Advanced Television

Business

Canvas responds to Sky criticism

The BBC Trust and the companies behind Project Canvas, the proposed video-on-demand joint venture between the BBC, BT and ITV, have replied to BSkyB’s criticisms of the venture (ATV 13/5/09). Project Canvas said: “The enormous consumer benefits that internet-powered TV can bring should not be restricted to paying customers. An open, standards-based platform that enables […]

May 13, 2009

Cablecom appoints Tveter

Eric Tveter has been appointed Managing Director of Cablecom, the Swiss cable broadband operation of UPC Broadband, the European cable division of Liberty Global. Tveter was previously President of UK cable operator Telewest and held a range of senior management positions at Time Warner Cable, Comcast Corporation and Cablevision Systems Corporation. He currently is a […]

May 13, 2009

Conlon leaves Virgin

John Conlon, marketing controller of digital services for Virgin Media, is to leave the company after nine years. He was responsible for ensuring Virgin Media's range of digital content was made available via mobile and was heavily involved in the relaunch of the company's cross-network mobile portal in December

May 13, 2009

Sirius sinks

The slump in the U.S. car industry helped send Sirius XM Radio Inc. to a loss of $236.6 million in the first quarter and its first-ever quarterly decline in net subscriber additions. But the satellite radio company said it has enough access to financing and cash generated from operations to meet its debt obligations this […]

May 12, 2009

News Corp 70% profit drop, 'worst over'

Finishing up a dismal earnings season for media, News Corp reported a 70 per cent drop in net income to $300 million, excluding one-time events, and a 16 per cent drop in revenue to $7.37 billion for the quarter ended March 31st. Non-broadcast channels were the one bright spot with increased affiliate revenue for Fox […]

May 12, 2009

RTL weak Q1

European broadcaster RTL said sales dropped 11 per cent in the first quarter due to a continued TV advertising slump and core profit shrunk more than 50 per cent on restructuring and start up costs. RTL, owned by media giant Bertelsmann, reported that revenue in the first three months of the year fell to E1.188 […]

May 12, 2009

Rehr out at NAB

David Rehr, president of the National Association of Broadcasters, has announced plans to step down from his post immediately. Janet McGregor, NAB’s CEO and CFO, will handle Rehr’s duties until a successor is named. Rehr, who came to the NAB from the National Beer Wholesalers Association in 2005, has had a rough run at the […]

May 12, 2009

Mediaset under DTT monopoly investigation

From Branislav Pekic in Rome Italy's Communications Authority (AgCom) has initiated an investigation on the number of digital terrestrial TV channels operated by the broadcasters in respect of the quota of 20 per cent per group. According to an initial inquiry, it emerges that commercial broadcaster Mediaset accounts for 14 out of the 42 national […]

May 12, 2009

Dish proftis rise, subs drop

US satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp has posted better than expected quarterly profit, despite losing 94,000 subscribers. Net income rose to $312.7 million from $258.6 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 2.1 per cent to $2.91 billion. Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen, attributed the subscriber loss to the weak economic environment, as well as […]

May 12, 2009

All3Media appoints Turajlic

All3Media International, one of the UK's leading independent distribution companies, has announced the appointment of Selma Turajlic as Head of Interactive Media and Licensing. Turajlic's role will be to further develop interactive elements within formats and programmes and exploit opportunities in interactive, merchandising and licensing. Initial focus will be given to broadcast related interactivity, mobile […]

May 12, 2009