NBC Universal and private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group have agreed to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications. The terms of the deal have not been revealed, but the price tag is reported to have been almost $3.5 billion. The channel will be run as a separate business from the company’s other […]
According to a report from the FTTH Council Europe, improvements in broadband connectivity speeds are having a direct impact on consumer bandwidth usage, with demand per broadband home growing at almost 20 per cent per annum over the last 5 years. The research, undertaken with Ventura Team, is believed to be the first of its […]
From Branislav Pekic in Rome The commission responsible for evaluating the bids on Portugal's Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) tender has given the green light to the project that Portugal Telecom plans to launch in the framework of Multiplex A that will carry free-to-air TV channels. Portugal Telecom now has 10 working days to accept the […]
NBC is using the Olympics as a “billion-dollar research lab” to get a sense of how people are using different media platforms to experience the Beijing Games next month. Besides giving advertisers a clearer picture of how much consumers are paying attention to the games, NBC hopes its research provides a comprehensive picture of how […]
From Branislav Pekic in Rome Brazilian pay-TV operator Sky is to launch a pre-paid service based on a package of 35 TV channels (8 of them free-to-air) and 46 audio channels. In order to get “Sky Pré-Pago”, the consumer needs to acquire the basic reception equipment (dish and decoder) for $187 (E120), including installation. One […]
Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president, has said that summer blockbuster movie Hancock will be Sony's first test for streaming a movie into the homes of buyers of its Bravia TV sets. Users would need to have purchased a $299 Internet Video Link accessory to attach to the TV and they will also have to […]
The first in a series of new 'three-screen' reports by Nielsen shows an emerging shift toward a more video-centric use of the Internet, but not at the expense of television viewing. The report is an effort by Nielsen to “follow the video” as consumer viewing habits shift. The average American spent 127 hours of time […]
Lesley Mackenzie, former boss of the Kangaroo project, has been appointed chief executive of web TV business, Nettv247.com. The company, founded by Ian West, vice-chairman of TopUpTV, plans to develop a range of Internet and web TV businesses. Nettv247 recently launched its first venture, 123webtv.com, an EPG for Internet TV
Estonian cable operator Starman is set to become the sole owner of DTT platform ZUUMtv. Reports indicate that the cable operator has agreed to buy the 34 per cent held by the TDF-backed national transmission company Levira for around E2.68 million. ZUUMtv is one of the few fully operational DTT platforms in Central and Europe […]
The BBC has formally proposed a new feature for its iPlayer video on demand service: a pre-booking function. The service would allow viewers to queue up TV shows they wish to download up to a week before they air. A similar feature is already offered on various other TV download services, including 4oD and Sky+