After the failure of Gioco Calcio and Dahlia TV, a third pay-TV operator could challenge the dominance of Sky Italia and Mediaset Premium in the field of Serie A football TV rights. Lega Calcio, the governing body of Italy’s professional football leagues, is seriously considering the possibility of setting up its own pay-TV operation and […]
India multi-system cable operator Asianet has reportedly switched off transmissions from ESPN’s local channel in an argument over carriage fees. Asianet says it is being asked for “unjustifiable commercial terms”. ESPN’s Star Sports channel is directly affected, and is currently the source for the England vs India cricket contest. ESPN’s contract expired back in May […]
Croatian telco T-Hrvatski Telekom (T-HT) has won the rights to show 100 games from the country’s premier football league live and exclusive on its IPTV service ‘MAXtv’. Under the terms of the agreement signed with the Croatian football league, T-HT will offer over 100 live games during the season to its subscribers. The telco will […]
Spanish actor Javier Bardem has joined with film-makers in urging Internet users to support creative industries struggling to survive in an age of digital piracy by shunning illegal downloading of free films and music. British film director Iain Smith, Egyptian producer Esaad Younis and Indian producer and director Bobby Bedi joined Bardem in appealing for […]
Dutch cable operator Ziggo has emerged victorious from its lawsuit against Rovi according to the IE Forum – a platform for lawyers in intellectual property protection. Rovi had accused Ziggo of violating its patent for an electronic programme guide. Ziggo claimed the Rovi patent was not valid and won support from the judge, who rejected […]
Martin Whitmarsh, team principal at McLaren, has suggested that although Formula One has benefited from its exposure on television under the sport’s commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone, the changes in technology and media consumption mean that it now needs to reassess how to monetise the new opportunities. Whitmarsh told the sport’s official website, formula1.com, that there […]
Netflix and NBC Universal have announced a multi-year renewal of their licensing agreement expanding the selection of non-exclusive NBC film and TV library titles available to watch instantly streaming from Netflix. Programming under the deal includes prior-season series across multiple NBC hits “The Office,” “30 Rock” and “Parenthood.” All future seasons of these shows will […]
LoveFilm has struck a five-year exclusive deal with Entertainment One UK (eOne), which will bring movies including The Twilight Saga to the company’s online movie-streaming service. The tie-up means LoveFilm members can watch new and up-and-coming releases from the independent film distributor’s catalogue via LoveFilm’s distribution platform. All LoveFilm members that have a premium subscription […]
ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has announced its five-year partnership with Dorna Sports to broadcast the MotoGP World Championship on multiple distribution platforms in 24 countries across its footprint in Asia, continuing its coverage of the premier motorcycle road racing Championship to 2016. ESS has been broadcasting the MotoGP World Championship for 16 years, and the […]
Platform ‘n’ -the largest HD satellite platform in Poland – has been awarded the broadcasting rights to 2012-15 UEFA Champions League and to UEFA Europa League. “We are proud to extend our partnership with UEFA starting as of next year and to become the home for the two most prestigious club tournaments in European Football,” […]