Advanced Television

Business

Macquarie buys more broadcasting capacity

Funds controlled by Australian investment bank Macquarie have again invested in broadcasting and transmission capacity. This time Macquarie has spend €574 million buying Ceske Radiokomunikace, the Czech Republic’s main TV and radio transmission service provider. As regards the Czech purchase, Macquarie has bought 100 per cent of Ceske Radiokomunikace from Falcon Group, itself controlling or […]

December 9, 2010By Chris Forrester

Europe fines Flat-Panel makers on price fixing

The European Commission has imposed fines on five South Korean and Taiwanese companies for fixing the prices of liquid-crystal display panels in popular devices like flat-screen televisions, computers and notebook devices. The fines, totaling €649 million were related to violations dating to 2001, when the companies started meeting to fix prices of LCD screens. Although […]

December 9, 2010

Broadcasting industry steady recovery

A worldwide broadcasting industry that is in steady recovery, although somewhat lagging in North America, is the overall picture painted by the latest Industry Trends Survey released by the IABM (International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers). The survey results reflect a North American broadcast and media technology market that is at least six months behind the […]

December 9, 2010

ioko expands team with three senior appointments

ioko’s User Experience division, iokointeractive, recruits new Creative Director, Art Director, and User Experience Architect to meet growing client demand ioko, the digital media systems integrator behind the world’s leading media platforms, today announced the appointment of three senior hires to its User Experience division, iokointeractive. Reflecting the company’s continued growth, ioko brings on board […]

December 9, 2010

Rose quits on YouView

Anthony Rose, CTO of YouView on demand service, is to leave six months after his move over from project leader the BBC. Rose, who had been controller of online media for the BBC for three years before going to YouView in May, will continue as an advisor on product development. In a reshuffle at YouView, […]

December 8, 2010

Ericsson multimedia man moves to marketing

Ericsson has announced multimedia chief Jan Wareby will take over as head of sales and marketing. Wareby, head of Ericsson’s struggling multimedia unit, was previously head of sales and marketing at Sony Ericsson, where he played an integral role in establishing the joint venture. Ericsson said this week its chairman, Michael Treschow, would step down […]

December 8, 2010

Orbit-Showtime cuts off 5m pirates

Middle East pay-TV operator Orbit Showtime Network is about to initiate an improved conditional access system designed to disable an estimated five million pirates, many viewing on so-called Dreambox receivers. Owners of Dreambox units use the internet to update the latest pirate software to view encrypted programming. Orbit Showtime (OSN), which merged their rival services […]

December 7, 2010Chris Forrester

UK plans super fast broadband future

The UK Government has revealed plans to spend £830 million (€979m) in an effort to give the UK the best broadband network in Europe by 2015. An action plan – Britain’s Superfast Broadband Future – published by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, sets out the ambition to create a ‘digital hub’ in every community in the […]

December 6, 2010From Colin Mann in London

DVB choice under question in Colombia

The decision to adopt the DVB digital television standard in Colombia has been suspended. There are local reports of “irregularities” over the decision-making process which ended up with DVB being selected. According to the El Espectador newspaper, the Colombian State Council has accepted the request to cancel the DVB decision pending a decision on whether […]

December 6, 2010By Chris Forrester

Liberty buys Poland’s Aster

Liberty Global has announced an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of the equity of Aster Sp. z.o.o (Aster Cable) from private equity funds of Mid Europa Partners. Poland’s Aster provides video services to 368,000 (including 92,000 digital TV), 177,000 Internet and 70,000 fixed telephony subscribers. Mike Fries, President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty […]

December 6, 2010