Two more senior executives have left LoveFilm following the exit of CEO Simon Calver. Digital chief Lesley MacKenzie and CTO Mike Blakemore are also to leave. COO Jim Buckle is to take on the role of managing director.

News Corp has seen its net profits rise 65 per cent in the three months to the end of December 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. The company made $1.06 billion net profit in the period, up from $624 million in 2010. The firm’s results were fuelled mainly by income from advertising and […]

Barely a week goes by without someone suggesting that DVR manufacturer TiVo is about to be taken over. Assorted names have been mentioned, not least one or other of the EchoStar family of companies, in EchoStar’s case if only to bring the – now ended – IP litigation to an end. Other would-be ‘buyers’ have […]

Virgin Media has posted fourth quarter results ahead of forecasts and generated strong cash flows as customers bought into to its new TiVo service and fast broadband offerings. Like BSkyB, Virgin has focused on upselling to existing customers in recent quarters. The number of customers taking its new smart TiVo TV service more than doubled […]

LoveFilm’s CEO Simon Calver is to take over at troubled UK retailer Mothercare. It is hoped Calver will boost online sales and also help grow the Mothercare and Early Learning brands internationally in growing markets such as Africa and the Middle East. Alan Parker, Mothercare chairman, says: “Simon Calver is a highly successful business leader […]

Strong performances from Walt Disney’s ESPN and the Disney Channel helped drive a 12 per cent increase in the company’s first-quarter net income compared with a year earlier. It reported that revenue for the quarter ended December 31st was essentially flat at $10.8 billion, up 1 per cent from a year earlier. Net income rose […]

Gerhard Zeiler, the chief executive of Europe’s largest commercial broadcasting group RTL, is leaving to take over international operations at Turner Broadcasting System, owner of Cartoon Network, CNN and TNT. Zeiler who has led RTL for nine years, was seen by some as a rival to new CEO of parent Bertelsmann Thomas Rabe, but the […]

Norway’s telco giant Telenor has reported some mixed results for its 2011 end-of-year numbers. The group’s broadcasting interests include satellites, encryption specialists Conax, and DTH broadcaster Canal Digital (which beams pay-TV channels to Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark). Telenor’s annual profit halved in 2011, as higher costs dragged the firm into the red during the […]

Syria is continuing to jam the satellite signals of broadcasters such as Al Jazeera. Osama Saeed, a spokesman for the Al Jazeera news channel in Doha, Qatar, said the disruption is coming from the Syrian capital, Damascus. Al Jazeera is advising viewers to switch to a different frequency to access coverage, he said. The signal […]