As slip-ups go, hitting the button that let out Google’s quarterlies early was expensive – try 9 per cent of the value of one of the world’s most valuable companies. It was a printer’s mistake – how ironic an old world communicator should undermine such a cutting edge outfit. The market was spooked by the […]
It’s American election time again. A few elections ago, Bill Clinton, then running for his first term, pinned up a notice in campaign HQ that read: “It’s the Economy, stupid!” The sign was to remind all there that whatever the hue and cry of the election, ultimately voters would pick who they thought was competent […]
Content piracy is often cited as the biggest threat to pay-TV and, by extension, the creative industries. Stopping it is the job of content security technologists and law enforcement. Comparisons are sometimes drawn with the drug trade – indeed, rights organisations sometimes claim the same organised criminals are involved and that by infringing an owner’s […]
The top men at News Corporation have had their ‘qualitative bonuses’ cut by half because of the phone hacking scandal in the UK. The quantitative element remained intact, though, as the share price has risen 23 per cent. The businesses have certainly done well but, clearly, the main spur to the stock boost was the […]
In the latest issue of IP Television International (available at IBC) we take a broad look at the Smart TV market. A report from TDG, quoted in the article, chastises TV makers for failing to make the most of their pivotal position in the fast growing Smart TV segment, though it does allow they have […]
The privately owned New York Times has appointed BBC DG Mark Thompson as the President and CEO to lead them to the digital age. It is the kind of ‘outside the box’ thinking only a private company can try; no public company would reach so far from ‘the norm’. For, while Thompson may come from […]
IHS Research reports that US pay-TV subs are being lost to Netflix users and other OTT providers. This is always an eye catching headline in our sector, and I confidently predict it will rise close to the top of our most-read parade in coming days. However, like a lot of similar reports, it is a […]
In the latest issue of Euromedia we publish our annual STB Survey taking the temperature of the segment. Casual observers might think ‘cooling’ would be the obvious answer as Smart TVs become the norm in the replacement market and more and more Apps developers and content companies make provision deals with the various manufacturers. Nonetheless, […]
Rupert Murdoch said in evidence to the Leveson Inquiry that an unhinged Gordon Brown phoned him and said he would make war on News Corp. Brown, in evidence, claimed the call never took place. Whose relationship with the truth is closer? My guess is both have only had a nodding acquaintance with veracity for some […]