Balderton Capital, the UK venture capital group that backed the Betfair gambling website and Setanta, the pay-TV broadcaster, has defied the gloom in financial markets saying it has raised £282m (E358m) for technology and media investments. Founded in 2000 as the London-based arm of Benchmark Capital, the Silicon Valley venture capital group, Balderton has become […]

Babelgum has called for the scrapping of the BBC/C4/ITV JV Kangaroo declaring any other option would breach Competition Commission rules. In its written response to the Commission's suggested remedies to keep the JV legal, Babelgum says only one of the proposed options – banning the project – is realistic. Last month Kangaroo made its compromise […]

Time Warner announced it will record some $25 billion in write-downs for the fourth quarter, with nearly $15 billion of it coming from Time Warner Cable. Time Warner, which owns 85% of the cable company but has been planning to spin off the stake to shareholders, said beyond the cable business, the write-downs will involve […]

Volicon has confirmed the appointment of Andrew Sachs as senior director of marketing for the cable, IPTV, and mobile video operator industry. In his new role, Sachs will be responsible for developing the market for Volicon’s Observer and Observer RPM solutions. Sachs has more than 18 years of experience in test and measurement solutions. Since […]

Set-top box maker Pace said it was confident in meeting City expectations for 2009, thanks to ongoing strong demand. The company, which confirmed it expected to meet 2008 forecasts, said it was continuing to take a prudent view of the market given the global economic downturn. Pace had previously said that the strong dollar would […]

CompleteTV, a UK company developing innovative set top technology for new generation Over-the-Top IPTV services, has announced the acquisition of the IPR and assets of CIMA Technologies. As an IPTV set top box developer, CIMA has been focused on both the IPTV and hospitality markets. CIMA has developed some highly competitive technology with its Elegance […]

Richard Li, chairman of PCCW, and his Chinese state-controlled partner have raised their offer to take the Hong Kong telecoms company private in an 11th-hour bid to win over disgruntled minority shareholders. Just before a meeting at which PCCW shareholders were expected to reject an initial buy-out proposal priced at HK$4.20 a share, Li and […]

Harmonic is acquiring Scopus Video Networks. The acquisition will extend Harmonic's worldwide customer base and strengthen its market and technology leadership, particularly in international video broadcast, contribution and distribution markets. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by the Board of Directors of both companies, Harmonic will pay $5.62 in cash for […]

Colette Bowe has been confirmed as the next chairman of media regulator Ofcom. Bowe, currently an Ofcom board member, will replace David Currie, who is stepping down at Easter next year after being in the job for six years, since the regulator was set up. Bowe was appointed as chair of Ofcom’s advisory consumer panel […]

The European Commission says one year after the entry into force of a new EU Directive meant to liberalise TV rules and remove outdated and bureaucratic restrictions on the provision of digital TV over the Internet, video on demand and mobile TV in Europe, EU Member States have made little progress in adapting national rules. […]