Category: Media & Entertainment

  • Ligado attempts to unravel Inmarsat L-band agreement

    Ligado Networks is in Chapter 11 restructuring, and is fighting to block attempts from Inmarsat and Viasat to halt its financial rescue and refinancing. Inmarsat, now part of Viasat, is looking to recover its former L-band frequencies and capacity from the restructuring. Inmarsat had previously leased the L-band spectrum to Ligado in 2007 for a…

  • Report: Smartphone industry recovers in 2024

    According to the latest Omdia smartphone preliminary shipment report, global shipments reached 328 million units in Q4 2024 marking a 2.8 per cent increase. This growth extends the smartphone market’s streak to five consecutive quarters of year-on-year growth. For the full year 2024, total shipments climbed to 1.22 billion units, a 7.1 per cent increase…

  • Viasat extends Starlux Airlines IFC

    Starlux, based in Taipei, Taiwan, has extended its contract with Viasat and launched and enhanced service with Viasat’s high performance in-flight connectivity (IFC) solution, marking an expanded relationship for the airline and Viasat. The phased rollout of Viasat’s high-speed, in-flight Wi-Fi service will span Starlux’s entire active fleet. In total, 48 aircraft, including Airbus A330-900s,…

  • Hearst Networks UK extends Sky deal

    Hearst Networks UK has extended its distribution agreement with Sky in the UK and Ireland. Hearst Networks UK’s portfolio of factual entertainment channels, including Sky History, Sky History2, Crime+Investigation and Blaze, will continue to be showcased across Sky and NOW platforms in the UK and Ireland. The deal includes linear channel distribution, VoD, and an…

  • Zixi makes commercial leadership hires

    Zixi, a specialist in IP-based, live video transport and observability software, has appointed Josh Wiggins as Chief Commercial Officer and Kris Alexander as VP of Product and Industry Marketing. Zixi says these strategic hires reinforce its leadership team as the company continues to expand its market presence in next-generation video contribution and distribution. Wiggins brings…

  • Why LinkedIn is spotlighting the average watch time metric to support its video push

    After promising growth in 2024 and early 2025, LinkedIn is doubling down on video with new tools and metrics. As of yesterday, creators on LinkedIn are able to track the average watch time of their videos. LinkedIn rolled out the new video metric amid a range of new features — such as improved video search…

  • Data: Long-form content takes 73% of YouTube US viewing time

    Consumption of long-form content on YouTube is rising rapidly in the US, accounting for 73 per cent of all viewing time on the platform by the end of October 2024, according to research by Digital i, a provider of cross-platform streaming data and analysis. Findings showed that average viewing time spent by US YouTube users…

  • Cuts at Kudelski

    Kudelski Group has announced  what is has referred to as “the transformation of its operational structure”. This follows the recent divestment of Skidata (ski pass business) and fits the group’s ongoing effort to strengthen its core digital security business. Kudelski Group said it aims to concentrate on its advanced security solutions, “refine its global go-to-market…

  • Disney Q1 revenue up 5%; Disney+ subs dip

    The Walt Disney Company has reported revenues increased 5 per cent year-on-year in Q1 to $24.7 billion (€23.7bn). Operating income rose 31 per cent from a year earlier to $5.1 billion. The company reported 178 million combined Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, an increase of 0.9 million vs Q4 fiscal 2024. However, Disney+ subscribers were at…

  • Research: 65% of US plans to watch Super Bowl LIX

    Attest, a New York-based consumer research platform, has published research on how Americans plan to tune-in to Super Bowl LIX on February 9th. Looking back, last year’s Super Bowl gained widespread attention for more than just football, especially with pop star Taylor Swift’s attendance and potential impact on viewership, while online conversations swirled about the…