Advanced Television

Regulation

Murdoch: “Don’t jeopardise our investment in UK”

James Murdoch has made his toughest statement yet on what could happen should British media regulators refuse News Corp’s bid to acquire the 61 per cent of BSkyB it does not own. He told delegates at Morgan Stanley’s annual media and telecoms conference in Barcelona that the UK government must decide whether it wants to […]

November 18, 2010By Chris Forrester

US anti-piracy showdown looms

The proposed legislation to combat Internet counterfeiting that has pitted Hollywood and television networks against Web giants Amazon, Google and Yahoo over how law enforcement authorities should prevent digital theft.  The bill, sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy with the backing of 17 senators, would allow law enforcement to scrap infringing sites by taking down the […]

November 18, 2010

Vaizey: ISPs can charge content providers

UK broadband minister Ed Vaizey has declared ISPs should be free to favour traffic from one content provider over another as long as they inform customers. Speaking to the FT Conference this morning Vaizey says the market will decide how far ISPs can go in charging for preferential or guaranteed content delivery and QoS. The […]

November 17, 2010From Colin Mann at FT Conference

Canal Plus ‘dominant position’ probe on

Vivendi’s Canal Plus pay- television unit faces a continued probe by France’s competition authority into exclusive deals, the regulator has confirmed. The investigation focuses on Canal Plus’s distribution practices for its ‘in house’ channels, certain deals for linked channels, and contracts between Canal Plus and independent channels, the regulator said in a statement on its […]

November 16, 2010

EU: No to Net Neutrality laws

Neelie Kroes the European Commission’s Vice president for the Digital Agenda says the EU won’t pass laws for net neutrality. Speaking at a Net Neutrality Summit in Brussels, Kroes said: “In general, providers have upheld the principle of open access and end users may access most of the applications and services of their choice.” She […]

November 15, 2010

Comcast, NBC merger conditions

Federal regulators in the US have told Comcast and NBC Universal that they have concerns the proposed merger will harm competition.  The Justice Department’s antitrust division and Federal Communications Commission are expected to approve the merger on the condition the companies agree to allow competitors – such as Time Warner Cable, Dish Network and even […]

November 15, 2010

Ex Ofcom man calls for Comms reform

Former Ofcom partner and ITN CEO, Stewart Purvis, has called for quick action on ITV, a reversal of European regulation, and relaxation of advertising and impartiality rules, in a speech delivered for the RTS (Royal Television Society) Fleming Memorial Lecture 2010. Entitled ‘Calling Time on Analogue Regulation – an agenda for the next Communications Act,’ […]

November 12, 2010From Colin Mann in London

No votes wins Digital Plus approval

Mediaset’s Tele 5 and Telefonica have been cleared to take a 22 per cent stake each in the digital DTH platform Digital Plus but with limited voting rights in the management of the company. Media group Prisa will retain a 56 per cent stake. Spain’s competition watchdog the CNC has shelved the legal proceedings, giving […]

November 11, 2010From David Del Valle in Madrid

ActiveVideo says “Unify on The Cloud”

The president and CEO of ActiveVideo Networks called on the media, entertainment and CE communities to agree on a single, unified platform for the delivery of Web video to the television. At a conference in San Francisco ActiveVideo’s Jeff Miller outlined how “Platform Chaos” – the fragmentation of countless video devices and technologies — must […]

November 11, 2010

ActiveVideo President and CEO calls on industry to “Join The Cloud”

The president and CEO of ActiveVideo Networks has called on the media, entertainment and CE communities to agree on a single, unified platform for the delivery of Web video to the television. At the NewTeeVee Live conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, ActiveVideo’s Jeff Miller outlined how “Platform Chaos” – the fragmentation of countless video […]

November 11, 2010