BBC’s Mark Thompson to leave after the Olympics March 19, 2012 THE BBC has stepped up its search to find the next director general after Mark Thompson confirmed yesterday he will leave the corporation in the autumn after the Olympics. Thompson, who has been in the job since 2004, told BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten of his departure in a meeting yesterday and said that the [...]
BC goes back to the future with new deal for Foxtons March 18, 2012 THE private equity firm that lost control of Foxtons amid the housing slump is on the verge of buying it back from its banks. BC Partners, led by managing partner Charlie Bott, is set to take a majority shareholding for between £55m and £75m, two years after the estate agent was shored up by a [...]
Ofcom gives approval for 4G March 14, 2012 THE NEXT generation of mobile connectivity could be in the UK this year after Ofcom yesterday issued approval for Everything Everywhere to update the airwaves it already owns for 4G use. This comes less than a week after Apple revealed its new iPad would offer a fourth generation (4G) connection, which will give a significantly faster [...]
Premiership rights may spark bid war March 11, 2012 PREMIER league football clubs could rake in three times as much if “a real bidding war between broadcasting giants” breaks out when the sale of the broadcast rights to the football premiership kicks off next month. Having already entered the French market, Al Jazeera has been touted as a serious challenger to the supremacy of [...]
Murdoch probe intensifies March 8, 2012 OFCOM has stepped up its probe into the propriety of James Murdoch’s position as BSkyB chairman by creating a dedicated team to monitor evidence emerging from police investigations, parliamentary committees and the Leveson inquiry. The question of whether James Murdoch and News Corp are “fit and proper” persons to own a broadcast licence was discussed [...]
Ofcom confirms BT’s price caps March 7, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Commission has given the green light to Ofcom’s proposed price caps for Openreach, BT’s wholesale broadband division. Ofcom, which regulates BT Openreach due to its “significant market power”, will lower annual charges by five to 20 per cent, with further reductions each year until March 2014. BT said it disagrees with some assumptions and will [...]
ITV renews deal with Scotland March 5, 2012 ITV has agreed to sell its Channel 3 programming schedule to Scottish broadcaster STV and Northern Irish network UTV for a fixed income regardless of how many shows they broadcast – rather than a revenue proportion – in a deal that sees ITV retain control of the rights to its shows. Although the move is [...]
4G rollout expected this year February 22, 2012 EVERYTHING Everywhere could roll out the next generation of mobile network (4G) later this year despite expectations that Ofcom’s auction of the coveted 800MHz spectrum “will not see any real action” until early 2013. The UK hybrid of Orange and T-Mobile is running an ongoing 4G trial in Cornwall on the 800MHz spectrum and is [...]
TalkTalk takings up despite user exodus February 7, 2012 TALKTALK upped its full-year profit guidance and raised its expected earnings per share yesterday despite continuing to haemorrhage customers throughout its third quarter. The former Carphone Warehouse subsidiary shed 43,000 net broadband accounts in the period, leaving TalkTalk with around 4m customers. This year has seen the telecoms group fined £3m and ordered to pay [...]
BT Openreach cost could be capped further by Ofcom February 6, 2012 BT HAS spoken out against regulations suggested to the European Commission by media watchdog Ofcom which would see the wholesale broadband provider’s prices further capped. This marks the third time Ofcom has regulated rental costs for BT Openreach, which dominates the wholesale broadband line rental market. As they currently stand in draft form, the changes [...]