Charter and Cox have agreed to merge their businesses to create an industry leader in the United States for mobile and fixed communications services and video entertainment. It values Cox at around $34.5 billion. Cox Enterprises will receive $4 billion in cash from a total purchase consideration of $12.9 billion, and will end up with around 23% of the combined company, which will assume $12 billion of Cox’s outstanding debt. The combined company will become Cox Communications and the consumer brand will be Spectrum.
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Warner Bros Discovery has decided to rename Max back to HBO Max, two years and much criticism after dropping HBO from the name, following the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery. It comes only two months after the most recent rebrand.
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The BBC is thinking about an online media device with Freely capabilities, as it looks to a transition to television delivered online in the next decade. Tim Davie, the director general of the BBC, says the corporation can play a key role in innovating to ensure that the new world is inclusive and accessible.
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A report reveals challenges for conversion to online television and video services. Research commissioned by the government in the United Kingdom was announced at the annual summit of the DTG in a video address by Stephanie Peacock MP. It paints a picture of the reality of television viewing for those that remain confused by technology.
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Netflix is updating its user interface to make it more intuitive. It is not the first time that Netflix has updated its home page, but it describes this a “giant leap forward”. It calls it Flexible, Intuitive, Responsive, and Elevated. FIRE. Interesting choice of acronym.
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Only a fifth of viewers in the United Kingdom report watching a ‘FAST’ channel in the previous month, which is less than half of those with access to free advertiser supported television channels delivered online. Less than a quarter of viewers are even open to the idea of watching such a channel.
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