Advanced Television

Business

Comcast buys more than 30% of Sky

Barely three days after winning the blind auction for Sky with its £17.28 bid, Comcast has confirmed that its indirect unit Comcast Bidco Limited has acquired 515,885,170 Sky Shares at that sum representing approximately 30 per cent of the Sky Shares currently in issue. The development means that Comcast’s recommended superior cash offer is now […]

September 25, 2018

Vodafone Spain: “Football war damaging revenue”

The current TV football war in Spain, with operators dropping prices and offering low cost promotions, is having a very negative impact on the financial results of the companies. The president of Vodafone Spain, Francisco Roman, has warned that the Spanish football war “is undermining the value” of the content to the detriment of financial […]

September 25, 2018From David Del Valle in Madrid

Research: FAANGS bare their teeth with original commissions

The so-called FAANGs (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google) are sharpening up their original commissions as SVoD players across the board announce new content. New analysis by media analyst firm Ampere reveals that, though Netflix continues to lead the way in original content creation, the increasingly-versatile platforms Facebook, Apple and Google-owned YouTube are making unprecedented […]

September 25, 2018

Telefónica to pull out of Mexico & Central America

Spanish telco Telefónica is reportedly finalising the sale of its subsidiary firms in Mexico and Central America in its plans to pull out of those markets to reduce its debt. Newspaper El Economista reveals that the company could announce a deal in the next weeks to divest telco operations affecting up to 11 Central American […]

September 25, 2018From David Del Valle in Madrid

SES back to growth?

SES will unveil its Q3 results a month from now on October 26th, and a report from equity analysts at investment bank Exane/BNP takes a positive view of the satellite operator’s prospects. “After several years of consecutive organic revenue decline, we expect the company to confirm its return to growth in Q3,” states the bank.  […]

September 25, 2018

Instagram founders leaving firm

The co-founders of social media sharing app Instagram are both leaving the firm. Kevin Systrom, CEO, confirmed that he and fellow CEO Mike Krieger were departing to “explore our curiosity and creativity again”. In a blog post, Systrom explained: “We’re now ready for our next chapter. “Building new things requires that we step back, understand […]

September 25, 2018

Apple completes Shazam deal

In a move that it says will offer more ways to discover and enjoy music, Apple has completed its December 2017 acquisition of Shazam, one of the world’s most popular and highly-rated music apps, used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. “Apple and Shazam have a long history together. Shazam was one of the […]

September 25, 2018

Fine for illegal Sky Sports use

Mark Clennell, the Designated Premises Supervisor of The Wheatsheaf in Houghton le Spring, Tyne and Wear in the northeast of England, has been convicted in his absence of two offences of dishonest reception of a television transmission, in this case, Sky televised football matches, with the intent to avoid payment of the applicable charge. Sky […]

September 25, 2018By Colin Mann

Comcast wins Sky auction

Ending 21 months of uncertainty over the ownership of the pay-TV operator, Comcast has won the auction bidding process for Sky, its £17.28 (€19.19) offer price topping that of rival bidder 21st Century Fox (£15.67), which implies a value of £30.6 billion for the fully diluted share capital of Sky. On September 20th, the UK’s […]

September 24, 2018By Colin Mann

SiriusXM to acquire Pandora

In a move that it says creates the world’s largest audio entertainment company, digital radio platform SiriusXM and music streaming service Pandora Media have agreed a deal under which SiriusXM will acquire Pandora in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $3.5 billion (€2.97bn). The new operation has more than $7 billion in expected pro-forma revenue […]

September 24, 2018