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euro news1112v3_news 10/12/2015 18:20 Page 7 Eutelsat: Consumers ready to embrace UHD ey findings of new qualitative consumer research conducted for Eutelsat by market research firm TNS, and fresh data from GfK on Ultra HD screen sales, suggest that consumers in key European TV markets are ready to embrace Ultra HD and invest in equipment and content. “Eutelsat has researched consumer awareness and appetite for the Ultra HD experience in order to support our broadcast clients as they evaluate business models and K Germany, Poland Russia and Turkey: the first wave in November 2014 and the second in June 2015. The objective, in a series of focus groups, was to expose pay-TV subscribers and free-toair viewers to an unprompted Ultra HD experience and gather insight on their response. The results show common trends across all “The stage is set for Ultra HD to be TV’s next big success story.” timing for rolling-out Ultra HD content,” said Markus Fritz, Eutelsat director of commercial development and marketing. “The stage is set for Ultra HD to be TV’s next big success story and Eutelsat, as a leader in satellite delivery, is ready to accompany clients in this new rendezvous with viewers.” The consumer qualitative study was carried out in two waves in Italy, France, the UK, Amazon Web Services acquires Elemental Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud technology infrastructure platform unit of Amazon, is to acquire software-defined video solutions specialist Elemental Technologies. The acquisition brings together Elemental’s leading video solutions with the AWS Cloud platform to provide media and entertainment companies with a range of integrated solutions to efficiently and economically scale video infrastructures as the media industry increasingly moves to markets. Panellists identified sharpness, immersion and vivid colour as outstanding benefits and indicated a willingness to pay up to €10 a month to benefit from Ultra HD in the home. Their investment threshold for new TV sets also matched current price points of between €1,000 and €3,000 for screens within the 50” range. While pay- TV subscribers showed a strong preference for linear Ultra HD channels, viewers used to free TV expressed a preference to gain their first Internet-based delivery. “Elemental shares Amazon’s passion for invention and putting the customer first,” said Andy Jassy, SVP of Amazon Web Services. “Together, we’ll collaborate on deeper technology integrations and new infrastructure offerings so that media and entertainment companies can evolve their hybrid and cloud models as they continue to experience through VOD and occasional, event-specific offerings. Eutelsat also presented new forecasts from GfK on Ultra HD screen sales over the coming six months and coming five years. GfK predicts a striking 200 % hike in Ultra HD screen sales from June to December 2015. It expects sales to hit the five million mark by the end of the year (3.6m in Western Europe, 700,000 in Eastern Europe and 600,000 in the Middle East). GfK also forecasts that Ultra HD screens in 2020 will represent more than 70% of total sales across Europe and almost 60% in the Middle East and North Africa. The annual volume of screens sold in these markets is expected by then to have reached 37m. representing 9.3% of all TV sales in 21 key markets in these regions. Accumulated sales will result in a potential installed base of 6.2m TV homes. “The price points to drive take-up have already been reached,” declared Fritz. “There are no market entry barriers now we’ve reached the right point.” innovate their services for viewers.”  Elemental will continue to operate its business under its existing brand, delivering the full range of solutions for pay-TV operators, content programmers, broadcasters, governments, and enterprise customers. Elemental will also expand the integration of its offerings with AWS, and through close collaboration with AWS, accelerate the innovation of nextgeneration services that feature a range of solutions for customers leveraging on-premises assets, hybrid architectures, and cloud. “The media and entertainment industry is at a unique inflection point and as a part of Amazon we will be in an even stronger position to help our customers delight their viewers globally,” said Sam Blackman, co-founder and CEO of Elemental (left). “We’re thrilled to have Amazon supporting our growth and ongoing commitment to our customers’ success.” Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed and are subject to closing conditions. EUROMEDIA 13