The Disney+ online service signed up 10 million users within a day of launch in the United States and Canada, despite reports of some initial glitches. The company is aiming for between 60 and 90 million subscribers within five years, which seems credible in comparison to Netflix, which has approaching 160 million.
Read more…

A new specification promises to bring together the presentation of television services delivered over broadcast and broadband. The DVB-I specification has been published by the DVB Project as BlueBook A177, following approval by the DVB steering board in Geneva.
Read more…

Virgin Media lost 57,100 video subscribers in the United Kingdom in the third quarter of 2019, reducing its total to 3.77 million. It is the fourth consecutive quarterly video subscriber loss, contributing to a decline of 136,400 subscribers over 12 months, wiping out incremental gains over the previous 6 quarters. The company still has around the same number of cable television customers that it had a decade ago. Could a mobile deal with Vodafone indicate the future direction of Virgin Media?
Read more…

Sky and the BBC have agreed a new partnership to collaborate across programming and technology. As a result, the BBC iPlayer app and connected red-button service will be available on Sky Q, offering Sky subscribers the full BBC iPlayer and red-button experience. Customers will be able to access this by pressing the red button when watching a BBC channel, as well as the existing integrated catch-up service available through Sky Q.
Read more…

The top 10 television services for the United States in the informitv Multiscreen Index lost 1.67 million subscribers between them in the third quarter of 2019, falling to a total of 78.73 million, or just under two thirds of the market. AT&T was the biggest loser, accounting for 1.36 million of the net television subscriber losses. It is the worst quarter seen so far for television subscriber losses in the United States, following a record loss of 1.41 million the previous quarter.
Read more…

BritBox, the online video venture led by commercial broadcaster ITV, has launched in the United Kingdom, claiming to offer the biggest collection of British box sets, including classic episodes of Doctor Who, originally broadcast between 1963 and 1989. The BBC is a minority shareholder in the venture. A deal with Channel 4 will bring 1,000 hours of programmes from All 4, but not until Spring 2020. Some Channel 5 programmes will also be available.
Read more…