ITV can look forward to relief from its most onerous regulation after Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, said changes in government responsibility gave him power to reform or abolish it. After telling a London audience that he was unsympathetic to contract rights renewal – a limit on how much ITV can charge advertisers for its […]
Argentina’s DTT system has added four new digital channels, including one in HD, to the nine already in place. The new channels are: Tateti, Video Éxito, Argentina HD and Suri TV. Tateti is a new children’s channel, Video Éxito is a music channel, Argentina HD is a tourism channel and Suri TV is a channel […]
Spending on home entertainment reached $18.8 billion in the US during 2010, down slightly from $19.4 billion in 2009, according to a report from the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG). The US home entertainment market continued to benefit from the steady growth of Blu-ray, which reached sales of $1.8 billion, while consumer spending on digital distribution […]
Sky Deutschland has turned the corner on declining subscriber numbers, but wants to support the upturn with more investment in HD. Controlling shareholder News Corp has agreed to increase the cash injection agreed in the summer from €340 million to €400 million. Sky added 131,000 subs in Q4 2010 and 183,00 for the year as […]
It has emerged that senior executives of News Corp are seeking meetings with either ministers or civil servants responsible for clearing or blocking its attempt to take full control of BSkyB, which is seen as a likely indication that regulator Ofcom’s report to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt recommended a six-month investigation of the proposed bid. […]
John Cresswell, ITV pro tem chief executive prior to Adam Crozier’s appointment, and previously the broadcaster’s well-regarded COO, is joining UK transmission company Arqiva as CEO. Cresswell ran ITV following the departure of Michael Grade in 2009. Cresswell joins Arqiva January 17 and will replace Tom Bennie who is stepping down after 32 years with […]
Portugal’s third largest cable operator Cabovis_o has filed a complaint in Brussels against the Portuguese State’s role in a €800 million credit line for investment in Next Generation Networks (NGN). According to a company spokesperson, Cabovis_o formally requested that the European Commission examine whether there was “undue favouritism” to companies for the construction of fibre […]
Kuwait is home to a number of satellite TV channels, many operating without a formal licence. Kuwait’s information ministry has ordered that these stations be immediately closed down. BBC Monitoring is quoting Kuwaiti daily Al Jareeda saying: “The decision aims to regularise the work of the satellite channels and curb abuses by some of them,” […]
Spain’s telco Telefónica has set up its own cinema and TV production company, called Telefónica Producciones, re-entering the production TV business four years after it sold its stake in the Dutch company Endemol. Led by Ezequiel Nieto and Angel Vila, Telefónica Producciones, a subsidiary company of Telefónica de Contenidos, will manage and operate all productions […]
ITV has commenced a clear-out of its airtime sales team with the departure of long-serving sales director Gary Digby and key members of his staff. Digby was accorded a great deal of credit for ITV’s performance in 2010, when in a market that saw 14 per cent growth it increased sales by an estimated 15.4 […]