The beleaguered pay-TV sports operation has appointed ex Emap CEO Robin Miller as its new chairman as it seeks new financing after losing a tranche of Premier League matches. It badly needs to raise £100m (E113m) of new investment and will seek to have investors back a new business plan concentrating on its position in […]

French pay TV group Canal Plus has announced the launch of the new ‘Canal Ready’ label to be placed on new TV equipment. The label is intended to inform consumers about the compatibility of the product they are about to buy with the group’s services. Canal Ready will feature on satellite and DTT set-top boxes […]

Screen Digest forecasts that the global pay TV set-top box (STB) market will peak within the next four years, reaching annual shipments of 127 million units in 2012, before the market declines in 2013. The continuing thrust by pay TV operators to convert their customers from analogue to digital and upgrade them to high definition […]

From David Del Valle in Madrid Sogecable, owner of Canal Plus and digital DTH platform, Digital Plus, has accused commercial TV channel La Sexta of pirating the signal of its premium channel Canal Plus, by broadcasting a review of the football match between Real Madrid and Getafe, offered by the pay-TV channel. The pay-TV company […]

German pay-TV group Premiere has completed a E450 million capital increase, which saw Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp raise its stake from 25 per cent to 30.5 per cent. The company announced the two-step rights issue in December in order to fund last autumn’s purchase of rights to show live Bundesliga soccer. ….

India's pay-television industry is facing a shake-out amid intense competition during the recession according to a report by Media Partners Asia (MPA). "All of the players have to rationalise their costs because advertising sales and subscriptions are falling," said Vivek Couto, executive director at MPA. India has been a standout market in Asia for pay-TV […]

Broadband households in Europe and the US consistently rank primetime anytime VOD services as the most valuable service out of all TV 2.0 offerings, according to the Parks Associates report 'Television Services: The Global Outlook'. The international research firm says that primetime anytime services, which allow viewers to watch a show on-demand on their TV […]

German financial watchdog Bafin has launched a probe into possible insider trading and market manipulation involving shares in German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere. The investigation focuses on trades that may be related to a correction of Premiere subscriber numbers last year, a Bafin spokeswoman said. Premiere also confirmed that the probe was under way but declined […]

According to Entertainment Trends In America, a tracking study conducted by market research company The NPD Group, most consumers plan to hold steady or increase their entertainment spending in 2009. According to the NPD report, 75 per cent of consumers surveyed said they will spend the same amount or more on digital music downloads as […]

According to research advisory company The Diffusion Group (TDG), Pay TV operators must execute three specific tactics in order to defend against emerging competitors and take full advantage of their unique position in the video value chain. Specifically, TDG argues that Pay TV operators must: – Push existing cable network TV programmes online; – Deliver […]