Scandal du Jour: More trouble in the UK over
News Corp. phone hacking as former
News of the World reporter
Clive Goodman, who served time for his royal family hacking, wrote a letter, just released by Parliament's Department for Culture, Media and Sport, that claims the violations were "widely discussed" and the discussions included former editor
Andy Coulsen. Goodman also claims that Coulsen told Goodman he could keep his job if he testified that he was a "rogue element." The Committee's head says
James Murdoch is "likely" to be called to testify again.
Analyze This:
TDG's
Colin Dixon says that while the discussion of Monday's
Motoroogle news mainly focused on IP and patents, many have overlooked the importance of
Motorola Mobility's STB and pay-TV infrastructure biz. "While the synergies between mobile solutions and IP rights may be clear, this is hardly the case in regard to video solutions," the analyst says. "I might go as far as to say there aren't any synergies at all."
Read more here.
In Court: Speaking of patent infringement,
HTC filed a complaint with the U.S. ITC and the U.S. District Court of Delaware alleging
Apple's Mac computer line, as well as the company's iPhone and iPads are infringing the phone-maker's IP.
Research:
Strategy Analytics says U.S. consumers in the market for a 3DTV will spend 56% more than those looking for a HDTV. And, the firm says, 11% of the 3D early adopters are looking to buy w/n a year. ---
ABI says despite some high-profile flops, Android-based tablets represent nearly 20% of the market.
$$$:
Bloomberg reports that
AT&T sold $5B of bonds to help pay back debt due this year.
Strategy:
WSJ reports Time Warner Cable CEO
Glenn Britt says that while cable TV is the company's primary business, broadband will eventually be its "anchor service."
(Surprised? We really hope not.)Tech: The
Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) says it hopes to complete a broadcast TV standard for 3D content to fixed devices in the home w/n a year.
Deals:
ESPN bought the Australian social sports tipping site
FootyTips.com.au for an undisclosed amount. ---
Bulk TV signed a deal with
InterContinental Hotels Group for free-to-guest TV services. Bulk offers programming from
DIRECTV. ---
US Cable agreed to sell its remaining systems in TX, NM and CO to
Baja Broadband for an unknown amount.
Mobile:
Comcast made its Xfinity moble app available on
RIM's Blackberry devices. (The app is already live on iPhones, iPads and Android smartphones/tablets.)
Footprint:
AT&T expanded U-verse to more than 500K HHs across the Sacramento, CA.
Programming:
Fox Sports and
UFC knocked a multi-year deal out for at least 4 primetime MMA cards on the net each year plus weekly content on
FX.
SBJ says the deal could be worth as much as $90M/year for 7-8 years. ---
BET will air a live, ad-free special on Aug. 28 for the dedication of the
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. ---
SkyAngel added 15+ titles from American Pop Classics from the '40s to the '70s to its VOD selections with more to come. ---
Suddenlink said it doubled its VOD capacity from 10K to 20K hours.
Alt. Video:
Netflix launched a "Just for Kids" menu option with content for kiddos 12 and under.
Advertising: Measurement software company
TRA secured a new patent for a privacy solution enabling the use of consumer purchasing behavior for targeted media ads.
Up, Down & Over There:
BBC Worldwide is selling its mag biz (as many as 34 pubs) to private equity firm
Exponent for $198M, so says the
Guardian. ---
TechCrunch reports
Whaleshark Media, owners of
RetailMeNot,
Deals.com and
Deals2Buy.com will acquire
eConversions, the U.K.-based operator of daily deals sites
VoucherCodes.co.uk and
GutscheinCodes.de in Germany for $40M. •
