MRG Releases September 2007 Global IPTV Market Leaders Report

San Jose, CA—Nobember 10, 2007 — MRG, Inc announces the  IPTV Market Leaders Report-- September 2007, which tracks the top 120 IPTV vendors in 24 regional sub-sectors based on their installed base for 6 product areas in over 600 IPTV Operations and 8 million subscribers worldwide.

“It’s far too early to call the IPTV market ‘mature,’” says Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG, “but the industry is definitely becoming less volatile. In our last February ’07 Report,  50% of the Number-One companies changed; but in this one, less than 20% of the Number-Ones changed.” Yet, some volatility continues due to large increases in subscriptions (as seen at Verzion, France Telecom, Neuf Cegetel, Belgacom and Telefónica), and growing influence of Chinese vendors like Huawei, ZTE, and UTStarcom.

Another important shift is Alcatel-Lucent’s Number One global position in Middleware which is based on its own (non-Microsoft) Middleware products. First-place industry leaders are expanding their lead, as illustrated by large companies like Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent.  

Yet, there is room for small companies in most product areas, due to large regional and local variations in market demands, as illustrated by small companies such as Verimatrix and Kasenna, each of them global leaders. The report also anticipates growth potential that can be very important to small companies with installations in high-growth operations like China Netcom or Belgacom.

The Number-One companies for top share-of-market in the six global IPTV categories are:

Access: Alcatel-Lucent
Video Headend: Motorola
Middleware: Alcatel-Lucent
Video-On-Demand: Kasenna
Set-top Boxes: Motorola
Content Protection/ Digital Rights Management: Verimatrix

“This report provides unmatched granularity in the market niches and nuances that really count the most. The positioning and strategies within the regional sectors is where most companies are targeting their energies,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “This report is a superb navigation tool for smart companies in a crowded market.”

For a complete listing of the top companies in each of the 24 sub-sectors, see this link: http://www.mrgco.com/TOC_IPTV_MLR0907.html

For more information about the report or to order a Corporte License, contact Rob Smith at MRG, rsmith@mrgco.com. Or, telephone 1-408-453-5553 (San Jose, CA, USA). The price of this 71-page (indexed) report is $3,995 USD for a printed copy, and $5,200 USD for a PDF format Departmental License. It is free for subscribers to the IPTV Tracking Service.

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Internet Video for IPTV Service Providers

San Jose, CA—September 24, 2007 — IPTV operators of managed networks everywhere are wondering how best to deal with (best-effort) Internet Video services that may eventually become either partners or competitors. The new “Internet Video Report for IPTV Service Providers” from MRG investigates how IPTV can leverage both professionally-developed and user-generated video content to reduce churn and generate revenue.

“We’ve found that using Internet Video is a tremendous opportunity if it’s tailored around the IPTV operator’s local market,” states Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG, Inc. “Internet Video, if brought onto a managed network with superb search and display, can be a significant added-value for the IPTV operator.”

Since one of the key disadvantages about Internet Video like YouTube is its low production quality or content quality, an IPTV operator can offer richer and more personalized or localized versions on a managed network that shows strikingly better visuals and content quality.

Featured in the report are over 90 content and technology companies ranging from “top-down” Internet services like Joost and Babelgum; to “bottom-up” companies like YouTube, Metacafe and Dabble. The report also examines roles played by large media companies like BBC, Fox, CNBC, and Comcast, as well as powerful portal development & video hosting companies like thePlatform, The FeedRoom, and Maven Networks.

“This is the first IPTV report outlining Internet Video strategy scenarios for IPTV operators,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “This report takes on the unique task of integrating the dynamics of Internet Video with the unique quality and two-way delivery capabilities of IPTV.”

The report also shows examples of how a combination of user-generated and professional video content can be integrated into a multi-channel service, such as the case study of Current TV shown in Europe and the U.S.

“IPTV Operators will need to seize Internet Video as a opportunity,” says Len Feldman. “Doing this reflects and anticipates the deeper changes going on in all digital media that cannot be stopped.”

The 134-page report, Internet Video for IPTV Service Providers — September 2007, is available for $2,995.00 USD (printed); or $3,495.00 USD (PDF single-departmental); or is available free as part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service. For information or to order the report or a Corporate License, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.  

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MRG Releases IPTV Middleware Report
Identifying Leaders in Global Race

Microsoft's Proprietary Approach Struggles
as Best-of-Breed Apprach Succeeds

San Jose, CA: July 16, 2007—The continued growth of the global IPTV industry, specifically in Europe, Asia and North America, hinges upon the misunderstood “Middleware” that glues together the many working parts of the IPTV end-to-end system. “Without flexible middleware that can easily and predictably increase the number of subscribers and the breadth of services, IPTV operators will not sustain long-term growth or stability,” states Steve Hawley, MRG Sr. Analyst. “Middleware can make or break the success of an IPTV service.”  

Although “fast channel change” is discussed, it is only one of many issues reviewed in this definitive report. “Growing their IPTV services from the basic stage, through intermediate, advanced and eventually, the  “converged” stage (where video, wireless and wireline services are all integrated) is what IPTV operators really need to accomplish---all within carefully defined bandwidth  and financial budgets, “ states Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG. “This report shows how to accomplish this either with existing or new middleware.”  

Based on actual deployed subscribers, Thomson, Cascade, Alcatel-Lucent (MiViewTV), UTStarcom and Nokia Siemens Networks (Myrio) ranked in the top five globally. Microsoft Mediaroom (ex-IPTV Edition) ranked last out of fourteen IPTV companies, indicating continued scaling problems with its middleware using Microsoft-required technologies. The report objectively guides IPTV operators through the platform capabilities and technical considerations to help them identify the middleware best matching their service requirements, by comparing the partnerships, feature-function support, and the number of servers required for supporting 30,000, 300,000, 1 million and more subscribers for the fourteen vendors. Also included are detailed profiles of these vendors, their products and middleware partnerships, and a case study  of how Verizon switched its middleware supplier for its IPTV/RF hybrid-service.

“The middleware required to support basic IPTV services is very different from that of an advanced-level service,” states Hawley.  “MRG’s study will help IPTV operators of any size to make the right middleware decisions.“  

The 344-page report, IPTV Middleware Ranking Report: Rapid Scaling of Subscribers & Services—June 2007, is available for $2,995.00 USD (printed); or $3,495.00 USD (PDF single-departmental); or is available free as part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service. For information or to order the report or a Corporate License, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.  

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Over 240 Million TV-Enabled Handsets and Over $2.9 Billion
of Infrastructure Equipment To Be Sold By 2011  

MRG Releases In-Depth Analysis of Global Mobile TV Markets
and the Standards that Drive Them

Las Vegas, NV: April 16, 2007—MRG, Inc. announces a sweeping new Mobile TV Market analysis and forecast that provides a ground-up analysis of over 70 trials and deployments, using both the better-known DVB-H and MediaFLO technologies and other technologies like DVB-S, 3G, DAB IP, T-DMB, S-DMB and WiMAX. The report spans over 55 countries and 5 major regions, and is designed for investors, operators, vendors and content owners who need to grasp the rate and scope of growth for both Mobile TV services and supporting infrastructure and handsets. 

Additionally, the report discusses viable business models used, including (traditional) local advertising, subscription models, long-form and short-form linear and on-demand content, addressable advertising and others. “This is the guide-book that every vendor, integrator and Mobile TV operator wants to have close by during planning, trial and execution,” says Peter White, author and Sr. MRG Analyst. “Cellular companies, broadcasters and content owners have everything to win if they cooperate on a market-by-market basis as found in the study of successful deployments.”

“No other report forecasts the Mobile TV infrastructure market from the ground-up, as this one does,” states Gary Schultz, President, MRG. “Because of the local variables like which spectrum is used, the local terrestrial and building topography, and local penetration and replacement rate of handsets, this report clarifies big issues that will assist vendors in targeting new local and regional opportunities.”

These 70 trials and deployments, along with the results of consumer surveys, illustrate that Mobile TV is driven by people wanting to liven up small and boring spots in their everyday life with a drama, news program or sports programs that they care about. The report also shows how the drivers of these markets will be similar to home-based TV watching, plus special event programming like sports and large music concerts.

The (175-page) Mobile TV: Global Standards Review & Forecast for Infrastructure and Handsets—2007-20111 is available in printed format for $3,995.00 US; or as a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00 US. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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New MRG IPTV Global Forecasts
14.3 Million Subscribers in 2007 and 63.6 Million in 2011  

Microsoft Middleware Users Experience Continued Delays–Again

Las Vegas, NV: April 16, 2007—The steady growth of IPTV subscribers and service revenue continues on an upward trend in Europe and Asia and, to some extent, in North America, according to the new MRG report IPTV Global Forecast Report—April 2007.

Driving the market’s successful growth in the past 6 months is fast growth in Europe, especially France, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Eastern Europe; in Asia, especially China, Japan, and Hong Kong; and in North America, especially Verizon, the IOCs (Independent Operating Companies) and Canada. “Our forecast shows service provider revenue growing from $3.6 billion in 2007 to $20.3 billion in 2011,” states Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG. “Europe continues to be the biggest market for IPTV, with France easily leading the growth spurt through IPTV operators Free, Orange France Telecom and Neuf Cegetel.”

“Success is also driven by seasoned operators who have mastered critical competitive operations like continuous quality improvement and content negotiations,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “By mastering these challenges, the experienced operators are successfully differentiating themselves and moving into sustained growth periods.”

The underachieving operators continue to be those, like AT&T and Deutsche Telecom, who rely on Microsoft’s beleaguered middleware that has been “architecturally challenged” with its inability to scale. The report conjectures that further delays at AT&T will result in replacement of the MS middleware by mid-to-late 2007.  However, the lack of MPEG-4/AVC set-top box chips, which was causing a drag on the market in late 2006, has been resolved, and should result in a continued uptake through 2007.

Tracking over 570 total IPTV operators worldwide, the report analyzes capital spending by four regions and by seven IPTV product sectors, including Access, Video Headends, VOD, Content-Protection, Middleware, Set-top Boxes and System-Integration. The report also includes capital spending detail of the top 25 global service providers.

The (74-page) IPTV Global Forecast Report—April 2007 is available in printed format for $3,995.00 US; as a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00 US; and is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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MRG Releases Winners in Global IPTV Market Leader Report  

Competitive Race Continues for "Best of Breed" Status by Sector and Region

Sunnyvale, CA: April 12, 2007—MRG, Inc has released the names of the first place companies in its new IPTV Market Leader Report for March 2007, which tracks the top IPTV vendors in 24 sub-sectors (six each for four geographical regions) based on their deployments and installed base in over 570 IPTV Service Providers (SPs) worldwide. The report demonstrates the extreme volatility in the IPTV industry, with half the number one market leaders changing position since the previous report. “The greatest volatility was in Video-On-Demand, where all but one of the number ones changed,” states Len Feldman, IPTV Analysis Director. “The least volatility was in Video Headends, where not a single number one changed since the last report.”

The causes of some of this volatility include M&As such as that of Alcatel-Lucent; large increases in subscriptions (as seen at Verzion, France Telecom and Telefonica); and commercialization of in-house software, as seen with PCCW's Cascade software. “The report also identifies the top 5-10 companies in each of the six product categories in each of four regions,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “We believe this allows for the best possible granularity with which to understand the competitive picture for each IPTV product and region.” Sectors tracked in each region include Middleware, Video Headends, Set-top Boxes, Content Protection, Access Ports, and Video-On-Demand (VOD) licenses. A total of about 80 competing companies or divisions are ranked. While about 300 of 570 (mostly telco-based) Service Providers examined are US Independent Operators, the biggest share of subscribers come from the European market.

The report also anticipates upside growth potential of each of the top 25-30 vendors in the industry by sector, based on the twenty largest and fastest-growing Service Providers in four global regions in which these vendors have deployed products. Growth prospects can be very important to even a small company with installations in high-growth SPs like China Netcom or Belgacom, even though the vendor itself is small at the moment.

The winners of the first place awards for top share-of market in the six global IPTV categories are:

Access: Alcatel-Lucent
Video Headend: Motorola/ Tut
Middleware: Thomson
Video-On-Demand: Harmonic
Set-top Boxes: Motorola
Content Protection/ Digital Rights Management: Verimatrix

For a complete listing of the top companies in each of 4 global regions, see this link:
www.mrgco.com/TOC_IPTV_MLR0307.html

For more information, contact Grace Moyles, EMEA Business Director, gracem@mrgco.com; John Jackson, Business Director for Asia, North America Markets, john@mrgco.com; or Rob Smith at MRG Headquarters, rsmith@mrgco.com. Or, telephone 1-408-453-5553 (Sunnyvale, CA, USA). The price of this 59-page report is $3,995 USD for a printed copy, and $5,200 USD for a PDF format Departmental License. It is free for subscribers to the IPTV Tracking Service.

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MRG Report Assesses CATV Infrastructure Upgrade Market 

Identifying Cable Strategies to Meet Threat from IPTV & Satellite, and Tracking Over
$350 Million Cap-ex for Switched Video and Bandwidth Expansion

February 26, 2007— Sunnyvale, CA—Large U.S. CATV Operators (MSOs) are developing bandwidth-saving strategies to support new services in 2007 to 2010, as a means to anticipate new competition from Satellite, IPTV (or Telco TV) and Internet Video. Using Digital Simulcast, Switched Video, Statmuxing, G-QAM Usage, Reclaiming Analog Channels, and Node-Size Reduction as part of their arsenals, MSOs have already installed testbeds and trial operations as a means to enhance their operational and revenue-generating capabilities. The new report from MRG, “CATV Infrastructure: Assessing Strategies & Forecast” provides in-depth analysis and unit/revenue forecasts for strategic cap-ex outlays anticipated by US MSOs using these and other strategies.

“In lieu of migrating MPEG-4 AVC compression, which can be prohibitively expensive, cable operators are exercising a range of other options to upgrade their MPEG-2 networks,” states Kiran Bellare, MRG Sr. Analyst. “This report identifies which choice is best for improving near-term performance in delivering new services like HD, long-tail, VOD-based advertising and others.” 

Among others, switched video has gained a lot of interest over the last year as MSOs try to extend their available bandwidth to offer more content and services. While some MSOs are very aggressive with switched video technical trials, others are primarily focusing on digital simulcasting, node-size reduction and upgraded G-QAMs for improved bandwidth usage. Reclaimed bandwidth, then, is used to enhance HD, long-tail and targeted advertising and interactive services. The report profiles seven US MSO upgrade strategies, including what new services the upgrades will afford, and the cap-ex costs of the various upgrades. It also forecasts overall cost estimates for the critical 3-year period for the entire US market.

“This report will be useful to cable operations and financial executives,” states Len Feldman, MRG’s Director of Analysis. “Strategy and content acquisition executives need to add new services while conserving on capital and operational expenditures.”

The price of this 150 page “CATV Infrastructure: Assessing Strategies & Forecast” report is $1,995.00 USD for a printed version and  $2,295 for a PDF departmental license. For more information about a corporate license or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com or at 408-453-5553.

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MRG Releases New IPTV Video QoS and QoE Report

February 12, 2007— Sunnyvale, CA— As IPTV operators confront increased competition from cable and satellite, they are discovering that video quality can be a crucial differentiating factor that attracts and keeps customers. Yet IPTV operators have also found that there are many parts of the systems where video quality and packet-flow can be compromised, causing major impact on consumers’ Quality of Experience (QoE).

The new report from MRG, Inc., ”IPTV Video Quality: QoS and QoE— 2006,” addresses this complexity by focusing on seven “domains of influence” in the video value chain, and by honing in on any one of them to expose the best practices for identifying and solving QoS (Quality of Service) problems. By using quantitative measurements for addressing QoS issues, and subjective/qualitative measurements for QoE, the report provides linkage between both dimensions of quality control.

“This is a seminal work,” states Len Feldman, MRG Director of IPTV Analysis. “It tackles a problem for IPTV that has not previously been approached; and it brings a new level of operational simplicity to the complexities of an IPTV ecosystem.” The IPTV domains examined include: Acquisition/ingest, processing, storage, control, distribution, edge, and customer premises. The report also digs deeply into the MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 architectures as a means to demonstrate how packet restoration, fast-channel-change and other issues are accomplished; and at what cost for SDTV (Standard Definition TV), HDTV (High Definition TV), and for shared triple-play services. It also presents both operational and technical tools on how to design, test, operate and monitor a quality-centric IPTV network.

“No other available IPTV report goes into this depth or breadth on video quality,” states Gary Schultz, President, MRG. “This is both a business report and a technical report allowing IPTV operators to gain maximum value from their IPTV system investment from the first day of operation."

Over 20 companies contributed to this report and numerous service providers, including Alcatel-Lucent, Amino, AT&T, Cisco/ Scientific Atlanta, Harmonic, Harris, Modulus, Motorola, Tandberg, Optibase, Siemens/Myrio, Spirient, Thomson, Verimatrix, Widevine, and others.

The 137-page report is available for $1,995.00 USD (printed); or $2,995.00 USD (PDF single-departmental); or is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report or a Corporate License, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com or at 408-453-5553.

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MRG Expands IPTV Analyst Group

January 5, 2007— Sunnyvale, CA—Multimedia Research Group, Inc. (MRG, Inc) has expanded its coverage of IPTV global market analysis, by adding three professionals to its IPTV analyst team. Continued growth of global IPTV markets in Europe, Asia, North America and Rest of World, has created the need to cover new products, services, technologies, best practices and new deployments.

“This team will add impressive depth, breadth and thought-leadership in this market,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President.  “It allows MRG to continue using analysts with deep technical and managerial education, as well as hands-on P&L experience in the video and communications industries.” The new IPTV expansion includes:

• Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis,
• Steve Hawley, Sr. Analyst, 
• Jose Alvear, Editor / IPTV Analyst.

Mr. Feldman, in addition to being a Senior Analyst with MRG since 1997, has over  25 years of industry experience, authored two books on Microsoft Windows NT and founded two digital media companies. He will concentrate on global IPTV market drivers, market share analysis, revenue and unit growth of seven IPTV sub-sectors, and the strategic impact of mega-mergers on large and small vendor companies. “This market is unique because of the strong underpinning of internationally accepted standards in IP transmission and MPEG/AVC compression,” he said. “This converged technology, plus the demand for personalized and integrated services, creates a radical new era for distributing video and broadband services.”

Mr. Hawley, Sr. Analyst, will develop new MRG reports focusing on IPTV Content and Technologies. He is Editor of ipTV News Analyst, author of several IPTV global  industry reports, and has been panelist or moderator at conferences including IPTV World Forum, NAB and TelcoTV.  Mr. Hawley also has been an active IPTV consultant since 2001.  Prior to then, he held business development and product management positions at Myrio Corporation, Northern Telecom and Adobe Systems.

Mr. Alvear, as Editor of MRG’s monthly IPTV Bulletin, will cover the entire IPTV industry, including information on mergers, new RFPs, service expansions, strategies, trials, deployments and conference coverage. He was the founding editor of Streaming Media Magazine, wrote the book “Guide to Streaming Multimedia” and has extensive background writing about the Internet and the digital media industry.

Messrs. Feldman, Hawley and Alvear are joining Bob Larribeau and Michelle Kabahit to make up the expanded IPTV team. Mr. Larribeau will continue to take on new IPTV consulting and advisement tasks as the need arises and the market grows. Ms. Kabahit will continue to provide administrative and research support to the IPTV team.

For more information about MRG, Inc., email Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com or contact Rob at 408-453-5553.

 

MRG Report Discloses IPTV Advertising and Where the Money Is

IPTV Industry Poised to Exploit Advanced Advertising Technology

November 20, 2006 — Sunnyvale, CA— With US cable TV ad sales exceeding $22 billion and growing at 12% per year, and Internet advertising at an estimated $12 billion and growing 20% per year, IPTV operators cannot ignore the unique advantage that IPTV technologies bring to their markets. “Timeshifting with DVRs and the rise of Internet Advertising has forever changed advertising,” states MRG IPTV Director Bob Larribeau. “IPTV operators are at the point where they have to exploit their unique technical advantages.”

The new report, Advanced Advertising for IPTV Services--November 2006, provides in-depth analyses of advanced advertising practices already in use by cable companies, including Long-Form, Telescoping, DVR Showcase, and Product- Placement Advertising. The report also describes a recommended step-by-step strategy for IPTV service providers to follow in adapting advanced advertising; and shows how basic local 30-second ads can be exploited due to the unmet demand by local advertisers.

One of the most successful Advanced Advertising services used today by the cable industry is an imitation of Internet Advertising. It uses a zip-code based search approach that allows consumers to find automobiles and/or homes for sale using their Set-top-Box remote control.  Using an ample amount of video clips to demonstrate the auto or real estate for sale, the service is targeted directly at local newspaper classifieds, and is proving highly popular in East-Coast cities where it is deployed. Another successful service-model in use is the Long-Form ad, that uses the VOD (Video-On-Demand) server to show free movie trailers, health advice, and travel-log video clips tied into special-interest portals on the EPG. Like the search-driven “pull” ads, these (Long-Form) ads exploit the VOD servers already installed in many IPTV networks, and provide an added revenue stream.

Questions answered by the report include: What are the technology choices? Does advertising offer real service differentiation for operators? What can be learned from Internet Advertising?

The (56-page) Advanced Advertising for IPTV Services - November 2006 is available in printed format for $1,995.00 US; as a Departmental PDF license for $2,995.00 US; and is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com

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US Cellulosic Biomass R&D and Ethanol Forecast Report for 2006-2011

The Economics and Opportunites in Foreign Oil Independence

October 30, 2006 — Sunnyvale, CA—Successful development of advanced green alternative fuels based on technical R&D is within view, according to this new report by MRG and Fuji-Keizai. In a new market forecast and projection of the emerging cellulosic ethanol industry, Fuji-Keizai and MRG, Inc. have introduced a report that goes far beyond corn ethanol production into the future of cellulosic biomass ethanol production (i.e., making ethanol from corn, corn stocks, and other plant leftovers) in the new report U.S. Bioethanol & Cellulosic Ethanol Markets & Future Directions.

“Plenty has been written about economic and policy trade-offs for coal, sugarcane-ethanol, solar and wind power as alternatives to petroleum,” states Gary Schultz, CEO of MRG, Inc. “But this new research examines in-depth both the cellulosic R&D production and how fast it will impact overall gas supplies while allowing for profit to investors.”  The report also details the names and locations of cellulosic ethanol R&D companies plus their respective technology focus.

“The technical aspects of biomass R&D, broken down by R&D Centers and biomass technology and supply companies, presents a valuable guide to both vendors and investors,”  states Kiran Bellare, MRG Sr. Analyst. “This report is a must-have for any company, government organization or investor group looking at a high-potential field like biomass energy.” Other research items covered include types of R&D technology used, target applications, pros/cons of various technology developments, complications and the future outlook for these technologies, partnerships and alliances, next stages of R&D, and current and future plans for bioethanol vehicles and fuel-stations.

Economic aspects about bioethanol production are also examined, including demand comparisons with gasoline, 2006-2026; land-use requirements for added corn and cellulosic production; detailed analysis on ethanol refineries through 2010; forecast of annual ethanol production & revenues through 2010; and comparison forecasts between gasoline demand and bioethanol/cellulosic-ethanol demand.

U.S. Bioethanol & Cellulosic Ethanol Markets & Future Directions is 123 pages long, and is available in printed or digital PDF format. Prices are: Printed Version, $995.US; the PDF Single-Departmental License, $1,495.00 US; the PDF Corporate Global Site License, $1,990.00 US. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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New MRG IPTV Report Forecasts
8 Million Subscribers in 2006 and 50.5 Million in 2010

Microsoft Middleware Users Experience Continued Delays

October 12, 2006 — Sunnyvale, CA—The steady growth of IPTV subscribers and services revenue continues to show strong upside potential in Europe and Asia with some exceptions in North America, according to the new MRG report IPTV Global Forecast Report—October 2006.

In Europe and Asia, most growth is driven by the large incumbent Telcos, whereas in North America, the small independent IPTV providers are driving much of the growth. Deployments at incumbent carriers such as France Telecom and Telefonica in Europe and PCCW in Hong Kong are now together serving nearly 1.5 million IPTV subscribers, and are forecast to experience significantly more growth. Likewise, competitive (non-incumbent) IPTV providers like FastWeb (Italy), Free and Neuf (both from France) and spin-offs from France Telecom also are leading in innovation and subscriber growth in their markets.

 “The one group of IPTV providers not sharing in the current success of IPTV is comprised of  those that have selected Microsoft’s software,” states Bob Larribeau, IPTV Director for MRG.  “Deployments at AT&T, Bell Canada, Deutsche Telekom, and Swisscom are on hold waiting for Microsoft’s software.”

Microsoft’s slowness to market has had a strong negative effect on the forecast for North America in particular, which has not been offset by the stronger growth of small independent operators and of Verizon’s (IPTV-based) VOD services.

The forecast projects that there will be 50.5 million IPTV subscribers by the end of 2010 with global IPTV revenue of $16.7 billion in 2010 — $12.8 billion in service revenue and $3.9 billion in system and software revenue.

 The report also tracks capital spending of the top 29 global service providers, broken down by four regions; and tracks capital regional spending in seven IPTV product sectors, including Access, Video Headend, VOD, Content-Protection, Middleware, Set-top Box and System-Integration, also broken into four regions. The report is based on information from over 470 IPTV service providers. 

The (72-page) IPTV Global Forecast: 2006 to 2010- October 2006 is available in printed format for $3,995.00 US; as a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00 US; and is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com

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New Global IPTV Market Leader Report Tracks Over 470 Service Providers

Middleware & VOD Servers Poised for Growth

September 7, 2006 — Amsterdam, The Netherlands –Based on over 470 IPTV Service Providers, MRG’s new IPTV Market Leader Report September 2006 ranks about 60 different IPTV vendors in four different regional markets and globally, grouped into six different IPTV product categories.

“Mergers and acquisitions continue to have a major impact on the market,” states Bob Larribeau, IPTV Program Director for MRG. “Tandberg’s acquisition of SkyStream and Motorola’s acquisition of Kreatel put both companies into leading positions; and the Alcatel/Lucent merger will have a similar effect.”

The report also identifies over 4.7million VOD-enabled households, meaning a significant improvement in the prospects for VOD server vendors.

The conversion of in-house IPTV Middleware packages to merchant packages is also having a strong effect on the IPTV software market. PCCW’s package marketed by its Galaxy subsidiary is now a leading package. Telefonica’s Middleware package (marketed by Lucent) is becoming another strong contender. Microsoft’s Middleware, however, continues to attract the closest scrutiny due to delayed rollouts at AT&T and Deutsche Telecom.

Companies such as Alcatel, ECI, Tandberg, Motorola, and Microsoft are well positioned in the large IPTV service providers that are poised for significant growth. Cisco and its subsidiaries also are beginning to show up in the ratings. These companies are expected to improve or strengthen their position in the IPTV market over time. However, these ratings will continue to change significantly as the market matures over the next couple of years.

By using a deeper ranking system than before, the report gives separate regional rankings to each company by product category, based on actual numbers of subscribers and video channels supported by that company’s product(s). In addition to current market position, companies’ growth prospects are ranked based on the number of installed base each company has in the 18 fastest-growing service providers in the 4 regions.

“The report is based on over 470 service providers globally, over 100 more than just six months ago,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “By deepening our rankings of suppliers in Middleware, Content Protection, VOD (Video-On-Demand) and Set-top-Boxes, we allow many more companies to identify their position in the global and regional markets than just the top five in each category.” Other product categories include Access and Video Headend.

The (56-page) IPTV Market Leader Report- September 2006 is available in printed format for $3,995.00 US; as a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00 US; and is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com

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MRG Releases Global IPTV Set-top Box Forecast & Market Leader Report

Tracking Regional & Global Growth to $10.9 Billion in 2009

Sunnyvale, CA August 9, 2006 — In a new study that tracks the IPTV Set-top Box (STB) market growth and market share in 4 regions and globally, Motorola shows gathering strength through acquisitions while Chinese company Yuxing emerges as strong contender in this young market, scheduled to reach $10.9 billion in 2009.

By examining the top five STB suppliers in each of 4 regions plus globally, totaling over 20 companies, the report focuses on key STB features by region, pricing, demand of top service providers, and breakdown of shipments by MPEG 2, MPEG 4 and/or DVR (Digital Video Recorder) technology. Additionally, by examining the installed base of each of the top 5 STB suppliers in each region, the report projects the upside/downside prospects for each of the top 20 suppliers, based on the projected capex expenditures of the top service providers in each region. The forecast is based on subscriber and growth information from over 360 service providers worldwide. 

“Industry consolidation has been accelerating over the past three years, meaning small and mid-size STB companies alike have to create new strategies and partnerships to survive,” states Bob Larribeau, IPTV Director at MRG. “To address that, this report shows profiles of companies producing STBs as well as other IPTV products.”

In recent months, one reason for the intensified race for STB dominance has become the importance of owning and controlling the “home gateway” as a major step in controlling new multi-platform services in the home.

Given the M&A activity in all the supplier sectors, such as Motorola’s purchase of Kreatel (STB manufacturer) and Broadbus (VOD system supplier), the report examines other STB sector leader-companies that also have multiple-product positions in the IPTV STB industry. Companies examined include Motorola, Pace, Scientific Atlanta, Amino, Yuxing, Sagem, Siemens, Thomson, I3Micro, Oki, Samsung and twelve others.

Global IPTV Set-top Box Forecast & Market Leader Report- July 2006 is 33 pages and is available in printed form for $1,995.00 US; as a Departmental PDF license for $2,495.00 US; and a Corporate PDF license for $2,995.00 US. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com

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IPTV Study Identifies Roadmap for Telcos
to Accelerate New Service Development

How Standardization with IMS & SDP Impact IPTV Profits

Sunnyvale, CA August 7, 2006 — IMS (IP MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEMS architecture) AND SDP (SERVICE DELIVERY PLATFORM) hold significant promise for IPTV operators to accelerate advanced service development, deployment and provisioning that will enhance the profit potential of their triple-play and quad-play services, according to a new IPTV report from MRG, IMS and SDPs in IPTV Networks. While the trap of commoditized services looms large for emerging IPTV operators, using standardized interfaces and architectures provided by IMS and SDP can accelerate the development and deployment stages with minimum impact on operations and network resources; and can decrease duplicative functions (billing, digital rights management, and asset management) while exploiting the inherent advantages of a standardized IP infrastructure in its core.

“IPTV service providers will use IMS and SDPs to create applications that go well beyond basic IPTV, voice, and mobile services,” states Bob Larribeau, IPTV Program Director at MRG. “Service providers will be able to combine the visual power of the TV with the communications power of voice and mobile networks.”

Service providers need to advance from bundling to an integrated application offering where the whole is more than the sum of the parts. The report explains how standardized IMS architectures and SDPs will enable the development of applications that integrate IPTV, voice, and mobile services so that each of them adds to the value of the other. Examples of enhanced service categories include location-based services, multimedia sharing and storage (on the TV and other platforms), call forwarding to mobile, video calling and others.

“The problem with triple-play is that it relies on discounting, which depresses profits,” states Gary Schultz, MRG CEO.  “IMS and SDPs offer standardized architectures and toolsets to accelerate development of  new services that we believe will add value, increase profits and reduce churn.”

IMS and SDPs in IPTV Networks — Quarterly Technology & Content Report- August 2006 is 67 pages and is available in printed form for $1,995.00US; as a Departmental PDF license for $2,995.00US; and is free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com

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U.S. Home Network Market – Now and Future

Sunnyvale, CA June 23, 2006 — U.S. Home Network Market – Now and Future analyzes the comprehensive home networking market and corresponding industries that focus on the consumer home network, both broadband to the home and networking inside the home.  The report presents strategies and company profiles of key industry players and case studies of consumer broadband users.  It also provides recommendations for successfully competing in the home networking market, by reviewing the changing market conditions.

Although healthy competition between the cable, telephone, electric utilities and satellite industries is favorable to the consumer, networking inside the home is still a problem; due to the fact that a seamless network is still not easily achieved by the average consumer. As a result, homebuilders are pre-wiring new homes for networking to help alleviate this problem.

U.S. Home Network Market – Now and Future - May 2006 is 162 page report is available in English or Japanese. Hard Copy Printed Edition $995.00 US, a PDF Departmental Single-Use License for $1,495.00 US or a PDF Corporate Global Site License $2,995.00 US. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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U.S. Industry & Market Survey
Comprehensive Analysis of Energy Saving Business and Competitive Technologies

Sunnyvale, CA June 23, 2006 — This report accurately portrays the U.S. energy-saving and efficiency improvement business by presenting the publicly funded power company’s and the private operated Energy Service Companies' (ESCO) approaches, with 10 actual case studies. This report describes the current state of energy-saving; business demand & forecast; and covers the overall current growing areas and new business models in the U.S. Electric Power Industry. The Comprehensive Analysis of Energy Saving Business and Competitive Technologies report concludes with key factors on how businesses can make a profit in energy saving. 

For the fourteen ESCOs we studied in this research, the total energy-saving business revenue was $6,410 million dollars; eleven ESCOs were profitable, one ESCO suffered a loss, and two ESCOs had results that were unclear.

U.S. Industry & Market Survey: Comprehensive Analysis of Energy Saving Business and Competitive Technologies - May 2006 is 38 pages and is available only in digital PDF format in English or Japanese. PDF Single-Departmental License $1,195.00 US and PDF Corporate Global Site License $1,995.00 US. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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Report Tracks U.S. Cable Strategies & Forecast for Advanced Advertising

MRG does Case Studies of Six New Digital Advertising Methods, with Revenue Analysis

Sunnyvale, CA June 16, 2006 — In a two-phase analysis of major cable operators’ digital advertising experiments, the US Digital Cable TV Advertising Analysis & Forecast 2006-2009 from MRG tracks how US cable operators are using a variety of interactive advertising techniques to answer the threat of Internet, Satellite and IPTV advertising in 2006-2009. Because of a rapid growth of Internet advertising to over $12.5 B in 2005, in addition to the general threat of TiVo and similar (DVR) technologies, cable has been experimenting in six areas of digital TV advertising that involve instant 2-way communications, superior “click stream” tracking technologies, and improved ad targeting as an answer to these threats. The report analyzes the digital advertising categories of Long-Form VOD, DVR Showcase, Interactive, Integrated ads, Product Placement and Buzz Advertising to see which will become dominant in the next 5 years.

“No longer can CPM (Cost Per Thousand) be the sole norm in determining TV ad rates” says Len Feldman, MRG Analyst. “New techniques allow operators to actually measure who watches an ad, how much of it, and how often, plus enabling users to respond directly to offers for more information while maintaining privacy.”

The report forecasts that US Cable Interactive Advertising has revenues well under $100 million by 2005 projected to grow to over $970 Million in 2009, calculated as a subset of both national and local cable advertising today. While local (30-second) targeted advertising continues to be the most important kind of local TV advertising for US cable, totaling over $4.6 billion in 2005, the national US Cable advertising totaled $15.7 billion in 2005, for a combined total of $21.2 billion in 2005. While it will be over a decade before advanced digital advertising begins to overtake traditional linear advertising in revenue, the report anticipates that over 75% of TV viewing will be time-shifted or interactive by 2015.

“Cable operators have no choice but to address consumer fatigue due to TV ad clutter; and to the growing truth that fast forwarding through ads with DVRs will not go away” states Gary Schultz, MRG CEO. “Yet, targeting individuals with no regard to privacy or clutter reduction is not the answer.” This report shows how successful MSOs were using interactive advertising using the 6 new techniques, and what their reasons were for doing the experimental campaigns as well as the level of success achieved.

The price of this 155 page US Digital Cable TV Advertising Analysis & Forecast 2006-2009 report is $1,995 for printed version and  $2,995 for a PDF departmental license. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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IPTV Content Strategies Profiled in new MRG report

Sunnyvale, CA May 11, 2006 — The new Winning IPTV Content Strategies Report 2006 from MRG, Inc. analyzes the step-by-step process of creating differentiated local IPTV (IP TV) services in widely varied global markets. “The markets in Europe and Asia differ considerably from those in the US,” states Bob Larribeau, IPTV Program Director for MRG, “because US cable has already built up on-demand and interactive services and 2-way capabilities in most of their networks. This is not true in China, Europe and much of the Rest of World.”

The content strategies for addressing markets dominated by cable and satellite must be stronger than in markets dominated by free-to-air.  The report illustrates the kind of success that can be achieved with a strong content offering that does not require forced buy-through common in cable markets.  New services such as NPVR, VOD (Video on Demand), and games are important ways that IPTV operators are differentiating themselves from cable and satellite companies; while some operators are providing VOD content in (low cost) linear form as a starter-service to get people used to the new content.

The report also analyzes other advanced services including premium programming in a SVOD (Subscription VOD) format; sports as a means to “prime the market,” and tiered and ala-carte services. Internet video (video on the Internet) is also explored as both a competitor and a source of content for IPTV operators, since Yahoo, Google, and others are working to capture the TV market.  One positive outcome of this debate is that content providers are awakening to different distribution strategies that should improve the position of IPTV.

Profiles of consultants and aggregators (IBM, LVN, and others) and content owners are also included to aid IPTV operators.

The report also profiles the strategies of regional IPTV leaders like PCCW and City Telecom (Hong Kong); KDDI, NTT, Verizon, FastWeb, Free, Neuf, France Telecom, SureWest, Manitoba Telecom, Video Systems Ltd (London), and others spanning Europe, Asia, North America and emerging markets.

The (81-page) Winning IPTV Content Strategies Report—May 2006 is available in printed form for $1,995.00US; as a Departmental PDF license for $2,995.00US; and is free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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European and Global IPTV Forecasts Surpass 2005 Estimates

MRG Report Anticipates Service Provider and
Supplier Strategies in Era of M&A

APRIL 10, 2006 — Sunnyvale, CA – The new IPTV Global Forecast 2006-2009 from Multimedia Research Group, Inc (MRG) reveals some noteworthy developments since the last IPTV (IP TV) Forecast in September 2005, including subscriber growth from 4.3 million to 36.8 million in 2005-2009; and system (cap ex) revenue growth from $740 million to $4.3 billion in 2005-2009. Reasons behind the developments include:

• Europe is surging ahead with a large number of strong IPTV deployments that include France Telecom, Free, Neuf in France, Telefonica in Spain, FastWeb in Italy, and a number of strong competitive offerings in Scandinavia.
• Uncertainties in large carriers in North America and Asia holds the forecasts for these regions down.
• Europe should be the strongest IPTV market through 2009, with Asia catching up by the end of the forecast period.
• IP TV set-top boxes will dominate the capital spending for IPTV services and account for two-thirds of (cap-ex) spending.

In forecasting four major regions and seven product/service categories, this forecast includes growth projections (by region) of the top 65% Service Providers (SPs) in 2006 –2009. “No other IPTV Forecast tracks global cap-ex spending on the Service-Provider level,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “This allows suppliers to develop highly focused marketing strategies by region.”

The report also identifies risks and opportunities for IPTV vendors and SPs, including: 

• With Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) among suppliers on the rise, how do smaller companies respond to the new market dynamics?
• Why are the competitive and smaller carriers the best opportunity for smaller vendors?
• Why will the large carriers dominate the IPTV market until the end of the forecast period, in terms of subscribers and system spending, and what does that mean to suppliers?
• Since Europe offers the most varied opportunities for IPTV vendors, what unique opportunities are offered by the large, incumbent carriers, the competitive carriers, and the Eastern European carriers?

The (67-page) IPTV Global Forecast 2006 to 2009 — March 2006 is available in printed format for $3,995.00US; as a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00US; and is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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IPTV Providers Need to Increase Focus on Content and Services
According to New Study by Sapient and thebrainbehind (TBB Consulting, Munich Germany)

Study benchmarks 12 IPTV solutions around the world;
UK and Germany providers receive the highest scores

Munich, April 6th, 2006 — IPTV will be adopted only if service providers quickly align their strategies to meet evolving consumer needs and preferences, according to a new study released today by Sapient, a business innovator, and [tbb\*] thebrainbehind, a specialized iTV consulting company. IPTV, or Internet television delivered over a telephone network, reflects the massive trend towards digitization that is driving significant changes in how consumers access content. The trend creates tremendous business opportunities for telecommunications providers, who are looking for new services to foster long-term customer relationships.

In 2006, multiple new IPTV offerings will be launched across Europe by leaders in telecommuniations and media.  Sapient and [tbb\*] thebrainbehind evaluated 12 IPTV solutions for their report, “Global IPTV: Learning from Industry Leaders.” The research yielded critical market insights, best practices on developing services, and an outlook on future developments for providers that are planning to launch new offerings in IPTV. Of the IPTV solutions compared evaluated the top performers T-Online Vision, Sky and Homechoice demonstrated technically advanced functionality, a comprehensive service portfolio and high ease-of-use. 

Other findings from the study include:

• Most IPTV operators are more focused on gaining market share through pricing and promotion strategies than on developing sustainable service offerings that meet consumers’ needs.  Historically, technical standards have primarily been the driver for market dynamics; however customers are becoming more mature in their use of technology and increasing their expectations for how they select and access content. 
• Upcoming IPTV launches that do not emphasize user-interface design or offer enhanced interactive TV functionality will fail in more competitive markets.  IPTV services must differentiate from existing TV offerings to accommodate users’ increased demand for interaction.
• Used in the right way, IPTV can help telecommunications and media companies reduce churn – an important consideration as core business is increasingly threatened by Voice-over-IP and price aggressive competitors.  To achieve this, vendors need to bundle offerings and provide real added value to their customers.
• Although revenues delivered by IPTV platforms will initially be relatively small, carefully watching marketing efforts and service evolution of early IPTV deployments to specific media markets will yield rapid learning on how to capture the mass market in time.

”`Global IPTV: Learning from Industry Leaders’ will help IPTV services providers and operators understand what offerings will work and what won’t,” said Robert Fuchs, co-editor of the study and a senior manager at Sapient.  “By reviewing examples of best practices and critical challenges, executives will be able to evaluate their current strategies and improve new service roll-out plans.”

“Our study shows that IPTV is not simply another classic telecommunications product”, says Sebastian Becker, Managing Partner, thebrainbehind. “In the future, only those vendors will be successful that combine a strong customer focus with an excellent sense for market trends. As IPTV will often be part of a triple play strategy, the value-add services offered on these closed platforms have to prevail predominantly against free internet offerings.” 

Global IP TV Benchmarks: Learning From Industry Leaders — March 2006 is approx. 180 pages with 75 figures and 25 tables. Available in a printed English language hard copy for $1,040.00 US and a PDF single-departmental license CD for $1,290.00 US. For more information or to the report, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com or 408-453-5553.

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U.S. Broadband TV Platform Strategies & Roadmaps;
Survey of Media, Internet, MSO, Telecom, CE Players

Sunnyvale, CA – March 20, 2006 Every major U.S. media company is rapidly adjusting to the decline of TV ad revenues. This slide could become permanent and it is impacting overall broadcast income. By contrast, Internet advertising increased at double-digit rates in 2005 – by various estimates from 15% to 30% – and it is projected to increase between 22% to 37% in 2006.

Advertisers pay a premium to reach the young adult demographic between the ages of 18-49. However, TV viewership among this group is down by one-third since 1993 as more consumers in this key demographic turn to alternative sources for news and entertainment which include Internet blogs and podcasts that allow a more personalized, selectable experience, as well as video games and DVDs that grab mind-share.

The U.S. Broadband TV Platform Strategies & Roadmaps — February 2006 reports shows what new strategies being persued by the major media, internet, and service provider industries with specific emphasis on new technology platforms; video-on-demand; internet videos; and “quadruple play” bundles of TV entertainment, voice, broadband and/or mobile services, all on one bill.

U.S. Broadband TV Platform Strategies & Roadmaps; Survey of Media, Internet, MSO, Telecom, CE Players – February 2006 This 140-page report available in English or Japanese. Hard Copy Printed Edition $998.00 US, a PDF Departmental Single-Use License for $1,495.00 US or a PDF Corporate Global Site License $1,995.00 US. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com or 408-453-5553.

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U.S. Internet & TV-Related Advertising Technology and Business Trends

Sunnyvale, CA – March 20, 2006 U.S. Internet & TV Related Advertising Technology and Business Trends explores internet advertising (iAD) and the slowly evolving interactive television (ITV) markets. This report identifies the types of technologies needed for advertisers, networks, broadcasters, web site publishers and agencies to be successful in attracting and retaining advertising revenues. Company profiles in this report cover the latest and best of breed technologies for planning, creating, producing, managing, scheduling and launching interactive and rich media ads.

Advertising decision makers will need to keep up to date on the latest technologies and trends in order to leverage their position in the advertising industry as they compete to devise new ways to persuade viewers to watch promotional messages.

The report outlines online advertising market size and forecasts, including Top 10 Websites (ranked by unique visitors), Top 10 Advertisers  (ranked by ad revenue) and the Top 25 Online Advertisers (ranked by Media Value).

U.S. Internet & TV-Related Advertising Technology and Business Trends – December 2005 is 160 pages and is available in English or Japanese. Hard Copy Print Edition $1,495.00 US, PDF Single-Departmental License $1,995.00 US and PDF Corporate Global Site License $2,995.00 US. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com or 408-453-5553.

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NEW MARKET LEADER REPORT TRACKS OVER 350 IPTV SERVICE PROVIDERS Mergers & Acquisition is a Growing Trend

Sunnyvale, CA – March 6, 2006 MRG’s new IPTV Market Leader Report March 2006 ranks about 60 different IPTV vendors in four different regional markets and globally, grouped into six different IPTV product categories. By using a new ranking system, the report gives a separate regional ranking to each company by product category, based on actual numbers of subscribers and video channels supported by that company’s product(s). The report also provides an instant snapshot of the top 30 IPTV vendors, including a quick assessment about each company’s growth prospects in the next two years.  High-level findings include:

Ranked first gloablly for the Access Systems product categoryis NEC, with ECI ranking second. Tut ranks first globally and in North America in IPTV Video Headends (based on channels served), while SkyStream ranks second (globally). In Video On Demand servers, entone ranks first globally and Alcatel ranks second.  Motorola ranks first in Set-top Boxes globally as well as in North America and Europe due to its recent acquisition of Kreatel, with Yuxing ranking second. Over 23 Set-top Box vendors are ranked. In Middleware, Thomson/Thales ranks first globally, and Orca ranks second. In IPTV Content Protection systems, Viaccess is first globally, and Widevine is second.

The report is based on a database of 370 service providers globally providing over 46 thousand video channels in Europe, Asia, North America, and Rest of World. “By ranking companies by actual subscribers and channels supported by their products,” states Gary Schultz, MRG, Inc CEO, “this report is the first to provide granular company-level ranking for global and regional and product-type IPTV markets.”

“Mergers and acquisitions are starting to have a significant impact on market positioning,” states Bob Larribeau, IPTV Program Director for MRG. “Mergers like Motorola/Kreatel, Tandberg/Skystream, Thomson/Thales, and Cisco/Scientific Atlanta all reflect a dynamic trend toward consolidation that will impact regional and global market dominance.”

The(51-page) IP TV Market Leaders Report—March 2006 is available in printed format for $3,995.00US; as a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00US; and is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

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CONTROL OF IPTV HOME GATEWAY AND NETWORK KEY TO SUCCESS
IN NEW REPORT

Sunnyvale, CA – February 6, 2006 A new report from MRG, IPTV Home Networking Strategies, 2006, describes the strategic importance of the Home Network for IPTV (IP TV) operators. It describes how a Home Networking strategy can improve the competitiveness of an IPTV service against Cable and Satellite services, and position the IPTV operator well in the looming battle against the PC and CE (consumer electronics) industries. Extending their management systems to include the Home Network will give IPTV operators an entry into the home that none of these other companies can match today. In addition, the IPTV operators can use the Home Gateway and IPTV Set-Top-Box to provide both local and network based services. These strategies can give IPTV operators an important early lead because neither the Cable or Satellite companies have the two-way communications infrastructure, or the Set-Top-boxes, that can compete against these services.

“Winning at the IPTV game requires a three-prong strategy” states Bob Larribeau, Program Director IPTV. “Operators need a flexible approach to the physical network in the home along with strong commitment to managing the Home Network and using it as a platform for  delivering a rich set of services.”

By examining the worldwide standards available for Home Networks and Home Gateways, the report suggests various strategies and architectures for interconnecting both AV (Audio-Visual) and PC devices in the home, and reviews the costs, risks and opportunities for each strategy. 

The report also reviews the trends in the physical aspects of home networking and in new architectures for managing and offering diverse services over Home Networks. While there is strong interest in the IEEE 802.11n wireless standard, it will not be available until 2007, meaning that operators will have to adopt coaxial cable and power-line solutions in the interim.

Organizations interviewed include Alcatel, CoaxSys, DLNA, DS2, MoCA, Intel, HomePlug Alliance, HPNA, Microsoft, Motorola, Kreatel, Ruckus, Siemens, Texas Instruments, and others; standards groups covered include DSL Forum, DVB, UPnP, CEA, and others

The(67-page) IPTV Home Networking Strategies Report, February 2006 is available in a printed version for $1,995US, as a PDF departmental license for $2995US, and is free as part of the IPTV Tracking Service. To order this report or for more information, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com (408-453-5553).

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NEW MRG REPORT IDENTIFIES HOW TO SCALE
IPTV DEPLOYMENT NETWORKS

Sunnyvale, CA – November 7, 2005 – A new report by MRG, Inc. analyzes how telecommunications providers will scale their infrastructures to deliver IPTV (IP TV) to their growing subscriber bases. AT&T/SBC, Verizon, France Telecom, Free, and others are expanding their IPTV services, and creating entirely new content delivery models. Network architecture and bandwidth accommodation are two primary considerations – how will these and smaller IPTV service providers scale their networks to handle subscriber growth? How will these service providers leverage IPTV to compete against cable’s sizable installed base for VOD services?

The report shows that by 2009, the number of IPTV networks with over 100,000 subscribers will grow from five to over forty, including eight networks with over one million. The report, “Mega Scale IPTV Networks: How to Create Very Large IPTV Networks”, addresses these critical questions and offers strategic perspectives from hardware, software, and network delivery companies leading the push for IPTV.

“Careful engineering will be key,” states Bob Larribeau, MRG Senior Analyst. “Distributing IPTV functions to the edge and paying attention to software architecture will clearly facilitate the scaling of IPTV networks.”

The report analyzes key considerations to scaling an IPTV network: content aggregation, type of network used, and bandwidth capacities. It identifies the critical factors that impact scalability throughout the entire IPTV supply chain, from broadcaster, to network delivery, to end-user behavior. It also cites areas for potential cost savings in network deployment and content aggregation, at the set-top box and headend.

“VOD companies with distribution caching functions will be one of the most important links,” states Gary Schultz, MRG CEO, “because on-demand viewing behavior will become a major driver of new IPTV services.”

Over 20 companies are profiled, featuring their financial results, core products, and product capabilities. The companies include Alcatel, Siemens, Thales, ECI, Lucent, Motorola, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Harmonic, Skystream Networks, Tut, Bitband, C-Cor, Entone, Kasenna, Orca, Latens, Motive, Nagravision, Widevine, Agilent, IneoQuest, IBM, and Microsoft.

“Mega Scale IPTV Networks: How to Create Very Large IPTV Networks” is 165 pages, and is available in a printed English edition for $1,995.00 US, a PDF departmental version for $2,995.00 US, a PDF corporate version for $3,995.00 US, or a free version as part of the IPTV Tracking Service. To order this report, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com.

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MRG FORECASTS IPTV GROWTH AT 36 MILLION IN 2009
European Growth Accelerates

Sunnyvale, CA – October 10, 2005 – Multimedia Research Group, Inc. (MRG, Inc) announces its new semi-annual IPTV (or IPTV) forecast, IPTV Global Forecast 2005 - 2009: September 2005, as part of its IPTV Tracking Service. Projecting growth from 3.7 million subscribers in 2005 to 36.9 million in 2009, the report also forecasts subscriber revenue growth from $880 million to $9.9 billion in 2005-2009.

“IPTV is continuing to push forward in Asia and Europe, as deployments and trials in Japan, China, and India are really starting to show positive impact,” states Bob Larribeau, MRG Senior Analyst. “The U.S. RBOCs (Regional Bell Operating Companies) are still lagging, due to issues that SBC and BellSouth are facing, waiting for low-cost MPEG-4 set-top boxes and Microsoft’s software, and dealing with the complexity of the system integration required. Progress in Europe is making up most of the difference.”

Based on information from over 270 IPTV carriers worldwide, the report identifies the top carriers in each of four regions (Asia, Europe, North America, and ROW), broken down by seven product/service segments for 2005 to 2009 (Set-top Boxes, Video Headends, VOD Servers, Middleware, Access Equipment, Content Protection and System Integration). “No other report offers 28 discreet IPTV sector analyses plus capital spending profiles of each region’s top carriers” states Gary Schultz, MRG CEO. “This forecast provides huge market leveragability to our customers and service subscribers.”

Other regional changes analyzed include:
• Growth of European IPTV leaders, including Free (France), Fastweb (Italy), Belgacom, KPN, and Telekom Austria.
• New Set-top Box pricing assumptions based on MPEG-4 (HD and SD).
• New developments in China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong.
• Analysis of Per-Port Access System pricing for four regions and globally.
• Updates on SBC and BellSouth plans to deploy large IPTV networks in the U.S., and Verizon’s use of IPTV for VOD over its fiber network.

A 60+ page report, IPTV Global Forecast 2005 - 2009: September 2005,is available in a printed (English) format for US $3,995.00, a departmental PDF license for US $5,200.00, and is free as part of the year-round IPTV Tracking Service. For a PDF corporate license, or to order this report, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com.

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MICROSOFT IS MOVING CLOSER TO DOMINATING THE IPTV CONTENT MANAGEMENT SECTOR, ACCORDING TO A NEW REPORT BY MRG

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - September 8, 2005 - Microsoft is moving closer to dominating the IPTV content management sector, according to a new report by MRG. Although broadcast-focused vendors are leading in all areas of IPTV development, the Redmond giant could leverage its DRM (digital rights management), middleware, and VOD (Video on Demand) expertise to command the market.

"Microsoft is poised to dominate the North American IP TV market" states Bob Larribeau, MRG Analyst. "In part, this depends on service providers deploying Microsoft's VOD, content protection and DRM software, in addition to its middleware solutions."

This and other IPTV developments can be found in the just-released "IPTV Market Leaders Report - August 2005", a member publication of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service.

The report also explains how IP TV deployments are creating new opportunities for Lucent, ECI, Huawei, and others to establish strong positions in the broadband access market, due to their ability to support the bandwidth requirements of video services.

It also describes how companies with strong positions in the cable industry, such Motorola, Scientific-Atlanta, ADB, and SeaChange, are now starting to shoulder the IP TV startups aside in the race to serve the large service providers such as SBC, BellSouth, and Verizon.

It also measures the size of the worldwide IP TV Video Headend market through counting deployed channels, thereby providing the best assessment of this industry to date. Deployments by smaller, independent U.S. telcos are dominating this market, helping companies like Tut Systems, Minerva, and Skystream maintain their market positions.

The report ranks the market leaders and emerging companies for all IP TV industry sectors. Firms are ranked within each of the following areas: Access Systems, Video Headend, Video On Demand Server, Set-top Box, Middleware, and Content Protection. All rankings are categorized by region: Asia, Europe, North America, and Rest of World.

IP TV Market Leaders Report-August 2005 is a 37-page report that is available as a departmental printed copy for $3,995.00; a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00; or a free copy is available as part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

Table of Contents and Executive Overview
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MRG IPTV REPORT ANALYZES LEADING BACK-OFFICE TOOLS,
STRATEGIES AND VENDORS
Telcos Making Early Decisions with Far-reaching Impact in Global Markets

Sunnyvale, CA - August 1, 2005 - A new global report on IPTV Back-Office Systems from MRG, Inc, analyzes the five main elements of back-office software that carriers need to deploy IPTV into today's competitive triple-play markets.

As part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service, the new report provides detailed analysis of successful back-office and middleware strategies. It also describes the back-office strategies of major incumbents including Belgacom, France Telecom, NTT, PCCW, SBC, and Verizon; and major CLECs including FastWeb, Neuf Telecom, Free, and others.

"Winning in the IPTV market requires having a competitive back-office strategy from the beginning," states Bob Larribeau, MRG Senior Analyst. "In this report, we examine pros and cons of the two main strategies-"minimalist" for IPTV-only back-office software, and "transitional" for triple-play back-office software that includes IPTV."

The report, IPTV Back Office Systems: Quarterly Technology & Content Report - July 2005, shows how successful IPTV back office strategies differ in various global markets. "Both carriers and back-office suppliers have to vary their offerings region by region," states Gary Schultz, MRG CEO. "This report is the only one available that covers IPTV back-office operations, strategies, and suppliers on a global basis."

Also included is a unique m