Internet TV streaming service Aereokiller is the subject of a further action claiming copyright infringement, with ABC, NBC and Fox filing a lawsuit in the Federal District Court in Washington DC. Allbritton, which owns ABC’s TV station there, also is a plaintiff in the suit. The complaint is similar to one filed in Los Angeles in August by ABC, NBC [...]
George Soros has invested £50 million (€59m) into Hyperoptic, the British fibre broadband provider, to help expand the business across the UK. Hyperoptic builds high-speed broadband connections of up to 1gbps to residential developments. The group has secured the amount from investors led by Quantum Strategic Partners, a private investment vehicle managed by Soros Fund Management. The investment is the [...]
Sling Media, owned by Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network, has agreed terms with Belkin International over Belken’s alleged infringements of SlingMedia’s ‘placeshifting’ technology. The agreement was contained in papers filed on May 19th with the US International Trade Commission. Sling has asked the Commission to dismiss Belkin from its investigation into whether various other manufacturers were infringing six patents controlled by [...]
Cooperation between the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), the world’s standards body in electrotechnology, and ITU (the International Telecommunication Union) has produced a new metadata standard to enable rights information interoperability in IPTV services. This provides a standardised framework, such as that accompanying material under copyright, to ensure that multimedia content can be shared legally across different platforms. Recommendation ITU-T H.751 [...]
Shazam, the media engagement company, has launched a redesign of its app for iPad, including a new discovery home screen, an improved layout for tag results for both TV and music, and a new way to browse what friends have been watching and listening to. The updated app also launches a new Auto-Tagging feature that allows users to continually recognise [...]
ESPN is letting go around 400 staff. The layoffs have been confirmed and compensation is being negotiated. The lay-off follow a review instituted by parent company Walt Disney. Several staff are grumbling loudly that the terminations are needed to help fund ESPN’s giant new SportsCentre due to open in June 2014. Others complain that some affected staffers were close to [...]
Mumbai-based Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (ZEEL) reported spectacular revenue growth, and profits, for its FY 2013 results. Net profits grew 21.6 per cent, helped by a claimed 670 million viewers globally to ZEEL’s output spread over 32 channels some of which are available in 169 countries. ZEEL chairman Subhash Chandra said that FY 2012 was a defining year for India’s [...]
French television series The Returned is set to be the first foreign-language drama on Channel 4 since German epic Heimat 20 years ago. Expected to be given a primetime slot when it launches next month, it is evidence of the changing attitudes towards subtitled drama that can be traced to the success of Danish murder mystery The Killing on BBC4. [...]
Advanced Digital Broadcast has announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive for the ADB Group, Peter Balchin who will start in July. Andrew Rybicki, the Group Chairman and CEO, stated: “We are extremely pleased to have Peter joining us. He brings along an impeccable track record of success, a wealth of operating management experience and industry knowledge, having previously [...]
RRsat Global Communications Network, a provider of comprehensive digital content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industry, has announced a long term agreement to enable Word Network, the largest African-American religious network in the US, to reach millions of viewers in Australia, New Zealand and the Arab world. The broadcast solution utilises RRsat’s KU-band platforms [...]
