Digital TV company Kudelski has purchased approximately 60 per cent of the shares in OpenTV Corp it had not already owned for $1.55 a share, taking its voting rights to 91 per cent. In February, Kudelski had proposed buying the remainder of OpenTV’s shares for $1.35 per share, but withdrew that bid in June after […]
The Indian cabinet has approved a policy that would help digitise cable TV operations across the country. Under the so-called headend-in-the-sky (HITS) policy, cable operators will have to lease transponders on a dedicated satellite, acquire TV channels from broadcasters, uplink these to the satellite, then download and beam the signals to households in digital format.
Motorola is to sell its Connected Home Division, including the world's biggest STB business, according to the NY Times. The newspapers says sources at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, hired to advise on strategic options, are now recommending a three-way split with networks being sold off and the remaining company separated between the mobile phone […]
Whoever buys Motorola's connected home business is now also going to acquire BitBand Networks, just bought by Motorola Israel for $10 million. The company’s solutions enable the provision of IP VOD. BitBand had raised $18 million from investors, and has been on the market since 2006. BitBand was founded in 2000, and currently has 80 […]
RTL, owner of Channel Five, has reported that revenue declined 6.4 per cent to E1.1 billion in the three months to the end of September. Despite the decline, the pan-European broadcaster and producer – which is majority-owned by German media group Bertelsmann – said that the TV advertising outlook has been improving since late summer. […]
Thomson is struggling to agree terms for the sale of its Grass Valley facility to US investment fund Platinum Equity, according to reports. French newspapers say the fund and the group are at odds on the level of financing required to fund the restructuring of Grass Valley Group. Other companies might be looking at the […]
Comcast may seal a deal to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal from General Electric within the next week say US reports. The deal, which values NBC Universal at about $30 billion, would give Comcast, the top US cable operator, a 51 per cent stake in a joint venture that would combine its small […]
Playboy Enterprises’ revenue fell $14m in Q3, on the back of lower income from its international TV channels and magazines. The company, which publishes Playboy magazine worldwide and creates TV programming for its own-branded TV channels, as well as mobile and radio platforms, said global revenue totaled $56m in Q3 against $70.4m in the same […]
Guardian Media Group has has appointed Virgin Media CEO Neil Berkett as a non-executive director. Berkett has been VMED CEO since 2008 and was appointed COO of the company's precursor NTL in 2005. GMG will hope his experience can help steer its Guardian News & Media division, which houses The Guardian and Guardian.co.uk, back towards […]
Ofcom has rejected the BBC’s request to introduce encryption to Freeview to limit the illegal copying of high-definition TV shows, until issues raised by organisations including the Open Rights Group are addressed. The BBC is trying to change the Freeview multiplex licence to allow copy protection technology so shows on its HD channel, which will […]