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NEWS
Monday 19th to Friday
23rd January
2004
Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
| Tuesday | |||||
Kabel
Deutschland aims to consolidate operators
News
Corp: Liberty now second largest voting stakeholder
Sky
launches major audience research
Rogers
Cable, Yahoo: Canadian broadband deal
Tata
and Star apply for DTH again
Gemstar Re-Launches TV Guide Channel
PanAmSat launches Cable HD Neighborhood
Half
of streaming media will be b2b
According to industry sources Germany's biggest cable operator Kabel Deutschland may be about to buy its three largest peers, launching a major consolidation move in the country's fragmented industry.
Kabel, which connects over ten million homes, and its owners are seeking to buy its peers KabelBW, iesy and ish in a bid that would again bring together all the cable assets formerly held by German phone carrier Deutsche Telekom. Western German operator ish has been put on the block by banks led by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, which seized ish when its parent went bust last year.
According to Reuters a spokesperson for ish said: "This market is crying for consolidation and all the owners have understood that the fragmentation is making all our lives more difficult," said one financial source familiar with the talks. "There are talks going on between all of them."
The source said the investors that bought Kabel for over E1.7 billion euros from Deutsche Telekom last year -- private equity firms Apax Partners, Providence Equity and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners -- were pushing the most. "It is Kabel which has an interest to become as big as possible. The buyers have invested under the assumption that this consolidation is going to happen," the source said.
The investors
owning KabelBW -- private equity firms led by Blackstone -- and iesy -- a
group led by Apollo -- could either sell their stakes for equity in a new,
merged operator dominated by Kabel or sell out for cash.
Back to top
Rupert Murdoch's
international media and entertainment company, has welcomed Liberty Media
Corp.'s increased stake and shift into voting equity of News Corp.
Liberty Media acquired a 9.15 per cent voting interest in News Corp., bringing its
total equity interest in the media giant to 17 per cent.
The transaction takes Liberty's News Corp. stake to 48 million ordinary American Depositary Shares and 210.8 million preferred limited voting American Depositary Shares for a total equity interest of around 17 per cent. Liberty is now the largest shareholder in News Corp. and has the second largest voting stake behind Rupert Murdoch.
"We have
capitalized on an opportunity to exchange non-voting shares for voting shares
at attractive prices to become the second largest voting block in one of the
world's premier media companies," Liberty Media President and Chief Executive
Robert Bennett said in a statement.
Back to top
BSkyB is embarking on an ambitious plan to record the viewing habits of 20,000 digital satellite subscribers to provide the first major research into multichannel TV homes, according to the Guardian.
The scheme, which will be in place by next year, will give the broadcaster access to four times as many households as the official audience measurement system, Barb, which monitors just over 5,000 households of which only around a quarter are digital viewers.
BSkyB hopes to have the technology in place within months and plans to offer the service to smaller broadcasters, who could set up their own panels. This could enable broadcasters such as MTV or even the BBC, some of whose digital channels barely register on the Barb scale, to obtain much more detailed information about viewing habits.
Although more than half the UK population now has access to multichannel television, relatively little is known about their viewing habits. But BSkyB stressed the scheme was not intended to rival the Barb service and would be used for marketing purposes rather than as an audience measurement tool.
BSkyB will use
the panel to monitor the effect on viewing habits of, for example, a Sky Plus
subscription or a second Sky box in a home. "This initiative gives broadcasters
the opportunity to create audience panels that will deepen their understanding
of the preferences and behaviour of digital satellite viewers," said
a BSkyB spokesman.
Back to top
Rogers Cable,
Canada's largest cable operator, and Internet services company Yahoo announced
a partnership to provide co-branded high-speed Internet access.
Rogers, a wholly owned unit of Rogers Communications Inc. said the service
will be available across its broadband network that reaches Ontario, News
Brunswick and Newfoundland.
Subscribers will receive high-speed Internet access bundled with a combination of customized Yahoo products and services. Additionally, Rogers/AT&T Wireless and Yahoo said they plan to expand their existing agreement to provide Rogers/AT&T Wireless customers with mobile extensions of Yahoo's communication and information services.
Silicon Valley-based Yahoo has broadband-access deals in parts of the United States with SBC Communications Inc. and in the United Kingdom with British Telecom.
Yahoo Japan provides
Yahoo BB, the largest broadband service in Japan through a partnership with
Yahoo Japan stakeholder Softbank Corp.
Back to top
Tata Sons and Star TV will together reapply for permission to launch direct-to-home (DTH) services early next week, having inked the Rs 300 core joint venture in which the Indian corporate house will hold 80 per cent stake.
After the government
rejected Star company Space TV's application for DTH late last year, the Rupert
Murdoch-owned media group had been scouting for an Indian partner to offload
majority 80 per cent stake. The joint venture between Tata Sons and Star TV,
a Rupert Murdoch-controlled company, would be the third entity to enter the
DTH arena after Prasar Bharti and Subhash Chandra's ASC Enterprises.
Back to top
Television programming guide company Gemstar-TV Guide International has relaunched the TV Guide Channel, with new graphics, new content and new hosts, as part of the company's turnaround plan for the brand.
Gemstar said the channel, which will reach about 70 million homes after its launch on satellite provider DirecTV, was once seen as little more than a scrolling list of shows but is now part of a strategy to promote TV Guide as a lifestyle and entertainment source.
News Corp. which recently acquired a controlling interest in DirecTV, is also Gemstar's largest shareholder, and Gemstar Chief Executive Jeff Shell is a former top News Corp. official.
The network's primary show will be a new programme, "What's On," that will offer a nightly guide to each hour of primetime programming. Other new programmes include a weekly news show, "TV Guide Close-Up," and one called "TV Talk," where celebrities discuss their viewing habits.
Gemstar is relaunching
its business after 2002 accounting scandals that led to the ousting of its
founder, Henry Yuen, and questions about its future. It launched a revamped
version of TV Guide magazine in September.
Back to top
PanAmSat said its Galaxy 13/Horizons 1 satellite successfully completed in-orbit testing and is operational, delivering high-powered cable TV programming, video and VSAT services throughout the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii, according to Sky Report.
The satellite,
located at 127 degrees in the U.S. cable arc, also is home to a large high-def
television neighborhood, and includes programmers such as E! and the Starz
Encore thematic channels. Galaxy 13/Horizons 1's C-band platform will be part
of the "Power of Five" antenna program, which provides cable operators
with access to five Galaxy neighborhood satellites. Together, the satellites
deliver TV programming to more than 11,000 U.S. cable headends. The satellite
also has a Ku-Band payload.
Back to top
By the end of 2004, half of all streaming and digital media users will use the technology for business applications such as executive communications, Webcasting, and distance learning, an increase of roughly 20 per cent, says a new report by Aberdeen Group.
The report, Uses
of Streaming and Digital Media, is based on two surveys conducted in conjunction
with streamingmedia.com's end users. With over 3,000 respondents, this report
is the first statistically sound benchmark on usage of business and personal
applications, length and frequency of media usage, and media player preferences.
Back to top
AFORM, the French association of multimedia services operators, has just released
its latest quarterly figures. As of 31 December 2003, a total of 3,708,000
homes in France subscribed to one or other service on cable, an increase of
3.3 per cent since the end of 2002, and a penetration of 41.9 per cent.
393,861 homes took cable Internet, an increase of 39.2 per cent over the previous
year and 13 per cent in the last three months. "Cable is the leading
alternative to ADSL in the regions where unbundling has not been deployed,
well ahead of other technologies such as LLR, satellite or Wi-Fi," according
to AFORM. 50 per cent of the cable Internet subscribers also have access to
a bouquet of TV channels via IP. 3,523,275 homes take cable TV. 884,129 of
them, around a quarter, take digital TV, an increase of 11.38 percent in one
year.
While breakdowns of the figures, by region, type of subscription and per quarter,
are available, as before, on the AFORM web site, www.aform.org , the detailed
figures for each operator are no longer provided and the figures that were
present have been withdrawn from the web site.
Back to top
Australian Pay TV operator Foxtel revealed details of its much-anticipated
digital television service today. The News Corporation company plans to roll
out the service, which will eventually feature 130 channels of entertainment,
over the next two to three years at a cost of E336 million.
Foxtel is Australia's dominant subscription television service provider, despite
a measly 23 per cent market penetration. Foxtel CEO Kim Williams predicted
that the addition of the new digital services would drive penetration to around
40 per cent by 2008. "Today is a momentous occasion for Australian television
and for Foxtel itself," said Foxtel CEO Kim Williams. "Today, we
sow the seed of a genuinely liberating digital television revolution for consumers
in Australia."
The new digital service will feature 30 CD-quality music channels, and another
30 channels dedicated to video-on-demand. There will be a further eight sports
channels, five children's channels, seven news channels and six music video
channels. Foxtel's existing analogue service is limited to 46 channels. While
Williams was reluctant to announce pricing plans for the new service, he did
concede that the broadcaster would subsidise the introduction of digital STBs
for existing subscribers.
Back to top
The UK's consumer watchdog, the National Consumer Council, has criticised
Ofcom plans to relax the way TV and radio advertising is regulated.
According to the Guardian newspaper, Ofcom, the new communications watchdog,
wants to transfer everyday control of the task to the Advertising Standards
Authority (ASA), which already considers complaints about non-broadcast advertising.
It is expected the ASA would use a new code of practice, drawn up by the advertising
industry, to rule on complaints. But the Council is worried the self-regulatory
system proposed by Ofcom would act as a "licence for advertisers to run
their own show". In a document published in response to consultation
on the changes, the NCC calls on Ofcom to abandon its plans unless there are
radical improvements.
Under Ofcom's proposals the ASA would become a "one-stop shop" for
all advertising, although Ofcom would retain "backstop powers" to
deal with any intractable problems.
Back to top
BSkyB and Star, Asia's largest television network, announced that Star's flagship
Hindi entertainment and news channels will be available to millions more households
with Sky digital from 1st March 2004. The two channels are Star Plus, South-Asia's
number one entertainment channel and Star News, the first South Asian news
channel in the UK.
From March people in over 7 million households who subscribe to Sky digital's
Family Pack or Lifestyle Pack will be able to watch Star Plus and Star News
without paying any additional subscription fee. Until now, the two channels
have only been available to Sky customers who choose to pay an additional
fee of £12 (E17) a month.
Back to top
Playboy TV International (PTVI) and Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting, have signed
a distribution agreement for Playboy TV to be carried on Galaxy's new, all-digital
pay-TV platform – exTV - to be launched in Hong Kong in February.
Playboy TV will be available 24-hours a day to exTV's subscriber base as a
monthly subscription service. The premium channel broadcasts branded programming
with Chinese subtitles. Mark Rudolph, Managing Director of PTVI said, "We
are looking forward to expanding our local presence in Hong Kong's growing
digital market. As the country's most recent broadcast project, exTV is poised
to be a prominent contender within the television industry."
Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting, is a joint venture of Intelsat and TVB, Hong
Kong's premium content broadcaster and one of the world's largest producers
of Chinese language programming.
Back to top
Motorola, the world's second largest manufacturer of cell phones, reported
a rise on fourth-quarter sales and earnings in each of its six divisions,
including a return to profitability in its troubled chip division. The US-based
company reported net income of $489 million, compared to net income of $174
million, a year ago.
Motorola posted sales of $8 billion, an increase of four per cent from $7.7
billion a year ago. However, for the full year, sales dipped slightly to $27.1
billion from $27.3 billion in 2002.
Back to top
France
Telecom to shed 14,500 jobs
Rise in UK advertising will boost broadcasters
STAR
continues with its expansion in Asia
Comcast
doubles downstream speeds
Ofcom
appoints Director for England
TV
One: new cable channel for African-Americans
BT
improves broadband offering
ART
to use Irdeto M-Crypt
Convergys
signs Portugal's TV Cabo
Siemens
and T-Mobile Czech Republic partner on 3G/W-CDMA
France Telecom is set to axe 14,500 in 2004 as part of a re-organisation programme led by CEO Thierry Breton. The job cuts will come about through early retirement and reassignment to other branches of the state civil service rather than redundancies, the operator said.
The company told unions that of the 14,500 jobs on the block, 8,800 would go in France, with the rest being axed in Poland, where France Telecom owns 47 per cent of TPSA, the Polish telecoms carrier.
In 2002 the operator said it planned to reduce the number of its French employees by 22,000 between 2003 and 2005. This pledge formed part of a wider plan to put the company back on its feet after a debt-driven acquisition binge under Michel Bon, former CEO.
In 2003, France Telecom eliminated about 13,000 jobs, 7,700 in France, where most retain civil servant status. The French government still owns a 53.3 per cent stake in France Telecom and the business has been burdened historically by a strong civil service culture and the legacy of being a nationalised industry.
France Telecom
had 217,000 employees at the end of 2003, with just under two-thirds in France.
It expects to have about 202,500 employees by the end of this year.
Back to top
Broadcasters, such as ITV and British Sky Broadcasting, are in pole position to benefit from a forecast bounce-back in broadcast advertising this year, according to a report in the FT.
The Bellwether survey, released by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), says the prospects for an expansion in advertising spend by UK companies are at their best since 2000. The quarterly report, which tracks spending intentions of 250 companies, shows 40 per cent of respondents intending to increase ad budgets during 2004.
Numis Securities,
in a separate report, also forecast that UK television companies would be
the main beneficiaries of increased ad spends, with TV ad revenues rising
4.7 per cent in 2004. While all broadcasters are forecast to benefit, ITV
is expected to reverse years of decline with 3.2 per cent growth. Numis predicts
it will be boosted by the knock-on effect of improved global ad spends, driven
by events such as the European football championships, the Olympics and US
presidential elections.
Back to top
Extending its new channels launch-spree, Asia's leading broadcaster Star Group Limited, in conjunction with Singapore-based info-communications company StarHub, has announced that Star Chinese Movies will be launched on StarHub CableTV from 21 January.
The development follows the launch of History Channel in India in November and Star Chinese Movies and Xing Kong's introduction on PCCW's Broadband in Hong Kong last month.
Star Chinese Movies, which features over 100 movies including at least 20 exclusive premieres a month, is aired in Mandarin and the movies are commercial-free. The channel will be offered as free-to-air till February 22.
Prior to the latest launch, Star's other channels available on StarHub Cable TV include Star Movies, Star World, Star Sports, ESPN, National Geographic Channel and Phoenix Chinese Channel.
StarHub operates
its own nation-wide broadband network that delivers multi-channel cable TV,
data, voice and Internet access. StarHub will also offer Digital Cable Services
in 2004.
Back to top
US cableco Comcast, has doubled the top downstream speed for residential Comcast High-Speed Internet customers. Customers with a 1.5Mbps service will now get a 3Mbps at no additional cost.
The speed increase
will be automatic and customers will not be required to download any special
files or upgrade their connections. To take advantage of the new speeds, customers
need only to unplug their modems, wait 60 seconds and plug it back in. The
top upstream speeds will remain 256Kbps.
Back to top
UK regulator Ofcom has appointed Simon Crine as its Director for England. Crine will be part of the UK External Relations team with special responsibility for representing Ofcom to stakeholders in the English Regions. He will also work closely with Ofcom's Advisory Committee for England.
Tony Stoller, Director of External Relations, said: "Ofcom is committed to ensuring that the views and interests of those who live in different parts of the UK are fully considered in all that we do. Simon's task will be to build Ofcom's dialogue with everyone who is interested in telecommunications and media issues in England's diverse communities."
Crine's appointment
follows the announcement of Denis Wolinski to the post of Ofcom Director for
Northern Ireland and Rhodri Williams as Ofcom Director for Wales.
Back to top
TV One, the new cable channel from Comcast, aimed at African-Americans, launched this week. Targeting over 25's, TV One's lineup will include sitcoms, dramas, a reality gospel show and events such as the Cowboys of Color International Rodeo. The channel will be competing with Black Entertainment Television (BET).
"Comcast strives to provide as diverse an array of programming choices as possible for our subscribers, and we're working with TV One to make this new network widely available," said Tim Fitzpatrick, a Comcast spokesman.
TV One has also
reportedly opened talks with satellite-TV provider DirecTV about distribution.
Back to top
British Telecom has launched a synchronous broadband service aimed at small businesses that require greater capability than a regular ADSL connection provides.
The telco said its new SDSL (synchronous digital subscriber line) service, called Business Broadband Advanced, will initially be marketed in London and Coventry to small and medium-sized businesses that are heavy ADSL users.
SDSL lets business
users send large amounts of data to, or via, the internet quickly and cost-effectively
in comparison to ADSL, which allows high speed bandwidth in one direction.
SDSL will be available in 500Kbps, 1Mbps and 2Mbps speeds for monthly charges
of £170 (E238), £230 (E322) and £345 (E483), plus a one-off
£595 (E833) connection charge.
Back to top
German-based
Arab Radio and Television (ART) has signed an agreement with Irdeto Access
for the implementation of Irdeto's compact conditional access system Irdeto
M-Crypt to secure its ART and PEHLA programs in Europe.
ART will launch a new bouquet called PEHLA, that will contain mainly Indian
content. The bouquet includes Sony Entertainment Television, GeoTV, StarPlus
and Ten Sport among other services. In addition, Irdeto M-Crypt will secure
the Arabesque bouquet In simulcrypt mode enabling owners of a set-top box
or Common Interface (CI) CAM containing Irdeto Access' conditional access
technology to view the bouquet if they purchase a subscription from ART.
Back to top
Convergys is
to provide rating and billing services to TV Cabo, the major cable operator
in Portugal. TV Cabo, will use Convergys' Geneva software, an application
of its Infinys technology, to support the introduction of new interactive
services.
Back to top
Siemens mobile has signed an agreement with T-Mobile Czech Republic, a subsidiary of T-Mobile International, to equip the operator with 3G/W-CDMA network technology.
Siemens mobile
will deliver and install radio and switching technology for the construction
of the 3G/W-CDMA network in the Czech Republic. In a first phase, T-Mobile
wants to cover the greater Prague area. With more than 3.9 million customers,
T-Mobile Czech Republic, is the second largest mobile provider in the Czech
Republic.
Back
to top
M6
pre-empts AB Groupe to buy Paris Premiere
Sogecable under fire over Spanish football rights
HK:
broadband exceeds narrowband
Conax
expands in India
Spanish
3G network to grow
Setanta's DTTV sports channels
postponed
DISH
wins restraining order in Viacom dispute
BSkyB's
Horror Channel to use Kingston
Just as the Suez financial group was about to conclude the sale of the majority (89.34 per cent) of the Paris Premiere channel to channel supplier and production company AB Groupe, the channel's minority shareholder, M6, exercised its right to pre-empt the sale and purchase the remainder itself. The value of the transaction was not disclosed, but is at least as much as AB Groupe had offered at the end of 2003, i.e. E25 million according to press reports last December.
Suez has been divesting its media holdings for some time. On November 25 it sold Codetel, the leading Belgian cable operator, and on 10 December it sold Codenet, the Belgian national fibre optical operator, confirming its strategy of concentrating on its core activity of energy and environment. Ironically, Suez also owns 36.45 per cent of M6, which it has been trying to sell off for some time.
Paris Premiere, which will now become 100 per cent owned by M6, was set up by the Suez group in December 1986 as part of the 'Plan Cable' in order to provide content to the fledgling cable network. It is now considered the number three thematic channel with 5.5 million subscribers on cable and satellite. Its content is trendy arts, discussions, films and 'going out' features.
As soon as it announced the acquisition on Friday 16 January, M6 announced that it would implement vigorous restructuring in order to bring the channel into financial balance. According to press reports, the channel made a loss last year of E3.5 million on turnover of E35 million. Suez expects the channel to reach breakeven this year.
M6 is developing
its channel holdings. As well as operating the terrestrial TV channel of the
same name, it owns 34 percent in satellite platform TPS, and owns 100 percent
of channels Fun TV (music for adolescents), M6 Music (slightly older), and
Teva (women's channel). It also owns half of the channels Serie Club and TF6,
TF1 owning the other half.
Back to top
Sogecable, owner of terrestrial pay-TV channel Canal Plus and digital satellite platform Digital Plus, may face new charges from Brussels over its alleged monopoly over Spanish football pay-TV rights.
Phedra Sport Eventos Deportivos, a company which specialises in the sale of TV rights, has presented a complaint before the European authorities accusing Sogecable, 30 Spanish football teams and the Spanish Professional Football League (LFP), of exploiting a dominant position in the management of Spanish football TV rights.
Phedra argues that the parties involved "have illegally created a monopolistic situation in favour of Sogecable" and to the detriment of other companies that have been excluded of the market. European Authorities will now study the case and take a decision whether to start proceedings or not over the next months.
This is not the
first time Sogecable has faced a similar complaint. ONO, one of the largest
cable companies in Spain, also denounced Sogecable over its dominant position
in the football pay-TV market.
Back to top
The number of broadband Internet users has exceeded the total of narrowband users for the first time in Hong Kong. Figures from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) show that 51 per cent of all Internet homes connected to broadband providers, ranking the former British colony second behind world leader Korea in terms of access per capita.
In number terms
there are now 1.2 million broadband subscribers, compared to 1.09 million
narrowband ones in Hong Kong. Falling access rates, spurred partly by the
level of competition between providers, has driven up subscriber numbers.
The ITU said Internet access was a third of the cost of the United States.
Back to top
Turner Broadcasting System is to use the Conax CAS5 conditional access technology for broadcasting the new 24-hour kids channel Pogo as a direct to air operation for Indian cable networks.
Positioned as multi-genre entertainment channel for kids and their families, the channel was launched earlier this month. To be broadcast via the PAS-10 satellite, the channel is part of Zee Telefilms and Turner International's distribution alliance.
Conax's Alastair Hamilton, executive Vice-President, Distribution Technology, TBS International, said: "Conax's recent popularity in Asia, and the ease with which we could integrate a Conax encrypted channel into our existing multiplex, made them our first choice."
Conax opened
a subsidiary in India to serve India and the Asian region with technical operation
services and local support last year. The development followed the Conax tie-up
with the Essel Group (the parent company of Zee Telefilms‚ SitiCable)
and Cablecomm for delivering conditional access service solutions in India.
In addition to its technical operation and local support, Conax also plans
to start software development and a testing operation of set-top boxes in
India.
Back to top
Telefonica Moviles has chosen Ericsson and Siemens to supply radio access for the second stage in the rollout of its UMTS network in Spain. The second stage in the rollout of Telefonica Moviles UMTS network will provide coverage for the range of 3G products and services the company plans to offer in 2004 to all its clients, subject to handset availability.
The Company aims
to have between 7,000 and 8,000 UMTS base stations by 2005, requiring an investment
of some one billion Euro on 3G infrastructure in 2003-2006. At present, as
a result of the first stage of deployment, the company has UMTS coverage in
52 provincial capitals in Spain with 1,100 base stations installed.
Back to top
Irish broadcaster Setanta has delayed its plans to launch a free-to-view sports channel, according to reports. The company had planned to launch the station last month on Freeview, Sky and cable, with a lineup including Uefa Cup football and Scottish Premier League football, as well as coverage from Irish and American sports.
Setanta's joint CEO Leonard Ryan said the delay was because: "We felt that unless we got premium content, the channel would not have attracted enough revenue, Until [a premium content partner] is on board we're not going to take the car out of the garage."
He added that
Setanta was still in discussions with two potential broadcast partners and
remained confident that a deal could eventually be reached.
Back to top
A US District Court in California has granted EchoStar's request for a temporary restraining order preventing the loss of Viacom and CBS channels delivered by its' DISH Network, according to Sky Report.
The court ruled that EchoStar can continue retransmission of CBS-owned and operated network stations and continue carriage of such Viacom channels as MTV, MTV2, MTV Espanol, Nickelodeon, Nick Games and Sports, VH1, VH1 Classic, Comedy Central, Noggin, Spike TV, CMT, TV Land and BET.
In response, EchoStar said, "We are pleased that the court recognises that the interest of the public is served by this temporary restraining order against Viacom and CBS; but we are especially pleased that the American TV viewer will have uninterrupted access to the public airwaves."
Viacom said in
a statement it was disappointed with the temporary restraining order. However,
"We remain highly confident in our position and look forward to the full
hearing we will receive at the preliminary injunction hearing."
Back to top
BSkyB's
Horror Channel to use Kingston
The Horror Channel on BSkyB is to use Kingston inmedia for fully-managed playout,
satellite uplinking and as space segment provider. The exclusive keeps The
Horror Channel's launch plans on track for the end of March 2004.
Back to top
French shareholders at Vivendi Universal have filed a lawsuit in Paris against managers, including CEO Jean Rene Fourtou, demanding they pay $54 million out of their own pockets towards a fine and legal costs in the US.
The suit, to be heard in Paris's commercial court on January 26, follows last month's decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US to order Vivendi to pay a $50 million civil fine as compensation for out-of-pocket US shareholders, according to reports.
Vivendi accepted the penalty to settle charges that the company and former executives Jean-Marie Messier and Guillaume Hannezo had misled investors. But APPAC, the French minority shareholder group, argues that the fine and legal expenses should not be paid for by the company, which would hit shareholder funds, but instead should come from the pockets of those it claims are responsible.
The suit includes ousted CEO Jean Marie Messier, Fourtou, who took over from Messier 18 months ago, and Eric Licoys, former COO and Messier's right-hand man.
The SEC forced Messier to relinquish his claims on a E21 million "golden parachute" he claimed after leaving the company. APPAC reportedly said it had also written to Fourtou asking him to seek the repayment of an estimated E35 million it paid to Edgar Bronfman Jr, the former Vivendi board member.
It said the payments,
made up of a E25 million severance package he received after stepping down
as vice-chairman in 2001 and E10 milliom of salary for acting as consultant,
were illegal under French law as they were never voted on by shareholders.
Back to top
UK regulator Ofcom has published a consultation paper: The Regulation of Electronic Programme Guides. The consultation seeks views on a proposed EPG code, as well as proposals to continue access regulations on the EPG provided by British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB) for satellite television viewers.
Ofcom is required under the Communications Act 2003 to publish a Code which would apply to all EPG providers. The Code must explain how public service channels (the BBC's public services, ITV1, Channel 4, Five and S4C) should be given `appropriate prominence' on each television service accessed through an EPG. As there are different ways this could be done, Ofcom will ask EPG providers (such as Sky, Freeview, NTL and Telewest) to make their own judgements. Ofcom will intervene only if there are complaints, or if it is not content with the way public service channels are displayed.
The consultation
also proposes that BSkyB should continue the current arrangements under which
it is required to offer listings on the Sky EPG to satellite channels whether
or not they are part of a Sky package.
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According to research carried out by the Ministry of Science and Technology 2.6 million Spanish households, or 19.2 per cent, are currently paying an average monthly fee of E 26.4 for watching TV.
Digital satellite TV is taking the lion's share in the pay-TV market as 39 per cent of all subscribers are receiving pay-TV services this way. Cable, with 34.3 per cent, is in second place with 900,000 subscribers.
According to the report, in the third quarter of 2003 pay-TV had sales of E207 million, out of which E202 corresponded to monthly fees and only E5 million to pay-per-view.
The report reveals
that the TV set is present in 98.6per cent of all households, with a total
of 23.9 million TV sets.
Back to top
As expected Attheraces has told the Racecourse Association that it wants to cut the price it pays for the media rights to racing by more than £120 million (E173million) over the term of its contract.
The company, owned by BSkyB, Channel 4 and Arena Leisure, has proposed to the RCA that 2001's media rights contract, worth £307 million over 10 years, should be renegotiated at around £180 million. While Attheraces' stance may be a negotiating position, the company says it is crucial to cut the price of the contract by at least £100 million if it has any hope of making the business profitable.
Last week, the
RCA, which is representing the 49 courses party to the Attheraces contract,
admitted it was in talks over the original deal. These have been triggered
by a cut in the margin Attheraces receives from Tote pool betting. The deadline
for resolving the Tote dispute is this Thursday, after which Attheraces could
technically give one month's notice to terminate the contract.
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A broadcasting group in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong is due to make its debut this week as the country continues the creation of private sector cable, terrestrial and broadcasting enterprises in a nation that has known only state-controlled media for more than 50 years.
The Southern Broadcasting Media Group (SBMG) will incorporate the Guangdong Cable Network, a satellite broadcaster, six terrestrial channels run by Southern Television Guangdong, radio stations and advertising and home video companies.
Although the group will be operated by the provincial-level broadcasting regulator, the Guangdong Administration of Radio, Television and Film, the government body insists that it will be run as a private sector enterprise that will not receive any government subsidies. China's state-run media reported that the formation of the SBMG will amalgamate media operators that had been in competition in order to meet the challenges posed by the growing number of foreign channels that have been granted landing rights in China.
Guangdong has been China's testing ground for overseas broadcasters that have been allowed to distribute their channels to cable TV systems in the province. The creation of the SBGM mirrors the creation of media conglomerates in Beijing and Shanghai. Guangdong's two largest cities, the capital Guangzhou and Shenzhen, are also expected to create their own broadcasting groups.
Observers expect
that the SBGM will overtake the Shanghai Media Group in four years because
it has twice as many cable TV viewers as the coastal city.
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Following its appointment as regulator for the broadcasting industry, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has released a "consultation note" on policy issues in broadcasting and cable services.
The TRAI has directed all cable operators to maintain the December 26 tariffs as the ceiling for both free-to-air and pay channels. The directive will be applicable for both Conditional Access System (CAS) and non-CAS areas until the regulator conducts a detailed examination of the system. The CAS was introduced in the southern area of New Delhi, leading to a controversy regarding the implementation of the system.
The development follows the recent buzz where TRAI is likely to defer implementation of the Conditional Access System in south Delhi and formulate detailed guidelines for all its stakeholders only after the Lok Sabha (government elections) polls.
On the decision
to freeze the rates, the watchdog said, "Not only are there lack of standard
rates and conditions at which services are provided by the cable operators
to the subscribers, there are reports that there may be an increase in the
cable subscription rates. To bring some standard it was considered necessary
for the TRAI to intervene."
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British telecom, the UK's largest ADSL provider, is offering new and existing customers a faster broadband product. Available form today (19 January), users will be able to pay £38 (E55) per month for a 1Mbps broadband connection from BT Broadband, or £41 per month from BT Yahoo if they also want a range of Internet services such as spam filters and a firewall.
Around 75 per cent of existing broadband users will be able to have the new service. BT's existing broadband users can upgrade for free to the new 1Mb service using their current broadband modem.
"The arrival of 1Mb broadband from BT simply makes the broadband experience even better - faster surfing, higher quality streamed audio, smoother videos and online gaming. These benefits will be welcomed by all those who see broadband becoming a central part of their home entertainment set-up. It also takes BT one step nearer to achieving its target of five million broadband connections by 2006," said the company.
Although this
service allows users download data from the Internet twice as fast as with
a 512Kbps link, they may not be allowed to download twice as much of it. BT
Retail operates an informal download capping system on its broadband service,
and says customers shouldn't download more than one gigabyte of data per day
– NTL has the same restriction. The company claims that this limit is
suitable for a "mass-market consumer broadband" product - pointing
out that a user would have to download over 200 music tracks per day, for
example, to go over the limit.
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Vectone Entertainment Network has teamed up with satco GlobeCast to deliver its community channels: Vectone Urdu, Vectone Bangla, Vectone Tamil and Vectone Hindi on its proprietary Eurobird and Hot Bird platforms.
Vectone TV recently
launched its Asian community channels Vectone Urdu, Vectone Bangla, Vectone
Tamil and Vectone Hindi. The four channels are free to air and are broadcast
in the language identified by the channel titles. Vectone's channels are totally
interactive and allow the audiences from the UK, Europe and the Middle East
to interact live with the presenters in their London studios. This capability
will be extended to their interconnected Asian and European studios in the
future as well.
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The auction for Multichannel Video Distribution and Data Service (MVDDS) licenses continued to move. So far, the MVDDS auction has grossed $45 million. The top three participants are: DTV Norwich, which has bid $27 million; South.com, minority-owned by EchoStar, bidding $13.4 million; and MDS Operations, bidding $2.646 million.
Satellite interests
have been watching MVDDS closely. The wireless technology will share the same
spectrum used by satellite TV services, which have industry interests worried
about interference with their services.
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