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It is reported that SBC Communications has entered negotiations to acquire DirecTV, a move which would ruin Rupert Murdoch’s ambition to take charge of a US satellite broadcaster. According to the New York Times, SBC may be willing to pay upwards of $10 billion for the business which is currently owned by General Motors. The… Continue reading SBC Expresses Interest In DirecTV

Revenues at Vivendi Universal increased by 6% to €61 billion during 2002 thanks in part to a strong performance by Cegetel, the group’s telecoms division. Excluding businesses that have been sold off, Vivendi’s full year revenue was up 11% to €28.1 billion. Cegetel which includes SFR, France’s second-largest mobile operator, saw sales rise by a… Continue reading Sales Boost For Vivendi After Difficult Year

Granada chairman, Charles Allen, has delivered a scathing attack on the BBC, arguing that the Corporation should lose 10% of its licence fee to fund public service programming on commercial channels. Despite the fact that ITV pulled in almost £1.7 billion in revenue last year, Allen told industry figures at the Royal Television Society last… Continue reading Granada Chairman Calls For Slice Of BBC Licence Fee

Lastminute.com fell back into the red in the first quarter as a seasonal lull in sales and one-off charges hit the balance sheet at the online retailer. Having reported its first quarterly profit in November (see City News), losses totalled £1.58 million before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation in the three months to December. However,… Continue reading No Alarms As Lastminute Slips Back Into The Red

Vivendi Universal chief Jean-René Fortou has reportedly backtracked on plans to break up, sell and float various tranches of the Canal Plus pay-TV broadcasting business. According to a report in today’s Financial Times, Fourtou has sent a letter to Vivendi employees indicating that Canal Plus is no longer for sale and that it will retain… Continue reading Vivendi Will Retain Canal Plus, Says Report

Almost half of the firms interviewed in a survey for the Institute of Directors (IoD) believe the government should provide more funds to encourage greater take-up of broadband in the business community. Of the 150 IoD members that responded, 63% had broadband but only 10% said that their needs were being met. Over three-quarters of… Continue reading Companies Want Financial Backing For Broadband

Shares in Cable & Wireless rallied this morning following reports that the troubled telecoms group is being marked for takeover. According to the Financial Times, an approach was made last month by Pacific Century Cyberworks, a Hong Kong telephone company owned by Richard Li. The paper says that a £2.4 billion bid was tabled but… Continue reading C&W Subject Of Takeover Speculation

Emap Communications, Emap’s B2B division, has acquired AGOR SAS (AGOR), a market leading independent exhibition business serving the domestic French retail sector. It will pay £21.2 million for AGOR, which operates in the volume, gifts and clearance goods markets. Emap says that the French focus of the AGOR business will complement Emap Communications existing positions… Continue reading EMAP Acquires French Exhibitions Business

Channel Five has confirmed the appointment of Jane Lighting as its new chief executive, replacing Dawn Airey, who stepped down to join Sky Networks last year (see Airey Leaves Channel 5 Top Post For BSkyB). Lighting has over twenty years experience in the TV industry and is currently head of Telewest’s pay TV business, Flextech,… Continue reading Channel Five Names Lighting As New Chief Executive

Shares in BSkyB tumbled yesterday after a Banc Of America Securities analyst warned that the satellite broadcaster’s customers are increasingly downgrading their subscriptions to cheaper packages. The broker placed a Sell rating on Sky, claiming that 700,000 top-tier subscribers downgraded their TV packages last year following price increases. Analyst Sean Eddie questioned whether Sky would… Continue reading BSkyB Shares Hit By Broker Worries