New Sony Corp CEO Kazuo Hirai signalled his determination to turn around the group’s TV business by keeping direct charge of the division, as the company fights to regain ground against rivals. Hirai, who formally takes over as chief executive from Howard Stringer next week, inherits a company that has been outgunned by rivals like […]
Dutch cable operator Ziggo has officially completed its IPO after market close on 26th March. The IPO brought in €925 million including an extra allotment. The extra allotment was exercised in full, meaning Ziggo will put extra shares onto the market. Around 50 million shares will start trading, a “free float” of about 25 per […]
German cable network operator Kabel Deutschland is weighing up competitor Tele Columbus as a potential takeover target, German newspaper FAZ has reported. Kabel Deutschland are studying Tele Columbus’s accounts, the newspaper reports. Two years ago the company nearly collapsed under the burden of its debts but was able to continue following a partial debt waiver […]
UK Mobile network 3 has warned is ready to take legal action against Ofcom and derail the already long-delayed 4G spectrum auction. The sell-off, which could raise as much as £4 billion (€4.8bn) for the Treasury, is scheduled for early 2013. 3, the newest and smallest mobile network in the UK with a 10 per […]
Andrew Wallace is leaving Eutelsat as CCO. He is being replaced by Jean-François Leprince-Ringuet on April 16th. Leprince-Ringuet is a 30-year veteran in IT and telecoms, having held commercial strategy, sales and marketing positions in Europe and North America at IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Cap Gemini and Bull, and has also been President of the IDATE Foundation. […]
Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings has made the surprising admission that he believes arch-rival BSkyB should not have its movie channels regulated by the UK competition authorities. Hastings said that he was looking for a “fair fight” with Sky over content rights but that immediate regulatory intervention was not right. “Sky is a fearsome competitor, […]
In a riposte to C4’s Jonathan Allan’s assertions that TV advertising was all about data and connectivity, ITV’s group commercial director Simon Daglish told a Carat advertising event that connectivity and evolving technologies will not end the role of traditional TV channels, they will only make them stronger. Daglish warned against overestimating the effect evolving […]
O2 has voiced its anger at Ofcom for giving Everything Everywhere provisional approval to rollout a 4G network. O2 has said that Ofcom is contradicting itself by allowing Everything Everywhere to rollout 4G using its 1800MHz spectrum before its rivals. O2 believes this gives Everything Everywhere an unfair advantage which goes against Ofcom’s aim to […]
Analysts at SNL Kagan suggest that losses at the Oprah Winfrey/Discovery-backed OWN channel could reach $142.9 million this year. SNL Kagan number cruncher Derek Baine says the problems are many: the current bad press could make advertisers twitchy about committing their cash to the channel. Also any prospects of OWN gaining – a normal – […]
Scripps Networks is to acquire Travel Channel International Limited (TCI), the UK company that distributes the Travel Channel brand in 20 languages across Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. The company produces and commissions original travel programming for distribution in 91 countries. Scripps Networks Interactive will pay £65 million (€78m) to acquire TCI. […]