March/April 2013 6 World (Continued on Page 8) (Continued from Page 4) Thai TV audiences were recently introduced to three new channels — KIX, Thrill and Celestial Classic Movies. Last February, the three channels became available on Cable Thai Holding’s (CTH) platform, which reaches over 3.5 million TVHH in Thailand. The channels come from one-year-old company Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE). KIX, which is dedicated to action entertainment across all genres, is offered in CTH’s basic pack. Thrill — a channel focusing on horror, thriller and suspense—and Celestial Classic Movies — which specializes in Chinese film — are both carried in CTH’s premium packs. Thai TV Gets New Channels Last year, four terrestrial broadcastingorganizations and several broadcasting associations formed the “Future of Broadcasting TV” (FOBTV) initiative with its secretariat based in Shanghai, China. Broadcasters included Canada, CBC, Brazil’s GloboTV and Japan’s NHK. Among the associations were NAB and EBU. Subsequently,manyothers joined in and signed a memorandum of understanding that set the goals for the initiative. According to a statement issued by FOBTV, broadcasters around the world face numerous challenges on technical, business and regulatory fronts: Spectrum is being sought after for broadband by technology providers, putting pressure on thebroadcastindustrytoimprove spectral efficiency. The style of media consumption is changing drastically with time-shifting, place-shifting, connected and multi-screen services. FOBTV requirements reflect the broadcast industry’s commitment to take advantage of future broadcast systems. Requirementswill bedeveloped with cooperation among broadcasters, communications companies and manufacturers of broadcast equipment and all types of receiving devices. Next generation systems include the following requirements: * Mobility — broadcasting to devices used on the move. * Configurability — the ability to dynamically change transmission parameters. * Adaptability — intelligent receivers that can adapt to changes in transmission. * Scalability — video quality such as resolution and frame rate. * Higher-resolution systems, and consumer-friendly services for those who require special needs. * Collaboration between broadcast and Internet content providers to provide attractive services. * Critical role played by broadcasters in times of emergency. * Unnecessary spectrum consumption fuelled by competition should be avoided. * Possibilities of crosssectorial, cross-border and cross-regional cooperation should be explored. B’casters Ready For Challenges
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI4OTA5