SpaceX is reportedly seeking around $315 million (€278m) of new funding despite reportedly anticipating making around $3 billion this year from launching rockets. CNBC said it has seen a document specifying the latest funding round for SpaceX. The Elon Musk-backed rockets-to-satellites business has already raised just over $1 billion this year. The latest batch of […]
IP-based video delivery solutions specialist MOBITV has closed over $50m (€44.12m) in funding from Oak Investment Partners, Ally Financial, and Cedar Grove Partners. The funding will be used to accelerate the growth of Company’s international footprint, while it continues to strengthen the MOBITV CONNECT platform for pay–TV operators, which represent an estimated $200 billion in […]
Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development has established guidelines for the provision of subsidies to buy TV sets and decoders compatible with the DVB-T2 HEVC/MPEG-4 standards. The total budget is €151 million and the pay-out should start from November 2019, after the end of an ongoing public consultation process. The guidelines propose that the €50 contribution […]
French broadcasters are increasing their investment in local original productions to compete with Netflix’s five million subscriber base in the country, according to analyst firm Ampere Analysis. In 2018, the big five French players – France Télévisions, Canal+, TF1, M6 and Orange – spent €5.4 billion on content, with over 40 per cent of that […]
South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) is being advised to cut dramatically its shareholding in the nation’s biggest company, Naspers. Naspers has done well for the GEPF, but the fund is now being advised that having most of its Rand 245 billion (€15.1bn) stake in one company means that it is over-exposed. Its holding […]
Pay-radio operator SiriusXM had planned to raise $750 million of extra borrowings in the form of Senior Notes due for repayment in 2024. But such was the positive response from potential lenders that it doubled the sum, to $1.5 billion, and priced the borrowings at 4.625 per cent. The company says it intends to use […]
Mega-satellite operator OneWeb is creating 150 new jobs at its London offices. The jobs are based at OneWeb’s Global Operations Centre in White City, a few miles West of central London but near the BBC and other broadcasters. OneWeb is looking to launch its global broadband service by 2021. OneWeb is tapping into some backing […]
South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC is asking the country’s government to provide it with a Rand 3.2 billion (€1.9bn) guarantee to help stop a blackout of broadcasts. The guarantee is needed to permit SABC to secure commercial borrowings. The country’s Sunday Times newspaper reported that SABC is “saddled” with debts to local authorities, signal distributors […]
£40 million is to be invested in 5G testbed and trial projects across UK industry as part of Government plans to improve mobile connectivity. Previous investment in the 5G testbeds and trials programme has driven work in the healthcare, tourism, transport and broadcasting sectors. The latest investment will support similar work in the logistics and […]
Simulmedia has closed a $29 million Series E equity investment round, led by long-time investor Union Square Ventures through their new 2019 Opportunity Fund. All existing institutional investors, including Avalon Ventures, WarnerMedia and Valiant Capital, are also participating. In additional news, David Levy, former president of Turner Broadcasting and longtime senior executive at Time Warner […]