There could be a major restructuring of cable carriage fees in store. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Verizon is already in discussions with some channel owners about adjusting their fees to more accurately reflect viewing audiences to its FiOS digital service. The argument is that some channels, and the WSJ specifically lists the […]
Eutelsat has, so far, sold more than 700 hours of extra capacity for news links from Rome, helped by the election of Pope Francis. The satellite operator described the demand for extra capacity as “intense” and spread over 5 of its satellites. Eutelsat says demand for capacity accelerated when the College of Cardinals began deliberation […]
Harrods, the iconic London department store, is awash with OLED and 4K displays. Its street windows are showcasing LG’s latest 55” OLED ultra-thin display – a snip at £10,000 (€11,500) a time – while its electronics department has another pair of the beasts on display, and available for pre-ordering. Harrods sales staff say they “are […]
India’s government has dismissed critics of its TV digitalisation plan, including those who say that a new set-top box tax will damage the process. India’s powerful Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry says that the nation’s MSOs have more than 2.2 million set-top boxes in stock, with a similar amount already procured, mostly from China and […]
I remember a press conference many years ago down at MIP, the room was packed and not just with eager reporters, there was also a surfeit of testosterone. Television, then recently released from the monoculture of national broadcasters, had become the field of choice for the world’s more colourful entrepreneurs to compare appendages. Ranged before […]
Things were already bad at YouView, the UK’s struggling on-demand TV service, but there was complete meltdown on February 28th when the operation’s Chairman, Lord Alan Sugar (who fronts the UK’s version of The Apprentice reality TV show) and the owner of Channel 5, Richard Desmond reportedly came to near fisticuffs during a regular board […]
Eutelsat has been arguing with Deutsche Telekom over certain satellite assets at 28.5 degrees (which is the location used to beam hundreds of TV channels into the UK and Ireland). The dispute has been settled. The argument has been the subject of arbitration proceedings before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, and the result […]
Last week, satellite operator SES declared its full year 2012 results which were slightly below their original guidance to the market, with revenues not helped by further solar-array problems on its AMC-16 satellite (which is wholly leased to EchoStar) and a delayed approval of its EGNOS ‘super’ GPS cargo on SES-5. Egnos is a European […]
A major report from investment banker Morgan Stanley states that Modern Times Group is “structurally better positioned” for the future than its peers. The bank has upgraded its 2013 forecasts, themselves helped by good Q4 results unveiled last week. The report takes a segment by segment view of MTG’s key businesses although pulls no punches […]
There’s a lot to do with sport that is linked in some way to insanity. This is because the definition of insanity is to continue to repeat the same behaviour and yet expect a different outcome. Any of us that support a football team (or any other variety of team) year in, year out, knowing […]