Advanced Television

Funding

BlackRock lifts blinx stake

Investor BlackRock has lifted its stake in the company above 10 per cent as shares rose on the launch of its new web site. Nonetheless , at 65p, shares in the advanced video search engine are still short of last year’s 80p high.  Weakness in the online advertising market, on which blinkx’s revenues depend, have […]

January 25, 2013

Sky Deutschland: “Substantial upside”

The past 10 days have been busy for Munich-based Sky Deutschland. They have restructured their debt, issued extra shares to backer News Corp, declared record subscriber numbers and organised fresh working capital. All in all, says Sarah Simon, an analyst at Berenberg Bank, “Sky Deutschland continues to be the best structural growth story within our […]

January 17, 2013By Chris Forrester

Comcast takes stake in Arris

Arris Group is selling approximately 10.6 million shares of its common stock, valued at $150 million, to Comcast Corporation.  The sale of the shares to Comcast is part of the previously announced Arris acquisition agreement for the Motorola Home business from Google. As provided for in the Motorola Home business acquisition agreement, the shares issued […]

January 15, 2013

Arqiva preps £400m fresh financing deal

Shareholders in Arqiva are set to invest £400 million of fresh equity into the company as part of an agreement to refinance its £3.7 billion debt pile. The TV broadcast business, whose existing debt facility is due to expire in 2014, has struck an agreement to borrow around £2.5 billion from a group of 20 […]

January 8, 2013

Hulu wants $200m expansion cash

OTT video supplier Hulu is asking its key shareholders for an additional $200 million in order to fund overseas expansion and to secure more programming rights. Hulu’s three shareholders, Disney, News Corp and Comcast are being asked to fund around $200 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, despite the five-year venture remaining unprofitable to […]

December 24, 2012By Chris Forrester

FilmOn’s David invests in Quickflix

Billionaire media entrepreneur Alki David, who runs the FilmOn Internet streaming service, is among investors providing A$5 million (€3.95m) for Australian TV and movie streaming company Quickflix. The funds will be provided through a convertible loan and bond agreement and used by the company to support its restructuring plans and pursuit of subscriber growth. David […]

December 24, 2012By Colin Mann

EC: New broadband state aid guidelines

Hot on the heels of announcing that it would make faster broadband its top digital priority in 2013, the European Commission has adopted revised guidelines for the application of EU state aid rules to the broadband sector. These guidelines will help Member States achieve the objectives of the EU Digital Agenda. Taking into account the […]

December 19, 2012By Colin Mann

Discovery confirms SBS Nordic deal and TF1 negotiations

Discovery Communications has confirmed a definitive agreement with ProSiebenSat.1 Group to purchase the company’s SBS Nordic operations for a total enterprise value of approximately €1.325 billion. The acquisition of SBS Nordic includes 12 television networks in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, among other assets, and further solidifies Discovery’s long-term growth in the strong Nordic TV […]

December 14, 2012

EC clears UK local TV funding

The European Commission has cleared UK state subsidy for the infrastructure needed for UK local television services. The decision greenlights building the local DTT multiplex for local services that will be shown via Freeview. The multiplex will be built by the winner of the multiplex licence, which Ofcom is expected to award before the end […]

December 6, 2012

Quickflix still has HBO backing

Australia’s Quickflix has confirmed the “full support” of its biggest financial backer, HBO, and denied that the US film studio could redeem a $10 million investment. In a statement issued to the ASX, Quickflix said: “Quickflix confirms that the Board and management have the full support of its investor, HBO, to execute the restructuring plan […]

December 3, 2012