Members of a broad coalition of industry and labour groups have stepped up their campaign to rally support for legislation that would give them new tools to crack down on foreign websites engaged in piracy and counterfeiting by lobbying the US House of Representatives en masse. Some 40 representatives of the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and […]
The future of the US cartoon series The Simpsons is in doubt after 20th Century Fox Television said it could no longer afford to produce the show without its voice actors taking a huge pay cut. US reports say the company wants 45 per cent pay cuts. “We believe this brilliant series can and should […]
Modern Times Group (MTG), the international entertainment broadcasting group, has launched its documentary pay-TV channels Viasat History and Viasat Nature in Uganda and Tanzania, following the signing of a distribution agreement with digital terrestrial television operator StarTimes. StarTimes will also include the channels in its pay-TV offering in Nigeria. Viasat History and Viasat Nature are […]
The European Court of Justice decision on the Portsmouth pub’s right to tune into a Greek version of Premier League football meant a day of headline reactions (mainly over-reactions really), before, by nightfall, all had agreed the judgement needed very careful consideration. The ECJ judgment said: “The Court of Justice holds that national legislation […]
The English Premier League has lost its fight before the European Court of Justice to the extent it has ruled there must be a free market in the provision of programme service decoders. The judgement could be costly to those who sell exclusive territorial rights to sports and other events and will be costly and […]
Much of the partnership revolves around original video, which has gained popularity in the online news space. The new video series “Newsmakers”. The live video will stream on Yahoo.com and ABCNews.com. Beyond video, the deal also changes how each brand gathers some of its news. ABC News will now be the main news provider on […]
The UK’s only live boxing channel BoxNation has gone for PayWizard’s pay-TV payment solution. BoxNation is supported by promoter Frank Warren, and launched in September. Currently the channel is available free-to-air to UK viewers, but will encrypt before the end of the year. Subscription fee is £10 (€11.7) a month. BoxNation has agreed a long-term […]
Hollywood studio Miramax has been invigorated by the digital age, according to CEO Mike Lang. Delivering a Media Mastermind keynote at MIPCOM, Lang described the studio’s new approach as “a bit more Silicon Valley than Hollywood,” adding that Miramax was a media company that was almost forgotten and the digital market wasn’t really a focus […]
Hit international TV formats such as Big Brother and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? are being protected by the laws of copyright, unfair competition, passing off and breach of confidence, according to a report launched at MIPCOM by FRAPA — the Format Recognition and Protection Association. The FRAPA Report 2011: Protecting Format Rights, […]
The English Premier League has lost its fight before the European Court of Justice which has ruled there must be a free market in the provision of programme services. The judgement will be very costly to those who sell exclusive territorial rights to sports and other events and will be costly and complicated for the […]