Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of over-the-air programming was the most common form of media distribution. As Internet and IPTV technologies continued to develop in the 1990s, consumers began to gravitate towards non-traditional modes of content consumption, which culminated in the arrival of VOD on televisions and personal computers.
Television in the Netherlands was officially introduced in 1951. In the Netherlands, the television market is divided between a number of commercial networks, such as RTL Nederland, and a system of public broadcasters sharing three channels, NPO 1, NPO 2, and NPO 3. Imported programmes, as well as news interviews with responses in a foreign language, are almost always shown in their original language, with subtitles.
RTL Group is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate centre in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 68 television channels and 31 radio stations in Germany, France and other European countries. It also offers national streaming platforms, content productions and a range of digital services. Important segments of RTL Group are RTL Deutschland, Groupe M6, Fremantle and RTL Nederland.
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial, and streaming television. In the United States, subscription television began in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the form of encrypted analog over-the-air broadcast television which could be decrypted with special equipment. The concept rapidly expanded through the multi-channel transition and into the post-network era. Other parts of the world beyond the United States, such as France and Latin America have also offered encrypted analog terrestrial signals available for subscription.
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription, other ongoing cost, or one-off fee. In the traditional sense, this is carried on terrestrial radio signals and received with an antenna.
Pirate decryption is the decryption, or decoding, of pay TV or pay radio signals without permission from the original broadcaster. The term "pirate" is used in the sense of copyright infringement. The MPAA and other groups which lobby in favour of intellectual property regulations have labelled such decryption as "signal theft" even though there is no direct tangible loss on the part of the original broadcaster, arguing that losing out on a potential chance to profit from a consumer's subscription fees counts as a loss of actual profit.
Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by the RTL Group. The channel originally launched in 1995 as a joint venture between RTL Group predecessor company CLT-UFA and Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investments division.
Television in Germany began in Berlin on 22 March 1935, broadcasting for 90 minutes three times a week. It was home to the first public television station in the world, named Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow.
Zattoo is a TV platform for IP-based transmission of television channels and video on demand content to a variety of devices. The company headquarters are located in Zurich and it has an additional office in Berlin. Zattoo is operational in two business areas - in addition to its own B2C TV streaming operations aimed at end customers in countries such as Germany and Switzerland, Zattoo has a B2B offering and works with telecommunication companies worldwide.
Nick is a German free-to-air television channel, part of the international Nickelodeon brand. Originally launched in 1995, and relaunched in 2005, Nickelodeon is based in Berlin. The channel is available on subscription services and as an unscrambled, free-to-air (FTA) satellite signal. On 31 March 2010, the channel re-adopted the name Nickelodeon on air and online, in addition to the new Nickelodeon logo and graphical package being rolled out internationally at the time. Since then, the channel is also broadcast in English in addition to German on a secondary audio track.
Television in Belgium was introduced in 1953 and began with one channel each in Dutch and French. The country is heavily cabled, with 93% of households watching television through cable as of 2003.
Paramount International Networks (PIN) is the international division of Paramount Global. The division oversees the production, broadcasting and promotion of key Paramount's brands outside of the United States. These brands include Paramount Network, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET and Colors TV, as well as CBS-branded channels, which are co-owned with AMC Networks International. PIN also owns a 30% stake in the Rainbow S.p.A. animation studio in Italy, as well as a 49% stake in an Indian joint venture with domestic partner TV18, Viacom18.
SES Platform Services GmbH was a subsidiary company of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. From its headquarters in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany, SES Platform Services operated a broadcasting centre, providing a wide range of services, including content management, playout, encryption, multiplexing, satellite uplinks and other digital TV media broadcast services for the broadcast industry.
HD+ is a premium high-definition (HD) satellite television service for German users, owned by HD PLUS GmbH, a subsidiary of SES based in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany.
TV Everywhere refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themselves as current subscribers to the channel, via an account provided by their participating pay television provider, in order to access the content.
beIN Sports is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef Obaidly.
In broadcast television, cord-cutting refers to the pattern of viewers, referred to as cord-cutters, cancelling their subscriptions to multichannel television services available over cable or satellite, dropping pay television channels or reducing the number of hours of subscription TV viewed in response to competition from rival media available over the Internet. This content is either free or significantly cheaper than the same content provided via cable.
RTL Deutschland is a German media company based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in 2007 as a holding company for the German television, broadcasting and content production businesses of the RTL Group, which is majority-owned by Bertelsmann.
Livestreamed news refers to live videos streams of television news which are provided via streaming television or via streaming media by various television networks and television news outlets, from various countries. The majority of live news streams are produced as world news broadcasts, by major television networks, or by major news channels; however, there are some live news streams which are produced by individual local television channels as well.
