UK media regulator Ofcom has fined Dubai-based Arabic news channel Al Arabiya with a significant fine. Al Arabiya (translated as ‘The Arabic One’) is the main competitor to Al Jazeera and is owned by Saudi Arabia-backed Middle East Broadcasting (MBC). Ofcom received a complaint concerning unfair treatment and “unwarranted infringement of privacy” over a transmission […]
The European Commission has launched a public consultation to establish its first world-wide ‘Counterfeit and Piracy Watch-List’. The aim is to identify the marketplaces outside the EU where counterfeiting, piracy or other forms of intellectual property abuse are common practice. The initiative is part of the Commission’s strategy announced in the 2017 Communication, A balanced […]
You would think just making it to 86 years-old would make a man reasonably pleased. Add billions of dollars of wealth and being married to Jerry Hall and you’d think a grin would be in order. But Rupert Murdoch is all about the grimace just now. And he has some reason. The family empire he […]
UK competition watchdog the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) has published the provisional findings from its in-depth examination of the proposed acquisition of Sky Plc by 21st Century Fox, advising that Fox taking full control of Sky is not in the public interest because of media plurality concerns, but not because of a lack of a […]
The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) is a truly wonderful organisation. Its self-proclaimed role is to work to promote competition for the benefit of consumers. Its decision on January 23rd to “provisionally find that the Fox/Sky deal is not in the public interest” seems wholly contrary to that mission statement. With the world – and […]
Following the publication of the Study Mission Report on Targeted Advertising (TA) in September, the DVB Steering Board has approved the creation of a dedicated TA group to implement the report’s recommendations. The CM-TA Group will be co-chaired by Vincent Grivet (TDF) and Angelo Pettazzi (Mediaset). It is anticipated that the group will agree a […]
US pay-TV platform DISH has filed two lawsuits with the aim of ending distribution of Arabic channels and content for which it has the exclusive licences. The complaints against Spider-TV and Tiger Star are similar, alleging that the entities are capturing broadcasts of certain TV channels licensed exclusively to DISH, including MBC and Al Jazeera […]
Entertainment technology and audience insights specialist TiVo and Google have expanded a multi-year patent licence agreement to expressly include YouTube TV. The agreement covers Google’s use of TiVo’s patented technologies worldwide and offers a licence for Google’s products and services across Internet-based platforms and devices. “The world of video entertainment is expanding with exciting new […]
US broadcasters Sinclair Broadcast Group, Nexstar Media Group, and Univision Local Media have reached an agreement with the leading wireless and broadcast infrastructure provider, American Tower Corporation jointly to construct and operate Single Frequency Network (SFN) sites to broadcast Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0 signals within the Dallas Designated Market Area (DMA), as a […]
YouTube is introducing tougher rules for publishers who want to monetise their videos on the platform. The Google-owned site has also announced that staff will now manually review all clips before they are added to a premium service that pairs big brand advertisers with popular content. The moves follow advertiser boycotts because of ‘extreme’ content […]