Channel 4 has withdrawn from the bidding for Virgin Media’s entertainment channels, because it can't afford it. The broadcaster is reported to have told Virgin it would not submit a binding bid for Virgin Media Television, because it believes it has better uses for its limited cash resources. With Channel 4 out, Virgin Media faces […]
Arqiva is understood to have hired Pierre-Jean Sebert, former managing director of British Eurosport, as chief executive of its proposed online TV venture. The broadcast transmission company paid £8m for the assets of Project Kangaroo, and has plans over the coming months to launch its own online TV aggregation service in conjunction with broadcasters. Arqiva […]
The cable industry has valued the benefits of bundled voice, video and data to consumers at $35 billion a year and, increasingly, subscribers are taking advantage of those benefits. That came in comments to the FCC in its annual assessment of the state of video competition. That $35 billion is a combination of “enormous cost […]
The tough consumer environment took its toll on Walt Disney's Q3 earnings, with profits down 25 per cent on falling television advertising income and declining home entertainment sales. Bob Iger, chief executive, acknowledged the difficult economic conditions but said the company, which owns the ABC television network and ESPN cable channel, had detected signs of […]
European satellite giant SES has reported a 10 per cent rise in first-half core profit (EBITDA) to E607 million. The company repeated it saw revenue growth of 3-4 per cent on a like-for-like basis and an EBITDA margin for its infrastructure business of above 82 per cent.
The demand for interactive and personalised television services will push annual worldwide set-top box shipments over 200 million by 2013, as providers overhaul their current base with next-generation models, according to Parks Associates. The research firm’s latest report says the global digital transition and new distribution channels like DTT, IPTV, and over-the-top video services will […]
DVR specialist TiVo has unveiled a first look at its Pure Programme Ratings, which were derived using the number of TiVo subscribers viewing a programme, live or Time-shifted, excluding the commercials, to arrive at the total potential audience for the commercials during a given programme. Current industry services measure a programme's viewership rating without separating […]
Belgacom's IPTV business has posted year on year revenue growth of 53.3% in the first six months of 2009. 82,000 customer adds took subscriber numbers to 589,000, delivering revenues of E59 million. "Belgacom TV has become the success story of the audio-visual sector, in scarcely four years. This performance is recognized internationally. Belgacom's digital TV […]
Arqiva is set to move into the VOD market with a deal to buy Kangaroo technology developed for the proposed joint venture between ITV, Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide. The company is said to be in the final stages of negotiations to purchase the technology which was developed for the proposed joint venture VOD service, […]
Independent web and mobile content platform Babelgum and comedy video portal Funny or Die have signed an exclusive, wireless licensing agreement to bring Funny or Die videos to mobile platforms. The agreement will bring new and library Funny or Die content to mobile users everywhere over the next two years. Plans include offering mobile users […]