Stuart Thomson

Megacable rejects Televisa offer

Mexican service provider Megacable has rejected the offer from Televisa to combine the pair’s cable operations. “Megacable has fully...

VodafoneZiggo secures ATP Tour rights

Dutch service provider VodafoneZiggo’s Ziggo Sport unit has secured the TV rights to ATP Tour tennis for the next three years. The...

Fuse Media taps Amagi for new FAST channel

Amagi, the specialist in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV, has expanded its partnership with content provider...

Virgin Media O2 calls for ‘thorough scrutiny’ as BT’s Openreach launches new fibre offer

UK service provider Virgin Media O2 has called for closer regulatory scrutiny...

Young people leading big rise in illicit IPTV consumption, says AAPA

Some 17.1 million people across the EU and UK used illicit IPTV services in...

FlixOlé taps Magine Pro for Movistar Plus+ integration

Spanish movie streamer FlixOlé tapped technology outfit Magine Pro to develop...

Freeview passes on-demand milestone

UK digital-terrestrial free-to-view platform Freeview has passed the milestone of 60,000 hours of on-demand free content. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Freeview said it had increased its on-demand offering by 20,000...

Comcast claims ‘world first’ Full Duplex DOCSIS 4.0 10G connection

US cable giant Comcast says it has successfully completed what it describes as the world’s first live, multigigabit symmetrical Internet connection powered by 10G and Full Duplex DOCSIS 4.0. For the live trial,...

Televisa reportedly looking to combine Izzi with Megacable

Mexican media giant Televisa has made an offer to combine its cable and broadband subsidiary Izzi with rival pay TV service provider Megacable, according to Reuters, citing an offer document it has seen. According to...

Netherlands’ Ziggo embraces Disney+ streaming platform

Leading Dutch cable operator Ziggo has announced that SVOD streamer service Disney+ is now available on its platform. As of today, the full range of premium Disney + content can be accessed using the Disney+...

Danish paid streaming subs pass four million milestone

Danish households’ appetite for video streaming continues to grow. The number of paid streaming video subscriptions in Denmark now exceeds four million, with more than half a million new subscriptions added in the...

Broadpeak launches new video streaming software

CDN and streaming technology specialist Broadpeak has launched its new BkS450 high-performance video streaming software. According to the tech outfit, when running on a third generation Intel Xeon Scalable processor,...

Conseil d’État forces watchdog to look again at Eutelsat’s Russian business

France’s highest court, the Conseil d’État, has rejected media regulator Arcom’s contention that it is not competent to stop Eutelsat from transmitting Russian channels that disseminate state propaganda and...

Euroconsult predicts fourfold growth in satellites over 10 years

Research outfit Euroconsult forecasts a fourfold growth in the number of satellites driven by commercial constellations through to 2031. Euroconsult anticipates over 2,500 satellites to be launched on average every year...

Elisa Estonia taps 3SS for smart TV apps

Estonian service provider Elisa has tapped tapped technology outfit 3SS to launch two new apps for smart TVs as part of its next-generation service Elisa Elamus rollout. Owners of Samsung and LG smart TVs can now watch...

ARCOM sets tight deadline for French DTT applications

French media regulator ARCOM has given companies until January 23 to submit an application for one of two DTT licences currently held by TF1 and M6. This will then be followed by public hearings in February before the...

Netflix will likely expand ad offering to more tiers, says Sarandos

Netflix is likely to deliver multiple ad tiers over time, beyond the Basic with Ads offering that is currently focusing on, according to co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos. Speaking at a UBS TMT conference...

Starz hires Netflix’s Hilburn as marketing chief

US pay TV programmer and streamer Starz has refreshed its domestic leadership team with two key hires and a promotion. Jimmy Hilburn joins as chief marketing officer, and Susan Ievoli joins as SVP, publicity, events and...

Bouygues adds NBCU channels, with catch-up to follow

French service provider Bouygues Telecom has added a raft of channels from NBCUniversal International Networks and Direct-To-Consumer to its TV offering. The operator has struck a deal to include Syfy, 13ème Rue,...

Nordic SVOD subscribers ready for ad-supported offerings

Over half of Nordic SVOD subscribers would be willing to convert to cheaper options with advertising if the choice is available, according to Nordic research outfit Mediavision. Of the approximately 17 million SVOD...

Every Word Matters, All The Time

Every public comment from an organisation can have an impact on reputation – positive or negative. That means being careful about every single word, all the time. If not, you are playing with your...

Independent Reviews Are Only The Start

Governments love to commission independent reviews. They are launched and report back with significant fanfare. But all too often they are then immediately consigned to history. The reality is that they should be seen as the start of public affairs engagement, not an end point. Attraction Ministers are instinctively attracted by the idea of getting an outsider to look at a policy area. By going beyond the usual machinery of government,...