Media regulator Ofcom has proposed increasing the number of advertising breaks allowed on UK television. Ofcom has suggested scrapping a rule that requires 20 minutes of programming between advertising breaks on commercial channels. The regulator is also considering giving channels the right to decide how often they want to show ads, the newspaper said. Ofcom […]

DBS operators have a significant opportunity to gain market share in the pay-TV space thanks to a recently upheld FCC ruling on multiple dwelling units according to the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association. Now that The National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s motion to stay the FCC’s November 2007, order has been denied, satellite providers are […]

Italian antitrust officials are set to probe into the competition-related aspects of a new law that dictates how Italian football television coverage is shared. The investigation is the latest in a series of moves against the controversial law, which was passed in January, just before the collapse of the Italian government led by Romano Prodi. […]

From David Del Valle in Madrid Spain’s telco operator Abertis Telecom is strengthening its dominant position as the largest TV broadcasting carrier in the market following the acquisition of Madrid-based telco network Teledifusion Madrid. The operation has ruined DTT licencee’s plans to set up an independent broadcasting network to carry their signals out of the […]

A consortium including Bob Geldof’s independent production company, Ten Alps, and ITN is to retain the Teachers TV digital television contract after being named as the government’s preferred supplier. Education Digital 2 is now in final talks with the Department for Children, Schools and Families over the £50 million (E70m) five-year contract to provide news, […]

The Kudelski Group announced the acquisition of EDSI, a leading provider of secure smartcard solutions for Pay TV and banking applications. EDSI is located in France. It was established in 1990 and currently employs about 30 people. EDSI has an R&D centre specialized in the development of high security software solutions for Digital TV, mobile […]

AOL, the Internet arm of Time Warner is set to pay $850 million to acquire social media network Bebo, which has total global membership of more than 40 million. Bebo is one of the largest social networks in UK, and is ranked number one in Ireland and New Zealand and number three in the US, […]

Viacom cannot amend its complaint against Google in its $1 billion copyright lawsuit to add a claim for punitive damages, a US judge has ruled. District Judge Louis Stanton denied Viacom’s request, saying common law punitive damages cannot be recovered under the Copyright Act. Viacom sued Google a year ago for copyright infringement on its […]

Sony Pictures Entertainment is making an offer of E156 million for Dutch entertainment company, 2waytraffic the company which creates, produces, licenses and distributes light entertainment content across television, mobile and digital platforms. The acquisition will enhance Sony Pictures' global capabilities in the light entertainment market, which includes game shows, reality programming, variety shows, quiz shows […]

Four of Europe's leading telecommunications network operators have been elected to the DSL Forum Board of Directors. The new members include Kevin Foster, of BT; Christophe Alter, from France Telecom; Mauro Tilocca of Telecom Italia; and Marcin Drzymala from Telekomunikacja Polska. Frank Van der Putten of Alcatel-Lucent, Les Brown of Infineon and Phil Skeba of […]