Cable to refresh Royal Mail privatisation plans June 24, 2010 VINCE Cable has asked the man behind plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail to see whether a full stock market flotation or sale to a trade buyer could unlock more value in current market conditions. In his first report, former deputy chairman of Ofcom Richard Hooper recommended a strategic partnership with a private player, essentially a part-privatisation. [...]
Virgin and BSkyB appeal ruling June 9, 2010 Virgin Media has appealed against an Ofcom decision forcing BSkyB to charge competitors less for its football coverage, saying the ruling doesn’t go far enough. BSkyB has also appealed the communication watchdog’s decision, saying the regulator “acted unlawfully” in imposing conditions on its programme packages. Virgin said the methods used by Ofcom to calculate the [...]
ISPs slam Ofcom’s piracy rules June 1, 2010 OFCOM yesterday confirmed it will apply tough new anti-piracy laws only to internet service providers (ISP) with over 400,000 subscribers. The controversial Digital Economy Bill (DEB), passed after Gordon Brown had dissolved his government, will force ISPs to write to users suspected of piracy and could eventually force them to cut the users off. The [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 25, 2010 Electra Private Equity Electra has appointed Colette Bowe as chairman after three years on the board. Bowe, an economist, began her career at the Department of Trade and Industry and then became chief executive of the Personal Investment Authority and chairman of European asset management at Robert Fleming. She is currently a board member at [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 23, 2010 Ofcom Stewart Purvis will quit media regulator Ofcom after a two-and-a-half year stint at the quango. He will leave his post in the autumn. He was responsible for content regulation and standards. He was previously chief executive at ITN and has over 30 years of broadcast experience, including working for the BBC and ITN. At [...]
Canvas gets the all clear from the OFT May 19, 2010 THE Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will not investigate Project Canvas, a tie-up between large media players, over fears it will stifle competition. The proposed joint venture by firms including BBC, BT, TalkTalk and ITV will offer video-on-demand content through a viewer’s Freeview box. The scheme has come under fire from rivals Sky and Virgin [...]
Cut-price Sky Sports moves a step closer April 29, 2010 SKY’S stranglehold over subscription TV took a hit yesterday as a court refused to postpone a ruling forcing it to slash the price it can charge rivals for Premier League football. The ruling guarantees top flight games will be available across four platforms by the start of next season. Sky, led by chief executive Jeremy [...]
Virgin Media’s sales rise but losses widen April 28, 2010 VIRGIN Media continued its roaring run of form with its fastest ever customer growth last quarter. It surpassed analyst expectations as it added 38,300 net cable customers to solidify its position as the UK’s second biggest pay-TV provider. Chief executive Neil Berkett said the firm had benefited from both record new customers and the lowest [...]
Sky ready for round one with Ofcom April 21, 2010 SKY and Ofcom will tomorrow begin what promises to be a long and tortuous legal battle over the future of pay TV. Sky will appear before the Competition Appeal Tribunal to request a stay of implementation on Ofcom’s new rules forcing the broadcaster to slash the prices it can charge rivals for Premier League football. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 15, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES INVESTORS RAISE FEARS ON “STEWARDSHIP CODE” As the Financial Reporting Council prepares to issue a shareholders’ best practice code, industry groups and institutional investors say they are worried it will become another list of boxes to tick. The FRC’s consultation on the world’s first official “stewardship code” closes on Friday and it expects [...]