On the occasion of the European Film Forum at the Cannes Film Festival, over 80 of Europe’s filmmakers have set out their vision for Europe’s policies on copyright and culture, warning that while the dream of an EU single market can be enticing, such a project would undermine Europe’s cultural diversity. They also call for […]
BBC Worldwide is reported to be considering the closure of its BBC Store, its transactional VoD service, just 18 months after its launch. The Telegraph says the service may shut down the Store after it failed to hit commercial targets. BBC Worldwide launched the download-to-own service in November 2015 with access to a 7,000 hour […]
Tele Columbus, the third largest German cable operator, published its financials for the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. The Group successfully continued on its growth path recording a 4.3 per cent revenue increase year on year to € 121 million. As of March 31st 2017, the Group continued to have a stable 3.6 million […]
Indonesian government officials and international TV executives have called for modernised rules for the country’s broadcasting sector during a high powered Regulatory Roundtable in Jakarta. Co-sponsored by the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), the Ministry of Communications and Informatics (Kominfo) and regional multichannel TV Association CASBAA, the May 17th meeting examined media convergence, the state of […]
GMIT, a subsidiary of Munich-based technology group Rohde & Schwarz, has acquired the technology of Motama. The acquisition will expand the Berlin-based company’s product portfolio for interruption-free transmission of audio and video content in IP networks. Headquartered in Saarbruecken, Motama is a specialist in the field of professional transmission via unmanaged IP networks. Hannes Strobel, […]
As anticipated, the Federal Communications Commission has taken the first step toward restoring what it describes as Internet freedom and promoting infrastructure investment, innovation, and choice, by proposing to end utility-style regulation of broadband Internet access service. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC proposes to return to the bipartisan framework that it claims […]
Eutelsat has agreed to sell its 33.69 per cent stake in Madrid-based Hispasat to Abertis. Abertis is itself in the process of being acquired by Italian infrastructure company Atlantia. The agreement follows a process initiated in July last year when Eutelsat exercised a pre-agreed ‘PUT’ option on Abertis. Eutelsat will receive €302 million for its […]
Spanish infrastructure company Abertis is in the process of being bought by an Italian company, Atlantia. Abertis has a major share in Hispasat, and the Spanish government says that the satellite operator is a “strategic asset” for the nation (see also today’s story on Eutelsat reaching an agreement with Hispasat). Spain’s Minister of Economy, Luis […]
China Digital TV has received notification that it must delist its shares from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Its Depository Shares were suspended on May 16th, and the ‘smart card’ encryption company is in the process of paying a special $1.50 per share dividend which will have the effect of reducing assets and dropping […]
EU citizens with subscriptions for online films and TV will soon be able to access their content while temporarily in another EU country, following a vote in the European Parliament. The new rules approved by the Parliament – and previously agreed with Council negotiators in February 2017 – will remove restrictions so that EU citizens […]