DVB-T2 pilot in Barcelona
Abertis Telecom has begun testing DVB-T2 broadcasting in the area of Barcelona for a period of six months.
The tests are part of the European project ENGINES (Enabling Next Generation for Broadcast Services), developed under the initiative Celtic Plus, part of Eureka, a pan-European project created in 1985.
The pilot will assess the performance of the new standard in terms of the overlap of two transmitters using the different variants of the system in real live conditions.
Two transmitters have been installed in the Abertis Telecom Tower (Torre Collserola in Barcelona) for the tests and a third transmitter at the corporate headquarters of the operator in Parc Logístic.
The main area of research is the transmission of services for fixed and mobile reception (tablets, smartphones, laptops), on the same DVB-T2 multiplex at the same time.
Also, the pilot will look into creating single frequency networks of wide geographical coverage, with high protection from interference.
An evaluation of the standard for mobile service known as DVB-T2 Lite will in also be carried out. One of its uses could be for the reception of services in high-speed trains.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 28th November 2011



Digital migration plan agreed
The Socialist government approved the frequency plan for the period between July 2012 and 31 December 2014 in its last cabinet meeting.
The plan puts in place the migration of DTT services using the 790-862 MHz band to frequencies below 790 MHz.
To help finance the migration of the DTT services, the government has set aside a budget of €800 million which will be raised from the auction of the 790-862 MHz frequencies which
have been allocated for the provision of mobile broadband services.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 28th November 2011 



New DTT channel
Spanish broadcaster Unidad Editorial (UE) and Discovery Networks International have announced an agreement to launch a new free-to-air DTT channel in Spain during January 2012.
The new channel will be a factual entertainment channel which is complementary to Discovery’s established portfolio of pay-TV channel brands.
As well as content from Discovery’s portfolio of channels around the world, the new channel, which is yet to be named, will also offer news and current affairs programming, in prime time, created by Unidad Editorial.
In Italy, Discovery broadcasts the female skewed Real Time channel free to air on DTT and on DTH.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 19th September 2011 



DTT dominates in France, Italy and Spain
A recent DTT market released by NPA Conseil, has found that digital terrestrial television dominates the market in France, Italy and Spain.
In these countries, DTT has a coverage rate of 90%, 81% and 98% respectively and has a penetration rate of 62% in France, 71% in Italy and 79% in Spain.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 13th September 2011 



TVE makes first nationwide 3DTV tests
Spanish national public broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) made its first 3DTV test transmissions on a nationwide level on the 1st August.
The test transmission was planned to start with a music concert broadcast without encryption and viewers needed to use 3D glasses. As well as having a 3DTV test channel the public broadcaster is also testing some 'Connected TV' services and is planning to launch a multi-channel television project.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 8th August 2011 



Pay-DTT subs up
Subscriptions for Spain’s Pay-DTT TV service had grown 5.5% year on year by Q1 2011. In total there were 366,812 subscribers to the Pay-DTT offering. However DTT currently only has a small share of this market which is dominated by satellite and cable with 1,785,905 and 1,376,364 subscribers respectively. IPTV stands at 866,360 up 1.4% from last year.
In total (including TV to mobile) the Pay-TV market subs reached 5,033,781 by the end of the Q1 2011 measuring period.
Sources: Advanced Television and Telecompaper
Item added: 1st August 2011


Spectrum tender raises  €1.65 million
The Spanish Ministry of Industry has raised €1.65 million from its mobile spectrum tender which was completed on the 30th July. This was below the €2 billion which was expected. Tender winners include Telefonica, Vodafone, Orange, as well as regional operators Ono, Jazztel, Euskaltel, R, Telecable and Telecom Castilla La Mancha.
The largest operators, Movistar, Vodafone and Orange, will contribute 98.5 percent of the overall amount, or EUR 1.62 billion.
The auctioned spectrum was freed up as a result of the GSM frequency rearrangement and the analogue broadcasting switch-off (digital dividend).
Source: Telecompaper
Item added: 1st August 2011 



Mobile spectrum and “Digital Dividend” gets 11 bidders
Eleven operators have placed their bids in the tender for 270 MHz of spectrum in Spain. The bidders include Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange, Ono, Jazztel, Telecom Castilla la Mancha, R, Telecable de Asturias, Opnatel and Cota.
Spain is auctioning 58 blocks in the 800 MHz (Digital Dividend), 900 MHz and 2.6 GHz frequency bands.
The auction aims to promote new investments in wireless access networks, increase mobile broadband services coverage especially in rural and remote areas to reduce the "digital divide" and encourage innovation and competition in the sector. The tender winner is expected to be announced on or around the 30th June.
Source: Telecompaper
Item added: 20th June 2011 



Concert broadcast in 3D on DVB-T2 DTT platform
Spanish-Catalan public broadcaster TV3 is to show Spain’s first ever live concert 3D with the "5" event from the Northern city of Zaragoza reports Rapid TV News.
The 3D concert will use the latest generation 3D equipment which will allow the event to be offered live via satellite and also on the DTT network with the standard DVB-T2.
The event will also be transmitted in other formats, HDTV and active 3D, the 3D format of highest quality.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 9th June 2011 



Euronews launches on DTT platform
The continuous new service Euronews has changed its provider on the countries free to view DTT platform.
The service is now distributed by Grupo Vocento's La 10 and will be broadcast three times a day for one and a half hours in total.
Previously, Euronews had been available on the DTT platform using capacity from the public service broadcaster RTVE but the change is said to allow an additional 17 million Spanish households to gain access to it.
Source: Digital TV Europe.net
Item added: 9th May 2011 



Digital Dividend to be auctioned
The Spanish government has approved a Royal decree that will allow 310MHz of spectrum to be auctioned for wireless broadband services.
The 310MHz includes the “digital dividend” TV spectrum between 790-862MHz which will become available at the end of 2014 following the completion of analogue TV switch off.
The money raised by the auction will be used to fund the move of DTT services already operating in the “800MHz” band to new frequencies.
The auction of the licences for the 310MHz of spectrum is expected to take place this summer.
Successful bidders will be obliged to provide broadband services with speeds of at least 30Mbits/s to 90% of the population in cities with less than 5000 residents by the 1st January 2020. The licences will be valid until 2030.
Source: Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce thanks to DigiTAG
Item added: 3rd May 2011 



Pay-DTT subs grow
Subscriber numbers for pay-DTT in Spain have increased from 153,151 subscribers in 2009 to 347,662 in 2010, a 127% growth.
Cable increased subs 3.23 per cent to 1,321,450; IPTV was up 6.98 per cent from 798,642 to 854,466 and satellite was down 3.96 per cent to 1,772,856 subscribers.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 11th April 2011  



Hybrid STB to boost HDTV take-up
The Spanish Palco HD TV consortium, lead by Hispasat, has unveiled its plans for a combo satellite and terrestrial receiver which aims to promote HD television in the country, reports Broadband TV News.
The consortium consists of Hispasat, CRTVE, TV3, Telefonica Audiovisual Services, Ericsson, Gsertel, Promax, Televes, the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the National Federation of Telecommunications Installers (FENITEL).
Hispasat is a distributor of HD channels and currently broadcasts 35 HD as well as two 3D channels on its satellite platform.
Hipasat leads the Palco HD2 project whose main objective is to continue with the validation process and development of the technologies applied in HD enabling commercial development of HD services in Spain.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 28th March 2012  



DTT channels distributed on Hispasat 1E
Abertis Telecom, Spain’s leading TV signal distributor is using three transponders on the Hispasat 1E satellite to send DTT network signals to TV stations around the country. Up to 11 channels will be sent via the satellite.
The Hispasat 1E satellite was successfully launched at the beginning of 2011 and is Hispasat's most powerful satellite. It transmits to both Europe and America. The new satellite has the capacity to transmit up to 600 HDTV channels and will also deliver 3DTV signals.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 21st March 2011  



DTT good for advertisers
The appeal of Spanish thematic channels to attract audiences on DTT has increased the expectations of networks such as Grupo Planeta's Antena 3 and Mediaset's Telecinco to tap a seam of advertising, reports Rapid TV News.
Media analysts are recommending that advertisers pay more attention to the two media groups saying that they have good prospects with expected growth of around 12%.
One of the key factors for these recommendations is the improvement of the Spanish TV advertising market which by the end of January 2011 showed a year on year growth of 5%, compared to a 4.5% growth during the same period in 2010.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 28th February 2011  



Royal decree defines HDTV
The government has approved new legislation for the DTT platform which both defines HDTV and removes the previous limitation that broadcasters could only transmit two DTT services in each multiplex. Instead, the capacity of each multiplex will be shared allowing broadcasters to increase the number of services provided.
In future broadcasters will be required to inform viewers when a programme is shown in high-definition. HDTV is defined as programmes with at least 720 active lines in a 16:9 format at the time of production. This is to avoid the quality confusion of viewers who have already been fed up-scaled SDTV labelled as HDTV.
Main source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 21st February 2011



TV Spectrum tender in Q2
The government plans to auction the frequency bands freed after the introduction of DTT services in Q2, 2011 and expects to raise between EUR 1.5 and 2 billion from the sale.
The news was released by the Spanish minister of industry, tourism and commerce, Miguel Sebastian, at the inauguration of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. As well as the spectrum freed by the introduction of DTT, the additional re-arrangement of GSM frequencies brings the total spectrum available for auction to 310 MHz, according to Telecompaper.
Around 10 percent of this spectrum will be awarded by a beauty contest, while 90 percent will be auctioned to the highest bidder.
Source: Telecompaper
Item added: 21st February 2011   



Broadcasters to label HD content
The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce is preparing legislation that will oblige broadcasters to label their content, reports Rapid TV News. This is in order to help viewers clearly distinguish between high-definition and standard-definition television services.
Currently, several national (TVE, Antena 3, Telecinco, laSexta) and regional broadcasters (TV3, Aragón 2, Canal 9, 7RM, Telemadrid, Canal Sur, TPA, TV Canarias) provide HD services on the DTT platform. However, not all programmes are in high-definition.
Some content is standard-definition while other content is up-converted from standard-definition. The public service broadcaster TVE uses native HD content.
Source: Rapid TV News
See more on this subject: Advanced Television
Item added: 6th December 2010  



Canal 13 TV launches on Spanish DTT
A new general interest digital terrestrial channel Canal 13 TV will launch as a free-to-air service on the multiplex from Unidad Editorial later this month, reports Broadband TV News. The channel aims to support “traditional family values” and will include a daily mass.
The catholic broadcaster Cadena COPE will also take a 10% share in the new channel alongside a group of investors.
Canal 13 TV is part of the Veo Television owned by Unidad Editorial, which also comprises FTA channels Veo TV, Marca TV and the pay-TV channel AXN.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 8th November 2010



Spain completes national DTT line up
The launch of the latest two La Sexta’s channels, La Sexta 3 and La Sexta HD, has completed the picture for nationwide DTT channels across Spain.
33 DTT channels (30 FTA and 3 pay TV) are now available across the country reports Advanced Television.
Over the last few months, DTT channels like Nitro, Boing, La 10 or MTV have become part of the DTT platform on a national scale. Pubcaster RTVE currently has six DTT channels (La 1, La 2, Clan, Teledeporte, 24 horas and TVE HD), followed by Antena 3 with 5 (A3, Nova, Nitro, Neox and Antena 3HD), Tele 5 with 5 (Tele 5, FDF, La Siete, Boing and Telecinco HD), La Sexta with 5 (La Sexta, Gol TV, La Sexta 2, La Sexta 3 and La Sexta HD), Cuatro with 4 (Cuatro, CNN +, Canal Club and C+2), Net TV with four (Intereconomia, MTV, Disney Channel and La 10) and Unidad Editorial, with 4 (Veo 7, Marca TV, AXN and La Tienda en Veo).
To help HDTV’s nationwide acceptance the Government recently approved new legislation forcing electronic manufacturers to equip. TV sets of over 21 inches with HDTV. At present only 10 per cent of all TV sets are HD ready, around 3 million.
Source: Advanced Television
Item added: 8th November 2010  



Telemadrid launches DTT HD service
Telemadrid, the Spanish regional broadcaster, has started an HD broadcast service on the DTT platform. It began testing the technology in February by broadcasting the Champions League’s matches as well as the BBVA football league. In future the company intends to adapt progressively to all HDTV programming.
Other regional broadcasters providing HD/DTT services include Televisión de Cataluña (TVC), TV Aragón, and Canal Sur in Andalucia.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 1st November 2010  



Pay-TV subscribers in Spain reach 4.5 million
At the end of the second quarter of 2010, Pay-DTT subscribers in Spain reached 190,000.
Satellite delivered PayTV is still the most popular platform with 1,784,843 subs., followed by Cable at 1,306,177 and IPTV at 831,043.
The figures were published by Spain’s Telecommunications Market Commission (Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones – CMT) and give the total number of Pay-TV subscribers as 4,538,198.
Source: digitaltvnews.net and Informe Trimestral IIT2010
Item added: 18th October 2010  



Vodafone to launch hybrid DTT/IPTV in Spain
Vodafone is to launch a hybrid TV service called Vodafone Internet TV in Spain before the end of 2010. A hybrid STB will receive DVB-T channels, both free-to-air and pay-TV, as well as a number of IPTV delivered services including VOD.
The hybrid box, developed by French company WyPlay, will also allow access to internet on the TV, including on-demand and streaming sites, and will give access to locally stored content, such as videos, photos and music. The box is “PVR ready”, allowing recordings to be made to a USB device, and includes DNLA, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity and is also ready for both HD and 3D content
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 11th October 2010  



DTT tuners in over 50% of TV sets
Integrated DTT tuners are in 51.1% of Spanish TV sets according to a recent report from Statistics National Institute (INE) of Spain. This is a 7.1% increase on 2009.
In total 86.8% of homes have DTT reception The report also confirms that TV coverage is available to 99.5% of Spanish homes.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 4th October 2010


TVE HD coverage at 84%
Radio Televisión Espanola RTVE, Spain’s national public broadcaster, has extended the coverage of its DTT HD transmissions to 84% of the population in 50 provinces. In total some 37.5 million people have access to DTT HD with suitable receivers.
By February 2011 RTVE expect the channel to reach 90% of the population increasing to 96% by May 2011 and 98% in 2015. According to the Association of the Information Technology and Communication Companies, there are already 4 million TV sets suitable for HD reception in Spain.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 4th October 2010  


La Sexta tests second HD channel
Mediapro's laSexta has started test transmission of a second HD channel throughout Spain reports Rapid TV News.
This second channel is currently called la Sexta 2 and there is also another test channel called la Sexta 3. Both will be broadcast through the MPE1 network. The other national broadcaster testing HDTV images on DTT is public broadcaster RTVE.
Additionally, laSexta is to broadcast in HD the next worldwide basket championship at the end of this month. This championship will be offered in 16:9 for the first time in sports history and it will also be the first sports championship in being offered in HDTV.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 31st August 2010


ID-reliant public service on DTT
Rapid TV News reports that the Spanish public telecommunications company Indra has developed an advanced platform allowing access to public services via digital-terrestrial TV. The system was specifically developed for the Castilian capital of Segovia. Users insert their digital ID document in a slot in their DTT set-top box to access the public services of the Segovia's town hall. The project is being tested on 1,100 users.
The set top box must be MHP compliant, MHP being the official interactive DTT standard approved in Europe and Spain for interactive television.
Segovia is the first Spanish capital to test this application but the project may be extended to other cities of the central region of Castilla and León since the applications can be personalized, according to the newspaper "Cinco Días".
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 31st August 2010  



MTV now available on free to air DTT
Although MTV has been available in the country via satellite for the last 15 years the completion of the DTT network , with its full country coverage, has made DTT a much more commercially viable means of distribution than before. As a result MTV has recently begun on-air tests on the countries free to air DTT platform.
MTV will start regular transmissions on the DTT network next month using the programming which has only been available on Spanish pay-TV networks in the past.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 21st August 2010



Spain introduces new regional DTT channels
Spain's Northern region of Cantabria has allocated licences for the broadcast of local DTT channels, reports Rapid TV News.
The region has been divided in to nine DTT areas and nine companies bid for the licences but only seven companies were successful.
The original DTT licence allocation was delayed because the regional government considered the first bid to be closed since none of the companies who bid were considered economically stable. The government now seems to believe that the new bidders will succeed and as a result Cantabria’s population will soon receive five new DTT local channels.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 21st August 2010  



Pay-DTT subscribers reach 5%
The subscriber base of the Spanish pay-DTT sector has reached 5% after one year of operation.
So far two pay-DTT channels have been launched. These are Mediapro's Gol TV and Sony Entertainment Television's AXN.
A third pay-DTT channel, Sogecable’s Canal Plus2 is also likely to be offered later in the year.
Other Free to view channels are set to launch on the DTT platform. These are Antena 3’s channel Nitro and Mediaset's Telecinco channel Boing. La Sexta says that it will also be launching a new channel in October called Q Digital.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 16th August 2010  



TVE HD increases coverage
Radio Televisión Española RTVE, Spain’s national public broadcaster, has extended the coverage of its DTT HD transmissions to 28 million people, 63% of the population.
The signal is now receivable in forty provinces, among them Valencia, Alicante, Guipúzcoa, Tarragona, Santander, Cáceres, Badajoz or Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, apart from Ceuta and Melilla. These provinces have recently been added to those of Madrid, Barcelona, Zamora, A Coruña, Zaragoza and Valladolid which have been getting the HD signal progressively since the start of DTT HD in Madrid in May 2010.
By the beginning of 2011 coverage is expected to have increased to 90% of the Spanish population.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 9th August 2010



More DTT channels to launch
El Pais reports that the release of additional DTT spectrum by the government last month, to national broadcasters will allow them to transmit up to four more DTT channels, according to Broadband TV News.
Antena 3 has already announced a new channel named Nitro and aimed at a male audience, along with NeoX and Nova, targeting kids and female viewers respectively.
Telecinco has meanwhile taken the first steps to launch Boing, a channel aimed at children and young viewers
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 9th August 2010  



Public tax mooted to finance Spain's RTVE
Angel García Castillejo, lead member of Spain’s Telecommunications Market Commission, has given support to The European Commission’s initial rejection of Spain’s law to finance national public broadcaster RTVE by means of a tax on telcos, reports Rapid TV News.
García Castillejo is backing a public tax to finance the public broadcaster such as it happens in the UK with the BBC’s licence fee. “The moment has arrived for the citizens to account for the financing of the public broadcasters,” he told a conference organised by the association for telcos and electronic industries ASIMELEC.
To see the full article click on the following source link.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 26th July 2010  




Government wants “digital dividend” sale sooner
Spain’s government wants to accelerate the ASO process so that the “digital dividend” sale can be brought forward by two years, according to Rapid TV News.
Bids to allocate the mobile spectrum will be made in the first half of next year but under current plans, these frequencies would not be ready until 2015 because they are still being used by the broadcasters.
The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce wants to have the frequencies ready for sale in 2013, a process encouraged by the mobile operators who want to have the spectrum at their disposal as soon as possible.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 12th July 2010  



Government to pay Digital Dividend cost
The Spanish government has agreed to pay the costs of broadcasters who have to move to new frequencies as a consequence of clearing the 'digital dividend' band.
The 'digital dividend' is an agreement of the European Union (EU) by which from the 1st January , 2015 part of the frequencies now being occupied by the former analogue broadcasters will be able to be occupied by other services such as mobile broadband.
According to Rapid TV News the business value of the ‘digital dividend’ will amount to between €150,000 million and €200,000 million in the EU and between €12,000 and €16,000 million in Spain alone. Provided this process is undertaken in the whole of the EU the business value could amount to up to €40,000 million extra.
Source: Rapid TV News 2010
Item added: 5th July 2010  



DTT frequency changes to release Digital Dividend
Some DTT frequencies in Spain are set to change before the 1st January 2010 to enable the release of the so called “Digital Dividend” for Broadband and Internet services.
During the change there will be a simulcast period so that viewers have time to retune their receivers/STB’s.
Spain and Portugal are also working on a frequency plan, before the change, so that they can avoid mutual interference in border areas.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 21st June 2010  



Royal Degree approves HDTV rules
The government in Spain approved the Royal Decree regulating HDTV on the DTT network on the 28th May.
The DTT HD service will use MPEG-4, H.264 compression but could use other systems in the future provided they are at least as efficient as the one initially chosen. New consumer protection rules will also come in to force within six months such that all TV’s over 21 inches must be capable of HDTV reception before they can be sold.
Companies already assigned a DTT multiplex will be allowed to broadcast HDTV services as long as they broadcast the number of digital channels specified in their licence. If a multiplex is shared by other broadcasters then any one of them will be allowed to provide HDTV services as long as the other users agree.
Conflicts, if they arise, will be resolved by the Telecommunications Market Commission, the official association regulating this market and that of telecommunications'.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 24th May 2010  



MTV to be free to air on DTT platform
MTV Spain has announced that it will make its service available Free To Air (FTA) on the DTT platform in the next few months.
The service will be available on a new multiplex allocated to media group Vocento which already provides the Disney Channel, FTA and plans to offer DTT services with regional content by the end of the summer.
The Rapid TV article goes on to give details of further expected launches on the DTT platforms from other broadcasters. These are TVE HD, TeleDeporte HD and Cultural es from RTVE. Telecino is also planning to launch LaOcho which may be in HD and Antenna3 an additional DTT service.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 17th May 2010



Strong growth for DTT platform
The Web’s Rapid TV news site reports that a study published by Barlovento Comunicación, says that viewers on the DTT platform increased by 10.6 % following the completion of analogue switch-off in early April.
The new television programme services on the DTT platform demonstrated strong growth in audience share.
The DTT platform makes up 78.1% of television viewing with cable at 15.3% and satellite, 5.8%.
Cable viewer numbers dropped by 1% and satellite viewers increased by 3% during the past month.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 10th May 2010  




RTVE begins HD DTT roll-out
Public service broadcaster RTVE has begun broadcasting HD programming in Madrid using channel 55, the channel which was previously occupied by La2.
The regions of Barcelona and Valencia will be the next to launch the HD channel, TVE HD, as part of the channels nationwide rollout.
In the final Spanish DTT plan, RTVE has been allocated two nationwide multiplexes.
RTVE also plans to offer its cultural service Cultural.es in standard-definition along side its HD service.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 3rd May 2010  



Pay-DTT platforms unite
Prisa and Mediapro have reached an agreement to operate a single Pay-DTT platform which will allow a single receiver with Nagravision conditional access to be used by all players.
According to Broadband TV News, an article in “Business daily Expansión” says that the two companies, which have fought a series of battles over access to premium sports content, will join together with the transmission company Albertis. Under the terms of the agreement, Prisa will sell capacity for two DTT channels to Mediapro in return for a stake in the new group. Prisa’s Sogecable subsidiary will handle subscriber management for the platform.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 30th April 2010  



89.3% access DTT platform
According to the April ImpulsaTDT bulletin, 89.3% of households were accessing DTT services by the end of March, an increase of 5.7% compared with the previous month. By the end of February over 31 million DTT receivers had been sold since the re-launch of DTT in November 2005.
DTT coverage is now 98.79% for the public service broadcasters and 98.36% for the commercial broadcasters.
Source: ImpulsaTDT
Item added: 18th April 2010  



More HD trials on DTT
Spain has started two new HD DTT trials.
The trials are taking place in Madrid, and Barcelona.
Four channels are being transmitted, Canal+ HD, Telecinco HD, Go TV and public broadcaster TVE.
New licences are expected to be issued this June.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 12th April 2010



Royal Decree approves use of the digital dividend
A royal decree detailing the conditions for the allocation of multiple different operators and the reserve of the "digital dividend" has been approved by the Cabinet. The need for the changes has been determined by the European Union's plan for occupying the frequency band from 790 to 862 megahertz (radio frequency channels 61 to 69) by mobile/broadband services.
As a result, the private TV stations have to vacate the frequencies they now occupy. This will be done in two phases. In the first phase, from June 2010 until March 2011, broadcasters will be allowed to use these frequencies but for a limited number of services (no more than four). In the second phase, to take place before 2015, broadcasters will no longer be able to use these frequencies.
In addition, national commercial broadcasters (Antena 3, Telecinco, Sogecable, La Sexta, Net TV, and Veo TV) will each be allocated a full DTT multiplex while the public service broadcaster RTVE will be allocated two DTT multiplexes.
Source: El Pais
Item added: 6th April 2010



Spain achieves analogue switch off
On the 2nd April 2010, Spain officially completed the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting with the switch of off all remaining analogue transmissions. This means that the country’s 46 million inhabitants can only receive digital terrestrial TV services from now on.
According to the Association of Electronic and Telecommunications Industry (ASIMELEC) the DTT process "has been a success". The association's latest figures for DTT signal coverage stand at 98.13% of the population, and as at February 83.6% of the country's homes were already connected to the new television signals.
Some small areas of the regions of Asturias, Castilla y León, Galicia and the Canary Islands are still without adequate coverage due to their difficult landscape.
There are eight public and 24 private channels on a national level.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 6th April 2010  



ASO completes on 2nd April
Analogue switch off in Spain has been completed in the regions of Navarra and Baleares and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Switch off will continue progressively during March and end on the 2nd April with the cessation of all analogue transmissions in Asturias, Castilla y Leon, Galicia and Islas Canarias.
Source: Impulsa TDT March 2010 newsletter
Item added: 22nd March 2010  



3D trial on HD DTT in Seville
A DTT 3D transmission took place in Seville on the 9th March during the Pro TDT Congresso which was hosted by the consumer electronic association Asimelec.
The transmission was broadcast by Abertis and viewed on receivers provided by Panasonic, Samsung and Sony as well as set-top boxes from Gigaset.
Main source: El Pais
Item added: 15th March 2010


DTT penetration 83.6%
In Spain DTT penetration has now reached 83.6% according to the March Impulsa TDT newsletter and the DTT viewing audience share has reached 59.7%.
Aragon and Balneares have the highest DTT penetration at 88.9% and 88.8% respectively closely followed by Catalunya at 88.3%.
In total since the re-launch of DTT in 2005, 27.2 million DTT receivers have been sold.
From Feb09 to Jan10 10.8 million DTT receivers were sold with sales of 1.6 million in January10 alone.
DTT coverage has reached 98.5% for the public service multiplex from RTVE and 97.7% for the four multiplexes allocated to commercial broadcasters.
Analogue switch of is planned for completion on the 30th March although some sources say that this might slip until the 2nd April.
Main source: Impulsa TDT news letter
Item added: 15th March 2010


RTVA trials DTT HD in Seville
The Andalucian public service broadcaster RTVA began an HD DTT trial service on the 26th February in Seville and this will be extended to the full region by the 20th March.
HD services are also being trialled in Aragon (Aragón TV HD), Catalunya (TV3 HD), Madrid (Telemadrid HD), Murcia (7 HD), and Valencia (Canal 9 HD) as well as by the national public service broadcaster, RTVE in the city of Valladolid.
Source: Europa Press
Item added: 8th March 2010  



Abertis validates Irdeto CAS for DTT
Irdeto's conditional access system (CAS) has been validated for use on TDT Premium, the pay-DTT platform operated by broadcast network operator Abertis.
This now gives Spanish TV operators a choice of downloadable CA systems over the Abertis network, offering them a secure, flexible and robust content protection solution for digital terrestrial TV services
Source: Irdeto press release
Item added: 1st March 2010



Royal decree for HD on DTT
The Spanish government is in the process of preparing a Royal Decree to allow for the introduction of HD services on the DTT platform according to a report in El Pais.
The draft Royal Decree defines the technical requirements for the transmission of HD services on the DTT platform and requires manufacturers to include an HD-tuner in all iDTVs sized 21" or larger. It also requires broadcasters to obtain a licence from government for authority to transmit HDTV services.
Before it becomes official the Royal decree must be passed to the Advisory Council for Telecommunications and the Information Society (CATSI) for its opinion and then to the Consejo de Estado for approval.
HD/DTT services could begin once the analogue switch-off is completed on the 30th March 2010.
Source: El Pais
Item added: 1st March 2010


DVB-SH network deployed
Abertis Telecom deployed a DVB-SH hybrid terrestrial-satellite mobile TV network in Spain as part of the Mobile World Congress 2010 which took place in Barcelona last week.
The trial ran a DVB-SH solution using both terrestrial and satellite delivered signals and was undertaken in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the country's Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce.
The system deployed by Abertis Telecom includes its broadcasting TV installations in Torre Collserola in Barcelona as well as capacity from the Eutelsat satellite system. In addition several transmitters were installed in the city for the Congress. The intention was to provide service coverage to users and exhibiting companies inside and outside the Congress’s exhibition pavilions.
Sources: Rapid TV News and Solaris Mobile
Item added: 22nd February 2010



DTT Platform frequency assignments
Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce is working on the preparation of an official decree in order to assign broadcasters complete digital terrestrial multiplexes after ASO on the 3rd April, reports Rapid TV News.
The Technical Plan covering DTT after ASO requires that RTVE has two multiplexes while private broadcasters have access to a complete multiplex with four channels. In addition every autonomous region will have two multiplexes as well as a local multiplex.
Main source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 22nd February 2010  



DTT penetration 80%
Impulsa TDT reported in the February newsletter that DTT penetration reached 80.8% of households by the end of January 2010.
Penetration was highest in Aragon where it reached 88% closely followed by
Catalunya with 86%. DTT services are available to 98.35% of the population.
December 2009 was the best month for DTT sales with 1.36 Million receivers sold during the month.
Analogue switch-off has now been confirmed by the Government as taking place on the 30th March 2010.
The last and third phase of the analogue switch off begins on the 10th March and will affect 30 million people including those in Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona.
Source: Impulsa TDT newsletter
Item added: 15th February 2010  




RTVE to launch HD on DTT
The Spanish public service broadcaster RTVE plans to launch an HD service called TVEHD on its second multiplex. The multiplex will have a coverage of 90% and be deployed nationwide by the time of ASO* on the 3rd April 2010.
TVEHD is already available in Valladolid.
*News from other sources indicates that the ASO date may be brought forward a few days and that this is being considered by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce in discussions with broadcasters. The plan calls for ASO to be completed by the 30th March so that it will not clash with the Easter weekend holiday.
Main Sources: Broadband TV News and Rapid TV News
Item added: 8th February 2010  



FENITEL encourages prompt conversion orders
The National Federation of Telecommunication Installers (FENITEL) are warning the owners of housing units with collective antennas not to wait until the last moment to ask for their antennas and distribution systems to be converted for digital operation. They say that if customers leave conversion until the last month it will be difficult for antenna installers to manage the anticipated workload. According to reports the problem is greatest in Barcelona and Madrid.
Despite issuing the warning the number of collective antenna systems is already said to be high.
Analogue switch off takes place on the 3rd April 2010.
Source: Rapid TV News
Added: 1st February 2010  




DTT penetration 77.4%
Figures in the January newsletter from Impulsa TDT give the DTT penetration in Spain as 77.4% at the end of December.
DTT penetration was greatest in the Canary Islands and Aragon where it exceeded 85% of households.
At the end of November the total number of receiving equipments sold since the start of DTT had reached 24.2 million, increasing by 785,000 in November alone.
At the end of 2009, regional DTT coverage reached 98.11 % of the population and national SFN coverage 97.2%.
Source: Impulsa TDT January newsletter
Item added: 18th January 2010  



More than 6.5 million on DTT
At the end of 2009 over 6.5 million people in more than 1,700 towns in Spain had completed the transition to DTT and according to the most recent data 85.4% of the Spanish population have access to digital TV.
The DTT market share is now 53.4% compared with 24.9% for analogue TV.
By the end of January 2010, 32% of the population (15 million) will have completed ASO and all of Spain will be digital by the 3rd April 2010.
The government has said that they will continue to accept requests for the DTT help scheme until the 3 April 2010. Viewers who can benefit from this aid include those aged 65 and over with certain health issues, those with hearing or sight impairment, and those aged 80 and over living either alone or with someone older.
Source: Government Digital Television website
Item added: 5th January 2010



Three new multiplexes after April 3rd
After ASO is completed on the 3rd April 2010 space will become available to launch 3 new DTT multiplexes.
One of the multiplexes will be given to RTVE bringing its total to two multiplexes, containing a total to eight channels.
National private broadcasters Mediaset's Telecinco, Sogecable's Cuatro, Grupo Planeta's Antena 3 will have a one complete multiplex of 4 TV channels and the final multiplex of 4 channels will be assigned to Mediapro's laSexta.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 5th January 2010



Gol TV reaches 150,000 DTT subscribers
Three months since its launch Gol TV has 150,000 Pay-DTT subscribers. Counting all delivery platforms Gol TV now has 1 million subscribers, 60% of which use IPTV.
Source: Mediapro announcement
Item added: 21st December 2009



DTT penetration 75%
Impulsa TDT’s December news letter gives DTT penetration in Spain as 74.7% according to the November figures from Sofres.
In October, 957,000 DTT receivers were sold bringing the total number sold since the launch of the DTT in November 2005 to 23.4 million.
The second phase of the analogue switch-off began on the 4th December in Santander and will be completed on the 29 January with the switch off of Redondal (Castilla y Leon).
Source: Impulsa news letter
Item added: 21st December 2009 



DTT for disabled people
Disabled viewers in Spain are about to get a dedicated digital terrestrial set-top box that is specially engineered for their needs reports Rapid TV News.
Spain is claiming a worldwide TV ‘first' in specifically catering for the needs of disabled citizens in the country, and in implementing DTT boxes for disabled people.
The country's National Institute of Communication Technologies (INTECO) has developed an open software solution for box manufacturers, enabling the software to be adapted for a variety of handicapped users.
When the software is included in equipment it will mean that a digital TV can be accessed via an EPG that can recognise voice or high frequency tones, as well as facilitate different size text on screen, at an access speed that can be personalised.
The goal of the initiative, according to President Zapatero, is to offer an efficient alternative for old and disable people to easily use DTT without limits.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 14th December 2009



DTT Penetration reaches 72.1%
The latest November newsletter from Impulsa TDT gives the DTT penetration, in Spain, at the end of October as 72.1%.
During September 696,000 DTT receivers were sold bringing the total sold since DTT introduction to 22.5 million units.
Source: Impulsa TDT
Item added: 23rd November 2009



Pay-TV progress limited by STB shortage
The take off of the recently launched Pay-TV service is Spain is being limited by the lack of available equipment. Shortages limited sales in October to 1,473 units.
Pay-DTT channel Gol TV however has still managed to increase its subscriber base to nearly 1 million.
Recent Impulsa TDT data shows that the average cost of a DTT set-top box in Spain has fallen below €34 for the first time
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 23rd November 2009



Gol Pay-DTT reaches 100,000 subs
Soon after its launch, at the end of August, Spain’s first Pay-DTT channel Gol-TV has 100,000 subscribers, a figure which is said to be increasing by 15,000 a week.
Gol-TV also delivers its service via cable, IPTV and mobile. In total it has 930,000 subscribers.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 16th November 2009



Ministers approve Draft Audiovisual Law
The Spanish governments’ Council of Ministers, has approved a draft of the audiovisual law and it can now be sent to the Parliament for approval.
The new law lays down rules to regulate the broadcast industry some of which are specific to the DTT platform. In particular new rules regulate the use of conditional access for the Pay DTT platform and also allow broadcasters to use 50% of their services for Pay TV broadcasting.
The draft law proposes regulations for HDTV, interactive services as well as mobile TV and changes the broadcast licence term from 10 to 15 years, after which time they will be automatically renewable.
Source: El Pais
Items added: 26th October 2009



ASO continues
The latest stage of the ASO programmes has increased the number of citizens covered by DTT services by 1 million. The areas affected by the recent changes are Andalucía, Castilla y León and the Basque Country. In total DTT only coverage has now been extended to 5.3 million Spaniards.
With this, the first phase of the switch over, some regions have yet to make the change because they did not meet the appropriate technical conditions laid down as a condition for it to take place.
Although these problems should be overcome it is expect that recent reports that the ASO date could come forward by two months are unlikely to be fulfilled.
The next switchover stage will take place in December and the last one on April 3, 2010.
National DTT coverage currently stands at 96.3% of population
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 12th October 2009



DTT Penetration reaches 70%
Seven out of ten Spanish households receive DTT, with Canaries Islands, Madrid, Catalonia and Aragon enjoying the highest penetrations, according to the October 09 report from Impulsa TDT.
On a daily basis, 18.1 million viewers watch DTT with an average audience share of 45.3% against analogue TV’s 33.6 % and multi-channel TV’s 21.1%.
Over 21.8 million DTT devices have been sold since the market began, 30% of them, 6.5 million, in the last eight months.
IDTV’s are preferred with 411,900 units sold in August compared with 268,000 STB’s during the same period.
Source: Impulsatdt
Item added: 12th October 2009



Pay-DTT law approved
Spain's pay-DTT law, approved by the government on the 13th August, has finally passed through Parliament.
Miguel Sebastián, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce said that by the end of this month there would be some 250,000 equipments for payment over DTT on the market. "An important part of it will come from Spanish manufacturers," he said according to Rapid TV News.
However the controversy over the law continues and some of the opposing manufacturing organisations are still considering taking some form of action against it. For more information click on the information source at the end of this article.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 6th October 2009



Nine Cable operators adopt DVB-C2
Nine of Western Europe’s leading cable operators have chosen to adopt the new DVB-C2 cable delivery standard.
The operators are Kabel Baden Württemberg, Unitymedia, Kabel Deutschland (Germany), Ziggo (the Netherlands), ONO (Spain), Com Hem (Sweden), Numericable (France), YouSee (Denmark) and ZON (Portugal), who in total serve 22 million households.
Virgin Media (UK), Canal Digital (Scandinavia) and UPC (Multiple territories) have not included themselves in the agreement and say that they have no plans to switch from DVB-C2 at present. Virgin Media have been reported as saying that unlike some operators they do not have a capacity problem at the moment and whilst they support DVB-C2, have no need to switch at present
Main source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 18th September 2009



La Sexta to launch Pay-TV platform
TV channel La Sexta has announced that it will launch Pay-TV with Sports TV channel Gol TV, owned by Mediapro, the main shareholder in La Sexta.
The Pay-TV platform will be open to other operators and capable of delivering 12 Pay-DTT channels with nationwide coverage, once ASO has taken place on or before April 2010. The government recently announced that it was thinking of bringing ASO forward two months.
Main source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 18th September 2009




ASO to be brought forward 2 months?
The government is said to be studying the possibility of bringing forward the previous ASO date of the 3rd April 2010 by two months to February, according to a report from Rapid TV News.
The earlier date is dependant on TV stations reaching 96% of coverage for private stations and 98% for public services before ASO can take place.
Full story at Rapid TV News
Item added: 14th September 2009



DTT penetration 67.3%
The latest September newsletter from Impulsa TDT lists the current Spanish DTT penetration at 67.3%.
DTT coverage is now at 96% of the population and 21 million DTT receivers have been sold since the launch of services in 2005. DTT receiver sales in July alone were 1 million.
Source: Impulsa TDT newsletter
Item added: 14th September 2009



TDT picks Nagravision for Pay-DTT
The NAGRA Media ACCESS conditional access system has been selected to secure the TDT Premium Pay-DTT platform operated by Abertis Telecom
The technology will now be made available in all STB’s and receivers sold to access the new Pay-DTT market. The first units are expected to be available during September
Mediapro has already announced the launch of its sports service Gol TV and other Pay TV services are expected to follow shortly.
Source: Nagravision press release
Item added: 7th September 2009




Two pay-DTT services announced
Following the Spanish governments approval for Pay DTT TV services, Dahlia TV has announced plans to act as an interface between subscribers and programme suppliers and offer various content packages. One of the offers is expected to be an entertainment pay DTT package, including AXN.
Mediapro has also announced that its football channel, Gol TV, will replace the existing free to air services Hogar 10.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 24th August 2009




Cabinet approves Pay DTT
The Spanish Cabinet has given the go-ahead (13th August 2009) to allow Pay DTT services and have issued a “royal decree”. Congress should validate the text in a period of 30days from the date of its enactment, but it will not be debated in Parliament.
The decision is still controversial but the government have said that making a decision was necessary and urgent; also that Pay DTT services can provide an impetus for the DTT platform in the six month period leading up to the completion of analogue switch-off as well as providing new business opportunities for broadcasters and provide viewers with a wider range of television options.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 17th August 2009



DTT STB sales increase
Figures from GfK show that the number of DTT STB’s sold in Spain increased by 13% in June compared with the previous month.
During the same period the sales of IDTV’s fell by 19%.
This fall in sales was mirrored by the sales of computers (down 30%) and DVD players with integrated DTT tuners, down 11%.
The current economic situation is given as the main reason for the sales downturn , however the continued growth of DTT STB sales shows that the DTT market is still very buoyant, despite the downturn.
Main source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 17th August 2009


Pay DTT service approval expected this week
It is widely expected that the Spanish government will legalise the launch of Pay DTT services later this week on the 13th August.
Previously approval was expected in July but this was postponed due to the need to address problems caused by the recent terrorist attacks according to reports.
Most broadcasters on the DTT platform have already requested a licence to be able to offer pay services and the government would like the new services to be in place prior to analogue switch-off in April 2010.
One supplier had announced that some 400,000 Pay DTT boxes would be in the shops this summer but so far this has not occurred.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 10th August 2009



DVB-T2 trial in Seville
Broadcast network operator, Abertis Telecom, is currently trialing the DVB-T2 transmission system in Seville, in partnership with 27 other companies.
The trial is part of the FURIA project, which analyses emerging audiovisual technologies.
Testing, which utilises an 800-Watt transmitter to cover the whole of Seville, will continue until the end of the year.
Spain becomes the third country to trial the DVB-T2 system; the others are the UK and Italy.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 10th August 2009



More viewers of DTT than analogue
New government figures, which show that the number of DTT viewers in Spain is higher than the number who watch analogue TV. Over the last 20days the registered share for DTT is 40.2% compared with 38.6% for analogue.
DTT signals are available to 96% of the population.
Source: Impulsatdt
Item added: 3rd August 2009



Pay DTT receiver spec. (Ver 1) published
The first version of the technical specification for DTT Pay-TV receiver boxes has been published. The process was led by Abertis who co-ordinated discussions between manufacturers and broadcasters with the blessing of the government.
The specification for STB’s will allow viewers access to services from all Pay TV providers and as a consequence will need to incorporate three types of CA systems. The STB’s are expected to be made available as early as August when Pay TV services are launched.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 20th July 2009



DTT penetration reaches 61.5%
DTT penetration in Spain has reached 61.5% of TV households and coverage is over 95% of the population. The figures were correct at the end of April and appear in the latest (July) Impulsa TDT monthly report.
In May, 884,000 DTT receivers were sold, an increase of 44% compared with the figures for April.
Since the launch of DTT services in Spain, 19 million DTT receivers have been sold.
Source: Impulsa TDT newsletter
Item added: 13th July 2009



Changes to the DTT Platform in Spain
An update on the DTT platform, the introduction of HD services and the development of Pay TV in Spain, are just a few of the subjects covered in the latest Digitag Webletter.
The full Webletter can be accessed by clicking on: June 09 Digitag Webletter
Item added: 13th July 2009



Cantabria completes ASO
At midnight on the 27th June analogue terrestrial services were switched off in the western part of the region of Cantabria. The switch off continued on the 30th of June in the cities of Zaragoza, Teruel, Cuenca, and Oviedo.
Further switchovers in Huelva and Las Palmas are planned for the 22nd July.
Digital switchover in Spain is expected to be completed by the 3rd April 2010.
Source: El Pais
Item added: 6th July 2009



DVB-H digital MUX announced
Rapid TV News reports that the government has announced that a digital mux which would allow for 20 channels, using DVB-H, receivable on cell phones, will be made available.
Although the government favours a service, a business model has still to be established. Various suggestions have been made in the past including models based on advertising as well as pay TV services .The article suggests that the three major telephone operators in Spain have reached agreement on a unified agreement.
Now Spain has to decide which model will be adopted.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 6th July 2009


DTT Pay TV services to be allowed
Le Pais reports that the Government has formally launched the legal process to allow the introduction of Pay-TV services on the DTT platform. The draft law has been presented to the Consejo Asesor de la Telecommunicaciones (CATSI) for approval and will now open a consultation until 11 July.
If the decree is approved Pay-TV services could start as early as mid-July. Each broadcaster on the DTT platform would be allowed a single Pay-TV service.
Objections to the legal changes have been announced by Cable and Satellite Pay-TV operators.
Main source: El Pais, translation thanks to Digitag.
Item added: 22nd June 2009



DTT coverage reaches 95.15%
DTT coverage in Spain has reached 95.15% of the population and services are accessed by 58.7% of households.
During April over 615,000 DTT receivers were sold bringing the total to 18.2 million since the launch of DTT services.
Source: Impulsatdt June bulletin
Item added: 22nd June 2009



Government HD proposals soon
The government is expected to present proposals on how HD services are to be implemented on the DTT platform to the Consejo Asesor de Telecomunicaciones y Sociedad (CATSI) on 17 June.
The proposals are expected to include a mandate that all TV sets over 21 inches will be required to have an MPEG-4 (H.264, AVC) decoder and tuner to allow for HD reception, of programmes expected to begin in April 2010. The proposals are also likely to say the broadcasters can launch HD/DTT services in April 2010.
Should government's proposal be approved by CATSI, a Royal Decree enacting the proposal could be signed on 1 July.
Source: Digitag attributed to Abertis
Item added: 15th June 2009




IMT services to get 790-862 MHz allocation
The Spanish government has announced that it will reserve the 790-862 MHz band “digital dividend” for the use of non-broadcast services as of the 1st January 2015.
The plan brings Spain in line with the decision to allocate this band for mobile telecom and Internet services by the ITU World Radio Communications Conference held in November 2007. These services were designated by the ITU as IMT, which stands for International Mobile Telecommunications.
Such an allocation could be worth between €12-16 billion according to the European Commission.
The government also plans to bring in legislation to allow High Definition TV broadcasting on the DTT platform.
Source: Ministry of Industry press release
Item added: 8th June 2009


Commercial operators to finance RTVE
The Spanish Cabinet have approved a law, which will oblige Pay-TV, commercial TV operators and telecom operators to provide funding to finance the state-owned group RTVE, reports advanced-television.com. Operators will have to dedicate 1.5 per cent, 3 per cent and 0.9 per cent of their annual revenues respectively, to support RTVE, in compensation for the termination of its previous right to advertise, estimated as a loss of E478 million for the group.
In addition RTVE is expected to receive an annual state subsidy of €555 million as well as 80% of the tax operators pay for the use of their spectrum, around €250 million.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 8th June 2009


3D transmissions on DTT network
Two audiovisual groups in the South East of Spain have begun to test 3D transmission over a DTT network, according to a report on web based Rapid TV News. The tests are taking place at the University of Murcia and require an “auto-stereoscopic monitor” to show the 3D images although it is also possible to use special screen adapters to view the signals. Special receivers are also necessary.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 1st June 2009



DTT coverage reaches 94.83%
According to the May report from ImpulsaTDT, DTT coverage has now reached 94.83% of the population.
DTT penetration for the whole of Spain is now 53.6% with the highest penetration, 70%, in Catalunya.
In the first three months of 2009, 2.3 million DTT receivers were sold bringing the total bought since the launch of DTT to 17.5 million.
On the 30th June analogue switch-off is set to take place in 500 municipalities across the country, affecting 3 million people. The regions affected include Oviedo, Zaragoza, and Mataró.
It is not known if these switchovers will be affected by the recent announcements of possible delays in the switch over programme. (See previous item “Delays to first ASO’s “)
Source: Impulsa TDT
Item added: 25th May 2009



Antena 3’s one-platform, multiscreen future
Grupo Planeta's national private broadcaster Antena 3 is demonstrating the potential of content convergence and three-screen strategy.
Grupo Planeta's national private broadcaster Antena 3 has just presented a new multimedia project that unifies all content across all three screens: the TV, the Internet and mobile handsets.
Calling it Project Antena 3.0, as distinct from the 2.0 interactivity offered by current technology, Antena 3 began its May 12 demonstration with its popular series “El Internado.” Antena 3 not only broadcast the TV show in the traditional way, but its DTT channel Neox subtitled it with a roadmap of the program, and its DTT channel
See full article: Broadcast Engineering
Item added: 25th May 2009



Delays to first ASO’s
The government has announced that 700 of the 1286 municipalities planned for ASO in the first phase in June do not meet the DTT coverage requirements.
The likely result is that 14 out of the 32 analogue switch off projects in the first phase are likely to be delayed. This affects all of the planned switchover projects in the regions of Galicia, Castilla y Leon, Andalucia, and the Basque country.
The criteria to be reached before ASO can take place, in an area, is that at least 81.3% of the affected population can access the DTT signal.
Source: El Pais
Item added: 18th May 2009



RTVE to start HD tests over DTT
RTVE, the Spanish public service broadcaster is to commence tests High Definition TVover the country’s DTT system, reports Broadband TV News.
The tests, scheduled to begin in February or March next year, will initially use sports programming, including the ATP tennis tour and the Champions League, before being extended to cover news and drama.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 18th May 2009



Telecom tax to finance public broadcaster
Spain's Council of Ministers has passed the bill on a new financing model for the country's public broadcaster Corporacion de Radio y Television Espanola (RTVE).
This action ends the reform process concerning the state-owned mass media and defines its role in the audiovisual sector.
According to first VP Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, the new model includes the immediate elimination of advertising and the use of public resources to finance the public radio and television services.
The end to advertising on public radio and TV is mainly due to "the considerable fall in the advertisement market as a consequence of the economic crisis", which could affect RTVE's financial stability reports Telecompaper.
Once the law comes into force, the Spanish public broadcaster will only be financed through public resources.
Part of the financing will come from the state budget.
Commercial TV operators with national coverage or with operations in more than one autonomous region will contribute 3 percent of their annual revenues and telecommunications operators will contribute 0.9 percent of their revenues.
In addition, RTVE will receive 80 percent of the benefits obtained via the spectrum domain reserve tax.
RTVE will also obtain funding from its own activities and from the commercialisation of its services and products. According to Fernandez de la Vega, RTVE will use public revenues to fund public service activities exclusively, and not to bid against competitors
Source: Telecompaper
Item added: 12th May 2009




Pay DTT STB’s and receivers to work on all services
The Ministry of Industry is asking all broadcasters and manufacturers to agree on a common specification for Pay-DTT receivers so that will all be capable of accessing services from any Pay-DTT provider. This would eliminate the need for viewers to purchase multiple DTT receivers.
A working group has been set up by the Ministry of Industry to develop the technical specification for Pay-DTT receivers.
Nagravision is reported to have begun discussions with manufacturers to incorporate its conditional access technology in certain DTT receivers.
In order for Pay-DTT services to launch, the current legislative framework must be amended. It is expected that the government will propose such an amendment on 15 May.
Sources: Télé Digital and Rapid TV News
Item added: 8th May 2009




DTT penetration over 50%
Impulsa TDT’s latest newsletter gives the level of DTT penetration in Spain as 50.7% of TV households. Madrid and Catalonia have the highest penetration, 61.1% and 61.9% respectively.
During February 576,000 DTT receivers were sold bringing the total sold since launch to 17 million.
DTT coverage is now 93.5% of the population.
Source: Impulsa TDT newsletter
Item added: 27th April 2009




Pay-DTT authorisation requested
The commercial broadcaster La Sexta has submitted a proposal requesting authorisation to launch a Pay-DTT channel despite the Government not having given the go ahead for services to commence.
La Sexta would like to launch a sports service, Gol TV, using the capacity currently used by its free to air service Hogar 10 in time for the 2009-2010 football season.
It has also given the assurance that it will return Hogar 10 to the free-to-air platform once analogue switch-off is completed.
Dahlia TV, owned by the Nordic group Airplus, has also expressed an interest in the pay-DTT platform
Source: El Pais
Item added: 27th April 2009Pay-TV operator licensing gets closer
Despite some recent reported confusion about the offering of Pay TV DTT permits, the Government has announced that Spanish TV channels can apply for operator licences immediately. However a later press release said that the concession to broadcast Pay TV signals was still conditional on the Spanish cabinet approving a report from its advisory council, known as El Consejo del Estado
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 13th April 2009




Shared antennas cause concern
The need for new antenna systems is the main problem limiting DTT progress in Spain according to Impulsa TDT’s president Eladio Gutiérrez.
Converting shared antenna distribution systems, which are common in Spain, is a challenge because not all neighbours are prepared to pay for it.
He went on to say that because of the seriousness of the problem, this could be an obstacle preventing Spain reaching its ASO goal of the 3rd April 2010.
The situation is certainly not all bad because 55% of TV homes have already gone digital, 67.3% of which are watching DTT.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 13th April 2009




Over 500 channels available on DTT platforms in Europe
Recent data from the MAVISE TV database, developed for the DG Communication of the European Commission by the European Audiovisual Observatory, shows the continued expansion of television channels in the European (EU 27 + Croatia and Turkey) television market. More than 200 new TV channels were launched in 2008. There are now a total of 5587 channels (plus 412 non-European channels) available in the 29 countries.
Digital terrestrial television (DTT) has experienced significant developments in the last year.
Six of the 29 countries included in the MAVISE database have already ceased analogue terrestrial transmission.
France, Italy, Spain and the UK (four markets with large use of terrestrial television) have reached very high levels of DTT penetration in households and two of these have started regional switch-off of the analogue signals
The market will see more rapid development this year with the expected launch of new services in Slovenia, Denmark, Portugal, Ireland, Poland, Greece, and Slovakia. Full article at: EAO press release
Item added: 7th April 2009




100 More days until the first phase of ASO
A recent press release on the 23rd March announced that there are 100 days until the first phase of Analogue Switch Off.
Phase 1 is set to take place on the 30th June 2009 and is estimated to affect 5 million people in 1,286 towns. This will cover the areas of Zaragoza, Segovia, Oviedo, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Huelva, and Santiago de Compostela, encompassing 12% of Spain’s population. The second phase of the ASO will start on the 31st December 2009 and be completed by the 3rd April 2010.
Source: Impulsa TDT
Item added: 30th March 2009



Government to propose DTT licence trading
New Government proposals to amend the General Broadcasting Law could allow Broadcasters to trade up to half their total licences five years after they have been allotted. The proposal goes on to extend the licence period from 10 to 15 years and makes the proviso that if broadcasters fail or stop broadcasting for a period of one year that their licence will be revoked.
The proposed legislation is currently in preparatory status with Parliament.
Source: El Pais
Item added: 23rd March 2009



DVB-T penetration 48.5%
Impulsa TDT announced in its March report that DTT penetration in Spain had reached 48.5%.
Sales of DTT receivers in December and January alone totalled 2.1 million.
Since the launch of DTT services a total of 16.3 Million DTT receivers have been sold.
Source: Impulsa TDT March09 bulletin
Item added: 16th March 2009




DTT logo allowed by the Government
The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce is allowing the use of its DTT logo "Pásate a la TDT" once again. The logo was initially used during a DTT marketing campaign at Christmas known as "Que no te pille el toro".
The campaign contributed to the resulting sale of over 1 million DTT receivers during the period.
The logo is available for use by DTT receiver manufacturers and service installers.
Source: Ministry of Industry
Item added: 9th March 2009




Over 1 million DTT receivers sold in December
Impulsa DTT reports that over 1 million DTT receivers were sold during December considerably exceeding its previous 800,000 estimate published in November. As well as the sales in December an additional 7.1 million receivers were sold during 2008 bringing the new total of units sold since the launch of DTT services to 15.2 million.
DTT services are available to 92.38% of the population and 47.35 of the population access DTT services. A total of 65.6% of collective antennas have been upgraded for DTT reception.
Source: Impulsa TDT
Item added: 16th February 2009



Satellite distribution of DTT agreed
Spain’s national public broadcaster RTVE has signed an agreement with broadcast network operator Abertis to distribute RTVE’s DTT service by satellite.
The agreement will allow the 1.5% of the population estimated not to be able to receive DTT terrestrial services directly, to obtain them from satellite.
This agreement will enable the reuse of the RTVE encrypted TV signals, which have previously been distributed to Spanish regions via satellite.
It is likely that another satellite platform will be used in future, with the encryption removed to make it a free to air service.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 9th February 2009



DTT coverage reaches 92%
According to the broadcast network operator Abertis, DTT coverage is available to 92.3% of the population an increase of 3.1% in the last five months.
ImpulsaTDT estimated in January that DTT services are now accessed by 45% of the population.
Main source: El Periódico
Item added: 9th February 2009




Funding allocated for Digital Switch Over
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has said that it will allocate €75 million to digital switchover as part of its Plan Avanza2, reports Rapid TV News.
The funding will be used to prepare viewers in 18 regions and cities for the switch over.
The Plan Avanza2 includes the provision of local information, the preparation of contingency plans and the extension of DTT coverage.
Additional funding of €8.25 million has also been allocated to extend coverage in areas planned for digital switchover in June.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 2nd February 2009



MHP help service available on DTT
A new domestic help service has been made available using MHP interactive technology through the DTT service in Spain.
The service allows viewer via their TV sets, to manage technical alerts received from the Tele-Assistance terminal, their medical agendas (when to visit the doctor), SMS messages and access to general health information.
In addition, the relatives of assisted people will be able to have access on DTT MHP to monitor their activity through an application called T-Seguimiento
Source: advanced television.com
Item added: 2nd February 2009



Concern over lack of interactive STB’s
José Luis Vázquez, CEO of interactive TV company Mirada, recently commented that up until now there are only a few interactive boxes which allow access to advanced TV services in the country, reports Rapid TV News.
Spain's homes already have more than 14 million DTT boxes but only 250,000 are suitable for interactive services.
DTT coverage has reached 90% with penetration at 45.1% according to recent figures.
Vázquez used the UK as an example of a country where interactive services have taken off and put this down to the fact that interactive functions are the norm for the STB’s being sold.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 26th January 2009




SIDSA and Secuenzia plan Pay TV service
Spanish technology companies SIDSA and Secuenzia have entered into an alliance to launch Pay TV during 2009, if possible.
The two companies have already worked together to produce a conditional access technology that allows the distribution of DTT content whilst giving broadcasters the opportunity to secure extra revenues from subscription services or pay per view events.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 19th January 2009



Impulsa TDT announces 15 million DTT receivers sold
According to the latest figures published by Impulsa TDT, 14.2 million DTT receivers had been sold by the end of November 2008 and it estimated that a further 800,000 receivers would be sold during the month of December.
DTT penetration is now more than 45% of television households.
Since the end of 2008, DTT coverage has reached 90% of the population.
The first phase of the analogue switch-off, which will affect 12% of the population, is expected to be completed by the 30 June 2009.
Source: Impulsa TDT
Item added: 19th January 2009



5 million Euros for DTT promotion
The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce has signed an agreement with Impulsa TDT to collaborate on promoting the spread of DTT in Spain. 5 million Euros will be contributed in equal parts by both organisations.
The money will be used for promotion, communication and the marketing of DTT. In addition some of the money will be used for market surveys and to help with technical areas concerning products and services.
According to recent figures more than 18 million citizens are already able to receive DTT signals.
Source: CincoDias.com
Item added: 6th January 2009



Spain to allow spectrum leasing by broadcasters
The new Audiovisual law planned to be launched by the Government in the spring will allow the sale or lease of DTT capacity. The move is aimed at guaranteeing the survival of all broadcasters once analogue switch off takes place, reports Rapid TV News. Currently, broadcasters are unable to transfer their television broadcasting rights officially.
Following analogue switch-off in April 2010, commercial broadcasters, Antena 3, Cuatro, la Sexta, Veo TV and Net TV, will each be allocated a full multiplex but will only be able to lease/sell up to half of the capacity.
The new law will also extend the duration of a licence from 10-15 years and legalise the current practice of Veo TV and Net TV by which they allow both Sony Entertainment and Disney to utilise some of their allotted bandwidth allocation.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 22nd December 2008



DTT penetration reaches 45%
Impulsa TDT estimates that DTT penetration has reached 45.2%. This is up from 23.4% in December 2007 and now means that 7 million homes have access to DTT services.
If the homes watching DTT services from the pay TV operators are added, DTT penetration goes up to 58%, which amounts to 9 million homes or 23 million people.
The DTT audience share reached 20.2% at the end of November 2008.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 16th December 2008



DTT services on satellite
RTVE and Abertis are to work together to ensure that all Spain’s viewers are able to access the services available on the DTT platform.
Viewers outside the DTT coverage areas will be able to access all RTVE’s services from the Hipasat’s satellite.
Commercial and regional broadcasters with services on the DTT platform have also been invited to join the free-to-view satellite service.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 9th December 2008



Catalan broadcaster wants to restart HD DTT tests
Catalan public broadcaster Televisió de Catalunya (TVC) wants to restart the HD tests it stopped last summer. The tests were stopped because of the inclusion of the Valenciano autonomous public channel Canal 9 in its multiplex,which consequently resulted in the loss of the necessary free bit rate for the HD tests.
TVC plan to ask the central government for formal permission to continue its HD tests on DTT, according to an item on the Rapid TV News website.
This time TVC wants to use space on the third UHF DTT multiplex, which it was given by the government to enable Catalan people to watch the Comunidad Valenciana’s channels and Communidad Valenciana’s people to watch Catalunya’s channels.
Another HD/DTT trial is currently underway in the region of Aragon
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 24th November 2008


Communal antenna upgrade at 61.8%
Sixty one point eight percentage of the 65,000 communal antenna systems needing to be up dated for DTT have been updated according to figures from Impulsa TDT.
The Impulsa figures also show that around 6.7 million homes already get DTT signals, amounting to a population total of 9 million and an audience share of 18.3%.
Sales of DTT boxes during September were 546,000 bringing the total of DTT receivers sold to 13 million.
Impulsa expects this figure to reach 15 million by the end of 2009 when DTT penetration should have reached 40 %.
Source: El Mundo
Item added: 17th November 2008



New ITV association
ADETI is the name of a new Spanish association for the promotion and extension of digital interactive TV in Spain reports Rapid TV News.
The goal of the association is to promote interactive TV in whatever form it reaches the Spanish audience, be it DTT, Satellite, Cable or Internet.
The association is being promoted by network operator Abertis Telecom, Activa Multimedia, Informatica El Corte Ingles, Indra, maat Gknowledge, magic Box, Miranda, SDI Digital and T-Mira.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 17th November 2008

TDT Impulsa guarantees digital coverage before ASO
Eladio Gutiérrez, the head of the Impulsa TDT, the Spanish DTT promotions organisation, has said that the coverage of the DTT platform is guaranteed before the analogue service is switched off in 2010. However he also acknowledged that much work is needed before the analogue switch off can take place.
Many community antenna systems need to be converted to DTT and the coverage of the new service must be increased from 89% of the population to 96%.
Source: Expansion
Item added: 11th November 2008



UTECA asks for TDT public channels cut
UTECA the association of commercial broadcasters in Spain has called on the government to cut the number of available public channels in half to allow commercial DTT broadcasters to compete.
As well as requesting this and other measures to allow them to fairly compete with the public service broadcasters they are also asking that the requirement for them to provide coverage to 96% of the population be dropped to 90% with the government picking up the cost for the last 6%.
Source: El Mundo
Item added: 11th November 2008

DTT sales reach 12.4 million
According to the latest report form Impulsa TDT, 12.4 million DTT receiving devices have been sold in Spain. The report goes on to say that 7.7 million people watch DTT which amounts to a 17.4% market share. More than 6 million homes now have access to DTT which is a 38.8 % average penetration. In some regions like Madrid and Catalonia DTT penetration is over 50%.
In all DTT coverage is said to reach 89.15% of the population.
Although DTT progress has been good the national DTT plan is for 1,287 towns in 36 provinces , with 5 million people,  to switch off analogue transmissions by June 2009 and more provinces making the total 15 million switching by  December 2009. The Pro DTT association Impulsa TDT has asked all involved parties to raise public awarness of the switch over so that more of the population make the switch much more quickly in order to meet the aggressive deadlines.
Source: Advanced Television.com
Item added: 13th October 2008



37.4% of homes have DTT
According to information released by Estatistics National Instituto (INE) 37.4% of Spanish homes now have a DTT receivers. Of these 32.4% are integrated coder TV’s.
Figures in the report list the percentage of Spanish homes having TV sets at 99.7% of which 21.4% receive their programs from satellite, 15% from cable and 4.6% using DSL or the telephone network.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 6th October 2008



Satellite DTH to be used to complete DTT coverage
Geographical problems and signal interference from illegal TV channels are given as reasons for the Ministry of Industry starting a study on the use of satellite transmissions to complete Spain’s DTT coverage. Broadcasters who are committed to meeting coverage targets are hoping that the Government will pick up any additional cost needed to provide the fill in satellite coverage.
By April 2010, private TV must make their DTT transmissions available to 96% of the population, with public channels reaching 98%.
Recent figures from Impulsa TDT put DTT coverage at 89.15% and by the end of December 2008 at 90%. This will further increase to 93% by July 2009.
Source: Advanced Television.com
Item added: 23rd September 2008



Pay DTT debate continues
Despite earlier announcements in August, that the government had not plans for Pay-DTT in the near future, it looks like this stance has now been modified.
In a recent statement by the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, Miguel Sebastian, the position of the government has been further refined.
He said that the launch of Pay-DTT services would require a consensus amongst broadcasters and that he thought this could be achieved during 2009. However he saw no need for urgency to resolve this issue and further emphasised how important it was to have many free to view programmes available on the DTT platform.
Source: El País
Item added: 9th September 2008



Half Spanish buildings DTT ready
The latest figures from consulting company TN Sofres say that 58.2% of Spanish buildings are now adapted for DTT, reports Rapid TV News.
Many TV households in Spain obtain their TV through communal systems and although the conversion is clearly going well it is said that the four million buildings still to be adapted are old and conversion to digital TV may be a little more complex than those already completed.
The sales of DTT boxes during July and August were exceptional reaching 637,000 units in July, up from the 458,000 units sold in June.
Analogue switch off is set for April 3rd, 2010.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 9th September 2008




DTT population coverage now 89%
According to Impulsa TDT 89.15% of the Spanish population are now covered by DTT signals. The latest Impulsa figures where compiled for the DTT operator Abertis Telecom who had to reach 88% of the population by the 31st July.
Coverage has to continue expanding, reaching 90% of the population by the 31st December 2008, 93% by the 31st July 2009 and 98% with public service broadcasts by the time of the complete analogue switch over on the 3rd April 2009.
At analogue switch off commercial broadcasts must also be available to 96% of the population.
Since the launch of DTT services 11.2 million DTT decoders/DTT TV’s have been sold raising the DTT audience TV viewing share to 16%.
Source: Impulsa TDT
Item added: 22nd August 2008




Pay-DTT less likely
The deputy Prime Minister, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, has announced that the government has "no plans" to allow for the launch of pay-DTT services.
Previously, the government had stated that it would require consensus from DTT service operators before changing the law to allow for the launch of pay-DTT services.
Despite some reluctance on Pay TV by some operators others had been going ahead and announcing plans for new services. These are now on hold indefinitely.
Source: El Pais
Item added: 11th August 2008


RTVE to get 2 Mux’s after ASO
As widely expected the public broadcaster RTVE will be allocated 2 DTT multiplexes after Analogue Switch Off in 2010. Services will include those already available on the DTT platform, namely TVE 1, TVE 2, Canal 24 Horas, Clan TVE and Teledeporte. Later a new channel TVE International, not currently available, will be added.
RTVE also expect to develop two new HD services known as TV HD and Canal Cultura, which is expected to be ready for broadcast in 2009.
Source: El Mundo
Item added: 11th August 2008


Full DTT coverage in Catalonia by July 2009
At present 50% of the Catalan population have access to DTT services.
Coverage will be extended to 80% of the population by the end of the year and to all residents by July 2009.
Nationwide DTT coverage in Spain is currently running at around 88%.
Source: El País
Item added: 4th August 2008


Spain allocate €8.7 million for switch over
The government has allocated €8.7 million to fund 32 analogue switch-off projects according to Rapid TV News.
Analogue switch-off will eventually take place through 90 nationwide projects across three different types of geographical areas and based upon the size of the population.
Analogue switch-off is planned for completion by the 3rd April 2010.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 4th August 2008



Soria completes Analogue Switch Off
Digital switchover was completed in Soria on the 23rd July making it the first Spanish region to go completely digital. To prepare the 51,000 inhabitants of the region for the change an extensive communication campaign took place, with a dedicated website, coverage maps, an information centre, brochures and television advertisements.
The government also provided funding of €1 million to help viewers with the purchase of DTT receivers and the conversion of collective antenna systems.
It is estimated that, by the time of the switchover, 96.6% of households were prepared for the analogue switch off.
Source: El Pais
Item added: 28th July 2008


RTVE plans for DTT HDTV
Public service broadcaster, Radio TeleVision  Espanola, (RTVE), has announced plans for new services according to Rapid TV News.
RTVE are working on two new projects, one a new cultural channel and the other an HDTV channel.
The two new channels will be ready in 2010 when the analogue switchover takes place. At that time RTVE will have two multiplexes with the possible potential of 6-8 HD channels.
Main source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 15th July 2008


10.8 million DTT receivers sold
The last six months of 2008 have seen the greatest growth of DTT since its re-launch in 2005.
In the first five months of 2008, 2.7 million DTT receivers were sold, amounting to 24.7% of the total of 10.8 million DTT tuners in the country.
DTT had a viewing audience of 14.9% at the end of June.
Source: Impulsa TDT
Item added: 15th July 2008




Pay-DTT debate continues
Whilst Telecino has softened its position on the launch of pay-DTT services, Antena 3’s chief executive Silvio Gonzalez has criticised the Spanish governments delay in deciding whether or not to legalise a pay-TVservice on the countries DTT platform.
Both are responding to the government’s request for comments on the issue.
Initially Telecino had called for a five-year wait before the introduction of pay-DTT services but is now said to recognise that there could be benefits to a pay-DTT business model.
Meanwhile Francisco Ros, Telecommunications State secretary said the government was in no hurry over changes to the law that would allow pay-TV on the DTT platform.
Sources: Rapid TV News and Rapid TV News
Item added: 8th July 2008



Project to develop interactive DTT
Spain’s Association of Electronic, Telecommunications and Information Technologies (AETIC) has presented a programme called i-LAB, testing interactive services on DTT based on the MHP standard.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 26th June 2008



Government calls for improved content on DTT platform
The government has made known that it finds the current quality of content on the DTT platform to be insufficient according to an item published on the advanced-television.com website. The article goes on to say that the government is calling on broadcasters to improve their offer or risk facing legal action.
Already, 10 million DTT receivers have been sold and services are available to 85% of the population.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 16th June 2008



Spain and Italy join forces to promote DTT
The Spanish and Italian Pro DTT Associations, Impulsa TDT and DGTVi, have signed an agreement to promote the digital migration in both countries and to seek a common strategy on the development of DTT in Europe, according to advanced-television.com
The presidents of Impulsa TDT, Eladio Gutierrez, and the DGTVi, Andrea Ambrogetti, agreed this cooperation in Lucca, Italy, during the European DTT Forum.
The agreement is also aimed at avoiding the sale of TV sets without DTT ready identification and to promote the use of DTT-based technologies in Europe.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 10th June 2008



Freed spectrum reserved for broadcasters
The Ministry of Industry has revealed that it is unlikely that the spectrum freed by the switch to digital TV will be available for non-broadcast services following analogue switch-off.
According to Francisco Ros, General Secretary for Telecommunications, the frequencies made available from the analogue switch-off will be needed to provide television services, for regional, local and new broadcasters.
This means that there are not enough frequencies available to be released to telecom operators.
Spanish law requires that all existing analogue television services receive a DTT licence. In many cases these broadcasters have been allocated two digital service slots.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 10th June 2008




DTT beats cable TV
Cable TV is being beaten by DTT for the first time in Spain according to reports attributed to consultancy firm Barlovento Comunicacion. DTT had 13.8% of the audience share in May against 13% for cable.
In Spain, more than 32 per cent of homes have DTT, 46% in Madrid and 41% in Canary Islands, which has the highest penetration.
Analogue FTA share has also fallen from 68.2 per cent the previous month to 67.4%.
Satellite TV only has a 5.6% share.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 3rd June 2008



Retailers liable for analogue only TV sets sold
The minister of Health and Consumers has put the responsibility for informing customers that a TV set being sold would not be able to receive DTT signals, on the retailer. He went on to say that retailers who miss-informed customers would be prosecuted.
So far, 10 million DTT receivers have been sold in Spain, with 33 per cent of the population already watching DTT, an average audience share of 14 per cent.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 2nd June 2008



88% population coverage by August
According to the broadcast network operator Abertis Telecom, DTT services will reach 88% of the population by August 2008, a 2% increase on current 86% coverage figures.
By analogue switch-off in 2010, DTT services should be available to 96% of households.
Sales for DTT receivers have been strong with a total of 427,000 receivers sold in March.
Source: Europa Press
Item added: 2nd June 2008



Minister confirms 2010 switchover
The new Minister of Industry, Miguel Sebastian, has confirmed Spain’s present digital switchover plans and that the analogue switch off date is still the 3rd April 2010.
As previously planned the first analogue switch-off pilot will take place in the province of Soria on the 23rd July. The trial will involve 18,000 households and subsidies will be available towards the purchase of antennas and MHP-enabled Set Top Boxes.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 27th May 2008


DTT penetration reaches 31.8%
The latest Impulsatdt May report says that 1,412,000 additional homes have converted to receive DTT in the last three months, according to figures form EGM (Estudio General de Medios). DTT penetration has now reached 31.8% of the population (32.1% according to Sofres April figures), which amounts to 5 million homes. By the end of the same period DTT tuner sales passed the 9.7 million mark.
Clicking on the following source link can access the full “Monthly Report Extract” in English.
Source: impulsatdt May08 monthly report
Item added: 20th May 2008



Demands for ASO delay
Spain’s largest TV group, Sogecable, has asked the Spanish Government to postpone the analogue switch-off according to advanced-television.com.
The reason given for postponing the April 3, 2010 date is the “inability” of the market to meet the deadline.
The CEO of the cablegroup hinted that Spaniards are uninterested in DTT justifying this by saying that DTT penetration was only 30% whilst actual coverage was 85%. He also criticised the regulatory lack of clarity as to whether certain pay-TV services will be allowed to be distributed through the DTT network or not. Both Sogecable and Mediaset-controlled Tele 5 have already rejected this possibility.
Main source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 12th May 2008



DTT interactivity on PC
Spanish group CITIC (Centro Andaluz de Innovación y Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones) is designing a unit to give personal PC’s the same functionality as a DTT receiver. Unlike other systems in the marketplace the unit will have interactivity allowing it to both send video and audio.
The prototype study is titled “Study, Design and Implementation of a prototype of DTT with return channel interactivity”
Users will have almost the same functionality as a PC on their DTT TV and all using a simple remote control.
MHP is being used as operating software. For more information see the website: http://www.citic.es/
Main source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 6th May 2008



DTT service for Mediapro
Content provider Mediapro is planning to launch a pay to view football service on various delivery platforms including DTT.
The new service will offer four, weekly football matches from the First Division league and cost €1/per match.
Before it can be launched on the DTT platform approval from the Government will be needed.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 15th April 2008




Analogue switch of ramps up
By December 31st 2009, 32% of the population will need to be watching TV from the DTT platform as their analogue services will already have been progressively switched off, according to figures from ImpulsaTDT.
At the end of 2009 Impulsa estimates that 14.5 million people will have access to a terrestrial digital TV service only.
The first main cities making the switch to DTT are Zarazona, Oviedo, Segovia, Vitoria, Huelva and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
By the end of July 2009, 1278 towns will have made the switch to DTT, many in the region of Castilla y Léon, over 100 in Andalucia, Aragón and Castilla-La Mancha as well as many other towns in the rest of the regions.
Rapid TV News reports that recent figures indicate that more than 6 million receivers have been sold and DTV viewing has 11.5% of the market.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 8th April 2008

Spain to test HD on DTT
The Spanish HD Forum will undertake more HD test on the Spanish digital terrestrial network according to Broadband TV News.
Both 720p50 and 1080i25 will be broadcast in simulcast to determine the best and most efficient format. The HD Forum was formed last year by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce and is open to any party interested in promoting HD in the country.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 1st April 2008



DTT in 29.2% of Spanish households
The latest report from the Spanish TV association, Impulsatdt says that 29.2% of the 15 million TV households in Spain already have access to DTT programming.
The sale of 1.37 million DTT tuners before Christmas brought the total number DTT tuners/ receivers sold since March 2003 to 8.81 million. It goes on to say that 5.7 million people watch DTT programming each day, which together with the daily average 1.5 hours of TV viewing equates to an audience share of 11.5%.
Madrid, Valencia, Canaries Islands and Catalonia are the regions where DTT is most widely watched. More than 40 per cent of homes in Madrid are connected to DTT, followed by the Canaries with 38.5 per cent, Catalonia, with 33.9 per cent and Murcia, with 29.9 per cent.
Sources: advanced-television.com and Impulsatdt
Item added: 23rd March 2008



 

Spain likes Mobile TV
Spanish users, with Mobile TV enabled handsets, spend 20-40 minutes a day watching TV on the current 3G services according to a report attributed to Abertis Telecom.
Users spent an average of €6 a month on their 3G service, a service which is said to give lower quality pictures than are expected to be available from future DVB-H offerings.
Rapid TV News reports that mobile TV hasn't developed as expected in Spain because the Telco’s haven't invested sufficiently in 3G networks. The DVB-H broadcasting option (that is the proposed free option) could solve this problem because it means direct transmissions from the operators to users handsets. Critical to this method is agreement being reached among broadcasters, TV channels, mobile operators and manufacturers.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 26th February 2008


DVB-H launch expected in 2010
Although it was expected that the start of a DVB-H service would take place after the general elections in March, Advanced-Television.com reports that this may not actually occur until 2010.
Minister of Industry Joan Clos, said “ We hope that the regulation of the market is completed this year, to pave the way for the development of the industry and make the services become a commercial reality in 2010”, according to the report.
The minister also told Advanced-Television.com that initially the DVB-H service would have 20 TV channels and that the launch would coincide with the analogue switch off.
Currently the analogue switch of date is the 3rd April 2010.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 19th February 2008



8 million DTT receivers sold by 2007 close
By the end of 2007, a total of 8 million DTT receivers had been sold in Spain according to figures published by Impulsatdt. Many viewers are in apartment blocks with collective antenna systems and already 51.7% have been converted for DTT.
The sale of receivers with integrated DTT tuners totalled 62% of all devices sold, up from the figure for 2006 of 26%.
DTT viewers made up 10.5% of total television viewing in Spain and reached 5 million daily viewers, on average.
By the close of January 2008, Sofres estimates that DTT penetration reached 28% of households.
Source: ImpulsaTDT Feb.08 summary
Item added: 19th February 2008
 

DVB-SH available in Barcelona
Major players who have joined forces to form the ‘DVB-SH ecosystem’ are demonstrating live mobile TV using DVB-SH in S-Band at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona this February.
The signals will be received on Sagem handsets, which incorporate DiBcom’s new DVB-SH receiver prototypes. The S-band signal will be made available throughout the exhibition grounds via a terrestrial repeater network using the technologies necessary for deployment of the new standard. The network will carry approximately eight TV programmes.
In Europe an S-band, 2.2 GHz DVB-SH (satellite to handheld/terrestrial service) is planned for launch in Q1 2009, by a joint venture formed by Eutelsat and SES Astra.
The first DVB-SH operation, which is planned for the USA, will also be in S-Band following a successful launch of the ICO Global Communications satellite, ICO G1, in March 2008.
Main source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 11th February 2008
 

Impulsa will back Pay-DTT if required
Eladio Gutiérrez, RTVE Digital’s director and new president of Spanish DTT association Impulsa TDT, says he personally supports pay-per-view on DTT according to reports from Rapid TV News.
His support adds weight to the growing number of companies who wish to have Pay-TV services on the DTT platform.
However in his role as Impulsa TDT’s president he made clear that if Impulsa’s members want to back Pay-TV services then he will also sign up to it but that the decision is up to them and not him.
Some legal experts think that although the position with respect to Pay-TV is not clearly stated in the current DTT law it allows the possibility of Pay-TV services on the DTT platform but that a government resolution might be needed to authorise such a service.
Guttérrez is further quoted as saying “ In any case I think this subject should be studied by the new government after the general elections on March 9th”
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 5th February 2008


ONO complains about Pay-TV being allowed on DTT
Cable service provider ONO has complained about the possible distribution of Pay-TV services on the DTT platform reports advanced-television.com.
The president Eugenio Galdon said that ONO will demand that the government holds new public tenders to re-award the DTT licences, arguing that the current model approved by government does not allow the distribution pay-per-view services.
Should the licence terms change, ONO would call on the government to re-issue the invitation to tender for the DTT licences.
Several pay-DTT trials have already taken place in Spain.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 29th January 2008



Local Analogue Switch off delayed
Although Spain’s DTT law required all local TV stations to have switched to digital broadcasting by January 1st, many still have to do so.
Despite the law many regional governments have not even invited broadcasters to tender for digital licences.
Francisco Pérez president of G-9, a group representing local broadcasters says that the Technical Plan which requires analogue switch-off to begin with local broadcasters is discriminatory.
Analogue switch-off of national channels is set for the 3rd April 2010.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 22nd January 2008


Over 7.4 million DTT receivers sold
Figures issued before the end of December show that 7.4 million DTT receivers had been sold in Spain equating to DTT access in almost one in four of Spanish homes. By the end of December it was estimated that the number of units sold would have exceeded 8 million. Although large numbers of receivers have been sold the recent figures show that only 4.6 million of these viewers are currently watching DTT programmes once a day, a market share of 9.5%.
Source: Impulsa TDT and  Rapid TV News
Item added: 22nd January 2008



More supporters for Pay-TV in Spain
More and more companies are supporting the use of Pay-TV in Spain, reports Rapid TV.
Sogecable and Grupo Planeta’s, Antenna 3 have joined Dahlia TV, Mediapro, Sidsa and the Government who are also said to have taken sides in favour of Pay-TV on the DTT platform.
Antenna 3’s general manager Maurizio Carlotti is reported to have said recently; that he did not see any reason why Spanish DTT shouldn't also be pay because according to him the DTT business model could not support itself solely through an in-the-clear model. "The DTT incomes must come from the families," he stated.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 11th December 2007


DVB-H implementation delayed
The launch of DVB-H mobile TV in Spain is reported to be on hold until after the general elections in March 2008. This is because the legal framework for its introduction failed to be approved by the current administration. It is now expected that the introduction of mobile TV in Spain will be delayed until the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 27th November 2007

 

Eladio Gutierrez new head of Impulsa TDT
The new head of Impulsa TDT, the organisation responsible for promoting DTT in Spain, is Eladio Gutierrez. He comes from the public service broadcaster RTVE where he was head of digital for RTVE and replaces the previous incumbent Jaime Castellanos, the president of DTT services for Veo Television.
Source: La Flecha   (thanks to Digitag for the link)
Item added: 27th November 2007

Planeta worried about DTT transition
Grupo Planeta, the Spanish editorial group and Antena 3 TV’s main shareholder are worried about the direction of the new digital television market.
Planeta’s president José Manuel Lara is pessimistic over DTT viability and the designated switch over date of April 3, 2010.
Grupo Planeta previously burnt its fingers when it launched Quireo TV eight years ago. The DTT pay-TV venture failed, leaving Planeta with a big financial loss.
Rapid TV reports Lara as commenting that cities like Barcelona will soon have around 55 channels and that this is far too many to be financed by advertising which makes viable business models difficult.
Planeta proposes a change in the law, which allows many companies in the audiovisual field to broadcast using a free-to-view or pay-TV formula according to the preferences of each broadcaster.
José Manuel Lara also asked the government to change the law so the same audiovisual company can have stakes in different channels.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 20th November 2007


6 million Euro DTT promotions campaign
The Ministry of Industry and the DTT promotions organisation, Impulsa TDT, have decided to jointly fund a 6 million Euro DTT advertising campaign.
The campaign will include advertisement, public relations activities, and marketing with the aim of promoting DTT services during the Christmas 2007 season.
Source: Cinco Días , translated summary thanks to DigiTag
Item added: 14th November 2007


EC approves subsidies for switchover in Soria
The European Commission is to allow the proposed switchover subsidy for the Soria region, which will become the first region in Spain to end analogue transmission when it does so in 2008.
The Spanish government will make 1 million Euros available to help finance 700,000 digital receivers and the conversion of 300,000 collective antennas. Each of the 10,000 inhabitants of Soria can apply for a 60 Euro grant to help towards the purchase of a digital receiver and 15 Euro towards its installation. The receiver can be for either terrestrial, cable or satellite platforms.
Source: EU Commission
Item added: 14th November 2007


Dahlia TV formed to launch pay-DTT services
A new company Dahlia TV has been formed to launch pay-TV services on the DTT platform in Spain. Dahlia TV claims to have reached agreement with some of the major networks in the country and hopes that the government will grant them four digital channels with the right to carry pay-TV.
Dahlia plans to reach the 75% of Spanish homes, which don’t at present have access to pay-TV services.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 14th November 2007


 

Impulsa TDT reports 4.2 million daily DTT viewers
According to the latest figures for October from Impulsa DTT, the official association for the promotion and implementation of Spanish DTT, 4.2 million viewers watched DTT on average, every day. This accounts for 8.3% of TV viewing.
At the end of September 6.5 million DTT tuners had been sold and if marketing plans are successful this will increase to 9 million by the end of the year.
During September 372,300 DTT terminals were sold, 163,400 of which were integrated in televisions, 153,000 were external decoders and 56,000 were in DVD players with integrated DTT receivers and internal/external PC cards.
Main source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 14th November 2007



DTT receivers to total 7 million by year end
Rapid TV News reports that an estimated 7 million DTT receivers will have been sold in Spain by the end of 2007.
It goes on to say that 6.3 million units have been sold already and that full DTT coverage will be achieved in two years while analogue switch-off will be completed by April 3rd 2010.
In addition 45% of buildings with communal aerial systems have now had their aerials adapted to receive DTT services.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 7th November 2007

DTT Pay-Per-View trial to go ahead
Six companies have joined forces to launch a pay-per-view trial on DTT platform in the Spanish village of Alcázar de San Juan according to Broadcast TV News.
The planned service, which will introduce pre-paid pay-per-view content, including football events and movies, will be extended to other parts of the country next year.
This is one of the first pay-TV initiatives on the now successful DTT platform in Spain and forms part of the project called “DTT Digital Alcázar”, the first manifestation in the South of Europe of “DTT digital island”, promoted by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, the Junta de Comunidades of Castilla La Mancha and the local operator and town. Also taking part are the technology company SIDSA, electronic manufacturer Siemens-InOutTV and consultancy firm SDIdigital.
Viewers will be able to buy events by sending a text message to a phone number that appears on advertising for the events. Within 10 seconds the set-top box of the customer will be activated with an over-the-air signal. With this technology, the companies plan to launch a wide selection of sports and premium pay-per-view events for the 2008-2008 season.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 23rd October 2007

Pay-TV interest grows
Abertis is reported to be leading a project with other DTT broadcasters, for the development of a DTT set-top box, which will allow access to premium channels on a Pay to view basis.
Abertis is said to be in negotiations with manufacturers to agree a specification for the DTT receiver.
In a separate report from Rapid TV, the encryption service likely to be used for the Pay-TV service is said to be KeyFly, which is a conditional access solution developed by Sidsa and already used on some Hispasat feeds.
At present legislation prevents the use of encryption, but the government is now said to be in favour of the introduction of pay service and the amending of the regulations necessary for it to become legal.
Sources:  advanced-television.com  and Rapid TV News
Item added: 16th October 2007

Over 6 million DTT receivers in Spain
Figures released by DTT organisation Impulsa TDT show that another 330,000 DTT receivers were sold in September. This brings the total sold since the launch of DTT services to 6,111,859. A breakdown of the September figures show that 45.87% of the units sold were IDTV’s and 38.76% were STB’s. MHP enabled equipments made up 2% of sales.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 9th October 2007

Ministry allocates €19.3 million to help DTT introduction
The Spanish Ministry for Industry has allocated €19.3 million to speed up DTT implementation in Spain. This is in addition to the €1.7 billion allocated in the 2008 budget for the promotion of telecommunications and the "Information Society".
Commercial broadcaster would like the government to invest even more money as they believe that digitising even a single existing channel will cost €150 million. This takes into account the provision of additional content as well as extending coverage.
Analogue switch-off is set to commence in 2008 and be completed in April 2010.
Main source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 9th October 2007

First HD DTT channel in Spain
An Interactive HD Consortium (Alta Definicion Interactiva 2006) is launching the first HD DTT channel in Spain, reports advanced-television.com
The test transmissions from Campus HD will be receivable through HD/MHP enabled STB’s on UHF channel 56 in the ‘University City of Madrid’
The initiative is supported by a Consortium of High tech companies, called Interactive High Definition (Alta Definicion Interactiva), sponsored by the Ministry of Industry, co-ordinated by Telefonica Servicios Audiovisuales and shared by Astra, Hispasat, Fresh-IT, hyc, RTVE, Sogecable and Televes.
It is the first time that Spain has trialled an HD DTT channel aimed at testing and proving its capability and that of the latest encryption TV standards
Source: advanced-television.com (David Del Valle)
Item added: 2nd October 2007

Mobile operators want DVB-H rules
Spanish mobile TV operators Telefónica's Movistar, France Telecom's Orange, Vodafone and Yoigo want to establish some conditions for the development of the DVB-H standard in the territory.
Mobile operators want to build their own networks and choose the frequencies to use and say that the implementation of DVB-H will depend basically on the competition for the construction and usage of the network, due in 2008.
The Spanish Minister for Industry Joan Clos has already made clear that the radio spectrum is full.
If the Spanish government doesn't come to an agreement with the mobile operators, the development of the DVB-H network is at risk since the operators may then choose their own UMTS networks for the distribution of content.
Source: Rapid TV News|
Item added: 18th September 2007


Spain leads in DTT
Spain has taken the lead in the DTT take-up in Europe according to Tobias Martinez, General Director of Abertis Telecom, the broadcasting agency responsible for the DTT signals transmission.
He commented, “Spain is leading the DTT take-up in Europe following the sales of set-top-boxes increasing over recent months”.
According to the Pro DTT Association, Impulsa, DTT already covers 85 per cent of Spain, with a penetration of 24 per cent and an average share of 7.4 per cent.
Up to July 2007, 5.8 million boxes had been sold.
Martinez went on to say that in future the main drivers behind the development of the DTT platform would be mobile DTT, Internet DTT and High Definition.
Martinez also urged the Government to do its best to help the launch of mobile TV in the second quarter of 2008.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 14th September 2007



Local Interactive DTT tests under way in Spain
Spain is to make interactive MHP-based DTT tests in two towns, San Juan de Aznalfarache and Castilleja de la Cuesta, in the province of Seville.
Aljarafe Television will launch its digital TV channel next week covering all the Seville demarcation area, which comprises of around 1.3 million people.
Around 100 people will take in the interactive trial over the next few months.
They will be equipped with a MHP-ready DTT boxes giving them access to a plethora of interactive services and allowing them to receive information from the town councils, libraries and local workshops.
Source: advanced-television.com (David Del Valle)
Item added: 14th September 2007



 

Analogue switch-off timetable approved by cabinet
The Spanish cabinet has approved the digital migration plan for analogue switch-off which will begin next year and finish in 2010.
Analogue switch-off will be progressively implemented in four phases.
Switch off begins in 2008 for one per cent of the population (switching off in Soria and A Fonsagrada), reaching 12 per cent by mid 2009 and 32.4 per cent by the end of that year. The process will be completed in April 2010.
The country has been divided into 73 technical areas with a total of 90 transition projects, in three different groups: areas with less than 500,000 inhabitants and high DTT coverage; regions with 500,000 to 700,000 inhabitants; and the third group more than 700,000 inhabitants
Source: advanced-television.com (David Del Valle)
Item added: 14th September 2007


 

Pay-TV on the DTT platform
Spanish TV networks are considering launching pay-TV services on the free-to-air digital terrestrial platform following the Italy's example.
Technical trials have been taking place in Extremadura, west of Spain, to gain knowledge on what types of content consumers would be interested in.
La Sexta, through production company Mediapro, and DTT operators Net TV and Veo TV are said to be the most enthusiastic to launch Pay-TV services.
Mediapro may also offer football on pay-per-view through the DTT platform.
Francisco Ros, State Secretary of Telecommunications said that "Currently, according to the law, it is not possible to launch pay DTT channels in Spain, but if the sector makes the request, we will study it because we do not want to limit the development of this technology, above all when technically it is possible"
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 14th September 2007





MHP-DTT Consortium Formed
Four companies have formed a consortium called Maat Media to develop MHP based DTT applications in Spain. The companies are Gknowledge, SDI Digital, HyC and Multicanal del Cable.
Several applications for weather and educational purposes have already been created by the consortium, which is financed by the Ministry of Industry.
Funding for the project was obtained by the Ministry from the European Union’s development programme.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 3rd September 2007

DTT penetration reaches 19.4%
DTT is accessed by nearly one in five TV households in Spain (19.4%) according to the latest figures from Impulsa TDT.
Penetration varies significantly across the country with the highest being in Madrid (27.3%) followed by Catalonia (26.7%) and Canaries (23.9%) with the lowest being in the region of Aragon (11.3%).
It is estimated that 26.5 million TV sets still have to be converted from analogue to digital before the switchover in 2010.
During the first five months of this year more than 1.7 million digital TV tuners were sold which amounts to one third of the total tuner sales to date.
Source: 20 minutos
Item added: 28th August 2007
 

Regulations for mobile TV to be completed soon
The Spanish Government is finalising regulations for its mobile TV market and expects them to be complete by September.
The actual Governments plan is expected to call for one multiplex to be dedicated to mobile TV, with around 20 TV channels.
When the regulations are completed a public tender will be issued so that ‘would be’ network operators can apply. Possible bidders are Axion, Abertis and possibly Telefonica, Vodaphone or Orange.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 21st August 2007

La Sexta launches 2nd nationwide DTT channel
Commercial TV channel La Sexta has launched a second nationwide DTT channel called Hoga 10.
It will offer family programming, soap operas, sitcoms and other entertainment programmes.
The channel joins more than 20 DTT channels, which are already being broadcast across Spain on its DTT platform.
Source: Advanced-television.com
Item added:   8th August 2007


Hispasat to extend DTT in Spain
Hispasat has proposed a plan to the Government designed to extend DTT services to the 10% of the country, mostly rural areas, not already covered by the terrestrial service.
Hispasat wants to play an important role in the deployment of DTT and is in talks with "the Administration and some operators", according to the Development Director of Hispasat, Pascual Menendez."We propose to combine both systems. Using terrestrial wherever it is possible and satellite wherever it is difficult or expensive" (to do it via terrestrial), he said. Currently, he estimates 200 transmitters are used to distribute DTT signals, but to cover 98 per cent of the population by 2010, around 3,000 will be needed. "That means a (high) cost and it takes a lot of time".
His proposal comes at a time when state-owned group RTVE is leading a Freesat project, similar to Freesat in the UK or the French initiative.
Both parties, RTVE and Hispasat, are reported to be holding meetings and contact over the last few months to implement the Freesat project
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 16th July 2007



Spain's DTT industry wants state subsidies to boost sales
The Spanish DTT industry has urged the Government to approve direct state subsidies to boost the sale of DTT boxes in the country, following the example of the UK, France and Italy.
The Pro DTT Association, Impulsa, wants the Government to lead the digital migration process, which has to be completed in April 2010, by providing state subsidies, to purchase DTT boxes, adapt dishes and by collecting and giving accurate information about the DTT take-up.
The president of the Association, Jaime Castellanos is reported to have said that the lack of information is making many Spaniards acquire TV equipment that is not ready for DTT. He claimed that analogue TV sets from France, which are now not allowed to be sold in that country because they are not ready for DTT, are being sold in Spain for "lack of information" amongst consumers. "We are the stocks warehouse of other countries".
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 16th July 2007




UTECA lobbies on mobile TV
Spanish private TV association UTECA formed by TV channels Antenna 3, Tele5, Cuatro, La Sexta, Net TV and Veo TV has urged the government to grant them seven nationwide mobile TV channels. The multiplex would be specifically reserved for mobile TV and would include a slot for RTVE.
The Government has produced a draft bill, which makes a definite distinction between those operating the network which will be open to public tender and the TV operators who will only need administrative authorisation.
In the next few months it is expected that the Government will pave the way for the development of mobile TV, which is likely to come into operation at the beginning of 2008. At present DVB-H test transmissions are taking place in many parts of Spain.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 3rd July 2007



Analogue switch-off by April 2010
Analogue switch-off in Spain will be implemented progressively in four phases starting in 2008 and finishing in April 2010 according to a government plan.
Switch offs in 2008 will effect 1% of the population and increase to 12% by mid 2009 and 32.4% by the end of that year.
The plan divides Spain into 73 technical areas with 90 transition projects in three different groups. The three groups are determined by population numbers; the first being areas with less than 500,000 inhabitants and high DTT coverage; the second having between 500,000 and 700,000 inhabitants; and the third with more than 700,000.
The DTT Transition Committee formed by Broadcasters, Manufacturers, Regional administrations, Consumer associations and Installers has already approved the plan.
It is hoped that the cabinet will give the go ahead in July so that the plan can be implemented.
Source: Advanced-Television.com
Item added: 26th June 2007

Digital TV used in 6 million Spanish homes
SES Astra reports that Digital TV is now in 5.92 million Spanish households with DTT accounting for 2.58 million of them, up 43.5% in a year.
Digital satellite TV is received in 2.16 million homes, up 36.4%, with cable in 760,000, up 12.7%. ADSL TV is in 440,000 homes up 7.4%.
The report goes on to say that of the total 14 million Spanish TV households, 9.68 million view terrestrial TV, 2.7 million view through satellite, 1.21 million through cable and 440,000 through ADSL.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 12th June 2007

New TV Law on hold
The Government has put off the decision to send the new overall TV Law, Ley General del Audiovisual to the Parliament because of lack of time available in the current parliamentary session.
The new law was aimed at ending the ‘chaotic’ and disparate Spanish TV legislation according to advanced-television.comThe delay which also affected another law to create an Audiovisual council will allow the inclusion of a new part of the legislation called ‘new TV without frontiers’. This new piece of legislation forms part of a wide Government plan to reform the TV industry and includes regulation of DTT and the re-organisation of state-owned RTVE.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 5th June 2007


DTT coverage to reach 85%
DTT coverage in Spain will reach 85% of the country over the next few months according to advanced-television.com.
DTT operators are legally obliged to extend the DTT coverage from the current 80% and reach 96% for private channels and 98% for public services broadcasters by 2010, which is the analogue switch off deadline.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 31st May 2007



DTT reaches 18% penetration
Media Research association AIMC reported recently that DTT penetration in Spain had reached 18%.
16.5% of DTT homes watch DTT through a TV with an integrated set-top-box.
Flat TV’s are preferred and are now in 10.1% of homes a rise of 33% in the last quarter.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 1st May 2007
 

HDTV broadcasts from TV3 on the DTT platform
Spanish Regional channel TV3 has starting offering 2 to 3hours of HD broadcasting each day in the Barcelona area.
TV3 will transmit on UHF TV channel 43, broadcasting films from Sony-Columbia, around 50 co-production films and some animation content.
Source: advanced television.com
Item added: 24th April 2007


DTT boost for Spain
The Pro DTT Association Impulsa TDT, formed by national broadcasters and provider Abertis have signed an agreement with the electronic companies association ASIMELEC to jointly boost the development of DTT in Spain. With only three years to go before analogue switch off, in 2010, the two parties will take actions to develop the market by joint advertising campaigns and exchanging information to make the transition to digital TV possible.A similar deal was recently reached with the Electronic Industry Association AETIC.
Source: advanced television.com
Item added: 24th April 2007



DTT receiver numbers grow
Sales of DTT receivers have been strong in the first part of 2007. In February, over 300,000 receivers were sold, up 152% compared with sales figures for the same month last year. This brings DTT receiver sales to a total of 4.1 million.
An increasing number of viewers are watching DTT services. The free-to-air platform has an average audience share of 5.7% of the market.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 19th April 2007


Government consults on mobile TV
The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce has opened a public consultation on mobile television, which is seen as an attempt to speed up the launch of DVB-H mobile TV services in Spain.
The consultation seeks the views of all interested parties in the mobile TV field so that the government can better understand the needs of the new market.
The regulatory authorities are expected to award a single multiplex with limited coverage initially, which will be increased later in 2010, when more spectrum becomes available.
Mobile TV pilots have already taken place in many Spanish towns and cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Gijon and Alcazar San Juan.The consultation closes on April 26th, 2007 and it is hoped that it will pave the way for the launch of mobile TV services by the end of the year.
Source: Cinco Dias
Item added: 2nd April 2007


Regional Broadcaster TV3 to provide HD on DTT
TV3 a regional broadcaster in Catalonia has announced plans to provide some HD services on the DTT platform. UHF channel 43 will be used for the HD transmissions operating for 2-3 hours a day. TV3 plans to begin broadcasts in April 2007.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 27th March 2007


DVB-H trial in Seville
Regional broadcaster Axion has launched a DVB-H trial in Seville. During the six-month trial 15 television and 10-radio programme services will be available. Although this is a technical trial of DVB-H a commercial trial may be added later.
French network operator TDF has a 67% stake in Axion.
Source: Digitag
Item added: 27th March 2007



First Regional licence awarded
The Government of Andalusia, in southern Spain, has awarded the first DTT licences, with regional coverage.
Media Group Prisa, shareholder in Sogecable who own the Local TV network Localia and Vocento, shareholder in Tele 5, have been granted one DTT channel each. Both channels are to be in operation by the end of the year or early 2008 and will cover 80% of the Andalusian population.
Two additional regional channels will be operated and managed by state owned RTVA, Canal Sur and La 2 de Andalusia.
Source: advanced television
Item added: 21st March 2007



3.8 million DTT receivers sold since launch
The latest figures published by the DTT promotions organisation, Impulsa TDT, show that over 3.8 million DTT receivers have been sold in Spain. Of these, 900,000 were sold in the December to January period.
The sale of integrated DTT receivers, either in combination with a television or a DVD player, made up 53% of total DTT receiver sales in January 2007.
GfK estimates that a total of 5.7 million DTT receivers will be sold by the end of 2007. While DTT services are currently available to 80% of the population, coverage is expected to increase to 85% of the population by the end of the year.
Original Source: El Mundo  (thanks to Digitag for the translation)
Item added: 13th March 2007

Government finance to convert SMATV to DTT
Government support has been announced to allow several regions to convert Satellite Master Antenna TV systems (SMATV) so that they can receive signals from the DTT platform.
In Madrid, the regional government will finance up to 50% of costs in areas covering more than 20 flats and 20-30% of costs in areas with less than 20 flats. Altogether, 700,000 households will be able to benefit from the subsidy.
Other regions to receive aid include Asturias and Catalonia.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 5th March 2007


DTT in the Basque region by the end of 2008
DTT services are expected to be launched in the Basque region in 2008, according to the Cultural councillor for the region Miren Azkarate.
Local authorities will invite broadcaster to tender for DTT licences at the end of 2007 with a plan to start services by the end of 2008.
Source: Diario Vasco
Item added: 26th February 2007
 

Commercial launch for DVB-H in Spain
The Spanish Government is set to approve legislation, before June, that will allow for the introduction of DVB-H services. After approval, commercial DVB-H services could start before the end of 2007 or early in 2008.
It is expected that one multiplex will be available and allow five operators to share its capacity. Up to 20 DVB-H service slots could be made available.
The leading mobile operators - Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange - are already involved in DVB-H trials across Spain.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 20^th February 2007

Extensive DVB-H services at the 3GSM 2007 World Congress
Four dedicated DVB-H multiplexes are planned to be in operation during this years World GSM Congress in Barcelona.
Abertis Telecom have been appointed as the transmission provider and will make available three congress wide multiplexes for Thomson, Sidsa and Siemens as well as a City wide multiplex for Nokia.
Full details of the planned services and parameters can be found on the DVB-H website by clicking on the source link at the end of this item.
The Congress in the Fira de Barcelona starts on the 12th February and ends on the15th.
Source: DVB-H website
Item added: 30th January 2007
 

Commercial broadcasters request lower DTT coverage limits
Commercial broadcasters in Spain are asking the government to reduce the level of DTT coverage required after analogue switch-off.
The existing law calls for a DTT coverage of 98% of the population by the public service broadcaster RTVE while commercial broadcasters must provide DTT coverage of 96% following analogue switch-off in 2010. Currently, DTT coverage in Spain stands at 80% of the population.
Commercial broadcasters would like to reduce their minimum DTT coverage requirement to 90% of the population.
Source: El País
Item added: 30^th January 2007

TVC to offer HD services on its terrestrial platform
Televisio de Catalunya (TVC), the regional broadcaster in Catalonia is planning to launch High-Definition television services on its DTT platform by the end of the year.
TVC has been allocated 8 DTT multiplexes, 2 of which will be reserved for HDTV services. TVC also plans to strengthen its interactive services on the DTT platform.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 16th January 2007

2.6 million DTT receivers sold
Between March 2003 and October 2006   2,614,335 DTT STB’s/receivers were sold in Spain according to a report on the Impulsa TDT website.
DTT penetration reached 14.4% of the population by November compared with a penetration of 7.7% in June. DTT coverage is estimated at 80.45% and the average cost of an STB is given as €54.31
More details can be found on the Impulsa website by clicking on the “source” link.
Source: Impulsa TDT website
Item added: 9th January 2007

Government to release Analogue Switch Off plans in May 2007
The government is said to be putting together its digital switchover timetable with the intention of reaching analogue switch-off in April 2010 according to an article on the Digitag website. The item goes on to say that the plan is expected to be made available in May 2007. At present DTT penetration, in Spain, stands at 16.3% of the population and the Minister for Telecommunications, Francisco Ros, believes that a higher penetration can easily be attained. In his opinion, this can be done by improving the quality of DTT services over that of the existing analogue provision. Also removing the existing consumer confusion about DTT suitability of equipment will help. The government and consumer electronic manufacturers are planning to sign an agreement which will see clear labels on TV sets saying whether or not they have an integrated digital tuner.
Finally, the government is also planning to put together a plan for mobile television services. It has noted that 50% of mobile phone users in Spain would like to receive mobile television services.
Source: Digitag attributed to EFE
Item added: 27th December 2006

New DVB-H trial in Alcazar de San Juan
A DVB-H pilot has started in Alcazar de San Juan according to an announcement made at a meeting of Castilla-La Mancha technical dignitaries, the mayor of the town and the chief of the directorate for Technology and Development services in Spain.
Thirty-five selected users will explore the use of advanced interactive services on the DVB-H platform, accessed on Motorola handheld phones. Siemens, Sidsa, Hipasat and Telefonica Audio visual services are taking part in the project, which will test how these services can provide new possibilities for business and the audiovisual sector.
Source: terra.es
Item added: 19th December 2006

Pro DTT group gets new president
Jaime Castellanos, president of DTT channel Veo TV, has been appointed as the new president of Impulsa TDT, the Pro DTT Association formed by Spanish broadcasters and Abertis, to boost the development of DTT in Spain.
The news item on the advanced-television.com website goes on to say that Castellanos succeeds Joan Mayo in the post at a time when the number of DTT viewers continues to grow in Spain. The Association recently launched a massive advertising campaign to promote DTT and has asked the Government to play a more active role in the market and to inject more money to finance DTT.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 28th November 2006

Government urged to publish an Analogue Switch Off plan
Broadcasters on the DTT platform are asking the government to approve an analogue switch-off plan as soon as possible in order to encourage the development of DTT services. Analogue switch-off has been set for April 2010.
According to Andres Tejero, CEO of Veo TV: "We need a switch-off plan to be seriously implemented. We have to start switching off analogue transmissions to make it clear that the digital process has already taken off."
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 21st November 2006  

Ager first Catalan town to go "All-Digital"
The Catalan government has selected the town of Ager to be the first in the region to switch off analogue TV. This will take place in February 2007 and will enable the 502 residents of Ager to access 24 television programmes on the new DTT platform. The pilot is designed to gain a better understanding of the issues that may arise from the conversion of collective antennas and the installation of DTT receivers. Also the majority of the population are pensioners a group that is expected to have the biggest problem in adapting to the new technology.
The changeover process is eased by the fact that the valley is served by a single analogue repeater, which can easily be changed to one, suitable for the digital service.
Other digital switch-over pilots in Catalonia are also expected in the municipalities of La Fatarella and Amer. Altogether, the government will provide €1 million to fund these pilot projects.
Analogue switch-off in Catalonia is expected to be completed in 2009 while 2010 is the date set for the rest of Spain.
Source: El Periódico.com
Item added: 31st October 2006

Analogue Switch Off pilot in 2008
An analogue switch-off pilot in the province of Soria, in the region of Castilla y Leon, has been confirmed. The pilot will take place in 2008, making Soria the first province in the country to completely migrate to digital TV.
The project will be divided into three separate phases. In the first phase, viewers will be given access to the digital technology; in the second phase, the new content will be developed for the digital platform; and finally during the third phase analogue services will be switched off, with digital coverage in 100% of households. Analogue switch-off is set to take place nationwide in April 2010.
Source: Digitag
Quoted source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 26th October 2006

Over 2 million STB’s sold
More than 2,250,000 STB’s have been sold since Spain re-launched DTT in November 2005, reports the Advanced-television.com website.
It goes on to say that 6 million Spanish homes are currently receiving DTT and this totals 18 million people.
The General Director of Telecommunications and Information Technology is reported as saying that the latest figures prove that “Spain has overcome the DTT deadlock” reached following the demise of the Pay-TV platform Quiero.
Source: Advanced Television.com
Item added: 10th October 2006

Pro DTT Association launches campaign
The Pro DTT Association formed by the major Spanish TV operators, has launched a country wide advertising campaign to boost the take-up of DTT in Spain.
The ad-campaign, which will run until the end of the year, is being shown by all analogue TV networks and highlights the advantages of Digital TV and also explains how to gain access to it.
Official figures show that there are already 3.5 million homes (more than 10 million people) that already have DTT. Another 2.5 million (more than 7 million people) could access DTT if they had receiving equipment.
Source: Advanced-television.com
Item added: 4th October 2006

 

Spanish Multiplex information
If you need more information on some of the DTT multiplexes available in Spain then the Tdt1 website should be useful to you.
Website: Tdt1
(thanks to ADB for the info.)
Item added: 18th September 2006

Catalonia launches DTT project
Website Advanced-television.com has given details of a new DTT project in the Catalonia region of Spain.
The Regional Government, along with public TV group CCRTV and two Universities, has launched a state-of-the-art project - T-Ciudadano (T-Citizen) - based on DTT, designed to enable e-government, allowing citizens to contact the administration through their TV sets.
The project, which has a budget of €1.5 million, will be implemented in two cities, Mataro and Vilanova.
Source: Advanced-television.com
Item added:22nd August 2006

RTVE launches interactive services on DTT
Public service broadcaster RTVE has launched its first interactive services on the DTT platform according to website advanced-television.com
Partners in the launch were Fresh IT, Abertis and Soluziona.
Among the services on offer are an EPG, advanced digital teletext, radio services, information services about the traffic, weather and the Stock Market and Emplea-T, with job advertisements.
RTVE also announced that it will launch a massive campaign from September to promote these services and encourage consumers to acquire MHP-enabled set-top-boxes.
Source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 11th July 2006

Nearly 2 million STB’s sold since November 2005
According to recently released Spanish government figures 1,750,000 DTT receivers have been sold in Spain since the re-launch of DTT services in November 2005.
Source: Noticias Pyme
Item added: 26th June 2006

First HDTV transmissions on a DTT platform
Regional broadcaster CARTV together with the broadcast network operator Abertis and production company Mediapro have undertaken the first HDTV transmissions on a DTT platform in Spain. The transmissions took place in Zaragoza as part of the International Festival of HD and Digital Cinema. The HD trial finished on the 18th June.
Source: Digitag
Item added: 20th June 2006
 

Seville gives the Thumbs Up to Mobile TV
Abertis Telecom, Nokia and Vodafone Espana   reported the first results from the Seville DVB-H mobile trial at a special event on May 5th in the city. 80% of the participants say they would recommend the Mobile TV service with 8 out of 10 saying that it was easy to use.
Users watched the service for approximately 35 minutes each day and 38 minutes at weekends.
The trial involved 300 users who had access to 14 television channels from a variety of local broadcasters including, Antena 3 TV, Net TV, Sogecable, Telecino, RTVA (Canal Sur), RTVE, RTW (Canal Nou) and Veo TV.
Source: 3G Portal
Item added: 10^th May 2006

More DVB-H trials this time in Zaragoza
Amena, Abertis Telecom and Nokia have announced another DVB-H pilot test, this time in Zaragoza.
Over 125 Aroganese users will test the characteristics of the system and how it works in the area around Zaragoza, centrally and in underground situations probably with simple repeaters.
Users will be able to access services from TVE, Antenna 3, Telecinco, Cuarto, Net TV y Veo TV), thematic channels CNN+ 40 Latino, C24 h, Teledeporte, Neox, Nova y Telecinco Sport and Aragon TV.
Source: Invertia.com
Item added:30th March 2006

DTT take-up in Spain is a success
The ministry of Industry has reacted to the gloomy assessment of DTT broadcasters by saying that the DTT take-up is a success, according to an item on the Advanced Television.com website.
The telecommunication Secretary of State, Francisco Ros is reported as saying that more than 2.5 million homes (more than 7.5 million people) have access to DTT signals and that more than two million homes (representing 6 million people) are able to receive DTT if they get a Set-Top-Box.
Of the 2.5 million homes, 1.1 million have purchased a DTT, STB, 9% of which are MHP capable. Another 1.3 million receive Digital TV through their cable systems and 200 thousand watch through the Telefónicá Imagenio IPTV service.
”Citizens have positively welcomed DTT and are betting on it,” commented the Secretary of State.
Source: Advanced Television.com 17th March 2006
Item added: 21st March, 2006

Broadcasters expected to call for a delay to the Analogue TV switch off date
Spanish Broadcasters are reported to be planning to ask the government to delay the analogue TV switch-off date from the planned 3 April 2010. Broadcasters are said to be pessimistic towards the DTT market after a reduction in DTT receiver sales in the first two months of 2006. Sales up to Christmas were exceptional with 500-600 thousand receivers being sold and the drop in sales after Christmas is to be expected.
Broadcasters have been complaining about the lack of financial support from the government to help with the development of the DTT market and the call for a delay may be part of negotiations for more help.
Original source: advanced-television.com
Item added: 13th March 2006

DVB-H service launch in 2007
Network operator Abertis has announced plans to launch a country-wide DVB-H services in early 2007. It is confident that a market exists for broadcasting television services to handheld receivers.

Abertis, together with Telefonica and Nokia, also presented the first results of their DVB-H trial during the 3GSM World conference in Barcelona.
Five hundred users in Madrid and Barcelona participated a commercial DVB-H trial and
results showed that 55% of participants would be willing to pay for a mobile television service.  75% of users said that the would recommend the service to others.
Users spent an average of 16 minutes per day watching mobile television, mainly from their home. The most popular content was news, followed by sitcoms and music videos.
Source: Digitag and IBL News 
Item added: 20th February 2006 
 

Mobile TV to Dominate at 3GSM World Congress (February 10th)
With 55,000 people set to converge on Barcelona for the annual 3GSM World Congress, more than forty companies are preparing to show why DVB-H is fast becoming the global standard for mobile digital television. There will be three DVB-H multiplexes on air in Barcelona carrying more than forty TV channels.
Source: DVB
Item added: 13th February 2006

Telefónica meets customer target
Spanish telecoms operator Telefónica has met its target of more than 200,000 subscribers for its hybrid internet protocol television (IPTV) and digital terrestrial television (DTT) service, Imagenio.
The service was launched less than a year ago in Madrid and Barcelona and is now available to 4m households in 140 cities. The hybrid DTT/IPTV boxes were produced by Advanced Digital Broadcasting (ADB).
Source: DTG
Item added: 10th January 2006

 

More mobile TV trials in Spain
Valencia is the latest city in Spain preparing to test mobile TV using DVB-H enabled phones. Spanish network operator Abertis Telecom, broadcaster Radio Televisión Valenciana (RTVV), Nokia and Vodafone have announced the trial which aims  to  explore the possibilities offered by the new services and evaluate their technological and commercial potential. 
150 users in Valencia will be equipped with a mobile phones which allow them TV reception of 14 channels, some with interactive content and mobile services. The trial is due to be completed by April 2006 and joins others taking place in Barcelona and Madrid.
Source: Broadband TV News, Jan 5th
Item added: January 5th 2006

DTT forging ahead
DTT in Spain is ahead of all forecasts according to recent reports from Spain. In a web update from Advanced-Television.com it is reported that around one million homes are already watching the 18 DTT channels made available by the RTVE-led consortium.
The Consultancy, Corporacion Multimedia is saying that the penetration rate for DTT is now 4.7% only two months after the re-launch of DTT in Spain.
ASIMELEC, the Spanish Electronic Companies Association had estimated that only 850,000 homes would have access to DTT by the end of the year and this figure has been clearly exceeded. The estimate was also set for 2 million by the end of 2006 and on present trends this is also likely to be exceeded.
Source: Advanced-Television.com, 5th Jan 2006
Item added: 5th January 2006

Recent

DTT Re-launched in Spain Nationally and Locally
From today, the 30th November 2005, 80% of the Spanish population are able to receive 20-26 DTT programmes with the re-launch of Digital Terrestrial Television in Spain.

National DTT
Five National DTT multiplexes are now on the air:
MUX 1 (MFN) TVE1, TVE2, Canal24H, ClanTV/50anosTV
MUX 2 (SFN) Teledeporte, VeoTV1, VeoTV2, NetTV (all on Ch 66)
MUX 3 (SFN) Cuarto, CNN+, 40Latino, LaSexta (all on Ch 67)MUX 4 (SFN) Tele5, Tele5 Sport, Tele5Estrella, Fly Music (all on Ch 68)
MUX 5 (SFN) Antena3, Nova, Necx, LaSexta  (all on Ch 69)

Regional DTT
Depending on the area up to two local multiplexes are available:
Catalunya 2 multiplexes.
MUX TVC (MFN) TV3, K3/33, 3/24, 300
MUX EDC (MFN) City TV
Madrid 1 multiplex.
MUX  (MFN) Telemadrid, LeOtra, Onda6
Other regions with one multiplex on the air are: Canarias, Aragon, Valencia, Galicia, Euskadi, Andalucia.

Local DTT
The first re-launched local service went on air in Barcelona on the 26th November 2005, just a few days before the national launch. http://www.barcelonatv.com
The service on channel 26 covers the Barcelona area, using 64QAM modulation, an FEC of 2/3 and a guard interval of 1/4.
Source: Abertis Telecom
Item added: 30th November 2005

DTT boxes take off in Spain
The forthcoming launch of free to air DTV is driving up the sales of set-top boxes according to an article on the advanced-television website. Over the last ten months, 400,000 units are reported to have been sold putting an end to the previous three year stagnation of DTV following the closure of the Quiero pay-TV platform. Electronic manufacturers have high hopes for Christmas period sales and expect that a further 300,000 units will be sold.
Source: Advanced Television
Item added: 21st November 2005

Nokia predicts a commercial DVB-H launch by the end of 2006
VP of Strategy and Business Development EMEA for Nokia, Serge Ferre, said he was for a launch in Spain of the DVB-H based mobile TV system in 2006, during a recent conference in Madrid.
He was confident of success following the positive results of the recent in country pilots in Madrid and Barcelona and urged the regulatory authorities to pave the way with a clear regulation of the business.
Source: Advanced Television
Item added: 21st November 2005

 

DTT re-launch on November 30th 2005
Spain is ramping up for the re-launch of its Digital Terrestrial TV services on the 30th November.
Each commercial broadcaster currently on the analogue terrestrial platform will receive 3 DTT licences, so that as well as broadcasting digital versions of an existing service they will have two additional slots for new services.
Telecinco will offer a service devoted to fiction programmes and a sports service. Antena 3 will offer one children’s service and one service aimed at women while Sogecable will offer a news service and a music service.
Simulcasting of existing analogue TV transmissions and the new digital services are planned to continue until April 3rd 2010.
Source: DigiTag and Cinco Dias
Item added: 15th November 2005

Broadcasters launch DTT promotion organisation
A new organisation the Asociacion Pro TNT has been launched to promote DTT services in Spain.
RTVE, Telecino, Antena 3, Sogecable, Net TV, VeoTV and a representative of the regional broadcaster Forta have all joined forces together with network operator Abertis in the new Association.
The group aims to speed up the development of the DTT market, which starts with 18 channels  launching on the DTT platform next month.
One of its first tasks is to set up a study group to oversee and coordinate the digital migration, planned to be completed in April 2010.
Sources: CincoDias and advanced-television.com 20th Oct
Item added: 25th October 2005

 

Previous

Nokia are to flood the Spanish Market with TV phones according to Advanced-Television.com
The item goes on to say that the Finish mobile company plans a full-frontal assault on the Spanish mobile TV market with the massive launch in 2006 of mobile TV-ready phones.

Nokia, along with other mobile TV operators, is eagerly expecting the Government's decision to allocate the DTT mobile TV frequencies over the next months. Nokia -with a market share of around 40 per cent - is already involved in the first DVB-H project in Spain, along with Telefonica and broadcasting agency Abertis. They recently reached an agreement with several Spanish TV broadcasters - TVE, Telemadrid and TV3, Tele 5, Antena 3 and Canal Plus- to trial DVB-H with up to 15 TV channels. Initially, the launch was scheduled for September, but it is running late. The idea is to test mobile TV for six months.
Source: Advanced-television.com 30th September
Item added: 30th September 2005

National Technical Plan approved
On the 30th July 2005 the Spanish Cabinet approved the Decree for the National Technical Plan for digital television, (Televiso'n Digital Terrestre (TDT)),  which establishes the conditions for the transition to digital television and the structure of different networks, as well as the launch of a new analogue channel covering 70% of Spain.
According to the Ministry, the objective of the plan is to ensure a smooth transition to digital television and the switch off of  analogue services in 2010 as well as increasing the availablity of channels whilst ensuring provision for Independent Communities throughout Spain.
Antenna 3 TV, Telecino, and Canal + will be on a multiplex with complete coverage. RTVE will be allowed a multiplex containing four channels of programmes with regional variations as well as another SFN multiplex covering the whole of Spain.
The plan targets public coverage from RTVE as 80% of the population by December 31st 2005, 90% by 2008 and 98% at switch off in 2010.
Private operators also have the same targets although the coverage at switch off in 2010 is limited to 95%.
Item added: 8th August 2005
Source: Foro de la Television Digital


Abertis Telecom, Nokia and Telefonica Moviles Espana start the first DVB-H pilot in Spain
Abertis Telecom, Nokia and Telefonica Moviles Espaana are starting a mobile TV pilot project using Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) technology. The project is backed by major regional and local channels and is the first of its kind in Spain. It will take place between September and February 2006 finishing at the end of the World GSM Congress 2006 in Barcelona.
500 hundred users from Madrid and Barcelona will be able to watch high quality TV broadcast content from Antenna 3, Sogecable, Telecino, Telemadrid, TVE and TV3 on Nokia 7710 Smartphones modified to receive DVB-H transmissions. Tests of the pilot system were planned to start in June.
Initial source: Lycos finance
Item added: 6th July 2005

The Spanish Government agree the launch of Seven national multiplexes
The Spanish Cabinet have approved the opening of a process to launch 7 national DTT multiplexes and one new analogue channel, covering 70% of the population.
It is hoped that by the end of the year 17 digital terrestrial channels will be available.
Two of the new multiplexes will be reserved for the public broadcaster RTVE.
Antena 3, Tele 5, Sogacable, Net and VeoTV are also being allowed to keep the licences already allocated to them in 2002. One multiplex will be reserved for broadcasting to mobile devices.
The Analogue switch off date was also confirmed as April 2010.
Source: CincoDias
Item added: 27th June 2005

Countdown to DTT re-launch
The General Secretary for Telecommunications, Francisco Ros, has announced that the Government is to finally re-allocate Quiero's three and a half multiplexes (14 TV channels) "over the next weeks". The re-allocation will made amongst present broadcasters -RTVE, Antena 3, Tele 5, Canal Plus, Veo TV and Net TV- although one or two new possible entrants are not ruled out.

The Administration is holding negotiations with state-owned group RTVE about its role in the development of DTT. RTVE has asked the Government to grant it with two multiplexes to lead the market. "Undoubtedly, its role (RTVE) will be very important", said Ros. In parallel, the Government hopes that the new DTT law is finally approved in May to give a definitive boost to the market and pave the way for the launch in Autumn of a DTT platform with 22 channels, coinciding with the Christmas campaign.
Source: Advanced-Television.com
Item added: 26th April 2005

Watchdog Committee to help the development of DTT
The socialist Government has decided to create a watchdog committee to follow up the transition to digital, in an attempt to give a real boost to the DTT market.

This new body - to be set up under the presidency of the State Secretary of Telecommunications, Francisco Ros - will be composed of representatives from state-owned group RTVE, regional channels (FORTA), private televisions (UTECA), radio stations, electronic manufacturers, installers and wholesalers.

The committee aims to take the necessary decisions to foster and develop DTT, as well as to establish and approve a global strategy in the transition period to digital until the analogue switch-over now scheduled for 2010.

Within this Committee, the Ministry of Industry will also create the so-called DTT Technical Forum, responsible for carrying out the technical actions approved by the Committee.

The creation of this watchdog committee takes place at a time when the Government-sponsored DTT bill - under discussion in Parliament - is causing a stir in the TV market.
Source: David Vale for Advanced Television.com
More at: http://www.advanced-television.com/2005/news_archive_2005/Feb21_25.htm

The information provided comes from several sources and whilst DVB believe it to be correct we cannot guarantee its accuracy.

If you have more up to date information or corrections please send them to dvb@dvb.org.

Last page update: 28th November 2011, Barry Tew.