP, principal analyst, Parks Associates, in a statement. “Stakeholders as diverse as managed service providers, content aggregators, and third-party application developers will play a role in how these devices link to services and allow the consumer to discover new ways to interact with entertainment.”

Despite the growth of the connected TV segment, no clear front-runner has emerged. DisplaySearch said that only around 10% of the connected TVs sold in Japan have joined a network so far, while expectations for North America have been scaled back as the TV market struggles in the region this year.

In Europe, Parks expects a growing role for hybrid devices. “The growth of hybrid set-top boxes, which offer broadcast and broadband/IPTV options, is a major trend in the European video market, especially as the continent is poised for full DTT switchover,” according to Scherf. “For example, DTT coverage in France reached 88% of the market by June 2009, and the full switchover will finish in 2011. Industry consortia in several nations are working on set-top standards to enable interactive TV services. Efforts include MHP, HbbTV, Project Canvas, OHTV, and Hybridcast.”

By contrast to the connected TV market, uptake of 3D TVs among consumers has been limited by high prices and lack of content. Displaysearch expects that 3.2 million 3D TVs will be shipped in 2010, with growth to over 90 million in 2014. Based on this forecast, 3D will grow from 2% of all flat panel TVs shipped in 2010, to 41% in 2014.

“While TV manufacturers have bold plans and a lot of new products, consumers remain cautious,” said Paul Gray, Director of TV Electronics Research. “Consumers have been told that 3D TV is the future, but there still remains a huge price jump and little 3D content to watch.”

The company forecasts that 3.2 million 3D TVs will be shipped in 2010, with growth to over 90 million in 2014. Based on this forecast, 3D will grow from 2% of all flat panel TVs shipped in 2010, to 41% in 2014. “While TV manufacturers have bold plans and a lot of new products, consumers remain cautious,” said Paul Gray, director of TV Electronics research. “Consumers have been told that 3DTV is the future, but there still remains a huge price jump and little 3D content to watch.”

The findings from this study confirm a report from Strategy Analytics on the attitudes of both the production sector and consumers towards the 3D format that painted an uncertain future. “North American consumers in particular appear to be playing a waiting game,” noted Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV Research. “Set makers have trained consumers to expect rapid price falls for new technology, and consumers seem happy to wait a little.” As a result, DisplaySearch forecasts that 3D shipments in North America will be just under 1.6 million this year.

The results also found that sales of 3D glasses in Western Europe remain low, with most countries failing to achieve 1:1 sales of glasses to sets. “This is particularly disappointing,” noted Gray, “A healthy level would be closer to two pairs of 3D glasses per TV, so it’s clear that these sets at best are being chosen for future-proofing, and at worst it’s an indication that consumers cannot buy a premium set without 3D.”

Nevertheless, 3D is a feature that set makers are determined to develop. 3D product choice is expanding fast with increased product launch plans and more set makers adding 3D. Rapidly expanding product offerings and 3D TV set prices have led DisplaySearch to increase its forecast for 3D in later years, with an anticipated 90 million sets being shipped in 2014.

“TV manufacturers strongly believe in 3D and are driving its cost downward, but its value to consumers relies strongly on the availability of quality material to watch,” Gray concluded.

Mobistar says it has developed a complete television solution combining multiple available technologies. Its hybrid television receiver gives access to satellite (via DVB-S), digital terrestrial (DVB-T) and IPTV television signals. Satellite offers HD quality (Full HD 1080) and 3D television experience and brings over 500 television and radio channels. The internet gives customers access to interactive services (EPG), content on demand (VOD) and “thanks to Mobistar TV’s intelligent platform” customers can watch, record and manage their favourite programmes both on their television or mobile devices.

The satellite portion of the offer, delivered from Astra at 19 degrees East, echoes a similar implementation by Vodafone Germany. Mobistar is working together with the two Belgian DTH platforms from the M7 Group, TV Vlaanderen and TéléSat. The telecom operator uses the Viaccess PC4.0 encryption.

“This innovative proposition combines the best of two worlds and will allow Mobistar to become a fully-fledged ‘quintuple play’ provider in the Belgian residential market,” said Benoit Scheen, CEO of Mobistar. “Mobistar TV allows us to provide optimal flexibility and choice to Belgian consumers and will be offered throughout the whole country via 160 dedicated Mobistar stores and the online shop.”

Mobistar is part of the France Telecom group and will use their Livebox to connect to the internet and to offer TV and radio to the television set. The Livebox 2.0 has wifi, is DNLA enabled and contains a 320 GB hard disk. The activation cost is €50.

In a letter to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Mockridge said most of the new frequencies made available by the country’s analogue switch-off should go to new entrants, possibly including foreign companies, which have both financial resources and ideas. He said the allocation of frequencies should be determined by independence, objectivity and transparency.

“In the field of pay-TV, Mediaset operates without any limitation, while Sky is subject to a long list of regulatory restrictions (if Sky get better results it is because consumers are free to choose our product in preference to that of Mediaset Premium),” he said.

The restrictions imposed on the Italian market had reduced freedom of choice and resulted in fewer jobs in the sector than the European norm.

Mockridge called for an end to legislation that he believed was designed to hinder Sky’s progress in the market, such as restrictions in the sale of advertising. He also said the link between Mediaset, RAI and the audience research body Auditel should be broken so that new entrants could rely on the available data.

Mediaset chairman Fedele Confalonieri responded robustly, saying: “We won’t take lessons in competition from a member of the world’s most dominant media groups.”

In June, the European Commission has accepted plans for Sky Italia to bid for digital terrestrial capacity, but on the pre-condition that it is restricted to free-to-air broadcasts until 2015.

The new platform will initially offer 14 channels from Sony, ProSiebenSat.1, RTL and MTV, but at least four additional channels are expected before year’s end. Subscription will cost €9.90 monthly, or €7.90 when viewers sign a 12-month contract. The new platform will be available on the Astra position at 19.2 degrees East. The plan is to also launch a dedicated HD bouquet during 2011.

Austriasat’s complete line-up will consist of AXN, Animax, kabeleins classics, Sat.1 Comedy, RTL Living, MTV Music, MTV Rocks, MTV Dance, MTV Hits, VH-1, KidsCo, Hustler TV, Marcel Dorcel TV and Alpenglühen (“so sexy ist die Heimat”). People with the Austriasat smart card will automatically have access to the Austrian free-to-view bouquet of ORF, ORF2, ATV, Puls TV and Austria 9 TV.

During 2011, Austriasat will launch an HD bouquet. “We want to be the largest HDTV provider by the middle of next year,” said Olaf Castritius, MD, M7, in a statement. “HDTV should be available to our customers ‘cheap and easy’, according to the price and sales philosophy of our company.” The platform’s goal is to reach 100,000 subscribers by December 2013.

The M7 Group is active with DTH platforms in The Netherlands (CanalDigitaal Satelliet), Belgium (TV Vlaanderen and TéléSat) and Luxemborug (TéléSat). ORS already operates the satellite services for ORF and is responsible for the smart card handling of their smart cards.

Ofcom published a consultation on March 31, 2010 in the light of the Pay-TV Review that lead to Wholesale Must Offer (WMO) obligations being placed on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2.

The Competition Commission will now look at whether the sale of rights to show movies from the major Hollywood studios in the first pay-TV subscription window in the UK and the wholesale supply of pay-TV packages including the core premium movie channels is in contravention of the Enterprise Act 2002.

Ofcom believes that the market areas represent distinct economic markets with a combination of features that keep consumer prices artificially high. These include the limited pool of genuine premium content from the Hollywood studios, the windowing system itself, and the bundling of SVOD (subscription video on demand) rights with those for premium linear channels.

For once we have a case of the regulator acting ahead of technology. BSkyB currently has no SVOD offer of the type practiced by HBO and Canal+. This is not surprising, given it currently has no television-based on demand service. But by purchasing rights it cannot immediately use, the regulator will want to know if the market is being distorted.

“We believe that we have reasonable grounds to suspect that the combination of these features prevents, restricts or distorts competition in these closely linked markets,” said an Ofcom statement. “In particular, the combination of the features identified creates a situation in which one player is enabled and incentivized to prevent, restrict and distort competition.”

Ofcom’s discussions with the studios indicated that a change in sales policies was unlikely, and it arguably faces a greater challenge than with sports rights, given that these are practices found across the world.

The Competition Commission could now seek to change the way in which movie rights are bought and sold. This could arguably affect UK cable’s major supplier of VOD content, the Disney-Sony owned FilmFlex, as well as Sky. It is within the powers of the Competition Commission to restrict the ability of firms to aggregate different types of rights or requirements to make the sale process more contestable.

It could also intervene to reduce Sky’s ability to act on incentives to exploit market power, by requiring it to provide wholesale access to linear and SVOD premium movie content on regulated terms as has been done with Sky Sports.

Such a move is likely to hasten the launch of a Sky VOD service that could take place in the autumn, once the satcaster’s Sky+ HD receivers are connected to the internet for the delivery of VOD content.

A spokeswoman for Discovery Communications Europe confirmed to Broadband TV News that the broadcaster had been issued with a licence, but said there was nothing further to announce.

Earlier this year, Discovery Communications, Sony and Imax announced plans to launch a 3D television network in the US. A launch is scheduled for early 2011.

The 24-hour network headed by Discovery executive VP and CEO Tom Cosgrove will screen a mix of natural history, space, exploration, engineering, science and technology programmes.

Should a European launch be forthcoming it would be the first third party channel to join the Sky platform after its own Sky 3D, which was recently given a consumer launch date of October 1.

In March, Sky reopened in launch queue to 3D and HD broadcasters. 3D channels will be required to broadcast no fewer than six hours of non-repeating programmes during a seven-day period. This compares to 12 hours for other TV and radio channels listed in its EPG. Sky says the minimum may be increased as additional 3D content becomes available.

Growth of 10% in its US networks and 15% internationally helped Discovery Communications grow revenues by $98 million (€74 million) to $963 million. Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) grew 18% to $455 million.

In a statement the BAI reiterated its disappointment that none of the three applicants to the 2008 licensing process had been able to bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion.

The Authority and its predecessors have been battered by the failure of successive commercial operations, including consortia led by Teracom (Boxer) and telco Eircom, to take up licence offers.

Public broadcaster RTE is now pressing ahead with plans for a two-multiplex system, covering 98% of the country, and expected to be on-air this autumn.

A review of the circumstances surrounding the failure saw all three applicants highlight the economic circumstances facing Ireland and made particular reference to the role of RTÉNL.

The Authority said that in order for a future commercial launch to proceed it would be necessary for it to engage formally with transmission services provider and to exercise a statutory mediation process in the event of disagreement on the terms of the transmission arrangements between RTÉNL and any future successful applicant.

A review of when commercial services might launch will be taken in 2011 with the possibility that the Authority might then invite expressions of interest. This means a competition could be held during 2012, with a view to a commercial multiplex going on air during 2013.