Representatives of European public service media and consumers have urged the European Parliament to reject the Proposal for a Regulation on Online Broadcasting during the plenary vote scheduled for December 12th, suggesting that they want to bring European audiovisual content closer to consumers in the EU. The European Broadcasting Organisation (EBU) and the Bureau Européen […]
Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger will likely extend his tenure past 2019 to facilitate the integration of 21st Century Fox if a deal is completed. According to reports, Disney is in the lead to acquire much of Fox’s media empire, though rival suitor Comcast remains in contention. Iger, 66, has already postponed his retirement from […]
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has decided to not oppose the proposed merger of Fox Sports and Foxtel after finding the transaction would not substantially lessen competition. Currently, News Corporation owns 100 per cent of Fox Sports and owns Foxtel jointly with Telstra. Under the merger, Foxtel and Fox Sports will be brought […]
The Japanese Supreme Court has ruled that TV owners in Japan must pay a “receiving fee” to public broadcaster NHK. Up until now the payment was seen as an obligation, but frequently ignored. The particular case before the court concerned an individual who argued that he would not pay the fee because NHK was biased […]
Ian Brotherston, CEO at media facilities business TVT (which acquired the Amsterdam-based DMC play-out company from AMC Networks in July 2017) says that 2017 was proving to be a record year for his company. “We do a lot of work with Netflix and their march seems to go on and on and on. This is […]
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has pushed back the date for its provisional findings into the planned takeover of Sky by 21st Century Fox until January 2018. It had previously said the findings would be published in December, but has now said this will happen in mid-January. Karen Bradley, the Secretary of State […]
Fox boss James Murdoch is reportedly being considered as a potential successor to Bob Iger, chief executive of Walt Disney, if the two companies reach agreement on a possible takeover. According to the FT, Rupert Murdoch and his younger son, James, could take senior roles at a combined company if a deal is struck. Iger […]
ProSiebenSat.1 Group will continue its diversification strategy and now realises over 50 per cent of its revenues outside the traditional TV advertising business. To further accelerate this successful transformation, the Group will, as of January 2018, have a new organisational setup with the three business areas of Entertainment, Content Production & Global Sales and Commerce. […]
The alleged scandal in South Africa over pay-TV operator MultiChoice and whether it abused its influence with public broadcaster SABC has now reached the country’s parliamentarians. The opposition Democratic Alliance is calling for a full parliamentary enquiry into the damaging allegations. Consumer organisation Corruption Watch is making similar demands, while the Competition Commission says it […]
Forbes magazine’s news site says that the Saudi Arabian anti-corruption clampdown is till firmly in place, more than 1 month after a total of 320 wealthy businessmen were detained. A statement from the Kingdom’s Attorney General’s office says that 376 personal bank accounts had been frozen, with “most detainees” having agreed to a settlement with […]