US telco AT&T said it plans to launch its long-planned live mobile TV service “as early as possible” in 2008, citing efforts to improve the user experience as the reason behind the delay. AT&T confirmed the MediaFLO-based service will launch with eight live, linear channels: CBS Mobile, Fox Mobile, NBC2Go, NBC News2Go, ESPN Mobile TV, […]
German media group Bertelsmann said it decided not to buy the remaining 10 per cent of European broadcaster RTL Group it does not already own because of legal uncertainties. But Bertelsmann retains the right to increase its stake in RTL and to consider all options to reach its aim to delist RTL shares from the […]
Telefonia Bonairiano (Telbo), a telco in the Caribbean island of Bonaire, has launched an IPTV service under the name of ‘mitv’, becoming the first telco in the Caribbean to launch IPTV. The service was developed by Telbo along with Savant Communications, a Caribbean-based technology and project management consulting firm, and Manycast Consultancy, a provider of […]
Sky is to significantly increase the range of movies available for customers to download after agreeing terms with Paramount and Warner Bros. The agreements mean that Sky Anytime on PC will be the first online download service to offer the latest movies from all six major movie studios.
Focused on enhancing the remote management capabilities in regards to IPTV devices, the DSL Forum has confirmed the approval of its latest Technical Report, TR-135 Data Model for a TR-069 Enabled STB and the amendment of the industry recognised TR-069. Closely following the release of BroadbandSuite Release 2.0, these new specifications are cornerstone to the […]
US investment fund Carlyle is set to acquire a 35 per cent stake in French cable operator Numericable, formerly known as Noos, and which has almost total dominance in the French market. Numericable’s current shareholders are Altice with a 30 per cent stake and Cinven with 70 per cent. In a joint statement, the three […]
Channel Four has been fined £1.5 million by media watchdog Ofcom for misconduct involving phone-in competitions on popular programmes Richard and Judy and Deal or No Deal. Viewers were urged to call a premium number after contestants had already been chosen on Richard and Judy. Deal or No Deal selected competition finalists in a way […]
From Colin Mann in London The UK's anti-trust watchdog, the Competition Commission has recommended that BSkyB should be forced to sell some of the 17.9 per cent stake in ITV it acquired in November 2006. The regulator has recommended to Business Secretary John Hutton that BSkyB should either sell all of its shares or cut […]
Media enterprise the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) will begin featuring select full-length programming on Joost, the Internet television service. At launch, the PBS offering will include popular series, such as History Detectives and Scientific American Frontiers, as well as specials from PBS' award-winning 'Empires' collection. Separately, satellite operator DirecTV revealed a deal to carry Public […]
From David Del Valle in Madrid The Spanish media group Prisa, owner of newspaper El Pais, has launched a bid for the rest of Sogecable, Spain’s largest pay-TV group, that it does not already own, valuing the pay-TV operator, owner of Digital DTH platform Digital Plus and premium channel Canal Plus, at E3.8 billion. Prisa […]