Broadcasters

Eleven Sports names Proximus exec as business development chief for Belgium

Sports broadcaster Eleven Sports has named Massimo D’Amario as head of business development and sponsorship in Belgium and Luxembourg. D’Amario joins Eleven from Belgian telco Proximus, where he was managing director of Proximus Media House. At Proximus, D’Amario, who will join Eleven on August 1, was responsible for rights acquisition, sports strategy and the production […]

Sky doubles investment in originals and launches Sky Studios

UK broadcaster Sky has announced the opening of Sky Studios, its Europe-wide development and production hub. The company also announced an injection of investment in its original programming, promising that spend will ‘more than double’ over the next five years. The announcement is a mark of confidence from new parent company Comcast, following the broadcast […]

Frédéric Langagne joins Euronews as International Sales Director

International news channel Euronews has announced the appointment of Frédéric Langagne as international sales director, based in Paris. Langagne will oversee sales activities for the news brand in France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland. He joins from BBC Worldwide, where he served as an account director for BBC Advertising. Langagne has over 12 years […]

Ofcom gives provisional green light to 12-month BBC iPlayer plan

UK media regulator Ofcom has provisionally given the BBC a green light for its planned changes to BBC iPlayer, subject to certain conditions and guidance. The regulator said that it accepts that the BBC needs to keep pace with changes in consumption habits. “We have provisionally found that the proposed changes to BBC iPlayer would […]

BBC and Discovery complete UKTV split

BBC Studios and Discovery have completed the deal to split up the channels in their joint British TV venture, UKTV. It follows an agreement between the two parties – announced in April – which sees BBC Studios take control of the venture’s seven entertainment channels, including Alibi, Dave, Drama, Eden, Gold, W and Yesterday, while […]

Lionsgate strikes movie deal with Hulu, FX

Disney-controlled streamer Hulu and cable channel FX have struck a two-year output deal with Lionsgate for films released in 2020 and 2021. The deal is understood to mark the first time an SVOD and cable channel have partnered on a theatrical output deal. The slate for 2020 includes such films as I Still Believe, a biopic of […]

Mediaset move will create ‘stronger business’ but pan-European merger unlikely

Mediaset’s creation of a new holding company and the merger of its Italian and Spanish operations is a “bold move” that will “create a stronger business that can benefit shareholders and consumers in the medium to long term”, according to analysts at investment bank Berenberg. However, Berenberg said that it does expect ProSiebenSat.1 or “any […]

BARB taps Kantar to launch four-screen audience measurement

UK audience research bureau BARB has commissioned audience measurement specialist Kantar to rollout its new Focal Meter router meter across all broadband homes on the UK’s television audience measurement panel. The Kantar Focal Meter ill measure viewing across four screens (TVs, smartphones, tablets and PCs) to IP-delivered video content from all broadcasters and complement the […]

Viacom to launch BET+ with Tyler Perry

Viacom is launching BET+, a new SVOD service of its popular African-American cable network, with Tyler Perry as a key financial and creative player. According to The Wall Street Journal, Perry will create original content for the service which will launch in late 2019. This is an expansion of his current five-year production agreement with […]

BBC to start charging over-75s for licence fee

Millions of UK households will have to start paying the TV licence fee, with the BBC confirming plans to scrap free licences for over-75s. It has been estimated that 3.7 million households will lose their free TV licence. They will instead have to start paying £154.50 (€179.38) a year from June 2020 in order to […]