From Branislav Pekic in RomeA Magistrate in Naples has ruled that DTH operator Sky Italia cannot impose on its subscribers the use of its own digital box.In its ruling, the justice condemned Sky Italia for “breach of contract and contractual and personal damage” towards one of its clients, identified as Mr. V.D.P., defended by the […]
The European commission is likely to ban the government’s proposed £14m (E17.9m) aid to Channel 4 to meet the costs of the digital switchover and fulfill its public service broadcasting (PSB) commitments.Neelie Kroes, European competition commissioner has told the foreign secretary, David Miliband that Channel 4 had enough reserves and revenues to pay for its […]
Former Ofcom and NTL chief executive Stephen Carter has been named as minister for communications, technology and broadcasting in the House of Lords, as part of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s reshuffle.Carter, who has been handed a peerage to take up his role in the House, said: “Given the global financial challenges, the communications sector has […]
Warner Brothers Entertainment has commenced releasing its films online in South Korea before they are released in the country on DVD, shaking up the time-honoured Hollywood distribution model and potentially paving the way for a sharp increase in movie downloads.The studio has targeted South Korea because it has high broadband penetration. It hopes that releasing […]
Viasat Broadcasting has concluded a comprehensive new agreement with Formula One Management (FOM) for the media rights to the FIA Formula One World Championship for Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The agreement provides Viasat with free- and pay-TV rights for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Championships. Viasat already holds the exclusive rights for Sweden and Norway […]
BT's new ads for its BT Vision service poke fun at subscription-heavy pay-TV rivals seeing a man flicking through a friend's fictional pay TV service and joking with him about the number of channels he pays for but never watches. The new ads, part of a £11 million (E14m) TV campaign, focus on how BT […]
Virgin Media Television (VMtv) has confirmed two senior appointments to strengthen and develop its commercial strategy for the multi-screen digital future. David Cuff joins VMtv as its new Commercial Director, responsible for commercial strategy across the full range of VMtv's business. Cuff has previously held positions with Flextech Television and Initiative Media, and runs his […]
From Colin Mann in Cologne Operators need to go beyond the triple play of voice, video and data, according to Bob McIntyre, CTO of Cisco's Service Provider Group. “Triple play is not enough,” he warned delegates attending the Broadband Summit at the ANGA Cable Congress.”The competitive edge will come with an integrated solution,” he suggested, […]
German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere's shares fell 60% as it announced losses, a subscriber number re-statement and revealed it is trying to restructure bank debt.Premiere said its chief financial officer, Alexander Teschner, had stepped down as it restated its customer numbers to be in line with other pay-TV companies, resulting in a 940,000 drop in the […]
An official from China’s State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) has indicated that the overall direction for issuing 3G licences once the telecom industry restructuring is complete has been settled. China Mobile is operating a TD-SCDMA network, the new China Telecom is building a CDMA2000 network on the basis of its acquired CDMA business, […]