Surprise bidder BT has acquired the rights to broadcast live Premier League games for the first time, securing the rights to 38 matches a season from 2013-14 to 2015-16. BSkyB will continue to show the bulk of games, securing the rights to 116 games per season. The total of 154 live matches is 16 more than currently broadcast and more [...]
Over a quarter of TVs shipped during Q1 2012 were equipped with Internet connectivity, according to data from NPD DisplaySearch. Approximately 27 per cent of TV sets shipped worldwide had internet connectivity, led by Japan, where 46 per cent of sets had networking capability, and Western Europe with 36 per cent. In a good example of how Internet entertainment is [...]
The US Department of Justice is to probe cable providers’ power over how and where consumers can access television over the Internet, according to the WSJ. The investigation has been sparked by cable cos control of the last mile, which will be enhanced if Verizon ceases to be a fixed line competitor in the deal for it to buy cable [...]
Brian Sullivan, Sky Deutschland’s CEO, has dismissed suggestions that the pay-TV operator may have over-paid in successfully securing German Bundesliga football rights, revealing that the €468 million was in line with its business plan. He also played down the importance of acquiring such rights, arguing that Sky Deutschland’s turnaround was not the result of a “silver bullet”, but rather about [...]
Following the recent separation of broadcast (La7, La7d and MTV Italia) and transmission activities of Telecom Italia Media, parent company Telecom Italia is now determined to speed up the sale of national broadcaster La7. According to local media reports, Mediobanca and Citi have started exploratory contact with different industrial and financial entities to see if there is a genuine interest [...]
J.P. Morgan says it is not trying to lock out other bids and isn’t trying to charge punitive break up fees. The bank says it wishes to clarify two points referred to in the announcement of Technicolor dated June 11th, 2012 regarding the terms of its revised proposal. The break-up fee of €3.4 million that J.P. Morgan proposed, representing 2 [...]
Positioning themselves better to meet technological and business challenges faced by the content consumption market, France Telecom Group companies Viaccess and Orca Interactive are to merge their management structures. This new organisation will allow customers to benefit from the strength and expertise of legacy telecommunications combined with the innovative edge of an agile technology company under a single brand – [...]
Telecoms giant Telmex, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, will not take part in the upcoming Mexican auction of digital terrestrial frequencies. Telmex’s general director (and nephew of Carlos) Hector Slim Seade, said that Telmex’s America Movil business will instead focus on pay-TV. Telmex/America Movil has some 14 million pay-TV subscribers in Latin America, and is anticipating a 20 per cent [...]
ESPN Star Sports, the exclusive Asian rights holder for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) domestic and home international matches, has announced an agreement with Al Jazeera Sport for the television broadcast rights of the Friends Life Twenty20 2012. The deal marks a significant landmark for cricket broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa with Al Jazeera Sport [...]
Home entertainment networking technology standards body the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) has confired that MoCA technology is now being trialled by six service providers in Europe. MoCA suggests this strong traction in Europe comes at a time when it is increasingly being perceived by service providers worldwide as the most reliable in-home backbone for a hybrid home network that [...]
