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TDC, MTG strike $2.5B deal; TF1, Orange end distribution agreement

TOP NEWS

* Danish telecom operator TDC A/S struck a $2.5 billion deal to buy Swedish Modern Times Group's broadcasting and entertainment business. The cash-and-stock deal, which values the acquired business at 19.55 billion Swedish kronor, would leave TDC with close to 3 million TV subscribers and access to 10 million households in the Nordic region. MTG announced that it will continue as a digital entertainment company after selling its TV operations to TDC. It will primarily focus on e-sports, online gaming and digital video content.

* The TF1 Group has confirmed it has not been possible to reach a new distribution agreement with Orange SA. The French telecom company said that after many years of free distribution, TF1 has changed the distribution conditions of TNT's free channels and associated replay by asking for excessive remuneration. Orange said it is open to dialogue and negotiation to find agreement.

PAN-EUROPEAN

* BeIN Media Group LLC has announced that four lifestyle channels will be available exclusively on its platform in Middle East and North Africa from Feb. 1. Food Network and Fine Living will join HGTV and Travel Channel on the platform, the latter two available since 2016.

UK AND IRELAND

* BBC Worldwide Ltd. has acquired a 51% stake in Sid Gentle Films Ltd. Under the deal, the British Broadcasting Corp. unit has the option for a phased ownership in the British film company.

* Irish broadband companies including Sky plc's Sky Ireland and Vodafone Ireland Ltd. are boycotting eir's private rural fiber broadband network over high costs, Dublin's The Independent reports. Eir offers rivals to connect to its rural fiber network for €270, which the operators find "too expensive." Another Irish broadband company, Siro, offers the same service for €70, the report said.

* British mobile operator Vodafone Group Plc has moved to reassure investors that its Indian merger would succeed where its Australian tie-up in 2009 with Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa disappointed. During the company's earnings call Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao described the operations in India as a better fit than the Australia merger and insisted the transaction in the south Asian country would provide stronger results.

* British Telecom's Openreach Ltd. announced plans to extend fiber broadband to 3 million U.K. homes and businesses before the end of 2020. The broadband infrastructure provider said it was accelerating its fiber-to-the-premises build target by 50%, as part of its Fiber First program.

* Amazon.com Inc. announced that it has opened registration for small and medium-sized enterprises for its first U.K. Amazon Academy of 2018, an event intended to provide hands-on, practical advice to help SMEs succeed in the digital economy. The event, which emphasises growing exports, will be held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow on April 17. Further Amazon Academy events, run in partnership with the U.K. small business advocacy firm Enterprise Nation, are scheduled to be held in 2018 in Newcastle and Cardiff.

* Supermarket retailer J Sainsbury Plc said it acquired the U.K. business of Aimia Inc., giving it control of the Nectar loyalty program. The British grocer, which also sells general merchandise through its Argos chain, said it paid £60 million for the U.K. business of Aimia, a Montreal, Canada-based company that offers data-driven marketing and loyalty program analytics.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE unit Red Arrow Studios and U.S.-based Kinetic Content LLC announced an exclusive collaboration with Spinnaker Chaos, owned by U.S. unscripted producer John Saade. The production company's office will be located at Kinetic Content, wherein Saade will work with Kinetic Content CEO Chris Coelen.

* Deutsche Telekom AG unit T-Systems has lost a major seven-year contract with industrial company Thyssen Krupp Stahl worth approximately €700 million, reports Handelsblatt. T-Systems' inability to deliver on its promised service caused the fallout, according to the report, citing a Thyssen Krupp source interviewed by WirtschaftsWoche.

* German regulator Bundeskartellamt is launching an investigation into online advertising over concerns that companies such as Alphabet Inc.'s Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. are unfairly taking advantage of their significant market position, Reuters reports.

* German publisher Bastei Lübbe AG announced a profit increase of 14.9% in print and 19.8% in its digital business. Despite this, the company reduced its outlook and announced a program to increase its efficiency.

FRANCE

* Axel Springer SE announced that its unit Axel Springer Digital Classifieds France SAS has just been given unconditional clearance by the French Competition Authority to acquire French media company Concept Multimedia SA from French media holding Spir Communication.

* Regis Turrini is stepping down as Altice NV's regulation and strategy head and as SFR Group SA's secretary general by March, Reuters reports, citing a source. Turrini was part of the team of ousted Altice CEO Michel Combes.

* In partnership with Caisse des Dépôts, Orange has signed a public service concession agreement between Essonne Numérique and Covage. This joint venture will bring very-high-speed internet services to the community and offer access to optical fiber to everyone in Essonne.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* Peter van Burgel has been appointed as new CEO of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange or Internet Exchange AMS-IX, with immediate effect. Burgel succeeds Job Witteman who stepped down from his position in October 2017.

* M7 Group SA's digital television providers Canal Digitaal, Online.nl and TV Vlaanderen NV will shortly be adding Travelxp HD to its portfolio, writes TotaalTV. Alongside distribution via IPTV and satellite, Travelxp HD will also be available via various M7 Live TV apps.

* The seven biggest telecom operators in Belgium have called for a new deal with the government to support digitization in the country. Parties participating in the deal are Eurofiber NV, Orange Belgium, Proximus, Telenet, Colt, BRUTELE SC, Nethys/Voo and tech industry group Agoria.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Swedish operator IP-Only AB is merging its data communication operations with those of IT and phone services company DGC, forming a new entity named IP-Only Enterprise. The new company will have 400 employees and will be Sweden's second-largest data communications provider in the business market. DGC's IT operations do not fall under the merger and will continue to operate under the DGC brand outside the IP-Only Group.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* OTE's Cosmote TV has secured exclusive television broadcast rights for Germany's Bundesliga soccer league until the 2020-2021 season. The deal renewal will allow Cosmote Sport channels to broadcast all 617 Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 matches, including each league's playoffs and Supercup, the company said. The channels that RTVE will be distributing in Latin America are TVE Internacional, Star HD and Clan. The company will also air news channel Canal 24 Horas in Mexico through an agreement with DISH Network Corp.

* Telefónica SA's Movistar Play is the partner of RTVE in distributing its content in Latin America, the Spanish broadcaster revealed, according to a Rapid TV News report. RTVE also said its TVE Internacional channel will be added to Claro and Movistar in Argentina.

* Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA saw a year-over-year increase in full-year 2017 profit, despite a sharp decline in its fourth-quarter results mainly due to losses associated with its investment in Spanish telecommunications firm Telefónica. The result included a €1.12 billion charge linked to the decline in the stock price of Telefónica, in which BBVA has a stake of more than 5%.

EASTERN EUROPE

* 21st Century Fox Inc.'s Fox Networks Group Europe & Africa is launching video-on-demand platform FOX+ in Hungary via Magyar Telekom, Telecompaper reports, citing 24.hu. The service will be available through the telecom company effective Feb. 1.

* Liberty Global plc's UPC Poland targets to roll out 4K, as well as mobile telephony and mobile internet services, in Poland in 2019, Broadband TV News reports, citing CEO Frans-Willem de Kloet.

FEATURED NEWS

Discovery to measure Winter Olympics viewing across platforms: Discovery Networks International President Jean-Briac Perrette said in an interview that it will track media consumption in three categories: video, users and engagement across screens.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Technology: Spain remains fertile ground for OTT, connected devices: Spain's increasing pool of connected devices coupled with its increasing broadband penetration rate and low multichannel subscribership marks it as a large market with plenty of opportunity for OTT providers.

RECENT EARNINGS

Nokia swings to loss in Q4'17 YOY due to tax charges: Net loss attributable to the equity holders of Nokia Corp. was €384 million for the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to net profit attributable of €659 million in the previous year.

Time Warner posts higher Q4'17, full-year results on Turner, HBO growth: Time Warner posted net income attributable to shareholders of $1.39 billion, or $1.75 per share, compared to an income of $293 million, or 37 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Citrix reports net loss of $283.9M for Q4'17: The company said that the basic loss per share came in at $1.93 for the quarter, compared to earnings per share of $1.15 in the year-ago period.

Anne Freier, Amanda Kelly, Charlotte van Hek and Esben Svendsen contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription.