ITV

Tag: Telefonica

  • GRB Media Ranch secures European deals ahead of Mipcom

    GRB Media Ranch secures European deals ahead of Mipcom

    Mumbai: GRB Media Ranch CEO Gary R Benz announced several European deals secured ahead of Mipcom 2024, where the company is exhibiting at Stand R7.A16.

    GRB Media Ranch closed deals with France Television and Telefonica for God & Country, a political documentary by Dan Partland and Rob Reiner. YES Israel licensed Magnolia’s Hope, a documentary about a family coping with their daughter’s battle with Rett Syndrome, a rare disorder, chronicling eight years of their journey.

    Heritage Films acquired the holiday feature Carol of the Bells and its behind-the-scenes documentary for several MENA countries. Produced by Joey Travolta and starring RJ Mitte (from Breaking Bad), the film follows a man discovering his biological mother is developmentally disabled. The film was created by Inclusion Films in partnership with Futures Explored and Options for All, with 70 per cent of the crew members having developmental disabilities.

    GRB Media Ranch also secured paranormal content deals with JOJ Slovakia and Pluto Nordics. JOJ Slovakia acquired Death Walker (59 x 60′), where Nick Groff investigates the origins of America’s most notorious hauntings, and Aliens on the Moon (1 x 120′), a documentary special that examines alternate theories regarding the 1969 moon landing. Pluto Nordics picked up Death Walker as well as Untold Stories of the E.R., On the Case, and Full Force Nature for Scandinavia.

    Benz stated: “GRB Media Ranch is going into this Mipcom with our highest activity level in our history with several great deals to announce, a major slate of acquisitions and a FAST digital strategy. These deals signify the diverse slate we have, and our partners trust us to bring them only the most compelling and premium shows that are sure to engage their viewers. Sophie, Liz, and Will are ready to meet with partners from all around the world at the market.”

  • Havas Media Group extends long-term partnership with Telefónica

    Havas Media Group extends long-term partnership with Telefónica

    NEW DELHI: Telefonica has once again awarded its global media account to Havas Media Group and extends the successful long-running partnership between the two companies. The international telecoms company, which owns key brands Movistar and O2, renewed the relationship after a thorough process.

    It builds on a 6-year partnership that has delivered year on year ROI growth, as well as award-winning campaigns in the UK and Germany, and data-driven innovations around the world.

    Earlier this year, Telefonica shared with Havas its ambition to build a new media operating model using data to drive a more effective, intelligent and relevant communications strategy for its key brands in leading markets in the UK, Spain, Germany and Hispam.

    Havas Media Group and Telefónica have been engaged in a process to define that new media operating model – run remotely during Covid-19 – focused on how Havas Media Group will help deliver Telefonica’s commitment to industry-leading tech disruption, digital transformation and a data-led omnichannel approach.

    Havas’ unique integrated agency model enabled Telefonica’s teams around the world to have even greater access to group-wide expertise in key areas such as data analytics, consultancy and performance optimisation, supplemented by the entertainment properties available through the Vivendi Group.

    Havas Media Group Global CEO Peter Mears said, “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to continue our hugely successful partnership with Telefonica. Using our unique blend of data analytics and Mx (Meaningful Media Experiences), we were able to help Telefonica design the media model of the future. We are so excited to make that vision a reality.”

    Telefónica Global Strategy and Corporate Affairs Director Eduardo Navarro said; “The Havas offering will deliver even greater flexibility in the increasingly competitive telco industry. We are just beginning to build our future vision for Telefonica worldwide, but know that, in Havas Media Group, we have a partner that will come with us on the journey.”

  • Amazon could bid for La Liga media rights

    Amazon could bid for La Liga media rights

    MUMBAI: Global tournament and league rights are no longer only within the reach of big broadcasters. Social networks and e-commerce portals too are now in the running to stake a claim in rights acquisition. One of the big names that come to the mind is Amazon. After acquiring a package of 20 football matches from the English Premier League, industry observers are now predicting that the Jeff Bezos-owned company will turn its attention to the Spanish market and seek to acquire minority lots of La Liga football TV rights over the next three seasons, Advanced Television reports.

    La Liga has four lots of football TV rights for sale after granting majority of the rights to Telefónica. The Spanish telecommunications company has outbid its main rival Mediapro for the bulk of broadcast rights to La Liga, the top-flight of Spanish soccer, in an auction that raised €3.4 billion (US$3.98 billion).

    Telefonica was awarded the two main packages, for nine matches each week in the recent auction. Mediapro got the right to one match each week, along with highlights and broadcasts in public spaces such as bars and restaurants. However, rights to Spain’s Copa del Rey were not included in the package offering.

    In India, Sony Pictures Network (SPN) owned the telecast rights until 20 May 2018.

    La Liga hopes to get €120 million for these rights, which will be added to €980 million paid by Telefónica and €160 million already paid by Mediapro.

    La Liga may still meet its target with the sale of the four packages that were withdrawn (only four out of eight have been awarded) to new companies like Amazon, Facebook or Netflix.

  • Movistar+ & Telefonica partner with Beta on first originals

    CANNES: The Spanish telecom giant Telefonica and its premium Pay-channel Movistar+ partner with Beta Film on their first original productions, The Zone and the Velvet-spinoff Velvet Collections.

    The prestigious, high-budget series The Zone is plays out in a post-Fukushima-like mid-sized community and rural area in the North of Spain whose struggle for a return to any semblance of normalcy is severely hampered by a sudden series of gruesome killings in the no-go zone. Velvet Collections takes the best of the ratings-hit into the next generation, when the Marquez-clan opens a glamorous shopping palace in Barcelona.

    The Zone and Velvet Collections are the latest productions in the cooperation of Beta Film and Telefonica, which also includes the Tom Tykwer event-series Babylon Berlin, Oliver Hirschbiegel’s The Same Sky and Sky Italia’s political thriller-series 1993.

    Beta Film’s EVP Acquisitions & Sales Christian Gockel: “We’re extremely proud and bullish about this new installment of our long-standing, successful partnership with Spanish broadcasters and media houses, further underpinning BetaFilm’s position as an essential partner in helping to bring great Spanish TV product to the screen and international marketplace. We are thrilled to be a part of this groundbreaking effort of taking the already high standards of Spanish storytelling and production quality to the next phase.”

    Written, directed and produced by Jorge & Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo, the Zone (eight hours) follows Inspector Hector Uria, the only survivor among those who were the first to help after the meltdown in the nearby nuclear power plant and his quest to conquer not only the killer but the demons of his own past. Physically recovered but mentally far from it, Hector is drawn into the investigation of the killings which show traces of cannibalism. The eight hour, highly ambitious series marks Telefonica’s first venture into Spanish domestic production and will be delivered at the end of the year.

    Velvet Collections from the Spanish production powerhouse Bambu follows in the footsteps of its outperforming Free-TV-predecessor, sold to more than 100 territories worldwide including a format-deal to the U.S., when the clan sets his sights on the Catalan capital Barcelona where new opportunities call. Telefonica has scheduled ten episodes of the glamorous series for its PayTV-platform Movistar+.

    Both series are currently in pre-production and will be presented by Beta at MIPCOM 2017 in Cannes.

  • Microsoft and Facebook to build an innovative new subsea cable across the Atlantic Ocean

    Microsoft and Facebook to build an innovative new subsea cable across the Atlantic Ocean

    MENLO PARK, Calif. and REDMOND, Wash., May 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ –Today, Microsoft (NASDAQ “MSFT” @microsoft) and Facebook(NASDAQ:FB) announced an agreement to build a new, state-of-the-art subsea cable across the Atlantic. The new “MAREA” cable will help meet the growing customer demand for high speed, reliable connections for cloud and online services for Microsoft, Facebook and their customers. The parties have cleared conditions to go Contract-In-Force (CIF) with their plans, and construction of the cable will commence in August 2016 with completion expected in October 2017.

    Microsoft and Facebook are collaborating on this system to accelerate the development of the next-generation of Internet infrastructure and support the explosion of data consumption and rapid growth of their respective cloud and online services. MAREA will be the highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic – eight fiber pairs and an initial estimated design capacity of 160Tbps. The new 6,600 km submarine cable system, to be operated and managed by Telxius, Telefónica’s new telecommunications infrastructure company, will also be the first to connect the United States to southern Europe, from the data hub of Northern Virginia to Bilbao, Spain and then to network hubs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. This route is south of other transatlantic cable systems, thereby helping ensure more resilient and reliable connections for customers in the United States,Europe, and beyond.

    Microsoft and Facebook designed MAREA to be interoperable with a variety of networking equipment. This new “open” design brings significant benefits for customers: lower costs and easier equipment upgrades which leads to faster growth in bandwidth rates since the system can evolve at the pace of optical technology innovation.

    Microsoft and Facebook are working with Telxius to build upon Telefónica’s longstanding experience in subsea cables on this innovative new system. Telxius will serve as the operator of the system and sell capacity as part of their wholesale infrastructure business.

    “As the world is increasingly moving toward a future based on cloud computing, Microsoft continues to invest in our cloud infrastructure to meet current and future growing global demand for our more than 200 cloud services, including Bing, Office 365, Skype, Xbox Live and the Microsoft Azure platform,” said Christian Belady, General Manager, Datacenter Strategy, Planning & Development, Microsoft Corp. “The MAREA transatlantic cable we’re building with Facebook and Telxius will provide new, low-latency connectivity that will help meet the increasing demand for higher-speed capacity across the Atlantic. By building the cable along this new southern route, we will also increase the resiliency of our global network, helping ensure even greater reliability for our customers.”

    “Facebook wants to make it possible for people to have deep connections and shared experiences with the people who matter to them most — anywhere in the world, and at any time,” said Najam Ahmad, Vice President of Network Engineering at Facebook. “We’re always evaluating new technologies and systems in order to provide the best connectivity possible. By creating a vendor-agnostic design with Microsoft and Telxius, we can choose the hardware and software that best serves the system and ultimately increase the pace of innovation. We want to do more of these projects in this manner — allowing us to move fast with more collaboration. We think this is how most subsea cable systems will be built in the future.”

    “Working with Facebook and Microsoft in this project will reinforce Telxius’ position as a worldwide leading infra company not only expanding on-net capabilities to Spain and the USA but also allowing us to capture market opportunities in Western Europe and new emerging routes in Northern Africa and other regions,” said Rafael Arranz, Chief Operating Officer of Telxius Cable.

  • Microsoft and Facebook to build an innovative new subsea cable across the Atlantic Ocean

    Microsoft and Facebook to build an innovative new subsea cable across the Atlantic Ocean

    MENLO PARK, Calif. and REDMOND, Wash., May 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ –Today, Microsoft (NASDAQ “MSFT” @microsoft) and Facebook(NASDAQ:FB) announced an agreement to build a new, state-of-the-art subsea cable across the Atlantic. The new “MAREA” cable will help meet the growing customer demand for high speed, reliable connections for cloud and online services for Microsoft, Facebook and their customers. The parties have cleared conditions to go Contract-In-Force (CIF) with their plans, and construction of the cable will commence in August 2016 with completion expected in October 2017.

    Microsoft and Facebook are collaborating on this system to accelerate the development of the next-generation of Internet infrastructure and support the explosion of data consumption and rapid growth of their respective cloud and online services. MAREA will be the highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic – eight fiber pairs and an initial estimated design capacity of 160Tbps. The new 6,600 km submarine cable system, to be operated and managed by Telxius, Telefónica’s new telecommunications infrastructure company, will also be the first to connect the United States to southern Europe, from the data hub of Northern Virginia to Bilbao, Spain and then to network hubs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. This route is south of other transatlantic cable systems, thereby helping ensure more resilient and reliable connections for customers in the United States,Europe, and beyond.

    Microsoft and Facebook designed MAREA to be interoperable with a variety of networking equipment. This new “open” design brings significant benefits for customers: lower costs and easier equipment upgrades which leads to faster growth in bandwidth rates since the system can evolve at the pace of optical technology innovation.

    Microsoft and Facebook are working with Telxius to build upon Telefónica’s longstanding experience in subsea cables on this innovative new system. Telxius will serve as the operator of the system and sell capacity as part of their wholesale infrastructure business.

    “As the world is increasingly moving toward a future based on cloud computing, Microsoft continues to invest in our cloud infrastructure to meet current and future growing global demand for our more than 200 cloud services, including Bing, Office 365, Skype, Xbox Live and the Microsoft Azure platform,” said Christian Belady, General Manager, Datacenter Strategy, Planning & Development, Microsoft Corp. “The MAREA transatlantic cable we’re building with Facebook and Telxius will provide new, low-latency connectivity that will help meet the increasing demand for higher-speed capacity across the Atlantic. By building the cable along this new southern route, we will also increase the resiliency of our global network, helping ensure even greater reliability for our customers.”

    “Facebook wants to make it possible for people to have deep connections and shared experiences with the people who matter to them most — anywhere in the world, and at any time,” said Najam Ahmad, Vice President of Network Engineering at Facebook. “We’re always evaluating new technologies and systems in order to provide the best connectivity possible. By creating a vendor-agnostic design with Microsoft and Telxius, we can choose the hardware and software that best serves the system and ultimately increase the pace of innovation. We want to do more of these projects in this manner — allowing us to move fast with more collaboration. We think this is how most subsea cable systems will be built in the future.”

    “Working with Facebook and Microsoft in this project will reinforce Telxius’ position as a worldwide leading infra company not only expanding on-net capabilities to Spain and the USA but also allowing us to capture market opportunities in Western Europe and new emerging routes in Northern Africa and other regions,” said Rafael Arranz, Chief Operating Officer of Telxius Cable.

  • Al Jazeera to acquire significant stake in Canal Plus

    Al Jazeera to acquire significant stake in Canal Plus

    NEW DELHI: Al Jazeera is set to acquire a significant stake in Canal Plus to ease regulatory concerns from the Spanish Creation of National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) and give green light to Telefonica’s takeover of the Spanish pay-TV platform.

     

    Telefonica is reportedly in talks with Al Jazeera in this connection. In May, Telefonica agreed to purchase the 56 per cent stake in Digital+ owned by Prisa for €750 million before subsequently agreeing to acquire Mediaset’s 22 per cent stake in Digital+ for an initial €295 million.

     

    However, regulator CNMC has yet to approve the deal and recent reports have suggested that it is likely to impose strict conditions, such as the requirement to open up the content of Digital+ to rivals Vodafone-Ono and Orange.

     

    The European Commission has also expressed concerns that the proposed merger would give Telefonica control of 80 per cent of Spain’s pay-TV market.

     

    Qatar’s Al Jazeera is said to be particularly interested in the rights to live Spanish football matches owned by Canal Plus. In February, Telefonica signed a one-season rights deal with Barcelona for 2015-16 and the company recently announced that it is planning to double Movistar TV subscribers to four million this year.

     

    Qatar has a €30 million a year shirt sponsorship deal with Barcelona through the Qatar Foundation.

  • Sky acquires Telefonica’s broadband biz in UK

    Sky acquires Telefonica’s broadband biz in UK

    MUMBAI: British Sky Broadcasting Group (Sky) has reached an agreement with Telef??nica UK for the proposed acquisition of its O2 and BE consumer broadband and fixed-line telephony business.

    The transaction will make Sky the second largest provider in the UK broadband market, building on its existing position as the UK‘s fastest-growing broadband and telephony business.

    Under the terms of the agreement, Sky will pay a consideration of Â?180 million to Telef??nica UK for the consumer broadband, home phone and line rental customers served by the O2 and BE brands.

    An extra contingent amount, not exceeding Â?20 million, may be payable dependent upon the successful delivery and completion of the customer migration process by Telefonica UK. Post completion, O2 and BE customers will be migrated onto Sky‘s fully unbundled network, supported by a nationwide all-fibre core, which reaches 84 per cent of all UK homes.

    Telefonica UK‘s consumer broadband and fixed-line telephony customers, of which there are currently over half a million, will become Sky customers for those services on completion. By creating the UK‘s second-largest home broadband provider, the acquisition will deliver further advantages of scale for Sky‘s home communications business.

    Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch said, “Sky has been the UK‘s fastest-growing broadband and telephony provider since we entered the market six years ago. From a standing start in 2006, we have added more than 4.2 million broadband customers. The acquisition of Telef??nica UK‘s consumer broadband and fixed-line telephony business will help us accelerate this growth.

    “We believe that the O2 and BE consumer broadband and telephony business is a great fit, with customers used to high-quality products and strong levels of customer service. We look forward to welcoming these new customers to Sky and giving them access to our wide range of high-quality products, great value and industry-leading customer service.”

    Telefonica UK Chief Executive Ronan Dunne added, “Sky offers great value, totally unlimited broadband which includes unlimited fibre services. As we focus on delivering best-in-class mobile connectivity, including next generation (4G) services, we believe this agreement is the best way of helping our customers get the highest quality home broadband experience from a leading organisation in the market.”

    The acquisition will be funded from existing cash reserves and is expected to be accretive to earnings per share in the second full year of ownership. The acquisition is due to complete by the end of April 2013 and is subject to regulatory clearance.

  • Telefonica to provide satellite Internet connectivity in Europe through Eutelsat

    Telefonica to provide satellite Internet connectivity in Europe through Eutelsat

    MUMBAI: Telefonica Global Solutions has announced an agreement with Eutelsat Communications, Europe‘s leading satellite operator, to provide high quality satellite broadband services to carriers from across Europe through the high-performance KA-SAT satellite.

    With KA-SAT, Telefonica aims at offering fast Internet access to carriers from all over Europe, especially in areas that are not within reach of terrestrial broadband networks, such as rural areas or urban belts, as well as fully diversified backup solutions in areas that do have terrestrial access.

    The Telefonica Global Solutions wholesale unit is a leading global solutions provider in the international wholesale market, with a broad and competitive catalogue of outsourcing services and solutions for international carriers, present in the leading markets in Europe and America.

    Eutelsat‘s broadband subsidiary, Skylogic CEO Jean-François Fenech said, "Telefonica has followed a path that has established it as one of the most emblematic and admired companies in Europe, making it the ideal partner for increasing the reach of satellite broadband. We are convinced that the implementation of satellite broadband via KA-SAT will successfully address the challenge of building a strong and fair digital landscape throughout Europe."

    Telefonica Global Solutions Director Eduardo Guardincerri said, "The bid for Eutelsat Ka band is the logical step for the evolution of the business of data communications via satellite in Europe, where land-based infrastructures have increasing capillarity. KA-SAT will allow us to offer high quality services at competitive prices, allowing us to update our catalogue of services for operators and corporations. It also allows us to complement the overall strategy of the Telefonica Group providing another access technology for services such as M2M or iHealth."

  • Telefónica, Microsoft to deploy global video platform

    Telefónica, Microsoft to deploy global video platform

    MUMBAI: Telecom company Telefónica‘s subsidiary Telefonica Digital and Microsoft have announced a multi-year strategic agreement to create a new global video platform (GVP) for all video entertainment services across Telefónica‘s Operating Businesses.

    Based on key Microsoft technologies including the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, the GVP is unique in delivering TV services over both managed (IPTV) and non-managed (over the top) networks, at global scale, to a range of consumer devices.

    The first GVP deployments are taking place in Brazil, Chile and Spain, and Telefónica anticipates extending the deployment of TV services based on the GVP to a number of its other Operating Businesses over the next few years.

    Telefónica Digital director of digital services Vivek Dev said, "Video is a fast-growing market, and we already play a leading role in delivering Pay TV services to customers in Europe and Latin America. This new platform allows us to reflect the deep and rapid changes happening in this market. It offers the ease and convenience of a global, convergent platform while maintaining flexibility over content for our local businesses. Most important, it allows us to meet customer demands for access to video content on an ever-expanding range of devices".

    The GVP, and its use of Mediaroom, will enable Telefónica to deliver to consumers high-performance, differentiated and feature-rich TV services over both its managed high-speed broadband networks as well as "over-the-top" nonmanaged broadband networks. It provides a range of advanced features to TV subscribers, including time-shifting and multiscreen among others, enabling Telefónica to take advantage of its multidevice capabilities.

    Microsoft corporate VP, Operator TV Business Tom Gibbons said, "Telefónica is a close partner to Microsoft, and the Global Video Platform, based on the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, will enable them to grow their business and reach new audiences. This new agreement focused on Telefónica‘s GVP further extends our alliance in the world of TV and video entertainment to a range of screens throughout the home and on the go, and the benefits will be enjoyed by many millions of people globally. Through its use of IP-based broadband networks and the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, Telefónica‘s next-generation TV services are poised to delight and entertain millions of consumers across their markets in Europe and Latin America."

    These services can be enjoyed by consumers on a range of devices inside and outside the home, including set-top boxes, Xbox 360, tablets and smartphones. Because the Mediaroom platform includes key technologies such as Microsoft PlayReady, Internet Information Services Smooth Streaming and Microsoft Silverlight, the delivery of TV services across these various networks and to multiple screen types can all be done via one common technology infrastructure. This is expected to result in significant efficiencies for Telefónica in time to market, cost of delivery and overall scale.

    Earlier this month, Telefónica launched its premium Internet Protocol television (IPTV) service in Brazil, which follows a similar launch in Chile in October. Both services, Vivo TV Fibra in Brazil and Movistar IPTV in Chile, are the first IPTV deployments that take advantage of the new GVP platform and its capabilities, offering an exceptional user experience for their Fiber to the Home customers. In November 2011, Telefónica and Microsoft launched the first service enabled by the GVP: Movistar Imagenio on Xbox 360. It provides subscribers with 12 linear channels focused on sports, including the Spanish First Soccer League (Liga BBVA) under Canal+ Liga Channel.

    During the past 14 months, the Microsoft Mediaroom platform has continued to scale its deployments and services, surpassing 11 million consumer households and 22 million set-top boxes across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, further securing its position as the world‘s most deployed IPTV platform.*