In an unexpected turn on June 12th, Clearwire declined the rival bid from existing majority owner Sprint Nextel and instead selected the rival Charlie Ergen bid via his Dish Network pay-TV operation. Late on June 12th in a regulatory filing Clearwire urged its stockholders to accept the Dish bid which is worth $4.40 a share, and well ahead of Sprint’s [...]
Modern Times Group, the international entertainment broadcasting group, has revealed that MTG Studios has signed an agreement to acquire Digital Rights Group (DRG) from Ingenious Media. The UK independent content distributor representing titles such as Inbetweeners, Singing Bee, Catch Phrase and Don’t Tell the Bride. MTG have taken a 92.4 per cent stake in the company for £15 million. MTG [...]
Cable MSO Kabel Deutschland has issued a statement saying that it notes recent speculation regarding a potential offer for Kabel Deutschland Holding AG and confirms that it has received a preliminary approach by Vodafone Group PLC regarding a possible offer for the company. “There is no certainty that any offer will ultimately be made nor as to the terms on [...]
Rupert Murdoch is about to take his big chance finally to break into the Spanish pay-TV market, according to local reports. News Corp and Telefonica are holding negotiations to acquire the majority of stakes in digital DTH platform Canal Plus, owned by media group Prisa TV, shared by the Spanish telco company Telefonica. Both companies would jointly acquire a 56 [...]
BSkyB is hitting back following BT’s announcement that it would provide free access to its valuable sports channels to anyone subscribing to its BT Broadband offering. The market expects BSkyB to make significant price cuts to its own Broadband pricing structure with some sources stating that the cuts will be a “market-changer” as far as the two media giants are [...]
Despite winning a total of $490 million from a trio of heavy-hitting lawsuits (with Google/Motorola, Time Warner and Cisco) and seeing its share price rocket more than 10 per cent on June 6th. The market then seemed to say ‘Is that all there is?’ and promptly saw a 20 per cent plunge on June 7th. Indeed, the consensus is now [...]
As anticipated by Mike Fries, President and CEO of Liberty Global when participating in the TV Summit at ANGA COM in Cologne, the cable MSO has confirmed that, following shareholder approvals, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, it has completed the previously announced acquisition of UK quad-play operator Virgin Media in a stock and cash merger valued at approximately [...]
Time Warner Inc and China Media Capital, China’s leading investment fund focused on media and entertainment, have formed a strategic investment partnership. The news was revealed in the western Chinese city of Chengdu, where business leaders convened for the 2013 Fortune Global Forum. The partnership aims to capitalise on China’s rapidly expanding media sector as digital devices proliferate and China’s [...]
Statements made in Nairobi by officials from Chinese pay-TV operator StarTimes Group suggest the broadcaster has the whole of sub-Saharan Africa in its sights as far as pay-TV and the receiver technology side of the business is concerned. A StarTimes-organised seminar heard on June 3 that the broadcaster had now signed up more than 2.5 million subscribers across Africa. StarTimes [...]
Indonesian billionaire Chairul Tanjung has agreed to buy an 80 per cent stake in the country’s second-biggest pay-TV operator, Telkomvision, heating up competition in the emerging pay television market currently controlled by another tycoon, Harry Tanoesoedibjo. Just 7 per cent of all Indonesia households have pay-TV, compared to India and China with 83 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively. [...]
