Liberty Media completed its $4.4 billion acquisition of Formula 1 this week, and it came as no surprise that John Malone’s first move was to dismiss F1 veteran Bernie Ecclestone, who will be replaced as chief executive by 21st Century Fox vice chairman Chase Carey. Ecclestone, who had what some saw as an old-fashioned grip on the company, will maintain an advisory position within the new company, to be renamed the Liberty Media Group. Formula 1 reported 400 million viewers in 2016 in 200 countries.
A new social media platform called raftr has been launched by ex-Yahoo President Sue Decker and the former CTO of Convera Claude Vogel. Raftr aims to de-clutter the social media experience by providing a “story-centric” model so users can communicate with each other about topics of mutual interest, rather than having to follow what someone you haven’t seen for five years had for lunch. “Raftr is addressing an important audience of people who have become fatigued by the overabundance of content from their networks,” said Jerry Yang, Founding Partner of AME Cloud Ventures and co-founder of Yahoo.
Cable One has launched a new 2Gbps internet service for business customers in the Fargo area, called Piranha Fiber, delivered over a Passive Optical Network (PON). The US cable provider has invested upwards of $4.7 million in the region over five years, and Piranha claims to be the first 2Gbps shared fiber optic network in Fargo.
TiVo has made the South Asian OTT service YuppTV available on its series 5 and 6 set tops offered by US cable company Mediacom. The press release suggests that Mediacom’s TiVo devices will be the first of many to take on YuppTV – potentially opening the door to an enormous new audience of pay TV subscribers in the US and Europe.
Yahoo shocked some analysts by beating Q4 estimates, reporting revenue of $1.47 billion, up from $1.27 billion in Q4 2015, and had total revenue for the year of $5.17 billion. Net income for the quarter was $163.9 million, but it made a net loss of $209.5 million for the year. Yahoo also noted in its report that the sale of its core internet business to Verizon will be pushed back until the second quarter of this year – sparking rumors that the deal could fall through.
CBS has renewed digital distribution deals with US media conglomerate Meredith, covering seven markets and reaching over 8 million homes. The deals include live streaming on CBS All Access and Hulu.
Cross-device advertising startup Tapad has teamed up with WideOrbit, a provider of ad management software, to build a programmatic TV buying platform powered by a device graph – claiming it will be the first of its type in the industry. Tapad will combine its demand-side technology with the supply-side technology offered by WideOrbit, integrated with the Tapad Device Graph, which breaks down audiences by devices type for advertisers.
US media technology firm Maz has launched a content management system (CMS) for OTT platforms called TVX, aimed at broadcasters and video service providers wishing to reach multiple devices. TVX can work with major video platforms such as those from Brightcove, Kaltura, Ooyala, and Vimeo.
Cracked has just launched on the Apple TV Store, an app owned by US broadcaster Scripps which is described as a “satire brand for millennials.” Cracked provides news, commentary and series from a comedic point of view, it says it has 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube and its presence on Roku and Xumo is growing.
A report suggests that cable operators should be quaking in their boots at the future threat of Netflix bidding for the rights to brand-name reality TV shows, in what is certainly not one of the finest moments from analyst firm MoffettNathanson. We bet Netflix would rather produce its own – with reality TV shows not exactly costing a fortune to make compared to its highest rated series.
AT&T is introducing an International Day Pass for unlimited calls and texts in over 100 countries, costing $10 a day. European operators offer much the same for a fraction of the price.
App developer Metrological has been chosen by Tele Columbus in Germany to provide an OTT app service for its new advanceTV multiscreen video service.
MTG has sold its 40% stake in Czech FTA broadcaster Prima to Denemo Media for €237.4 million, a tidy profit on the €87 million MTG paid for the holding in 2005.
SPI International / Filmbox Channels Group is at it again with an upgrade offering, this week adding UHD content by acquiring the rights from Paramax to three 4K recordings of live concerts at the Singapore Jazz Festival.
Connected TV growth slowed to 4% from 2015 to 2016, compared to 22% between 2013 and 2014, according to research from TDG. Connected TVs are now at 74% penetration and therefore a plateau is only natural at this stage.
Comcast has reported results for 2016, adding 80,000 video customers to leave it on 22.5 million, and 385,000 broadband, putting it on 24.7 million. Revenue was up 9.2% to $21 billion and net income was $9 billion on the year, and $2.4 billion on the quarter. NBC Universal had a strong year on the back of Olympics coverage.
Dolby Labs this week reported results Q1 of fiscal year 2017 with revenues $266.3 million, compared to $240.8 a year earlier, yielding net income of $53.4 million compared to $30.9 million. It said it made strong progress with Dolby Vision, Dolby Cinema, and Dolby Atmos.
UK subsidiary of US studio Lionsgate this week took equity investment in a new high end television drama company, Potboiler Television run by people who contributed to The Last King of Scotland, Generation Kill and The Constant Gardener. Lionsgate will partner on new TV productions and has also signed a first-look deal for global distribution of Potboiler’s television product.