Advanced Television

Funding

BFC extends partnership with PGGB

The British Film Commission (BFC) is extending its partnership with The Production Guild of Great Britain (PGGB) by investing a further £100,000 in a raft of targeted PGGB training courses, designed to increase access to experienced and diverse crew as new stage space continues to expand in the UK. The investment is the second made […]

January 7, 2022

BBC DG highlights licence fee role

As the BBC prepares to mark its centenary with a year of special programming across all its channels and platforms, director general Tim Davie has delivered a strong defence of the role of the corporation at the heart of British national life, vowing that the BBC will work tirelessly to offer every single household outstanding […]

January 4, 2022By Colin Mann

Truespeed secures £100m from Aviva

UK-based Truespeed has secured a second tranche of funding from Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva. The £100 million (€88.6m) investment will help Truespeed accelerate the roll-out of its ultrafast, gigabit-capable full fibre network to more homes and businesses across urban, semi-rural and ultra-rural areas of South West England. It follows an […]

January 4, 2022

Luxembourg invests in NorthStar

Luxembourg, the domicile of satellite giants SES and Intelsat, has announced that its Luxembourg Future Fund (LFF) will invest in Canada’s NorthStar Earth & Space. The new investment will build on the partnership between Luxembourg’s Ministry of the Economy and the Canadian-based company. NorthStar claims to be the first commercial service aiming at monitoring space […]

December 21, 2021By Chris Forrester

Intelsat Creditor Settlements approved

Judge Keith Phillips, on December 16th, approved Intelsat’s plan for the settlement of much of its indebtedness prior to its May 2020 Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bottom line is that the agreement reduces Intelsat’s old debts of about $16 billion by more than half thanks to the acceptance of the company’s new Plan of Reorganisation. […]

December 17, 2021

Wayra invests in Sceenic

Wayra, Telefónica’s open innovation hub, has invested in Sceenic, the creator of Watch Together, a software that enables OTT platform users to share video content whilst video chatting with friends and family. With this investment, Sceenic seeks to strengthen its presence in the markets where Telefónica operates in Europe and Latin America and its internal growth and development of […]

December 14, 2021

Intelsat creeps towards bankruptcy exit

Intelsat’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy court on December 9th heard detailed evidence from one of its reconstruction financial advisors. This was Day 4 of a probable 10-day legal process to see Intelsat’s exit from bankruptcy approved. However, the expert was challenged as to whether he had examined alternate methods to exit bankruptcy. Also, on December 9th, […]

December 10, 2021

Canal+ pledges €600m to France film industry

France broadcaster Canal+ will be able to show its films six months after cinema release for an exclusive nine-month window. The films will air on the Canal+ and Cine+ channels The pay-TV giant has also reaffirmed its position as France’s biggest film backer following a deal with the country’s producer guilds (BLIC, BLOC and ARP) […]

December 3, 2021

Anuvu raises $50m

Anuvu, the new name for the in-flight connectivity business previously known as Global Eagle, has raised $50 million (€44.2m) to fund what they describe as a small batch of geostationary satellites. Global Eagle was rescued out of bankruptcy protection in March 2021 and renamed Anuvu with the new business ordering two satellites out of a […]

December 3, 2021By Chris Forrester

Spain: No RTVE tax for streamers until 2023

Streaming platforms in Spain will be exempted from paying the 0.9 per cent RTVE tax until 2023 as the Administration has put the amendment on hold for one year. Instead, traditional pay-TV players – such as Movistar, Vodafone and Orange – will have to pay up to €128 million in 2022 to finance the public […]

December 2, 2021From David Del Valle in Madrid