The remaining parts of ITV’s business that bear the Granada name are to be rebranded in a move that will see the 79-year-old name disappear from its commercial activities. ITV confirmed it would rebrand its US production arm, which is currently called Granada America, under the new title of ITV Studios Inc with immediate effect. […]
Time Warner is close to spinning off all of its AOL Internet business, according to several reports. Although a decision has not been finalised, executives prefer spinning off the whole division rather than a part. Since Microsoft launched a bid to take over Yahoo last year, Time Warner has attempted to find potential combinations of […]
Unions on both sides of the Atlantic are joining forces with media companies to lobby for tougher action against piracy, as rising unemployment levels focus their attention on the threat to members' jobs and incomes from copyright breaches. Representatives from media unions, including the the Federation of Entertainment Unions and the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and […]
The Digital Watermarking Alliance (DWA) has released key findings from a commissioned survey on piracy deterrence. The study, conducted by Interpret, aimed to determine whether the inclusion of Digital Serial Numbers (DSNs) in online content would deter illegal file sharing. The results showed that DSNs would deter illegal downloading among 33 per cent of the […]
From Colin Mann in Cologne On-demand TV server systems provider Edgeware and broadband cable networks specialist Teleste have inked a partnership and global reseller agreement under which Teleste will resell Edgeware’s video server products. Edgeware’s Orbit and Web TV Server products are pre-integrated with Teleste’s MyCast hybrid IPTV/DVB middleware. The pair suggest that with the […]
Driven by the broadband access boom, global shipments of consumer-electronics devices capable of supporting Internet video are set to rise by nearly a factor of five from 2009 to 2013, according to iSuppli Corp. By 2013, 376.5 million entertainment-oriented consumer electronics platforms with the capability to support Internet video will be shipped, up from 80.5 […]
By 2013, the average household will have 2.5 times as many digital media devices (computing, gaming, digital consumer electronics, portable and mobile wireless devices) in use as in 2008, according to In-Stat. Accompanying this adoption will be a rise in the number of these devices that are network-enabled, leveraging various wired mediums and wireless technologies, […]
Broadband content – including the deluge of made-for-the Web videos – will need “content aggregators” to package programming for viewers, Liberty Media Chairman John Malone said. “We’d love to be the aggregator; so would the cable industry,” he said, citing the historic parallel of Home Box Office assembling a roster of films to create the […]
Sky Deutschland has confirmed it will launch its new digital bouquets in Germany and Austria on July 4th. The number of HD channels available will triple from two to six. Sky Welt will be the new basic package, offering 20 channels including Sky Krimi, Fox, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Jetix Disney Channel, and TNT Serie […]
In a bizarre juxtaposition of brand names, Virgin Media's Richard Branson is said to be mulling a bid for Private Media, owner of the Playboy brand. A number of PE firms have reportedly balked at Playboy Enterprises' $300 million asking price, but Richard Branson's name has been increasingly mentioned as a prospective buyer. The company […]