German pay TV broadcaster Premiere, whose profits depend largely on its ability to show live Bundesliga football matches, scrapped its 2008 forecast on uncertainty over the next TV rights auction. “The bidding process will begin much later than expected and an agency has been commissioned to manage the process. We cannot rule out that this […]
Deutsche Telekom is selling its German media broadcast business to private equity firm in a transaction worth between E800 million and E900 million. They will chose between bids from the Macquarie Infrastructure Group and TPG private equity of the US. Deutsche Telekom’s chief executive, René Obermann, had signalled the possiblesale of the media broadcast business […]
Joost has appointed Meebo to power its instant messaging service. The deal means that Joost users will now be able to chat while watching content from its 250 channels. Meebo claims 3.5m accounts are now registered with its service. Mike Volpi, CEO of Joost, said: “Participation in community activities has emerged as one of the […]
Telescope, player in participation media services and Akamai, service provider for accelerating content and applications online, have provided the first multi-channel voting platform for participation media events, part of a growing industry that has become more significant to broadcasters. The two companies have successfully delivered the application, which enables audience members of participation TV shows […]
LA-based interactive television company PTV Corporation is launching its wholly owned interactive television channel on the Sky DTH platform in the UK and Ireland. The company’s channel is styled as the world's first multi-play dynamic pricing television commerce platform. Its proprietary programming is a fast-paced, competitive, trading floor atmosphere that provides live, real-time auctions combined […]
Swisscom AG is to shut down its interactive television operation Betty TV in Switzerland. ‘The results from Betty TV (Switzerland) were significantly below our expectations,’ said spokesman Carsten Roetz in an interview. Betty TV gained 10,000 customers in Switzerland and 100,000 in Germany since its launch last June. But Swisscom had produced 300,000 devices for […]
Sky Chairman Rupert Murdoch offered BSkyB shareholders a vindication of his company’s 18 years in business by declaring it would relish the competition brought by changes in the media landscape. Murdoch told investors at the company’s annual general meeting that the satellite broadcaster’s history since launching 18 years ago had been “a remarkable story,” with […]
Satellite giant BSkyB won more new customers than anticipated in its first quarter but saw pre-tax profits fall to £121 million (E174m) in the three months to 30 September compared with £166 million last year. Revenue went up by 11 per cent on the comparable period to £1,185 million. The company said it had 939,000 […]
BSkyB chief executive James Murdoch has revealed that the group is developing a “hybrid” media model using its satellite and digital terrestrial platforms to allow subscribers to access content seamlessly from TVs, PCs or mobiles. In an FT.com interview, Murdoch also rejected claims that his aggressive strategy had exposed it to possible regulatory punishment, saying: […]
From Branislav Pekic in Rome Italian public broadcaster RAI plans launch two new TV channels, as part of its new digital terrestrial TV strategy for the period 2008-2010 that has been approved by the Board of Directors. RAI's future 'core' DTT platform will see the launch of an entertainment channel for young viewers in 2008, […]