Maplins, one of the UK’s biggest chains of electronics retailers, has collapsed into administration after talks with buyers failed to secure a sale. More than 200 stores and 2,300 staff are affected. The business faced the slump in the pound after the Brexit vote, weak consumer confidence and a withdrawal of credit insurance. These factors […]
UK Commercial broadcaster ITV has reported its full year results to December 31st 2017, with total external revenue up 2 per cent to £3.1 billion (€2.4bn), driven by double digit growth in non-NAR. Total ITV Studios revenue were up 13 per cent to £1.5 billion, with 7 per cent organic revenue growth, excluding currency. The […]
Following successful legal action taken by Sky, licensees of four premises in the northeast and northwest of England have been found to be infringing Sky’s copyright by showing Sky Sports without having the required commercial agreements. As a result of civil proceedings in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, Martin Adamson of The Bay Horse Hotel, […]
The Federal Communications Commission’s chairman, Ajit Pai, speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, said the FCC was working on plans on the next steps needed to make the 3.7 – 4.2 GHz (C-band) available for commercial terrestrial use in the coming months. The positive news helped propel shares in Intelsat, which first proposed […]
Comcast has made a £22.1 billion (€25bn) takeover bid for Sky, challenging the existing offer from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. Fox’s board-approved deal to buy the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own is subject to review by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. Comcast said the bid of £12.50 per […]
UK comms regulator Ofcom has announced the companies that have qualified to take part in its upcoming spectrum auction. Ofcom is releasing 40 MHz of spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band to improve broadband for today’s mobile users. It is also releasing 150 MHz of spectrum in the 3.4 GHz band to prepare for the […]
Discovery Communications has confirmed that the US Department of Justice has closed its investigation into Discovery’s proposed acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive. “We are pleased to have passed this significant regulatory milestone on our path to acquire Scripps Networks Interactive,” said David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer, Discovery. “The conclusion of the Department of […]
Discovery Communications has reported financial results for the full year and fourth quarter ended December 31st 2017. “2017 was an historic year for Discovery. We took significant steps to position ourselves for success in a changing industry, while driving growth from our traditional linear business and accelerating our investments in new growth areas like digital and […]
Intelsat’s results are not that different from its two giant competitors, SES and Eutelsat. Each of the three are in for a tough year ahead with – at best – flat prospects, and bandwidth contract renewal prices under pressure. However, Intelsat’s stock price is always highly volatile and its February 26th results disappointed the market […]
TV manufacturer Sharp has been involved in a legal spat with Chinese TV set giant Hisense since August 2017, and grumbling that the Chinese-made sets were “shoddily made” and had brought the Sharp-branded products sold in the US into disrepute. According to a report in specialist publication Large Display Monitor, Sharp “took legal action to […]