The Government’s White Paper on Brexit offers little clarity for the UK’s £1 billion (€1.13bn) international broadcasting sector, according to the Commercial Broadcasters Association (COBA), the trade body for commercial broadcasters in the UK. According to COBA, international TV channels based in the UK are a £1 billion a year business, investing in UK jobs, […]
The US Department of Justice is appealing the June 12th decision by a US District Court judge that cleared the merger of US telco giant AT&T and entertainment conglomerate Time Warner. At the time, US district judge Richard Leon said the government’s objections “rested on improper notions” and warned against an appeal. “I hope the […]
The UK Government has published its White Paper on The Future Relationship Between the United Kingdom and The European Union, disagreement over which saw two resignations within the Department for exiting the European Union, as well as that of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. In terms of sectors covered by any future economic partnership, the Government […]
Imagina US, owned by the Spanish TV group Mediapro, has pleaded guilty to charges of bribing Latin American football officials for the TV rights to qualifying matches for the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cups. The company will have to pay a fine of more than $24 million, imposed by a US court during the […]
Newly-appointed Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Wright has given his Department’s clearance for 21st Century Fox’s bid for the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own. In a Statement to Parliament, he said that having taken over as the Secretary of State with responsibility for media public […]
Leading global satellite operators Intelsat, SES and Eutelsat are joining forces on a market-based proposal for the future use of the lower C-band spectrum in the US. Eutelsat has agreed to join the proposal initiated by Intelsat, Intel and SES. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to announce its planned adoption of a […]
In light of the continued illegal use of the World Cup football broadcast signal by pirate operation beoutQ, the game’s governing body FIFA has engaged counsel to take legal action in Saudi Arabia and is working alongside other sports rights owners that have also been affected to protect its interest. “FIFA urges the authorities of […]
21st Century Fox has increased its bid to buy the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own in a deal that values the broadcaster at $32.5 billion, passing that of rival Comcast, which is likely to make its own revised offer later in the week. A Statement from 21CF and the Independent […]
Spanish telco operators are once again up in arms over the RTVE tax, which they claim is an unfair toll. At a conference, the CEO of Vodafone, Antonio Coimbra, described the 0.9 per cent tax on revenues operators have to pay to finance the public broadcaster RTVE as being an “aberration”. In Coimbra’s opinion, it […]
The EBU has welcomed a vote in the European Parliament vote that will update existing must-carry rules and provide for a wider choice of free-to-air radio content while on the move. The vote in the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) formally endorsed a political deal in trilogue on a new EU […]