Advanced Television

Business

Fox: “Comcast a riskier deal than Disney”

21st Century Fox is telling shareholders that Comcast’s bid holds a higher risk of being delayed or denied by antitrust regulators than the bid from Walt Disney that Fox’s board has endorsed. Fox said that its board and its law firm concluded “a strategic transaction with Comcast continued to carry higher regulatory risk leading to […]

June 27, 2018

Spotify appoints TV chief

Spotify has hired Dawn Ostroff as chief content officer, signalling the music service’s wider ambitions in media. Ostroff was president of Condé Nast Entertainment, the publisher’s video studio. She will report to Daniel Ek, Spotify’s chief executive, and be responsible for its content and editorial divisions, as well as the creator services side of Spotify’s […]

June 27, 2018

Eutelsat move for Inmarsat “just tyre kicking”

One equity analyst thinks Eutelsat’s potential bid for London-based Inmarsat is “questionable” and “offers no strategic benefits to Eutelsat’s core Video and Consumer Broadband” services which represent 80 per cent of Eutelsat’s revenue streams. Eutelsat itself stressed June 26th (and just 24 hours after saying that it was interested) that it does not intend to […]

June 27, 2018

Anti-piracy initiatives rewarded

Grupo de Antipirateria of the Policia Nacional in Spain, led by Inspector Marlene Álvarez Vicente, has become the inaugural winner of an award from the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) for a successful initiative to tackle audiovisual piracy. The award, presented at this year’s Europol Intellectual Property Crime conference in Budapest, recognised the Grupo de Antipirateria’s […]

June 27, 2018By Colin Mann

ITV’s Griffiths set to retire

ITV has announced that Ian Griffiths, Chief Operating Officer and Group Finance Director, has advised the Board of his intention to retire from the UK commercial broadcaster in the next 12 months.  The search for his successor will now commence and Griffiths will continue with his existing responsibilities until a successor has been appointed. Griffiths started […]

June 27, 2018

Eutelsat not bidding for Inmarsat

Eutelsat, the world’s third-largest satellite operator, has thwarted rumours – ignited by the company itself -that it is interested in bidding for Inmarsat. In a statement made on June 26th, the company said: “Pursuant to market rumours, during the trading session on 25 June, Eutelsat Communications issued, at the request of the UK Panel on […]

June 26, 2018By Chris Forrester

Halton to step down as YouView CEO

UK hybrid digital television platform YouView has confirmed that Richard Halton will stand down as CEO at the end of 2018. Having led YouView from launch to being in three million homes, Halton has decided this is the right moment to pursue new leadership opportunities. “YouView is now a world-class technology platform which blends the […]

June 26, 2018

RTL to boost investment in VoD

Germany’s FAZ newspaper is reporting that commercial broadcaster RTL is to increase its investment in VoD for mass audiences. In an interview with RTL’s CEO Bert Habets it was revealed there are also plans to expand TV Now, its digital service in Germany which will include more local content to turn it into a ‘household […]

June 26, 2018By Chris Forrester

EchoStar “formal bid” for Inmarsat likely

A note to clients from investment bank Exane/BNPP says that, in the bank’s view, “Echostar is likely to make a formal bid for Inmarsat.” The Exane note examines the rationale behind EchoStar’s move and how EchoStar’s co-founder and chairman, Charlie Ergen, might value the target business. The bank states: “The key question in our view […]

June 26, 2018

Gray, Raycom combine

Gray Television and Raycom Media, an employee-owned company, have jointly announced that they have entered into an agreement to combine their companies in a transformative transaction that will create the single largest owner of top-rated local television stations and digital assets in the US. The deal is worth $3.65 billion. This transaction marks Gray’s transformation […]

June 26, 2018