France’s Technicolor has rejected the latest offer from JP Morgan to take a stake in the group. JPM and Technicolor’s board signed an agreement in May that would see JPM take a stake of up to 30 per cent in the STB maker. Eventually a rival offer from Vector Capital forced it to revise its […]
The New York Times reported June 8 that Comcast – still digesting its giant purchase of NBC – is now looking for another meal, and has BSkyB in its sights. Despite a very firm denial from Comcast’s CFO Michael Angelakis, who stated that the report was total speculation and inaccurate, the bid rumour sent BSkyB’s […]
News Corporation is to take full control of ESPN STAR Sports (ESS). News Corp and ESPN have entered into a definitive agreement under which a unit of News Corporation will buy ESPN’s 50 per cent equity interest in the service. The transaction will allow News Corporation units to own and operate all of the ESS […]
Signal transmission solutions provider Belden has entered into a definitive agreement to make an all-cash offer to acquire digital TV hardware and software specialist Miranda Technologies for C$17.00 (€13.14) per share, valuing Miranda at C$345 million. Belden says the combined company will be a clear leader in the broadcast market for networking, connectivity, and cable […]
Geoprge Soros, the billionaire hedge fund investor, is to take control of Sunrise Telecomunicaçoes, a local pay-TV company in São Paulo. Anatel, Brazil’s telecoms regulator, said it had given permission for Soros Fund Management to take over the operator ahead of a key auction of broadcast licences this month. Soros is said to be planning […]
There’s another suggestion floating around from DTH satellite giant DirecTV that a merger with rival Dish Network is a logical next step for the broadcasting pair. DirecTV’s CEO Mike White, speaking at a media conference in New York June 1st, said that there’s a lot to be said for a merger. He stated: “There is […]
Jeremy Hunt, the beleaguered Culture Secretary, is hanging on after his day-long appearance before Leveson. There have been many descriptions of Hunt, none flattering, as he seeks to dig himself out of the many holes he so thoughtlessly jumped into. The most accurate one is that he is PM David Cameron’s human shield; given Cameron […]
David Cameron has defended Jeremy Hunt’s handling of Rupert Murdoch’s bid for BSkyB in the light of new evidence showing that Hunt was privately pushing for the takeover to be allowed before he was appointed to oversee the process. In an interview on ITV Cameron said Hunt had acted “impartially” from the moment he took […]
I can truthfully testify that trying to listen to the Leveson Inquiry while doing anything else is a recipe for doing both things poorly. The testimony and, more disappointingly, the questioning is soporific in the extreme. Mr Jay QC, counsel for the Inquiry, has mostly been given the benefit of the doubt – surely he’s […]
NBCUniversal is in talks to buy out Microsoft’s 50 per cent stake in joint venture MSNBC.com. NBCU parent Comcast is conducting due diligence and the partnership could be unwound by this summer. “Discussions are taking place,” Amy Lynn, director of communications at NBC News, told WSJ. NBC and Microsoft joined forces in 1996 to create […]