On the heels of buying the BBC out of its international business, Discovery now seems the favourite to buy UKTV from Virgin Media. The channel line up has been on the block for some time, and not for the first time, but reports say the same old problems in closing a deal persist: the complexity […]
Federal regulators in the US have told Comcast and NBC Universal that they have concerns the proposed merger will harm competition. The Justice Department’s antitrust division and Federal Communications Commission are expected to approve the merger on the condition the companies agree to allow competitors – such as Time Warner Cable, Dish Network and even […]
BBC Worldwide has sold its 50 per cent share in its global TV channels joint venture with Discovery for $156 million. The sale comes nearly 12 months after a BBC Trust review said the corporation’s commercial arm should sell its non-BBC branded international channels. The BBC sold its 20 per cent interest in Animal Planet […]
Cyfrowy Polsat SA, Poland’s biggest satellite television broadcaster, has agreed to buy Telewizja Polsat SA, its parent company which is also controlled by billionaire Zygmunt Solorz-Zak , for 3.75 billion zloty ($1.3bn). Cyfrowy will pay 2.6 billion zloty in cash and the rest in the form of 80 million new shares valued at 14.37 zloty […]
Mediaset’s Tele 5 and Telefonica have been cleared to take a 22 per cent stake each in the digital DTH platform Digital Plus but with limited voting rights in the management of the company. Media group Prisa will retain a 56 per cent stake. Spain’s competition watchdog the CNC has shelved the legal proceedings, giving […]
Canada’s Telesat has confirmed it is looking at a possible IPO, as well as evaluating other potential options for the company. Indeed, either way, it looks like another handsome pay day is in the offing for CEO Dan Goldberg who has considerable experience of migrating satellite operators to a ‘next level’ owner. For example Goldberg […]
It has been revealed BBC director-general Mark Thompson had to apologise to the BBC Trust for signing the open letter criticising News Corp’s bid for Sky and asking the UK government to intervene (as they now have). The BBC Trust “expressed concern” about whether it was “appropriate” for Thompson to sign the controversial letter which […]
Digital TV technology specialist Pace has acquired Latens Systems, the Belfast-based specialist in software-based Conditional Access/DRM and Middleware solutions for the pay-TV market in a £28.75 million (E32.72m) cash deal, of which £10 million is deferred and payable in 2012 subject to the achievement of conditions. Latens offers its solutions across cable, IPTV, DTH,and DTT, […]
Vince Cable, the UK Business Secretary, has issued an intervention notice on News Corp’s bid to acquire the 61 per cent of BSkyB shares that it does not already own. The notice requires that Ofcom investigates the public interest consideration of media plurality and submits a report by December 31st. The European Commission will investigate […]
Zain, Kuwait’s largest telecoms company, have agreed to sell a controlling stake in the company to Etisalat, the United Arab Emirate’s operator, in what would be one of the biggest deals on record in the Middle East. Given that Zain owns 10 per cent of its own shares, the deal would give Etisalat a 51 […]