From David Del Valle in Madrid The Spanish media group Prisa, owner of newspaper El Pais, has launched a bid for the rest of Sogecable, Spain’s largest pay-TV group, that it does not already own, valuing the pay-TV operator, owner of Digital DTH platform Digital Plus and premium channel Canal Plus, at E3.8 billion. Prisa […]
From Branislav Pekic in Rome There were nearly 1.500 digital TV channels available in Italy and in 2006 they earned E2.5 billion, according to the New TV Observatory of the School of Management of Milan's Polytechnic. The Observatory divided the channels into three categories, on the basis of the six platforms currently available (DTT, IPTV, […]
MTV owner Viacom has signed a $500 million advertising and content deal with Microsoft in a move that will see the entertainment company drop Google’s DoubleClick. The five-year deal will see Microsoft’s Atlas system replace DoubleClick to deliver ads across Viacom’s extensive range of US websites. Microsoft will also have the right to sell unsold […]
Vivendi's telecoms arm SFR aims to complete the offer for the entire share capital of alternative operator Neuf Cegetel by the end of 2008, said the unit’s chief executive Frank Esser. SFR, which already owns 40.5 per cent of Neuf, announced a draft deal to acquire the entire 19.5 per cent stake held by French […]
An increasing number of television viewers are turning to the Internet to watch videos, films and TV episodes, according to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive. In the past year, YouTube has extended its lead as the top site for online videos, with search engines and television networks gaining ground. Some 65 per cent […]
Digital channel Rapture TV has claimed that Ofcom did not fully investigate its complaint that BSkyB overcharged for its electronic programme guide listing in an appeal against the regulator’s ruling. Rapture, which airs a mix of entertainment and extreme sports programming, originally complained to Ofcom that its annual EPG bill of £76,500 from Sky was […]
From David Del Valle in Madrid The Spanish telco company is launching Terra TV, a free-of-charge VoD service through the Internet, financed by ad revenues, that will allow users to watch TV programmes, specific Internet-adapted content (similar to MySpace TV’s minisodes) and share content with others. Running at 1Mbps speed, the service is aimed at […]
The telco TV market is quickly adding new deployments and subscribers, which is boosting headend equipment sales as each deployment requires at least one headend, reports research firm In-Stat. Growth in the ranks of subscribers means more revenue from licence, service, and support fees for vendors of middleware, content protection, and on-demand platforms, the high-tech […]
Funding received by the BBC via the licence fee could soon be diminished following possible reforms ordered by media regulator Ofcom. One option under review could lead to the licence fee being sliced up so that money could be channeled to other organisations to spend on “public service” web and television ventures. Though the BBC […]
The chief executive of Vivendi has dismissed renewed talk on that his group may sell pay-TV unit Canal Plus. The statement followed speculation that the French media giant might exit Canal Plus in order to buy telecom operator Neuf Cegetel and so avoid possible competition issues. Vivendi has a 56 per cent stake in mobile […]