Rupert Murdoch has cancelled a visit to the Davos economic summit to personally lead negotiations with UK culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, as News Corp seeks to offer guarantees to safeguard Sky News independence and win approval for its complete takeover of BskyB. Following publication of the Ofcom report recommending a referral to the Competition Commission, […]
Italy’s Lega Calcio Serie A could end up being the saviour of fledgling Italian pay-TV platform Dahlia TV, after Sweden’s Wallenberg Group decided to call it a day. According to local media reports, the Italian Football League has already obtained a positive opinion, in principle, of the Competition Authority, Ministry of Economic Development, and liquidator […]
Global unit shipments of consumer electronics (CE) products will climb 2.6 per cent in 2010, partly driven by rising sales of products that play a role in the connected home and that focus on usability—rather than technological wizardry—according to iSuppli research. CE product shipments in 2011 are projected to reach 1.60 billion units, up from […]
Spanish broadcasting and media giant Prisa is to lay-off some 18 per cent of its staff, or around 2,500 people in a dramatic restructuring scheme. 2,000 of the headcount reduction will take place in Spain, and another 500 in Portugal and the Americas, says the company. In addition to Spanish daily El Pais, Prisa (Promotora […]
FilmOn.com has announced at Natpe that it has formed a strategic alliance with TVCatchup.com, the top UK-based, advertising supported IPTV provider. Both companies are facing continuing legal challenges from broadcasters and studios who claim their services breach their content rights. The strategic alliance will incorporate both subscription and advertising-based revenue models from the two companies […]
The Netherland’s KPN revealed it had 1.197 million TV customers for its IPTV and DTT services at the end of 2010, up 22 per cent year-on-year. The numbers were unveiled with financial results posting fourth quarter revenues of €3.371 billion, up 0.5 per cent, and EBITDA of €1.359 billion, up 4 per cent. Revenue for […]
Netflix is the content business’s friend. That was the message from the company’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos, speaking at NATPE. He characterised Netflix’s relationship with studios as “very strong,” and Sarandos acknowledged there is “a lot of anxiety” about the dramatic shifts in customer demand for more on-demand viewing and the question of how […]
Following the launch of the company’s interactive Connected TV and STB platform in December 2010 at the AppsWorld trade event, UK-based Green Button Media has revealed Oggle as the name for the platform’s consumer brand. Green Button’s Founder and Chairman, Barry Rubery, believes Oggle can become the brand name on everyone’s lips when talking about […]
A study done by the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) identifies and characterises users who upload content on the main P2P piracy networks and defines their incentives for doing so. The research study examines the behaviour of the users who are responsible for publishing over 55,000 files on the two main portals (Mininova and […]
Football’s governing body FIFA has confirmed the extension of its broadcast rights agreement with Al Jazeera Sport for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. The agreement is the first to be signed in FIFA’s media rights distribution process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, which it […]