Discovery Communications has made its first acquisition of an independent production company by snapping up Betty – the UK firm behind shows such as Dirty Sexy Things, The Joy of Teen Sex and Freaky Eaters. The US factual broadcaster is reported to have paid about £10 million (€11.7m) for Betty as it looks to expand […]
Experimental transmissions have started of Jordan’s Al-Yarmuk channel, according to BBC Monitoring. In a press statement, Wa’il al-Saqqa, head of the Al-Yarmuk channel board of directors, said that the channel aims to present a sincere objective national media message that can be added to the diverse Jordanian media, so that it can contribute effectively in […]
GlobeCast has signed a contract with broadcaster Trace to broadcast its new HD channel, Trace Sports, on the NSS-806 satellite. Thanks to this new coverage, Trace Sports HD will enter the region with strong growth in the pay-TV sector and have access to a potential audience of 18 million DTH and cable homes in North, […]
A coalition of companies and trade bodies within the creative industries led by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has formally requested that BT block The Pirate Bay, one of the largest filesharing websites in the world, after winning a landmark high-court ruling designed to enforce UK copyright law. The BPI has written to BT, asking […]
Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President and CEO Gary Shapiro has reacted strongly to a Motion Picture Association of America blog on intellectual property legislation under consideration in Congress which suggests that Shapiro is alarmist about the threat to technology companies of the proposed measures. “On behalf of 2,000 of the nation’s leading technology companies, CEA […]
DirecTV and AT&T have signed a three-year extension to their commercial agreement and will continue to offer a co-branded version of DirecTV ‘s satellite television service across the 22 states where AT&T offers residential broadband and voice service. This agreement, which has been extended through March 2015, will enable both companies to provide customers with […]
Eurosport 2 has launched a dedicated Dutch-language version for Benelux. Ziggo, CanalDigitaal, Belgacom, TV Vlaanderen and Multivisie TV are among the first distributors to broadcast the Dutch Eurosport 2 version, with other carriers in the region expected to sign in the coming months. The Dutch version of Eurosport 2 will offer 2,000 hours of live […]
According to a report commissioned by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), in 2010 the US industries most dependent on copyright protection: Added over $930 billion in value to the U.S. economy, almost 6.4 per cent of the total GDP; Employed nearly 5.1 million US workers – nearly 5% of the total private employment sector […]
ESPN in the UK is taking its live sports schedule beyond its core of football and rugby by securing live golf, darts and tennis programming – expanding its sports offering for the first time significantly into live daytime, weekday sports. In golf, ESPN has secured an agreement to televise its first live golf programming in […]
ESPN Star Sports (ESS) and now TV, Asia’s biggest sports content provider, have launched ESPN Player, a broadband sports network with live and on-demand premier sports content, exclusively in Hong Kong. Following the successful launch of ESPN Player in Singapore and Malaysia, Hong Kong sports fans can now watch ESS’ line-up of sports content through […]