David Kaye, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, has come out firmly in support of Qatar-based (and funded) news channel Al Jazeera. Kaye, in a statement, says that demands to close the channel “represents a serious threat to media freedom if states, under the pretext of a diplomatic crisis, take measures to force […]
Researchers at Area 120, Google’s experimental unit, have revealed in a blog post that they’ve built their first version of a digital advertising format designed specifically for mobile, virtual-reality applications. The demonstration video, shared by Google product manager Aayush Upadhyay and associate project manager Neel Rao, showed a cube adorned with logos (which will presumably […]
Following recent successful launches in France and the US, the mobile contentplatform blackpills is launching in Spain on iOS and Android. The platform creates, produces and distributes TV series between 6 and 15 minutes targetting a youth audience. In the coming weeks, blackpills will be launching in other key European markets including the UK, Italy […]
SES held its annual ‘investors day’ in London, June 28th, although some investors seemingly took a less than optimistic view of the satellite operator’s prospects. Some negative comments prompted a fall in SES’ share price of some 3 per cent, down from €21.88 to €21.50 on the day. But it might be that the market […]
The TV market in Africa/the Middle East will grow by 30 per cent between 2016 and 2021, going from €10.3 billion to €13.3 billion, according to a report from IDATE. This momentum, which is driven largely by sub-Saharan Africa, represents the world’s fastest-growing TV market, not only today but also for the five years to […]
YouTube TV, Google’s effort to take on cable-television companies and online-streaming platforms, will soon expand into Dallas-Fort Worth, Charlotte, Washington D.C., Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami-Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. The streaming service offers live programming from ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, ESPN and other regional networks for $35 (€30.67) per month. In a blog […]
Following on the success of the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video (FWC) in North America, the FWC is launching in Europe, extending its remit to champion the premium video industry on an international level. The FreeWheel Council for Premium Video Europe (FWCE) is an advocacy group consisting, at launch, of 13 members, including major European […]
AMC and Comcast are to offer a new $4.99-a-month upgrade option, branded ‘AMC Premiere’, that will allow US viewers to watch the latest episode of AMC shows without any commercials. The service will also include bonus scenes and interviews with casts and writers. It will not, however, have past seasons of many of AMC’s shows. […]
With a new season of Game of Thrones less than three weeks away, research from comparison site Finder.com.au suggests that Australians are once again likely to become the world’s most prolific pirates of the show. The only legal way to watch the show at the same time as the rest of the world will be […]
Barely 10 days ago pay-radio operator SiriusXM invested $480 million into US streaming service Pandora. On June 27th Pandora confirmed what the industry had rumoured for a few days, that its CEO – and co-founder – Tim Westergren, had “stepped down”. The senior-level changes are far from over. SiriusXM now owns 19 per cent of […]