The part privatisation of the incumbent Ukrainian telco Ukrtelecom, which was scheduled for Q1 2007, is now unlikely to take place before the end of the year. Ukrtelecom, which is currently 92.86% state owned, has already attracted the interest of Russia’s Comstar UTS, and the local holding company System Capital Management (SMS) is also expected […]
BSkyB: “Real possibility of no agreement” in Virgin dispute
BSkyB has issued a robust defence of its negotiations with Virgin Media over the carriage of channels on Virgin Media. “Despite the constructive approach adopted by Sky throughout these negotiations, the recent behaviour of Virgin Media appears at odds with a genuine desire to conclude a commercial agreement and at this time there exists the […]
VideoGuard to deploy on Kabel BW
NDS has secured its first deployment of the VideoGuard content protection system in Germany. Kabel BW will deploy the system later this year in the southwestern state of Baden Würtemberg. The migration to the NDS system is expected to be complete by the end of the third quarter. Later, Kabel BW will introduce a series […]
Ericsson makes Tandberg counterbid
Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson has announced a counterbid for Tandberg Television valuing the company at SKr9.8 billion (€1.05bn). The cash offer puts a mark up of 10.4% on the previous bid for the company made in January by Arris. Ericsson has already accrued a holding of 11.7% of Tandberg’s share capital and has irrevocable acceptances […]
ADB/Osmosys strike ITI deal
ADB and its sister company Osmosys have begun delivering a single chip, MHP-based HD set-top box to Poland’s ITI Group. It will help the group offer a range of additional services, such as the ability to record and store content, to subscribers of its DTH platform n. Launched in October 2006, n was the first […]
Cable Congress Video Interviews: Margot Daly
In the second of the Broadband TV News interviews recorded at the recent Cable Congress in Amsterdam, Margot Daly, chief executive, Music Choice talks about European copyright law and the launch of a new VOD service. View Video A player that supports the Windows Media player is required. Mac users are recommended to download the […]
Virgin puts Sky carriage complaint into print
Virgin Media has taken out a series of full page advertisements in the national press giving consumers its side of the story in the increasingly acrimonious dispute over the carriage of Sky’s basic channels. Under the headline ‘Sky don’t want you to see the whole picture’, the advertisement takes the form of a letter, and […]
EU completes swift review, approves ProSiebenSat.1 acquisition
Following ProSiebenSat.1’s announcement of record annual results, Thursday, the European Commission delivered the expected icing on the cake. Allowing the German broadcasting group to be acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Permira controlled Lavena Holding 4 GmbH. Also approving the subsequent merger with SBS Broadcasting. The EU launched its anti-trust investigation of the […]
Cable Congress Video Interviews: Manuel Cubero
Broadband TV News was out and about with a video camera at the recent Cable Congress in Amsterdam (February 6-8, 2007) and the interviews are now available to view online. In the first of the reports Dr Manuel Cubero, president, Cable Europe and member of the management board, Kabel Deutschland talks about investment from the […]
Spanish satellite TV consumption increases
Satellite TV has 5.8% of the total audience in Spain, while DTT holds 4.5%, according to audience measurement company TN Sofres. At the same time, analogue terrestrial TV continues to loose ground and now has a 79% share. In January, DTT consumption increased by 12.5% in comparison to December 2006. For its part, cable is […]