France’s Competition Authority, l’Autorité de la concurrence, has approved the acquisition of satellite broadcaster TPS by Vivendi Universal and Canal Satellite and Canal Plus subject to a number of conditions aimed at restoring sufficient competition in the pay-TV market. The authority had reversed its 2006 authorisation in September 2011, fining the parties €30 million and […]
Egypt’s giant public broadcaster, for some time suffering near-bankruptcy, has been rescued with a Egy£200 million cash injection (€27.14m). Egypt’s Radio and Television Union ERTU) has struggled for years with massive over-manning, and more than a few cases of senior level corruption, and while the Arab Spring revolution brought with it some potential benefits for […]
Mark Thompson, the outgoing Director General of the BBC, has chosen the occasion of the corporation’s success in winning broadcast and digital rights to the next four Olympic Games – two winter and two summer games – to defend its strategy in respect of sports rights. Writing in a BBC blog, Thompson said the BBC […]
Arabsat, working with Dubai Media, is to offer Middle East viewers six channels of free-to-air Olympic Games channels. The channels will run from July 27th to August 12th. Khaled bin Ahmed Balkheyour, president/CEO of Arabsat, said, “We are pleased to develop our partnership with Dubai Media and to watch its continuous development, and we assure […]
A Rome administrative court has ruled that Italian public broadcaster RAI is violating its public service charter by encrypting its free-to-air TV channels so as to deny Sky Italia the ability to carry the RAI channels on its DTH platform. Specifically, Sky Italia had filed a suit with an Italian regional administrative court challenging a […]
A group of broadcasters has appealed a judge’s ruling against closing down Internet video service Aereo. The broadcasters claim that Aereo, which allows New York City customers to stream television channels on their computers and mobile devices, violates copyright law. “We’re confident that on appeal Aereo will be found to be a copyright infringer,” said […]
Investment banker Morgan Stanley says French TV advertising is under extreme pressure, with one major broadcaster predicting a “severe downturn” in the period May to September, and that government help in the form of emergency measures might be needed. French commercial network TF1 will give firmer numbers when it declares its half-year results on July […]
Aereo, the start-up that takes live TV programming and sends it to mobile devices in New York, can continue with its service, despite objections from major broadcasters who argue that expansion can threaten the free broadcasting of events such as the Super Bowl, a judge ruled Wednesday. US District Judge Alison Nathan said she understood […]
The Digital TV Group (DTG), the industry association for digital television in the UK and an active member of the HbbTV hybrid TV standard, has said it welcomes the decision by Intellect, the UK’s trade body for the high technology sector, to consult with broadcasters regarding its preferred way for aligning the UK with HbbTV. […]
Effectively snubbing the high-profile public broadcaster and ISP-backed launch of open IPTV platform YouView, Intellect, the UK’s trade body for the high technology sector, has revealed its preferred way for aligning the UK with HbbTV, the hybrid TV standard emerging dominant in Europe, for consultation with broadcasters. Intellect suggests that in this way, hybrid television […]