AV zombie

Sky now claims to have nine million subscribers. And according to new figures released by the satcaster, viewer churn is at a four year low at 10.5 per cent. Churn is the number one adversary of Pay TV operators. During its third quarter, BSkyB signed up 289,000 new customers, but after churn it was left with just 56,000 additional subscribers. The broadcaster has also revealed that it has 465,000 viewers for its Sky HD service and 3.4m for the Sky+ PVR.  The average annual revenue per viewer is 424 UK pounds.

After a string of romances, Hollywood now seems content to cement its marriage with Video On Demand. Market major Warner says it will release all of its US titles day and date on DVD and VOD from April 30, for the rest of the year. Superior margins on titles proffered for VOD prompted Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes to make the decision. He says: “We are using our position in the industry to lead this transition.” The strategy is expected to be rolled out to major territories outside the US in due course.

Sony has entered into a merger agreement with Gracenote, the online digital content and media service. Sony’s Tim Schaaff says: “We see tremendous growth potential in developing Gracenote as a separately run business unit, and by broadly embracing Gracenote’s platforms, Sony expects to significantly enhance and accelerate its own digital content, service and device initiatives.”

Copy protection giant Macrovision will acquire the original electronics TV listings company  Gemstar-TV Guide International on May 2. Macrovision arranged 650 million dollars in debt financing to finance the deal.
Macrovision has its routes in the original DRM system for VHS video tape movie releases. Gemstar has a comparable heritage, as the originator of VCR timer recording technology.

Tonight in London, LG will spoof media with the supposed launch of a new TV series from David Nutter, the director of Smallville and Supernatural, called Scarlet. But there is no TV show. The carefully stage event is actually part of an elaborate worldwide promotional campaign for its upcoming Scarlet TV range, flat-panel models with a distinctive red back panel.
Yesterday, the company ran its first TV show hoax premiere in New York. As a result, it managed to sucker A-List celebs such as Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan into attending its product launch, a stunt said to have angered some.
The involvement of David Nutter in the project is real though. “I had no hesitation in getting involved,” he said. Nutter went on to cast Natassia Malthe, as the title ‘character’ for the campaign.