France’s Competition Authority, l’Autorité de la concurrence, has approved the acquisition of satellite broadcaster TPS by Vivendi Universal and Canal Satellite and Canal Plus subject to a number of conditions aimed at restoring sufficient competition in the pay-TV market. The authority had reversed its 2006 authorisation in September 2011, fining the parties €30 million and […]
BSkyB unveils its latest financial results this coming Thursday and the expectations are that the pay-TV broadcaster will declare record profits of around £1.1 billion despite a slowdown in the growth of DTH subscribers. Sky has already announced higher subscription fees which kick in during the autumn and the risk, say some analysts, is that […]
Cinema and broadcast audio specialist Dolby Laboratories has bought a Barcelona-based audio rival, IMM Sound. The deal helps further consolidate Dolby’s influence over high-end cinema installations. IMM Sound equipment is supplied to around 40 cinemas, and was seen as a direct rival to Dolby’s recently launched ‘next generation’ audio system, Dolby Atmos. A Dolby senior […]
Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 TV has rejected the tough limits imposed by the competition watchdog CNC on the grounds that are “unfair and discriminatory conditions” only to the benefit of rival Mediaset’s dominance in the market. Antena 3 is now reconsidering its merger plans with La Sexta as, it said, “under the umbrella of defense of […]
TiVo is to acquire full ownership in TRA, a research company with a system that matches up television viewing with consumer buying habits. The NYT reports TiVo will spend about $20 million to buy out other investors in TRA. “We believe television is at an inflection point,” Tom Rogers, TiVo CEO said. “In the digital […]
Media and entertainment technologist Technicolor is to start selling as much as €191 million worth of new shares to equity fund Vector Capital Group on July 16th to raise cash to reduce its debt. The capital increase, in which Vector will receive 18 per cent to 29.94 per cent of Technicolor’s equity, was approved in […]
Entropic Communications, an expert in semiconductor solutions for the connected home, has acquired direct broadcast satellite intellectual property from PLX Technology, a supplier of high-speed connectivity solutions enabling emerging data center architectures. The purchased assets relate to the design and development of a digital channel stacking switch (dCSS) semiconductor product for up to $8 million. […]
Norway cable group Get is set to go on sale with a price tag of more than €1 billion according to reports. Goldman Sachs is expected to handle the sale. UPC could take an interest in Get, even though it sold the business in 2005 to private equity. Since then, Get has completed the upgrade […]
Cable giant Comcast is selling its 15.8 per cent stake in A & E for about $3.03 billion. Its joint-venture partners in A&E, Walt Disney Co and Hearst Corp, will buy the stake. A&E is home to channels such as the History Channel, Biography and Lifetime. It is expected that Comcast will use the cash […]
The TV middleware market, long led by Nagra (25 per cent worldwide 2011 market share) and NDS (24 per cent) worldwide and Motorola (19 per cent) and Cisco (11 per cent) in the US, is in a massive state of upheaval as Cisco’s bid for NDS waits to close – it is expected in early […]