Little more than six months after Amazon introduced Amazon Fire TV, which quickly became the best-selling streaming media box on the e-retailer, it is introducing a smaller and even more affordable device. The Fire TV Stick connects to the HDMI port on an HDTV for instant access to movies, TV shows, music, photos, apps, and […]
Vodafone has launched a probe into possible tax fraud at Spain’s largest cable company ONO prior to its acquisition by the British firm. The allegation is ONO ran a network of off-the-books subsidiary companies that traded in call packets, and did not declare Value Added Tax (VAT) worth €60 million on an estimated €250 million […]
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets say that the likes of Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime – among others – will pay a massive $6.8 billion next year in signing syndication rights to movies and TV shows. This is a $1.6 billion uplift on this year’s $5.2 billion payment to Hollywood’s production studios. Moreover, senior […]
Research from Parks Associates shows the average US broadband household now watches more than 17 hours of non-linear video per week, compared to 11.5 hours of linear video. “Non-linear video accounts for 49 per cent of the video consumed on the TV, and it is already the majority, 60 per cent, of TV video viewed […]
UK broadcaster STV has applied to Ofcom to run local TV services in Aberdeen, Dundee and Ayr. The company launched its first local service, STV Glasgow, in June, and an Edinburgh channel is to go live in January. Each station is run in partnership with local universities and colleges. The broadcaster says the stations would […]
Portugal has started using Multi Frequency Network (MFN) in an attempt to resolve DTT reception problems in parts of the country. The move follows the request of DTT network operator, PT Comunicações, (PTC) for licensing four transmitters (Marofa, Mendro, Palmela and São Mamede) on alternative frequencies to those operating in mainland Portugal, subsequently approved by […]
The FCC’s plan to auction off 600 MHz spectrum licences returned by broadcasters has been deferred until at least 2016, following what the Commission describes as a recalibration of its proposed timing. It was seeking to hold the auction in mid-2015. In a blog post, Gary Epstein, chair of the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force, […]
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has submitted formal comments to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) listing some of the world’s most notorious marketplaces for the distribution of infringing content. The USTR is publishing its fourth Notorious Markets List since 2011 and issued a request for public comments on September 26th. […]
Thomas Sydnor, visiting fellow with the America Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy and one-time copyright advisor to the Office of International Relations at the US Patent and Trademark Office, has suggested that Internet TV streaming service Aereo’s antenna-based operation was “nothing more than the latest example of technologically-inefficient means to commit […]
A meeting of the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board in Montreux, Switzerland, is recommending that an all-year Olympics TV Channel be set up. IOC president Thomas Bach confirmed that a feasibility study looked good, and while no language plan was specified local reports suggest that the channel will initially be broadcast in English, although the […]