According to a study by Extreme Reach, the number of commercials delivered in High Definition in the US has increased by up to 50%. According to Extreme Reach, HD ads accounted for only 10% of all ads distributed by advertisers to broadcast and cable media outlets in 2010. However, that number has doubled in 2011. Extreme Reach lists reduced distribution costs, better penetration of HD broadcasters and better campaign execution as the reasons for the increase.

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New research by In-Stat reveals despite TV apps are not the reason for consumers purchasing connected TVs, over 60% of connected households will use a TV app at least once weekly. The Q2'11 US Digital Entertainment Database report indicates advent smart TV consumers are rapidly adopting online TV applications that are integrated into their connected TVs.

In-Stat calculates that nearly a quarter (22%) of US broadband households already own an HDTV with integrated TV apps and predicts that shipments of connected TVs with integrated TV applications will grow by an average 36% over the next five years.

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Apple’s rumoured entry into the connected HDTV market would bring as much as $50 to $100 billion to its market cap, according to a new report from analyst Maynard Um of UBS Investment Research—if Apple can gain enough market share to catch HDTV leaders like Samsung and Phillips.

The growth of several convergent sectors—IP set-tops, flat screens—gives Apple an unparalleled opportunity to enter the market with a differentiated product that leverages iTunes and the rest of he Apple walled garden.

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Rapid TV News reports that according to a recent study by Nielsen, How People Watch, 27,000 online consumers in 55 countries were surveyed, revealing that around 70 per cent of consumers watch videos online, and tablet PCs expanding the definition of mobile video, with 11% of connected consumers saying they already owned or planned to purchase a tablet PC (such as an iPad) in the next year.

TV remains a universally important platform for video consumption, with connected consumers in many markets spending 4+ hours per day watching TV. HD is boosting consumption, improving the TV viewing experience for 30%. Adoption is highest among older consumers, and in North America, where HD content has proliferated.

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Rapid TV News reports that Orbit-Showtime Network will add another six high-definition channels for Middle East viewers, marking the biggest development in TV in the last 15 years. OSN now has a total of nine HDTV channels in less than two months. Only subscribers who have swapped their old receivers with the new ones can view the new services.

According to Marc-Antoine d’Halluin, CEO, OSN, “the line-up will elevate viewers’ TV experience to new heights, by bringing entertainment to life with vibrant colours and superb quality sound creating a completely unique television experience.”

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Rapid TV News reports that Orbit-Showtime Network (OSN) has been relaunched yesterday to offer a new look and eight new channels, three of which are in high definition. Viewers will not be able to view the three HDTV channels unless they get the new set-top box, which will not be available for a few weeks. It will take about 9 months before all subscribers get a new one.

The three new HDTV services are OSN Movies HD, Nat Geo Wild HD and Discovery HD, while the five new standard channels are OSN Variety, Scripps’ Food Network, MTV Networks-owned BET (Black Entertainment TV), Discovery’s Investigation Discovery (ID) and OSN Arabia.

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RapidTVNews reports that Dubai says its 5 TV channels will go HDTV. “The move is in line with the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai,” said the official communiqué.

Ahmad Abdullah Al Shaikh, Shaikh Mohammad's media aide and the Managing Director of Dubai Media Incorporated which runs the channels, announced the transformation into the new system, stating that its quality would be “ten times” better than the analogue system, which again shows that you can fool some of the people some of the time.

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Rapid TV News reports that Northern Sky Research (NSR) predicts a spectacular 2400% increase in the number of HDTV channels over the Middle East and North Africa between 2007 and 2017. That could be a miracle given that there’s barely an hour’s worth of HDTV on air over the region.

This jump equals, says NSR, an average annual growth rate of 38% over the 10 years examined. “Some years will see more HD channels launched, some fewer, but this is equivalent to an average of 13 new HD channels carried on satellite each and every year between now and 2017. In general, the satellite industry would consider the Arabsat slots at 26.0 and 30.5 degrees East and Nilesat's 7.0 degrees West as the three main video broadcasting locations for the Middle East & North Africa. Further, add to this Eutelsat's Eurobird-2 satellite at 25.5 degrees East and of course the "Nilesat-103" satellite is none other than Eutelsat's Atlantic Bird-4 satellite, which is used by several other broadcasters for the Middle East & North Africa besides Nilesat.”

In its forecast, NSR predicts that by 2017 there will be an average of 4.1 HD channels broadcast per leased transponder. At first glance this may not appear to be a major increase over a ten-year forecast period given that it is commonly accepted today that three to four HD channels are easily carried per transponder using MPEG-4 compression.

NSR say that accommodating HD channel growth for the Middle East & North Africa will be challenging but appears to be actually well within the realm of the available capacity existing or planned for the region.

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