The FCC’s fork in the road, or should that be Information Super-highway, on Net Neutrality is fast approaching and the stakes are getting high and tempers frayed. In typical Washington fashion, the sides are drawn up like gunslingers proclaiming the only good outcome is total victory for them – and, by definition, the demise of […]
One of the most gifted but controversial characters in the English Premier League is the Italian Mario Balotelli. One minute he scores a breathtaking goal for his country, the next he sets his house ablaze by letting off fireworks in his bathroom. You get the picture. Once he revealed a T-shirt in a goal celebration […]
When prospective Republican Presidential nominee Ted Cruz was searching for an insult to describe President Obama’s clear support of the Neutral Netters he spat out “It’s Obamacare for the Internet”. That’s a phrase guaranteed to jar like fingernails down a blackboard over here in Europe. We (in the UK and the US) are two nations […]
I seriously doubt any media company has ever had as many namechecks as Netflix over this last couple of years. We are as guilty as any, but then that’s what happens if a business is a game-changer; the company appears in thousands of ‘wow what a success’ stories and just as many ‘oh my, what […]
SCTE Denver. Shifts Happen was the pithy up sum on how cable has to keep on keeping up with every new innovation that tries to eat its lunch. It was provided by retiring Time Warner Cable CTO Mike LaJoie and was the prelude to a keynote by Tony Werner, Comcast’s current CTO, where he ran […]
4k and UHD really are the talk of the town just now and are bound to dominate IBC. The September issue of Euromedia, released at the show, contains a comprehensive survey of industry views on the technical validity and real time line of this ‘next generation’ high def era. More than one observer warns it […]
Fox has dropped its bid for Time Warner. The surrender was unequivocal; “We’re done, period,” said Chase Carey, Murdoch’s right hand man. Fox was done in by an inclining Time share price and a declining Fox one; a toxic mix for a bid relying on Fox stock as currency. Murdoch, doubtless grudgingly, immediately spent $6 […]
Exactly three years ago, Rupert Murdoch was wiping custard pie from his shirt as his now ex-wife struck out at his assailant in the House of Commons Media Committee room. Even before the pie, Murdoch had confessed it was the ‘humblest day’ of his life. The foam wiped away more easily than the inevitable impression […]
blinkx, the ad targeting company, took a real pasting when it recently issued a profit warning. It said it was partly down to the damaging blog from a Harvard academic that cast doubt on the veracity of the company’s audience traffic data. It also said it was down to “industry-wide issues of efficiency and effectiveness”, […]
For the last few years, M&A has been off the menu; recession tends to dull the corporate appetite, no matter how many dishes the desperate investment bankers offer up. But business doesn’t stop and many companies have harvested a lot of cash or shed a lot of debt. As economies uptick shareholders start expecting accelerated […]