Advanced Television

Pay TV

Setanta makes deposit, will lobby for more rights

Sky and Setanta have made deposits guaranteeing the packages they won in an auction for live TV rights from 2010. Setanta plans to complain to domestic and European regulators after it managed to win only one package of 23 matches from 2010, halving its live Premier League coverage. Sky will have 115 live games from […]

February 19, 2009

Viasat pay-TV up 10%

Viasat Broadcasting' fourth quarter results show development in Central and East Europe and an increase in premium subs. Viasat's Nordic pay-TV operations grew sales by 10% as the combination of price increases and new services pushed up ARPU by 13% to SEK 4,097. Premium subscribers increased by 14,000 on the quarter, thanks largely to last […]

February 13, 2009

Setanta no footie fear

Setanta is said to be seeking an urgent meeting with the Premier League in the hope it will help broker a deal to regain the rights it lost in the recent record-breaking TV auction. The Irish sports pay-TV broadcaster won only one package for the rights to broadcast the Premier League between 2010 and 2013, […]

February 12, 2009

Canal Digital profit up

Telenor Broadcast's Canal Digital added 12,000 DTH subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2008, ending the year with 1.113 million, down slightly from 1.131 million in 2007. The number of cable households increased by 5,000 in the three months to December 31, ending the year at 746,000, compared with 705,000 in 2007. Canal Digital posted […]

February 12, 2009

Sky wins extra Premier package

The second round of bidding for pay-TV rights of Premier League saw Sky secure one of the two remaining TV packages to air live games from 2010 to 2013, meaning it will have one more and Setanta one less than under the current deal. Setanta took the remaining package in the auction that netted the […]

February 10, 2009

Access takes Setanta stake

With some analysts doubting Setanta's future after it failed to renew both its Premiere League packages, Access Industries, which is headed by the Russian-born US citizen Len Blavatnik, is understood to have acquired a stake of about 3%. Blavatnik’s petrochemicals business, Lyondell Basell filed for bankruptcy protection last month owing $26bn. Royal Bank of Scotland […]

February 10, 2009

Sky Italia subs up profit down

News Corp-owned Italian pay-TV operator Sky Italia added 322,000 net subscribers in 2008 for a total subscriber base of 4.7 million. It reported second quarter operating income of US$10m down $52m year-on-year. New Corp said marketing cost of subscriber acquisition and increased sports programming costs hit net income. News Corp's operating income for the second […]

February 6, 2009

Sky: 'Ofcom must back off'

BskyB followed up securing a further three years of live Premier League football with a vitriolic response to media regulator Ofcom's consultation on the UK pay-TV market, accusing it of “serious flaws” and “perverse conclusions.” Responding to Ofcom’s second Consultation Document on pay TV which was published last September and said: "Retail competition that we […]

February 6, 2009

Sky pays £1bn+ to retain Premier League rights

BSkyB has reportedly agreed to pay in excess of £1 billion (E1.112bn) to retain the live television rights to the majority of the biggest football matches in the Premier League from 2010 until 2013. Following auctions of the rights at the Premier League’s headquarters, it was announced that Sky had won four of the six […]

February 5, 2009

Sky pays £1bn+ to retain Premier League rights

BSkyB has reportedly agreed to pay in excess of £1 billion (E1.112bn) to retain the live television rights to the majority of the biggest football matches in the Premier League from 2010 until 2013. Following auctions of the rights at the Premier League’s headquarters, it was announced that Sky had won four of the six […]

February 5, 2009