ITV

Tag: Sky

  • Anil Jhingan elevated to Discovery APAC president & MD

    Anil Jhingan elevated to Discovery APAC president & MD

    Mumbai: Discovery has named Anil Jhingan as president and MD for the Asia Pacific region. He will be based in London and report directly to Discovery president and CEO of streaming and international activities JB Perrette, said the media company in a statement.

    Jhingan joined Discovery in 2019 as executive VP of corporate development, EMEA and APAC. He was earlier associated with Sky as group director of mergers and acquisitions. His previous stints include companies like 21st Century Fox and News Corp.

    “APAC remains a key growth driver for Discovery, and Anil’s deep industry experience, impressive international track record, and strong leadership qualities, working with our expert local teams, will be central in building continued scale and differentiation in this critical region,” said Perette, as quoted by Variety.

    Discovery currently has twelve office hubs in Asia covering 52 markets, 25 channel brands in 18 languages, and streaming service Discovery+.

    “Asia Pacific offers immense opportunity for Discovery, with our focus on great local storytelling and ever-broadening distribution of our content to audiences across the region,” said Jhingan on his new role.

  • ThinkAnalytics brings in Sky veteran Tony Mooney

    ThinkAnalytics brings in Sky veteran Tony Mooney

    NEW DELHI: ThinkAnalytics has appointed Sky veteran and data and analytics expert Tony Mooney as SVP, advertising. Tony will head up the firm’s ThinkAdvertising business, helping pay-TV and OTT providers maximise their ad inventory across broadcast and streamed TV and generate new revenue streams from advertisers running hyper-targeted campaigns.

    Mooney has an unparalleled track record in the adtech and data and analytics space. From 2010-2017 he was MD, insight and decision science at Sky, where he developed its world-leading customer data and customer intelligence capabilities. Mooney and his 600-strong team supported the entire Sky business, from customer acquisition and retention through to product, content, and targeted and linear advertising. He also led the Sky IQ B2B business, providing advanced data capabilities for large advertisers. 

    On leaving Sky, Mooney set up DecisionBox to help multinational clients apply digital, analytics and decision science techniques to boost customer retention and acquisition, and grow revenues. Prior to this he held senior positions in data, analytics and CRM at Experian, Orange and Centrica.

    Mooney joins ThinkAnalytics at a time when demand for addressable advertising is set to leap from total worldwide revenues of $15.6 billion in 2019 to $85.5 billion by 2025, according to Rethink TV. 

    “I joined the ThinkAnalytics team because I have known the company and its leading technology  for many years and I can see the potential to help pay-TV and OTT providers of all sizes. Addressable advertising is about to go prime time as new solutions like ThinkAdvertising replicate the precision of hyper-targeted digital campaigns on TV screens, and offer an attractive alternative for advertisers concerned about the reputational and fraud risk in web campaigns,” ThinkAnalytics SVP – advertising Tony Mooney said.

    “Tony’s pioneering work at Sky makes him the ideal person to advance our addressable advertising ambitions and help service providers unlock their treasure trove of subscriber data. His understanding of the complex and piecemeal nature of the adtech ecosystem will be invaluable as customers embark on their addressable advertising journey,” ThinkAnalytics chairman Eddie Young said.

    ThinkAdvertising automatically generates consumer profiles at the individual viewer rather than household level. Its machine learning and AI extracts understanding using the behavioural and viewing data captured by the service provider that can be blended with third-party demographic data. Supported by ThinkAnalytics’ automated viewer personalisation and segmentation models, it avoids the need for service providers to rely solely on expensive and often out-of-date third-party consumer data or large internal data teams. Available as a standalone solution or as part of the ThinkAnalytics suite, the hyper-targeted solution is highly scalable, and can be easily integrated with adtech solutions.

    ThinkAdvertising helps video service providers offer compelling propositions to a broader set of advertisers – from new and existing hyper-local and regional advertisers through to big brands. For established TV advertisers such as car manufacturers, they can now run one integrated campaign to advertise multiple sub-brands using highly segmented dynamic ad insertion.

  • Comcast-owned Sky signs deal with eOne

    Comcast-owned Sky signs deal with eOne

    MUMBAI: Sky, Comcast’s European pay-TV giant, has entered into a “long-term” partnership with Entertainment One to give its customers in the UK and Ireland access to hundreds of Hasbro’s films.

    The deal includes nearly 200 titles from eOne’s library, such as the Twilight saga and Dallas Buyers Club, whereas new releases will be telecast exclusively by Sky. This includes upcoming titles like the holiday rom-com Happiest Season starring Kristen Stewart, which skipped the UK theatrical release.

    eOne international distribution president Stuart Baxter said, “A partnership of this size is one of the largest strategic deals we have made this year. We are confident that they will be a great marketing partner for our content and will work with us throughout its lifecycle. “

    Sky has significantly improved its content offering this year through contracts with Disney, Sony, DreamWorks Animation and Discovery.

    Sky UK and Europe CEO Stephen van Rooyen said, “Our business with eOne is just another example of how we listen to customers and bring them more of what they want.”

  • Comcast posts growth in broadcast TV revenue in Q1

    Comcast posts growth in broadcast TV revenue in Q1

    MUMBAI: Broadcasting and cable television company Comcast Corporation has reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. While broadcast television revenue increased 8.8 per cent to $2.7 billion in the first quarter of 2020, distribution revenue and ad revenue decreased 1.5 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.

    Broadcast television

    Growth in broadcast television revenue reflects increases in content licensing revenue and distribution and other revenue. Content licensing revenue increased 31.3 per cent due to the timing of content provided under licensing agreements. Distribution and other revenue increased 6.9 per cent, due to higher retransmission consent fees. Advertising revenue was consistent with the prior year period, reflecting higher pricing and local political advertising, offset by audience ratings declines and reduced advertiser spending due to Covid2019.

    Adjusted EBITDA increased 29.6 per cent to $501 million in the first quarter of 2020, reflecting higher revenue, partially offset by an increase in operating costs and expenses. The increase in operating costs and expenses was primarily due to an increase in programming and production costs, which was partially offset by the favorable impact of adopting updated accounting guidance.

    Cable networks

    While it lost 388,000 residential video subscribers in the first quarter, cable networks revenue of $2.9 billion was consistent with the prior year period, reflecting decreases in distribution revenue and advertising revenue, offset by an increase in content licensing and other revenue.

    Distribution revenue decreased 1.5 per cent, reflecting a decline in subscribers, partially offset by contractual rate increases and the timing of contract renewals. Advertising revenue decreased 2.2 per cent, reflecting audience ratings declines and reduced advertiser spending resulting from the postponement of sports events due to Covid2019, partially offset by higher pricing.

    The Covid209 pandemic, it seems, has not eroded its other revenue streams. Content licensing and other revenue increased 13 per cent due to the timing of content provided under licensing agreements. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 1.2 per cent to $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2020, reflecting flat revenue, and flat operating expenses, as higher other operating and administrative costs were offset by lower programming and production costs. The decline in programming and production costs was primarily due to decreases in the recognition of sports programming costs as a result of the postponement of sports events due to Covid2019.

    Filmed entertainment

    Filmed Entertainment revenue decreased 22.5 per cent to $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2020, reflecting decreases in theatrical revenue, content licensing revenue, home entertainment revenue and other revenue. Theatrical revenue decreased 28.8 per cent, reflecting a difficult comparison to the success of films in the first quarter of 2019.  

    “Society is being challenged like never before in our lifetime, and I couldn’t be prouder of our company, our employees, and our leadership team across Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, and Sky. Now more than ever the world needs to stay connected, and we’re extremely pleased that our investments in our network continue to pay off as we are handling significant increases in traffic and meeting our customers’ needs," said Brian L Roberts, chairman and chief executive officer of Comcast Corporation.

    “While parts of our business have been more impacted by COVID-19 than others, we have continued to innovate. We are distributing our content in new ways, as evidenced by the recent launch of Peacock on X1 and Flex. We've also taken decisive action, having moved over 95 per cent of our US call-centre employees to work from home and putting in place new procedures that have allowed more than 15,000 construction workers to safely come back to work to build our theme park in Beijing. All the divisions of our company are in constant communication, and the level of collaboration has been extraordinary. We have a strong balance sheet, terrific portfolio of assets, and a world-class management team. This is a moment in time; and when it passes, I am very confident that the decisions we are making now will enable us to emerge from this crisis as a healthy, strong company that is well positioned to continue to grow and succeed,” he said.

    Theme parks

    Theme Parks revenue decreased 31.9 per cent to $869 million in the first quarter of 2020, primarily due to the closures of Universal Studios Japan in late February and Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood in mid-March as a result of COVID-19. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 84.7 per cent to $76 million in the first quarter of 2020, reflecting lower revenue and higher operating costs. The increase in operating costs was primarily due to increases in employee-related costs and pre-opening costs associated with the Universal Beijing Resort and Super Nintendo WorldTM in Universal Studios Japan, partially offset by lower park operation costs due to the park closures.

    Consolidated results

    Revenue for the first quarter of 2020 decreased 0.9 per cent to $26.6 billion. Net Income Attributable to Comcast decreased 39.6 per cent to $2.1 billion. Adjusted Net Income decreased 6.1 per cent to $3.3 billion. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 4.9 per cent to $8.1 billion.

    Earnings per Share (EPS) for the first quarter was $0.46, a decrease of 40.3 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2019. Adjusted EPS decreased 6.6 per cent to $0.71.

    Capital Expenditures decreased 10.1 per cent to $1.9 billion in the first quarter of 2020. Cable Communications’ capital expenditures decreased 6.9 per cent  to $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2020. NBCUniversal’s capital expenditures decreased 16.7 per cent  to $377 million. Sky's capital expenditures decreased 24.1 per cent to $197 million. Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities was $5.8 billion in the first quarter of 2020. Free Cash Flow was $3.3 billion.

    Dividends paid during the first quarter of 2020 totalled $977 million.

  • SKY invests in Synamedia to drive technological advantage

    SKY invests in Synamedia to drive technological advantage

    MUMBAI: Synamedia, the largest independent video software provider, today announced that Sky, Europe’s leading media and entertainment company, has taken a stake in the business, joining majority shareholder the Permira funds.

    Sky’s shareholding reinforces Synamedia’s position as a strategic long-term technology partner to a growing roster of market-leading pay-TV operators and media companies worldwide.

    Both Sky and its parent company Comcast are long-time Synamedia customers as well as strategic development partners.

    Andrew Griffith, Sky’s Group Chief Operating Officer, said: “We’ve long collaborated with the team at Synamedia to help bring great content, products and entertainment to millions of customers across Europe and this investment will help deepen our innovative partnership.” 

    Yves Padrines CEO of Synamedia, added: “At a time of accelerated evolution in the pay-TV industry, this investment is a fantastic endorsement of our product vision, R&D roadmap and service portfolio from Sky, Europe’s leading media and entertainment company.”

    As an independent firm backed by both the Permira funds and Sky, Synamedia’s mission is to help customers maximise the return on their existing infrastructure while laying the foundations for a blended broadcast/OTT multi-screen model that will deliver improved consumer choice and convenience while protecting income and opening up new revenue streams.

    Synamedia has over 200 pay-TV and media customers including: AT&T, Astro, beIN, Bharti Airtel, Charter, China DTH, Comcast, Cox, Disney, Foxtel, Get, Liberty Global, Oi, OSN, Rogers, Sky, Shaw, Tata Sky, Verizon, Viasat and Vodafone.

    The company boasts a workforce of thousands located primarily in the US, UK, Israel, India, Belgium, China and Canada.

  • 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.

  • Comcast deal riskier than Disney, says Fox

    Comcast deal riskier than Disney, says Fox

    MUMBAI: Everyone is keeping an eye out to know when Fox will pick a partner in the tug of war between Disney and Comcast.

    Now, the American multinational mass-media corporation, 21st Century Fox is telling its shareholders that the deal with Comcast carries higher risk than the deal with Walt Disney. Fox said that risk of the deal being delayed or denied lies due to antitrust regulators. 

    In a SEC filing, Fox outlined eight concerns about the potential Comcast deal. The filing read: “While a potential Disney transaction was likely to receive required regulatory approvals and ultimately be consummated, a strategic transaction with Comcast “a strategic transaction with Comcast would be subject to a greater degree of regulatory uncertainty, including the possibility of an outright prohibition and a higher risk of divestitures and delay to closing, as compared to a strategic transaction with Disney.”

    The board for Rupert Murdoch led company, had stated that a strategic transaction with Comcast continued to carry higher regulatory risk leading to the possibility of significant delay in the receipt of merger consideration as well as the risk of an inability to consummate the transactions.

    Fox has been consistently trying to avoid selling its business to Comcast as Fox officials are of the opinion that a merger with the largest US cable company, Comcast, may not be approved by the federal government.

    According to the  SEC filing, Disney’s bid would have a smoother route to closing as the entertainment company has a mix of businesses.

    Disney’s deal with Fox will include the 20th Century Fox film and TV studios, along with the FX cable channels, Fox’s stakes in Hulu, Sky, National Geographic Partners and more. 

    Fox plans to spin off all its news assets into “News Fox” which will include all Fox broadcasting network and stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Networks and others. 

    The good news for Disney comes after the Fox board agreed to Disney’s higher offer of $71.3 billion last week. This was after Comcast made an all cash bid of $65 billion for Fox’s assets. 

    Comcast first approached 21st Century Fox about buying the network’s properties in November 2017, which was just a month before Fox had already struck its first deal with Disney. 

    Also Read:

    What next with Fox-Disney-Comcast ?

    Hulu signs deal for Viacom series

    Endemol Shine hires banks for a possible sale 

    Lachlan Murdoch to lead New Fox after Disney sale, James is out

  • Sky News gets 15-year commitment from Disney in takeover battle

    Sky News gets 15-year commitment from Disney in takeover battle

    MUMBAI: Disney has refrained from selling Sky News without the U.K government’s permission and offered British authorities a commitment to operate Sky News for 15 years. For its part, 21st Century Fox has offered new commitments in an attempt to get its $15 billion bid for Sky over the finish line, including a promise to fund Sky News for 15 years, five more than it had previously offered.

    British culture secretary Matt Hancock said, “In my view, these revised undertakings [commitments] meet the criteria that I set out to the House [of Commons] on 5 June and will help to ensure that Sky News remains financially viable over the long term; is able to operate as a major U.K.-based news provider; and is able to take its editorial decisions independently, free from any potential outside influence”,in a statement.

    Under the proposed plans, Sky News would receive guaranteed funding of £100 million ($132 million) a year.

    The British government set out its agreement on Tuesday with Disney and 21st Century Fox over Sky, if Fox’s bid to take over Sky succeeds. The agreement focuses on how Sky plans to divest Sky News, and the assurances necessary for the news channel’s long-term viability and editorial independence.

    Fox, which is already Sky’s biggest shareholder with a 39.1 per cent stake, first tabled a proposal in December 2016 to buy the remainder of the broadcaster for £11.7bn in a deal valuing the whole of Sky at £18.5bn.

    Fox had already agreed to meet the British competition watchdog’s proposed remedies by the time Hancock spoke to Parliament earlier this month and made offloading Sky News a condition to the Fox bid gaining approval.

    Hancock has now opened a consultation. That ends on July 4 and at that point he is expected to make a final decision.

    Opposition to the Fox bid remains fierce in the U.K. Lobby group Avaaz has been a vocal opponent and was in the High Court in London on Tuesday seeking to persuade a judge that media regulator Ofcom’s June 2017 decision that Fox and the Murdoch family would be fit and proper owners of all of Sky was flawed.