Variety reported that the Canadian media company, Corus Entertainment, agreed to buy Shaw Communications’ Shaw Media Inc. for $1.86 billion. If approved, the combined company will own 45 specialty and 15 conventional television stations, 39 radio stations, the content studio Nelvana and other digital assets.
This week, Bloomberg reported that Telefonica SA, Spain’s biggest telecommunications operator, signed an agreement with Mediaproduccion SLU for rights to Spanish soccer and Champions League matches. The agreement, valued at $2.61 billion, includes the BeIN Sports channel and gives Telefonica's pay-TV subscribers immediate access to sports telecasts.
According to Deloitte Global, Gigabit Internet connections are expected to increase tenfold to 10 million by end of 2016, of which 70 percent will be residential connections, reported FierceTelecom. The surge in demand for Gigabit services is attributed to the rise of music and video streaming that require higher bandwidth, as well as a decline in broadband service prices.
Hulu signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Sony to ramp up its video library by adding full seasons of TV series and films from Sony Pictures, reported Rapid TV News. As part of the deal, content heading to Hulu will include full episodes of ‘The Shield,’ ‘Party of Five,’ ‘The Dawson’s Creek,’ ‘Damages’ and films like ‘Jerry Maguire,’ ‘Midnight in Paris’ and ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding.’
According to Parks Associates’ new study, as of Q3 2015, a third of UK broadband households subscribe to OTT services, reported Digital TV Europe. The study notes that BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4 and Demand 5 are among the major sources for OTT video usage in the UK.
