Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has boosted its stake in Arabic music-to-films broadcaster Rotana Media Group. A year ago, News Corp bought nine per cent of Rotana, which is owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed, and with that purchase struck a deal which gave News Corp an option to double its stake within 18 months. News […]
Weak first-quarter results at Telefonica showed the damage of the stagnant economy in Spain, with the numbers rescued by strong performance in Latin America. And worldwide the group added 9 per cent to its pay-TV subscriber base – 2.865 million compared to 2.613 million last March. Overall the group had a 2 per cent fall […]
World soccer’s governing bodies FIFA and UEFA have appealed against a European ruling that the World Cup and European Championships must be on free-to-air TV in the UK. In February, the European Court ruled the UK could keep the events on a of “a protected list” of events shown for free. It means the two […]
The German pay-TV provider added 73,000 new customers in the first three months of 2011, taking its total subs base to 2,726,000 for the end of March, up from 2,471,000 a year earlier and a step on the way to its challenging 3m target by this next year. Q1 revenues grew 15% YonY to €269.6 […]
Long-delayed efforts by Mexican fixed line incumbent Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) to enter the pay-TV sector appear to have moved one step forward after the telco announced that a federal court had ruled that the Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) must make a decision on its request to offer such services. Telmex has previously […]
Economic growth and multi-platform competition will fuel the consumption of pay-TV and broadband in Asia Pacific. But, says Media Partners Asia (MPA), this growth depends on investment in content, distribution and new technology, coming at a high cost for pay-TV channels and distributors. In Asia Pacific Pay-TV & Broadband Markets 2011, MPA says the result […]
Digital media research company Futurescape has revealed how Facebook and Twitter are now considered power brokers for the global television industry. They say their ability to create new business opportunities and engage viewers, boosting advertising and pay-TV revenue, gives them a significant and increasing influence over all aspects of television. Key findings come in the […]
NDS has been selected by TrueVisions, Thailand’s largest pay-TV operator, to secure and enable next-generation hybrid services for its subscribers. The solutions selected by TrueVisions will enable it to securely engage and maintain viewer interest with new TV features and services. NDS VideoGuard, the pay-TV security solution which currently protects over $50 billion worth of […]
Portuguese telecommunications regulator Anacom is to take legal action against Zon Multimedia for the way it has been selling pay-TV services in Alenquer, the region that switches off analogue on May 12th. Anacom director, Luis Eduardo Cardadeira, has judged Zon’s behaviour as “absolutely unacceptable”. According to Anacom, Zon installed mobile kiosks in Alenquer with signs […]
Formula 1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone has warned Grand Prix teams that it would be “suicidal” for them if the sport moved to News Corporation’s subscription channels as part of a takeover deal. According to Ecclestone, who holds the sport’s commercial rights, teams would lose huge sponsorship interest if coverage was no longer on mass […]