Discovery and Science Channel president and general manager Jane Root is out at the company, Discovery Communications president and CEO David Zaslav confirmed. She is being let her out of her contract effective immediately to return to her native United Kingdom, and Discovery veteran John Ford — who rejoined the company in September after years […]
From Colin Mann in London Premium sports broadcaster Setanta Sports has launched its first free-to-air channel with the unveiling of Setanta Sports News, jointly owned with Virgin Media. The 24/7 channel will be available on Virgin's UK cable platform and digital satellite via the Sky EPG. It will feature all newsworthy sports items, not just […]
Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has backed down, for now, from his effort to expand regulatory control over the cable industry after failing to secure backing from fellow regulators. The FCC had planned to vote on a report that found companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable had reached a […]
From Colin Mann in London The head of BBC Worldwide said the business has underestimated how much money it could make from the Internet. Chief Executive John Smith said the business initially aimed to get at least 10 per cent of its total revenues from the Internet, but has now realised this target is too […]
With the highest growth rate of any market segment, analysts are calling Ku-band video services like distribution for FTA and cable headends, DTH, contribution and occasional use the global commercial satellite market’s rising stars. If certain projections hold true, more than 500 36 MHz transponder equivalents of Ku-band capacity will be added to global capacity […]
NBC Universal is set to use TiVo to tell it how television viewers are using their digital video recorders and to introduce interactive commercials to the masses. The companies said they will use TiVo’s existing interactive advertising platforms as well as create new ones, and they will split some of the revenue the platforms could […]
UK shoppers are being misinformed when buying high-definition TV sets, regulators have warned. A study by Ofcom found that large numbers of people are given incorrect information when buying expensive HD TV sets. According to the survey, however, there were significant errors in the information given to customers by many retailers. Four in 10 people […]
The EU's decision to back DVB-H technology as the standard for mobile TV broadcasts in all member countries is under attack from Germany, Britain and the Netherlands. EU media commissioner Viviane Reding, wants to put DVB-H on a list of official standards, and could compel member states to adopt the mobile technology as early as […]
Verizon Wireless plans to open its mobile network to all devices and mobile Internet applications next year. The company has unveiled a package of free software to try to stimulate the development of handsets that are open to any Internet service. The move marks an apparent reversal of course by the second-biggest US mobile carrier […]
News Corp’s Internet division plans to launch an online network to sell advertising across Rupert Murdoch’s media group and to other media companies as early as the first half of next year. Fox Interactive Media (FIM) President Peter Levinsohn told Reuters that the network, internally dubbed “FIM Serve,” is the subject of discussion across the […]