James Murdoch has called on governments to get tough on illegal downloading, which he said was no different from shoplifting. He made the call at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit. Stressing that future growth would come from original content production, he said: “We need enforcement mechanisms and we need governments to play ball. The idea […]

European broadcaster RTL is seeking a relaxation of advertising rules to allow innovations such as sponsors' logos to be shown in the top right-hand corner of television screens, its chief executive Gerhard Zeiler said. Zeiler explained that regulators in all the countries in which it operates are increasingly aware of the financial pain caused to […]

SeaChange International has published financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended January 31, 2010. Total revenues for the fourth quarter were $53.0 million, $1.0 million lower than fourth quarter 2009. Total revenues for all of 2010, ended January 31st, were $201.7 million, which was $0.1 million lower than total revenues of the […]

The European Parliament has defied the Commission, voting against an agreement between the EU, the US and other major powers on combating online piracy and threatening to take legal action at the European Court of Justice. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which began in Geneva two years ago, is a multilateral trade agreement to establish […]

Gerhard Zeiler, the chief executive of Channel Five’s parent company RTL, has said that the group remains “100 per cent” committed to the UK commercial broadcaster despite last year’s loss, noting that it will be a “valuable asset” in the expected consolidation of the UK TV market. Five reported an overall loss of £37 million […]

BBC Vision's head of multiplatform products Lloyd Shepherd is leaving the corporation after nine months. He commented “It's probably worth saying this decision has nothing to do with the BBC Strategic Review.” Shepherd joined Channel 4 as future media solutions head in 2008, but left for the BBC in June 2009.

In the first few months following the adoption of the three-strikes anti-piracy legislation in France, online piracy has increased 3 per cent in the period September to December last year. Instead of stopping, file-sharers are seeking alternatives to bypass the new law. The research also reveals that disconnecting file-sharers will actually hurt the revenues of […]

Plans to suspend the Internet accounts of people who download music illegally are unfair, according to BT’s chief executive, Ian Livingston. Livingston says illegal file-sharers should be fined rather than have their Internet accounts cut off. He and other industry figures have written to the Financial Times urging changes to the Digital Economy Bill. Livingston […]

AOL Europe is demonstrates its commitment to video with the appointment of Kelly Sweeney to the new role of director of video. She will be responsible for commissioning original productions and managing relationships with production partners and advertisers. Sweeney served as head of original content at social network Bebo and was line producer on shows […]

Troubled record company EMI has named former ITV boss Charles Allen as its new chairman. Allen was already non-executive chairman at the firm. EMI also said chief executive Elio Leoni-Sceti would leave at the end of the month after two-and-a-half years. EMI had annual losses of £1.75 billion. Private equity house Terra Firma is seeking […]