Viacom is reportedly readying to buy Argentina-based broadcaster Telefe. Bloomberg News broke the story, saying that Telefe (Televsion Federal SA), owned by Spain’s Telefonica, would be bought by Viacom for about $385 million (€347.7m). Telefe operates Argentina’s most-watched TV network and is famous for producing many of the high-profile and melodramatic Telenovelas that are extremely […]
ETNO, the Association representing Europe’s leading providers of digital communications and services, has presented a new report on “Building the gigabit society: an inclusive path toward its realisation”, prepared by BCG – the Boston Consulting Group. A few weeks from the presentation of the European Commission Communication on the gigabit society and of the new […]
Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries says they are focused on developing a “quad-play bundle in every market” and that means dramatically ramping up mobile provision. He said mobile was “strategically critical” and outlined plans to more than double its mobile base in the next five years. In Liberty’s third quarter earnings call, Fries said “mobile […]
Intel has bought California-based Voke which specialises in delivering immersive viewing experiences of live events. Intel said the deal will accelerate its strategy to build a broad portfolio of solutions to deliver “new, immersive sports experiences for athletes, fans and content producers”. Voke’s proprietary stereoscopic capture system offers a natural view of the action, allowing […]
Success in quad-play offers and its advanced video offers and OTT services played a role in driving subscriber additions in Europe, according to Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries. Reporting the company’s Q3 results, Fries said they reflected the acceleration in operating performance that it anticipated in Europe (excluding Ziggo), where it generated over 5 per […]
Greece – not for the first time – is again in political crisis, although this time it is the auction of 4 television channels which has created considerable pain for the country’s fragile parliament. On November 3rd Greece’s parliament said it was now looking to annul a law that saw a transfer of control over […]
Israel’s Spacecom satellite operator is still in discussion with China-based Xinwei over the prospects of the Chinese buying Spacecom. Spacecom operates the Amos fleet of satellites, and the sale was stymied by the loss on September 1st of Amos-6 in an explosion while the satellite was in position at the top of a Falcon-9 rocket […]
Canada-based satellite operator Telesat is restructuring its long-term debt and borrowings. It is offering $750 million of Senior Notes due for redemption in 2024. The operator is also restructuring its existing revolving credit lines and will borrow up to $2.38 billion in the form of long-term and shorter-term finance. The proceeds will be use do […]
German commercial TV group Pro7 has raised €515 million in additional capital to finance the “company’s growth strategy by the acquisition of other companies and interests in other companies in particular in the digital space.” The capital increase will furthermore serve general corporate purposes as well as support the strengthening of the company’s balance sheet, […]
Social media site Facebook surprised market analysts with above expected results “on all fronts” for Q3 according to investment bank Exane/BNP-Paribas. However, Facebook’s management, in an analysts call on November 2 said it was cautious about the company’s ad-revenue prospects this coming year. Facebook’s headline numbers were impressive, with revenues jumping 56 per cent, topping […]