Figures published by the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) show that UK consumers are more willing to pay for online content through subscription services. While overall levels of piracy remain the same compared to 2017, there has been a drop in illegal activity by some groups. This is especially true amongst young consumers, with over […]
India’s Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) has brought into play its new rules and regulations, which are effective as of July 3rd. In essence the new suite of rules cover tariffs, interconnection regulations and quality of service minimum standards. The rules set out how addressable systems must be used. Also covered are 60-day reporting rules where […]
Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has lost his latest court battle against extradition from New Zealand to the US. New Zealand’s Court of Appeal upheld the decision that Dotcom, founder of the controversial file-sharing website Megaupload, along with three others can be extradited to stand trial for copyright infringement. Megaupload allowed millions of people to share and […]
BBC Studios, the production and commercial arm of the BBC, has bought the 51 per cent stake in UK production company Lookout Point that it didn’t already own – in line wih an option agreed in 2016. Lookout Point, which was behind dramas including Ripper Street and the War & Peace adaptation, as well as […]
The introduction of 5G in Portugal will lead to changes in the frequency spectrum now used for DTT broadcasts, starting from the fourth quarter of 2019. This follows the presentation of a roadmap by Portugal’s National Communications Authority for the release of the 700 MHz frequency band, which will no longer be used for DTT […]
Consultancy firm EY has published the second edition of its study on online content piracy in France (Piratage en France), which aims to assess the shortfall related to the illegal consumption of audiovisual content in France. The study quantifies the impacts of piracy on the state budget, direct jobs, the financing of creativity and lastly […]
US broadcast station mergers and acquisitions (M&A) volume reached $5.11 billion (€4.38bn) in the second quarter of 2018, as tracked by Kagan, a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence. This is the largest quarterly deal volume since the second quarter of 2007. Ninety-eight per cent of the volume ($5.01 billion) is attributable to […]
Under London stock exchange takeover rules EchoStar has until July 6th to make a formal bid for London-based satellite operator Inmarsat, or walk away. With the US on holiday today (July 4th) some observers expect a statement – or action – tomorrow. A bid by EchoStar on June 8th was rebutted by Inmarsat, although it […]
South Africa’s media regulator Icasa says that despite objections from dominant incumbent pay-TV operator MultiChoice, it will open up the pay-TV market in the country. Icasa held hearings during May into the nation’s pay-TV services, and ICASA is known to want to ease the entry of rival operators to MultiChoice. Icasa spokesman Paseka Maleka says […]
Apple has hired former BBC Films chief Joe Oppenheimer. He is joining the company as a creative executive on the international creative development team based in London, reporting to Jay Hunt, creative director, Europe, the former Channel programming boss who joined in January. Oppenheimer will work with Hunt to source programming internationally. Oppenheimer was most […]