Virgin Media is selling its home-shopping broadcaster Sit-up TV to Munich-based investor Aurelius – owner of RTL Shop – for an undisclosed sum. Sit-up TV operates three digital home-shopping channels – bid tv, price-drop tv and speed auction tv. Virgin said the company’s live programmes are available to viewers in more than 20m homes in […]
The joint-venture of Telefónica and Vivendi has tabled another bid for Sogecable’s satellite pay-TV operator Digital+ in the long running sale saga. The amount eventually paid will reflect Digital's future EBITDA performance. For last year Digital+ had EBITDA of E367 million, 10% up on the previous year. At the same time it lost 35,000 subscribers. […]
UK mobile phone retailer and broadband provider Carphone Warehouse is considering a bid for the Tiscali's UK business, according to press reports. Carphone Warehouse's broadband division TalkTalk is hoping for a bargain after a deal to sell the ISP to BSkyB fell through at the last minute. Tiscali’s UK business had 1.774 million customers in […]
Bertelsmann, the German media group that controls Five, has said that the UK broadcaster does not have a sustainable future without a merger with ITV or Channel 4. Thomas Rabe, the chief financial officer of Bertelsmann, which has a 90 per cent stake in Five owner RTL, said that the UK broadcaster’s current business model […]
Cisco has announced its intent to acquire privately held Pure Digital Technologies. San Francisco-based Pure Digital, creator of the best-selling Flip Video brand is a specialist in developing consumer-friendly video solutions with mass-market appeal. “The acquisition of Pure Digital is key to Cisco's strategy to expand our momentum in the media-enabled home and to capture […]
Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CME) has confirmed that Time Warner will invest $241.5 million in CME for a 31% stake. Time Warner is agreeing to allow CME founder and Non-Executive Chairman Ronald S. Lauder to vote Time Warner's shares of CME for at least four years, subject to certain exceptions. Also, Lauder has pledged […]
Virgin Media TV is to close its teenage pay-TV channel Trouble within months as Virgin gets ready to off-load its content business. Reports say it plans to close Trouble and launch a new version of its popular Living channel in its place. Virgin Media has appointed UBS to sell its content division for sale and […]
Harmonic has completed the acquisition of Scopus Video Networks for approximately $50 million, net of Scopus’ cash and short-term investments. The acquisition strengthens Harmonic’s technology and market leadership, particularly in the broadcast contribution and distribution markets, in addition to increasing the global customer base. Scopus’ customers will be supported by the expanded regional Harmonic sales […]
Virgin Media has appointed UBS bank to advise it on a sale of its television channels businesses that could be worth up to £500 million (E560m). Virgin Media Television includes Virgin's 50 per cent stake in the cable channels business UKTV. The sale will be partly dependent on the outcome of a political debate going […]
Pro-Bel and Snell & Wilcox have announced the merger of their businesses, and the creation of a new joint company. The deal, which combines the strengths of two market leading innovators in the broadcast technology industry, creates a formidable competitor in the digital media sector. The combined company has two thousand active customers in more […]