Digital TV company Kudelski has purchased approximately 60 per cent of the shares in OpenTV Corp it had not already owned for $1.55 a share, taking its voting rights to 91 per cent. In February, Kudelski had proposed buying the remainder of OpenTV’s shares for $1.35 per share, but withdrew that bid in June after […]
From Colin Mann in London UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB may no longer have sole rights to show cricket's 'Ashes' series between England and Australia when the matches are played in the UK, according to the findings of an independent review Panel into the future of listed sporting events, which suggested that these be added to […]
Thousands of Xbox 360 owners who have been cut off from Microsoft’s Xbox Live service will have to buy a new console if they want to play online again, though modified consoles will still work offline. Microsoft says offenders machines will be permanently barred and “unable to connect to Xbox Live”. Microsoft has barred as […]
Speaking on the company's fourth quarter earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger outlined his his disagreements with TV Everywhere. "What we've heard suggests that interest in charging the consumer for greater access isn't a priority and we think it should be," he added that, "if we go to a world of authentication we shouldn't be […]
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) plans to establish an organisation to supervise the new media industry, with a particular focus on evaluating new media content “transaction prices” and the “tort value” in copyright infringement cases. At the beginning of November, SARFT’s legal department sent a task force to China Central Television […]
ITV and Hulu are to sign a deal allowing the platform to distribute full-length ITV shows- some exclusively. As part of the deal ITV will gain an equity stake in Hulu UK, understood to be about 25%. Hulu’s parent company is owned equally by Disney, NBC Universal, Providence Equity and News Corp. ITV is the […]
Sony will make its new animated hit "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" available to viewers directly through Internet-enabled televisions and Blu-ray players before the movie is released on DVD. With the decline in DVD sales, down as much as 25 percent at some studios, finding new ways to distribute movies has become a necessity […]
Dish Network has filed for trademark protection on “TV Everywhere,” which the satellite operator plans to use for its forthcoming Slingbox-enabled set-top box. Dish filed the “TV Everywhere” trademark application with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Among other things, the filing covers “television transmission services” as well as “providing access to electronic sites for […]
Ofcom has rejected the BBC’s request to introduce encryption to Freeview to limit the illegal copying of high-definition TV shows, until issues raised by organisations including the Open Rights Group are addressed. The BBC is trying to change the Freeview multiplex licence to allow copy protection technology so shows on its HD channel, which will […]
EchoStar Europe has integrated Latens' card-less CA and middleware solution with its hybrid HDX-600 platform to create a secure and readily deployable solution for IPTV and broadband TV operators. "In order to support our strategy in Europe, it is imperative that we partner with a number of the industry's leading conditional access and middleware solutions", […]