Scripps Networks, the owner of the Food Network and HGTV, snapped up a majority stake in the Travel Channel. Cox Communications will keep a 35% stake. The agreement between Scripps and Cox concluded a long series of bids by Scripps, the News Corporation and a number of private equity groups. "Combining the Travel Channel with […]

Liberty Global's third-quarter loss – its fifth in a row – narrowed on higher sales and smaller effects of foreign-currency exchange. Chief Executive Mike Fries said the company demonstrated consistent growth in operating cash flow in the first three quarters of the year and expects to be at the high end of its forecast for […]

Comcast Corp’s quarterly profit rose 22 percent, beating expectations, as it sold more phone and Internet subscriptions, helping the top U.S. cable operator fight competition from phone and satellite companies for video subscribers. It reported 361,000 new high-speed Internet customers and 375,000 new digital phone subscribers in the third quarter, offsetting the loss of 132,000 […]

Time Warner raised its profit outlook for 2009 boosted by better than expected results at its cable channels and films division, even as it reported a 40 per cent lower net income for the third quarter. The owner of CNN and the Warner Bros movie studio said it will take a $100 million charge for […]

By 2014, 50 per cent of households in France will subscribe to a triple-play offer as operators invest in FTTH to stay competitive, according to a report from Pyramid Research, the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network. “Pyramid forecasts that 30 per cent of households in France will subscribe to a triple-play […]

Cable Europe has announced yearend figures for 2009 showing a rise in broadband customers throughout Europe. During meetings on broadband policy and copyright Cable Europe President, Manuel Kohnstamm said "Our meetings signify commitment from both the business community and the policy community to work together towards the common goal of broadband rollout across the EU. […]

Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes has said a takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast would benefit the cable television industry. Comcast’s ownership would make NBCU “reasonably progressive about the future on content” and help make its broadcast businesses “more viable,” Bewkes said at a media conference in New York. Bewkes reiterated that his own […]

Cable Europe and Cable Europe Labs released a report which shows sustainable growth and continued investments in high speed fibre networks for European consumers against the backdrop of a heightened EU political will to push broadband penetration to 100 per cent by 2010. Cable Europe President, Manuel Kohnstamm said, "Fibre-driven growth and high speed capabilities […]

Time Warner Cable is launching Enhanced TV a PVR-catch up type service which has features that allows customers to watch shows without planning ahead, Chief Strategy Officer Peter Stern said. Subscribers can restart programmes if they missed the beginning, watch shows up to three days after the air date, and eventually view programmes older than […]

German cable operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG) plans to offer broadband Internet with download speeds of up to 100Mbps from 2010. KDG's CEO, Adrian von Hammerstein, told a German newspaper that the new offering will initially be available in large urban areas, with up to four towns covered in the first half of the year. The […]