Canadian media and broadcast company Rogers Communications said Monday it will eliminate approximately 200 jobs from its media business amid pressures from a weak advertising market and increased competition, Bloomberg reported. The cuts amount to less than 5 percent of the company’s employees and are due to begin next month. The changes were announced to […]
Sky Inks Deal with CBS to Deliver Showtime Programming In Europe
European media company Sky announced this week that it has signed a long-term licensing deal with CBS Corporation to deliver Showtime programming in its European territories. The deal gives Sky the rights to deliver all new and future Showtime series across the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy, and provide on-demand access to Showtime’s […]
Qwilt, three6five Help African Operators Prep for Increased OTT Streaming
Online video delivery company Qwilt and South African IP networking service integrator three6five have announced they are working together to improve over-the-top streaming video strategies for service providers in Africa. The companies said the partnership will allow three6five to offer Qwilt’s open cache solution to local service providers to address the growing demand for OTT […]
New Binge Mode Allows Minimal Interaction with Set-Top Box
Innovative Systems announced a new “Binge Mode” feature this week that will allow subscribers to watch several recorded episodes of a program in a row with minimal interruption from their set-top box. The new feature seems as though it will bring the ease of binge watching on Netflix to all APMAX Middleware systems across the […]
Approval Expected for Liberty Global’s KPN Belgium Buy
EU approval is expected for cable TV company Liberty Global’s bid to purchase KPN’s Belgian wireless business for $1.4 billion, Reuters reported. According to the report, the green light is expected in light of Liberty Global’s “constructive dialogue” with officials and the company’s reported promise to divest some of its assets to rival Medialaan to […]
Comcast Channel Shift Riles Consumers, Viacom
Comcast has angered consumers with its recent decision to move popular channels like Spike TV and CMT to a more expensive tier, Multichannel News reported. According to the report, the channels, which also include POP (the former TV Guide Channel), have been moved from the Digital Starter package to the Digital Preferred tier. To get […]
Netflix Turns Focus To Family Programming in 2016
Internet video streaming titan Netflix is planning to hone in on family programming in 2016, increasing its number of original family-oriented programs from 15 to 35 over the next year, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the report, a large portion of the company’s $5-6 billion budget for 2016 programming will be devoted to […]
Flow Brings Bravo to Caribbean Market
Cable & Wireless Communications announced Friday it has signed a deal with Bravo Media to bring Bravo programming to its Flow TV subsidiary in Caribbean markets. The agreement is Bravo’s first partnership in the region. The roll out of Bravo content on Flow TV will begin in Trinidad, Jamaica, Grenada and St. Vincent before expanding […]
Report: Global Set-Top Box Shipments to Remain Flat, Revenues to Decline
A new report from SNL Kagan predicts that worldwide shipments of set-top boxes will remain flat in the near term as pay TV competition increases and the world’s largest cable TV markets approach saturation. Though global shipments of set-top boxes were expected to reach 253.1 million 2015, that number was up only slightly from 248.6 […]
CableLabs Certifies First Five DOCSIS 3.1 Products
Cable industry research and development lab CableLabs has issued the first DOCSIS 3.1 certifications to five cable modem vendors. Among those to obtain the product certifications were Askey, Castlenet, Netgear, Technicolor and Ubee Interactive. According to the CableLabs release, certification means that the vendors’ DOCSIS 3.1 products comply with the required specifications, interoperability among products […]