Advanced Television

Business

Kudelski view on OpenTV bid

Kudelski Group has been talking about its bid for the share in Open TV it doesn't already own which Open rejected as inadequate. “Based on Kudelski’s discussions with [OpenTV’s] Special Committee, Kudelski has concluded that continued discussions will not be fruitful and has therefore decided to withdraw its proposal and terminate discussions with the Special […]

June 5, 2009

OpenTV rejects Kudelski buyout

OpenTV’s board of directors has rejected the bid by Kudelski SA to acquire it as “inadequate.” Kudelski, which owns a 26.7 per cent stake and holds 74.7 per cent of the voting rights in OpenTV, in February offered to buy the rest of OpenTV’s share at $1.35 per share in cash. Stock closed at $1.74 […]

June 3, 2009

CTO Watson leaves Virgin

Virgin Media has confirmed that its chief technology officer Howard Watson has left the company to pursue other business interests. Watson joined Telewest in 1993. When Telewest merged with NTL to form Virgin Media, he took on responsibility for technical and IT strategy, architecture, development and day-to-day operations of the company's television and broadband platforms.

June 3, 2009

beeTV acquires $8m funding

beeTV, the inventors of the PCC (Personal Content Channel), have announced the completion of a Series B Fund acquisition of $8 million. The funding was led by Innogest, the largest venture capital firm operating in Italy. beeTV targets becoming the default entry system for television viewers into their world of TV entertainment. Additionally, beeTV plans […]

June 3, 2009

Spain approves new TV legislation

From David Del Valle in Madrid The Cabinet has approved a law that will oblige pay TV and commercial TV channels and telco operators to finance the state-owned group RTVE with a great amount of their annual revenues. All those players will have to dedicate 1.5 per cent, 3 per cent and 0.9 per cent […]

June 2, 2009

Rivals want Ofcom to challenge Sky's dominance

BSkyB' rivals are urging Ofcom to loosen the satellite broadcaster's grip on top sports events so that Premier League football, Test cricket and first-run Hollywood movies become more widely available. The broadcasting regulator meets this week to approve a ruling on the UK pay-TV market that BSkyB's rivals believe will oblige it to sell them […]

June 2, 2009

KDG sees revenues rise

Kabel Deutschland (KDG) has posted its fiscal results for the year ended 31 March 2009, recording a 14.5 per cent rise in revenue to E1.37 billion. The German cable operator announced a record increase in EBITDA to E570.7 million, up 24.7 per cent compared with the 2007/08, exceeding the guidance of E565 million. At March […]

June 1, 2009

Shields quits AOL

Joanna Shields is leaving her post as head of people networks at AOL 14 months after the group paid – in its own words – 'a generouos' $850m for Bebo, where she was CEO. AOL said Shields will stay on as an advisor to AOL on its acquisitions and new ventures. …

June 1, 2009

Sky's trump bid on Virgin channels

Sky has reportedly tabled a £160m (E183m) bid to buy Virgin Media’s seven digital TV channels – this is said to be 60% more than any offer made by rival bidders including Channel 4, RTL, Time Warner and NBC Universal. The seven channels are Living, Living Two, Bravo, Bravo Two, Challenge, Challenge Jackpot and Virgin1. […]

June 1, 2009

TiVo more losses

TiVo posted its second straight quarterly loss on Wednesday, but it was smaller than expected as the company reined in costs to offset sliding revenue and slowing user growth. The company said it swung to a net loss of $4.1 million from a profit of $3.6 million a year earlier. Revenue in the period, which […]

May 28, 2009