Liberty Global is signalling the proceeds of the sale of its German and CEE businesses to Vodafone will be used for share buybacks and has no plans for more big deals. Charlie Bracken, EVP and CFO, told the Morgan Stanley European Media & Technology conference that the cash from the sale could be used to […]
A multi-million-pound deal by satellite operator Eutelsat Communications and aerospace manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space for two new communication satellites will see components and major parts assembled in the UK before final assembly is completed in Toulouse, France. The deal is seen as a huge vote of confidence in the UK expertise in the space […]
Fairfax has received the green light from its shareholders to merge with TV network Nine Entertainment in a huge shake-up of Australia’s media industry. Fairfax shareholders were said to have given “overwhelming” support for the multi-billion dollar merger. The deal was possible after Australia relaxed its media ownership laws last year. The new business will […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a cluster of planned satellite constellations. The total of satellites which received the FCC stamp of approval is a staggering 7859. It is quite possible that not all will take flight, but the FCC has simply said the market must decide on success or failure. The FCC levied […]
LeoSat, which is planning to supply a constellation of 108 low-earth-orbiting and very high-tech satellites, has won permission from the FCC to provide services over the US. LeoSat is very much focusing its low-latency, high-speed transfer of communications onto the data-hungry market. LeoSat uses optical inter-satellite links as well as on-board processing to speed its […]
UK comms regulator Ofcom has fined telcos EE £6.3 million (€7.1m) and Virgin Media £7 million for overcharging phone and broadband customers who wished to leave their contracts early. The penalties are the result of investigations into EE’s and Virgin Media’s early-exit charges. Phone and broadband companies can charge customers who decide not to see […]
Viacom reported lower fourth quarter earnings despite higher profits at its media networks unit. Net earnings fell to $394 million (€345.7m) from $674 million, a year ago. Earnings were impacted by a $11 million provision for income tax. Earnings from continuing operations before provision for income taxes were $510 million, down 11 per cent from […]
Global sports provider Eleven Sports has announced that Anouk Mertens will become Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Eleven Sports Group. Mertens has served as Managing Director of Eleven Sports in Belgium and Luxembourg since October 2015, turning the business profitable in under three years and achieving 100 per cent household distribution across the market. […]
David Wheeldon, Group Director of Policy and Public Affairs for Sky, has suggested that that UK’s public service broadcasters (PSBs) should be working with platforms to make their content available in all ways that viewers want and can discover it, rather than keeping it in proprietary walled garden apps then demanding those apps are prominent […]
The pirate television service known as ‘BTV’ must cease the illegal retransmission of channels, stop selling its BTV set-top box, and pay damages of $6.6 million (€5.84m), according to a recent ruling by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The BTV set-top box, which illegally delivers a variety of TV […]