Advanced Television

Cable

Brazil tops 11m pay-TV subs

Brazil’s National Telecoms Agency says that the country now has more than 11 million pay-TV subscribers. 1.3 million net new subs were added during the first half of this year, with DTH satellite taking just over half of that total. A total of 235,000 subs were added in June alone. DTH now has 5.61 million […]

July 28, 2011By Chris Forrester

Stofa Canal Digital deal scrapped

A €13.4 million deal that would have seen Danish triple-play operator Stofa – a subsidiary of private equity firm Ratos – acquire the Danish cable TV activities of Canal Digital is no longer to proceed following indications from competition bodies that approval of the deal was unlikely. Stofa signed an agreement in January to acquire […]

July 26, 2011By Colin Mann

Satellite costs Paraguay cable 40% of subs

Paraguay’s Cable Operators Association says some 40 per cent of its former pay-TV subscribers are now viewing signals direct from satellites. The Association’s 60 members have a presence in 55 main cities and regions of the country, and have now requested a meeting with Paraguay’s president to discuss what they see as a major problem. […]

July 26, 2011By Chris Forrester

Asianet and ESPN in India squabble

India multi-system cable operator Asianet has reportedly switched off transmissions from ESPN’s local channel in an argument over carriage fees. Asianet says it is being asked for “unjustifiable commercial terms”. ESPN’s Star Sports channel is directly affected, and is currently the source for the England vs India cricket contest. ESPN’s contract expired back in May […]

July 25, 2011By Chris Forrester

Foxtel considers ACCC legal action

Australian pay-TV operator Foxtel will consider taking legal action against the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) if it is unsuccessful in overturning the regulator’s preliminary view that its A$1.9 billion acquisition of regional pay-TV group Austar is anti-competitive (see ‘Regulator raises Foxtel Austar bid concerns’, July 22). Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams contends that […]

July 25, 2011By Colin Mann

Regulator raises Foxtel Austar bid concerns

Australia’s competition regulator has raised concerns that the planned A$2 billion takeover of pay-TV operator Austar by rival Foxtel, part owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, could hurt competition on three fronts. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has delayed its decision on Foxtel’s bid until September, a strong indication that it sees problems […]

July 22, 2011By Colin Mann

BC Partners acquires Com Hem

International private equity firm BC Partners is to buy Com Hem, Sweden’s leading TV, broadband and telephony company, from The Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but are understood to be of the order of €1.8 billion. Com Hem has grown to become Sweden’s largest distributor of […]

July 22, 2011By Colin Mann

Mexico DTH will pass cable

DTH subscriptions will continue to grow, achieving 71 percent of the pay-TV market by 2016, says a report from Dataxis. By the end of this year DTH will edge past cable subscriptions (51 per cent versus cable’s 49 per cent), following a growing trend towards DTH subscription. At present, in Mexico, DTH is operated by […]

July 21, 2011By Chris Forrester

Morega awarded patent for portability technology

Morega Systems, a developer of content portability solutions, has received patent approval for its breakthrough content portability technology. This unique content delivery solution gives satellite, cable and IPTV service providers, and equipment manufacturers an alternative way to extend premium, multimedia content beyond the television and the set-top box to support the Connected Home and TV […]

July 20, 2011

CTAM unveils EuroSummit themes

CTAM Europe, the premier cable marketing organisation for European cable television marketers, has unveiled the topics to be addressed at EuroSummit 2011, the annual cable marketing conference, at the Westin Dragonara Resort in Malta, September 22-23, 2011. “This year we will tackle the challenges facing cable marketers across the globe,” said Krisztina Homolay, Managing Director […]

July 20, 2011