Pay-radio operator SiriusXM has had a good Q2 adding almost a half-million net new subscribers during the year and seeing churn reach its lowest-ever rate. “Self-pay subscribers exceeded 28 million for the first time ever, and our total paid subscriber base reached a record 33.5 million. There is, without a doubt, a tailwind from the […]
EBX (The European Broadcaster Exchange) has announced the appointment of Damon Westbury as Commercial Director. Westbury will begin his new role in August and will lead on all commercial aspects of the business, including agency relationships and trading agreements. EBX is a joint venture founded by four major European broadcasters; Mediaset (Italy and Spain), ProSiebenSat.1 […]
Giant screen film business IMAX is performing well. The recent Q2 was the first ever where box-office revenues in the US, China and the rest-of-the-world each generated more than $100 million for IMAX. CEO Richard Gelfond explained that last year, 72 per cent of global box office was generated in international markets, up from 64 […]
Verizon Digital Media Services, part of Oath, has announced that Ariff Sidi has joined as Chief Product Officer. He will oversee the division’s global product portfolio of live and VoD delivery, monitoring and content delivery network services for broadcasters and content providers. Based in Los Angeles, he reports directly to Oath’s Head of Digital Media […]
Hi-tech innovation in sport and digital media must help broadcasters exploit the rights for which they have paid out ever inflating amounts. In a session including broadcasters and tech innovators it was pointed out that while ESPN had paid a 180 per cent increase for NFL rights over the next nine-year period, there was no […]
Following the announcement on July 19th that Comcast was dropping out of the bidding war for the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox to focus on securing its offer for Sky, a prized asset coveted by both Comcast and Disney, Rob Silvershein, Senior Advisor Advertising, New Media Opportunities, at analyst firm The Diffusion Group (TDG), […]
Vodafone Spain saw its revenues drop by 1.5 per cent to €1.21 billion between April and June with income per service reducing even more to 2.2 per cent to €1.14 billion. The restructuring of tariffs in May is the main reason for the fall, according to the company which also saw drops in subscribers. Vodafone […]
ITV, the UK commercial broadcaster, has reported total external revenue up 8 per cent at £1.5 billion (2017: £1.4 billion) with non-advertising revenues up 14 per cent at £958 million (2017: £837 million). Total ITV Studios revenue up 16 per cent at £803 million (2017: £692 million), including £12 million of unfavourable currency impact. ITV […]
India’s Department of Space along with its satellite development arm, India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are both looking to persuade DTH broadcasters to shift their contracts from non-Indian satellite operators to Indian-managed spacecraft. Currently, international operators such as SES supply considerable satellite capacity targeting Indian DTH viewers. Rajya Sabha, a minister of state in the […]
The troubled Russian ‘Roscosmos’ space agency is facing another scandal. Ten senior staff are reportedly as being suspected of working for “Western intelligence services”. News agency TASS is reporting that Viktor Kurdryavtsev, a research fellow at Russia’s Central Research Institute, and a lead institution of Roscosmos, has been detained “on high treason” charges. TASS is […]