UK comms regulator Ofcom has awarded the licence to operate the new local TV multiplex on digital terrestrial TV (DTT) to local infrastructure co-operative Comux. The multiplex operator will be responsible for building and maintaining the technical infrastructure required to broadcast the 19 local TV services currently being licensed by Ofcom. The award follows legislation […]
Dish Network is still arguing the merits of its controversial ‘Dish Hopper’ DVR ad-skipping technology before a US appeals court. In particular, network broadcaster Fox is arguing that the technology infringes Fox’s broadcasting copyrights. Last year Fox was denied a preliminary injunction which would have forced Dish Network to disable its ‘Hopper’ service. Three weeks […]
Prisa TV, owner of digital DTH platform Canal Plus, and Telefonica, operator of IPTV and mobile TV service Movistar Imagenio, have been fined up to €188,646 following the National Competition Commission (CNC) guilty verdict on restrictive practices in the pay TV market. Both companies had failed to meet CNC’s conditions to avoid unfair competition in […]
Sony has been fined £250,000 by the data watchdog over a cyber attack breach that compromised the personal information of millions of PlayStation users. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued the penalty after it found the attack on the Sony PlayStation Network in April 2011 could have been prevented. Sony has said it disagrees with […]
The UK’s Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey, speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, said that BSkyB should stop charging the UK’s public broadcasters for access to Sky’s viewers. BSkyB charges the BBC, commercial broadcaster ITV, and Channel’s 4 and Five, a ‘technical fee’ for access to its set-top boxes, and use of Red Button interactive technology. […]
Mediaset-owned TV channel Tele 5 will have to pay a €3.6 million fine following the Spanish Court Audiencia Nacional’s ruling that the fine imposed by the competition authority CNC over the merger Tele 5-Cuatro should stand. The CNC had imposed that fine after Tele 5 failed to meet a deadline to hand in to the […]
Arqiva hasn’t paid UK corporation tax since 2004, and British newspaper The Sunday Times accused the UK transmission company of having successfully given the UK taxman “the slip”. Arqiva has a British monopoly on terrestrial television signal distribution, and additionally uplinks over 500 channels to orbiting satellites. Now it might find itself included in a […]
Kim Dotcom, the founder of closed-down file-sharing site Megaupload, has launched a new website – Mega – which promises ‘military-grade’ encryption and which Dotcom insists will operate legally and is not setting out to affront the Hollywood studios or the US government. Dotcom, who revealed plans for the new service at the beginning of November […]
Despite Iran, and its broadcasting organisations having been proscribed internationally, Press TV is complaining that its latest banning (by satellite operator Hispasat) is “another hostile move against free speech” according to the Tehran-based broadcaster. Press TV’s Spanish-language channel is called Hispan TV and it joins the other Press TV output in being banned by the […]
UK regulator Ofcom has upheld appeals by BBC Worldwide in relation to two decisions by the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD) – which is responsible for regulating the editorial content of on-demand programmes services. In May 2011, ATVOD determined that BBC Worldwide’s Top Gear and BBC Food YouTube channels were each On-Demand Programme Services […]