Discovery Holding Company and Advance/Newhouse Programming Partnership announced that they have signed a non-binding letter of intent pursuant to which DHC and Advance/Newhouse will combine their stakes in Discovery Communications. This will mean DHC will spin-off to its shareholders a wholly-owned subsidiary holding the networks and creative services businesses of Ascent Media Group. Immediately following […]
Omneon, provider of media server and active storage systems for the broadcast and digital content storage markets, has acquired Castify Networks, a provider of software-based solutions for managing the distribution of digital content over the Internet and private Intranets.Castify’s end-to-end software solutions enable enterprises and service providers to build scalable, easy-to-manage, and cost-efficient service delivery […]
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 […]
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 […]