Advanced Television

Macron urges EU to challenge US and Chinese giants

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged a European alliance to take on US giants such as Netflix, Disney and Apple, and emerging Chinese competitors. In a speech addressed to 130 cultural industry executives who were invited at the Elysée Palace, he said: “If we can’t get organised, we the French, the battle will be lost. […]

May 16, 2019From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

RTL SVoD subs up 59% YoY

RTL Group has reported its Q1 revenue was up 7.2 per cent to €1,518 million. Total digital revenue grew 15.8 per cent to €220 million. The Group saw strong growth in paying subscribers for its VoD platforms in Germany and the Netherlands; up 59 per cent year on year. Thomas Rabe, Chief Executive Officer of […]

May 16, 2019

Vodafone Spain kicks off 5G this summer

Vodafone Spain is taking the lead in the country’s 5G roll-out and has announced plans to launch the first services this summer – one year earlier than initially planned – in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao and Malaga. “Spain will be one of the pioneering countries in Europe in 5G, not as it happened in […]

May 16, 2019From David Del Valle in Madrid

Channel 4 catches Cricket World Cup highlights

UK commercial broadcaster Channel 4 will show highlights of the 2019 Cricket World Cup which opens when England take on South Africa on May 30th. Ten countries compete in the World Cup, with all teams playing each other in a full round robin with the top four teams progressing to the semi-finals to decide who […]

May 16, 2019

Spanish consumers challenge Movistar Plus price rise

The Consumers Association, FACUA, has filed a complaint before the Ministry of Economy and the Consumer authorities against Movistar for its latest price rise – the second this year and the eight since 2015. The Consumers’ Association has urged the Administration to halt the price increase as, according to the legislation, “it is not for […]

May 16, 2019From David Del Valle in Madrid

CBA answers complaints from Disney, CBS, Discovery

Major US broadcasters including CBS, Discovery, Disney, Fox, Univision and Viacom, have written to the FCC following up meetings they had regarding the C-Band Alliance’s (CBA) scheme to sell off 180 MHz of C-band satellite capacity. They are concerned that their long-established satellite feeds will be impacted by the proposals. They are asking for assurances […]

May 16, 2019By Chris Forrester

Report: Pressures rise for efficiency and multi-platform delivery

IABM has released its latest Buying Trends Report. The report analyses the financial performance of media companies for the six months to December 2018 and qualitative analysis based on pre-NAB Show 2019 buying trends survey data. Revenue growth has improved from 5.3 per cent to 9.3 per cent while profit growth remains negative at -2.4 […]

May 16, 2019

Davidson-Houston to leave Channel 4

Channel 4’s Head of All 4, Richard Davidson-Houston has decided to step down from his role after 12 years at the broadcaster and will leave Channel 4 in the summer. As Head of All 4, Davidson-Houston launched the video-on-demand service in 2015 and has led All 4 through a period of record growth in digital […]

May 16, 2019

Berg Insight: 5G will reach IoT market in late 2020

According to a report from IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, 5G will make its first appearance in the IoT market in late 2020. The first 5G cellular IoT modules will become available to developers this year, enabling early adopters to create the first IoT devices based on the standard. Based on the experience of previous […]

May 16, 2019

WWE to BT Sport?

BT Sport looks set to acquire the UK broadcast rights to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), ending a decades long association with Sky Sports. According to a report originating in UK daily The Telegraph, BT Sport will assume the rights when Sky’s current contract ends later this year. Sky has been broadcasting WWE programming since 1989. […]

May 16, 2019By Nik Roseveare