Advanced Television

Business

Openreach FTTP in 67 new locations

UK digital infrastructure provider Openreach has announced a further 67 locations in its Fibre Cities programme where it will be building its new, future-proof Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband technology, as part of a new tranche of build. Work will begin in March 2021. The new locations stretch across the nation – from Alloway, in Ayrshire; to […]

September 15, 2020By Colin Mann

Bank: “SES not ready to play”

A major report on satellite operator SES from analysts at investment bank Berenberg is blunt and expresses doubt in the growth of its ‘Mobility’ division which the bank expects to suffer “materially” slower growth in its coming Q4 numbers and not aided by the pandemic hitting some of SES’s major clients (IFE operators Gogo and […]

September 15, 2020

SiriusXM names new CEO & CFO

US pay-radio operator SiriusXM is losing its CEO and CFO. CEO James Meyer will retire on December 31st while CFO David Frear “will be pursuing other opportunities” after 17 years at the company. Jennifer Witz, currently president of sale, marketing & operations at the company, will take over from Meyer, while the radio broadcaster has […]

September 15, 2020

4Creative names new creative execs

Channel 4 has announced that 4Creative’s Eoin McLaughlin has been promoted to the newly created role of Deputy Executive Creative Director and the appointment of award-winning creative Lydia Raghavan to Creative Director. McLaughlin will report into Lynsey Atkin, Executive Creative Director of Channel 4’s in-house creative agency. Channel 4 says McLaughlin is responsible for supporting […]

September 15, 2020

Lineker extends BBC contract, takes pay cut

The BBC has announced that Gary Lineker has signed a new contract that will keep him at the corporation until 2025. The former England football captain will continue as Match Of The Day host, a programme he first presented back in 1999 as well as fronting the BBC’s coverage of the FA Cup, major football […]

September 15, 2020

SoftBank selling ARM to Nvidia

Giant UK chip-maker ARM, bought by Japanese media conglomerate SoftBank in 2016 for £24.3 billion, (€27bn) is being bought by Nvidia for around $40 billion in a probable cash+shares transaction. The deal will see Nvidia paying Softbank $21.5 billion in its own stock and $12bn in cash. Nvidia will follow with up to a further […]

September 14, 2020

TikTok rejects Microsoft bid; Oracle favourite

Microsoft has reported that its offer to buy the US operations of video-sharing app TikTok has been rejected, leaving the door open for Oracle to make a last-minute bid. US President Donald Trump gave a September 15th deadline for the Chinese-owned app to sell or shut down in the country, citing national security concerns. Reuters […]

September 14, 2020

Broadband boost for rural England

A quarter of a million rural homes and businesses across England have been given access to more financial help to get top-of-the-range broadband speeds. More than £22 million (€23.8m) of additional funding is being invested into the UK Government’s broadband voucher scheme, which subsidises the costs of building gigabit-capable broadband networks to hard-to-reach areas. Digital […]

September 14, 2020By Colin Mann

Virgin Orbit looking for more cash?

Virgin Orbit, the satellite launch business headed by Sir Richard Branson, has reportedly hired a couple of investment banks. Normally this suggests the company is looking for strategic investors or perhaps even a sale or merger. According to Space Intel Report (SIR) the Branson company has hired Lion Tree Advisors as well as Perella Weinberg […]

September 14, 2020

Gogo gets a new investor

Gogo, which is in the process of selling off its Commercial Aviation division to Intelsat, has secured a new – and significant – investor. Chicago-based GTCR, a private equity firm, is acquiring a 14.8 per cent stake in the company. “We welcome GTCR’s interest in Gogo and look forward to an ongoing and constructive dialogue […]

September 14, 2020By Chris Forrester