More than a third of Australians admit they either illegally download movies off the Internet or have thought about doing so. A survey of consumers’ movie rental, downloading and pay TV viewing habits has revealed a significant slice of the population prefer accessing their entertainment through the back door. The national survey by DVD rental […]
YouTube is close to a deal with Channel 4 that will lead to the majority of the broadcaster's content being available on the site. Like the recent deal with IPC, Channel 4 is being granted the rights to sell its own advertising around the content and share the revenues with YouTube. Such a deal would […]
According to reports in the US internal YouTube e-mails, handed over in the preliminary discovery phase of the pending court action brought by Viacom, indicate that YouTube managers were aware of unauthorized content on the site and chose not to remove it. If true this would harm You Tube's defence that it cannot be responsible […]
From Colin Mann in Cannes KIT digital, a leading global provider of on-demand software solutions for managing and monetising Internet Protocol (IP)-based video assets, has reached deals to acquire two of its leading competitors, Nunet of Cologne, Germany and The FeedRoom, based in New York City. The aggregate consideration paid for Nunet and The FeedRoom […]
Disney Channels Worldwide President Rich Ross has been named chairman of Walt Disney Studios overseeing production, distribution and marketing for all of Disney's movie labels, including Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone, Miramax and Disney/Pixar. In addition, he'll also head Disney's theatrical and music groups. He reports to Disney prexy and CEO Bob Iger. Ross succeeds Dick […]
Virgin Media and BT have attacked BSkyB's pricing mechanism for its premium channels in a joint submission to Ofcom's pay-TV inquiry. The companies say Sky's "near monopoly" restricts consumer choice and keeps prices high. Ofcom has already recommended it should regulate the wholesale price of Sky's premium channels. The two companies, plus Freeview provider Top-Up […]
Days before the BitTorrent piracy case involving Aussie ISP iiNet goes to court, anti-piracy group AFACT has made a second legal retreat. The group, which represents Hollywood movie studios, has now dropped its claims that iiNet engaged in primary acts of copyright infringement. Next week, the case of Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros, Paramount […]
Warner Music Group and YouTube are finalising an agreement that would allow music videos from artists to once again be featured on the popular video portal. The deal would resolve a dispute over licensing rights that caused Warner Music to pull music videos by its artists from Google's YouTube in December. A deal would mean […]
CTAM cable marketing delegates have been warned that business models must be in place before they provide content everywhere. Thomas Franzen, CEO of Swedish cable operator Com Hem, said subscribers had a right to expect access to their content but he said too many rushed to provide free services for fear of being left out […]
Virgin Media has made a major agreement with Disney featuring a raft of new kids' content to be made available across Virgin Media's three entertainment platforms. This is the first deal of its kind for Virgin Media, and means customers will soon be able to watch Disney content in their home or on the move. […]