Advanced Television

Business

DAZN bolsters leadership team for global launch

DAZN Group has announced a series of leadership appointments to ready the business for the debut of its global streaming service and a renewed focus on its original markets. “With DAZN’s paying subscriber base

August 7, 2020

Intelsat suffering in “challenging” environment

Intelsat’s Q2 results, to June 30th, were not impressive. The company is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reconstruction as a ‘debtor in possession’ and it is near-certain that it will exit bankruptcy in a stronger position, but at the moment the negative news is extensive. For example: Network Services (worth 37 per cent of Intelsat’s total […]

August 7, 2020By Chris Forrester

Telkom Kenya scraps Bharti merger

Telkom Kenya is no longer pursuing a proposed joint venture transaction with the Kenyan unit of India’s telco giant Bharti Airtel. Bharti Airtel had said in February last year that its Airtel Networks Kenya unit had agreed to buy Telkom Kenya, the East African nation’s smallest operator in which the government still has a 40 […]

August 7, 2020By Chris Forrester

South Africa’s MTN telco to exit Mid-East

MTN Group, in reporting its latest financials, told investors that it will exit its cellular businesses in the Middle East over the medium term in order to concentrate on Africa. Stage 1, it says, is that it is in talks to sell its majority 75 per cent stake in MTN Syria. MTN Group was previously […]

August 7, 2020By Chris Forrester

ITV revenues plummet in challenging times

UK commercial broadcaster ITV has published its Interim results for the period ending June 30th 2020. Revenues slumped by 17 per cent to £1.21 billion (€1.02bn) largely caused by a lack of demand for advertising bought about by the pandemic. Carolyn McCall, ITV Chief Executive, said: “This has been one of the most challenging times […]

August 6, 2020

ViacomCBS “solid” Q2; CBS All Access early 2021

ViacomCBS’s financial results for the quarter ended June 30th 2020 saw another “solid quarter”, according to Bob Bakish, President & CEO. He said that despite the impact of Covid-19 on revenue in the quarter, the broadcaster was successfully managing through the effects of the pandemic, reaffirming the strength of its combined operations. “Our results underscored […]

August 6, 2020

Tivùsat to start switchover to DVB-S2/MPEG-4

Italian DTH platform Tivùsat is planning to make a gradual switchover to MPEG-4 starting from December 2020. The change concerns 15-20 TV channels that now use MPEG-2 and will also involve ditching SD in favour of HD. Paramount Network made the switch last week, with Sky Italia’s free-to-air channels TV8 and Cielo moving to MPEG-4/HD […]

August 6, 2020From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Thailand: Anti-piracy website

Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) have unveiled a new website blocking provisions for piracy sites which violate section 20 (3) of the Computer Crimes Act (CCA). Under the new provisions, ISPs now have 15 days in which to […]

August 6, 2020By Colin Mann

Berenberg impressed by Eutelsat’s numbers

A report from investment bank Berenberg says it is impressed by Eutelsat’s recent financial results and in particular the cash flow being generated by the satellite company. It recommends Eutelsat as a “Buy” to its clients, but also admit that in its past recommendations the bank has been “far from successful”. “That is not to […]

August 6, 2020

McKenzie named Head of BBC Radio 1Xtra

BBC Radio 1Xtra has announced Faron McKenzie as the new head of the station. McKenzie brings a wealth of experience to the role, having most recently led the BBC’s first-ever Creative Diversity Xperience (CDX) which took place in July. As Head of CDX, McKenzie worked closely with June Sarpong (BBC Director of Creative Diversity) and […]

August 6, 2020