ITV

Tag: Comcast

  • Sony, ZEEL deal scrapped over valuation differences: report

    Sony, ZEEL deal scrapped over valuation differences: report

    MUMBAI: Discussion between Japan’s Sony Corporation buying 20 to 25 per cent stake in the Subhash Chandra-led Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has been scrapped due to valuation differences, according to a report by Economic Times.

    The development has cleared the way for a consortium of US telecom conglomerate Comcast along with its partner investment firm Atairos to take over the talks.

    ET had stated earlier that Chandra has been looking to sell a stake in the company in order to repay promoter debt worth Rs 13,000 crore.

    ZEE’s spokesperson said, “ZEE’s stake sale process is in steady progress and in line with the previously communicated timelines. The company is in a steady dialogue with all potential prospective partners. Any additional details cannot be shared at this stage, due to the confidentiality agreements.” 

    Besides Sony and Comcast-Atairos, iPhone maker Apple was also in talks with Chandra for a bid, but Zee has not shown as much interest in the Tim Cook-led company and hasn’t responded with an offer, the report added.

    Sony had made a bid to merge its existing operations with ZEEL and had also offered a cash buyout option. Comcast, on the other hand, is open to promoters staying on as junior partners and will consider buying them out fully at a later date, the ET report stated.

  • Comcast, Sony in the running for ZEEL stake?

    Comcast, Sony in the running for ZEEL stake?

    MUMBAI: In the latest financial results, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) MD and CEO Punit Goenka mentioned that the company has narrowed down its search for a partner to divest up to 50 per cent stake in the company, an announcement it made in November 2018. Now, according to an unconfirmed news report by CNBC TV18, the ZEEL promoters  are in the US reportedly negotiating with  Comcast and Sony  for a stake sale.

    Both the companies have given bids in the range of Rs 540-560 per share, says the CNBCTV18 report, which is 24 per cent higher than the closing price of Thursday, 15 February. The agreement is likely to be concluded this week.

    As of 31 December, ZEEL promoters hold 41.62 per cent share in the company. It seems that ZEEL promoters are now willing to share more than 50 per cent stake.

    The report also says that Alibaba, Tencent and Amazon were also in the race for ZEEL’s OTT platform ZEE5.

    The Subhash Chandra-led ZEEL reported 17.9 percent year-on year (y-o-y) growth with operating revenue at Rs 2,166.77 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 (Q3 2019, quarter or period under review) as compared to the Rs 1,838.07 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter Q3 2018. EBITDA for the quarter under review increased 26.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 754.29 crore from Rs 594.42 crore.

  • Media consumption in India growing @9% in last 6 years: CII-BCG report

    Media consumption in India growing @9% in last 6 years: CII-BCG report

    MUMBAI: The Indian media industry, experiencing disruptions, is witnessing an increase in consumption that has been facilitated by proliferation of broadband too and over the last six years has been growing at the rate of nine percent.

    According to a CII_BCG report released today at CII Big Picture Summit event in New Delhi, at 4.6 hours of consumption per capita per day, India is still behind China (6.4 hours) and US (11.8 hours), suggesting further headroom for growth.

    “Unlike in developed countries, in India this growth has been additive and not cannibalising traditional media, yet. For the next several years, we expect India to remain a multi-modal market where all forms of media, including traditional media like TV and digital will continue to co-exist," the report states.

    In 2012, total media consumption per capita per day was 2.7 hours which was further distributed into print (0.2 hours), radio (0.2 hours), TV (1.9 hours) and digital (0.4 hours). On the other hand, 4.6 hours consumption per capita per day has increased to print (0.3 hours), radio (0.3 hours), TV (2.7 hours) and digital (1.3 hours).

    Over the past 2-3 years, the number of broadband users has become 2X (~480 million broadband users across mobile and fixed) and the data consumption has become 10X (~10 GB per user per month).

    Indian media formats are primarily advertising driven and consumer costs are minimal. Unlike the US where the cost of a cable connection can be as high as $80 per month, India with $3 cost of cable per month doesn’t have the need for skinny bundles.

    India is undergoing a video explosion. Indian consumers are consuming ~190 minutes of video per day per user across platforms, which has been growing at ~8 per cent over the last five years. 30+ digital platforms have been added to the wide range of TV channels. While an average consumer consumes 10-15 channels per day and 2-3 apps in any given month, the overall spectrum of platforms from a content creators/curator’s perspective is massive.

    Global players are realising the importance of creating curated content, in line with viewer preferences. Players like Netflix invest aggressively to match 3X the investment made by top players like Amazon Prime and Hulu. Top 5 global players as per their annual content budget are Fox ($16.7 biilion), Comcast ($15 billion), Disney ($12.7 billion), Time Warner ($12.4 billion) and Netflix ($12 billion).

  • Comcast outbids 21st CF in Sky deal with $40 bn offe

    Comcast outbids 21st CF in Sky deal with $40 bn offe

    MUMBAI: US cable giant Comcast made a winning bid against 21st Century Fox and the Walt Disney Co for European pay-TV operator Sky by offering nearly $40 billion. The rare three round auction was managed by UK's Takeover Panel.  

    The Philadelphia based company offered about $40 billion at $22.57 per share for Sky in the knockout bid. Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox offered about $35 billion at $20.46 per share.

    “This is a great day for Comcast,” Comcast chairman and CEO Brian L Roberts declared. He hailed Sky as “a wonderful company with a great platform, tremendous brand, and accomplished management team”.

    While 21st Century Fox already owns 39 per cent of the company, both the competitors were contesting for 61 per cent control of Sky. The European pay-TV company has time until 11 October to accept the offer.  Fox has an ardent quest to take over the rest of the Sky it does not already own.

    For any company who wants to expand international business in European countries, Sky would be a lucrative option with its 23 million customer base across five European countries. Hence the over expensive bid from Comcast did not come as a surprise, as it could almost double its user base on the back of the offer. “This acquisition will allow us to quickly, efficiently and meaningfully increase our customer base,” Roberts said in a statement.

    Though the long running bid process has come to an end following the knock out bid, Fox could refuse tender the 39 percent of Sky that it currently owns. It will leave Comcast to share the company with Fox.

  • Comcast drops bid for 21st Century Fox assets, cedes prize to Disney

    Comcast drops bid for 21st Century Fox assets, cedes prize to Disney

    MUMBAI: The fierce bidding war between Comcast and Disney has finally ended with the former dropping out of the race to gobble up the prized 21st Century Fox assets. Comcast will now shift its focus towards sealing the Sky deal.

    “Comcast does not intend to pursue further the acquisition of the Twenty-First Century Fox assets and, instead, will focus on our recommended offer for Sky,” the company said in a statement.

    “I’d like to congratulate Bob Iger and the team at Disney and commend the Murdoch family and Fox for creating such a desirable and respected company,” Comcast Corporation chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts said.

    Last month, the US cable giant made a $65.0 billion offer for the Fox assets, trumping Disney’s original $52.4 billion bid. However, Disney went on to make a counter-offer of $71.3 billion in cash and stock.

    Disney has already sought clearance from US department of justice to go ahead of the deal that includes the Twentieth Century Fox film and TV studio, a controlling stake in Hulu, and international properties including Star India.

    The Comcast-Disney tussle will go down as one of the most keenly contested battles in the media and entertainment.

    With traditional power players facing challenges from new streaming services and FAANG companies, Fox’s entertainment assets are bound to help Disney prop up its upcoming streaming service as more and more consumers cut chords every day, especially in US.

    Recently, following the $32.5 billion offer from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, Comcast also increased its offer valuing Sky at $34 billion. The European Pay TV group is a lucrative option for Comcast to stay relevant outside US.

  • Comcast’s new offer trumps Fox’s $32.5bn to acquire Sky

    Comcast’s new offer trumps Fox’s $32.5bn to acquire Sky

    MUMBAI: The conflicting parties in bidding war to acquire Sky are leaving no stones unturned. Following the $32.5 billion offer from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, US cable giant Comcast also increased its offer valuing Sky at $34 billion. European pay TV group Sky with 20 million subscribers is a lucrative option for both the firms to extend their business in a Netflix-Amazon era.

    On Wednesday, Fox increased its offer price to buy 61 per cent of Sky putting pressure on Comcast Corporation. It raised the offer to £24.5 billion ($32.5 billion) topping an earlier offer from Comcast.

    Financial Times reported, Sky’s independent committee said Fox’s new bid “represents a substantial increase in value relative to the Comcast offer.” Along with that, it would “unanimously recommend” the offer to Sky shareholders.

    The regulatory approval for Fox’s deal may come this week while Comcast already received approval from the British government. Fox has been waiting long for the approval to buy the 61 per cent of Sky it does not own already. To resolve the concerns that Fox may create a monopoly in the market, Fox agreed to sell the Sky News operation to Disney once the deal is complete. However, now even if the approval comes Fox needs to raise its offer.

    However, the deal is part of a wider battle between Comcast and Disney for control of prized entertainment assets owned by Fox. The tug-of-war includes movie studios, cable channels, National Geographic and a 30 pee cent stake in video website Hulu, as well as Star India.

  • Dish TV, Videocon d2h merger impacted global TV subscriber numbers

    Dish TV, Videocon d2h merger impacted global TV subscriber numbers

    MUMBAI: The merger of India’s two direct-to-home (DTH) players, Dish TV and Videocon d2h partly played a role in the loss of over five million subscribers or 1.14 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, as per the global report of TV subscribers released by Multiscreen Index.

    Excluding Dish TV and Videocon d2h, the index rose by just 1.49 million subscribers, or 0.36 per cent, which is the lowest quarterly increase Informitv has seen. The average quarterly gain over the previous three years has been around 4.5 million, or 1.15 per cent.

    Before the merger, it was reported that Dish TV and Videocon d2h will have a total 29.51 million subscribers. After merging in March, the enlarged Dish TV had 6.90 million more subscribers than it had the previous quarter, although overall there appeared to be an apparent loss of 6.51 million from the previous combined total.

    Informitv Multiscreen Index editor William Cooper said, “Traditional television subscriber numbers are flat or falling for some services and tracking them through mergers and acquisitions, together with changes in reporting methodologies is increasingly complex. Only 48 of the 100 services in the index reported subscriber gains in the first quarter. That does not include some services that only report figures once or twice a year.”

    Dish TV in India emerged with 23 million subscribers, sending it straight to the top of the Multiscreen Index, ahead of American operators Comcast with 21.21 million and DirecTV with 20.27 million.

    AT&T still has more subscribers overall in the US, with a total of 25.32 million including U-verse and DirecTV NOW. AT&T has the largest number of subscribers as a group, with 38.89 million across the Americas, up by 93,000.

    Satellite services in the US continue to see subscriber losses, with DirecTV losing 188,000, and Dish Network losing 185,000 subscribers. The top 10 services in the US lost 212,000 subscribers in the quarter, with only three of them reporting gains. The largest of these was from the online service DirecTV Now, which added 336,000 subscribers, taking its total to 1.42 million. Sling TV from Dish Network added 91,000, for a total of 2.30 million.

    With Sling TV and DirecTV Now regularly reporting subscriber numbers, the report now accounts for online distribution as a separate category, in addition to cable, satellite and telco networks. With a total of 3.71 million online subscribers in the index, it is far smaller than satellite, which still leads with 182.12 million subscribers.

  • Comcast to slow video streams, hotspot connection speed

    Comcast to slow video streams, hotspot connection speed

    MUMBAI: US telco giant, Comcast, has written to its customers warning them about upcoming changes in  Xfinity Mobile. And these plans are not good!

    Comcast is said to drop the video quality from 720p to 480p when streaming using mobile data and mobile hotspot speeds will come down to 600 Kpbs, which in known as 3G speed in telco dictionary. 

    The company believes that the move will allow its users that pay By The Gig to save money and unlimited data plan users will take  longer to reach the 20 GB threshold after which the speed is throttled. Streaming over Wi-Fi will however remain unaffected. 

    Later this year, 720p video over cellular data will be available as a fee-based option, but in the meantime, customers can request it on an interim basis at no charge.

    Additionally the internet speed for customers with unlimited data option will  not exceed 600 Kpbs. when any device is connected to personal hotspot. According to Comcast, at this speed, users will conserve data so that it takes longer to reach the 20 GB threshold and they will still be able to do many of the online activities. 

    Only customers who pay by the gigabyte will get full-speed internet, but the cost will rise quickly as Comcast charges $12 for each gigabyte

  • Hulu signs deal for Viacom series

    Hulu signs deal for Viacom series

    MUMBAI: Hulu has obtained exclusive rights to stream full series from Viacom, including Daria, Nathan for You, My Super Sweet 16 and The New Edition Story. The company will gain the rights to 20 films, including School of Rock.

    According to the reports, the agreement includes content from Nickelodeon as well, like Nick Cannon’s musical show Make It Pop, animated programs Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Penguins of Madagascar.

    Hulu, co-owned by Comcast, Disney, Fox and Time Warner, said earlier that it is parting ways with chief content officer Joel Stillerman, as well as senior VP of experience, Ben Smith and a senior VP in partnerships and distribution Tim Connolly.

    A combined technology and product group that will report to new CTO Dan Phillips, formerly COO at TiVo is being created by the company. That organisation will span engineering, data centre operations, network and broadcast operations centres, information technology and program management, as well as product management, user experience and product development.

  • What next with Fox-Disney-Comcast ?

    What next with Fox-Disney-Comcast ?

    MUMBAI: Part poker, part chess. That’s exactly how the Disney-Comcast bidding war for Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment conglomerate – 21 Century Fox – is being played out. The intense, see-saw battle for the media empire, which includes Hollywood studios, cable networks and streaming businesses, isn’t nearing its end just yet. Nine days out of 10, $70 billion will get you whatever your want in life. But when you’re up against Comcast, the tenth day is the one that matters and even $70 billion might not be enough.

    According to analysts and industry insiders, Comcast is set to return to the negotiating table with a new and improved offer in the  low-to-mid $40s a share range. This could effectively take the bidding to $80 billion, 10 more than Disney’s cash and stock offer.

    Disney’s new bid on Tuesday, was 35 per cent higher than its earlier offer and close to $6 billion more than Comcast’s. But as things stand, they could end up paying more than they’d anticipated.

    Why? Because Comcast isn’t likely to budge given the pressure on its pay-TV business. Hence in its attempt to diversify and attain scale, the Fox bid is an important play for the company’s strategy going forward.

    However, the Disney executives know that the six-month head start they enjoy over Comcast in terms of regulatory review, could end up swinging this deal in their favour. Irrespective of what the winning bid is, a Disney-Fox deal, will get past the regulators far quicker than a Comcast-Fox deal is big boss Bob Iger’s belief. 

    And Murdoch understands this. He also understands how eager Bob Iger and Brian Roberts are to shake his hand in order to land some of the world’s hottest properties – 20th Century Fox film studio, the FX and National Geographic cable channels, almost two dozen regional sports networks, a stake in Sky and Star India.

    A handful of investment analysts are watching with their faces grimacing in pain. They worry that the debt both the mouse house and Comcast will take on in their hunger to swallow up Fox could topple them over. But both Iger and Roberts are not perturbed by the carping. 

    We now await the next instalment of this blockbuster. Disney’s made its move, Comcast is on the verge of making one. Call it the chess board or the poker table, Murdoch owns them both.