The amount of online video we watch via our smartphones and tablets is set to double this year according to Ooyala's latest Global Video Index for the 2nd quarter 2013. Viewers using mobile phones are watching video content for longer with over half watching for 10 minutes or longer and one fifth watching for over an hour. Live streamed content is proving more popular than video on demand with almost double the viewing figures for second screen devices and 15 times the amount on desktops and laptops.

According to Euroconsult’s latest research report,"Satellite-Based Earth Observation: Market Prospects to 2022," the number of Earth observation (EO) satellites launched by civil government and commercial entities is expected to more than double over the next decade to 360 satellites, translating into $35.8 billion in manufacturing revenues over 2013 to 2022, an 88% increase over the previous decade. New government and commercial entrants are anticipated, with organizations from 42 countries expected to have launched at least a first-generation EO satellite by 2022.

NSR’s Maritime Satellite Markets report, released today, projects the market is entering the next phase of development aided by higher bandwidth offerings, increased regulations and a more demanding addressable market.  In total, NSR forecasts the maritime satcom market to generate almost $4 Billion in revenues, demand for 200 transponders of FSS capacity and 28 Gbps of HTS capacity, and over 1 Million In-service Units by 2022.

The global Pay TV market continues to grow in the first two quarters of 2013, adding 23 million new subscribers for a 3% increase. In particular, telco TV and satellite TV growth was robust while cable and terrestrial Pay TV services experienced virtually flat growth.

“ABI Research expects that worldwide Pay TV subscribers will reach 895 million by the end of 2013, to generate service revenue of USD 245 billion,” comments Jake Saunders, VP and practice director of core forecasting.

The physical divide for broadband internet access is being addressed but it's the social divide that really needs attention now.  Point Topic, along with representatives from Ofcom, the ONS, BT, Shelter, the Tinder Foundation and the Oxford Internet Institute amongst others attended the 7th Social Digital Research Symposium in London yesterday.

Covering 97 countries, the number of homes paying for IPTV will rocket to 167  million by end-2018, up from 69 million at end-2012 and from only 13 million at end- 2008, according to a new report from Digital TV Research.

Simon Murray, author of the Global IPTV Forecasts report, said: “This means that  IPTV penetration will exceed 10% of TV households by 2018, more than double the  2012 figure and up from only 1% in 2008. IPTV revenues [from subscriptions and  on-demand] will grow to $21.3 billion by 2018, up from US$ 12.0 billion in 2012 and  US$ 2.8 billion in 2008.”

At the end of 2Q-2013, the total subscriptions in Africa reached 863 million—a strong growth of 9.3% year-on-year (YoY), which is substantially more robust than other regions around the world. Africa’s growth trajectory will continue up to 2018, with a CAGR of 6.6%, to reach 1.25 billion. “What’s more, due to the lower comparative 3G penetration of 13.8% in Africa at the end of 2013, ABI Research forecasts that Africa 3G subscriptions will grow rapidly from 114 million in 2013 to 210 million by 2015,” comments Marina Lu, research associate at ABI Research.

NSR’s Global Assessment of Satellite Supply & Demand, 10th Edition report, released today, projects commercial satellite operator revenues from transponder and bandwidth leasing will top US$18.8 billion in the coming ten years, up from US$11.2 billion in 2012. This strong growth comes from a mix of C, Ku and widebeam Ka-band transponder leasing gains in such diverse markets as DTH, video distribution and VSAT networking, generating some US$4.5 billion in new revenues by 2022.

According to the latest findings published in the NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, Q2‘13 overall worldwide TV shipments were down 3% Y/Y, though LCD TV shipments managed to grow 4% Y/Y. The overall trend in total shipments, while still negative, is showing some improvement from last year, with LCD TV shipments posting slight growth over the past two quarters. China continues to be a catalyst for global LCD TV shipment growth, though Q2’13 growth was likely the result of industry incentives.

Subscriptions to pay-TV in Canada fell by 10,810 in the second quarter of the year, with gains in the Internet Protocol television (IPTV) segment failing to offset losses in both cable and satellite, according to a new TV Intelligence report from information and analytics provider IHS.