Vivendi has speedily built up a 20 per cent stake in Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset broadcasting empire. Berlusconi’s family are reported to be resisting the take-over move, and the Italian state says it is “on alert” to the French move. Equity analyst Sami Kassab at Investment bank Exane-BNP/Paribas, in a note to clients December 15, says […]
Liberty Media Corporation has entered into agreements with certain third party investors to commit $1.55 billion (€1.46bn) in subscriptions for newly issued shares of its Series C Liberty Media common stock (LMCK) at a price of $25.00 per share in connection with its acquisition of Formula 1. The third parties are Coatue Management, the D. […]
Research from market and consumer information source GfK into the UK’s OTT viewing habits has revealed surprisingly low audience numbers on mobile devices. It seems that watching subscription video content on Netflix, Amazon and Now TV is, for now, most definitely an in-home entertainment experience. The vast majority (90 per cent) of the UK’s OTT […]
Akamai Technologies, a specialist in CDN services, has released its Third Quarter, 2016 State of the Internet Report. Based on data gathered from the Akamai Intelligent Platform, the report provides insight into key global statistics such as connection speeds, broadband adoption metrics, notable Internet disruptions, IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 implementation. “The holiday season serves as […]
Netflix is pulling the plug on Marco Polo, its high budget 13th-century drama after only two seasons. Netflix does not disclose ratings, so it’s unknown how poorly Marco Polo did. But reviews were mostly negative, and there was no viral momentum built up. Originally developed for Starz, it was produced by the Weinstein Company, and […]
The Thailand issue of 24 new digital transmission licences is proving something of a financial catastrophe. Many of the channels have subsequently closed while some have yet to pay their digital auction fees. Now Fox Networks Group is suing Bangkok Bank, which acted as guarantor to two of Fox’s major local clients (GMM Grammy and […]
Subject to parliamentary permission, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK is to add online transmission of its top terrestrial channels – but not until 2019. Currently it is banned under Japan’s Broadcast Law from simultaneously streaming its channels. Local press reports say that Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications is likely to approve the move, and […]
Barely two days after suggesting that such an outcome was likely, and a day after it confirmed that it had crossed the 5 per cent and 10 per cent thresholds of Italian broadcaster Mediaset’s share capital, media group Vivendi revealed December 14 that it had crossed the 15 per cent threshold and reached the 20 […]
Australian telcos must block access to sites infringing content copyright and divert web users towards a web page created by movie studios, the Federal court has ruled. Pay-TV operator Foxtel welcomed the decision, calling it a “major step in directly combating piracy”. Sites such as The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, Torrent Hound, IsoHunt and SolarMovie are […]