Tele Columbus, the third largest German cable operator, published its financials for the first half of fiscal year 2017. The Group again reported solid growth with revenues of €245.4 million – an increase of 4 per cent year on year. As of June 30th 2017, the Group reported approximately 3.6 million homes connected in-line with […]
Brazil’s anti-trust regulator is objecting to the proposed $85.4 billion (€78.5bn) merger between AT&T and Time Warner. CADE (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica [Administrative Council for Economic Defense]), the Brazilian regulator, says the merger poses a “high risk” to competition, and as currently planned should be rejected unless the two businesses sell off some of their […]
Iliad-owned telco Free has been holding a 20 per cent stake in Canal+’s SVoD service Canalplay since 2016, having exercised a share acquisition option, according to weekly magazine L’Express. The French operator discreetly took up the shares it held the rights to following the sale of its Free Home Video service to Canal+ in 2011. […]
The world knows the names of Jeff Bezos (owner Amazon), Elon Musk (SpaceX/Tesla cars) and Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Group) as being more than casually interested in space, rockets and communications. But a report on Bloomberg TV highlighted another dozen or so, drawn from amongst the 500 richest people on the planet, who are backing […]
The powerful South African Gupta family is selling its media interests including The New Age newspaper and ANN7 television news station. The buyer, Mzwanele ‘Jimmy’ Manyi, is a long-standing supporter of President Jacob Zuma and was once a government spokesman. ANN7 was launched in 2013 with 35 percent backing from India’s Essel Group (itself backed […]
UK comms regulator Ofcom is facing judicial review over its ruling that Sky would remain ‘fit and proper’ to hold a UK broadcasting licence should the 21st Century Fox bid for the outstanding shares it does not already own be successful. Hausfeld, the law firm representing advocacy group Avaaz, has issued a ‘letter before claim’ to […]
Pan-European broadcaster Sky has invested a further £1 million (€1.09m) in TRX, the online deal-making tool for TV rights, following its initial investment of £1 million in August 2016. This latest investment brings TRX’s total funds raised to date to £10 million. As well as Sky, investors include the Channel Four Growth Fund, angel investors […]
The massive scandal involving the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), its commercial subsidiary Antrix, and Devas Multimedia, the independent company which held certain capacity rights on ISRO satellites, is coming to an end. India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, which had already named certain key officials alleged to be involved, has been given permission to prosecute […]
It is early days in the trial in Oakland, California, between the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and DirecTV, where the FTC is alleging that DirecTV deliberately misled subscribers signing up for pay-TV packages. The complaint specifically alleges violations both of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), which imposes specific […]
Creative Content Australia (CCA), an industry organisation committed to raising awareness about the value of copyright and the impact of content theft on the screen industries, has launched Australia’s biggest ever anti-piracy consumer campaign. The launch follows the ruling by the Hon. Justice John Nicholas ordering ISPs to block 42 websites found to be primarily […]