The UK Competition Commission is expected to file its report on Sky with the government shortly and reports say it will recommend Sky's stake in ITV is cut to below 10 per cent. According to the FT Sky will be asked to reduce its stake to about 7 per cent, to bring it more into […]
BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, is reportedly trying to buy cable group Virgin Media’s share of UKTV, the TV channel business that the two organisations jointly own. Virgin Media’s investment in the 50/50 joint venture is valued on the company’s books at £370 million, (E536m) including a £150 million loan. The joint […]
Netgem has acquired the shares of institutional investors in Glowria, the leading French Internet DVD rental and a video on demand services operator. Glowria has up to now been financed by those investors; Seventure (Natixis Group), Crédit Agricole Private Equity and Mousse Partners. Through this acquisition, Netgem and Glowria will offer their customers and partners […]
Macrovision is buying television listings provider Gemstar-TV Guide International for $2.8 billion in cash and stock. They say the combined company will allow consumers to pull up a guide on their TV and receive personalised content and information regarding favourite TV shows, read movie reviews before purchasing or renting a film, view personal photos, or […]
Digital entertainment group YooMedia has conditionally agreed to acquire 95.2 per cent of the issued share capital of Fresh Interactive Technologies, a Spanish interactive television company, and has conditionally raised the sum of approximately £12.9 million (E18m) following a share consolidation and restructuring.
Network Electronics has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Video Products Group, a provider of professional video/audio transport systems for local and wide area networks. Major carriers around the world rely on VPG for video transport and broadcast services. The new combined product offering will be unique in its functionality, features and breadth, enabling telcos […]
UK regulator Ofcom is taking over premium-rate phone regulator PhonepayPlus (formerly Icstis) to take a tighter rein on the call-TV industry after a year of scandals. It's one measure to emerge following Ofcom's review of the premium-rate sector after all the main broadcasters were embroiled in instances of charging callers to competition lines despite not […]
Irdeto announced it has acquired 100 per cent of Cloakware, a privately held software company based in Virginia, USA and Ottawa, Canada. Graham Kill, CEO of Irdeto said: “This acquisition strengthens our existing content security offering, broadens Irdeto's reach across the entire content lifecycle and vertically expands our offering into new markets.” Cloakware's technology, which […]
Bertelsmann is considering taking full control of RTL Group, Europe's largest broadcaster. Bertelsmann confirmed a WSJ report that it was possible it would make an offer for the 10.2 per cent of RTL it does not already own, but cautioned that this had yet to be approved by its supervisory and management boards. Buying the […]
Channel 4 is buying a 10 per cent stake in mobile ad tech firm Mobile IQ to boost its mobile advertising efforts. The two companies have been working together since February 2006, during which time Mobile IQ has deployed both Channel 4's direct-to-consumer mobile services and its mobile content portals on Vodafone and O2. Channel […]