As it reported a big increase in its first-half net profit, Australian regional pay-TV provider Austar remains confident that the proposed merger with Foxtel will go ahead, despite the recent concerns raised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Austar chief executive John Porter indicated the transaction was expected to be completed either late […]
Amazon has confirmed the acquisition of Pushbutton, the UK-based TV technology company. Pushbutton develops apps for next-generation and interactive television and connected devices, and was responsible for developing the LOVEFiLM movie streaming service on Sony Bravia Internet-enabled TVs and the PlayStation 3 last year. The e-commerce giant, which bought the remainder of LOVEFiLM in January […]
Liberty Global president and chief executive Mike Fries has criticised the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over its preliminary view that Foxtel’s proposed A$1.9 billion acquisition of regional pay-TV group Austar is anti-competitive Fries, who is also Chairman of Austar, noted that Australia is the only market that does not consider pay and free-to-air […]
Netflix shares have tumbled more than 10 per cent after the DVD and online video streaming service’s warning that a recent price rise would cause some customers to downgrade or cancel subscriptions. The company, which was reporting second-quarter results, also warned that revenues would “only grow slightly on a sequential basis” following the price change, […]
A €13.4 million deal that would have seen Danish triple-play operator Stofa – a subsidiary of private equity firm Ratos – acquire the Danish cable TV activities of Canal Digital is no longer to proceed following indications from competition bodies that approval of the deal was unlikely. Stofa signed an agreement in January to acquire […]
Australian pay-TV operator Foxtel will consider taking legal action against the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) if it is unsuccessful in overturning the regulator’s preliminary view that its A$1.9 billion acquisition of regional pay-TV group Austar is anti-competitive (see ‘Regulator raises Foxtel Austar bid concerns’, July 22). Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams contends that […]
Australia’s competition regulator has raised concerns that the planned A$2 billion takeover of pay-TV operator Austar by rival Foxtel, part owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, could hurt competition on three fronts. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has delayed its decision on Foxtel’s bid until September, a strong indication that it sees problems […]
International private equity firm BC Partners is to buy Com Hem, Sweden’s leading TV, broadband and telephony company, from The Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but are understood to be of the order of €1.8 billion. Com Hem has grown to become Sweden’s largest distributor of […]
Following midweek indications that prospective bidder Microsoft would not be pursuing its interest in buying online video service Hulu, reports now suggest that Apple could be considering entering the fray, according to “two people who weren’t authorised to speak publicly”. The two sources spoke with Bloomberg, describing the negotiations as “early talks that may lead […]
Haivision Network Video, a provider of the advanced video networking, digital signage, and IP video distribution solutions, has acquired both KulaByte Corporation of San Marcos, Texas, and MontiVision Imaging Technologies based in Germany. The technologies of both companies, including advanced encoding, transcoding, cloud computing, and workflow solutions, will be combined to form Haivision’s new Internet […]