Media Audits International (MAI), the international arm of US-based Cable Audit Associates (CAA), is launching its first European countrywide audit in the Netherlands this month, representing over 40 channels in the region. MAI’s deal in the Netherlands heralds the first comprehensive audit of transactional content in the territory. As the need for content management grows […]
Spain’s largest cable company ONO looks likely to acquire regional cable operator Telecable that operates in the Spanish regions of Asturias and Extremadura with around 160,000 subscribers. The operation, led by the French bank Societe General, is to be concluded before the end of this month. In the race to acquire the company there is […]
Netflix has admitted the price hikes announced this summer have hit subs harder than it predicted. It said it now expects to have 24 million domestic subscribers at the end of the third quarter, below its earlier expectation of 25 million and the 24.6 million US customers it had at the end of the second […]
The long-awaited Brazil ‘Bill 116’ which sets out a new broadcasting regime for pay TV has received its final assent. Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff made only two minor veto amendments, but the rest of the Bill now passes into the rule book. The two minor exceptions cover call center activity, and content classification, which stays […]
GVT, a Brazilian telecoms subsidiary of Vivendi, unveiled a new pay TV network that will inject competition into Latin America’s biggest and most lucrative market. The GVT offer, which will be available to Brazilian subscribers starting next month, will provide up to 140 channels, CEO Amos Genish told reporters in Sao Paulo. GVT’s entry into […]
Investment bank Morgan Stanley, in a note to clients, reminds investors that BSkyB is delivering a “resilient operating performance”. Despite the high-profile traumas of the past few months, BSkyB just goes rolling along, delivering “solid top-line growth….improving margins…. and a “natural reservoir of growth given that only 28 per cent of Sky’s customers take its […]
Verizon says a recent two-week strike by many of its 45,000 unionised workforce resulted in at least 100,000 lost FiOS Internet TV installs taking place. The problems were not helped by the two huge storms that affected many of its subscribers. While many former Verizon staff and managers stepped in to keep essential services going, […]
IDATE’s 21st edition of its biannual “World TV Markets” says the worldwide market represents €301 billion in 2010, a progression of 7.8 per cent compared to 2009. “Despite advertising spending’s sensitivity to economic activity, the effects of the 2008-2009 financial and economic crisis had less of an effect on the TV market than it did […]
The first example of the set-top box to be sold by alternative pay-TV provider REAL Digital made an unheralded appearance in a quiet corner of the IBC show floor. David Henry, Managing Director of REAL Digital, had anticipated a September 1 launch, but middleware problems meant that target was missed. Nevertheless, Korean STB manufacturer Digital […]
Dr Abe Peled was recently promoted to Executive Chairman at NDS, and used his annual IBC press lunch to introduce his new CEO Dave Habiger. Peled said 2011 was proving to be a very important year for the television distribution business. “Topics like OTT seeming to be making headlines everywhere. We have been talking for […]