AT&T has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to speedily approve its planned $48.5 billion take-over of DirecTV. AT&T filed its request in Washington, and argued that its move on DirecTV is very different from the merger between Time Warner Cable and Comcast. AT&T further used the filing to rebut criticism from some of its […]
Investment bankers Mediatech Capital Partners (MCP) believe that Netflix is now firmly a potential acquisition target. Porter Bibb, MCP’s managing partner, speaking on Bloomberg TV, told viewers that Netflix’s 50 million-plus subscribers – and growing – might put financial pressures on Reed Hastings, Netflix’s founder. “Netflix [share price fell] but it is still very, very […]
Freesat, the subscription free satellite TV service, has maintained its 2014 momentum by adding 8,000 new TV homes in the three months to the end of September. In all, Freesat has added 32,000 new households in the first nine months of 2014; it is now available in 1.9 million households and watched by more than […]
France Televisions will this week launch the new ad-supported multiscreen platform for its youth brand Ludo, developed as a youth digital on-demand channel for kids aged 6 and above. The new platform will replace the current website monludo.fr and will be available on IOS and Android tablets as well as on Xbox One consoles, before […]
Online entertainment streaming service Aereo, which suspended its operations June 28th following the Supreme Court copyright decision in favour of US broadcasters, is taking further steps to create a path forward for the company by filing a required ex parte notice disclosing its recent conversations with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where it expressed its […]
An academic study into whether search engines influence media piracy has concluded that reducing the prominence of pirated links can be a viable policy option in the fight against intellectual property theft. The researchers at Carnegie Mellon University – H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management note there is an ongoing public […]
Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) says it is in negotiation with the insurance industry over a partial failure of its recently launched ABS-2 satellite. Their claim is for $214 million, and concerns their key Russian beam. ABS-2 was built b y Space Systems/Loral, and launched in February. The claim is complicated by the fact that the […]
Sky Sports will show more Rugby League than ever before next year, with around 100 live matches from the First Utility Super League, Kingstone Press Championship, Challenge Cup and World Club Series. Sky Sports will show every Super League team at least twice before the Easter weekend in the 8th round. The new Super League […]
Major Indian cable Multi System Operators (MSOs) are seeking to create momentum for digitisation of the country’s networks with the formation of the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF). Federation members will work on a business model for Phase III and IV digitisation and aim to create a healthy business environment for all stakeholders. Under […]
BBC Monitoring is reporting that Lithuania’s parliament (Seimas) last week debated the prospects of creating a TV channel dedicated to countering what it said is near non-stop propaganda from Russia. They also considered imposing a quote on Russian channels and TV programmes coming into Lithuania. One immediate step under consideration was to reduce broadcasts in […]