Polish regulator UOKiK has cleared the acquisition of cable operator Aster by UPC Poland – with conditions. UPC will be instructed to sell parts of the Aster network in Warsaw and Krakow within 18 months. This covers networks in buildings where both operators already provide services. The regulator noted that in some areas the two […]
The race to buy the US online TV site Hulu has narrowed to three bidders according to reports: Amazon, Yahoo and Dish Network. Satellite TV operator DirecTV was ruled out of the auction for submitting too low a bid, the FT reported. Bids range from $1.5 billion to $2 billion. Hulu is being sold by […]
Gracenote has opened a European Development Centre in Munich following the acquisition of German-based TVTV Services, an Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) and Smart TV service provider in Europe. Formerly a branch of Sony UK, TVTV has been integrated into Gracenote to enable Gracenote to expand its portfolio of products and technology to Smart TV manufacturers, […]
Reports suggest that UK commercial network ITV is looking to acquire format specialists Endemol. ITV is also said to be in discussion with Italy’s Mediaset, which is one of three owners of Endemol equity. Endemol itself is heavily indebted with at least $2 billion in debt (some reports put the debt burden at nearer $4 […]
The Pace share price has jumped as the London stockmarket is alive with rumours that the world’s largest supplier of STBs is a firm take-over target and BSkyB, Cisco Systems and private equity firms are reportedly interested in acquisition. Pace’s share price has been highly volatile this past week, at one stage on August 25th […]
Veteran US media analyst Rich Greenfield of BTIG Research, says Google should buy Hulu – though he still refers to the decision to sell as a “mistake of epic proportions”. Hulu, owned by Comcast, News Corp., Disney and Providence Equity, has reportedly extended the deadline for initial bids to this weekend (Aug 26th). Those […]
Liberty Media’s Chellomedia has acquired a 40 per cent stake in Bosnian free-to-air broadcaster OBN. It said that acquiring the stake in the Bosnian market would enable it to create a hub for the launch of pay channels later as infrastructure in the country developed, as well as positioning it to benefit from growth in […]
The SEC filing on Google’s bid for Motorola reveals a $2.5bn break clause if regulators deny the deal – that’s 20% of the value of the bid. The filing also revealed a termination fee of $375 million that Motorola will have to pay to Google if it accepts a better buy-out offer from a […]
To misquote the old joke, Question: where does Googorola; the 800lb offspring of the Google buy of Motorola, sit in the media platform ecosystem? Answer: Anywhere it damn well pleases! Funny? Not really. True? Not really, but maybe a bit. Google has swept all before it in search, online advertising and now mobile, with Android […]
BBC Worldwide has agreed the sale of its magazine business, which publishes titles including Top Gear and Radio Times, for £121 million (€138m). Exponent, owner of online media jobs service Gorkana has acquired BBC Magazines. It is taking over all Worldwide’s non-BBC-branded magazines outright as well as the rights to publish BBC-branded titles including Top […]