* A limited version of Walt Disney Co.'s Disney+ streaming service is live in the Netherlands as part of a beta test two months ahead of the full launch, scheduled for Nov. 12 for Dutch, U.S. and Canadian subscribers. As part of the test phase, Variety reported that interested Disney fans in the Netherlands can sign up for the new subscription video-on-demand service and view certain catalog programming for free until Nov. 12.
* Google LLC will pay €965 million to settle a four-year fiscal fraud investigation in France, Reuters reported. The amount includes a fine of €500 million and additional taxes of €465 million, the Alphabet Inc. unit said.
* Sky Ltd.'s production arm Sky Studios opened The Hive Collective, a production services hub in the U.S., TBI Vision reports. The British pay TV company is now in talks with producers and production companies for potential projects.
* Video game companies should pay a levy to help fund research into the long-term effects of gameplay, according to a U.K. parliamentary committee. An investigation of "immersive and addictive technologies" by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee concluded that the games industry has not sufficiently accepted responsibility for understanding and preventing potential harms caused by gaming.
UK AND IRELAND
* Helios Towers Africa Ltd. unveiled plans to list on the London Stock Exchange, a year after shelving an IPO. The telecom towers operator aims to raise gross proceeds of $125 million through issuing new shares, as well as selling shares owned by existing shareholders such as Millicom International Cellular SA unit Millicom Holding BV, Bharti Airtel Ltd. and the International Finance Corp.
* Viacom Inc. is planning to expand the role of Ben Frow, Channel 5 (UK)'s director of programs, which will put him in charge of Comedy Central (UK), MTV, and Paramount Network in the U.K., Deadline reports. Other Viacom employees may be affected by the change that may cause a small number of redundancies.
* Netflix Inc. is bringing multiple seasons of "South Park" on the streaming platform, the company announced through its Netflix U.K. and Ireland Twitter account. Netflix will put together "a collection of top episodes" on the platform.
* The British Broadcasting Corp.'s "His Dark Materials," an eight-part adaptation of Philip Pullman's acclaimed series of novels, will have a global premiere on Nov. 3 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
* Viewsat Ltd., the U.K.-headquartered free-to-air satellite TV and radio playout service provider, rebranded to Viewmedia. The move reflects the company's portfolio expansion, such as the launch of media and over-the-top services, and extended media platform delivery, among others.
* Liberty Global PLC announced the final results of its modified Dutch auction tender offer to purchase about $2.7 billion of its ordinary shares. Liberty Global accepted for purchase 24,004,073 class A shares at $27.50 per class A share, and 75,428,032 class C shares at $27.00 apiece, through Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., both of which are acting as principal.
* British regulator Phone-paid Services Authority imposed a £600,000 fine against phone subscription company Veoo Ltd., which tapped companies to sign-up people to the subscription services without their knowledge, BBC News reports.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* The European Court of Justice ruled that German publishers may not demand copyright fees from Google given that the European Commission was not notified of the regulation, Reuters reports. The ECJ said that the German Federal Government should have submitted the law on the controversial ancillary copyright right before it came into force in 2013.
* Activist investor Active Ownership Capital Sàrl opposed the telecom takeover deal between Sunrise Communications Group AG and UPC Schweiz for CHF6.3 billion, reports Neue Zürcher Zeitung. AOC is the second shareholder after freenet AG to opposed the deal.
* Austrian sensor company ams AG has a list of potential buyers for OSRAM Licht AG's digital business should it succeed in acquiring the German lighting firm, Reuters reports.
FRANCE
* French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said he is opposed to the development of Facebook Inc.'s cryptocurrency Libra in Europe, L'Expansion reports. At an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development debate, Le Maire expressed concerns about the systemic risks of possible privatization of a currency held by a single actor with more than 2 billion users.
* A number of radio operators addressed a letter to Culture Minister Franck Riester highlighting concerns about competition from digital players, Les Échos reports. Among the requested amendments to the media law are a review of French-language music quotas and compensation for content.
NETHERLANDS,
* Belgian provider Proximus continued to experience spontaneous strikes after the announced departure of CEO Dominique Leroy to Dutch competitor KPN NV, reports Het Nieuwsblad.
* John de Mol's media company Talpa appointed Dutch news agency ANP's Productions Manager Johan Groeneveld to participate in the construction of the new Talpa Network brand, reports Villemedia.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Spotify Technology SA acquired audio production marketplace SoundBetter LLC for an undisclosed sum. Following the deal, SoundBetter will join the Spotify for Artists team as part of the music-streaming platform's goal to help creators develop audio content and connect with their audience.
* In other Spotify news, the music streaming company will obtain location data of users under the Premium Family subscription to detect abuse of the plan, Cnet reports.
* Facebook said its data center in the Danish city of Odense is online and serving traffic. The construction of the giant data center started in 2017 and its operations are being fully supported by wind energy.
* Finnish game production company Rovio Entertainment Oyj lowered its 2019 profit outlook to a range of about €295 million and €310 million, down from €300 million to €330 million. The outlook was cut due to increasing user acquisition investments and focus on long-term growth.
SOUTHERN EUROPE
* Fulvio Conti is expected to step down as chairman of Telecom Italia SpA, in a move that signals the battle for influence between the phone company's main shareholders may be nearing an end, Reuters reported, citing two sources.
* Altice Portugal SA teamed up with Ericsson to simulate a rescue operation in the city of Aveiro using 5G technology. Meanwhile, the Altice Europe unit slammed Portugal's National Communications Authority for proposing a six-month gap in its 5G rollout between the Portuguese mainland and the Azores/Madeira autonomous region, according to a Telecompaper report, citing Jornal de Negocios.
* Telefónica SA is upgrading the media asset management infrastructure of Spanish broadcaster RTVE and renewed its contract with Tedial, Rapid TV News reports.
* Italy's new government created a technological innovation and digitalization ministry, in a bid to transform the country into a smart nation, Telecompaper reports, citing Corriere delle Comunicazioni. Paola Pisano will lead the new ministry.
* Greek operator OTE, which operates as Cosmote SA, named Dimitrios Georgoutsos and Vasilis Vassalos as nonexecutive directors, Telecompaper reports. The two appointees will replace Vasiliki Kouforizou and Panagiotis Skevofylax who stepped down.
* Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS shareholders approved a proposed distribution of dividends worth 1.01 billion Turkish lira, with Telia Co. AB. funding part of the dividends worth 243 million lira. The dividends will be distributed Oct. 31. The shareholders also approved the appointment of Bülent Aksu and Hüseyin Aydın to Turkcell's board of directors to three-year terms.
* Telecom Italia filed an application with the Ontario Securities Commission to cease to become a reporting issuer in Canada. If approved, the Italian operator will no longer be required to file financial statements and other disclosures in Canada.
* In separate Telecom Italia news, the company's board may continue discussions on converting its savings shares into ordinary stock during a scheduled Sept. 26 meeting, Reuters reports, citing a source.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Netflix Inc. announced it has begun the production of its Polish original series, "The Woods," an adaptation of Harlan Coben's bestselling thriller of the same name. The six-part mystery series is directed by Leszek Dawid and Bartosz Konopka and was written by Agata Malesińska and Wojtek Miłoszewski, while ATM Grupa SA is in charge of production.
* Advocate General Juliane Kokott of the EU Court of Justice has sided with Google in its case against Hungary, stating in a nonbinding opinion that the Hungarian taxation laws on advertisements "impose coercive measures" and are unfair to companies not based in the country, Bloomberg News reports.
* Mail.ru Group Ltd.-owned social networking platform VKontakte Ltd. rolled out Lovina, a dating app to rival Tinder Inc., Reuters reports, citing a statement. The new service is available in Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan and other countries.
* Polish company Michal Winnicki Entertainment acquired a 95% stake in digital terrestrial TV retransmission operator NTL Radomsko from TVN Discovery Poland for an undisclosed sum, Telecompaper reports, citing Media2.pl. MWE affiliate MWE Teleport purchased the remaining 5% of NTL Radomsko. Discovery Inc. owns TVN Discovery Poland.
* Over-the-top and TV platform solutions company Viaccess-Orca Ltd. said it will supply its service delivery platform to Orange Polska SA's new network personal video recorder service. The platform will be integrated with the Cloud PVR solution developed by video technology provider Broadpeak. Orange SA owns Orange Polska.
* Slovak Telekom plans to add a new channel from broadcaster Comedy House to its pay TV offer, Telecompaper reports, citing Zive-aktuality.sk.
FEATURED NEWS
Hires and Fires Europe: KPN gets new CEO; Telia names interim CEO, CFO: Dutch operator KPN named Dominique Leroy as its new CEO, while Swedish telco Telia Co. AB appointed an acting CEO and CFO following the resignation of outgoing chief executive Johan Dennelind.
Hires & Fires: Interpublic Group makes executive changes; Netflix hires European director: Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc. appointed Philippe Krakowsky COO, while Netflix hired Sasha Bühler to become the director of original film for Germany, France and Nordics.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Global Multichannel: Global Markets Update — France: Kagan has recently updated the Global Multichannel and Broadband analyses for Western European market France as well as analyses for related operators.
Anne Freier, Sylvia Edwards Davis, Charlotte van Hek and Esben Svendsen contributed to this report.
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