Advanced Television

Nick Snow

Nick Snow

Nick Snow is the founder of Advanced Television Ltd and is publisher & editor-in-chief of advanced-television.com and Euromedia. In 1984 he worked on the debut issue of Cable & Satellite Europe, and over the years his companies have published many of the industry’s most highly regarded titles. He is also a screenwriter, producer and playwright.

2018: Shop till you drop. And roll out the red tape

Predictions for 2018: A fool’s errand, so here goes. Everyone says that ‘the people’ have lost faith in their politicians. Who can blame them given the shower we currently have? Our own Brexiteer negotiators show a level of competence that would make you worry about leaving them alone with sharp objects. It is a terrible […]

December 21, 2017

Fox-Disney, a family affair? Hardly

A major deal between Disney and Fox, a vague rumour just a couple of weeks ago, now seems nailed on. And, if those nails don’t hold, it is said Comcast is waiting in the wings for a similar deal. In other words minds are made up, the patriarch has spoken; the Murdoch’s are breaking up […]

December 12, 2017

Let the M&A musical chairs begin

Is 21st Century Fox in play? Absolutely. Who’s playing who is a more complicated question. Two weeks ago, the news was of discussions with Disney about selling TV assets. Now Comcast is named as a possible buyer in the Murdoch press – that’s not a leak, that’s a release. And, as remarked here before, rumours […]

November 17, 2017

Shooting Foxes

There is an old English saying derived from hunting: ‘You’ve shot my fox’. It means one’s whole plan, or whole story, has been undercut by one or more unexpected action. The Murdochs, as owners of 21st Century Fox, have been busy shooting everyone’s foxes this week. The narrative was that after exhaustive tracking, and several […]

November 8, 2017

Resolution revolution rolls on

4K UHD is technology that has developed in an asymmetric manner – which is typical. It will soon be impossible to buy a non-UHD large-scale TV, and penetration around the world is accelerating, led by China where six competing makers are driving low cost supply. This means a market ready to watch 4K – and […]

October 29, 2017

Fox and its non-fanciful foes

That sounds like some kind of fairy tale – and maybe that’s right; an old media magician tries to weave one last spell with a company named after a wild rural animal. Just as it looks like he’s going to succeed, along come the politicians and regulators with their ‘non-fanciful’ concerns over his commitment to […]

September 12, 2017

It IS the Economy, Stupid!

That epithet became famous when it was pinned to the wall in Bill Clinton’s 1992 election campaign office. He won. In the micro-economy of the media the biggest single factor – as it is with any other sector – is the macro economy. How easily and how often do we forget this? We stress about […]

August 8, 2017

BBC transparency isn’t HD

A nervous BBC struck a hurried deal with then Culture Secretary John Whitingdale (remember him?), because it would rather get a frozen licence fee than risk trying to justify legally obliging the public to handover their money in the teeth of austerity. Alongside the freeze, Whittingdale also made them sign up to publishing all the […]

July 19, 2017

Sky, Fox… no big deal

The UK Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has made her pronouncement on the Fox bid for Sky. It didn’t include the words grass, or long, or kick. But that was what it meant. The May government (otherwise known as ‘Maybe it’s a government, Maybe it isn’t’) has enough problems right now without dealing with this particularly […]

June 29, 2017

Sky could be UK election loser

Everyone should now be out of the prediction business: Brexit, Trump, and now Theresa May. The UK Prime Minister has seen a Parliamentary majority and a 20 point poll lead disappear and now has to rely on a tiny Northern Ireland party to prop her up. It is the biggest political disaster wrought by the […]

June 9, 2017