The China Academy of Broadcasting Science has held a meeting to promote overseas partnerships on the CMMB standard, with senior officials from SARFT’s Science and Technology Department, the Academy itself, the S2M Group and Loral Space and Communications. Deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) Zhang Haitao said he hopes […]
The BBC and ITV have sought legal advice to determine whether the deep-linking that online TV listings site TVguide.co.uk does to their online video streaming is legal or not. TVguide.co.uk, which has some 1 million unique visitors a month doing some 8 million page impressions, offers its users direct access to unbranded content from the […]
Satellite companies gained a victory when the Federal Communications Commission voted to allow them to phase in a requirement that they carry all HD signals in any market where they carry any after the February 2009 switch to digital TV by all full-power TV stations. The commission also ruled that DirecTV's and Dish Network’s requirement […]
Media regulator Ofcom has proposed increasing the number of advertising breaks allowed on UK television. Ofcom has suggested scrapping a rule that requires 20 minutes of programming between advertising breaks on commercial channels. The regulator is also considering giving channels the right to decide how often they want to show ads, the newspaper said. Ofcom […]
DBS operators have a significant opportunity to gain market share in the pay-TV space thanks to a recently upheld FCC ruling on multiple dwelling units according to the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association. Now that The National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s motion to stay the FCC’s November 2007, order has been denied, satellite providers are […]
France’s competition council has launched an investigation into exclusive broadcasting contracts between pay-TV operator Canal+ and certain specialist channels. The inquiry stems from a complaint lodged last year from French group AB claiming Canal+ has blocked its channels from being broadcast on certain broadband Internet services. Canal+ a unit of Vivendi, has exclusive contracts with […]
Italian antitrust officials are set to probe into the competition-related aspects of a new law that dictates how Italian football television coverage is shared. The investigation is the latest in a series of moves against the controversial law, which was passed in January, just before the collapse of the Italian government led by Romano Prodi. […]
Viacom cannot amend its complaint against Google in its $1 billion copyright lawsuit to add a claim for punitive damages, a US judge has ruled. District Judge Louis Stanton denied Viacom’s request, saying common law punitive damages cannot be recovered under the Copyright Act. Viacom sued Google a year ago for copyright infringement on its […]
The Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards, has confirmed the UK regulator is to abandon plans for a “public service publisher”. He said the idea had “served its purpose” in shifting the debate on the future of public service broadcasting by emphasising the importance of digital media. It is understood that Ofcom no longer envisages recommending […]
Russia may limit foreign ownership of ISPs, broadcasters and publishing houses, extending a list of industries deemed strategic, a senior lawmaker told Reuters. Russia’s parliament is set to debate the controversial law this month amid a row between government officials and the security services over what industries should be deemed sensitive and how much to […]