Murdoch interested in buying Canal+ & D+

sakiblateef

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Bad news for all.


this time in french

Selon le Reuters, l’appétit de Murdoch père et fils sur les chaînes cryptées européenne ne faiblit pas.

Leur groupe, News Corp, contrôle aujourd’hui Sky Télévision en Grande Bretagne, Sky Italia en Italie.

Il a une participation de 25.1% dans Premiere en Allemagne. Selon Dow Jones, News Corp devrait lancer une offre sur la totalité de la société. On sait qu’il a déjà un certain pouvoir dans le bouquet. Un des premiers signe a été le choix du Videogard en tant que nouveau contrôle d’accès à la place du Nagravision. Videogard appartenant à NDS, une filiale de News Corp. Apparemment, M. Murdoch souhaite aussi y placer ses propres dirigeants. Rappelons que Premiere a été crée en tant que filiale de Canal Plus en Allemagne en association avec Kirch et UFA.

Pendant un moment, Vivendi Canal a envisagé de reprendre le contrôle de son ancienne filiale. Cela semble raté !

Si cela se fait, Canal+ sera encerclé en Europe.

No Comment du coté de News Corp.



they have already 25 % in premiere and they will buy premiere. Now they think bout buying Digital+ both are worth 4 mld euro 4 000 000 000 euros .


Vivendi also is interested in Digital+ , ONO cable ,Telefonica.


If Canalplus will be captured it will be result all News Corp and everywhere Videoguard.

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In English:

this time in french According to Reuters, the appetite of Murdoch father and wire on the encrypted chains European do not weaken. Their group, News Corp, control today Sky Television in the United Kingdom, Sky Italia in Italy. It has a participation of 25.1% in Premiere in Germany. According to Dow Jones, News Corp should launch an offer on the totality of the company. It is known that it has already some to be able in the bouquet. One of the first sign was the choice of Videogard as a new access control to the place of Nagravision. Videogard pertaining to NDS, a subsidiary company of News Corp. Apparently, Mr. Murdoch wishes to place his own leaders also there. Let us recall that First was creates as a subsidiary company of Canal Plus in Germany in partnership with Kirch and UFA. During one moment, Vivendi Canal planned to take again the control of its old subsidiary company. That seems missed! If that is done, Canal+ will be encircled in Europe. No How with dimensions one of News Corp. they cuts already 25% in first and they will buy first. Now they think end buying Digital+ both are worth 4 mld euro 4.000.000 000 euros. Vivendi also is interested in Digital+, ONO cables, Telefonica. Yew Canalplus will Be captured it will Be result all News Corp and everywhere Videoguard.
 
Surely the European monopolies commission would look at this - its so anti-competetive??? Putting aside the NDS issues for us hobbyists what would it mean for the subscribers everywhere? I can tell you........ high prices and no choice!!!
 
hmmm, i dont know wether to take this as good or bad news, let me explain

bad news

NDS aint hacked, my view is that NDS are still breaking and leaking code for its competitors, its the only code not to have been publicaly broken so companies are jumping from their current encryption to NDS, its happening all over the world, and expect to see it in a cable box near you in the future

NDS will not be broken, the people with the knowledge to break it are already on their payroll as ethical hackers or proof of concept hackers, the real hobbyist will end up with a choice of FTA only or having to pay murdoch for whatever package they want to watch

good news

european broadcasts will be owned by one entity, while this is against all competition and monopolies laws, itll mean theres NO arguement about cross border broadcasting, as the same company owns the rights for whatevers broadcast in each territory, so the single licensed viewing card should in theory be good for ANY EU broadcast

we know thisll never happen, but the theory is all there to support it
 
....european broadcasts will be owned by one entity, while this is against all competition and monopolies laws, itll mean theres NO arguement about cross border broadcasting, as the same company owns the rights for whatevers broadcast in each territory.....
Unfortunately this isnt how it works currently. Not sure I can see any good side to this? Ownership will not be an argument to break any law, including contract. Lets just keep hope that the European court says that these territories break their own freedom laws, and make the needed changes as we hope. Cross-border broadcasting does currently have an argument, rights owners have an argument, broadcasters have an argument, european freedom/rights is in a mess.

As things stand, each channel company in each territory requires regional broadcasting licences, payed local. A provider such as bskyb will still need to buy licence for any channels it owns and additionally buy rights for any programs it shows in that region. They may save some money by getting better deals on exclusive rights in a dozens countries (compared with say 6 companies each buying these rights) but thats business and not relevant, as a platform provider they would still charge based on customers & costs in each country. They would still limit customers to buying at the correct price rather than cheating the system to buy from them cheaper with some other method. Any broadcast platform it provides will remain country specific with a set of terms & conditions set to conform to each countries law, as existing now.

Also, unfortunately even if they did own all these broadcast platforms in most European counties it still wouldnt be seen as 'monopoly' because other competition still exists in each of those countries -cable, dtt, freesat, iptv, alternative sat providers, etc. Same as if NDS provided the majority of the encryptions its still not a monopoly because others are allowed to compete for encryption contracts, although I'm sure certain restrictions will keep them from owning & running absolutely everything.....
>>they may provide majority of newspapers, biggest news channel, largest tv platform, huge advertising budgets, and heavy handed criminal tactics, but some of us are still able to withstand the brainwashing and free(dom) can still win :proud:
 
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To follow on with this story, News Corp have made a deal to sell NDS. 'News Corp' will be the company that is interested in buying Premiere & D+ & Canal+ or other broadcasters. They will now have the available funds to do this from their sale of NDS the encryption company.

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News Corp, which currently owns 72% of technology and encryption specialists NDS (led by chairman and CEO Abe Peled), is to take the company private. The end result will mean News Corp will then own just 49% of the business. Existing shareholders will receive US$60 a share, a 20.7% premium on NDS’ Friday share price of $49.70 a share.

News Corp will partner with private equity outfit Permira Advisors to fund the transaction, in a somewhat complex structure. At the end of the day Permira will own 51% of NDS.

Shareholders of NDS's series A ordinary shares including its American Depository Shares (ADS) would receive about $970 million in total. As of March 31, 2008, there were about 16m series A ordinary shares, according to an SEC filing. Permira will also pay $60 per share for News Corp's series B shares in a mix of $1.5 bn in cash and a $200m vendor note, the companies said. The debt financing will be provided by JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, according to a company statement.

While News Corp today owns 72% of NDS’ shares, it currently controls 96% of the voting power. NDS said it has appointed a committee of directors who are not on News Corp's board to review the deal. "The transaction has been fully negotiated between News Corporation, Permira and NDS management," News Corp said. "Permira has completed its due diligence, and all of the third party financing is in place."

However, the deal has to be approved by a majority of NDS’ public shareholders, as well as shareholders representing at least three-quarters of the value of publicly-held shares.

The deal is seen as necessary because NDS’ ownership structure has made it difficult for News Corp to tap into NDS’ cash reserves without severe tax implications. News Corp receives $1.7bn in cash and debt. It will now be interesting to see what News Corp does with this windfall, and whether it will help fund an acquisition in Europe
 
You have to to hand it to them - they are one hell of an organisation!! Just on TV side of things - they jumped straight in with Satellite in the UK and embraced digital when that came along. They have used aggreesive marketing and free equipment offers to build a subscriber base and thrown money at sporting events and programming when some said they were mad to do so!!

The advent of freesat may change the face of satellite here but only if they can market the product successfully - I think the main selling point should be that you can just plug the new receiver into where the old skybox used to be!! Might be able to get some of theose former sky customers on board if they know they dont have the hassle of getting a dish fitted!!!
 
Latest info;

Press reports on Friday suggest News Corp is interested in buying both Premiere (German pay-TV operator) and Digital+ of Spain

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal put two and two together and, quoting unnamed sources close to the company, asserted that News Corp is ready to expand its European pay-TV business. The investment needed for the two businesses, according to the WSJ, would be about US$4bn. News Corp already owns 25.1% of Premiere, and the EU has given its approval to a possible take-over subject to a few conditions.

Rapid TV News has covered the transactions at both Premiere and Digital+’s owner, Sogecable, in some detail, so it should come as no surprise to our readers that News Corp is a likely bidder for both. Spain’s Digital+, now that Sogecable is in the hands of Prisa, is available for purchase. However, when Digital+ does come onto the market then News Corp is unlikely to be the sole bidder. There is interest from its old owner Vivendi, as well as Spanish cable operator ONO and even Telefonica, as we have reported previously.
 
Sky considering €2.5bn bid for Digital+

Friday, July 4 2008, 12:36 BST

By Dave West, Media Correspondent
Sky considering €2.5bn bid for Digital+

Sky is considering making a bid of more than €2.5bn (£2bn) for Spanish satellite pay TV firm Digital+.

Spanish media giant Grupo Prisa is expected to sell the service, part of its TV division Sogecable, later this year, with an auction likely to begin in September.

Sky could face competition from European companies including Vivendi, Telefónica, and Orange, according to the Financial Times.

No firm decision has been made but Sky chairman James Murdoch, in his other role as News Corp head in Europe and Asia, is working on building assets in the regions.
 
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