The European Union has imposed a travel ban on two Press TV staffers, prompting Press TV (which is already proscribed by many administrations) to describe the EU move as a “western war on Iranian media”. The ban affects two Press TV senior managers, Mohammad Sarafraz and Hamid Reza Emadi, who are denying EU allegations that […]
Cablevision has released court papers it had filed in its antitrust dispute with Viacom which claim that Cablevision’s bottom line costs, including penalties, for lesser-watched, unwanted Viacom channels tops $1 billion. Cablevision is arguing that Viacom is forcing it to take a comprehensive bundle of channels, many of which are not demanded by subscribers, but […]
Websites that retransmit live TV online without permission from broadcasters are in breach of copyright, Europe’s highest court has ruled. The landmark ruling means that many sites showing live TV in the UK, including TVCatchup.com, must now obtain rights clearance from broadcasters. The case was brought by ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 against TVCatchup.com, […]
The Association for International Broadcasting has condemned attempts that are being made to interfere with the broadcasts of international broadcasters on short wave in the Asia region. English-language broadcasts from the BBC World Service, Radio Australia and Voice of America beamed towards China are being deliberately interfered with by the jamming of a number of […]
UK regulator Ofcom’s latest Broadcast Bulletin names and shames another batch of so called ‘Adult’ channels for assorted breaches of its broadcast rules. Northern Birds (Sky channel 935), Essex Babes (Sky channel 936), Sportxxx Girls (Sky channel 940) and Livexxx Babes (Sky channel 942) all transmit interactive daytime chat and ‘adult chat’ advertising content, and […]
A US federal jury has found sports programmer ESPN liable for only one breach-of-contract claim made by Dish Network Corp and awarded Dish $4.86 million – a mere fraction of the more than $152 million it had sought. In a unanimous verdict, the jury in Manhattan found ESPN liable for breaching a 2005 licensing agreement […]
India’s cable and DTH operators have reacted furiously to the news that India’s finance minister has levied a 5 per cent extra import tax on set-top boxes – raising the overall tax to 10 per cent. They are complaining that the tax hike could not have come at a worse time. Almost all STBs are […]
Dish has accused CBS of telling one of the network’s stars, Kaley Cuoco of The Big Bang Theory, to delete a Twitter message promoting the Hopper to her 1.2 million followers. Dish’s chief executive, Joe Clayton, a chance to say on Twitter: “It’s disappointing that CBS – once the exemplar of editorial independence and innovation […]
Paris-based StudioCanal has hit Universal Studios with a legal action alleging that the American studio owes “tens of millions” and “likely much more” over a partnership deal that’s gone sour. StudioCanal and Universal formed a joint-venture movie production arm back in 1999 and together produced plenty of hits including ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’, ‘Frost/Nixon’, ‘Billy Elliot’, […]
The US television and film industries have revealed plans to roll out a national multimedia campaign to inform parents about the many tools that can help them manage what their children see on television and at the movies. The industries will make a positive contribution to the national conversation on violent behaviour by launching a […]