Advanced Television

Business

ATSC approves next-gen broadcast standard

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) developing the Next Generation Broadcast Transmission Standard (ATSC 3.0) has voted to approve as a Full Standard the key element of the Physical Layer, the so-called “Bootstrap” or the Discovery and Signalling feature of the standard. The Bootstrap includes the designs developed by ONE Media and supported by other broadcasters […]

March 29, 2016

STARZ unveils new master brand

US pay-TV network STARZ will undergo a “landmark transformation” on April 5th with the introduction of a new STARZ brand campaign and mission, as well as a repositioning and reprogramming of the ENCORE suite of channels under the STARZ flagship brand. The single master brand approach across the STARZ and STARZ ENCORE networks will not […]

March 29, 2016

Beamr acquires Vanguard, $15m investment

Beamr, an expert in media optimisation solutions, is acquiring Vanguard Video, a provider of HEVC and H.264 codec technologies, and raising a $15 million funding round led by Disruptive Growth, with the participation of Marker and Innovation Endeavors. Beamr says the transaction positions it as a global leader in H.264 and HEVC video encoding and […]

March 29, 2016

Rovi buying TiVo?

Two major players in digital media could be combining, according to a report in the NYT. Rovi is, apparently, bidding for TiVo with a mix of cash and stock that would mean the merged company would be owned about 70 per cent by Rovi (current market cap $1.7 billion) and 30 per cent by TiVo (current […]

March 24, 2016

Van Rooyen Sky CEO UK

Stephen van Rooyen, currently Sky’s chief marketing and digital officer is set to be named CEO of its UK and Ireland unit. The promotion comes as part of a changing senior management structure implemented following the merger of the Sky businesses in the UK and Ireland, Germany and Austria, and Italy. Former Sky UK and […]

March 24, 2016

S&P lowers Intelsat rating

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is following on from Moody’s with a lowered opinion of Intelsat’s position. S&P confirms its “1” recovery rating for its new batch of $1.25 billion of ‘senior secured’ fresh debt (which suggests that S&P “indicates our expectation for a very high recovery – 90 per cent -100 per cent of […]

March 24, 2016By Chris Forrester

Dubai rebrands production units

Dubai’s Media City, Studio City and Production City (formerly its International Media Production Zone) all have new identities and logos. Tecom Group, the overall holding company for the various enterprises, held a gala dinner for VIP guests and clients to unveil the new looks. Majed Al Suwaidi, Managing Director of Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio […]

March 24, 2016By Chris Forrester

Report: Channel 4’s future sustainable

A report commissioned by UK public service broadcaster Channel 4 and produced by Ernst & Young (EY) examines the future of Channel 4 in a changing market environment. It finds Channel 4’s future to be sustainable, provided it retains the commercial and regulatory flexibility to respond to market developments and short-term change in the manner […]

March 23, 2016By Colin Mann

Mediaset pay-TV revenue grows

Despite the downward trend of the Italian pay-TV market in 2015, broadcaster Mediaset reported increased pay-TV revenues – €558.8 million compared to €538.4 million in 2014. Contributing to the growth was the availability of exclusive and high quality content, generating an 11 per cent growth of furnover in the second half of 2015. The number […]

March 23, 2016By Branislav Pekic in Rome

Morgan Stanley: ‘Intelsat shares $1’

Investment bankers Morgan Stanley is slashing its share price target for satellite operator Intelsat to just $1 (from its earlier target of $5) and a 64 per cent discount to the operator’s closing price on March 21st. Morgan Stanley is maintaining its “Underweight” rating to investors. Intelsat’s share price has tumbled some 72 per cent […]

March 23, 2016By Chris Forrester