A grouping of Europe’s commercial broadcasters has warned that proposed changes to the AVMS Directive are a step backwards that risks damaging growth, audience choice and investment in European content, instead of delivering the Commission’s stated aim of fostering Europe’s digital economy. When the European Commission embarked on the current review, vice president Andrus Ansip […]
Telefónica’s pay TV base in Spain remained stable in 2016, ending the year with 3.657 million subscribers, slightly down from 3.671 million at the end of 2015. By contrast, Orange increased its TV subscribers in the same period by 66 per cent to 507,000. In the last quarter of 2016, Telefonica’s total number of pay-TV […]
SES’s CEO Karim Michel Sabbagh has said the conversion from standard definition to HD is accelerating. “We have achieved a growth nearing 7 per cent during the course of 2016. We are serving today close to 2500 HD channels on the SES network. Equally important is that conversation is that HD penetration now represents 33 […]
London-based satellite operator Inmarsat is again being talked about as a take-over target. The Financial Times reported that Inmarsat could be a target for EchoStar. This time it is Charlie Ergen, founder of Dish Network and the EchoStar technology company who seems to have started the rumour mill. The FT reports that Ergen discussed possible […]
Arqiva, the UK’s largest independent towers company and communications infrastructure group, has announced record revenues and EBITDA for the half year to December 31st 2016. Revenue was up 10 per cent to £466 million (€546m), a 13 per cent increase from continuing operations. EBITDA was up 11 per cent at £231 million. Arqiva said it […]
A grouping of mobile communications companies has announced collective support for the acceleration of the 5G New Radio (NR) standardisation schedule to enable large-scale trials and deployments as early as 2019. Making the announcement on the eve of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, AT&T, NTT DOCOMO, SK Telecom, Vodafone, Ericsson, Qualcomm Technologies, BT, Telstra, Korea […]
Play Sports Group – the digital sports media company behind cycling brands Global Cycling Network (GCN) and Global Mountain Bike Network (GMBN) has announced that Discovery Communications – the global media and entertainment group and owner of Eurosport – has led an investment round, taking a 20 per cent stake in Play Sports Group and […]
Time warner is to dispose of its broadcast station in Atlanta, Georgia, in order to side-step potential problems with the FCC over its planned merger with AT&T. Meredith Corp is the buyer for a reported $70 million. But the sale brings to an end a long tradition of Time Warner – and Ted Turner’s – […]
Giant screen operators IMAX revealed that it had struck an agreement with Disney to extend their distribution ties through 2019. It means the successor movies to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange and The Jungle Book, which were among the top 10 grossing films for IMAX last year, will […]
Samsung Electronics and UK communications infrastructure and media services provider Arqiva are to conduct the UK’s first 5G trials with a focus on Fixed Wireless Access. The trial deployment will demonstrate the potential for 5G to serve as a compelling alternative to fibre deployment for delivery of fast broadband services as a lead-in to future […]