Three out of every four homes in Britain can now get fixed broadband services at superfast speeds if they choose.  Contrary to frequent jibes(1) that the UK is backward in developing next-generation broadband services, this is one of the highest proportions for any major country in Europe.

With an innumerable array of high-tech smart TVs, computers, mobile phones and portable gadgets driving mainstream media consumption habits away from traditional, living room TV experiences and towards flexible, anywhere-anytime digital media absorption, the global content delivery industry has earmarked the Middle East as its next major growth territory.

New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that 77% of households in the United States have at least one high definition television (HDTV) set, and about 46% of all households have multiple HDTVs. Five years ago, 34% of US households had at least one HDTV, and 11% of households had more than one HDTV.

About 72% of TV sets used in HD households are HDTVs. Including non-HDTV households, 59% of all television sets used in US households are HDTVs -- up from 34% in 2010, 18% in 2008, and 3% in 2004.

The World Teleport Association (WTA) today released Satellite Operator Benchmarks 2014, the fourth annual WTA global study. The study tracks, rates, and compares the operational and commercial performance of satellite operators, as experienced by a global sample of teleport operators, with the objective of strengthening the industry by driving self-improvement across all companies.

TechNavio's analysts forecast the Global Video Management Software market to grow at a CAGR of 18.51 percent over the period 2013-2018. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increasing security concerns. The Global Video Management Software market has also been witnessing the increasing demand for high-quality images. However, the lack of standardization could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

Ultra HD, the new TV technology, should receive a positive reaction from European consumers according to the latest survey results from Strategy Analytics’ ConsumerMetrix service. The report, "Ultra HDTV: More Than Half Would Buy", found that 15 percent of respondents in a survey of more than 4000 people across France, Germany, Italy and the UK said they would be very likely to buy an Ultra HDTV, and 41 percent said they would be somewhat likely to buy one in the next two years.

Other conclusions from the survey included:  

By end of 2017, Arab Advisors Group projects the Arab World’s Satellite Pay TV subscriptions to increase to 19 million with total market revenues reaching US$ 2.5 billion.

As of February 2014, five Satellite Pay TV providers targeted the Arab World. In a new report, the Arab Advisors Group provides a detailed analysis and projections of the satellite Pay TV market in the Arab World.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Requiem for the Television: Tablets, OTT, Faster Broadband to make Today's TV Unrecognizable" report to their offering. This report also considers the last major change in TV manufacturing.

At the Mobile World Congress this week, Parks Associates released results of a report showing roughly 29% of U.S. broadband users watch video on a mobile phone monthly, with the average user watching 1.7 hours of video on a mobile phone each week.

Consumer exposure to advanced recommendations engines will grow to reach 75% of Pay TV households on multiscreen services and 55% on set-top boxes within North America by 2018, up from 20% and 10% in 2013, respectively, according to ABI Research.

This significant growth is driven by today’s highly competitive viewer landscape for Pay TV and OTT operators. At the core of this are search, recommendation and discovery technologies that rely heavily on rich metadata as well as user analysis and learning.