Axel Springer is extending its partnership with Turkey's biggest media conglomerate the Dogan group. The companies announced that Axel Springer would sell 5.1 per cent of the 25 per cent stake in Dogan TV it bought in 2006 to its parent, Dogan Yayin Holding. The price of E77m ($99m) is based on the valuation used in the original deal. Axel [...]
Premiere has won the pay-TV rights to Bundesliga football in Germany, Austria and Switzerland through to the end of the 2012 season. The exclusive deal covers live and highlights rights for cable, satellite and the internet at a cost of E225 million for in 2009/10 rising to E275 million in 2012/13. Premiere CEO Mark Williams said he was glad to [...]
BSkyB is to continue legal action in the fight to hold on to the 17.9 per cent stake it holds in rival broadcaster ITV. The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal last month upheld an original ruling by the Competition Commission that by holding the stake BSkyB had an adverse impact on the market. But Sky has confirmed that it has lodged [...]
Vodafone has launched a video-on-demand service in Germany, offering films and TV series for viewing on a PC or mobile phone. The Vodafone Videotheque offers TV episodes from E0.99 each and films for E 1.99, plus connection costs. The content can be viewed as many times as the user likes during a 24-hour period, on the mobile phone or PC. [...]
As cable providers beef up their PC video offerings, satellite and telco operators increasingly see over-the-top broadband video delivery as a viable option to shore up their own weaknesses. Over the past year, both DirecTV and DISH Network have rolled out over-the-top Video On Demand on Internet-connected set-top boxes, while telcos in Europe have been combining digital terrestrial linear TV [...]
MVS Comunicaciones, a Mexican telecommunications conglomerate, and EchoStar have formed a joint venture, Dish Mexico that will launch Dish satellite TV service across Mexico. EchoStar is providing satellite capacity and uplink facilities for transmitting the service. Additionally, EchoStar is contributing digital satellite TV equipment including a small 20-inch dish antenna, satellite receiver, remote control and a secure conditional access system. [...]
The UK government has withdrawn controversial plans to award £14 million (E17.7m) to Channel 4 to help with the cost of digital switchover. In a written statement to parliament, culture secretary Andy Burnham said the plan had effectively been overtaken by events because forthcoming proposals on Channel 4′s future funding would be “more wide-ranging”. “In the period since the notification [...]
Europe’s first Satellite / IP hybrid set-top box to use the Ethernet port for VOD services, +Le Cube, has been delivered to the French pay-TV operator Canal+ Group by Pace. Mathias Hautefort, President Pace France said, “+Le Cube’s hard disk has been optimised by Pace Engineering for very low audibility, to be less intrusive for the user. This is also [...]
Miniweb, the Interactive Service Provider that is enabling interactivity and targeted, web-style advertising on the TV, has confirmed the commercial availability of TV Keys, a new interactive TV service. TV Keys bridge the gap between the interactivity and targeting of the web and the ease of use and reach of TV, to deliver a measurable advertising platform. Companies are able [...]
TiVo reported a record profit for the third quarter ended October 31, of $100.6 million, but that was based mainly on the $105 million in damages the company received from satellite operator Dish Network and its set-top supplier EchoStar Corp. relating to patent litigation. Without the Dish/EchoStar damages award, the company would have posted a loss of $900,000. Last year, [...]
