Jeremy Darroch, Group Chief Executive, Sky, has suggested that just a few months after Comcast’s September 2018 takeover of the pay-TV operator, “clear benefits” of the tie-up were “flowing both ways”, and also added his weight to the debate regarding regulation of global tech giants. Speaking at the Deloitte Enders Media and Telecoms Conference 2019 […]
The European Commission has made commitments offered by Disney, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Sky legally binding under EU antitrust rules. These commitments address the Commission’s concerns regarding certain clauses in these studios’ film licensing contracts for pay-TV with Sky UK. These clauses prevented Sky UK from allowing EU consumers outside the UK and […]
As investors are advised every time, ‘shares can go down as well as up’. The past 48 hours have not been good for SES and Intelsat. Both satellite operators have been hurt badly by uncertainties that the proposed reallocation of C-band frequencies over the US might not go their way (but see separate story on […]
Investors who have given SES and Intelsat a hard time should have paid attention to comments made on Monday (March 4) by four of the FCC’s Commissioners. The Commissioners, two Democratic appointees, Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks, as well as two Republicans, Michael O’Rielly and Brendan Carr, made it clear that any ‘nationalisation’ by the […]
Japanese transmission rules forbid public broadcaster NHK from simultaneous streaming of its programmes online. However, on March 5th, Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe approved a new law which will now allow NHK to stream its content. The rules were designed to protect Japan’s private TV networks and cable systems. The only exceptions were natural disasters […]
French Minister for the Economy and Finances, Bruno Le Maire, has presented his proposal to tax tech giants in the Council of Ministers. It would introduce a 3 per cent tax on digital services and will be retroactive to January 2019. The French tax will be applied to all tech companies whose worldwide revenues exceed […]
A TV commercial for Sky’s broadband service has been banned after complaints from rivals BT and Virgin were upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The duo argued it made misleading claims about the company’s ability to boost home Wi-Fi networks. The advert, which featured characters from Disney movie The Incredibles 2, showed a Sky […]
Formula One’s Chairman and CEO, Chase Carey, has suggested that the forthcoming season will mark the true commercial launch of its OTT service. Speaking on the Liberty Media Corp Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call, Carey said: “With respect to our F1 TV over the top platform, 2019 will, in many ways, be a true commercial […]
UK media regulator Ofcom has detailed the scope of its review of the BBC’s news and current affairs output, which it announced in 2018. The review will assess how well the BBC is adapting to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex news landscape, and its role as a trusted destination for audiences. It will […]
France’s electronic communications Arcep is publishing has published its scoreboard for the fixed broadband and superfast broadband market (rollouts and subscriptions) in France as of the end of December 2018. This quarter confirms the ongoing progress in FTTH subscription numbers and rollouts. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Annual growth in the number of superfast access subscriptions reaches two million, […]