Thomas Rabe, chief executive of the RTL Group, said that a proposal by the Green food and agriculture minister, Cem Özdemir, to ban junk food adverts was an example of the “overregulation” that was weighing down the largest economy in Europe. He says it would prevent broadcasters from showing adverts for unhealthy foods aimed at […]
SpaceX is being sued by the US Department of Justice with allegations that the rocket company has been biased in its hiring of staff. The civil lawsuit alleges that SpaceX has deliberately not hired former refugees and asylum seekers. SpaceX “routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because […]
Statistics show that HMRC paid out £1.66 billion (€1.94bn) in creative industries tax reliefs for the year to March 31st 2022 – a 36 per cent increase from the previous year. This was largely due to an impressive rise in high-end TV reliefs which have increased by 131 per cent to £829 million and now […]
Microsoft has submitted a new deal for review by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) following confirmation that its original deal to acquire Activision had been blocked to protect innovation and choice in cloud gaming. In an unusual step, Microsoft had sought to revisit the CMA’s original prohibition decision, arguing that blocking the original […]
Consumer research carried out by Ampere Analysis over the last six years has revealed that engagement with public service media (PSM) linear or their Video on Demand (BVoD) services has fallen by 15 per cent in Europe’s largest markets. This is particularly prominent among younger age groups. With PSM navigating a rapidly changing content landscape, […]
North American pay-radio operator SiriusXM has been hit with a $150 million (€138m) claim from SoundExchange alleging unpaid royalties and late payments. The action was started in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that SiriusXM used an artificially low revenue calculation to determine payments by ascribing “excessive […]
UK comms regulator Ofcom has set out proposals to make more radio spectrum available for use by ‘earth station gateways’ – large dishes on the ground that connect a satellite network to the Internet. Gateways allow satellite operators to support a range of broadband services in the UK, such as helping to better connect homes […]
Israel’s three main broadcasters, Keshet 12, Reshet 13 and Kan, are coming together in a group action forum to oppose the government’s new media bill. The networks said that the Israeli TV Channels Forum has been formed to “prevent the expected harm to media independence and freedom of the press as a result of the […]
Intelsat is due to receive a windfall of $3.7 billion (€3.38bn) later this year after successfully clearing the C-band spectrum ahead of schedule for terrestrial 5G telecommunications companies in the US. The company launched its seventh and final C-band replacement satellite (Galaxy 37/Horizons-4) on August 3rd and obtained FCC certification for moving its broadcast customers […]
Satellite operator SES has confirmed that the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has validated the certification of SES’s Phase II accelerated C-band clearing and relocation activities. With this milestone, and following the successful completion of its Phase I activities in 2021, SES has fulfilled its commitment to the FCC’s programme to clear a portion of […]