– Orange-Canal: A long-standing battle between two of France’s biggest media companies appears to have been resolved, as France Telecom-Orange and the Vivendi-owned Canal Plus Group agree to cross-promote each others’ paid TV strategies. Orange will now offer subscribers to its new Orange TV satellite service the chance to subscribe to CPG’s paid TV box Canal Plus and its multi-channel digital service CanalSat. A row has simmered for months between the two as CPG was riled by the launch of Orange’s satellite TV service in August and the launch of Orange Cinema Service in November, a five-channel pay TV service seen as a direct competitor to CPG’s TV packages. From Variety.com.
— Orange video: Meanwhile Orange is busy ramping up its UK online presence by adding more video to its broadband portal. Three-minute videos from the likes of Telegraph TV, Horoscopes.co.uk and Moviebeat are being added to the a new video sections as well as to the portal’s travel, motoring, music and movies sections, aiming to include advertising. From NMA.co.uk.
— Sky Text: BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) has relaunched it Teletext-style, on-screen news and information service, available to satellite subscribers and on Sky’s Freeview channels. The service has been given a makeover to more closely resemblee Sky’s red-button content and the broadcaster’s sales house Sky Media is keen to extend commercial deals across the two. Via NMA.
— Broadband speeds: The UK’s average broadband speed is 3.6Mbps, despite 60 percent of households subscribing to packages promising up to eight mbps, according to a new study from media watchdog Ofcom. Following the announcement of a new code regulating how ISPs can advertise broadband speeds, media watchdog Ofcom today releases figures showing that on average users get speeds 45 percent slower than the fastest speed advertised by their ISP. Release.
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