International entertainment group MTG has signed an agreement to acquire 74 per cent of Turtle Entertainment, the world’s largest esports company that operates under the well-known ESL brand with revenues growing at 50 per cent per year. Esports is one of the largest and fastest growing online video entertainment categories; a key driver of the […]
In addition to announcing a strategic partnership with Intelsat and agreeing satellite launch contracts with Arianespace, OneWeb has raised $500 million of funding from a group of leading international companies, including Airbus Group, Bharti Enterprises, Hughes Network Systems, (Hughes), a subsidiary of EchoStar Corp., Intelsat, Qualcomm Incorporated, The Coca-Cola Company, the Virgin Group, and Totalplay, […]
Qwilt the provider of open caching and online video delivery solutions, announced the close of a $25 million Series D funding round. This strategic round, led by Disrupt-ive with a $16 million investment, includes new funding from Google Chairman Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors and continued funding from Cisco Investments. Existing investors Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture […]
According to BBC director general Tony Hall, the BBC licence fee has “got 10 years of life left in it,” and he has dismissed the suggestion of replacing the charge with a subscription model to pay for the Corporation’s output. Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Hall agreed the licence fee needed to “adapt, modernise […]
Australian pay-TV operator Foxtel has agreed to buy 15 per cent of Australian commercial broadcasting service Network Ten in a A$77 million deal as part of a capital raising that could raise up to A$154 million. Ten has proposed issuing new shares to the subscription-TV provider at A15c (€0.10) a share in exchange for a […]
Chinese tech company Xiaomi on has announced an investment of $1 billion (€0.88bn) to build up business in online video. Lei Jun, CEO of the smartphone manufacturer, said Xiaomi would form an association with video-sharing websites and film makers, but the company would not make content itself. Xiaomi aims to gain an edge through about […]
Airbus-Safran, the consortium which is building the next-generation Ariane-6 rocket, has agreed to put $440 million (€400m) into the development contract it expects to sign with the European Space Agency. However, the deal also recognises that an additional €200 million, which at one stage was earmarked towards the new rocket’s developments costs, will now be […]
The UK’s film and television industries are to lobby against the European Union’s plans to equalise the prices and availability of digital entertainment across member countries, according to politico.eu. Broadcasters, movie studios and independent TV producers are grouping together to present a united front against the proposal. They claim changing copyright laws, a key part […]
The launch by Sky Italia of the Sky Online TV box is the latest success to come out of Sky’s partnership and investment in US tech company, Roku, according to Emma Lloyd, Business Development Director, writing in the company blog. “Roku is a great example of how Sky works with Silicon Valley-based companies. In fact, […]
UK PM David Cameron plans to decriminalise watching TV without paying the licence fee. In the UK, it is currently against the law to watch or record live TV programmes without a licence, and the offence can lead to prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000. The Conservatives have previously aborted attempts to make […]