Sky and Discovery have become engaged in a public fight after negotiations over a new carriage deal broke down. The Discovery channels may now be pulled from the British service at the end of the month. "We believe Sky is using what we consider to be its dominant market position to further its own commercial interest over those of viewers and independent broadcasters," Susanna Dinnage, managing director, Discovery Networks U.K. and Ireland, said. "The vitality of independent

Hispasat’s new telecommunications satellite is programmed to launch within the next 2 weeks. In a presentation at its Madrid headquarters, Elena Pisonero, president of Hispasat, confirmed Hispasat 36W-1 satellite (H36W-1) would launch on January 27 from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on board a Soyuz launch vehicle. H36W-1 has 20 Ku-band transponders and additional capacity for up to 3 Ka-band transponders over the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands. It

Vodafone Spain is to have a symmetric 1Gbps lines installed with the partnering of Huawei. This way they can offer clients a 4K experience via its pay tv platform. Basically it’s a network update and without getting to techie they will extend their fiber and offer higher speeds and of course a crystal clear picture. There has been mention of Ultra HD TV / 4K / 8K and Virtual Reality. When it actually gets round to that we will have to see. Either way we are glad to see invest

BBC Worldwide is launching a new global entertainment channel for the cruise ship market. BBC HD will go live through Global Eagle Entertainment’s (GEE) MTN TV network, with P&O Cruises and Cunard being the first to offer this to their guests. The mixed genre channel will screen shows including Eastenders, Holby City and Casualty close to their UK broadcast. Zina Neophytou, Vice President, Out of Home, BBC Worldwide said: “There has always been a strong demand for BBC content

The Catalonian broadcaster CCMA, which includes Televisío de Catalunya (TV3) and Catalunya Ràdio, faces an additional VAT bill of €53.7 million for incorrect deductions in the period 2012-2014. According to El Economista, a 20% charge will be added to this, bring the total to €74.7 million. It adds that the news comes at a particularly sensitive time for CCMA, which wants to optimize costs after merging TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio into a single entity. Although its turnover in 20

The man who recommended the abolition of the BBC Trust has been named as the last chairman of the governing body before it hands over to the new BBC Board. Sir David Clementi, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England and chairman of Prudential PLC, has been named as the government’s preferred candidate to be chairman of the BBC Trust. He led the September 2015 review that will lead to the demise of the BBC Trust as part of the public broadcaster’s new charter. Sir Davi