Advanced Television

FTA

ADM, STARZPLAY score Italian football rights

UAE public service broadcaster and media company Abu Dhabi Media (ADM) and SVoD service STARZPLAY have secured the exclusive rights to stream the premium Italian League (Serie A), Coppa Italia (Italy Cup), and Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup), for the next three seasons beginning 2022. The Italian Football Federation granted the rights after a competitive […]

August 1, 2022

Record Tour de France numbers for EBU members

Following news from Warner Bros Discovery Sports that the 2022 Tour de France attracted record-breaking audience engagement across 50 markets in Europe, it has been confirmed that the event also attracted the biggest TV audiences for EBU Members overall in terms of hours viewed since 2015. The race, which featured an epic duel for the […]

August 1, 2022

French watchdog raises TF1, M6 merger concerns

In the framework of the review of the proposed merger between Groupe TF1 and Groupe M6, the case team of the French competition authority (Autorité de la Concurrence) has issued its report. In the report, which does not prejudge the final decision by the Board (Collège) of the authority, the case team considers that the […]

July 27, 2022By Colin Mann

France axes PSB licence fee

French deputies have voted to end the licence fee financing PSB groups, a project that was examined as part of the corrective finance bill for 2022. The Assembly replaced its funding by a percentage of VAT for a total amount of €3.7 billion. This element of VAT will be determined annually as part of the […]

July 25, 2022From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

Report: FAST channels changing TV ad landscape

A report, Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV: Why More Advertisers (and Consumers) Are Going F.A.S.T., from Comcast Advertising, the advertising division of Comcast Cable, highlights the rise of Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) and its value to advertisers today as a complement to traditional TV and streaming advertising plans. As one of the newest forms of […]

July 22, 2022

MPs to probe Wales PSB future

The Welsh Affairs Committee of the UK House of Commons has launched a new inquiry looking at Broadcasting in Wales. Television remains the most-used news source for people in Wales. Seventy-four per cent of adults across Wales use television for their news, followed by websites/apps and radio. In 2020, broadcast television viewing in Wales bucked […]

July 19, 2022By Colin Mann

UK Lords consider BBC funding options

Members of the Communications and Digital Committee of the UK House of Lords, Parliament’s upper legislative chamber, have suggested that some form of public funding will remain necessary beyond the existing BBC licence fee settlement, proposing a number of alternatives. In a report, Licence to change: BBC future funding, the Committee, chaired by Baroness Stowell […]

July 18, 2022By Colin Mann

Ofcom consults on TV advertising rules

UK media regulator Ofcom is seeking evidence to help determine whether there is a need to reform rules that restrict the amount of advertising shown on public service broadcasters’ TV channels. All UK broadcasters are subject to restrictions on the quantity and scheduling of advertising on their channels. But under rules introduced over 30 years […]

July 15, 2022By Colin Mann

MPs question C4 as sell-off in balance

The UK House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee is to question the Chief Executive and Operating Officers of Channel 4 on their thoughts on Government plans to privatise the broadcaster. Questions are expected to cover whether privatisation will increase or decrease the channel’s impact and contribution to the sector, as well as […]

July 11, 2022By Colin Mann

Intelsat claims largest FTA neighbourhood in US

Intelsat says that its Galaxy-19 satellite has North America’s largest number of free-to-air channels targeting multi-cultural immigrant communities and faith-based channels. Intelsat’s Galaxy 19 video neighbourhood is the largest independent TV and radio community in North America, with over 160 multicultural and faith-based channels bringing specialty content from 60 countries and 30 languages directly to […]

July 8, 2022By Chris Forrester