Major Spanish cableco has begun a major refinancing with a E200 million injection from existing VC backers. The company, which faces large repayments on a E3.5 billion loan, plans to negotiate to push the 2010, 2011 and 2012 amortisation schedule out to 2013. ONO initiated discussions with its main relationship banks at the back-end of […]

Virgin Media is to issue $1 billion in secured bonds as the first step to refinancing its main bank debt on terms similar to its existing credit. The issue will have an eight-year maturity. The proceeds will offer greater flexibility to the operator, which was facing repaying £3.1 billion (E3.44bn) in 2012. Virgin Media has […]

A Florida federal court issued a $51 million judgment against Robert Ward, who posted software on the Internet that allowed individuals to illegally receive Dish Network programming using Free-To-Air receivers. In the summary judgement decision, the court made two significant holdings that will strengthen the companies’ ability to pursue pirates in the future. The court […]

Compact Media Group, the world's leading independent rights administrator and distributor of royalties, has published a report, Missing Opportunities in Digital Britain, calling for changes to the UK's current policy on secondary rights collection. The report argues that UK producers are missing out on valuable revenue streams, which are needed to maintain investment in the […]

Liberty Global's John Malone has denied reports in Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper that the company will make further cable acquisitions in Germany. The newspaper, quoting company sources, said Malone was looking at Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg and ultimately the goal is to have a countrywide cable offering. The owners of both Kabel Baden- Wuerttemberg and Kabel Deutschland are […]

Trial regulations in France, shortening release windows, have helped the territory to show growth in the home-entertainment sector for 2009, bucking the trend across much of Europe. Analyst Screen Digest suggests that volume business will be up by as much as 17 per cent for 2009, while market value could grow by up to 3 […]

Spain’s Cabinet has approved an Internet anti-piracy plan under which websites offering illegal entertainment downloads will be urged to stop or face being shut down. Justice Minister Francisco Caamano said the plan, which will close offending sites under a fast-track judicial process, will create a panel of experts to hear complaints against suspect sites. The […]

Major online search providers may face a tax on advertising revenue in France under proposals being examined by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to help save creative industries from a “free-for-all” Internet culture. Under the proposals, made in a government-commissioned report, money from the tax would go to the cultural sphere. Jacques Toubon, a former culture […]

Motorola is to acquire the assets of SecureM and its wholly owned subsidiaries, together operating as SecureMedia, a developer of software-based digital rights management (DRM) and security systems for IP video distribution and management. SecureMedia will now become part of Motorola’s Home & Networks Mobility business. SecureMedia develops and markets software systems for securing the […]

SeaChange International is to acquire all of VividLogic, a privately-owned California-based company that provides software and services to cable television service providers, set-top box manufacturers and consumer electronics (CE) suppliers. Its software products include tru2way, Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) and Globally Executable MHP (GEM)-based IPTV operability for set-top box and CE manufacturers, and in-home content […]