BT warns Ofcom of legal challenge ahead of ruling November 16, 2010 TELECOMS giant BT has warned it could sue regulator Ofcom, after it refused to allow a rise in wholesale fees to rivals to help repair BT’s onerous pension deficit. An interim ruling in July by the regulator denied BT the opportunity to raise charges on its Openreach business, the subsidiary used by rivals to access [...]
YouView presses ahead with plans for 2011 launch November 10, 2010 BBC-backed online TV service YouView stepped up preparations for its launch next year by officially approaching content providers who want to join the venture. YouView, which will support video and audio streaming as well as web-based apps, is discussing the technical implications of uploading content from disparate providers to a single platform. Richard Halton, chief [...]
Murdoch’s Sky bill soars November 7, 2010 NEWS Corp may have to pay up to 870p a share to regain control of BSkyB, with industry sources claiming resolve at board level has toughened over the last week. This would value Sky at a staggering £15.2bn – a full £3bn above the price News Corp bid in June. Shares in Sky jumped more [...]
News Corp is facing long Sky bid delay November 5, 2010 RUPERT Murdoch was yesterday assessing how much damage a probe into his proposed bid to bring BSkyB back under the News Corp umbrella could cause. Business secretary Vince Cable stepped in to order a preliminary investigation into the bid by media watchdog Ofcom, with a full EU probe also on the cards. At the very [...]
HOW BIG IS RUPERT’S HEADACHE? November 5, 2010 Q.SO WHO IS INVESTIGATING THE NEWS CORP BID? A.Business secretary Vince Cable has asked communications watchdog Ofcom to prepare a report for him. Cable will then decide whether an investigation by the Competition Commission should be launched. The European Competition Commission will also decide whether it will launch a separate investigation after being notified of [...]
Cable asks regulator to probe News Corp’s offer for BSkyB November 4, 2010 Business Secretary Vince Cable has asked the country’s communications regulator to look at whether News Corp’s proposed offer for BSkyB may be against the public interest. News Corp, led by Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, is proposing to buy the 61 per cent of the satellite broadcaster it does not already own for £7.8BN to consolidate [...]
EU will probe News Corp’s bid for BSkyB November 3, 2010 NEWS Corp has officially notified the European Commission about its intention to take full control of BSkyB. Business secretary Vince Cable will now be among those who decide whether the £8bn buyout will be allowed to go ahead. The Commission now has 25 working days to conduct an initial probe, after which it can launch [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 2, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES ITV BLAMES REGIME FOR NEED TO CHASE RATINGS ITV could invest more in arts, factual programming and drama were it not for regulations, its managers told a Lords committee. Archie Norman, chairman of the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, and Adam Crozier, chief executive, told the communications committee that ITV had been driven into [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 2, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES ITV BLAMES REGIME FOR NEED TO CHASE RATINGS ITV could invest more in arts, factual programming and drama were it not for regulations, its managers told a Lords committee. Archie Norman, chairman of the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, and Adam Crozier, chief executive, told the communications committee that ITV had been driven into [...]
Broadcasting offers traders the chance for a big challenge October 25, 2010 UK BROADCAST media has seen its earnings growth increase by 50 per cent this year. This outperforms other areas of the sector that have experienced steady, if unspectacular, growth. With the sector rated as undervalued by Numis and the industry experiencing rapid changes, taking a punt on the prospects for one of the big players [...]